THE SO-CALLED SADDEST VOICE !N THE WORLD IN HIS OWN WORDS AND BY HIS OWN HAND

THE SO-CALLED SADDEST VOICE !N THE WORLD IN HIS OWN WORDS AND BY HIS OWN HAND

I describe myself as... early sixties, British passport, drummerfor 10 years, sing and write songs, live in a small country town, don't shave, married to Alfie, trying to stop drinking. Music changed me... two ways. First of all it gave me something that I could actually enjoy, really absorb and take on as a teenager when nothing around like schoolwork or social interaction really made sense. secondly,to my surprise, for the last 45 years it has provided me with an income. When I'm not making music... Three days a week I like to get down to the market in our town - Stan's there with his van, and I have a sausage in a bun. He runs the teas at a loss because it lures people towards his sausage in a bun. And it works for me, mate. My biggest vice.., is smoking. It's the hardest one to stop. I really go right down into the pits of despair after a couple of days without fags. I саn dо it, but the psychological price is extraordinary. The last time I was embarrassed... а teacher and his pupil from an education institute in Grimsby came to interview mе for а project about the '70s, and I was really unhappyand unhelpful.l just wasn't there for them. They had made а special day journey and it still makes me shiver with shame. My formal qualifications are... I'm officially a member ofthe Petits Fi1s Ubu, designated by the society of 'Pataphysics as а member of the official orchestra of the 'Pataphysica Institute on such occasion when they march through the streets. l was given this in 1967. I last cried... at little moments of tenderness between people. Whenever I see реорlе walkdown the street hand in hand it always makes mу eyes prickle. Vinyl, CD or МРЗ? At the moment, cassettes. Peel sessions, ancient Humphrey Lyttelton jazz programmes, bits of Radio Moscow, а live set by Siouxsie & The Banshees. An anarchic bunch of stuff. Му most treasured possession is... mу handbag. It sits on mу lap, it's the size of a small Labrador. It's like а living thing. l couldn't go anywhere without it. I've got fags in it, old bits of soap, interesting cuttings, matchboxes. The last book I read was... Absolute Friends by John Le Carrё. It's а stunning look at what actually happened at the end of the cold war compared with how people thought it would be. Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Oh, half-full, absolutely. l can't believe it when people bang on about what they haven't got and I think, "It's not that bad, look at what you have got." Му greatest regret is... having been а provincial grammar school boy. There is something terminally dreary about that mindset that I'm still trying to throw off like an old snakeskin. When we die.. .Eternal peace. You'll never have to wash your feet again. It's only us; we're very small and most things carry on without us. I'd like to be remembered... as harmless. That seems to те to be quite something to aspire to.

As told to Mike Barnes

www.mojo4music.com