Saturday 28th January
I type from Butlins in Skegness where the Great
British Rock & Blues Festival has got off to a flying
start. Amazingly, the place holds around 9,000 people,
with bands performing in various different arenas though
mostly in two main halls. From my own perspective, having
stood just in front of the stage for my first sighting
of the group since the Reading Festival many moons ago,
the performance of Ten Years After [7/10]
was undermined by sound quality issues. Though the music
was loud and clear, the vocals were too low in the mix.
Moving to the rear of the hall after about half an hour
made a huge difference. It's odd to think that Alvin Lee's
replacement, Joe Gooch, has been with them for almost
nine years. The age disparity between Gooch (who is still
some way off forty) and his band-mates is striking, but
he plays with panache, wisdom and, where appropriate,
blinding speed, especially on the signature hit 'I'm Going
Home', which brought the house down, The group really
should play the UK more often than they do,
Regrettably, there followed a toss-up between Chantel
McGregor and Virgil & The Accelarators. The iffy sound
on the Centre Stage convinced me that Virgil represented
a marginally better bet. I arrived at the Reds Stage just
as Roger Chapman was winding up with an excellent version
of Mike Oldfield's 'Shadow On The Wall' and regretted
having missed the rest of his set.
Virgil & The Accelerators [8/10]
went down extremely well, his powerhouse display including
the anthemic 'Backstabber', a song that Classic Rock hailed
among the best songs of 2011. Two band new tunes, 'Fell
To The Floor' and 'Low Down And Dirty', also suggested
that the Accelerators' second album will be no poor relation
to their critically feted debut, though closing the set
proper with two lengthy slow blues workouts - the second
an instrumnetal - suggests he still has much to learn
when in comes to the art of presentation.
Anyway, I'm off for a run along the beach and some brekkie.
Then the Br***ton-Newcastle on the big screen before the
second night of music begins. Come on you Toon!!! Score
a hatful!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 27th January
I’m now officially a divorcee. The
news is hardly unexpected, but when that piece of paper
drops onto the mat… it’s a very strange feeling
indeed.
In a while I shall be departing for a weekend away at
an indoor rock and blues festival in Skegness with a load
of boozy footie and music-mad mates. The timing is pretty
good… hahaha. My old muckers FM are on the bill
and it will be great to see Ten Years After again. However,
there are a number of annoying schedule clashes. This
evening Chantel McGregor and Virgil & The Accelerators
share 11pm spots on different stages, also TYA and Roger
Chapman. And on Sunday, FM and the alleged ‘Dr Feelgood’
(who now contain no original members) are also on at the
same time… bah. Anyway, I’m sure it’ll
be fantastic fun.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 26th January
Just back from a trip behind enemy lines to that
unmentionable town on the South Coast. Mr Neil Jeffries
and I managed to slip into the place undetected, having
spun UFO’s excellent forthcoming album ‘Seven
Deadly’ on the journey down the motorway, and ‘Elegant
Stealth’ by Wishbone Ash during the return journey.
The Komedia is a great, intimate venue holding maybe two
or three hundred people (when seated), and it was a full
as dammit for An Evening With Danny & Ben, AKA Thunder’s
Messrs Bowes and Matthews, who provided an audio smorgasbord
of quality chat and music. Besides running through several
Thunder ditties (‘A Better Man’, ‘Like
A Satellite’ and the relative obscurity ‘See
My Baby Walking’ – the latter with Bowes performing
its guitar solo on a kazoo!) they covered ‘Seagull’
by Bad Company, Chuck Berry’s ‘Nadine’,
‘Squeeze Box’ by The Who, Elvis Presley’s
‘She’s Not You’, the Beatles’
‘Blackbird’ and the Bob Dylan standard ‘Make
You Feel My Love’.
There were also a rib-tickling selection of road tales,
many of which involved unpleasant bodily emissions from
Thunder’s notorious Crystal Palace-supporting drummer
Gary ‘Harry’ James. At times I almost had
to wipe away a tear, especially whilst being regaled about
the middle-aged German interviewer with the n-n-n-nervous
tic, and the quest to steal a wig worn by an equally Teutonic
barman. When a guy in the front rows made a big deal of
standing up during the show and leaving to take a leak,
Bowes mischievously grinned: “Tell ya what we should
do… let’s all go and stand in the street so
the place is empty when he comes back.” Fantastic
stuff. I hope Danny and Ben do it again sometime.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 25th January
Now… which cliché to use? Sick as
a parrot (after Palace lost the League Cup semi-final
on pens, having played much of the game with ten men),
or sick as a dog (I’ve just puked and had to go
back to bed for two hours after the kids went to school)?
Either way… I feel like complete crap. Regardless,
I’m proud of Palace’s players for giving their
all and coming so tantalisingly close to reaching a major
final. The fact that manger Dougie Freedman, who 12 months
ago inherited a side that was bottom of the league, is
to be offered a new contract is outstanding news. We are
still only six points off the Play-Offs; this season ain’t
over yet...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 24th January
Okay, this is sad to admit but I’ve
been awake since 5.35am fretting about this evening’s
League Cup semi-final game between Crystal Palace and
Cardiff. Luckily I keep the Tesco wine pouches downstairs
in the fridge, or I’d have been sorely tempted.
Before getting up to make the kids’ sandwiches and
turf them off to school, I finished two issues of Metal
Hammer that had sat by the side of the bed for months
(their respective cover stories on Down and Lamb Of God
– both excellent groups – were great). Also
worked my way through much of the new Led Zeppelin lovers’
Bible, Tight
But Loose, which focuses on that group’s remarkable
year of 1971. A day of frenzied tape transcription and
hopefully a bit of a run (should it stop bleeding raining)
now await me. I hope this will prove sufficient to keep
my mind from sporting matters. Roll on 4pm and the first
beer. Here’s praying that CPFC book a trip to Wembley,
if only for the sake of Eddie, my footie-mad eldest son.
COME ON YOU EAGLES!!!!!!!
P.S. Check out the latest additions to the Best
Rock ‘N’ Roll Quotes page – a few
pearls there!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 22nd January
I’ve been delving into Pat Benatar’s
back catalogue whilst writing a sleeve essay for a forthcoming
‘best-of’ anthology. She made some great music,
I’d almost forgotten. I only saw her onstage once;
at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1983, with ex-Sweet singer
Brian Connolly as her support act. Truthfully, I only
went along to see Brian but it was a great night, as I
recall.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 21st January
Awoke sprawled on the sofa at 3am following the
Spider reunion dinner (see Friday’s Diary): Hmmm…
some dastardly fiend must have been lacing those cups
of tea with something strong??!! It was great to catch
up again with the four band members again, also their
former album producer Tony Wilson (of Friday Rock Show,
TotalRock Radio fame) and ever-smiling erstwhile merch
lady, Debbie Long. Shame Maggi Farran, their manager,
wasn’t able to make it. Though the faces and hairstyles
(also the facial follicles) might’ve changed, the
personalities remain the same. Rob E Burrows is still
the master of the sarcastic one-line putdown, and there
are few more focussed or driven individuals than his brother
Brian. To divulge the details of the evening’s discussion
would be unprofessional, so let’s just say that
everyone got on better than we’d dared to hope and,
despite the geographical issues, I’m optimistic
of seeing most if not all of us in the same room again
before too long.
Myself and Sniffa - one of these men is pretending to
drink tea!
(L-R), Sniffa, yours truly, Brian Burrows, Col Harness,
Tony Wilson and Rob E Burrows.
Sniffa, your correspondent and Brian.
I type this with a heavy heart after two late goals
condemned my beloved Crystal Palace to an away defeat
against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road – a ground
at which the Eagles last won in the league back in…
ulp!... 1924. With Wednesday night’s League Cup
semi-final 2nd leg in mind boss Freedman had chosen to
rest nine – Yes, nine!! – first-teamers, though
still the patched-up team from SE25 took the lead (albeit
via a hotly contested penalty). Climbing the walls whilst
listening to the radio commentary I had actually dared
to believe we might hang onto three priceless points till
being sunk in the 85th and 90th minute, respectively,
thereby spoiling both my afternoon and evening. Oh well…
the **really big** game comes next week.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 20th January
So after a false dawn of hope the Test
Match against Pakistan wrapped two days early with England
crumbling to an embarrassing ten wicket defeat. Some big
changes must be made before the three-match series resumes
next week, though I’m willing to bet that England
are too arrogant to consider them.
Last night I fancied a few drinks so headed up to the
Crobar in central London. As usual, immense fun was had
by all. I went to the bar to buy my round and by the time
I brought the drinks back to the table Malcolm Dome, Jerry
Ewing and John Dryland had all gone home… so my
friend Harj Kallah and I had to sup them ourselves –
it’s a tough life!
I’m really looking forward to this evening’s
reunion dinner for the much-missed UK boogie combo Spider,
a band with whom I worked very closely at the start of
my journalistic career. Travelling about with the group
on their bus as they supported Gillan on the ‘Magic’
tour in 1982 and helping to run their fan club, it’s
fair to say that Spider played a big part in my apprenticeship.
Though I’ve been back in regular contact with guitarist
Dave Bryce (AKA Sniffa) and guitarist/frontman Col Harkness
for the past few years, I haven’t seen bassist/vocalist
Brian Burrows (who now lives in France) or his drumming
brother Rob E (these days a resident of Australia) since
the group broke up way back in… ulp… 1986.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 19th January
Some emails have requested my opinion
of ‘Tattoo’, the new Van Halen song. The answer?
Not a lot. To these ears it’s rather dull and pedestrian,
and what’s up with Diamond Dave’s voice?!
I’m in agreement with Sammy Hagar who recently said
that the first track to be heard from ‘A Different
Kind Of Truth’ (due, apparently, in early February)
is not “great at all”. Adds the Chickenfoot
singer: “God bless them, but I expected much more.”
And so say all of us. After this dud, here’s hoping
that the album has a few knockout punches up its sleeve.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 18th January
Yesssssss… a couple of dramatic late wickets
on Day Two have allowed England back into contention in
the First Test against Pakistan. Game on!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 17th January
I’m back in Catford after a tasty
pub lunch with Jeff Scott Soto, the singer’s partner
Elena and Frontiers Records publicist Faye Blaylock –
most civilised and pleasant; now **that’s** the
way to conduct an interview. I’m happy to report
that Soto’s new album, ‘Damage Control’
(issued via Frontiers on March 23), is also rather good.
It’s fantastic to have cricket back again, though
England have got off to a woeful start in the Test series
against Pakistan. Skittled out for an embarrassingly meagre
total of 192 thanks largely to the spin bowling heroics
of Saeed Ajmal (who picked up a seven-wicket haul), the
home side were already 42 without loss at stumps. Methinks
Monty Panesar will play a part in the Second Test.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 16th January
Yikes... what have I gone and done?!? Entered a 10K ‘fun
run’ in Crystal Palace Park!!! It’s still
a couple of months away so there’s time in which
to escalate the training, but I’m wondering whether
it’ll be too much too soon. There’s only one
way to find out! Yesterday afternoon I interrupted work
on a sleeve essay for a new Terrorvision anthology and
a record label biography for the new Angel Witch album,
‘As Above, So Below’, to register a few more
laps around the local park, the headphones buzzing with
a recording of Styx’s gig at Wembley Arena from
last June, a wondrous night on which I felt they overcame
time limitations to outclass both Journey and Foreigner.
‘The Grand Illusion’, ‘Fooling Yourself
(The Angry Young Man)’, ‘Too Much Time On
My Hands’, ‘Come Sail Away’, ‘Miss
America’… great music to run to!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 15th January
No doubt about it, a hapless referee managed
to ruin yesterday’s game between Crystal Palace
and Leeds through the sending off of Eagles midfielder
Shaun Scannell. At the time of this risible decision Palace
were winning 1-0 and I’ve no doubt they would have
ridden out as victors with a full team of 11. Alas, it
wasn’t to be. Despite Julian Speroni having produced
a brilliant double-save, the second of which was one of
the finest stops ever seen at Selhurst, Leeds –
who escaped unpunished for a sickening succession of their
own fouls – notched an equaliser during the second
half to claim an ill-deserved point. Bah!
So I headed over to Chickenfoot’s gig at the Brixton
Academy, arriving in time for an excellent seven-song
warm-up slot from Red White & Blues, the band featuring
ex-Skin guitarist Myke Gray and his former Jagged Edge
cohort Matti Alfonzetti on vocals. Though the sound was
a little murky it was encouraging to see the audience’s
interest gradually escalate, the outstanding ‘Counts
For Nothing’, which starts slowly and builds to
fulsome, fruity climax, gaining an extremely creditable
response.
Despite the notable absence of drummer Chad Smith, Chickenfoot
provided excellent entertainment. Their new album ‘III’
represents a vast improvement upon their self-titled debut
and it’s almost inconceivable that Sammy Hagar is
now 64 years old – his voice is wonderful and nobody
could dislike such a vivacious persona. Bassist Michael
Anthony’s signature backing vocals were superb throughout,
something that Hagar pointed out: “Nobody can sing
that high, nobody! He sounds like Mariah Carey or some
shit”, and the playing of guitarist Joe Satriani
was consistently sublime, notably on an encore cover of
Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’.
Despite all of the above, I’m not so sure that I
enjoyed this show from Chickenfoot as much as their UK
debut at Shepherd’s Bush Empire back in June 2009.
It might have been the sheer disbelief of seeing Hagar
and Anthony on a British stage again that bowled me over
back then; such raw emotion doesn’t come along twice.
And yet will Van Halen be any better should they make
it across the pond in 2012? EVH and DLR have the superior
catalogue, that’s for sure, though it’s doubtful
that they could match a performance this impassioned and
classy. Anyway, here’s the set-list: ‘Lighten
Up’, ‘Alright Alright’, ‘Big Foot’,
‘Sexy Little Thing’, ‘Soap On A Rope’,
‘Up Next’, ‘My Kinda Girl’, ‘Down
The Drain’, ‘Three And A Half Letters’,
‘Something Going Wrong’, ‘Turnin’
Left’ and ‘Future In The Past’, with
an encore of ‘Different Devil’, ‘Oh
Yeah’ and ‘Foxy Lady’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 13th January
Did anyone else see BBC1’s documentary
Freddie Flintoff: The Hidden Side of Sport, in which former
England all-rounder and captain Flintoff attempted to
get to grips with depression in the world of professional
sportspeople? Following football, cricket and rugby can
be an incredibly trying and stressful experience, even
from the distant view of a spectator, but I’d never
before considered the viewpoint of the participants. When
somebody as macho as Vinnie Jones owns up to going into
the woods armed with a shotgun and considering turning
it upon themselves… well, it makes pretty harrowing
viewing. These guys are not superhuman after all –
cut them and they will bleed. The programme moved me,
no doubt about it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 12th January
I’m back in Catford following an enjoyable
morning spent in the company of Sir Michael of Box. Although
the great god of transport screw-ups did his/her best
to foul up my path from South London to the city’s
North, the ever-cheerful Uriah Heep guitarist was kind
enough to respond to my texted SOS, beaming: “Welcome
to the Box Chariot!” as he picked me up from outside
a nearby tube station. Top fella, and another superb interview.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 11th January
It was good to catch up with Lee Kerslake in
yesterday morning’s lengthy phone conversation.
Known as much for his strong opinions as a bear-like physique,
the former Uriah Heep drummer isn’t everybody’s
cup of tea, and advancing years don’t appear to
have mellowed him, but blimey… Kerslake still gives
good interview. There was just enough time to go for a
few laps of the park and a quick shower, grabbing lunch
on the run en route to North London and an interview chez
former Bronze Records head honcho Gerry Bron – Kerslake’s
bête noire during the Uriah Heep days another guy
that insists on telling it like it is.
Once the work was done ‘n’ dusted I nipped
into an off licence and began limbering up for the evening’s
hugely important League Cup semi-final first leg between
Crystal Palace and Cardiff City. Full credit to the supporters
of both sides: Selhurst was a cauldron, and Eagles finished
1-0 winners, thanks to Anthony Gardner’s crucial
first-half header. With a second leg still to come, will
such a slim lead be sufficient? I kinda doubt it; it’s
plain that the tie still has goals in it. But should Palace
nick one away from home the Bluebirds will require something
special, who knows… maybe a trip to Wembley could
be on the cards??!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 10th January
Well, that’s got to be the most
preposterous story I’ve ever read. E**c C***ona
wants to become the next president of France. To set his
campaign in motion the unhinged former ManUre/Leeds player
must secure the backing of 500 elected officials by the
end of next month. He’s certainly a big enough loony.
What, I wonder, will his policies be? Mandatory kung fu
training for all? Sheeesh.
Talking of footie, I’m looking forward to seeing
Crystal Palace in a cup semi-final again. This evening
the Eagles take on Cardiff under the Selhurst Park floodlights
in the first of two head-to-head clashes, the victors
of which will face either Liverpool or Man City in the
final at Wembley. I’ve a worrying feeling that the
Bluebirds will be a little too strong for Freedman’s
men over 180 minutes, but nobody (myself included) really
predicted the now legendary quarter-final win at Old Trafford
in the quarter-final, so who knows?
Further to yesterday’s bombshell that Tony Iommi
is suffering from cancer, the original Black Sabbath have
**not** postponed plans to record their first album together
in 33 years. Far from it. Indeed, a news statement reveals
that Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward are relocating
to the UK to allow Iommi to participate in both the writing
and recording sessions whilst the guitarist undergoes
medical treatment. Their plan to release the long-awaited
follow-up to ‘Never Say Die!’ this autumn
is apparently unaffected.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 9th January
Apart from venturing out to the local
park for a massive run – my second in 48 hours!
– yesterday was spent at my desk writing some album
reviews for both Classic Rock and Metal Hammer magazines.
The newie from Euro-metalheads Primal Fear is an absolute
humdinger!! Seriously, there’s not a bad song on
it. ‘Unbreakable’ is so darned good that the
band could almost have been considered honorary Englishmen
in the New Year’s Honours list. You can tell they’re
really Germans, though. I’m pretty sure I just heard
Ralf Scheepers singing about “Spitting fire and
snakeskin flames”. Er... pardon?
Just as I prepared to wind down for the evening, news
broke that Neil Warnock, the king of loyalty, had been
sacked by QP-Hahaha. I despised the man before he was
installed as CPFC manager by then-chairman Simon Jordan
back in 2001, though he got results and gradually I felt
myself warming to him – he was still Satan, but
he was **our** Satan. As we all know, Warnock showed his
true colours three years later when the club went into
administration, grabbing the filthy lucre over at Loftus
Road and selfishly bailing out on the Eagles who were
in the midst of a relegation battle. I don’t mind
admitting, to see Colin Winker get his come-uppance really
made my weekend.
[Edit: I’m gutted to learn that Tony Iommi is the
latest rock musician to be diagnosed with cancer. According
to a band statement,
Black Sabbath’s legendary guitarist, 63, is suffering
from “the early stages of lymphoma”. Like
all of Tony’s friends, band-mates and fans, I wish
him a speedy and complete recovery.]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 8th January
The continuing saga of the 2010/’11 tax return and
a towering pile of review CDs, also the fact that I wanted
to send some time with my youngest son Arnie on the day
he became a teenager (!!!!), combined to scupper an evening
trip to Leatherhead for my pal Neil Pudney’s 50th
birthday party… sorry, Pudders! During the afternoon,
whilst attempting to cross-reference bank statements and
invoices, I tuned into the BBC radio commentary of Crystal
Palace’s FA Cup game up in Derby. With next week’s
League Cup quarter-final first leg in mind, boss-man Freedman
fielded a young and extremely raw starting line-up but
despite Theo Robinson’s ninth minute strike sending
Nigel Clough’s County into the Fourth Round draw,
it sounded as though the Eagles played like the home side
and were unlucky not to have forced a replay. Oh well,
it’s far more important that Palace win the league
game at Pride Park on March 24.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 7th January
With much of the last seven days spent
scrambling around in the vain pursuit of putting my end-of-year
accounts in order, I welcomed an invitation to attend
last night’s Camden Jazz Café gig from Marcus
Bonfanti. After weeks spent stuck indoors at Ling Towers
being stung a hefty £9.90 for two pints was a bit
of a shock, but the show was excellent. Bonfanti is perhaps
best known as a member of the excellent St Jude, though
his solo music is bluesier, grittier and a lot less girlie
(for obvious reasons). Indeed, no less an organ than the
Guardian recently suggested that he “deserves to
be the next British blues guitar hero”.
Marcus seemed stunned by the size and enthusiasm of the
crowd, telling us how, 12 years ago, as a 17-year-old
Jimmy Page obsessive, he used to come to Jazz Café
as punter each Sunday night but soon realised that he'd
have to work “very, very hard to become a great
jazz musician”, whereas being “a good blues
musician” was more reliant upon “drinking
a hell of a lot of whiskey and having as little money
as possible”. To my immense shame, I own only one
of Bonfanti’s albums – 2009’s ‘What
Good Am I To You?’ – so there would be no
point in attempting to compile a set-list, though the
George Thorogood-esque ‘Gimme Your Cash’ brought
the performance proper to a triumphant close, and the
slide-encrusted ‘Alleycats’, one of several
tunes being road-tested for a new album, was among the
night’s best songs. Bonfanti’s pal Paddy Milner
also jumped up to play some stirring New Orleans-style
electric piano on Dr John’s ‘Renegade’.
Blues-hounds should check him out here.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 5th January
So the first interview of 2012 is done
and dusted. I’ve just spent a few convivial minutes
of phone conversation with Nick Lowe, he of ‘Cruel
To Be Kind’ and ‘I Love The Sound Of Breaking
Glass’ fame, ahead of the singer/songwriter’s
upcoming UK tour. I love some of the music that Lowe made
during the late 1970s, and it’s kinda hard to believe
that he’s now 61 years old. Having just released
‘The Old Magic’, his first new album in four
years, we diverged into discussion of how much the industry
has changed this last decade; how music is now purchased,
how it’s consumed, how much (or indeed how little)
it means to people. Nick’s comments were interesting.
“It’s kinda of all over,” he stated.
“The type of songwriting that I do is akin to the
art of making a thatched roof, or knowing how to construct
a dry stone wall. It’s a weird old skill that, frankly,
people don’t have much use for anymore.” Blimey.
This tends to echo the thoughts of Glenn Hughes, who in
the new (Jan/Feb) edition of Fireworks
magazine offers the rather depressing prediction: “In
15 years or so, there will be no Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin,
The Who, The Stones… [members of] one or two [of
those bands] may still be alive but that’ll be it.
They won’t be playing [live]. The iconic bands will
all be gone, and what will we be left with? The next generation
of bands, none of which will have sold hundreds of millions
of records or played stadiums. The music business as we
know it has gone. It’s a totally different thing
now.”
Sobering thoughts, huh?!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 3rd January
Yesterday began with a lifetime first...
I went out running as the sun came up. Somebody help me,
I’m turning into Philip Wilding!! The earlier than
usual start was necessary as for part of his 50th birthday
celebrations my CPFC-supporting buddy Neil Pudney had
invited eldest son Eddie and I to join him and his family
and friends in an executive box at Selhurst Park. With
a stadium tour and some posh nosebag thrown in for good
measure, we took very little persuasion in accepting this
kind offer.
Grinning like loons, Ed
and I strode the legendary Selhurst turf before the
Holmesdale Road stand, got our photographs taken in the
fabled
‘home’ dressing room in front of the shirt
that Darren Ambrose would wear later that afternoon, then
visited the club’s trophy cabinet (no sarcasm please!
The Zeneth Data Systems Cup still counts as a trophy!!),
before washing down a lovely meal with lashings of buck’s
fizz, Grolsch and Palace Ale. Was that a tent-pole or
a size AA battery in Neil’s trouser pocket as he
was presented with a signed shirt by the Crystal
Girls Cheerleaders? That’s something that only
the delightful Louise Pudney will ever know! The greatest
moment came when club officials invited Neil’s sons
Luke and Sam out into the centre circle for the match’s
kick off. To my complete astonishment, Sam generously
piped up: “Oh, let Eddie go instead of me.”
To say that Luke and the Ed-star were thrilled to bursting
by this opportunity would be a whopping understatement…
it was a brilliant thing to see. I almost had to wipe
away a tear. Sam, I owe you a favour.
Sadly, it came as no surprise that following such a momentous
build-up Palace were unable to grasp the afternoon’s
available three points. After stand-in goalie Lewis Price
had gifted Leicester a bizarre opening goal, followed
by a scrappy, marginally superior follow-up effort, Norwegian
full-back Jonathan Parr curled an excellent lob past Foxes
keeper Kasper ‘Son Of The Devil’ Schmeichel
to put Freedman’s men back into contention, but
for all their second half dominance the Eagles couldn’t
restore parity. It had been such a wonderful day, I couldn’t
find it in my heart to be disappointed. Mr Pudney presented
Mile Jedinak with his Man Of The Match champagne, and
Eddie and I both got our photos taken with the messiah,
Darren Ambrose.
Does it get any better?
Game and post-match entertainment over and done with it
was time to put Eddie on a bus home and hit the pub. Despite
having cracked open the first Tesco wine pouch at the
unearthly hour of 9.15am, at closing time I was still
sitting and talking complete and utter bollocks with my
mate Kev Denman in the Cherry Trees at Norwood Junction.
Now **that’s** what I call a decent booze-up!!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 2nd January
Right… leisure time is officially
over – on with the worst aspect of being self-employed….
friggin’ end-of-year accounts. With far more pressing
issue to have fretted over these past few months, this
is gonna take hour after painstaking hour. Luckily I’ve
a huge pile of CDs with which to numb the pain. I’ve
been listening to ‘That’s The Way The Wind
Blows’, a great double-disc anthology of a blues
band called Stretch on Repertoire Records; it’s
really superb stuff. Playing re-issues of the first 8
x Doobie Brothers albums has also helped! Later on I shall
probably delve into the Frankie Miller four-disc boxed
set, ‘The Complete Chrysalis Recordings’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 1st January
It’s been a tumultuous 12 months.
My 17-year marriage came to a screeching halt, causing
my finances to plunge into meltdown, but there’s
always someone worse off than one’s self and I’ve
begun to harbour a cautiously optimistic feeling that
2012 will only get better. The atmosphere here at Ling
Towers is a good deal more harmonious than it’s
been, and Crystal Palace’s 1-0 win over Scumwall
– the club’s first away victory over the vile
knuckledraggers from South Bermondsey since 1996 –
is a pretty good place to start the brand new year. Might
have to crack open a bottle of something strong to get
the party started. Meanwhile, click for the latest updates
to the Playlist and YouTube
pages.
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