22/43

"Half the World Away" or almost half of my life away. Any which way, this was me at 22, a little-big-skinny-tall drummer boy, an Oasis fan (well, I leaned towards Blur a bit more, I think), a gin and beer drinker (not in the same drink, silly), sometime amphetamine taker (or was it antihistamine?), where ecstasy filled the air at the club(s) where smokes were still smoked and we danced forever and held each other tight. Hey, does this transport card still work?

London and Tokyo (Konnichiwa, Ichiro!) were my personal meccas during this era (has anything changed? Well, yes, slightly...) and I took my first trip to England during the same week as the Gallagher brother's biggest gigs to date in the summer of '96, two days at Knebworth where over 2 million people applied for 250,000 available tickets. I decided to pass. Was I already over it? I'm listening to "Rockin' Chair" as I type, the emotional b-side of "Roll With It," and it's making me teary eyed, the distance, the innocence, and the naivety, simply seeking out and grooving on the beat and the beats and even some of the better words, wherever they came from: Manchester, New York, Paris, Kingston or Toronto.

I had just started playing records out to the universe (soul, funk, and reggae mostly w/ a little 60s jazz and other assorted mod gear), my dear mother, rest her soul, was still alive, and I worked full-time as a music clerk/buyer at HMV #852 in Coquitlam Centre after graduating from SFU. The store was MASSIVE, with more music than a fully loaded jukebox or a 160 gigabyte iPod Classic. It was our very own Youtube before that even existed (imagine that, eh!?), a library of sound, that is to say, we had almost everything, a bastion of culture in suburbia heaven and hell where the dogs ran wild at night.

I was sick during that first journey across the Atlantic (*More on that later!) and to be totally honest, I could barely understand a word that anyone was saying to me upon my arrival in the UK, from the airport staff commuting from central London to the old Liverpudlian at the chip shop down the road. "Sorry, do you speak English?" It took two more trips in 2000 and 2004 to finally get the swing of it and I feel that I'm ready to be here now once more. This time, there's a bit more of a purpose to the motion, Light in the Attic Records' sweet 16 anniversary festivities, a label that I've helped to shape for over 14 years.

Does anyone actually read liner notes? Well, don't tell LITA! ; ) And please note, my best notes were written for the 2006 re-release of the mighty Noel Ellis (Summer Records, 1983). On this go round, I'm traveling alongside and in support of Willie Thrasher and his singing partner Linda Saddleback and I'm sad and somewhat frustrated to report that certain outlets in the Canadian mass media have ignored my requests to cover this historic event, but trust me friends (yes, we're still friends), THIS IS A BIG F%CKING DEAL!@#$%!!!

Willie, who's been at it for over 50 years and is still rocking harder than yer latest and momentarily greatest buzz band of twenty-somethings w/ crass managers and sly booking agents and flash photographers and stylish stylists and posing press people and a full season of government sponsored festival dates (no diss, we'll see how many of you are still at it at 69, like Willie! Grassroots or not...), a residential school survivor, a Grammy nominee (Native North America represent!), and SO much more... Did I mention that this is Willie's first trip off of Turtle Island, singing his Inuvialuit heartbeat songs with his beloved partner on the doorsteps of the colonizer in one of London's most respectable and professional concert venues?

YES FRIENDS, THIS IS A BIG... F%CKING... DEAL...

So Canada, WAKE UP!!!

And in the meantime, London town, we're coming for YOU!!!

PEACE