Hey Skull Heads! What's happening? It's been pointed out by that Skull obsessed Head, Migawong, a few days ago, that it's been a little quiet around here of late. The forum has still been particularly active (Thanks you guys) but, official Skull Activity has been... rather lax.

Well, you're right, we've been... nevermind, but this should change over the next few days/weeks. Only yesterday, light has been spotted at the end of the Radio tunnel. The Illusive A. Codling telephoned through with news of a temporary alternative to usual recording arrangements and, with any luck, the third instalment of The Skull Club Radio Show should be with us/you in about a fortnight or so's time. Fingers crossed.

Not only that but, the wheels are in motion concerning the next Skull Club at the Tamworth Assembly Rooms. A date has been set, bands have been contacted and ideas put forward. Now, we don't want to go shouting details just yet, we never know which way it's gonna go but, as soon as the deeds have been done you'll be the first to know.

And there's the fanzine. At the minute it's still very much in it's infancy stage at the minute but, it's something that a few of us Skull Heads really want to see happen and, whether anything comes of it or not, we're gonna give it a go. Services have already been offered by several members of our collective, it's just getting the ball rolling to begin with that's the difficult bit. As always, we'll let you know.

But the first new deal to see life will be... The Skull Club's Song Of The Day. Yes Skull Heads, each day (hopefully) there'll be a different song appear somewhere on the site (most probably through an option in the 'Radio' page) for your listening pleasure. A number of members will be in on this deal and we aim to offer food for thought, so to speak. There will be no download option, the whole reason for doing this is in hope that you may hear something, go out and exchanged your hard earned £'s in return for a disc (or discs) by any one of many featured artists.

The number of folks that have approached us with news of a new found favourite band/artist because of a recommendation on this forum, or an airing on the radio, or even something that has been played at The Skull Club, is astonishing. That's one of the main things that we set out to do, to turn you guys on and, each time we hear a different tale, it fills us with pride. And The Skull Club's Song Of The Day is something else that we hope will provide results. Personally, I can't wait.

What else was I gonna say (this whole thing is totally unintentional...)?

Ah yes, another great loss in the ranks of Rock and Roll. On the 3rd of August 2006, Arthur Lee, lead vocalist and main songwriter with the L.A. psychedelic group, Love, unexpectedly passed away due to a relatively short battle with leukaemia.

As many of you already know, Love, were the part of the L.A. psychedelic scene that produced bands such-as The Byrds, The Seeds, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, Buffalo Springfield and, maybe the most successful of them all, The Doors (It was at Lee’s recommendation that Jac Holzman sign The Doors to Elektra Records). Whether it was due to Arthur’s reluctance to tour Love or the fact that they were so far ahead of their time, Love never really received the credit that they were due until years later. Their third album, Forever Changes, is generally regarded as a classic and, even though it was produced at a time and in a place that was awash with peace, love and hope, Forever Changes couldn’t have gone against that grain any harder if it would have tried. In contrast to the strings/brass-heavy orchestration and surrealistic beauty of the music, the lyrics were borne of cynicism, redemption, paranoia and, ultimately, death. Despite it’s obvious brilliance, Forever Changes (like Pet Sounds) failed to receive the recognition and success that it deserved and, combined with Lee’s reluctance to play the game, the original incarnation of the band fell apart.

Although there were new line-ups and albums to follow (including the fantastic Four Sail L.P.) it wasn't until Arthur began touring, with a band called Baby Lemonade backing him, in 2002 that he began to get the acclaim that was due.

I didn't give much thought to going to see him when the first batch of dates were announced, I'd read about his antics over the years and knew he could be somewhat unpredictable, so I gave it a miss. A few days later, I was at Swordfish Records in Birmingham and Mike asked me if I'd bothered going or not. I told him, no, and he said the same but, he did know someone who did attend and he reckoned his mate said it was one of the best gigs he'd ever been to. As he said that, another guy who was mooching around the shop piped up and confirmed said friends bravado, only going one further: It 'was' the best gig he'd ever been to!

When a Birmingham Academy date was announced, due to take place only two months after the missed Bilston date, a bunch of us got out heads together and made the trip. I still remember it well: The Combat Rocker, Wild Card, Swan-Lee Latham, Random Dan, Jem from the Assembly Rooms and I, huddled around a relatively packed Academy, loving some fine, fine Moroccan t'ing ("Fuck me, I feel like I'm at f'king Monterrey!"... The Combat Rocker) and waiting in anticipation of another's promise.

As soon as he walked on stage, you could just tell... From behind his sunglasses he demanded your undivided attention. And he got it! He lifted his tambourine and, one, two, three, four, straight into My Little Red Book and... Shit, it could have come straight off the album! And it stayed that way from start to finish, playing songs from the first four Love albums (let's not mention his new work-in-progress song, shall we) so soulful and effortless, it was absolutely unbelievable. His band was fantastic too. While still capturing the dynamics of a live performance, the whole gig note for note but with the looseness of a good, hard-working rock and roll band. Even the orchestrated Forever Changes material was accounted for! It was like none of us could believe what we were seeing. Really, it was one of those 'special' gigs, one of the gigs that always springs to mind during those, "What's the best concert you've ever been to then, eh?" type conversations that all of us music-folk have at regular intervals during our lives.

I saw him another three or four times after that Birmingham show and, every time, it was the same mind-blowing performance. I saw them accompanied by a small brass and string section once too. That was really something else...

Infact, I managed to get to hang out backstage at the Cantabuty Fare festival a few years ago, I went with a friend of mine who knows Buzzcocks, and Arthur Lee and Love were headlining on that particular day. Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead was there playing a set with his band too (much to Pete Shelley's disgust). Anyways, Buzzcocks had a small marquee tent as their backstage area, Bob Weir's was opposite and Arthur Lee's crew's was adjacent. To be honest, I was a bit star struck by it all. I'd met Buzzcocks a few times before and, even though they were all real welcoming, it was still a little crazy for me. Not just that, I was talking to the dude that put together that huge Who book (the one with the bass drum picture on the front cover), there were proper suited-up Mods showing up, fuck me, Bob Weir's sitting right over there and he's just put his hand up to me (I wave back and then cover up my Grateful Dead tattoo(?)) and all the while I'm doing my best to not totally spazz out with rock-stardom-ness and blow my cool completely. Gunter (the friend who knows and The Driver) seems to just totally ease into the situation but, I’m having to calm myself down with self-medication, drinking wine from the bottle, rolling fast and making sure my sunglasses stay on at all times… and there’s Arthur Lee!

He didn't so much walk past as glide. Shit, he looked so cool: Cowboy boots, tight black denim jeans, Black, white piped cowboy-type shirt, brown leather tasselled jacket, sunglasses and a cowboy hat. About 6 foot-four. And no-one was approaching him! That was the kind of vibe he gave off, not that he was angry in any way, or even stern looking, it was just an unbelievable cool. Y'know, like a 'real' rock star. I know that Buzzcocks were around but, they don't act like rock stars, that's not what I mean. I'm talking about like seeing your Jaggers, your Tylers, your Bowies, your Pops etc. Like a rock 'Super Star'!

Anyway (didn't I just say that about an hour ago?), as the evening went on, Bob Weir disappeared, Buzzcocks did their thing (I was so drunk by this time that I fell over, twice, while dancing to one of the many Buzzcocks classics), I danced myself close to sober and I was once again hanging out backstage. Buzzcocks were partying by this time, everyone was in good spirits and I was finishing off the last of my wine (no sunglasses though). I went out at one point, to get my head together and take some of this in and, Arthur Lee was standing a few yards away, with his back towards me, looking out over the night-time lake infront of him. I stood for a second, already regretting not approaching Bob Weir and chemically imbalanced enough to feel like a regular to all of this so I decided to go up to him...

"Excuse me Arthur" Oh shit... it was too late to stop now. He turned his head and looked down at me, over the top of his sunglasses (it was close to pitch black outside). I was right next to him. "Sorry to bother you but, I just wanted to say thanks."

"What for, man?" he said in a thick Californian accent. I tried to act pretty casual but respectful about all of this, well aware that I was talking to something of a legend here.

"Well," Don't say the one that everybody knows first, give him the underdog, I thought, "Y'know, Four Sail, Forever Changes, gigs and stuff, y'know." Cool, I thought, he's gonna know I'm a 'real fan'. "No really, I really wanna say thanks, man." I was being sincere! I loved Love. I Loved it! And shit, here's me and Arthur, baby! And I was, y'know...

"Hey, that's no problem, man" He was still looking down at me, over the top of his glasses but he was smiling now and nodding in acknowledgement and acceptance. "Thank ya, man, thank ya, thank ta."

"No really, thanks, man." And I left him alone again, still standing at the lake.

Ten minutes later they were onstage, playing the same faultless set that they did as part of the Forever Changes Tour and I was out front, watching. Once again it was unbelievable and Arthur Lee, as far as I'm concerned, just stole the whole show.

We won't go into the visit to the beach afterwards (What beach was it? Was it Whishall, or something? God knows...) Gunter's food-poisoning escapade back at the hotel ("Help me...") or the stop-start ride all the way home (it took so long, I managed to read the whole Lemmy autobiography.), it's times like that that you never forget. Adventure! Excitement and friendship! Great... Really...

To Arthur Lee!!!

Again, I did plan to hit on more than two subjects (approx) but, as usual, I ended up rattling on. Infact, I don't think I can remember what I had planned to say... Oh yes: The Tamworth Herald Saga and how I felt during the whole episode, Wrong Music Night at Bullet (a real challenging event), the re-opening of the Tamworth Media Centre as a live venue (exciting), the side effects of a seven day Slayer binge, my cat's third birthday, the new Stone Foundation album (fantastic) and probably another five things too but, it's 4.56 am and my system is shutting down.

Before meltdown, a big 'hey' to... Frenchie, M. Kelly, the guys from The Indigos, Steve Wileman and O. Woollard (fantastic to see you, man.). D.B and F.F as always.

And a big congratulations to The Combat Rocker! Well done old chap!

Right! That's enough! I can’t go on no longer...

Let us know what you think about the Song Of The Day idea (or anything else you feel like mentioning) and keep those posts coming. They don't go un-noticed or un-appreciated you know...

All the best... and over and out.

Kid Lightning
Freshly Cut And Paranoid