Sweaty Betty

Track of the day Brown Betty - Duke Ellington.

There's supposed to be a man on the roof repointing the chimney stack. He's not there because the rain is pouring down on Bogsville. It's good for the water table but bad for builders. As a result I'm stuck at home waiting to see if anyone turns up and listening to old records. Brown Betty by Duke Ellington reminds me, of Sweaty Betty's, a chip shop in Aberdeen up there in Scotland.

A crowd of us were standing outside Sweaty's one night when some asshole decided to pick a fight with Charlie, who was a very large but placid sort of a guy. After a totally fruitless discussion with the drunken asshole, Charlie asked us to hold his coat while he sorted him out.

At this point things became somewhat confused and Charlie disappeared. We couldn't find him anywhere. We had his coat but not him.

A few minutes later a first floor window opened over Sweaty's doorway and Charlie was leaning out asking us to throw his coat up. There was a woman behind him and Charlie was looking very pleased with himself. I don't know if her name was Betty but she'd obviously decided that Charlie would be better employed entertaining her than sorting out the drunken asshole down on the street.

We all stood around for a while but eventually decided he wasn't coming down again, so we wandered off without him. Charlie? He threw up and got thrown out.

Sweaty Betty's has gone now. It's been turned into a boutique and the first floor window is hidden behind its tasteless, modern façade.

Deni Bonet

May I recommend Then I Really Love You by Deni Bonet?