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CYCM 21/04/14: You Are Now Entering Free Bury

From the moment a daft Japanese rock band called My Way My Love dived into their own drum kit at the first ever Course You Can Malcolm, we’ve striven to be a Red, Mancunian haven in Bury.

A place where you could forget your surroundings and be treated to music, poetry, theatre and anything else we’d written down on the back of a fag packet and thought was a good idea.

This Monday will be no different, with music from Richard McNevin-Duff, free CDs to all those attending, FActory Records artefacts auction, prizes, a whole host of zany shenanigans and a few old faces making a welcome return. This bank holiday bonanza of a day will play out as follows:

10:30 For the last time, the Oddies lug all the equipment from the Main Stand up to Starkies, then cry tears of relief at never EVER having to do it again

11:30 No tears from Mike Noodle though, because for a start he loves making his veggie pizzas and bringing the veggie hotdogs, and secondly he’s too professional to drip salty tears into the food

11:40 Dave Frilly turns up, but minus the Westwells food as they’re closed. ‘Fraid your stuck with our offerings (butties, veggie sausage rolls, hot dogs, pizza, cakes and more). You’ll cope...

12:00 Taking You Round The Corner- Would I lie to you? Yeah, frequently

12:20 Brewdog beer raffle - A chance to win a bottle of Abstrakt AB07, which is a 12.5% whisky cask-aged imperial stout

12:30 Some bloke who loves telling painfully bad jokes and wearing the same pair of jeans for weeks on end puts an appearance in, if we can get him up the stairs...

1:00 Factory Records Rarity Rumble - see below

2:00 Richard McNevin Duff acoustic Space Monkeys set- See below

2:45 This Team Is Sheet- Maurice Twomowers is back, and he’s got some important team news for you

3:00 It’s the end! Oh hang on, there’s still half time

3:45 Now it’s the end. At Bury, anyway….

As there’s so much on, we want to encourage everyone to come down as early as possible. If the fact you’ll miss out on all the entertainment isn’t enough, then we’ve got a rather special giveaway to tempt you in with.

Richard McNevin-Duff, former lead singer of Space Monkeys, current lead singer of Giant Star and today’s turn, has kindly offered to give away a free Space Monkeys CD to everyone who attends. We understand this will be the band’s Top Ten American hit single Sugar Cane.

As you probably know, Space Monkeys were the last band signed to Factory, so this isn’t a gift to pass up on lightly. Now if that wasn’t enough for you, Richard also needs to make space in his garage for a new lawnmower and hedge trimmer, so he’s had a clear out and will be bringing all his clutter with him.

For most people, garage clutter would be made up of old toys, magazines, tool boxes, videos of Ironside, nicked road signs and the like, but not Richard. Try a load of Factory rarities that you’re going to be able to get your hands on.

We’ve not decided yet if we’re going to raffle them off or auction them off, but either way, if you’re a proper barmy Factory head, you can’t afford to miss out on getting your greasy mitts on a bit of Manchester music history.

As for Richard, we’re just grateful to be getting a second chance at having him play for us. Rain put paid to his first visit in January, but we’re putting all that behind us now and looking forward to him getting up and playing for us, and I think you’ll agree, it’s a fitting end to CYCM: The Bury Years.

For more on the history of Space Monkeys and Giant Star, you can buy the latest A Fine Lung from Stu From The Bay’s market stall (or visit afinelung.com/?p=6738)

So what else have we got on for you? Well for a start Taking You Round The Corner appears for the last time. We’re desperate to give away the Bayliss and Harding posh smelly set we’ve had since Christmas, so the winner’s going to be forced to take it. Don’t let that stop you playing though, as there will be other gifts on offer (including Red Jon Grinham’s big selection of big football shirts).

We also welcome Maurice Twomowers back to deliver the team news. He’ll be hard at work talking to the players and getting their opinions, so settle yourself in to hear what pearls of wisdom they’ll come out with.

It’s been a fair old while since he graced the microphone, so this is not something to be missed, if you’re thinking of being a bit of a plum and leaving early to get a nice seat, or summat.

We will also have a familiar face coming along to tell a joke. Can’t go into too much detail at this stage, but it’s not the first time he’s done this at CYCM. Please don’t take this as a guarantee he’s going to make you laugh, though. We may have to carry him up the stairs...

So that, right there, is the last ever Course You Can Malcolm at Bury. We will return at Moston? You can bet your flipping bottom dollar we will. We’re still talking with the club about it, and it won’t be every game in the first season at Moston, but rest assured you haven’t seen the last of our gormless faces just yet.

But going back to the present, there’s nothing left but to say thank you. Thank you to Vicks Sinex, thank you to every turn who’s ever performed for us, thank you to Westwells the bakery, thank you to everyone who comes and is yet to come and watch us, thank you to those that have donated time, food and birdhouses, thank you to the barmy fans of teams around the world that have visited us down the years, and above all, thank you to Manchester, without which none of this would have been possible.

Our little piece of Manchester at the wrong end of the tramline, is on its way home.


First Posted ~ 12:38 Sun 20 Apr 2014
News ID ~ 5496
Last Updated ~ 00:47 Tue 16 Feb 2021