What a week! Up’s and down’s, round and round’s. And ’06 was supposed to be different, right? Well, I got news for you…

The Junipers! Do you remember those guys from the last Skull Club? Of course you do. Well, with The Combat Rocker in the driving seat and The Most Illusive in the back, we set off on a mission to go seek out those cats at their very own studio space, hear some brand new songs and hang out. It was good to see them and judging by what we were given they’ve been working hard, moving forward and sounding even better for it. They’re such a cool bunch of guys, know exactly what they want and will inevitably take off sometime soon. The Junipers? We love ‘em!!!

On a sombre note, we were deeply saddened to hear the awful news that the town’s very own, Michael Weir, had sadly passed away over the weekend. A taxi driver had found him one morning on a bench outside their office. The driver went out to take him a cuppa, thought he was asleep I guess?

I didn’t actually know the old lad as Michael, I always knew him as, ‘John’. That’s what he told me his bloody name was so that’s what I always called him. I guess you local Skull Heads may have known him as The Tramp. He was the dude that used to sit in the Middle Entry, amongst his carrier bags and dog-ends. More often than not, when I would see him he would have his head down, that grubby old hat never off his head, his long grey hair hanging down the sides of his face, scribbling away on an old scrap of paper or the inside of a torn up cereal box. I never asked or got to see what it was he was drawing but, since his passing I’ve had the great pleasure of seeing a number of his little ‘scribbles’. One of them was a simple and quite fantastic drawing of a town street. I know neither the town nor the street. I saw that pinned to the wall in Kallkwik printers (I must ask Don for a copy…). The other was a remarkable oil painting that he had done a few years ago. I saw that one day early last week, mounted on a table that stood pretty much on the exact spot where ‘John’ used to sit. The painting and written notice were put there by one Ian Gibbons, to raise awareness about what had happened and to raise funds to help do something about it from happening in Tamworth again. I’m not too sure of the details of this cause, you’ll have to ask Ian yourself but, during the ten minute period that I stood in the Middle Entry with Ian, Paul Mortimer (What a guy!) and another couple of gentlemen exchanging stories and cursing as us guys do, I was quite knocked out by what I saw. The reaction from the town’s folk was quite extraordinary. People were stopping in their tracks and blocking the way for the other’s passing through, interacting with each other and, like us, swapping stories about ‘John’. They would be there a minute or so, pay their respects, pop a few coins on the table and move along for the next lot to come and do the same. People of all ages too. I saw a bunch of town dudes stop and begin chatting with a couple of old women, all obviously moved in their own way, yet not necessarily by what was on the table in front of them but by the realisation of who wasn’t there sitting in front of them, on that same window sill, with the same carrier bags, wearing same hat and coat.

The first time I spoke to ‘John’ was when he came swaying up to a bench I was sitting on in the Castle Grounds about three years ago. He asked if I minded him taking a seat and parked his ass, and his bags, right next to me. I ended up talking to him for quite a while and found him to be a really nice old chap. I gave him my address and told him to gimme a knock if he ever got hungry. He did a few times too. Anyway, just before I left him and carried on with my travels, I asked him if he minded if I took his photograph. “Oh no, I don’t mind,” he said, “Is it for the newspaper?” I just laughed, focused, took the shot and split.

The funny thing is that very photograph did eventually make it into the Tamworth Herald. The sad thing is, old ‘John’ never got to see it. It’s strange how some things turn out, ain’t it?

I was gonna talk about the local gigs that took place this weekend (The Virtues, The Outline, Lost In Vegas, Carousel Circus and The Moans, at the Tamworth Assembly Rooms on Saturday 21st and The Remedies, The Indigos, The Pinch, Reed Stone Overboard and Uberweed, at Decadence on Sunday 22nd) as well as the cancelled Skull date, the disappointment than is the new Strokes album and the hype surrounding the Artic Monkeys but I think I’ve talked enough, don’t you? You know where the forum is: Let us know how those gigs were! Tell us that we’re wrong about The Strokes latest! Fill us in on why The Artic Monkeys are the new darlings of the underground press! Come on, we gots ta know…

As always, stay in touch and behave yourselves. And, if you knew him, spare a thought for ‘Old John’.

Bless ya…