What are the meanings of some of the references in “Top Rank Suite?
The Top Rank Organization, which owned a chain of dance and music halls in England, also owned the copyrights to all of Justin’s output from about 1966-1974. “Top Rank Suite” seems to be written to celebrate the expiration of that contract. “Ave Tombola” and “Social” may refer to certain kinds of gigs where musicians were expected to “pay their dues” on their way to becoming professionals, since a “tombola” is actually a form of raffle held at church and other social gatherings. Also, “Tombola” happens to be the supper club from which the Moodies (Mike Pinder, actually) purchased their first Mellotron. “They played a good game of football in Mucron” might refer to the time when the Moodies were absolutely broke but had made their decision to write and play their own music, going to Belgium in order to get gigs that paid decently. Mucron, also spelled “Mouscron,” is located in northwestern Belgium on the French border, fairly close to Lille, France. As noted in Section 3.3, all the Mood
