Local Life - Wigan - November 2020

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ever been to the Three-Legged Fisherman in Heskin?
It’s just past Charnock Richard services, they serve the
best Chicken Kiev in Lancashire.” Bernard added, “Back
in the day when I’d just started drinking, I used to enjoy
a breath-taking night at ‘Jokers Bar’ in St Helens town
centre opposite Scala Snooker. Tuesday night’s there
were off the charts, especially when they had a 2 for 1
offer on MD20/20. Remember that?”
Although Bernard now lives in Coventry, (he really
does, it’s even documented in one of their songs, ‘This
Lancashire Town) it’s easy to see the love these chaps
have for their roots and how much it has shaped them.
Dickie, Kenny and Ron all still reside in the borough,
Kenny adds, “We love St Helens’ equidistance between the
throbbing metropolitan
hubs of Liverpool and
Manchester. That
and Burchall’s Pie
Shop on Westfield
Street.”
The band first dabbled with comedy music, producing a
remix of the Coldplay song “Clocks” for Radio One DJ Chris
Moyles in the style of the German dance group Scooter. In
a play on words they named the side project Moped. The
track proved popular with listeners of the show and they
went on to produce several more remixes. Then came the
idea of a folk band, who write songs and tell stories about
modern life and the rest, as they say, is history.
Music is in their blood; it makes them happy, but who are
their influences and who do they enjoy listening to? Ron
tells me, “The CD player in the Hotpots van will quite often
play a lot of Queen, early 80s pop, a bit of AC/DC and a
smattering of drum and bass…it’s a very broad church.
Bernard can’t remember the first record that he bought
but Dickie says, “My first record was The Smurf Song by
Father Abraham, this goes some way to explaining why
we make the music that we do.”
I am informed by the band members that all young men
in St Helens have the same aspirations growing up. Their