Theft,Violence and Black Sabbath's Vol.4

I was reading about the Black Sabbath "reunion" album in last months Mojo the other day,and it reminded me of an incident that happened back in 1974.

I was a 13 year-old school kid at the Southern Grammar School (on the Eastern Road in Portsmouth-now home to Portsmouth College and where my daughter Daisy-Mae has just finished her A-Levels as it happens..). Fuck knows how I got there. I somehow passed the 11-Plus,got taken away from all my mates,and ended up in a school where I knew NO-ONE. I was the son of a Dockyard joiner from Fratton,sharing desk-space with the off-spring of the middle-class managers and so on from the more affluent areas of the city like Bedhampton, Farlington etc. To say I felt out of place was an understatement. In fact I hated it so much that  after 2 weeks I bunked-off for SIX weeks straight.
 (I got caught of course-and back then the use of the cane was commonplace....the Headmaster even used to take a short run-up before that swishing sound signaled the start of the pain to come.And just like in "If..." you had to say thank you,otherwise you were beaten some more.Luckily for me,it had been banned by 1976 when I organised a walk-out of half the school in protest at the suspension of a fellow pupil for streaking-that pupil went on to form a band that were mainstays of the fledgling early punk scene in Portsmouth,The Precautions).Anyway back to the Sabbath...

Now,we used to change classrooms for each subject,and our History lessons were in a room used by 5th formers. For weeks I kept seeing this album, Black Sabbath Vol.4 , in the desk that I sat at.I knew about Black Sabbath,I read the music press every week, so,by about the fourth week,and with it still in the desk,I thought that it had been forgotton about.I decided that it was coming home with me.
Next History lesson came around,I go to the desk,checked that it was still there,and, at the end of the lesson,took it out of the desk,shoved it under my blazer, and away I went.

This was on a Friday. On the Monday, during the morning break, I was sitting on the Berlin Wall (old secundrians will know about that!) when it seemed like the world went dark. I looked up to see half-a-dozen of the 5th year looming over me.The owner of the album, and a few of his mates, had come to say hello....they said Hello a few times-using both left and right hands,before I found myself on close terms with the bushes that grew there...

The album was returned to it owner the next day,who said Thank You in the usual way (the blood stopped coming from my nose after about half an hour).

I never even played the bloody thing either!!!

xx