It was a cafe in Norwich run by a former police colleague of mine. When he retired he bought a share in the cafe and subsequently his family became sole owners.
The cafe, for those of you that know Norwich, was opposite what used to be Debenhams and before that was Curls. Morellos was just into an alleyway that led to Looses kitchen shop which is also no more. There was also a hair salon close by.
Anyway Morellos was eventually sold and I believe became a Carribbean restaurant and is now a Portuguese. So we thought we would try it for old times sake.
The decor is very different as Morellos always had a matey kind of laid back vibe. It's decor is more upmarket but still cosy. Tuesdays are Tapas and steak nights. We had Tapas and it was reasonably good. Service was quick and efficient and we left in plenty of time to get to Cinema City.
As we were leaving, a diner was complaining about how his Rib Eye steak had been cooked. Didn't hang around to listen to the conversation which I know isn't like me.
Our visit to Cinema City was to see the 50th anniversary presentation of Ziggy Stardust's final show in July 1973.
For those not in the know, Ziggy was the persona of David Bowie. There was a recorded panel discussion before the film which consisted of people who either knew Bowie or were influenced by him. Most of what they said was mindless drivel and actor Richard E Grant seemed to want to shock by using four letter words and talking about shagging. He wore trousers and shoes from the 1970s which reminded me that when I got married to the first Mrs Steward in 1976 I wore stack shoes which almost made me normal height give or take a few inches.
At this point some of you will have a sharp intake of breath.
"Blimey, how many Mrs Stewards have there been?" You will say.
"Only one," I reply. It was just me trying to be amusing and probably failing miserably.
After the drivel of the discussion we had a re-mastered version of the documentary film. That was after piano player Mike Garson had done a jazz medley of Bowie songs. Garson is one of my favourite pianists with very much an attacking style. His playing is phenomenal and he seems to be a genuinely good guy.
The panel did talk about the influence Bowie had on culture and individual people and I had a long hard think about this. What kind of influence did Bowie have on me, if any?
The ridiculous answer is "quite a lot."
What follows is not just about music.
There are many people that influence your life. These include parents, relatives, friends, teachers, bosses and fellow workers, people who share your interests etc.
Also into this category will come people you will never meet - sports men and women, actors, singers and many more. We are often made up of our influences and this of course will also include places.
There are two types of people who influence you - those you know and those you don't know personally but know of. Bowie falls into the latter category. I never met him (sadly) although when he died I was contacted by a newspaper in Essex and a radio station in Norfolk asking to use reviews of his gigs I had written.
Bowie started influencing me when I was at school. My friends were into heavy rock whilst I was extolling the virtues of Bowie and The Bee Gees.
I remember taking Bowie's LP "Man Who Sold The World" around a friend's and saying " If you think Bowie is a folk singer just listen to this album." That album was full of pure rock music and in the film there's a blistering 15 minute version of "Width of a Circle" with some fantastic guitar playing from Mick Ronson. I had forgotten just how good Ronson was.
When I got to college I was fortunate to see Bowie in concert in Harlow Playhouse. This was on. It is still my favourite all time gig and it will never be beaten.
All these posing present day rock frontmen should watch Bowie in action and see how it is really done.
"There never can be another Bowie. He was of a certain time in musical history," was one of the more intelligent comments from the panel and how right that is. Today singers and artists are two a penny, most of them having little or no talent. What Bowie brought was a theatricality to music that has rarely been matched. He mixed fashion with music with style with theatre and mime and many other components.
He invented a character and then at the height of that character's popularity, killed him off and invented another and then another. Along the way he played numerous tricks and fired off in many different directions. He was the ultimate artist.
By its very nature the remastered film is of a certain time which just happens to be 1973. July 1973 was just five months before I started writing a daily diary so I can't look back with any certainty on what I was doing on the day of that concert.
I would have been working and living in Lowestoft, having finished my journalism course just two months earlier. So whilst Bowie was kicking up a storm, I was probably writing WI reports for the local paper - not that there's anything wrong with writing WI reports of course.
So we return to the question - what influence did this man have on me and the answer is quite a lot in a very subtle way.
1/ He helped to foster my love of rock music and beautifully crafted songs, often with great meaning in the lyrics.
2/ Indirectly he fostered my love of reading as I sought out books about him.
3/ He helped my inquisitive nature by wanting to visit some of the places where he lived and where he played.
4/ he made me check out mime artists like Marcel Marceau and songwriters such as Jacques Brel.
5/ He made me try to play the piano like Mike Garson (and fail miserably I might add).
6/ he made me think about such conditions as madness and schizophrenia which were covered in his lyrics.
I'm sure there are many other bits and pieces in my life that Bowie influenced. Ultimately he seemed sub human and genuinely from another planet.
Watching the remastered film does give you a sense that onstage he was Ziggy Stardust but at the same time he was also David Bowie playing a part and beneath that was a young man from Brixton in London born as plain David Jones. A man who probably as a boy at school kept his books in what had a notice on it "Davey Jones' Locker". I'm sure I read that somewhere although I may have made it up.
I'm just thankful that Bowie's son the film director Duncan Jones chose that name over and above his original name of Zowie Bowie. Mind you he couldn't have disliked the name Zowie too much as he incorporated it as one of his middle names and also gave it to his daughter.
David Bowie wrote a very touching song "Kooks" about his baby son. That's on the album Hunky Dory which is my second favourite album of all time.
*. *. *
"I'm gonna have to go to the loo again."
"But you only went half an hour ago".
"Do you know where my glasses are. I seem to have lost them?"
"Are these our seats as I can't see without my glasses.".
Such were the comments at the film of people now in their seventies attending the viewing. Roll back 50 years to the days of Ziggy and the questions would have been very different.
"I need the loo."
"Not surprised after the amount of beer you've drunk."
"Don't suppose you've got a spiff?.
*. *. *
I take no pleasure in saying I guessed correctly who the high profile BBC celebrity was who certain unsavoury allegations have been made against.
My rule of thumb is simply - think if the most wholesome person and the most unlikely and you will probably have the answer.
At times it's easy to lose faith in the human race. Whether Huw Edwards has done anything wrong remains to be seen but the implication is there.
Edwards always seemed to be a tad too wholesome with his coverage of national events such as the Queen's funeral and the Coronation.
Always makes me suspicious
*. *. *
I love the way the distress of young people is just glossed over or not treated with any gravity.
Yesterday the Bank of England announced that mortgage rises could see people paying as much as £600 to £1000 extra a month. Where exactly do they expect this money to come from?
They seem to dismiss this as if it doesn't matter. Well it does bloody matter. Is there any surprise that people are asking for over 10 per cent pay increases when they are faced with such sharp rides? It's quite obscene.