Back in the Day

Aug 30th: Back In The Day

Memories flowed for me last night. Got home from work well knackered. Morag was rehearsing the school kids for a show while I had to take Ailsa to a dance practise for some festival she's got going on this weekend.

Madonna's "Hung Up" is getting the treatment on Saturday...which got me thinking about Nick Jones who roadied, photographed and drove the Jasmine Minks back in the day. He used to play in a brilliant band called APB. However, they hardly got a listen in the UK due to Peter Powell being a self promoting wank (as most radio one dj's were back then apart from Peel, Long and Kershaw) but they did get some TV airtime as I remember seeing them on Riverside or whatever it was called.

APB did well in America though, doing the college radio circuits and playing in New York with James Brown believe it or not...magic!

This is where Nick and Mad Madge come in. Nick once told us in the van on the way to a gig in France a tale around how all the APB lads were put up in various digs in the big apple and Nick got placed with a guy who was a dance teacher. Anyway a pupil phones the apartment about a rehearsal and as the teacher dude was out she chats Nick up due to his having a nice Scottish accent! Told him after about half an hour her name was Madonna and she wanted to meet him and would try and catch the gig later on that night....she was unheard of at this time and I don't think they ever did meet....a missed opportunity or a great escape...make your own mind up...but I smiled to myself at how simply taking my wee girl to a dance rehearsal 20 odd years later would pull back a long suppressed memory from back in the day...

Which leads me to Strummer.

Morag gave me the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros DVD as a present ages ago and I only got the chance to watch it last night. More memories. 1985 Edinburgh...caught the Clash busking...ace maroonie...even met Strummer afterwards and we had a once in a lifetime chat.

He was mesmerising.

I wanted to talk about him and the Clash whilst he wanted to discuss the Jimmy Boyle collective and getting money into the bucket he was wondering around with, cajoling punters and passers by alike. Watching the DVD it's plain to see he was fundamentally a good bloke. I knew this anyway but it was generically reinforced by this DVD. I'm also reading Johnny Green's book about life with the Clash at the moment and he talked about Joe and him having his moments which is fair enough as these guys were a travelling family falling in and out as families do. But the Joe, I talked to as a clash fan was just magic. What's past is absent but what's really obvious is that he left life way too early and the worlds a much lesser place for him not being here even after four years have passed...

If you have any spare change stick it in a bucket for something worthwhile that Joe would have championed or better still a just cause that you follow because as APB said 'we all need something to believe in'...and get out there and buy an APB album...it's worthwhile and you'll feel good...do be do be do be do