4 Mimes/The Discoes from Sheffield clubland

[Grit Man 10]

bob crawley

[Joto 11]

bob crawley

 

Thanks Grit Man

[hobinfoot 25]

I first saw them when they were called the three disco's in the 70s I saw them many times after the last time I can remember was at the NGH social club they never let you down always had a good night.

[thatsme 10]

Hiya ,can anyone tell me where i might see some old video footage of the Discoes , they used to be very popular on the clubs in sheffield and i would really like to see any surviving video of them .thanks

[craig12 10]

not sure about footage , but rex who was the lead funny one operates cb agency from over the road at the old silver blades ice rink, its part of the mercury newspaper building and i think rex works out of the back offices an old pub looking building theres also a award on southey wmc wall to them

Edited September 18, 2013 by craig12

[kidneystone 23]

There is already a thread about The Discoes Here and Here

Edited September 19, 2013 by kidneystone

[speedypete0 12]

great group

[Grit Man 10]

there was a vhs video made a few years ago at firth park wmc, I,m sure there must be one knocking about.

[lintel 10]

My husband and brother worked with bob crawley at cooper and turners when he was in the four mimes, he went to my sisters wedding , he and his wife were lovely , used to go to smithywood club everytime they were on , they were all nice people .

My sister had a couple of dates in the early days with roger, of course that was before she got married.

Edited September 22, 2013 by lintel

[RobertDay 11]

If anyone has the video, let me know pls.

[PeterR 10]

...I do have a 3 Discoes video !!!

Unfortunately it is a recording of a charity night at the Dial House WMC featuring other acts also on the bill , with the late Tony White as compere.

The case cover is just featuring the Discoes on it but they only feature in a 20 min slot - most of which is poor quality by todays standards, filmed probably by camcorder during the early 90's , in the smokey club atmosphere !

I will try and get the video transfered onto DVD over the next week or so , and can make some available copies to anyone interested !?

 

Hi bracken, I went to school with Rex and Bob. Were you successful in getting the Discos video onto dvd?

Regards, Peter.

[filmfan 10]

I saw The Discoes many times in the 1970s and early 1980s. The act hardly varied over all the years but it was a bit like re-watching your favorite video every now and then. I certainly never got tired of watching them.

 

Here's what I remember of the act:

 

Bridget the midget - Rex as Bridget, Bob as the guy who says 'I dig it, I really dig it'. Bridget's wig always fell off (part of the act).

 

Routine with Rex as the martial arts master from the TV series 'Kung Fu', with half ping pong balls for eyes. 'Yes, Grasshopper', were his lines, with the gag that they were written inside the ping pong balls. He switches them round and the lines became 'Grasshopper, Yes'. Some other toilet gag about 'looking for the one with paper'.

 

Demis Roussos - Think it was Bob as Demis, miming to 'Forever and Ever', wearing a huge, tent-like sheet thing. The other two guys were also underneath and they all started moving off in different directions.

 

The Streak - Bob does a runner around the club, with a police helmet covering his modesty. He removes it to reveal another one underneath.

 

Trail of the Lonesome Pine - Roger introduced this one by informing the audience that he had seen Laurel and Hardy on one of their British musical Hall tours. Roger as Stan Laurel and Rex as Oliver Hardy were brilliant. Being a Laurel and Hardy fan, this was my favorite part of the act. They played it as a nice tribute to L & H, with a more or less copy of the original (except Rex used a large inflatable bottle to hit Roger over the head with, instead of a mallet).

 

Cocktails for two - Mime to the Spike Jones classic.

 

Brown girl in the ring - The 'show me a motion' potty gag comes to mind every time I here this Boney M song.

 

Elvis - My memory is a bit confused here. I certainly remember Rex doing Elvis and running around the club in a vocal gap in the song. But others on here have mentioned 'Guitar Man' as the song he mimed to, which I think I sort of remember but I'm sure it was a different track that I saw him do in late 70s, early 80s (I can hear the tune in my head but can't think of the words, so don't know the title - they were difficult to make out at the time also) . My confusion could also be down to a memory of 'Guitarzan', the comedy version of 'Guitar Man', which I may be getting mixed up with some other club or TV act (seem to think The Discoes did this, with Bob as Tarzan).

 

Walk Tall - Roger as Val Doonican, in a jumper with extra long sleeves.

 

Up a Lazy River - Roger as Bing Crosby.

 

Rex as Freddie Trueman, from his time on the TV gameshow 'Indoor League'. 'We've got some rrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeet good uns on t'neet, si thi'.

 

Monster Mash - Rex wearing a Frankenstein's monster mask and massive wooden platform boots (takes one off and starts limping around). Bob as a hunchback with blacked out teeth. Gag using the toothpaste advert line about 'no fillings today, mum'.

 

Pretty Vacant - Mime to the Sex Pistols. Wooden guitar props. Think Rex did the wig thing for this one (gets people in the audience to throw the wig and he catches it on his head).

 

Space Oddity - Bob as Bowie, wearing some type of one legged sparkly leotard. A bubble machine let out a stream of bubbles that Rex first head butts and then tries to eat as the bubbles float around the stage. This then leads into the Barry White song 'My first, my last, my everything', with Rex getting close to Bob's Bowie, before scaring him off with his intentions.

 

Do you want to be in my gang - Rex as Gary Glitter. Wig gag, where Rex puts the wig on various places on his body.

 

Rex also did a routine where he gets his finger stuck in the mic stand. He says he will look a right berk going round Barnsley Market tomorrow. Then adds, 'It's shut!'

 

I think there was also a routine about ventriloquism, where Rex exclaims 'I'm ventilating' (I could be getting this one mixed up with another act on TV).

 

There may be more but that's all I remember.

 

Shame some video hasn't turned up yet. Would love to see some footage.

Edited December 16, 2013 by filmfan