im sittin’ here with ricky of the beejayem
in the foyer of the columbia hotel
its the morning after
its warm n sunny
ricky n i have just had a smokey dokey
tonite i fly back home
sk :hey ricky …..how are ya?
r:great thank you
sk:how was the gig?
r: it was great one of the best i seen
sk:when did you 1st meet me?
r:1990 october san francisco paradise lounge solo gig
i was so young i had to hide in the shadows of the club
i was only 17 n you hadda be 21 to get in
i woulda been mortified if i missed it
sk : we actually met right?
r: yeah 17 years ago
sk : what was i like…and be honest i wont mind
r: surprisingly open to meeting me
approachable friendly happy to sign albums
you were looking for a joint so i left…
i thought if i stayed to long youd tell me to get out
you have no recollection at all….
i was just a pasty faced kid with a loada records
sk : did you know on that day i’d been stung in the mouth
by a wasp when i was tripping?
r: was it that night?
sk : my tongue had just been going down…
what happened i was in a forest outside san fran
i had a fresh juice which i put on a tree stump
i was tripping on some magic pizza toppings
and i picked up my drink
n i noticed a big orangey lump floating round in it
which i took to be pulp
i stuck my tongue in expectantly
n bang
i cant describe it
the pain
bewilderment
my tongue swelling
by time of gig i could only just sing or talk at all
r: next time we met it was palo alto in 95 south bay
you n marty acc tour…
sk : my dark days
r : yeah you were a lot less happy
it was apparent in your aura that you
were existing in that dark(read heroin) days
sk : how was the show
r : it was great i met you backstage
sk : how was my attitude towards you that nite
r: you didnt remember me
from before
you seemed generally not as happy
so i didnt spend time bothering ya
you played a bit of remindlessness on an acc guitar for me
marty was so involved in a book n left him alone…
sk : so last nite…?
r: woulda liked to have seen wide open road
sk : so i ask you for a comment on last nite
n thats the 1st thing that occurs to you?
r: i guess…..the sound was better in brighton..gelled more
sk : have we changed?
r : in so many ways,….peter playing all the keyboards
you interact with audience a lot more..the free association
you particularly your stage presence has changed
cos your more in tune with yaself physically
sk : ok , is it silly an olde geeza like me
rocking n rolling n poncing about on a stage at my age?
r: not when you see you doing it…
if someone asked ..yeah
but its just your way of entertaining
the whole thing transcends the age issue
you dont think about it!
sk : shucks……..

london was all i hoped for
we rocked baby we rocked
it was good
it was all good
it was what i needed
thank you
boydie
thank you
leesy
kevvy marshall
andy voyez
boydies missus n kids
tilda
peta luma the bright one
greg n sylvia
leigh gregory n oh dana! c’mon…..
davem n missus m
zoltan
trevor johhnno johnstone
our lighting man for twenty one years
kevvy allegedly nejedly
the greeks
the german
all the other crazy knuckle heads
richard n especially merrick
who is a true star
if i forgot ya..
hs7
an amazing band from hungary
please check em out
some of their songs i wish i had written
tiare
all the rest
ernst n his sister
stefan fandorin
jens time
all the rest
a cast of thousands…
speek to ya from australia