I Believe in Miracles

Brian Clough.  Iconoclast, genius, mischief maker, football manager.  I first remember Brian as Derby County manager at the end of the 1960s when together with Peter Taylor, he set the football world alight with an exciting youthful team who gained promotion from the second division.   Clough's most important early signing was the wonderful Dave Mackay who played as sweeper and captained his younger teammates to the First Division title in 1972.

The club reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1973, but amidst much controversy they lost out to Juventus.  Like most football fans, I was astonished when Clough and Taylor left Derby later that year and went south to Brighton.  Even more amazing was the news in 1974 that Brian was replacing Don Revie as Leeds United manager.  Clough had lambasted the club and Revie for cheating their way to success, so it came as little surprise when he and Leeds parted ways after just forty-four days.  Tellingly, Peter Taylor had remained on the south coast when Brian went north.

In January 1975, Clough became the manager of Nottingham Forest who were then a mid-table second division club.  Eighteen months later, the dynamic duo were reunited when Peter Taylor came to the City Ground and things really did begin to move.  Forest were promoted to Division One in 1977 and then took the top flight by storm and became League Champions the next year.

The European Cup now came back into Clough's life, and after beating the holders Liverpool in the first round, Forest kept on going and reached the final following a tight two legged semi-final against Cologne.  Malmo awaited in Munich.  The final was a tense affair, settled by a headed goal from Trevor Francis who was making his European debut following his million pound transfer from Birmingham City earlier in the season.  The 1979-1980 season saw Forest retain the trophy against Hamburg in Madrid.

That was the peak of Clough and Taylor’s career together.  Peter left Forest to retire in May 1982, only to come back to manage Derby County seven months later.  Brian and he sadly fell out the following year over a player’s transfer and never spoke to each other again.  Meanwhile, Forest continued as one of the top First Division teams throughout the 1980s, but never again approached the peaks of the late 1970s.  By the early 1990s, Brian was struggling with alcoholism and Forest were relegated from the Premier League in 1993 and Brian Clough retired from football management.

Peter Taylor had died in 1990 and Brian Clough cried when he heard the news, and attended his old friend’s funeral.  Brian finally underwent a liver transplant in 2003, but died the next year from stomach cancer.  So ended the life of a true footballing great, and although far from perfect, Brian Clough really did help so many of us believe in miracles.

Everybody Dance 😊

Chic have been one of the greatest groups around for the past forty years.  Nile Rodgers has been leading the band since they were formed and what fantastic music he has made.

I first recall hearing Chic in 1977 when Dance, Dance, Dance was a hit. It was followed by a succession of great singles such as Everybody Dance, Le Freak, I Want Your Love and the era defining Good Times in 1979.  I had the pleasure of seeing Chic live in the Autumn of 1979 at the Liverpool Empire and they were absolutely fantastic.  Along with The Beatles in Llandudno in Summer 1963, this remains my favourite of all concerts.

Nile had Bernard Edwards on bass and Tony Thompson on drums on stage with him that night as well as many other contributors to what had become known as the Chic Organisation.  The string section of the group made their disco/funk/ pop sound even more unique and people were dancing in the aisles all evening long.

Fast forward a few months and Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang was all over the airwaves.  At the time (like Nile Rodgers apparently) I did not appreciate the song.  In fact, Rodgers and Edwards threatened legal action over copyright but settled when they became credited as co-writers.  Again, similar to Nile, over the years the song has grown and grown on me and it is now one of my (and his) favourite songs and of course was instrumental in introducing hip hop to the public at large.

The 1980s saw Nile as one of the decade's top producers with artists as diverse as David Bowie, Duran Duran and Madonna.  By the time the 1990s was with us, I had lost touch with the popular music scene to some extent, but remember the shock when reading that Bernard Edwards had died of pneumonia following a concert in Japan in 1996.

This century has seen Nile touring with Chic, including two magnificent performances at Glastonbury over recent years.  He has also survived prostrate cancer and contributed to Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories album.  Nile Rodgers is one of my all time musical heroes and here is the song inspired by Nile and Bernard being refused entry into Studio 54 on New Year’s Eve 1977: