feel about it. Themes were directly related to social conditions and Casey Bill can be heard singing about the New Deal in his WPA Blues. But he sings as a man whose house is being pulled down around him rather than one who has been given a job by the WPA. In the South old techniques were taken up by younger men like Robert Johnston who varied them with new techniques heard from records from the North.
The Forties and Fifties were the great years for the Chicago Blues. In the heavy boogie style of Pete Johnston we can hear the origins of R and B which became popular in the Fifties. A new burst of life was given by the "down home" singers who moved up after the war. The bands of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James produced a very heavy electric sound which seemed to burst out of the small clubs in which they played. James used a bottleneck technique very similar to that of Robert Johnston. This was the time when the Blues were being discovered by a large white audience.
The sudden realisation that the old Blues were rapidly disappearing led to many rediscovery trips to the deep south to bring back the old masters. Many were dead, having spent their lives in poverty, but Bukka White, John Hurt and a few others were still able to play. This "boom" has allowed much old material to be re-issued and it seems a great pity that while Mayall and Fleetwood Mac have colossal record sales the real hard Blues and the origins of today's music are ignored. It is worth noting that Eric Claptan will probably die a very rich man while Robert Johnston, who provided most of Clapton's material, died penniless at the age of 26.

Stephen Bruce, V.

THE WINDOW
The window looks like nothing
nothing at all.
You only notice a window
when it's beside a wall.

Maybe it is dirty
maybe it is clean
a window might look like a mirror
or just a very smooth stream.

You might notice
insects trudging up and down
And an occasional moth
twirling around.
On the window which looks like nothing
nothing at all.

Vincent Martin, IB.

THE RSD

... A drama school . . .
actors
the main characters are despised by the rest
the head actor is mimicked
and despised
by ambitious bit-actors
dissatisfied with their walk-on parts.

Yet they aren't too nice either
a motley crowd of comedians
and intellectuals
who are followed by the troupe:
who laugh when their sheep dog speaks,
and the hips
who just live true glue
to fill their small lives.

Stephen Bruce, V.

PORTRAIT

It all began with a conception
of an idea,
of what it was all about
and I was the result.
When able to walk I was given a gun
only plastic but still it held power
the latest power enabled me
to stab my sister with a dart
Hand grenades and a plastic SLR
have replaced
spinning tops and wooden horses,
as Vietnamisation replaces
Colonialisation.

And as the benevolent government
of Harold Macmillan had realised
the need for knowledge
as well as a power lust
I was sent to school -
to soak in liquid ideals
hand picked ideas
selected by the Education authorities
(those faceless pens who yearly
reject your bus pass application).
By careful planning I learnt how
to appreciate the Victor
and how to recognise Germans.

Under the ________ of Science
I was taught how to make beer
and bombs
but never bothered to buy a licence.
English - reading gave me ideas
and emotions I'd never had before,
opened New Horizons and one new door
I had crested the hill and could now look back
and see my life spread below
and my seven worthless certificates.

Stephen Bruce, V.