My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jake-playing community !  Hail and well-met !

Here we go then, folks, the scramble that is certain to emerge from the Jakefest-By-The-Sea Baggsy List.  If you would like to play a Jake song or three at Poor Old Bloody Scarborough on the Bank Holiday weekend of Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th August 2006, then this is what you do !

This year, there will be a Saturday night main performance as usual, and a second Sunday night performance at the same venue for those still around and who are making a bank holiday weekend of it.  Thus, it is our proud privilege to invite you all to perform a set of three numbers on the Saturday, or on the Sunday, or on both nights, as you wish : every attempt will be made to allow Jakey people, who wish to play either or both nights, to be able to do all of their preferred songs (subject to availability).  However, there will still be the highly draconian, arbitrary and controversial limit of one song per set from the following list of really popular, famous and in demand Jake greatest hits… (Sister Josephine, Brother Gorilla, Bantam Cock, Leopold Alcocks/Alcox, Jolly Captain, The Hole, Worried Brown-Eyes, Lah-Di-Dah)

So Big Gordon and I invite you to e-mail me a list of all of the Jake Thackray songs that you can play, in the order you would prefer to sing them.  I’ll try to fairly allocate at least one of the famous ones of your choice in the main Saturday set or the extra Sunday set, and pad out your one or two sets to three numbers from the rest of your chosen songs.  (Does that make any sense ?  I’m not sure meself and I’ve got to make it all work !!)

Once again, the traditional closing mass performance of "On Again ! On Again !" will be performed on the Saturday, and, in an idea stolen wholemeal (as opposed to piecemeal) from Paul Thompson’s successful, sell-out series of Knutsford Jake nights, I also propose a closing mass performance of “The Bull” on the Sunday.

Finally, offers for tender are sought for participants in the traditional duet of “I Stayed Off Work Today” whose Edinburgh rendition saw many repetitions of the phrase “For shame !!” uttered in the direction of, er, two gentlemen, er, for whom fastidious rehearsal was deemed secondary to local ale samplage but whose identities must remain shrouded in mystery.  :o)

So, to summarise : I need to know...

a) a complete list of Jake songs you can play, in preferred order.  I’ll try and get you as many closest to the top of your list as I can.

b) if you would like to play on the Saturday (3 songs), the Sunday (3 songs) or on both nights (6 songs)

d) there is NO point c)

e) can YOU play “The Bull” or “On Again ! On Again !” for the final numbers ?

f) did YOU Stay Off Work Today ?

Mail them to me as soon as you can at malcolm(dot)jeffrey(at)virgin(dot)net... and let the mayhem commence !

Malcy