Acceptable In The 80s

Alley Cafe Bar is one of those painfully fashionable places that might intimidate people, and as such had a selection of draught lagers that I had never heard of. Sadly for me, there was an absence of Guinness or hand pulled real ale, so I had to make a choice. I can occasionally stand to drink lager, so I had a bottle of Grolsch. The bottle of Grolsch became a history lesson for my daughter about a largely forgotten moment in popular culture.

There once was a pop group called Bros, fans of this outfit were known as 'Brosettes', and they copied every facet of their dress.

One of the things that Bros did, was to attach the tops of Grolsch bottles to their boots. Therefore, Grolsch bottle tops became a sought after item. Even boys wanted to wear them, because it impressed girls down at the discotheque. What the school bus needed was someone with a large collection of Grolsch bottle tops.

Ta-daa!

My dad bought a pub in Hastings (where we lived at the time) with all the contents within. This is where I had my biggest childhood bedroom (that I painted myself), with my first set of turntables and all the DJ kit. I also inherited boxes and boxes of 7" and 12" singles and LPs, keeping the good ones and binning the shit (we used to put all rubbish in one bin in those less enlightened days, and it didn't occur to us to give unwanted stuff to charity shops). Along with my new toys, I also made a lucrative discovery. In the cellar there were a lot of crates containing empty Grolsch bottles, with their cherished lids.

For as long as my supply lasted, or as long as this fashion lasted I can't remember which ended first, I was king of the school bus. Grolsch bottle tops, 50p each.

And that was when 50p was a lot of money.

I couldn't resist a demonstration...