buses

Let's talk about buses for a change. A personal perspective on the North Western Road Car Company, the one set up for deregulation of UK bus services, and not the one of 1972 vintage that some folk in Cheshire still hanker for to this day.

In September 1986, Ribble Motor Services, by far one of the largest State-owned National Bus Company subsidiaries, was split up into smaller units in the run-up to deregulation day in October 1986. Ribble's Merseyside operations were taken over by the newly reformed "North Western".

At that time, all of the Merseyside services North Western had inherited from Ribble were operated on behalf of Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (MPTE). The company was guaranteed a fixed proportion of bus mileage within the PTE area, roughly between 12/13%. The PTE basically paid North Western to do work for them.

At deregulation, North Western had registered most of their Merseyside network commercially, to be operated for profit without any PTE subsidy. It was a grand plan, with many services improved. Their publicity at that time proclaimed the bold ambition of the infant company....

However, it was soon realised that North Western had overcalculated the returns they hoped to generate from their network. They were not helped by some odd diversions and revisions to routes that had run effortlessly under the previous regime. The fare scales were enormously complicated and, again, not helped by the rigourous fare hike that had to be enforced when the PTE subsidies came to an end. In fact, it didn't take too long for North Western to come to the conclusion that many of the Merseyside services didn't pay their way, a fact masked under PTE control when costs and subsidies were guaranteed.

A huge knife in their coffin came when North Western announced in 1988 that it would no longer accept the PTE-sponsored "Saveaway" bus / train / ferry combined tickets - hugely popular with the travelling public for over a decade. The company complained that PTE remuneration didn't justify accepting them. North Western's chief rival, the PTE's own company, "Merseybus", consequently put services on North Western routes to continue coverage for Saveaway users. More passengers lost to bad decisions.

Also it is worth noting that North Western NEVER traded as a stand-alone company. It was sold by the National Bus Company to the Drawlane Group, and continued its' downward spiral of cutting services and closing bus stations.

Today, North Western is long gone. It was swallowed up by Arriva Passenger Services, and now just the remaining Bootle depot is operational, but healthy - finally doing good things on north Merseyside.

worst

Maybe my two, most of the time, consider me "Dad", but I'd likely disown them if they got me something like this for Father's Day.

Imagine the worst type of condescending rubbish a record company can throw at you? Consider the implications of rehashing the same old, mostly bland, AOR nonsense over three compact discs (something else that's obselete!) and handing it to demographically-defined middle aged men as a present. Even the kindest of them will silently wonder "what's this shite????"

I love the cover though. However, the idea of me and Aaron working in either our shed or greenhouse on projects together whilst bopping away to "The Dad" album is a complete fantasy - a misnomer of megalithic proportions put together by some smug advertising executive whose ego is larger than his bank balance.

Journey, Boston, Whitesnake, Toto, Starship, Foreigner, Chicago, etc. You get the picture. Some of the worst excesses of corporate popular music ever committed for public consumption. 

Please don't be fooled by this dreadful marketing exercise. If any of the track listing appeals to you, there's any number of free download sites that will gladly give you 80s rock nostalgia to your hearts' content. 

A really nasty trick.

Utopia

As I get older, and slightly less interested in the music scene of now, and more introspective of what I grew up with (which is only natural I suppose?), I really can't figure out whether it's still as precious to me or not. Have I acquired, if I didn't have it already, a critical distance about all the bands I love?

The answer is fairly straight-forward - it's not that important. Because the great thing about music is it ebbs and flows. What floats your boat one week won't necessarily do the same the next......

"Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a great example.

Lauded as the best rock album of all time, it gains its' admirers and detractors in equal measure, but not at the same times. For every reviewer who names it as their favourite love-in, the next will lambaste it as the very worst indulgence the 60s had to offer.

The truth is a little in between. It's a flawed masterpiece - the influence of drugs, Hippiedom, the Beach Boys, etc all contribute in measure to its' greatness and awfulness. Take your pick what makes it and what doesn't.

I really don't get people who can't see the shite some of their favourite artists come up with. I love the Beatles - but they made some shocking stuff. No names mentioned, but some of it is pretty obvious. Check "The Beatles" (Apple PMC7067-68).

There is something wrong when a fan can't distinguish, I repeat myself now, critical distance of an artists output. 

For me, I'm still looking for Utopia (the destination, not the band!). I want to spend a lifetime looking for that perfect chord, that quintessential listening experience where all the vibrations and frequencies explode my head.

It's not much to ask is it?