ITAI ITAI – The Comic Strip

Beautifully drawn

by

Rab Morrison

This wee strip was very accurate and summed it all up

THE MUIRFIELD PROJECT – “We have no Art – We simply do the best we can”

The Muirfield Project was initiated using money from the Job’s Creation Project, as a way of lowering youth unemployment figures, by setting up an Arts Workshop using unemployed youngsters on a minimum wage

However, it turned out to be a great way of acting as a focal point for a group of some 60 – 80 teenagers each year, allowing them to get a taste of screen-printing, tapestry, pottery, leatherwork, and decorative cabinet making …

BUT, more to the point, a breathing space and a gathering … outside of the normal work ethic … and with a healthy measure of Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n roll at its collective heart … and this was all the more paradoxical, as we were based opposite the local police station

They must’ve fukkin known …. look at the INMATES … !!!!

Yeah, that’s Chris at the window

Yeah, that’s me slogging through snow entering Muirfield

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I formed various bands with the young people who worked there and became my friends, and we rehearsed, did posters, t-shirts, and backdrops for our musical enterprises, AS YOU CAN SEE BELOW … and when I left, I was proud to see it continue with ex-trainees working there in full-time positions

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I had four exceptionally happy years there, and have met many ex-Muirfield Trainees in my travels, worlwide … and I’ve heard nothing but good reports from them on the influence it fostered … a love of music and the arts, and the knowledge that you still had loads to learn, and that doing so could be fun

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As I said in Itai Itai …

“Life’s Hard – Tough Shit – Fukk Up – And Get On With It”

WHIIT …. Another Fine Cumbernauld Band

WHIIT

Some publicity fotos

WHIIT ….. was Chris Hendrie, Aln McNiven, Scott Brady, and Stu

WHIIT ………….. was the offspring of Itai Itai

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WHIIT …. then transformed, and became

The Death Of Duke  Ellington

… or, as we became better known,

The Dead Dukes

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NUMBERNAULD before ma time?

ITAI ITAI was originally a different line-up from the one featured here … I’ll post fotos of the earlier band too … but, to most of the Pain Society which followed our gigs, and antics, THIS will always be ITAI ITAI

RAB MORRISON … THE ROBOT

ALN, STU & KOWBOY

ITAI ITAI was …

Aln McNiven, Chris Hendrie, Craig Stronach, The Kowboy, Rab Morrison – The Robot, and Stu

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THE GOOD (Cumbern)AULD DAYS

Well, it’s been quite a wee while since I added to this blog, as I was rather ill and not doing much of anything but getting by on a day-to-day basis

Pain has a rather immediate way of keeping your attention

And, talking of Pain … the old days of The Muirfield Arts Project, Cumbernauld Theatre, Scabaret, and the respective bands I played with, Itai Itai, and The Pain Society, Whiit, The Death Of Duke Ellington, Dum Dum, have been coming back to haunt me with astonishing regularity of late … and, in most cases, quite pleasantly so

So many people from that old Cumbernauld music & arts scene have resurfaced, due primarily to the accessibility that Facebook now offers, and Tracy Beale has now posted hundreds of great fotos from that punk era which have delighted and embarrassed me in equal measure

What a collection of twatish clothes & hairstyles I’ve proudly displayed over those years …

Oh, and I DID know it was twattish, even back then …

That was my motto even then, “I Don’t Give A Fuck”

So …. I’m posting some fotos and images from that period for all those who’ve asked

If you want better quality, high-res versions, just ask.