AND TALKING OF THE DEVIANTS…

The following came via Facebook from our pal Bob Fish…

"Hi Mick, Remember this? 1967/8? The Cricketers Pub, Westcliff-on-Sea (Nr Southend) Southend Art School Dance. You standing, singing on the back of a 850cc Norton Commando on stage, (gear lever removed) while I sat on the bike revving like mad. It was a great gig! I went to the Art School & booked you & ran those gigs at the time. Somebody had pulled down some plastic decorations and set fire to them in the middle of the dance floor... this combined with the carbon monoxide (from the Norton) and hundreds of joss sticks that I'd given away on the door, proved a heady mix. The manager of the pub (eyes streaming) found me & said "Mr Fish, I want to see you at the end of the night". Needless to say, I didn't hang around. Anyway... a great night! You & the Deviants were amazing. HAPPY DAYS!"

And I remember this happy day very well indeed. Bob doesn’t mention that before the show, some kind person handed out lumps of black hash and handfuls of yellow dexadrine, and by the time we hit the stage, were flying without wings. Standing on the bike, I didn't know the gear shift was gobne, and was wondering if Bob was going to pop the clutch and send it and us wheelying into the audience. I mean, Iggy threw peanut butter on the crowd, but a quarter of a ton of high powered motorcycle would have been wholly something else. It’s also one reason I sigh when people ask me to play the old songs and reproduce the old vibe. The above can never be recreated, and that was what it was all about when we were young and insane.