How Deep Purple proved how our slippery PM never carries the can https://bdeeppurplefanforum.runboard.com/t2465 Runboard| How Deep Purple proved how our slippery PM never carries the can en-us Fri, 29 Mar 2024 10:22:49 +0000 Fri, 29 Mar 2024 10:22:49 +0000 https://www.runboard.com/ rssfeeds_managingeditor@runboard.com (Runboard.com RSS feeds managing editor) rssfeeds_webmaster@runboard.com (Runboard.com RSS feeds webmaster) akBBS 60 Re: How Deep Purple proved how our slippery PM never carries the canhttps://bdeeppurplefanforum.runboard.com/p46015,from=rss#post46015https://bdeeppurplefanforum.runboard.com/p46015,from=rss#post46015A Peter Dobbie article from the Mail on Sunday – 10 Apr 2005. It was a long time ago, a few days before the Easter holidays in a year that had seen Britain plunged into economic crisis. Certainly that weekend it was not cool to be confined to school. Not if you were stuck in Edinburgh where the hugely popular psychedelic rock band Deep Purple were featuring at the local Odeon. But while the year marked the zenith of hippydom and liberal culture, the world of Fettes, a bastion of privileged education north of the border, remained locked in traditional values where indiscipline was met with swift and harsh punishment. This, however, did not stop a group of the school’s senior boys who were determined to see Deep Purple perform live. Among them was Anthony Lynton Blair, a 17-year-old with a passion for rock that, if we are to believe him lasts to this day. The story of what he did is revealed in correspondence I have received from a fellow pupil at Fettes. He has asked not to be named, although he is recorded as an old boy in the schools records, let him take up the story: ‘Four of us decided to break out of the school – in civvies of course – and go along. This was no simple undertaking. We were breaking the school rules in a serious way and knew the consequences of being caught could be expulsion. We had to slip out of our respective houses and scale the schools 12 ft perimeter wall without being seen. ‘It was great fun, shinning down drainpipes. We managed all this and went straight to the Odeon mighty proud of ourselves. When we got inside the foyer we soon realised we weren’t the only boys from Fettes – there were another ten who had actually done the same thing – and among them was Tony Blair. ‘We watched the concert and Deep Purple were fabulous. By the time we got back to school it was about 3am. We got back in ok and thought wrongly as it turned out, that we had got away with it. ‘But our misdemeanour was announced at breakfast and all 14 of us were told to report to the headmaster’s office at 10.30. Only 13 turned up – Blair went missing. You might think that he was the one who snitched but I know for a fact that he wasn’t. Instead he had done something, made some kind of deal, who knows, to get out of being punished. We never found out what it was. ‘We were all given the option of expulsion or the “headmaster’s punishment” which, I seem to remember, was six of the best. We all opted for the cane. ‘It was all pretty trivial looking back. But I think it says quite a lot about Tony Blair and the way that, even as a 17-year-old, he was able to slither out of trouble.’ The author of this little piece of Blair history spoke further to me of the episode. He described Blair as ‘a nerd – but a lairy one - supremely image conscious.... rebellious but in a insidious way.’ ..............................The article goes on................... I have tried to no avail to find out whether Blair’s truancy was worth the trouble. A trawl of Scottish newspapers reveals no critique of Deep Purple’s antics at the Odeon. But politics of the time did change that spring of 1970 as our future leader was working out how to avoid a beating. ......................The article goes on................. nondisclosed_email@example.com (JasonTheSpaceOne)Mon, 11 Apr 2005 08:54:58 +0000 Re: How Deep Purple proved how our slippery PM never carries the canhttps://bdeeppurplefanforum.runboard.com/p46014,from=rss#post46014https://bdeeppurplefanforum.runboard.com/p46014,from=rss#post46014quote:JasonTheSpaceOne wrote: Even when he was a schoolboy, Tony Blair was able to slither out of trouble. The 17-year-old Blair managed to smooth his way out of trouble for breaking a school curfew to attend a Deep Purple concert.......  A better excuse for breaking a curfew would be difficult to conjur up, in my non-humble opinion. Were I his headmaster - or whatever the Brits call them - there wouldn't be very many other excuses I'd accept and not assign a punishment for. nondisclosed_email@example.com (MrEd45)Mon, 11 Apr 2005 02:26:15 +0000 How Deep Purple proved how our slippery PM never carries the canhttps://bdeeppurplefanforum.runboard.com/p46013,from=rss#post46013https://bdeeppurplefanforum.runboard.com/p46013,from=rss#post46013Even when he was a schoolboy, Tony Blair was able to slither out of trouble. The 17-year-old Blair managed to smooth his way out of trouble for breaking a school curfew to attend a Deep Purple concert....... A 'Mail on Sunday' article (10/04/05)sorry don't have the full text as yetnondisclosed_email@example.com (JasonTheSpaceOne)Sun, 10 Apr 2005 23:36:33 +0000