In 1968 now that we were fully professional, The Cortinas started travelling further afield. We had one agent in Nottingham so we had a lot of work in The Nottingham and Derbyshire area. We also started performing at clubs in London and on 20th April 1968 we performed at probably the most prestigeous club in Town, The Marquee Club in Wardour Street. It wasn't a very large club but it had a great atmosphere and the sound was always good. In 1968 The Marquee Club had no license for drinks. It was run by a Guy called John Gee who was also The Compere and always dressed very formally, ie suit and tie. 1968 was in the middle of "Flower Power" and it was quite odd between acts that John Gee would come on stage in his suit and announce in a very posh voice to the audience who were usually all dressed in hippy style outfits, "There will now be a break between bands but if you go to the cafeteria at the back you can buy a Coca Cola and a Mars Bar". The dressing room at the Marquee was like a small corridor and the walls were covered in graffitee like "Eric Clapton Loves Bert Weedon" and "Pete Townsend is a nose on legs" (only ancient musicians will understand these).

On 23rd July we played The Marquee supporting "TONY RIVERS and the CASTAWAYS" (Not him again) and after the show John Gee asked us if we could go on and do another show at "BLAISES" one of the top night clubs at the time. We did the show and while we were playing who should walk in but JIMI HENDIX with ERIC BURDON of "THE ANIMALS". I can't say that JIMI HENDRIX sat and watched us intently but he did give us a friendly musicians nod as he left half an hour later.

The diversity of our gigs was quite amazing at times. On 10th July we were booked to appear at RAMPTON PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL in Nottinghamshire. Home to some of the most hardened criminals and mental cases. Our gear was piled onto trolleys to be taken to the theatre. We were escorted by warders and every time we went through a door it was locked behind us, until we reached the stage. We got our gear onto the stage and all the doors leading to the stage were locked. We were playing for the patients and when the curtains opened for our performance the men were one side and the women the other with warders separating them standing in the centre aisle. At the end of each song a few people clapped and a few people made comments like "get yer hair cut". To say it was the oddest audience we had played to is an understatement. We were very glad to get out of there.

In November 1968 THE CORTINAS name was really old hat and out of date so after much thought we decided to change our name to "OCTOPUS".

(Click on photo to enlarge plus more photos)

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