‘The Joys Of Work’ – Excerpts of the book by Jake Heretic

Posted on June 6, 2008October 14, 2023 by Penguin

Author’s history:

Baron Von Zubb A.K.A Rich Kid A.K.A Jake Heretic’s parents hailed from Stepney but by the time he was born they’d left that all behind and joined the ranks of northwest London’s middle classes. Nice, this rather bored our Baron so after being expelled from school, squatting, punk rock anarchism, heroin and general delinquency as chronicled in the book, Baron went to Asia for several years. There he worked as a small time smuggler, a tailors tout, a film extra and drug dealer.

He has traveled overland to Asia 3 times, smoking opium and drinking alcohol in the Ayatollahs Iran, visited the closed area in Pakistan that is now home to enemy number one Mr. Bin Laden and spent 3 months at The King of Thailand’s pleasure in Klong Prem jail.

He’s lived for months under trees on beaches and swam in the planets cleanest jungle streams in India and Malaysia

His long suffering partner Kay and him organized and actualized a small relief project in the immediate aftermath of Sri Lankas tsunami.

They now live in Brighton, have two nieces and a nephew to keep them sane, are trying to be middle aged and eat masalla dosa weekly.

They visit Asia every winter.

Synopsis:

Here’s some extracts from the unpublished novel ‘The Joys of Work’, by Baron Von Zubb; the story of one kids journey from a nullifying suburban background to the revolutionary barricades of post Thatcherite Britain.

Via getting expelled from school, punk rock, squatting drugs, crime, autonomist politics, and the 1981 summer uprisings in Britain’s inner cities, the book chronicles an alternate history of the times.

Written as I travelled in Asia in the mid 1980’s, it was intended to be the first in a trilogy of books, the following two postulating alternate futures, ironically thanks to global warming, based on environmental and societal collapse.

My nomadic lifestyle meant that too many copies just got lost on the way so along with the rejections of ‘The Joys of Work’.

I called it a day.

Thanks to Mickey Penguin and all The K.Y.P.P. crew for putting this up.

The following books are published, recommended and available:

A.K.A. Martin Wright: Anti Fascist Action street fights in London and elsewhere during the 1970’s > ISBN 094898435X

A.K.A Daniel Wright: Thieving, drug taking, homelessness in London, true account of Martin Wrights (above) deceased brother > ISBN 1871593212

A.K.A. Bob from Blood And Roses: Early punk days in Australia, thieving, drug taking, homelessness in London, true account by Bob Short (not deceased, surprising if you read it!) > ISBN 9780975825846

A.K.A. Nick from Rudimentary Peni: Semi autobiography, shyness and fragile ego, punk, depression > ISBN 0952574403

A.K.A. Sian from The Lost Cherries / Blyth Power: Squatting in Brixton, gigs, crusties, lost loves, Tinsel and even ‘Mickey Penguin’ is mentioned a couple of times in this book > ISBN 1412026814

A genuine KYPP success story. Exactly six months after uploading this KYPP post. Jake finally gets these writings into print form. Go get it from lulu.com or alternative bookshops > ISBN 9781409245964

164 comments

Penguin • Post Author •
June 7, 2008 at 1:23 am

I have just had the chance to read what I have uploaded, even though I have had the texts for several days now. Very enjoyable read indeed. References to some of the stories in the KYPP threads, some of the faces on those threads get a mention some under ‘new’ names, and even that band The Heretics get a ‘secret’ mention with the track ‘No character’, a track which was uploaded on this site some months ago and has amassed an amazing 575 odd comments.
Give the excerpts a read people. If anyone knows or is friendly with book publishers then put it into a comment here.
Rich Kid
June 7, 2008 at 10:11 pm

Again cheers to Mr P & the KYPP folk for this.
Anyway first comment from me.
If you do recognise your self and it aint good.Oh well, sorry.
Some things are exagerated or left out for effect.
Sam you didnt really remind me of a ‘hippo’. You were ‘Tim’ later on. I had to make all the names of the characters very different to each other, just so I could remember who was who when I was writing it.
Eeeh ooop
J
betab
June 9, 2008 at 10:05 am

Damn, but both Nick Blinko’s and Bob Short’s tomes appear to be unavialable – I’ll just have to imjagine – on the other hand perhaps I’d better not
Graham Burnett
June 9, 2008 at 10:06 am

Re publishers – three that come to mind are AK Press, Spare Change Books (who did the the Primal screamer book above) and Jon Active – have you tried any of these?

Or why not self-publish? Its not that difficult, the only problem is distribution, but I’m sure that that wouldn’t be difficult either, there would certainly be an interest and a market.

Maybe we could have a discussion here on self-publishing and what it involves, I’d be happy to contribute my experiences.
chris
June 9, 2008 at 11:19 am

Mo, who used to work at Freedom and I think is now at Housmans published both Martin’s Anti-fascist book and his brothers, Camden Parasites. He might be worth checking too. Self-publishing is a bit dodgy as the cost can be prohibitively high to cover first run print costs (typesetting/cover/binding etc). An important thing to remembers which will apply to your work and I read in a self-publishing guide is to put ‘London, Sociology, Youth Cults, Punk’ by the ISBN as then lots of Libraries (hundreds) will order copies. All helps… 🙂
Graham Burnett
June 9, 2008 at 1:26 pm

Depends what you mean by ‘high’ Chris – type setting can be done yourself by using desk top publishing software – I did my Permaculture Beginners Guide using Serif pagePlus, which is quite cheap to get hold of, I think older versions (which are still newer than the version I used back in 2000!) are even given away free as magazine cover disks, although I don’t really use windows any more and am experimenting with open source DTP software such as Scribus for future Spiralseed publications.

My first print run of 3000 copies of the Permaculture Beginners Guide cost me about 2000 quid, which luckily I was able to borrow from a friend on an interest free, non time limited loan (ie, he let me pay it back as and when I could afford it). The next edition, which is almost ready to go to print, is going to cost more per copy as I’m doing a smaller print run this time (storing 3000 books was a bit of a nightmare!!) and production values will be considerably higher (perfect binding instead of stapled, colour cover and some colour pages inside, a few more pages, etc, etc). Its the use of colour which is the main thing that is pushing up the bill this time.

A grand or two for say, a 1000 copies print run may seem like alot of money, but its not beyond the realms of the possible if its something you really want to do, and there are all sorts of options that will help eg, finding sponsorship or subscription funding (remember back in the day some DIY record labels would ask for people to help pay for the costs of getting a record out upfront, then send extra copies of the record to subscribers once it was released). Advertising is another possibilty, I’m carrying some adverts in the next edition of the Permaculture Beginners Guide, I hasten to add this is VERY selective and by inviatation only, in fact there are only going to be about 4 ads, but these are really helping out with offsetting the costs of the colour printed sections). Ten or so people could get together and put in a hundred or so quid each, costs would soon be recouped on a book like this which I’m sure would sell well, particularly as there seems to be such a resugence of interest in all things punk at the moment, particular such an authentic and original account, as I’m sure everybody is getting bored with the same old photos and annecdotes of The Pistols/Clash/Bromey Contingent lot getting rehashed and repackaged over and over again…

I get most of my printing done by Footprint http://www.footprinters.co.uk who are a workers co-op (part of Cornerstone Resource Centre/Radical Routes, based in Leeds) with very high environmental and ethical standards, and part of ‘our’ movement – contact them for prices/discussion.

I’d also endorse Chris’ comment about talking to Mo at Housemans, also Malcolm at Housmans who has a wealth of experience about the publishing world.
Jah Pork Pie
June 10, 2008 at 11:40 am

I’m doing nothing at the moment, and I used to do DTP for a living a few years back. I haven’t got any of the posh software, but Word 2007 will do the job so if you want any layout for publishing doing, drop me a mail. No charge, obviously.
Graham Burnett
June 10, 2008 at 12:27 pm

I’d similarly offer but afraid would have to charge!! But it would be great to see this work in print and available, I found it riveting reading, and thats saying something as I rarely read more than a page or 2 on a computer screen… So would be happy to help with the publication process in some way if this was felt to be appropriate, but as I’m currently trying to create a multiple income stream in order to support my self and family (just went part time in the day job so looking at all (ethical!) options that will help to make ends meet) would have to do it on a basis of obtaining some financial recompense…

Probably wouldn’t really fit with the Spiralseed remit, but always up for creative partnerships and such like!

Something to consider anyway…
baron von zubb
June 10, 2008 at 9:19 pm

Thanks for the offers gents.
Pork , is it any good? I mean worth putting the effort into.
The man says ‘riveting’, makes me feel all warm inside but my time for doing anything much with it is long gone. I went as far as could back in the day. If folk read a few pages on this site its good enough for me.
I can give the raw copy to so someone to do with what they will.
cheers J
Penguin • Post Author •
June 10, 2008 at 9:31 pm

Don’t give it up just yet Baron, and certainly do not give the manuscript away to anyone at this point in time! You put the effort into writing 250 odd pages so run with it a little longer.
See what the vibes are. Give me some more bits to put up on the site.
gerard
June 10, 2008 at 10:11 pm

if you want something immediate and free then you could always do it as an ebook and sell via paypal.

i’d be happy to help you out with all aspects of this if you want.
Graham Burnett
June 10, 2008 at 10:27 pm

Yes – what Penguin said! Meditate on it for a bit, i’m sure a team of the right people could get this work to see the light of day with relativly little effort from or cost to yourself!
Jah Pork Pie
June 11, 2008 at 12:41 am

@BaronVonZubb-> I like it mate. I thought the description of the buildings being in a constant half-light was beautiful, both literally and metaphorically! And that description of the first time on the gear was poignant, honest and well done – and funny too. And let’s face it, the characters are/were people that Martin Amis would sell his granny for, so it has to get into the public domain somehow or it wouldn’t be fair. It had me page turning for all I was worth, and I was well disappointed when the excerpt about the Buildings ran out.

If you want me to do a layout for you, mail it to me (email is on the Chris Low Punk Tape thread) and I’ll give it a pop and mail it back to you. Shouldn’t take long. Like I say, I haven’t got anything on at the moment so it’ll keep me brain from heading south for the Summer 😉
Penguin • Post Author •
June 11, 2008 at 12:48 am

Email all of it Pork? It’s over 250 pages long and it almost destroyed the Baron getting those scanned to me to upload on the site! Or have I misunderstood?
I will send your email to the Baron direct via myself here, it may take him a couple of months to find it on that thread!!!
Graham Burnett
June 11, 2008 at 2:11 am

Hi all who are interested – large files can be transfered by using free services such as http://www.mailbigfile.com which might help, which is how I generally shift files to my printers (Footprint). If scanning in the original manuscript is the problem I’m sure the Baron can find someone local with a decent modern scanner which will do the job quite quickly (is Brighton LETS still functioning??? Bound to be a service someone is offering, there are also resource centres in Brighton such as the Cowley Club, etc) , it would then be a matter of finding some decent OCR software to turn the typed text into digitably editable text (BTW, can anyone recommend a decent Linux/open source OCR package as it galls me having to revert to Windows to use the otherwise very good Abby Finereader to perform such tasks, the linux alternatives I’ve tried have so far been rubbish…) Once digitised the publishing possibilities are endless.
Graham Burnett
June 11, 2008 at 2:30 am

Pork is right – this book should be in the public domain, I guess I was always fairly cosseted from the realities of the whole drug infused, nihilistic punk squat scene (hey, my leftist-liberal, femininist (back then!) mum even gave me a lift up to Dial House when i interviewed Crass for my fanzine back in 1980, which I don’t seem to ever be able to live down!!!) , but knew of it through zines like the Heretics interview in TG, some Southend punks who’de squatted in London and strongly advised anyone who’d listen not to bother, then later the Wapping Anarchy Centre, various squats that were perhaps more overtly ‘politicised’ with characters such as Andy Martin, Ian Slaughter, John ‘no name’ Apotle, Peat Protest, etc, and this work really strikes a chord with me. Our history needs to be documented, mate! Better its from folks like yoursef than some Grauniard sponsored university grad who actually knows fuck all about the reality… Wonder if Mike Diboll would be into helping out if he could be contacted?? He never responded to my emails when I tried to contact him a couple of years back, but you never know… Bet he’s got some publishing contacts…
Nic
June 11, 2008 at 9:10 am

I found the excerpts pretty fascinating…

However, I would say: Content – great, Form – not so great…

The authorial tone oscillates inconsistently, and at times the prose resembles some of the books published by New English Library in the early 1970’s (however, that would be easily addressed by an engaged and sympathetic editor)…

An ebook would (as Gerard says) be an effective way to spread the information, and the higher profile that would develop could lead on to other things…

Graham: the Google-sponsored Ocropus project is probably the most interesting OCR development at the moment (particularly as it utilises Tesseract as the OCR engine): it obviously has a couple of implications (mainly regarding image tagging), but looks like it will be pretty useful…
Graham Burnett
June 11, 2008 at 9:25 am

Note to editor Penguin – my constant mis-speling of John Apostle as ‘apotle’ is deliberate – it was a typo in my zine New Crimes back in 1981 for which he gave me a berating on Chelmsford station back in the day!

Nic – will look into Ocropus, thanks!
baron von zubb
June 11, 2008 at 11:19 am

I am chuffed at the interest.
I havent exactly given up on it, just that I’d done all I could with it the last time I saw it 15 or more years ago.
Two points raised have hit the button.
It aint a costly process to digitalise it. And if i can find a way of doing it here (in Btn) that aint too time consuming I will. Its a good idea. When its done I’ll hand it over to all you DTP wizards.
The other thing is ‘form’. Nic is spot on. It aint that good and needs editing by someone who both can & can be bothered.
That is not a problem I can solve.
Cheers BVZ
Jah Pork Pie
June 11, 2008 at 11:37 am

@Graham-> there’s a review of various linux ocr packages here:

http://groundstate.ca/ocr

Not sure about Mike Diboll helping out here – he used to live at 66a and though I haven’t read the relevant bits of the book, I feel that if there’s a character based on him it may not be the most sympathetic character in the piece!

@Nic-> The book wasn’t written by someone who’d just finished a masters in English Literature and happened upon an interestig hobo outside Starbucks who told him wondrous stories for the price of a caramel latte. As The Baron says: “It was written on a hill in Tamil Nadu in say, 1990 after Kumbh Mela”; that is, it was written by someone who was still “enjoying” the life described in the book. If the authorial tone oscillates wildly, it’s very likely that this is because the author was oscillating wildly when he was writing it. If this book is edited and stylised, it becomes one step removed from itself and the life it describes: I don’t necessarily want a piece of art which satisfies the lit-crit police, I want something that documents our times (and protects the innocent/guilty as sensitively as possible) in a narrative style which is authentic. Being at St Monica’s, Campbell Buildings and 66a was an up, down, ebb and flow experience from one day (hour?) to the next. I fitted in beautifully. My psychiatrist would no doubt be able to offer a long explanation as to why that was. Particularly about Campbell Buildings, if you refer to the other longer thread on this site about Baron’s feelings on the estate it’s easy to see why the narrator would feel the ambivalence of being connected to and then disconnected from the place. And the chemical intake alone explains the variations between omniscience and integration in the narrative. Though I’ve never done it, I would think that STP would make one feel a pretty organic part of almost anything.

I wouldn’t want a stylised punk version of the abomination that was the film “Absolute Beginners”: I’m not a fan of the musical genre anyway, but 2 hours of song and dance routines about a race riot were patronising, sanitising and demeaning. My vote goes for leaving “The Joys Of Work” as it is – or indeed adding more detail to it in the original voice from some of the stories we have on this site.

@BaronVonZubb-> If you can OCR the rest of the book, that would be great. If not, let me know and I’ll email you our postal address (I’ve got an OCR program that just about works).
Nic
June 11, 2008 at 4:32 pm

While I respect what you are saying Pork, I completely disagree with the large majority of your reply to me…but each to their own, eh?
🙂

I don’t necessarily believe that a priori experience leads to amazing (or even interesting) artistic expression…Been in a riot? You may not be able to write about it with any sense of panache…Been to jail? Same applies…Held a gun to someones forehead? Same again…
One of the most beautiful qualities which authors worth taking an interest in seem to be able to develop is the ability to use the human imagination as a means to make the intangible tangible, to make something defined and real from fantasy…The difference between Jean Genet and Frankie Fraser is that Genet has the ability to write with interest and passion…

Neither does it seem as if the shifts in authorial tone in the excerpts actively contribute to the development of character and emotional exploration (although I would suggest that they would wish to do so)…rather, they seem to be a little heavy-handed which – as I suggested – could be solved by some judicious editing…

You say “If this book is edited and stylised, it becomes one step removed from itself and the life it describes”…however, it already IS edited (by memory and the choices of the writer on what is worth remembering and what isn’t) AND stylised (I can discern a strong sense of style in the excerpts)…
As for the issue of whether it becomes ‘removed from itself and the life it descrioes’ – I would imagine the narrative is drawn from memory: as memory is a construct, this text is ALREADY removed from itself and the life it describes. In this respect, it is a remembrance of a remembrance of a remembrance…
And – more importantly – if it aspires to anything more than flat reportage (which the use of language in the excerpts would suggest), then it has to acknowledge that it enters the realm of literature and will be observed within that milieu…

I’m not knocking your mucker – just commenting on a piece of art which has been presented in a public forum and consequently (or so I would feel) initiates a dialogue between the artform and the observer…

So – if “2 hours of song and dance routines about a race riot” were “patronising, sanitising and demeaning”, I would imagine you feel the same about ‘West Side Story’…which I would view as a formally beautiful and thematically deep piece of art…
🙂
The simple fact is that ‘Absolute Beginners’ just wasn’t very good…
😉
Jah Pork Pie
June 11, 2008 at 5:46 pm

@Nic-> I think the point is that I didn’t want it to be artistic expression, I wanted it to be as close to a document of what went on as possible, with the viewpoint of the author as close to what was going on as possible. Jake wrote this while he was part of what was going on: while he was still taking the journey. Fair enough, the excerpts about the Buildings and St Monicas’s and 66a aren’t written contemporaneously, but they ARE written from the viewpoint of somebody who’s got to where they are writing as a product of those times and the act of writing is still part of the journey (and so are the drugs and the squalor).

I don’t think it would have been possible to indulge in “flat reportage”. We were far too far out of our brains on whatever we could get our hands on at the time. I can discern a strong sense of Jake in the excerpts. It’s possible to be a Gonzo journalist after the fact, without knowing that you were going to write up the experience at the time.

I like Romeo and Juliet very much. Didn’t think a lot of West Side Story though, you’re right. However, West Side Story does have the advantage that the musical theatre genre is more appropriate to the content (even if some productions of the play have the subtlety of Stevie Wonder with a shotgun). Absolute Beginners was distasteful. It trivialised something which was a very real problem in 1980s society.

Perhaps Jake would be good enough to tell us if the first thing on his mind (other than a near-lethal dose of STP) at the time was the “development of character and emotional exploration”?

BTW, if you think that “The difference between Jean Genet and Frankie Fraser is that Genet has the ability to write with interest and passion”, I wouldn’t go on one of Frankie’s book tours. the chances are that he would highlight one or two other important differences 😉
Graham Burnett
June 11, 2008 at 5:51 pm

Who’s Frankie Fraser?
Penguin • Post Author •
June 11, 2008 at 6:01 pm

Mad Frankie Fraser was a hench man for the South London based Richardson gang in the late 1950’s through to the mid 1960’s. Had some barney with The Krays in East London. He was a very naughty boy, and no doubt had a hand in administering a bit of boot soup to some peeps near Southend (allegedly).
Jah Pork Pie
June 11, 2008 at 6:15 pm

I’ve just realised that I’m being totally too po-faced about all this: let’s go for it!

CAMPBELL BUILDINGS: THE MUSICAL!

featuring the songs…

“Me and You and A Bag Of Glue!”

“Stop That Vein, I Wanna Get Off!”

“Rabies and Scabies Make Punky Babies!”

“You Say Thinners, I Say Solvents, Let’s Sniff A Bag Of Zoff!”

“Waterloo Scum Set”

“Bald Knobs and Broomsticks!”

I’m getting on to Cameron Mackintosh. I’ve got first dibs on Gene Wilder to play me (with 2 half bald-wigs for the mohawk). Have you lot any thoughts on who you’d like to play your parts, or any dialogue or songs we could incorporate into this picaresque, full-blooded romp of “development of character and emotional exploration”.

I can see the reviews up in lights now:

“Much better than the sad, lethal and dreary reality” – SOUTH LONDON PRESS

“It’s Official: Septicaemia is FUN FUN FUN” – THE LANCET

“Just super! Madcap antics for the discerning 21st Century anarcho-syndicalist” – THE GUARDIAN

“Top Of The Skin Pops” – POLICE GAZETTE

“The ‘Russ’ character is the finest portrayal of a billionaire uranium-ore mogul, paediatric cardiologist, Top 10 R&B star and international 3-day eventer turned bad ever seen on the London stage. A superbly developed and emotionally-explored protagonist brought to the full by Ben Elton’s astonishing libretto and Sir Ben Kingsley’s scintillating performance” – LOADED MAGAZINE
Penguin • Post Author •
June 11, 2008 at 6:24 pm

Any nudie action on stage Pork? If so I’m in. Definiately up for some punk on punk titilation.
Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Heretics soundtrack (how many songs did they have, 5? Perhaps the orchestra could repeat them a dozen times each maybe.
Graham Burnett
June 11, 2008 at 7:10 pm

penguin> Mad Frankie Fraser was a hench man for the South London based Richardson gang in the late 1950’s through to the mid 1960’s.

Oh him. No doubt a ‘diamond geezah’ who only ever hurt his own kind and was always good to his old mum…
Penguin • Post Author •
June 11, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Yeah Graham, that’s the chappie…
The Hippo
June 11, 2008 at 10:45 pm

“Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Heretics soundtrack (how many songs did they have, 5? Perhaps the orchestra could repeat them a dozen times each maybe.”

Easy there tiger. There’s a whole Sakura casette tape out there if you’re eager for more.
The Hippo
June 11, 2008 at 11:01 pm

For the record Jake I think that it’s admirable that you wrote as much as you did. I started a similar semi-fictional memoir in the early eighties but gave up after a couple of chapters. However, as most people of that age group are still (unknowingly)defining themselves the hero tends to come across as impossibly cool and a bit 2 dimensional and I think your’s suffers from this too. The stuff I wrote makes me blush. The most interesting parts of your’s are the descriptions of squats and your bleak take on the London of the time. I’d use it as a reference and rewrite it from your perspective now.
I think Bob Short’s book hit just the right self-deprecating tone and his mix of humour and tragedy really speaks of the time. It’s exactly as I remember it. Just goes to show that adult hindsight is not necessarily ‘innacurate’.
The Hippo
June 11, 2008 at 11:39 pm

Funny Absolute Beginners is mentioned as it’s probably the best cult novel of this sort ever written. I’d just read it when I started my Brit classic and my style is an embarassing cod version of Colin McIness’s. Absolute Beginners deals in large part with the newly West Indian/African Notting Hill in the late-fifties and the riots aren’t trivialised at all. And McIness was (correct me if I’m wrong) middle aged when he wrote it, yet it’s one of the most youthful books I’ve ever read. It can be done. As a twenty year old I felt I’d really ‘lived’ but in retrospect I knew fuck all. I still know fuck all but knowing this would probably make me a better writer today.
Jah Pork Pie
June 12, 2008 at 12:52 am

@TheHippo-> Absolute Beginners is my favourite book: quite the best thing I’ve ever read, bar none (and my ex was an English Lit grad so believe me I’ve had to suffer reading some stuff). 🙂

It’s a great ‘rite of passage’ novel (in terms of societal change and individual change by the narrator character), and MacInnes perches everything just right: the explosive social and political tone of the times, the language(s), the various viewpoints of the racial and age groups (and the authorities), plus the narrative: ie the moral point that he’s using the characters to illustrate. I don’t think that MacInnes’ characters are autobiographical at all though, which is what differentiates it from Jake’s book, for me. They may be amalgams of real characters he knew but they have the feel of characters manufactured to provide a stage for the narative to progress.

A delightful book. I really must get round to reading “Mr Love and Justice” (about the prostitution trade in Notting Hill) and “City Of Spades” (not a PC title but a very sensitive exploration of immigration into Notting Hill, by all accounts).
Jah Pork Pie
June 12, 2008 at 1:10 am

@Pengy-> I dunno about Lloyd Webber. He’s always struck me as being more suited to the ‘heavier’ subject matter 😉 I’m thinking Bialystock and Bloom’s man perhaps? 😉

We could call it “Syringtime For Fixers”.

“Syringtime for fixers,
The Germs are in,
Winter for mainlines and arms…”

“Don’t be lucid, hale and hearty,
Come and join the Tuinal Party”.

Hmmm, I’m liking this… Uma Thurman as Ruthless, anyone?

Eddie Izzard as Marilyn?

Will Mellor as Skinhead John?

They’ve all got a proven musical theatre background so they shouldn’t have any problems at all bringing development of character and emotional exploration by the bucketload!

We’re gonna have to audition for The Scousers though.