redcoat of the year

[minehead forever]

now that the main season is over i've been looking back over the season to see which redcoat stood out to me head and shoulders above the rest.now when i say this i mean a redcoat which worked hard,talked to guests,you know what i mean,duties which a proper redcoat should do.and i don't mean just because they looked fit.
to start, mine is redcoat nick from minehead.i mentioned in my summer write up that the guy was fantastic,he never stopped.he had the energy of 3 men,his party dancing was unbelievable,you felt tired watching him and his interaction with the guests was great.there was a few more who came close especially chris but nick pipped him for me.
who's yours and why?

[minehead forever]

was just wandering andy when you now visit butlins wether you look at the redcoats to compare them against your days,would some get away with being good enough to work in the 60's era or do you think the reds of today are just prima donna's.

[catmad]

hi, i can't answer for andy, but i was a red in 79 & 80, and it seems todays reds are more childrens entertainers. i'm only going on the tv programme i haven't been back to butlins since i left, but i'm going to the red reunion in may so i may be able to comment after then.

[SkegRed]

Minehead forever

Firstly My Most Sincere apologies for not answering your message,so sorry l missed this one,only excuse l hadnt got used to this excellent Updated Bygones

There lS a difference with 60s+ Redcoats and todays,WE put the Campers (Guests) first.if you didnt you didnt last long,and were soon brought down to size if we got too big for our boots.
lf you look at the 60+ Redcoat Team photos you'll find the Team had quite a number of older(30s,) Redcoats ,NO Pima Donna's
What is missing today is todays Redcoats do NOT mix with the Campers,we didnt have singing,Dancing lessons we learnt off each other and our Redcoat shows were certainly as good,,we were Dedicated Redcoats.
Saying that Some(not all) of todays Redcoats would fit in with us Hi-De-Hi Redcoats,we'd learn them that we are there for the Campers(Guests) not for ourselves,could be why l was asked back for 6 seasons and offered a seventh
skegred Andy

[catmad]

YES, EVERYTHING ANDY SAID!

[minehead forever]

thanks for the reply andy,its always good to get a proper insight into the realities of living the butlins experience in its hey day,as i thought there obviously is a difference to todays reds and the reds of the 60's.
although having had a few visits to minehead last year as i've wrote many times there is a few reds there who would of been great 60's reds.

[frank worrall]

I agree with Andy thats the way you worked then, not just because you had to or the gates were quickly opened for you, but because you genuanly wanted to . At Bognor this year, one particular red always made the effort, even to us two old codgers staggering around, heading for bingo and other exciting activities. People dont talk to each other these days. start talking and smiling at people in the street and you would get arrested or beaten up or both (You should be so lucky). If you walk along the canal bank, or take the dog for a walk you would be o.k. though.

[rocky mason]

YES, EVERYTHING ANDY SAID!

I certainly agree with everything that Andy and Frank have said. I have learned a great deal about this comparison by talking to regular visitors and getting my daughters opinion. In my early days at Filey, in the fifties, there were 97 Redcoats, and only very few of them, perhaps the odd dozen, had a stage act. As much as we loved the glory and adoration we got on the Redcoat show, it was only a small part of the job!! Choose how good an act a Redcoat might have been, if they didn't mix and mingle or didn't learn how to work out the competition bye's, they would be quickly shown the door!! As a compere/producer I was able to put on a fantastic Redcoat show, with hardly any or even no acts at all. Enthusiastic,popular Reds doing slapstick comedy sketches couldn't be followed!!! Every Redcoat could do 'Joey Joey's' to open the show. My view when putting on a show was "I will try to get the lads to dance in the Opening, but if they can't we will do a marching one!!" I have seen just one recent Redcoat Show, they were not cheered off!! Our's always were!!! I have not used certain Redcoat acts in favour of Johnny O'Mahoney doing "The Naughty Boy" sketch, because that was stronger than any act and was what the camper's wanted!...Rocky

[pushbutton]

I agree Redcoat Nick is amazing, although there were several others at Minehead in 2009 who I think would have been equally good in the 60s, 70s, or 80s.

That includes both of the Chriss, Dean, Nick, Paul and several others whos names I have forgotten unfortunately.

Chris M and Nick, in particular, do regularly mix with guests and just sit and chat, as well as being great entertainers. I'm very impressed.

[minehead forever]

chris gray has jumped ship after 4 great years at minehead and gone to the dark side which is butlins skegness.its such a shame chris has left minehead as for me he was the only red that could host a venue to a style that he had the audience eating out of his hand.its time now for chris morley to step up to the plate now and show what he's made of.
skegness has gained a fantastic red.

[goodie]

Back in the days people we diddnt have the PC crew breathing down our necks.

Remember some of the things we got up to?

I dont think for one minute that half the things we got up to would be tolerated now.

What was regarded as good fun would be regarded as an insult now so the redcoat of today has to behave in a different manner.

[minehead forever]

i think minehead red chris morley has come along way since he started,in his 1st season he did struggle a bit,but now he's fantastic,think its helped him growing in the job with a great bunch of reds and of course paul beckett.

[Joker]

You're not wrong. Chris M and the Red he works with (sorry I'm terrible with names) did a cracking job in Reds for the 75th really got in to the swing of it. Both of them went beyond the call of duty to make the celebrations a success.

[minehead forever]

You'll be thinking of redcoat paul.

[minehead forever]

the 2 are working seperately this season,chris morley is still doing reds,but since drew haddon got kicked out for murdering cs last year redcoat paul has moved upstairs.