Hendrix In Nottingham / September 4 2008
I was in Nottingham yesterday buying some Doc Martens when I noticed a heavily tattooed man cleaning the big front windows of Debenhams department store in Slab Square. It was none other than disgusting punk troubadour Hendrix Sikboy.
Dressed in black leather and sporting a huge peroxide hairdo, he was shouting the lyrics to the Sex [...]
Ringing The Changes / August 4 2008
‘We’ve changed our name again!’ Punk drummer Sonny Starr rang me from Paris last night. ‘We are now called The Ringtones.’
‘Brilliant name, Sonny,’ I told him, ‘but you’re still not coming in the studio.’
‘But listen, Davy man: Hendrix, the singer, right? – he’s having a sex change in October.’
‘. . .’
Makes you wonder how far [...]
White Dopes on Punk / June 18 2008
Aren’t teenagers great.
Whilst wandering through the park with Audrey yesterday evening, a group of adolescents dressed as a cross between Marilyn Manson and street urchins from Oliver Twist, thought it would be fun to shout abuse at us from the relative safety of the dilapidated bandstand in which they had ensconced themselves to smoke joints, [...]
Mood Swings and Elevators / June 15 2008
Punk drummer Sonny Starr paid the studio a visit yesterday. I was incredibly busy as usual and did not have the time to pay him much attention or to patronise him in the way to which he has become accustomed.
After he’d finished telling me about how he’d had a ‘right good blow-job’ from a member [...]
Avon Calling / May 12 2008
I have just been invited by Sonny Starr via a late-night telephone conversation (I was actually in bed – early riser me, I need my beauty sleep) to play guitar on the new Dysons album and European tour. I declined the offer.
‘It’s a turgid dirge, Sonny,’ I explained when he asked me why I wouldn’t [...]
Our Manual Friend / January 24 2008
Sonny Starr, drummer with punk band The Dysons, turned up at the studio last night. In his arms was a bundle of technical manuals. ‘Here ya go,’ he said, cheerfully.
‘What are these, Sonny?’ I asked.
‘Reading books.’ Intelligence and literacy are not his defining characteristics.
I was going to ignore them initially, but propelled by some kind [...]
Starr Stories / December 17 2007
I had a visit from my old pal Sonny Starr yesterday. Sonny is the drummer with punk band The Dysons and lives in a tiny bohemian garret on the Rue St Denis in Paris. I haven’t seen him for about five years.
‘To what do I owe this rather unexpected pleasure, Sonny?’ I inquired, leading him [...]
The Cream Also Rises / July 26 2007
I have just been scanning some old publicity shots for the Slaughterhouse 5 website and was reminded of another boozy photographic session we did with top rock photographer Ed Sirrs.
We were very in awe of the famous snapper; but although he was so well-respected within the industry and had such a glowing reputation, he wasn;t [...]
Fun On Tour: Garlic and Drugs and Rock’n'Roll / June 6 2007
Once, when Slaughterhouse 5 were playing in London, I remember telling Miles Copeland III Jnr (our big boss at the time, IRS Records head honcho, former manager of The Police and general all-round music business luminary) that he had bad breath.
I don’t think I really offended him. Thankfully, he took the statement as it was [...]
