This page is exists because I love the music of the Glossop School Brass Band (GSBB) and consider the short time that I played a part in it as one of the most enjoyable, memorable parts of my life.
I joined the school brass band in 1985 when I was 14/15. I always enjoyed music, but it all began accidentally when a friend of mine fancied the socks off a boy who was having drum lessons during the lunch hour. She wanted to have lessons too of course and obviously needed a buddy to come along for support. Well a few weeks later, the boy was history and she dropped out, but by this time I was getting rather good and enjoying it! A few months later the music teacher (Mr. Issac) felt he could teach me no more and thus arranged for me to have a visit from Mr. Fletcher.
Mr. Fletcher was conductor of the the school brass band, having run it for close to 20 years. Flec and the band were very successful, winning many a competition including a continuous string of successes in the Nation Youth Brass Band Championships; the band had also toured Europe and America, and had produced several LPs.
Anyway... I gets my call in the middle of my French lesson... Flec is stood outside and wanted to speak to me. I was feeling quite nervous at this stage, expecting the worst (what had I done to get into trouble?), however I was pleasantly suprised to find that Flec wanted me in the band. I accepted, and began on the timpani, side drum, but very quickly became No. 2 on the kit also, filling in when required.
Within a couple of months we were playing Blackpool (National Youth Competition again, which we won) and a couple of months later I moved onto the kit permanently as the resident kit player left for college.
Well that's how it started and I loved every minute of it from then on.
In 1988(?) a major restructer of the school was being planned; Glossop School was to be integrated with one of the other local secondary schools, Hadfield School. The two schools would become one under the name of Glossopdale Community Colledge. Running the band at two sites, a mile and a half apart, would introduce obvious logistical problems. Flec was close to retirement age and decided to leave on a high. A leaving concert for Flec filled the school Hall to the brim. A very well regarded musical composer and arranger, Goff Richards attended the concert and presented Flec with a shield as a keepsake from the band. What a concert that was. The resident music teacher in place at that time was Mr. Jones; he took over the responsibilty for the band and thus became conductor in my final year at Glossop School. My time in the band ended the following year as I began studying at Manchester Polytecnic. My last few months with the band though were very enjoyable indeed; we had a fantastic time touring Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany during those last summer holidays.
Here's a pic of me playing in Luxembourg City in the aforementioned tour, and also one of me with James, now my husband. Both were taken in 1989 (my last year at Glossop School)... OK I look a bit stupid on the photo on the right but thought it was worth putting in anyway!
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The Music
Well now you can hear the Glossop School Band for yourself! Click on the album cover for acces to mp3 versions of the pieces, or click on the video link for some extracts from my home videos.
First here's a list of my recommmendations (some of my favourites). These are shown in reverse chronological order:
Sorry I'm not on any of these; all before my time I'm afraid, but don't let that put you off! Click on the Video link if you'd like to see some of me playing the kit.
Click on an album cover for the music listings and mp3 downloads.
| Jubilee Record | Brass Tracks |
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| Tour de France | Tours America |
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| Imperial Magic! | Classic Brass |
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Some snippets from 2 converts from my home band videos... They'll probably take 10-15 minutes to download Without broadband however.
| My Intro | Source: GSB Parents Xmas Concert 1986; Glossop School | This was my first parents concert, and the first time I'd played in concert on the kit I think. Flec introduced me to the audience, as "Thomasina when she's playing pretty well, Nina when she's playing even better, and Mickila when she makes mistakes...". being shy I was totally embarrassed of course! | Size: ~2MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| Dallas-Vegas (EXtract) | Source: GSB Parents Xmas Concert 1986; Glossop School | I'd been kit for about 6 months when we did this concert. From this it appears that I didn't know the difference between hitting the drums hard and hitting them soft, but watching it makes me smile anyway! | Size: ~5MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| I Dont Know How To Love Him (Extract) | Source: GSB Parents Xmas Concert 1986; Glossop School | Thought I'd slot this one in for variety and it's a nice piece nonetheless. | Size: ~13MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| Hootenanny (Extract) | Source: GSB Parents Xmas Concert 1986; Glossop School | A popular one with GSB, and was played on one of the many occassions when they won the National Youth Brass Band Championships in Blackpool. This is also on the "Jubilee Record" album (see "The Music"). | Size: ~13MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| Tyrolean Bells (full version) | Source: GSB Parents Xmas Concert 1986; Glossop School | The recorded version of Tyrolean bells can be found on teh Classic Brass album (see "The Music"). | Size: ~13MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| Jingle Bells (full version) | Source: GSB Parents Xmas Concert 1986; Glossop School | Well, it was a xmas concert after all.... | Size: ~10MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| 633 Squadron (Extract) | Source: GSB Concert March 1989; Glossop School | Unfortunately I have few marches on video, but this is one that I do have and worth a look. | Size: ~8MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| Bold Gendarmes (Extract) | Source: GSB Concert March 1989; Glossop School | The three trombone players look and sound great on this so had to include... | Size: ~8MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| Blaydon Races (Extract) | Source: GSB Concert March 1989; Glossop School | Another very entertaining piece of music, with a solo well. The recorded version can be found on the "Brass Tracks" album (see "The Music"). | Size: ~10MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| New Baroque Suite (Extract) | Source: GSB Concert March 1989; Glossop School | One of the last few concerts I played with the band. I always felt so embarassed playing a drum solo... | Size: ~8MB (windows Media player compatible) |
| Doyen (sound only) | Source: GSB Concert March 1989; Glossop School | I absolutely loved (i) playing the drums to this piece and (ii) the music itself; this was most definately my favourite piece of music that we played in the band during my time there. It was written by Goff Richards, a fantastic composer and arranger, and I was very privileged to able to play this with Goff as conductor during Flec's leaving concert. | Size: ~8MB (windows Media player compatible) |
Glossopdale Community College Band has had success over recent years and continue to make youth brass very entertaining. They have issued a CD called "Ambassadors in Brass".
If you have any information about the band that you would like adding to this site, please email me with details.
