Steve Broughton's Bitz

NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

2011-02-24T17:22:00.002Z

I wonder if that's how we'll all be in the end!
It's like the joke about the two old guys strapped up in their chairs,hardly able to breathe.
One looks at the other and says;
' Just think Albert, if we hadn't have stopped drinking and smoking , we could have missed all this'

Edward Lear.

2011-02-15T12:31:00.005Z

I didn't have too many books read to me when I was a little kid but I do remember Dad on occasion gleefully reading to me from one of two books usually. Kipling's Just So Stories and the very mad and wonderful Complete Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear.
So to try to cheer you up this time I have endeavoured to write a limerick in the style of the great man himself thus:

THERE ONCE LIVED A LAD NAMED AKTIVO
IN A SEMI DETACHED RED GAZEBO
AND TO CURE ALL HIS ILLS
HE TOOK THOUSANDS OF PILLS
BUT ALAS, THEY WERE ONLY PLACEBOS!

I have recently been interestingly criticised by a mysterious person who goes by this name and have virtually been awarded a white feather by himself!
My memory of white feathers comes from Mum's stories about her days in the factories of Birmingham during WW2 when at one point she was in trouble for being a communist sympathiser and unionist. There were few men working on the shop floor in those days as most were away at war either killing or being killed. Amongst the ones who were left were the conscientious objectors or pacifists. Whether they deserved it or not is up to one's personal opinion but they were labelled as cowards and the women frequently left white feathers for them and generally ostracised them.
These days you'd be sure things had changed wouldn't you.

OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
Passive-from the past tense passivus of the Latin verb pati meaning 'suffered'
Pacifist- 'a person who believes that war and violence are never justified'

I THOUGHT THE BEST WAY TO REPLY TO THIS MAN activo WAS LIKE THIS. SBX

Most of the people of Egypt want what we all want, a free and equal democracy and justice for their people".

Would they have got it with out engaging in civil disobedience?

STEVE : Who knows? What about the 350 or so families grieving for their sons and daughters, wives and husbands ,fathers and mothers, would they do it all over again? And they still haven't got 'it' yet.

Would it have been ok to let Adolf have his way rather than fight him in a war? Would you not have supported the Suffragettes or the Tolpuddle Martyrs? Were the miners wrong to resist Thatchers attempts to smash the unions?

STEVE : 3 different questions there. I live with a German woman and have no doubt that all of Europe was tainted by Adolf’s evil. But millions dead? Could there have been a less painful way?
Of course I would have supported the Suffrage and Martyrs but non - violently. I’d have chained up to Buck House railings like a shot!
Not wrong to protect themselves and their families from poverty but unable to see what was the beginning of the end of the industry perhaps.

The only reason Mandella was detained for so long was because he refused the demand to give up arms. I think he still managed to bring change and a better life for his people. Isn't he an icon of great and meaningful change?

STEVE : One of the greatest.

I still wear my old EBB shirt with the historic protest date lines on the back with great pride. I remember you wore one onstage. What has happened to all that Steve? Was that Edgar's stuff? I wonder where Arthur stands on this?

STEVE : Still wear mine too, got lots of them. Yes Edgar designed that T shirt
but not the CND sign which I also support. Why do you wonder where Arthur stands?

I've admired you all for many years but am so sad to see your writing decrying peaceful protest in the UK like some Tory Red Top rag. If you had been in Parliament Sq with us you would have seen just like in Egypt, it was the Government's thugs who provoked the violence. Yes there will always be an element of trouble makers but that cannot justify the inaction you promote and given your past it seems sad you have opted out or retired from the fray.

STEVE : I did not write decrying peaceful protest but specifically the violence attached and contained within. When the Chinese recently completed the railway into Tibet to encourage trade with Tibetans the DL was interviewed and when asked what he thought of the inevitable Westernisation of Tibetans he said that if that was the will of the people, if that was what they wanted then it was right for them to have it. He absolutely denounced any violent protests. As for the troublemakers, weed ‘em out. If you regularly attend these rallies you know who they are.

The Egyptians, who were mostly peaceful until Mubaraks thugs arrived, have WON the right to have free and fair, democratic elections. Should they not have bothered in case it is a difficult road? Would you not have marched with/ for them?

STEVE : What do you mean by difficult road? I guess you mean dodging a few stones and nasty policemen, as long as its all for the cause eh Aktivo.

Can you quote some of the "many a political activist down the years including Martin Luther King" who paraphrased your words ‘learn nothing,see nothing,change nothing.’? Get real?

STEVE : Why don’t you look them up yourself?

Regarding demos and protest you are certainly not too old. You could still support the fight against cuts in many ways or even march with us.

STEVE : Who said anything about being too old? I love your interpretation although it’s very patronising

Like you, David Bowie told a journalist he had done his political bit, years before. Perhaps you don't think you will be affected by this Condem vandalism. Perhaps you voted for them and are happy with the outcome. How would we know Steve?

STEVE : I've never said that I’d done my political bit and I’ve been suffering political vandalism all my live from all colours of the house. As far as who I voted for well, you should know better. My,my what an angry man you seem Stephen!

Are you totally non violent? Have you never lashed out verbally or physically to get your own way or because you are in pain? Do you not accept that much of what the world has that is good, was fought for?

STEVE : Lashed out? Verbally yes, physically not that I can remember, no. You obviously have thoogh from the wording of the question.

Of course if you are a total pacifist then respect and credit to you. Some thing tells me you would fight when you decided you would though. Am I wrong?

STEVE : Yes! Or at least the point that I would resort to violence resides in me at a much higher threshold than you. You know, family in danger, daughter being raped, that sort of thing.

Contextually your use of words Blind and Deaf would be seen by many today as offensive. Not all linguistic progress is pointless. In the end it is how Deaf and Blind people would feel about it, isn't it?
This was respectfully pointed out to you but you sneered it away with a "Duh". How about too white to care or too male to adapt?

STEVE : Too white to care, too male to adapt? I like that but it doesn’t scan that well. My deaf friends are not as sensitive as all that, especially Deaf Dave, his name for himself. And again, you know the context in which it was used.

Your struggles, as part of the EBB, were magnificent but why stop. Have your ideals changed? We march for those who cannot as well as for ourselves. No one I know who is involved in the protests is advocating violence come and see for yourself.

I don't want to be told, especially by, Steve Broughton of the EBB, that there is no point to political struggle. Who'd have thought it possible?

STEVE : Again, please stop reinterpreting what I actually said.

Still one Broughton with us is a lot better than none.

STEVE : Absolutely, worth tens of you! !

Aktivo not Activo lol( my given name is Stephen)
3:36 PM

2011-02-09T12:05:00.001Z

WE HAD KENNEDY AND KRUSCHEV,
GHANDI AND GORBACHEV,
MOTHER THERESA AND POOR JOHN LENNON
SINGING ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE.
HARD RAIN’S GONNA FALL WARNED BOB,
AND ALL THOSE WORDS FROM THE LORDS ABOVE
HAD MAO TSE TUNG AND DOCTOR JUNG
AND TIMOTHY LEARY HAVING LOTSA FUN.
BUT NOBODY NOTICES YOU AND ME,
TOO DEAF TO HEAR TOO BLIND TO SEE

BUT WE STILL
LEARN NOTHING, KNOW NOTHING, CHANGE NOTHING.

WE HAD KRISHNA HARE AND THE MAHARAJI
STEPHEN HAWKIN , THE MATA HARI
DOCTOR MARTIN , AND JESSE JACKSON
BADER MEINHOF, RED ARMY FACTION,
HAD MR MANDELA GETTING OUT OF HIS CELLAR,
THE DALAI LHAMA WITH ALL THAT KARMA,
WE HAD CND AND HIV.
WE HAD VIETNAM AND LOVE AND PEACE
BUT NOBODY NOTICES YOU AND ME,
TOO DEAF TO HEAR TOO BLIND TO SEE

BUT WE STILL
LEARN NOTHING, KNOW NOTHING, CHANGE NOTHING.

WE HAD BLAIR PEACH AND THE QUEEN’S SPEECH
AND SO MANY YEARS OF WAR AND GRIEF.
WE HAD THE BERLIN WALL AND THE FIVE DAY WAR
NOBODY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE FIGHTING FOR.
WE HAD CHARLIE MANSON AND HOSTAGE RANSOM,
THE MARTYRS, THE MINERS, ALL TRIED TO DEFINE US,
WE SPLIT THE ATOM AND WE WENT TO THE MOON,
HAD RECESSIONS, DEPRESSIONS AND CRASHES AND BOOMS
BUT NOBODY NOTICES YOU AND ME,
TOO DEAF TO HEAR TOO BLIND TO SEE

BUT WE STILL
LEARN NOTHING, KNOW NOTHING, CHANGE NOTHING.

2011-01-12T05:17:00.000Z

And he was like..................

2010-10-04T18:34:00.006+01:00

The flow of life halts for the antelope by the pool,
And the fog lifts
Revealing wonderous towers and domes.

Written at an earlier stage :

Now fighting the foxes off-
Don’t want them in the living room !
Monsters in the garden at the moment,
Don’t have the heart or the will to tackle them.

Off to Scicily soon
Meet the MAFIA!

Some pix

Sx

Bookends

2010-10-04T08:36:00.007+01:00

I've removed the last couple of posts so we can all move on!

The last 6 years of EBB live activity has come to a close and it was neatly bookended the other day when Arthur and I went to a session with Pete Mew at Abbey Road.

6 years ago, after we had been there to remaster the original 5 albums for re release, we decided to go back on the road and this coincided with Eclectic releasing the other 4 'lost' albums on their own label.

Now EMI has found a live recording of EBB in Hyde Park 1970 supporting, among others, Pink Floyd. It's a great document of how raw we were then and where all else came from after. It's the first time I'd really heard it through and it was strangely accompanied by the Ryder Cup on the telly which Pete was transfixed by!

It was nice to see Pete again. He's one of the longest serving down at Abbey Road having been there 45 years. He often jokes that he bought his first house on overtime earned doing early EBB sessions!

pics by hugh@gilmourdesign.co.uk

This latest unheard Hyde Park stuff will be available early next year on EMI along with the first 5 albums together with all the singles B sides not on previous rereleases.We are also talking about making available further un released material both visual and audio for a future DVD release, missing stuff from the 80s and thereabouts! So although live EBB shows may be over for now there are still things going on and we will shortly be making available existing EBB merchandise via the site so if you still haven't found what you're looking for ............................... !!
Rob's also doing some live solo stuff coming up so you should try and catch those.
Enjoy!

Steve

More old photos

2009-04-04T10:56:00.003+01:00

A young Sally 1976

Lavenham 1971

Sally and Gina 1970

Chris and Victor 1971

Chris and Brian Livingstone 1972

Old Photos

2009-04-04T10:25:00.007+01:00

Rob and Max Clifford 1971

Way back in the early seventies we played a series of free concerts around the British coast much against the local authorities' wishes. We were arrested a couple of times and spent an hilarious night with the crew and half a dozen friends in Redcar nick which was designed to hold about 6 prisoners, we numbered over twenty!

We had good representation though, managed at the time by Peter Jenner and Blackhill, we'd engaged David Offenbach as our barrister, the wonderful Brian Livingstone was our solicitor and guess who was our publicist, yes, the very venerable prince of sleaze, Mr. Max Clifford who has since gone on record as saying' working with the Broughtons was a nightmare'.
In fact he really enjoyed being on the 'underground' side of the fence as illustrated in the picture above, having driven many miles to our secret camp to arrange further publicity, at which job he still remains one of the best. It was a far cry from the sleaze and smoke filled back room at his city office where he entertained journos with booze ,cigars and blue movies. He's a household name these days, never far away from the biggest celeb stories of the day around the world. But the sleaze is always to be found in his shadow.

I'm working my way through hundreds of old photos at the moment so I'll post more of interest when they are uncovered.

2009-04-02T20:01:00.004+01:00

Apocalypse moments.

What would Dad have thought of these days?!

Yesterday, above my garden, the air throbbed with the sound of Obama's footprint. The giant helicopters flew over at a funereal pace and the rest of the sky was also suddenly full off plane lights, no doubt further heavily armed protection for the most powerful man in the world. I looked skyward and wondered.

I was digging my plot while he flew over, ready for a new day.

Today, my son phoned me from the local ad.hoc skateboard park, which the kids have created for themselves in the absence of any other amenity, to say he was with the police and he and several of his friends had been mugged for their phones and the money they had in their pockets. Fortunately, Sonny kept to our rules and handed over without resistence, urging his friends to do the same. They were threatened with a stabbing or harm to their families if they didn't comply.

Climate change?!!!

Surely we owe them more than this.

2009-02-03T11:41:00.003Z

Terry Moynihan 1945 - 2009

So sad to hear Terry 'Steel' Moynihan passed away last Friday. Terry was our first roadie after Mum and became our companion and protector through the early years of EBB when we were with Blackhill. When we moved to WWA in 1972 he jumped ship because he didn't like the new setup and with hindsight he was right on!

When fellow Midlander Chris 'Miffy' Smith came down to London to drive the band by car I remember Terry was a little put out and there followed many crazy nights after gigs when we would race back to town, us in our hired Zephyr 4 and Steel in his souped up Tranny. I'll always remember his look one night when he sailed past us on a motorway after having left the show a good hour after we had. They were a great team along with Dick Beaumont and Dirk Sommer amongst others.

We remained friends over the years and the last time I saw him was at my 50th party and he hadn't changed a bit, still fiercely independent and singleminded and happy.

I'll remember you like that Terry, thanks for everything.

Rest in Peace.

Ringsaker Fengsel Prison Norway

2009-01-26T11:01:00.002Z

An aerial view of latest wacky EBB gig venue. This one's Ringsaker Fengsel Prison in Norway on May 3rd. Should be interesting and they have to let us out for a show that evening in Hamar!

2008-12-31T19:32:00.002Z

We'd like to wish you peace, hope and forgivefulness,
health, fulfilment and friendship,
reward for generosity and kindness and above all
A HAPPY NEW ERA !
where although your house may be worth less
and you may have no paid employment,
then your home and time will become ever more valuable,
both to yourselves and others.

Love,
Steve, Moni and Sonny x

Rick And Nick

2008-09-15T19:09:00.002+01:00

Watching the news just now and the ticker tape flashes running through I saw a sad and strange coincidence.'Founder Pink Floyd member Richard Wright has died at the age of 65 after battling with cancer' followed by 'The soldier killed in Afghanistan has been identified as Nicky Mason'
One a guy whom I met many times and the other a young man whose life had hardly begun before it was ended in a most terrible way, and whose name just happened to be the same as Pink Floyd's drummer.
I first saw the Floyd in late '68 or early '69 with Syd at All Saint's Hall in Powis Square shortly after EBB moved to Notting Hill. It was my first real experience of the psychedelic era and I was completely blown away.Later when we were managed by the same people at Blackhill and began recording at Abbey Rd we collided with the Floyd many times. Once, while we were all recording at separate studios we placed a transistor radio in the 'echo room' on the plate that was wired to the studio they were using. This meant that every time they wanted to listen to echo in their control room they found that they were picking up a radio station as well. In the sound industry this is known as RF or radio frequency which was a common problem with electronic equipment in those early days. The resident Abbey Rd boffins were summoned to the Floyd's studio from their legendary basement HQ to find and fix the 'problem' and the session ground to a halt. Some hours later the boffins finally discovered the radio sitting on their plate but the guys were too busy planning their revenge to continue. Suddenly the door of Studio 3 where we were working burst open and in burst a full camera crew with cameras rolling and lights blazing, scaring us shitless! It was of course the Floyd in full flight getting their own back.Definitely could not afford to do that these days at current Abbey Rd rates!Anyway, very sad to hear the news about Rick and best wishes and condolences to all the very many people who will be saddened on hearing of his passing, especially the rest of the guys.And of course the same wishes for the families of all those who have perished in the terrible wars around the world, both military and civilian. One day we might all wake up to a better world wherein we will have learned that war achieves nothing worthwhile for anyone and the scars are too much to bear, the sacrifices too huge and that all human life should be loved and celebrated no matter what our differences.

2008-09-08T11:17:00.004+01:00

Supper in Hamar

Shell suit

As EBB take a break now for an uncertain period thoughts can turn to events closer to home. Time to reach out to friends who are in great need and to look inward in the never ending search for fulfilment. Its been a big year in many ways so far not least the wet weather that seems to insist we take notice of warming. The garden's a bog and the tomatoes rot on the vine! I've got to build a new bathroom for the family and intend to continue on the Sleepthief project with Arthur. Just reading the manual for my new sampler could take until Xmas!

Just recovered from EBB gig on Friday in Hamar, Norway. Thanks to all the people there who took great care of us, especially Steinway and Terry, Iwould hope to see you all again soon. Hope the Blood Sweat and Tears crew made it to their next gig in Sweden the next night. I didn't envy them their 12 hour overnight drive!

Nice to hear from John Knox and John from Manchester.It seems to have been a time for old friends to be getting in touch thanks to the internet of course.How did we ever get by without it?

Special thoughts for Paul and Mike.

2008-06-03T19:18:00.003+01:00

About 12 years ago Rob wrote a once in a lifetime song called Birthday.

I was, along with anyone who heard it blown away with it's direct power and pathos.

I toured the UK with Rob solo doing sound whilst the song was in the repertoire and the reaction was always the same, stunned and uplifted at the same time. Someone was addressing that taboo stuff finally.

I talked to Rob about donating the song to NSPCC (link on EBB site) and he came up with the incredible idea that Larry Adler might want to contribute harmonica to the recording. I thought that the resultant project would be huge and benefit NSPCC greatly.

By the time Rob called Larry he had died, 10 years later.

I know that great things are slow in creation but it's a great pity no one will hear the song.

2008-05-01T17:08:00.007+01:00

It’s funny isn’t it, you can go for weeks bored out of our skull and then all of a sudden, loads of experiences all come at once!
Life, death, sex, all in one condensed moment.
You wish!

Anyway, this week has been a bit like that, without the sex.

Phone rang just now for instance, it was Paul Osborne. Knew the name but couldn’t put a face to it. It transpired that I was at school with this guy 45 years ago and have not heard from him since. At the time the phone rang I was re reading an account of my schooldays which I will doubtless share with him one day. Weird ennit?

Didn’t realise I was such an icon for schoolboy rebellion when I was expelled from Warwick School in 1964 for having a quarter Beatle Cut. Paul told me they (the pupils) used the EBB’s early success as a rod to beat the school with, saying that it hadn’t done me any harm. COOOOL EH? We agreed that none of those things on their own are that significant, that it’s the sum total of all the things that you’ve been or done that shape who you eventually become. Or should that be whom? Or maybe all the things you become eventually shape who you’ve been, who knows? Do we actually give a shit?
For me this time of year is premium time, something to cherish and bathe in.
The growth is overwhelming and beautiful, even the snails seem to have dignity.
In my garden we have a pair of mating Jays, that most timid of birds, and at least two or three very grumpy looking foxes !
My two very spindly apple saplings are totally laden with blossom and my vine is
threatening to take over what we laughingly call the village!
The pond is fat with spawn and the garden is dug.
The lawn is cut and the weeds are damned!
It’s time to sleep.

2008-04-29T18:12:00.002+01:00

So goodbye to Klaus,and hello to whoever.
Times change,
old food becomes new earth,
old friends remain even in death.
Happy journey old friend.

Extreme Slimming Club

2008-04-28T10:32:00.009+01:00

Claims that adrenaline burns as many if not more calories than aerobic exercise are made by the makers of Wii Sport. They claim a Wii game of tennis played for an hour burns 70% of the calories used in a real game of the same length although the physical exertions are not comparable. Perhaps someone will start up an extreme slimming club where you have to hang upside down on a rope from a moving helicopter for an hour and come back with your clothes falling from your back!

What to add to the global comment on China and Tibet and the Olympic torch farce only to say that it really is incredible that the Chinese authorities are surprised by the reaction that has greeted them everywhere the torch has travelled. The only reason they chose the Everest location has to be its remoteness and inaccessbility for protesters, but they could be very mistaken once more. The games in China will perhaps yet prove to be a catalyst for an end to the Tibtans' plight and therefore we must be there in full voice.

Looking forward to EBB playing a few shows in Norway this Summer one of which, the Polar festival on August 5th is further North than we've ever been in that country. Its a fascinating part of the world and if possible I may get Moni and Sonny over for a couple of weeks exploring.Camping's out this Summer as Moni continues to receive treatment for an injured back.

Barnet appears to be slipping deeper into a vacuous ghost town atmosphere, things are so tough on the High St even the Charity shops have started to close ! Along with Mothercare,Tally Ho Discount,Portogram(Hi Fi),Threshers,Barnet Market, Automotion(car spares)and presently the only butcher in town and Superdrug are rumoured to be closing.One pub and several restaurants are now standing empty and other premises open and close with amazing regularity. Our mirror shop survives after 12 years only because our products are unique and designed and made by us. We have a neighbouring jeweller who only survives for the same reasons. In the midst of this traffic wardens have become super - predatory here and the council pursue a trader friend of mine for allegedly breaking a bylaw by displaying some of his wares in front of his shop on a 5metre wide pavement as he has done for 30 plus years. They have informed him if he applies for an outside trading licence, the equivalent of a market trader, he will be able to continue. But they want £600 yearly for the licence!

Ginger Mills Person Extraordinaire R.I.P.

It's been a long time since.............

2007-11-03T18:59:00.000Z

LEST WE FORGET……………….

When we return to flags unfurled,
to scarlet poppies, happy girls,
to raise a glass to victories
achieved through vile atrocities
of burning homes and mothers’ screams,
of fathers never knowing dreams
of children who, as yet unborn
will find no peace within the storm,
will not forget what war has done,
scarring the souls of everyone.
Let’s not forget then as we live
that peace is something we could give
to all ourselves in this blue world
where spilling blood has always ruled.

Sorry it's been so long.

A very hard year by normal standards.

Things are moving fast.

More later!

Thanks and greetings to those who have found and enjoyed Sleepthief.

More of that later too.

2007-08-07T13:02:00.000+01:00

Blimey,he's got a big endorsement!

Burg Herzburg Festival 21st July 07

2007-07-27T10:08:00.000+01:00

I’m not a plastic bag either.

I remember the big old bluey - brown - green shopping bag that used to sit neatly in the front basket of Mum’s bike, though making it quite unsteady when full of the weekly vegetables on the way home. She came off a couple of times with me on the back. Dad grew loads of stuff too but I guess we ate loads. Anything that couldn’t be carried by bike was delivered on Friday nights by Mr Cartwright in his 7 cwt van. He always had time for a fag and a cup of stewed tea, the blacker the better. He was never in a rush to get home. He had the shakes. Not from booze but some kind of nervous disease which, as kids, we found fascinating and in a way, kind of frightening. I guess it was Parkinson’s. He used to grow many of the vegetables he sold in his shop in a large allotment/field up on Hampton on the Hill near the conker fields, where we used to roam, and roam, on the way to the old Budbrooke Army Barracks, where you could find spent cartridges all over the shooting range, which of course you were forbidden to enter. Once , in Budbrooke , me and Dave Smith ate bunches of elderberries raw from the tree and became violently ill, a feeling I can only compare these days with being horribly and unexpectedly drunk.

These, somewhat unbelievably now, were the days before TV ! Washing machines! Landline phones and cars for all! What!!!??? The hippest place to be on the estate where I grew up was hanging around the one and only public telephone box. That was really buzzin’. God it rang every half hour or so! Always the same ‘Can you pop round to 47 Longfellow and tell Winnie I need to speak?’ All the streets on the estate were named after famous English poets. We lived in Kipling Ave, Arthur in Goldsmith Ave, Linda Maloney in Shelley Ave and my friend David Shakespeare of course resided in Shakespeare Avenue!
Yeah, we’d send the youngest, no paedophiles lurking there then so we were led to believe. ‘Call back in ten minutes’. Of course in those days you couldn’t phone your kid’s mobile and say ‘where are you?’ But we weren’t aware of the dangers either, although they were almost certainly there nonetheless, almost completely undetected. Sometimes if you whacked the phone hard enough some money would fall out. Old pennies. I think I even remember farthing slots in that call box. One day a messenger came to our house to tell us Rob had been taken to hospital after an accident on his skates near the phone box.. In a panic Mum raced round there to call the hospital and there was blood all over the place which was really scary. It turned out he needed a couple of stitches in his forehead !
Try to remember what meat was wrapped in those days pre salmonella and stuff. Was it greaseproof paper? Chippies were still using yesterday’s papers as were many outside toilets.
There were two car owners in our street, one a green Mayflower and the other an old Humber which used to seat about 12, which was as well, as the family who owned it, the Altons, had about 12 kids! We had a Norton with a sidecar which made us at the same time incredibly cool and totally eccentric. When Rob and I got bored on long journeys and started fighting and rocking the side car around the top would suddenly fly open and we’d get either a strong word of admonishment or a light clip round the ears depending on how much we’d nearly made him lose control! I guess there was still something of the World War 2 pilot about a motorbike driver then, although Dad had in fact been in the navy during the war serving on Atlantic crossings as a gunnery instructor on the merchant fleets, ever doomed and sometimes losing 7 in 10 vessels per crossing. Although he must have fired many thousands of rounds into the Atlantic skies in those crazy days he never actually admitted to us that he’d ever actually brought anything down. Probably like most guys he didn’t really want to admit and live with the fact that he may have killed someone. He was a peaceful guy mainly. He saw Cab Calloway in New York during the war and the impression never left him. Got the band to do ‘Minnie the Moocher’ and ‘Kicking the Gong Around’ in our formative years, never knowing both songs were about smack and whores!

I read an article recently about a place in China that twenty years ago was a small fishing village. Now it has a population of 8 million and is more or less the centre of the plastic bag world, most of its new inhabitants living in filth and squalor but they are at least employed. The whole area around the vast plants that produce the bags we use every day is covered with a cake of plastic. The streams are clogged and the vegetation rots underneath this deadly skin and these are just the bags that fly away in this gigantic process of making shopping more convenient for us in the West. The bags that we use for a few minutes or seconds even, are recycled back to China and processed back into new bags to be immediately shipped out again. Because it’s such a massive operation that’s cheaper than sending them to the biggest British plastic bag recycler in Manchester And so the wheel turns relentlessly. Until the bubble bursts.

R.I.P. TONY DANGERFIELD, ROCK AND ROLL JOURNEYMAN AND FRIEND.

THE NEXT BIG THING

2007-05-27T16:39:00.001+01:00

2007-02-20T19:04:00.000Z

One amazing piece of wall art spotted by the family last week in the red light district of Bergen,Norway.

Snow at Last!

2007-02-08T09:32:00.000Z

So, it’s been three months nearly since I felt like writing anything here. Many things have happened in my life as they will have in yours but I’m sure there’s been a breakthrough! Christmas is always a time when old friends contact and wish you well and a time when I’m always guilty for not doing at least as much as them in trying to stay in touch. The truth is that I’ve been in prison.

Well , not your normal Wandsworth or Scrubs type prison but a prison all of my own making... You see it all started way back when I was in another world of 50s ,West Midlands, fire brigade stuff.
Anyway the best bits were great but the thing about really enjoying yourself when you’re young is to not know that the future only holds comedown, and owning up to the fact that you are ageing and you’re kids are having kids or going to China or being gay or going to jail. The real fun is all over and all that’s left is a steadily decaying process of trying to stay fabulous whilst trying to not forget Friday night is basketball night and the bottom gate will be closed . Only some of those reading this will know what I mean. Mind you I only know a little bit of some of the parts of the thoughts of most of the people with whom I collide socially, sexually, politically and psychotically.

The prison I’m talking about is one most of us know. One of not saying what you really want to say. One of not wanting to hurt but of wanting to say what you really feel. Can also be wanting to kill someone but knowing that can’t be! No one has that right ever, ever.

Much bad news of late but light from the new EBB tour.(see www.edgarbroughtonband.com ) Those times on stage are some of the purest moments, transporting and releasing us from the rest of our lives. Looking forward to it immensely.

Saw Nigel Dowdney in the Guardian at the weekend. Nige used to roadie for us and now runs two small supermarkets in Norfolk as well as being a mainstay in the now seemingly hopeless fight against the encroachment Tesco has made on all of our lives.
We are a nation of shopkeepers!!!!!!!!!!!! His interview was amusing. One of the more interesting of Norfolk shopkeepers for sure, having had tea with the Queen quite recently. Tea from Fortnum and Mason’s I wonder or did Nige offer her some of his finest on special offer?!

Great to see you Ray at the 100 club looking really well.

Today as the snow floats down on this land ,enjoy the muffling of sound by this virgin insulation. Waking up this morning there was not a sound, not a plane or train or car, no echo across the valley, no birdsong, no noise from the factory, no eerie conversation echoing off the walls, just white, damp silence. Quite beautiful.

Tomorrow the family go to Norway so I expect to see much more snow this weekend.
Mind you, those guys know how to live with it. I doubt this much snow would even be noticeable there in terms of diminished activity. Could be famous last words!!

2006-10-27T23:11:00.000+01:00

to all mums past and present , especially tonight , jonathan's ,
thanks.

How Does Time Fly?

2006-10-27T22:42:00.000+01:00

THOUGHT I'D LET YOU INTO THIS......................

First day at school/ home at lunchtime/knew the difference/
Would be different from then on/
Previously/street party I think/
Julia Jenkins/River Avon/
Constant threat from school dinners/
Calamity of society/ birds nesting/not much difference/
Lust for power over fellow creatures/
Girls/ seem to know that later they will have power over men/
No need for others then/
Dave Smith/Allan McWilliams later to face trial for murder/
Cinemas/junk shops/stately homes/friends on motorbikes/
Burton Dassett fossils/ Junior School/Linda Maloney/Arthur/Council Estate/
Fishing hooks for War picture library/humblest of pie/BIG 68 pages don’t take less !/
Higgledy Piggledy Shop (now my ebay name)/
Dawn Hawkins/Warwick Racecourse/Gog Brook jumping/
Crystal Radio Sets/Journey into Space/Wakey Wakey/
The Goons/Down your Way/
Ukele/guitar/snare drum/
Then Grandad/Burma/Ghurka Knife/Hand cut off/Dogs/Died/
To Carmen/South Pacific/West Side Story/Krays/Christine Keeler/ Profumo/Kennedy/Rock n roll/Dad/Little Richard/Bill Haley/Elvis/

And always constant background strife/fighting/occasional police.

But now there was music/2 years snare drum upside down/
Holidays/Cornwall/Devon/more motorbikes and American Wool /
Still wearing 45 years later/
Beat groups/Tony and the Talons/Their drummer is only twelve first headline/
Thrilled at the fame of it/

Minton’s farm/Castle woods/Bert Lee/stench of dead animals in the forest/
Suddenly Warwick School/almost Charles Dickens/stole my Saturdays/
Sport/School Doctors/prefects and worst of all – boarders/rich but thick/
Beatles/Adam Faith/Buddy Rich and adolescence/long hair/expulsion/
Notoriety/yet more fame/
El Ciento /Bally Ho/all those sixpences/
Soul Music/ Dave March (poor old Trevor)/
Friends at school?/
Oh God first day there’s John Wiltshire./
Simon Stable/John Powell/Chris Plant/Chris Baker (Around the world in 80 days)/
Fred Archer/Head Boy/So old/He was 18/a man/
Roger Hosen/England Full back/
Taught me Rugby the bastard./
Best subjects/English/Art/Biology/Rugby/

Still taking in more and more/cogniscently??/
Stately homes/history/nature/antiques/
Most of all music/
Met Beatles with Chris Plant/autographs but significantly later not John’s/
Thrilled out of all concentration at school/
Perfected fake autographs!/

Home life getting more troubled/we always came first/always lack of money/

1962/first full drumkit assorted makes/Tony Ivans/loved the smell of the shells/
Growing Beatles cut/Rob hanging out of school and smoking/
Unattainable for me/moving into another posher world/school/
Taking the piss out of me at home/moving more and more with his friends/
Pretty separate for a couple of years/
Stoned him in Castle Woods/terrible guilt for years/
Liz Wheatley/Dawn Hawkins/

Not til many years later understood other problems between parents/
Not til my own problems/

Switzerland at 15/
Basel/the Doctor/The Images/Gary New Nadir later Uriah Heep/
Rats in the rooms/Mum freaked/
Angelique/ made my balls hurt/boyfriend waiting with knife at hotel/
Boats/mini skirts/Loni/Kinky/Atlantis/Barry Compton/
Freddie Wipsli/Mr Crosby/ Both suicided /Freddie with roses/
Saucepans of food when we left/wonderful abroad/
Suddenly the world is big and exciting/
New Nadir/Chicago Blues/ joined the Beach Boys later/Loni (first real love later to live up the road in Enfield)

Back home to more notoriety/M.U./went to Mansfield to find Crosby/
He called the police/cursed him/outed his demons
1965 First Demo at Tetlows studio Birmingham/ (to be released this year 2004 as Bonus tracks for re released first album Wasa Wasa)/
Midnight City/John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers/Wynder K Frogg/
Bluesbreakers stayed at Warwick/Mum’s House/
Pete Green/John McVie/Ansley Dunbar stayed in the House/
John in the Commer with his girlfriend/bunk over the band seats/
40 years later in German Mountains/still playing same old/
Greeny on my bedroom floor in a bag/signed the pelmet in red wax/
Next to Liz and Dawn/
That was life on the road confirmed/just when and how/
Would have to be in London but not just yet/
Hitched down to Picadilly Circus with Charlie Parker/I mean Butler of course!
Now building a Barrier Reef boat in Darwin Northern Territory Australia/
No idea of drugs at Boots/sitting on Chemist step/
West End Central Police station/very busy there/
Mum and Mick Baldwin came to pick us up/
It had been worth it /
Hitchhiked to Cornwall and Devon/Digger Davis/(only this year to die and be reborn again!)
New friends from Fox and Vivien and Warwick Uni scene/
Beats/Poets/Singers/drugs/all things that were bad!/
Stones now massive/
Dave Philips/Gordon Massey/Dave Whelan/Allan Heath/Allan Kitchen/
All friends and fans/Arthur joined/
Rob writing original stuff now/Love in the Rain/Dawn Crept Away for Wasa Wasa/
Heard Beefheart/Doors/ Hendix/Floyd/Nice live in Coventry/
Eire Apparent with Pete Tolsen later to play on Parlez-vous English?
Pete Jenner and Pete Drummond on that tour later to become good friends/
Buddy Rich live at Chesford Grange/Missed the bus!/
Many years later at Ronnie Scotts saw him one handed press rolling and smoking/
Sportsmans and Cheylesmore two pubs we played regularly/
Moved up a gear/playing to strangers who were to become friends and crew/
Coventry biker-hippies/lotsa hash and alcohol/
Chris and Archie Smith/Tony/Snorky/Mick/Mel/Bill Becket/Brian Blattner (who the short straw fell to me to sack in Abbey Road No 2 studio some years later, I’ll never forget his threats as he walked up the long staircase from the studio floor !!)
They came to every gig and put the word out/
Full gigs/ dressed as wild as possible/
Gina/first real girlfriend/In Love/Warwick Tavern/Piers/Martin Constable/Dave Philips/Pete Beasely/Jim Goult/Digger/
Claud Seneveratni and his poor brother Roger/Warwick Asians/some of the first/
Janet/Victor/smoking in the Park/snogging at the Coventry Bus Stop/
Norman giving me a Healey 3000/me refusing it/
Finding the guy off the scooter in the ditch/
Kaftans,hair and beads on Leamington Parade/Boys or girls?/

more to come……………….

2006-10-26T18:59:00.000+01:00

When my Mum was getting older and people would visit with kids, she would always , like they do, ask how old the kids were. When answered she would go into a spasm of calculation to work out how old she would be when they had become adults . At one stage she reached the age of 115 which she seriously believed she had a chance of reaching.

It’s different with me although I still seem to hold respect for the same gene.

My daughter , Sally, and two grandchildren, Lewis 5 and Ruby 1, came to stay this week and I fell into the same kind of muses except,
I know I won’t be there when Ruby, as a 70 year old can converse by touching wrist mechanisms with a stranger and can whizz along in driverless cars on multi level highways where no vehicle is allowed to be non environmental friendly.
I wish and don’t wish to be there. I just wish her every possible luck , chance and love, and hope that some, if not all answers will have been found by then.

Mr.Guantanamo

2006-10-21T22:48:00.000+01:00

This is the new CO of Guantanamo Bay detention centre.Apparently his first task was to download the entire Geneva Convention and get genned up.These instructions came directly from the White as white house.

OVER MY SHOULDER

2006-10-21T22:34:00.000+01:00

You may remember her he said.
I was completely blank : yet?
White and emaciated, but beautiful.
I thought I had a brief recollection but it was fleeting.
Surely there had to be some meaning to this.
I thought I had drifted upward somewhat ,
but later they told me I had nearly been lost (died).

These days I hardly think of her.
They gradually trained me not to,
but there are moments when I think she passes over me,
slyly sniggering behind a swan’s hand,
cooing gently like a dove and beckoning me to unthinkable pleasures.

But now as I sit in the dark looking into my garden
the sky is surprisingly full of fireworks, celebrating Divali (sic) or the end of Ramadan or some other local festival.
But suddenly it seems like the sound of small arms warfare and I am transported to a terrifying half world..
How do you do the school run when there are bastards that will shoot you and both your kids as you walk to school? Does the baker still deliver? How does it actually work at the PTA meeting even if your school’s still standing after the imperialist bombers have scooped the earth all around?

Quickly come back in mental retreat. This is home and it’s just fireworks.

2006-10-07T09:29:00.000+01:00

TAKE YER VEILS OFF AND DON’T LIVE IN GHETTOS!

Maybe we should ban UK ghettos in Spain. God what a relief that would be.
Or fish and chip shops in Cyprus. Heaven forbid.
At the same time Jack and Dave express their negative/paranoid/fascist opinions about the rights of all of us to dress and be how we feel, a makeshift mosque in Windsor has been attacked by white youths and a small army of defending Asians have been bussed down from Reading to do their thing. Kristalnacht here we come. The Queen may not be spending her usual weekend at the castle so a senior source divulged.
Come on!
My son’s grammar homework sheet contains spelling mistakes.
What should I do ?
Move to the West Indies where especial attention to grammar is paramount? Or go to Goa where I could make a fortune if I continued to fail to see.
Or maybe I should talk to his teacher. Maybe we should all talk to our teachers to relearn what it all is we’ve all forgotten somehow.

‘ What would you be like if you had been born?
would you be happy or sad ?
short or tall would you care at all ?
how would you know I was your Dad?

That’d why I talk to the wall ,
making more sense than it all ,
some memories what you want them to be -
some never happened at all ’

I was asked once by two great beautiful friends if I would help them out as they weren’t having any luck. I couldn’t , after much soul searching and private stuff, comply , and the above words are for them both, I still love them dearly.

Ah ha!
Where are you Lawrence. God I miss people here in Barnet. Stop me shiver.
I’ll work out how to leave you some music here……………….if you’re interested. Listening to the project while I write. Thought again today to phone Heather for Ian’s words. ‘So wilful and warm’
Great words come from beyond. They still will, so listen out!

ME AND HIM

2006-10-07T09:27:00.000+01:00

2006-09-14T19:55:00.000+01:00

I guess it's easy if you have loadsa time to blog away til yer heart's content but my time is shorter than most at the moment.Had a great time in Cornwall this summer with my once a year friends,Geordie Gordie and Karen and Max,Joe,M acey and Dylan(Not Bob) Rasta Steve,Triple Dee,BenGinge and Katie,Farmers from Dartmoor,Colin and Ross(Dave)Anna,Karen,Daniel and the wonderfully harmonic family and many others.For a while in the field where we all always are it seemed perfect.We sang,lit fires and speculated on it all.Meteor showers and falling backwards towards earth seemed so natural and easy.Far from Afghanistan and Iraq and the trials of humanity.But now we're back inside the tunnel and I'm not happy,not at all.
I don't care whether pale Brown replaces pinkey blue Blair,they're all fuckers without a real care for any of us just their own place in shistory.I used to not vote because I thought a vote should be for something you believed in!What a joke that all turned out to be.I don't vote again now. To say I'm depressed after my break would be something of an understatement.
I sat often in my favourite place in Cornwall whilst I was away.A memorial bench out on a headland near Treyarnon Bay.The only place where I can really breathe.Noticed a new bench made from stone in memory of'The Captain and The Purple Lady for whom the sun was always over the yardarm' (should have known them) and wondered who they might have been.Wondered if I might get a bench there one day and who would build it!
Sat there many sunsets wondering why people are so unable to see these things and be content.
Back here watching the coffins come back from Afghanistan I can only manage an admittedly naieve WHY? Remembering Afgfhan coats and Kensington Market and the Summers of Love!!!!!
Wanna post some poems from days of old but will do that later.
Wanna let you in to Ian's poems but will also do that later.
Cornwall is so old and wild. Maybe I am too.Finding it hard at the moment.

A song from a project me and Arthur have been struggling with for years

AGELESS ROCK

The way behind lies worn with tears
Intrepid steps to future years
So cover me cover me don’t say a word
Stop me shiver like some Winter bird

Now you’re tall and wonderful
You test me every day
I’m so glad you made me new
With a future to look forward to

In a big red life like a furnace bright
To melt us all to white light
Ageless rock meets furious sea
And we know the sea will dominate eventually

Young man so strong, so wilful and warm,
I was a child myself when you were born
All those years stretch before us
All my dreams of future

Hope you're all well.
I will cheer up

Mugged by the Odeon

2006-08-07T09:40:00.000+01:00

Friday was my son , Sonny's tenth birthday and amongst other things we did we went to the local Odeon cinema to see the new Pixar film,Cars which I thought was truly awful after the beauty of their last film Toy Story.Sonny duly lined up for his obligatory popcorn with his Mum,1 small,1 medium and 1 small pepsi. When the assistant rang up the till for £9.05 I laughed.I really thought she was joking.'But you can adopt and feed three African children a month for that' I protested.'You can drive to Cornwall or get drunk for that(almost)' I cried. And then it dawned on me that she was for real. That these two tubs of rubbish and the cardboard cup of sugar water really were going to cost me nearlya tenner. And then it hit me.If I'd been anywhere else or on my own I'd have told her to stuff it but because I was there with my son having a little treat on his birthday I wasn't going to do that. Fair trade or daylight robbery?
Copy sent to Odeon Cinema Group

Hello

2006-08-04T01:09:00.000+01:00

After reading brother's blog it seemed only logical to start my own and he came up tonight and got me started.So here goes,into the out there,out of the in here.This blog will probably be filled with uncoordinated bitz of stuff I find interesting or amusing.I take many photos and have archived the progress of the band throughout the years some of which will be included..I might inflict some poetry on you lucky people especially that of a dear friend ,recently passed away ,who always wanted his work published freely.It seems the freest way is the blog!The first sketch was given to me to copy by a surprising person who although very troubled was very eloquent and revealing.Hope you're doing fine Leila.When I get the hang of this I'll write more.

2006-08-03T20:07:00.000+01:00

Leila's sketch where there were no words