The Last Laugh
BACK IN THE LATE SEVENTIES, early eighties this village was blessed with having its very own rock band made up of local lads who would practice every Monday night in the village hall and would play locally for various parties and charity events.
The band were called WISP and although not perfect, always raised a smile when seen playing. It wasn't long before the loyal fan base realised that the name WISP was short for `WORST IN SWAFFHAM PRIOR' but that didn't matter to us or them.
To cut a long story short, one year we were asked to play a one hour slot at the Village Feast evening party. Unbeknown to me, my father had turned up to see us play for the first time and not wanting to put any of the band off he chose to watch the (incredible) performance from the entrance lobby. Whilst in there he was approached by a very angry Village Hall treasurer who couldn't understand that the band hadn't been vetted more closely as in his opinion we were just a group of noisy idiots. My dad then very proudly explained that I was his son and that although it wasn't his cup of tea at least they were playing for fun and for NOTHING.
Two weeks later, following a Village Hall meeting, I was approached by the committee member that booked us and thanked me for our efforts but because of a few complaints from certain people on the committee, he asked me if there was no alternative for next year's party. I agreed to sort something out.
You should have seen the look on the treasurer's face the following year when he saw and heard the very same noisy band with one subtle difference, we had changed the band's name to NO ALTERNATIVE. Priceless.