Don's 1978 Diary
January 1st 1978:
There was a programme on TV about the ‘punk’ scene...... Chas Chandler was featured about his thoughts on the, fashion......... NOT GOOD.
January 3rd 1978:
Jolly John (roadie JJ) picked me up to spend the day at Advision Recording Studio.
January 4th 1978:
Spent all day at Advision
January 5th 1978:
Spent all day at Advision.
After we had finished the session ‘H’, Jim , Jolly John and myself went for a, drink.... I watched the Old Grey Whistle Test on tv before going to bed....
January 6th 1978:
Went to Harry’s for a hair cut (he designed Jimi Hendrix’s hair style..... NOT MINE).
January 7th 1978:
Early evening, Nod called to invite me to go out to ‘Rags’ to eat along with Brian May and his then wife, Chrissie.....They dropped me home afterwards.
January 8th 1978:
Watched Elton John on the ‘Muppets Show’.......
There was a programme on TV about the ‘punk’ scene...... Chas Chandler was featured about his thoughts on the, fashion......... NOT GOOD.
January 3rd 1978:
Jolly John (roadie JJ) picked me up to spend the day at Advision Recording Studio.
January 4th 1978:
Spent all day at Advision
January 5th 1978:
Spent all day at Advision.
After we had finished the session ‘H’, Jim , Jolly John and myself went for a, drink.... I watched the Old Grey Whistle Test on tv before going to bed....
January 6th 1978:
Went to Harry’s for a hair cut (he designed Jimi Hendrix’s hair style..... NOT MINE).
January 7th 1978:
Early evening, Nod called to invite me to go out to ‘Rags’ to eat along with Brian May and his then wife, Chrissie.....They dropped me home afterwards.
January 8th 1978:
Watched Elton John on the ‘Muppets Show’.......
January 10th 1978:
Spent all day at Advision...
January 11th 1978:
Spent the the day at Advision..... After the studio, Jolly John and myself drove to Ilford to watch the band Sparrow (they won ‘Opportunity Knocks ...JJ used to work for them..... I got up and played "Staggerlee" and other old rock stuff....
January 12th 1978:
Relaxed all day before JJ and myself spent all night drinking at the Speakeasy (Margaret St, London, W1) with Phil Lynott and Gary Moore....
January 13th 1978:
Spent the last day at Advision.... JJ dropped me home on his way back to Wolverhampton...
January 16th 1978:
Swinn called to check that H and JJ were staying at my place for the next few days......
Spent all day in the studio going over tracks - nothing much was done.....
January 17th 1978:
Spent all day recording at Advision. Rabbitt arrived to put piano on the tracks....???????
January 18th 1978:
Spent all day recording ?????? H and JJ dropped me home on their way back to Wolverhampton....
Frank came round to pick some clothes up..... Then Jim and Lou - they all needed to drive to Wolverhampton for their Uncles funeral.....
January 19th 1978:
A solid gold ring came by post (from a fan called Sue..????) as a present for me..????. Robbie Wilson (old drum roadie) called to invite me to a ‘Be Bop Deluxe’ show.... They were recording "In Concert" for the BBC.
January 24th 1978:
Susie Ching (Chas’s Secretary) sent me an article about Vasopressin (a memory drug).
Spoke to ‘H’.... He’d just moved to a new house in Albrighton.......
I signed the sale forms for my flat in Wolverhampton.....
Spent the night at the Speakeasy..... Chas was there.
January 25th 1978:
Ozzie Osbourne called from the Steeles Pub to say they (Sabbath) would pop in for a drink on their way to a gig in Leicester.......( Don’t remember any more...)
January 27th 1978:
The bloke next door came round to complain about the volume I was playing my music at.
January 29th 1978:
JJ picked me up for rehearsals..... Couldn’t rehearse, everything was a shambles ?????...... JJ and myself went to see Sparrow in Islington.
January 30th 1978:
Spent all day at Advision recording "Give Us A Goal".
January 31st 1978:
Spent all day at Advision ..... We re-recorded "Give Us A Goal" - THIS TIME, we put the drums in the corridor.....
February 1st 1978:
H came down from Wolverhampton to record his guitar on "Give Us A Goal".
February 2nd 1978:
Spent the day in Advision.....
February 6th 1978:
Met Nod at Euston to go to Wolverhampton for rehearsals. Swinn met us at the station and drove us to Cannock for a days rehearsals...
February 7th 1978:
JJ picked me up and drove me to Cannock for a days rehearsals....
Old Grey Whistle Test was on with Jim Capaldi, The Adverts & Dusty Springfield.
February 8th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing.....
February 9th 1978:
I was up at 06:30am - Swinn picked me up to drive to Brighton to film the promo video for "Give Us A Goal"....... Drove back to London and watched TOTP’s with ELO, Dusty Springfield, Stranglers and Brotherhood Of Man.
February 11th 1978:
I was up at 06:00am cleaned up and waited for H and Jim to arrive from Wolverhampton. We all drove to Brighton to spend the day filming at the football ground again..... I drove back to Wolverhampton with everyone.
February 12th 1978:
Swinn picked me up to spend all day rehearsing in Cannock....
Nod, Ross & Marg (friends of the band), Mickie Legg (road) & myself all had dinner at Swinn's place.
Nod drove me home.
February 13th 1978:
H picked me up to spend all day rehearsing in Cannock.
February 15th 1978:
I was up 05:30am for the roadies to pick me up...... They were late picking me up as they had run out of petrol.
We drove to London.
February 16th 1978:
I was up at 10:00am. I got ready and drove to Heathrow to fly to Hamburg...... Drove to Kiel and the TV studio..... Did a rehearsal before coming back to the hotel.
February 17th 1978:
Got up 10:30am, cleaned up and drove to the TV studio...... A good days work. We drove back to our hotel in Hamburg....
February 18th 1978:
Got up 10:30 to fly back to the UK.....
February 20th 1978:
I was up at 08:30am. Went to Euston to get the train to Wolverhampton.
Spent all day rehearsing in, Cannock.....
February 21st 1978:
Rehearsals were put back as Jim wasn’t feeling too well.....
February 22nd 1978:
Rehearsed all day before I caught the train back to London.
February 23rd 1978:
Spent all day doing Press interviews with Nod.
February 24th 1978:
I met everyone at the office so we could drive to Reading for a concert.... GOOD ONE. Swinn took H and Jim back to Wolverhampton..... Nod and myself came to London by Limo...
February 28th 1978:
I was up at 07:30am and waited for JJ to pick me up to spend the day at Olympic Studios. We re-recorded ‘My Baby Left Me’ and ‘Give Us A Goal’.
March 3rd 1978:
Met Nod so we could get the train to Newquay..... Checked in the hotel and spent the night in the bar.......
March 4th 1978:
I was up at 08:00, cleaned up before filming "Our Show".
Nod and myself caught the train back to London....
March 6th 1978:
Chas Chandler, Nod and myself caught the train to Manchester...... Checked in the hotel. Nod and myself did two radio stations that evening....
March 7th 1978:
I was up 07:00am, cleaned up and rehearsed and recorded the backing track and TV show (Get It Together).
Murial Young (TV producer) paid for a car to take Chas, Nod and myself back to London.
Spent all day at Advision...
January 11th 1978:
Spent the the day at Advision..... After the studio, Jolly John and myself drove to Ilford to watch the band Sparrow (they won ‘Opportunity Knocks ...JJ used to work for them..... I got up and played "Staggerlee" and other old rock stuff....
January 12th 1978:
Relaxed all day before JJ and myself spent all night drinking at the Speakeasy (Margaret St, London, W1) with Phil Lynott and Gary Moore....
January 13th 1978:
Spent the last day at Advision.... JJ dropped me home on his way back to Wolverhampton...
January 16th 1978:
Swinn called to check that H and JJ were staying at my place for the next few days......
Spent all day in the studio going over tracks - nothing much was done.....
January 17th 1978:
Spent all day recording at Advision. Rabbitt arrived to put piano on the tracks....???????
January 18th 1978:
Spent all day recording ?????? H and JJ dropped me home on their way back to Wolverhampton....
Frank came round to pick some clothes up..... Then Jim and Lou - they all needed to drive to Wolverhampton for their Uncles funeral.....
January 19th 1978:
A solid gold ring came by post (from a fan called Sue..????) as a present for me..????. Robbie Wilson (old drum roadie) called to invite me to a ‘Be Bop Deluxe’ show.... They were recording "In Concert" for the BBC.
January 24th 1978:
Susie Ching (Chas’s Secretary) sent me an article about Vasopressin (a memory drug).
Spoke to ‘H’.... He’d just moved to a new house in Albrighton.......
I signed the sale forms for my flat in Wolverhampton.....
Spent the night at the Speakeasy..... Chas was there.
January 25th 1978:
Ozzie Osbourne called from the Steeles Pub to say they (Sabbath) would pop in for a drink on their way to a gig in Leicester.......( Don’t remember any more...)
January 27th 1978:
The bloke next door came round to complain about the volume I was playing my music at.
January 29th 1978:
JJ picked me up for rehearsals..... Couldn’t rehearse, everything was a shambles ?????...... JJ and myself went to see Sparrow in Islington.
January 30th 1978:
Spent all day at Advision recording "Give Us A Goal".
January 31st 1978:
Spent all day at Advision ..... We re-recorded "Give Us A Goal" - THIS TIME, we put the drums in the corridor.....
February 1st 1978:
H came down from Wolverhampton to record his guitar on "Give Us A Goal".
February 2nd 1978:
Spent the day in Advision.....
February 6th 1978:
Met Nod at Euston to go to Wolverhampton for rehearsals. Swinn met us at the station and drove us to Cannock for a days rehearsals...
February 7th 1978:
JJ picked me up and drove me to Cannock for a days rehearsals....
Old Grey Whistle Test was on with Jim Capaldi, The Adverts & Dusty Springfield.
February 8th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing.....
February 9th 1978:
I was up at 06:30am - Swinn picked me up to drive to Brighton to film the promo video for "Give Us A Goal"....... Drove back to London and watched TOTP’s with ELO, Dusty Springfield, Stranglers and Brotherhood Of Man.
February 11th 1978:
I was up at 06:00am cleaned up and waited for H and Jim to arrive from Wolverhampton. We all drove to Brighton to spend the day filming at the football ground again..... I drove back to Wolverhampton with everyone.
February 12th 1978:
Swinn picked me up to spend all day rehearsing in Cannock....
Nod, Ross & Marg (friends of the band), Mickie Legg (road) & myself all had dinner at Swinn's place.
Nod drove me home.
February 13th 1978:
H picked me up to spend all day rehearsing in Cannock.
February 15th 1978:
I was up 05:30am for the roadies to pick me up...... They were late picking me up as they had run out of petrol.
We drove to London.
February 16th 1978:
I was up at 10:00am. I got ready and drove to Heathrow to fly to Hamburg...... Drove to Kiel and the TV studio..... Did a rehearsal before coming back to the hotel.
February 17th 1978:
Got up 10:30am, cleaned up and drove to the TV studio...... A good days work. We drove back to our hotel in Hamburg....
February 18th 1978:
Got up 10:30 to fly back to the UK.....
February 20th 1978:
I was up at 08:30am. Went to Euston to get the train to Wolverhampton.
Spent all day rehearsing in, Cannock.....
February 21st 1978:
Rehearsals were put back as Jim wasn’t feeling too well.....
February 22nd 1978:
Rehearsed all day before I caught the train back to London.
February 23rd 1978:
Spent all day doing Press interviews with Nod.
February 24th 1978:
I met everyone at the office so we could drive to Reading for a concert.... GOOD ONE. Swinn took H and Jim back to Wolverhampton..... Nod and myself came to London by Limo...
February 28th 1978:
I was up at 07:30am and waited for JJ to pick me up to spend the day at Olympic Studios. We re-recorded ‘My Baby Left Me’ and ‘Give Us A Goal’.
March 3rd 1978:
Met Nod so we could get the train to Newquay..... Checked in the hotel and spent the night in the bar.......
March 4th 1978:
I was up at 08:00, cleaned up before filming "Our Show".
Nod and myself caught the train back to London....
March 6th 1978:
Chas Chandler, Nod and myself caught the train to Manchester...... Checked in the hotel. Nod and myself did two radio stations that evening....
March 7th 1978:
I was up 07:00am, cleaned up and rehearsed and recorded the backing track and TV show (Get It Together).
Murial Young (TV producer) paid for a car to take Chas, Nod and myself back to London.
March 8th 1978:
JJ picked me up to drive to Olympic Studios. Did tom-tom overdubs on "Get It On".
Watched a TV program about the drug problem in Hong Kong.
March 9th 1978:
Spent all day in Olympic going over the ‘Live-Recordings’?
March 10th 1978:
Spent all day in Olympic Studios overdubbing Tom-Toms and Hand clapping....
March 14th 1978:
Caught the train to Wolverhampton. Nod met me and we drove to Cannock Spent the day rehearsing.
March 15th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing..... Had a drink with our lighting crew.... JJ drove me home.
March 16th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing..... Nod and myself caught the train to London.
March 17 1978:
(No diary entry as Don's suitcase and diary stolen from Slade's limo while the band were performing at the Andover Country Bumkin Club).
April 4th 1978:
Had a good gig in Southgate.
Swinn, Nod and myself drove to Bristol.... Checked in our hotel.
JJ picked me up to drive to Olympic Studios. Did tom-tom overdubs on "Get It On".
Watched a TV program about the drug problem in Hong Kong.
March 9th 1978:
Spent all day in Olympic going over the ‘Live-Recordings’?
March 10th 1978:
Spent all day in Olympic Studios overdubbing Tom-Toms and Hand clapping....
March 14th 1978:
Caught the train to Wolverhampton. Nod met me and we drove to Cannock Spent the day rehearsing.
March 15th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing..... Had a drink with our lighting crew.... JJ drove me home.
March 16th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing..... Nod and myself caught the train to London.
March 17 1978:
(No diary entry as Don's suitcase and diary stolen from Slade's limo while the band were performing at the Andover Country Bumkin Club).
April 4th 1978:
Had a good gig in Southgate.
Swinn, Nod and myself drove to Bristol.... Checked in our hotel.
April 5th 1978:
I was up at 08:30, cleaned up. Nod and myself had breakfast together, before doing an interview on TV...??????. Afterwards, we drove back to London to catch up with H & Jim.
We all drove to Folkestone. Did our sound check. Had a so-so show... Drove back to London, stopping for ‘fish n chips’ on the way. H & Swinn stayed at my place....
April 6th 1978:
Left to play the Webbington Country Club,..... Another so-so show. One of the guys from Four Steps Beyond (the group we played with in Dortmund in 1965) was at the show.....
Drove back to Wolverhampton.
April 7th 1978:
I went to town to buy new boots.
Nod, Swinn and myself went out on the town.
April 8th 1978:
Drove to Stroud - had a fair show.....
Nod, Swinn and myself drove back to Wolverhampton (The Happy Car). Went for a curry when we got there...
April 9th 1978:
Drove to Bolton. Had a good show. We all drove home together, but Nod, Swinn and myself went to the curry-house again....
April 10th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 12:30., drove to Bristol. GOOD GIG.
Drove home afterwards...
April 11th 1978:
I was up at 12:30pm cleaned up and we all drove for the gig at Chesterfield.
Chas and Dave Berry were there. Good gig.
Nod, Swinn and myself went to ‘Olivers’ (late night drinking club) to eat and drink...
April 12th 1978:
I was up at 12:30, cleaned up and drove to Sunderland. GOOD gig - the band Geordie were on with us.... Their singer, Brian Johnson, now sings with AC/DC...... GOOD show. Drove to London afterwards.
April 13th 1978:
Had a good show...??????
April 14th 1978:
Got up 11:00, cleaned up and drove to Olympic Studio to record the backing track for ‘Cheggers Plays Pop’.
April 15th 1978:
I was up at 11:00am, cleaned up and drove to Hammersmith Odeon. Did the sound check and had a good show.. We all had a drink in the ‘artistes’ bar before driving back to Wolverhampton.
April 16th 1978:
I got up at 08:00, cleaned up and waited for Swinn to pick me up to drive to Manchester. For a TV show.
Showaddywady were also on.
Dropped H and Jim off in Wolverhampton, before Nod and myself drove to London.
April 17th 1978:
Spent the day at Olympic Studios recording.
April 18th 1978:
I was up at 09:15am, cleaned up. Arranged with Rose-Morris (the Ludwig distributors in UK) to get some percussion stuff for the studio....
Nod picked me up to drive to Wolverhampton. From there we all drove to Aberystwyth. Did a so-so gig with Chas’s new signings The Depressions..... I drove back to London with our Lighting crew.....
April 19th 1978:
I got up at 12:30 and called Jim Wilmour at Rose-Morris. Met him at the factory and we sorted out some percussion stuff for me....
Jim called for me to have a listen to the drumming on the Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever" to use on one of his new songs ‘I’m Mad’.
April 20th 1978:
Spent all day in Advision going over ’I’m Mad’....... In the end we went back to what we had already recorded...... IT WAS ALREADY THERE.
April 21st 1978:
I was up at 09:15. Cleaned up and met Nod at Kings Cross to travel to Edinburgh by train.
Had a good show. Chas was also there....... We drove straight to Glasgow after the gig.
April 22nd 1978:
Stayed in bed until 12:30, when H came round to borrow some shaving foam.....
Had a so-so show..... We drove back to Wolverhampton afterwards. Dad was getting ready for work when I got home.
April 24th 1978:
I got up at 12:30. Cleaned up to play the Civic Hall.... Good show. Drank at the Trumpet before going on to Olivers for late drinks...
April 25th 1978:
Got up at 12:00. Cleaned up and drove to Lincoln for a GOOD show....
April 26th 1978:
Cleaned up and played Lincoln again..... during the afternoon we all went to see "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind"...... I remember when the aliens came off their space ship, I shouted: "Dave Hill". WE ALL CRACKED UP...... Had a good show, Swinn and myself drove back to Wolverhampton, having a drink at The Lafayette and Olivers.
April 27th 1978:
I stayed in bed until 1:30pm.... Cleaned up and drove to Coventry for the gig.....
Frank (Lea) came, also Nigel from Lieutenant Pidgeon were there........Good show.
Frank, Nod, Swinn and myself drank at Olivers on our way home....
I got up at 08:00, cleaned up and waited for Swinn to pick me up to drive to Manchester. For a TV show.
Showaddywady were also on.
Dropped H and Jim off in Wolverhampton, before Nod and myself drove to London.
April 17th 1978:
Spent the day at Olympic Studios recording.
April 18th 1978:
I was up at 09:15am, cleaned up. Arranged with Rose-Morris (the Ludwig distributors in UK) to get some percussion stuff for the studio....
Nod picked me up to drive to Wolverhampton. From there we all drove to Aberystwyth. Did a so-so gig with Chas’s new signings The Depressions..... I drove back to London with our Lighting crew.....
April 19th 1978:
I got up at 12:30 and called Jim Wilmour at Rose-Morris. Met him at the factory and we sorted out some percussion stuff for me....
Jim called for me to have a listen to the drumming on the Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever" to use on one of his new songs ‘I’m Mad’.
April 20th 1978:
Spent all day in Advision going over ’I’m Mad’....... In the end we went back to what we had already recorded...... IT WAS ALREADY THERE.
April 21st 1978:
I was up at 09:15. Cleaned up and met Nod at Kings Cross to travel to Edinburgh by train.
Had a good show. Chas was also there....... We drove straight to Glasgow after the gig.
April 22nd 1978:
Stayed in bed until 12:30, when H came round to borrow some shaving foam.....
Had a so-so show..... We drove back to Wolverhampton afterwards. Dad was getting ready for work when I got home.
April 24th 1978:
I got up at 12:30. Cleaned up to play the Civic Hall.... Good show. Drank at the Trumpet before going on to Olivers for late drinks...
April 25th 1978:
Got up at 12:00. Cleaned up and drove to Lincoln for a GOOD show....
April 26th 1978:
Cleaned up and played Lincoln again..... during the afternoon we all went to see "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind"...... I remember when the aliens came off their space ship, I shouted: "Dave Hill". WE ALL CRACKED UP...... Had a good show, Swinn and myself drove back to Wolverhampton, having a drink at The Lafayette and Olivers.
April 27th 1978:
I stayed in bed until 1:30pm.... Cleaned up and drove to Coventry for the gig.....
Frank (Lea) came, also Nigel from Lieutenant Pidgeon were there........Good show.
Frank, Nod, Swinn and myself drank at Olivers on our way home....
April 28th 1978:
I got up 12:30 cleaned up and waited for Swinn to pick me up to drive to Hull.
Good show. H’s sister Carol was there with her husband Dave and family.....
I got up 12:30 cleaned up and waited for Swinn to pick me up to drive to Hull.
Good show. H’s sister Carol was there with her husband Dave and family.....
April 29th 1978:
Drove to Plymouth for a good show.....
I drove home with the lighting crew.
April 30th 1978:
I got home 07:30. Went straight to bed....
Found out, my, American Express card had been used by someone.....
May 4th 1978:
We all met at the office (Upper Montagu St, W1) to drive to Gatwick. Met Chas..... We all flew to Jersey.
Had a good show. At the hotel we were staying in Pete Abberley and Johnnie O’Hara (who used to be in the Californians from Wolverhampton) were performing a ‘duo’ set in the hotel bar....
May 5th 1978:
Another good show here in Jersey.
May 6th 1978:
Another good show here in Jersey.
May 9th 1978:
The Police called from Andover to say they had my stolen suitcase from the start of the tour.....
May 10th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio recording "Ruby Red" again.......
Mick Legg, JJ, Swinn and H stayed at my place.
May 11th 1978:
Spent all day at Bronze Studios recording "Ruby Red" again..... ‘messed’ around with the Advision tapes......
May 12th 1978:
American Express called about my stolen card......
Met Nod at Kings Cross Station to travel to Newcastle Upon Tyne. Jim and H were late..... Good show,
I drove back to Wolverhampton. Dad was just going to work when I arrived.....
May 14th 1978:
Spent the night at the Steeles in (Haverstock Hill, London) with Tony Ashton (of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke)......
May 16th 1978:
I drove to, Andover to collect my stolen suitcase.
Diners Club and American Express let me know that I wasn’t responsible for the monies spent on my stolen cards......
I collected my suitcase with all my belongings intact. I then took the two CID officers for dinner. They then gave me a Police escort to the outskirts of Andover.....
May 17th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio recording “It’s All Right By Me” AGAIN.........
May 18th 1978:
Swinn picked me up to drive to Swansea...... Not a good show.
Drove to Wolverhampton after....
May 19th 1978:
Swinn picked me up to drive to Birmingham’s Aston University..... Had a so-so show.
Had a late drink in Wolverhampton afterwards....
May 20th 1978:
Swinn picked me up to drive to Glasgow....... So-so show..... Drove back to Wolverhampton after the show.....
May 22nd 1978:
We had a delayed/late rehearsals as Charlie (sound engineer) had taken the equipment lock up keys to New York with him........
Eventually rehearsed..... I went with Swinn to Stafford to see the The Depressions.
May 23rd 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing at the Lafayette.
May 24th 1978:
Drove to Aberdeen. Good show..... Had drinks in the hotel afterwards.....
May 26th 1978:
Drove to Redcar..... So-so show......
May 27th 1978:
Drove to Blackpool..... No sound check as our equipment truck was having problems with the brakes..... Good show..... Drove home after....
May 28th 1978:
Drove to Manchester for the last show...... Great gig...........
May 30th 1978:
‘H’ and JJ picked me up for the studio. Recorded "Alright By Me”
May 31st 1978:
Spent all day in Advision.....
June 1st 1978:
Spent all day at, Advision recording.....?
Willi and myself went out to eat and drink with Jim Wilmer (Ludwig Drums) until 03:00am.
Drove to Plymouth for a good show.....
I drove home with the lighting crew.
April 30th 1978:
I got home 07:30. Went straight to bed....
Found out, my, American Express card had been used by someone.....
May 4th 1978:
We all met at the office (Upper Montagu St, W1) to drive to Gatwick. Met Chas..... We all flew to Jersey.
Had a good show. At the hotel we were staying in Pete Abberley and Johnnie O’Hara (who used to be in the Californians from Wolverhampton) were performing a ‘duo’ set in the hotel bar....
May 5th 1978:
Another good show here in Jersey.
May 6th 1978:
Another good show here in Jersey.
May 9th 1978:
The Police called from Andover to say they had my stolen suitcase from the start of the tour.....
May 10th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio recording "Ruby Red" again.......
Mick Legg, JJ, Swinn and H stayed at my place.
May 11th 1978:
Spent all day at Bronze Studios recording "Ruby Red" again..... ‘messed’ around with the Advision tapes......
May 12th 1978:
American Express called about my stolen card......
Met Nod at Kings Cross Station to travel to Newcastle Upon Tyne. Jim and H were late..... Good show,
I drove back to Wolverhampton. Dad was just going to work when I arrived.....
May 14th 1978:
Spent the night at the Steeles in (Haverstock Hill, London) with Tony Ashton (of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke)......
May 16th 1978:
I drove to, Andover to collect my stolen suitcase.
Diners Club and American Express let me know that I wasn’t responsible for the monies spent on my stolen cards......
I collected my suitcase with all my belongings intact. I then took the two CID officers for dinner. They then gave me a Police escort to the outskirts of Andover.....
May 17th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio recording “It’s All Right By Me” AGAIN.........
May 18th 1978:
Swinn picked me up to drive to Swansea...... Not a good show.
Drove to Wolverhampton after....
May 19th 1978:
Swinn picked me up to drive to Birmingham’s Aston University..... Had a so-so show.
Had a late drink in Wolverhampton afterwards....
May 20th 1978:
Swinn picked me up to drive to Glasgow....... So-so show..... Drove back to Wolverhampton after the show.....
May 22nd 1978:
We had a delayed/late rehearsals as Charlie (sound engineer) had taken the equipment lock up keys to New York with him........
Eventually rehearsed..... I went with Swinn to Stafford to see the The Depressions.
May 23rd 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing at the Lafayette.
May 24th 1978:
Drove to Aberdeen. Good show..... Had drinks in the hotel afterwards.....
May 26th 1978:
Drove to Redcar..... So-so show......
May 27th 1978:
Drove to Blackpool..... No sound check as our equipment truck was having problems with the brakes..... Good show..... Drove home after....
May 28th 1978:
Drove to Manchester for the last show...... Great gig...........
May 30th 1978:
‘H’ and JJ picked me up for the studio. Recorded "Alright By Me”
May 31st 1978:
Spent all day in Advision.....
June 1st 1978:
Spent all day at, Advision recording.....?
Willi and myself went out to eat and drink with Jim Wilmer (Ludwig Drums) until 03:00am.
June 2nd 1978:
Spent the last day at Advision......
June 3rd 1978:
Spent the day at Olympic Studios going over the ‘Live’ stuff....
‘H’ stayed in at my place. JJ and myself went to Ilford to see Sparrow.... I got up and ‘jammed’.
June 4th 1978:
Spent the day in Olympic going over the ‘live’ stuff......
June 7th 1978:
I called H as he and Jim had been to see ELO in Stafford....... Not impressed....
June 9th 1978:
Willi and myself drove to Ilford so I could 'jam’ with Sparrow.
June 10th 1978:
Swinn and Mickey Legg arrived from Wolverhampton. Nod and Leandra also met us at my place...
Made our way to Wembley Arena to see ELO..... Met everyone backstage and drunk most of their booze.
Me thinks they were miming partly to backing tapes.
June 13th 1978:
The CID called from Brighton to arrange a court case to do with my stolen suitcase.... They needed to know when I would be free..... I gave them my schedule.
John (singer with Sparrow) called. He wanted to fix an appointment with Mike Hayles (Chas’s label manager at Barn).
June 14th 1978:
Nod called about coming round for a chat....
My old school, Etheridge Secondary School made contact with me about giving a lecture there......
Spent the night at the Sparrow gig.
June 15th 1978:
All of us had a meeting with Chas..... It was agreed that we would now produce our own records..... He would produce one more.
Went with Mike Hayles to see ELO again at Wembley.......
June 20th 1978:
Spent all day in Olympic going over the ‘live’ stuff.....
June 21st 1978:
Spent all day in Olympic..... From there I went to the studio to work with Tommy Boyce (The Monkees’ writer and producer).Can’t remember what I did.....
June 22nd 1978:
The CID from Andover called to say the thieves who had my suit case away, had been fined £200.
June 26th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing at the Lafayette in Wolverhampton.
June 27th 1978:
I picked Nod up for rehearsals at the Lafayette.
June 28th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio recording “I’ve Been Rejected”.
June 29th 1978:
All day in the studio finishing “I’ve Been Rejected”.
June 30th 1978:
Played Sparrow's recordings to Mike Hayles....... NOT IMPRESSED...
July 1st 1978:
Swinn, Deb, Micky Legg, Rose and myself went to see David Bowie (at Earl's Court).
July 3rd 1978:
Spent all day in the studio??????
July 4th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio recording “ Rock n’ Roll Bolero” again..........
July 5th 1978:
Spent all day and all night going over “ Rock n’ Roll Bolero”
July 7th 1978:
Spent all day in ‘Olympic Studios’ going over the ‘live’ recordings.
July 9th 1978:
All day in Olympic.. ??????
July 10th 1978:
Spent most of the day at Gered Mankowitz’s for a photo session. From there we spent all night in the studio....?????
July 11th 1978:
Spent all day mixing in IBC. Frank and myself spent the night in Emmanuelles (Swiss Cottage, London) drinking..
July 12th 1978:
Drove back to Wolverhampton for rehearsals.....
July 13th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing in Cannock. Drove back to London after.
July 14th 1978:
The office called to say they were having problems with our Polish visas (Needed for our trip there)...
July 15th 1978:
Went to the Rock Garden (Covent Garden) to see Retainers (with Hubbard, Spenner and O’Malley - ex Kokomo) + Greaseband & Paul Carrack.
July 20th 1978:
Flew to Copenhagen. Then on to Aalborg.
Not a very good show.....
July 21st 1978:
Drove to Skagen.
Jim had to get his back fixed?????
Better show than last night...
July 22nd 1978:
Show in Denmark...?????
July 23rd 1978:
Flew to Warsaw, Poland. Promoter George met us. Checked in the hotel.... ate and drank there all night...
July 24th 1978:
I was still in bed when JJ called. Everyone was in the lobby waiting for me....
We flew to Sopot.....
H and myself sat in the sun all afternoon????????
Did sound check. Good show.....Early one.
Back to the hotel to eat and drink.....
July 25th 1978:
H borrowed my watch to go for a walk to the beach.....
We played here in Sopot again.... Good show.....
All back to the hotel to eat and drink....
July 26th 1978:
I was up at 10:00am, had breakfast and packed to drive to Szczecin.
Checked in the hotel.....ate and drank there. Night Off.
July 27th 1978:
I was still in bed at 1:00pm when Chas came round to borrow my hair brush (didn’t know I had one)...... Nod came round for us to go and eat.....
Went for, soundcheck..... Good show.
Came back to the hotel to clean up to do a press reception.
July 28th 1978:
Nod called me lunchtime to see if I wanted to go eat......
I cleaned up, went for the sound check.... GOOD gig.
We all eat with the promoter at the hotel......
July 29th 1978:
Got up 9:00am. Cleaned up, went with the lighting crew to the gig. I wanted to sort my drums out....
GOOD gig....
All eat together at the hotel..
July 30th 1978:
I was up at 11:00am. Cleaned up and packed to drive to Bydgoszsz....
Ate and drank in the hotel. I went to bed early..... BUT, I was woken by Nod and JJ talking in the corridor to some American football players..... ALSO, there was a ‘sing-song’ in the next room.?????
People came from downstairs to complain....
July 31st 1978:
I was wakened by traffic, stayed in bed until 12;00
Cleaned up, went for, sound check and the concert........ so-so show....
We all eat in the hotel after....
August 1st 1978:
The traffic woke me again 08:00..... I stayed in bed until 09:00 when Micky Legg came round for his, socks, pants and boots...????????
I couldn’t take a shower, the water was freezing..... I went for breakfast before moving on to Torun...... Not a very good show.
I drank at the hotel later with Jim, Nick Eade (support act) and Chas...... I had an early night....
August 2nd 1978:
I was awake early..... BUT stayed in bed until 11:00. Called H to see if he wanted to go for breakfast.....Our ‘truckers’ Mike & Paul were there..... Mickey Legg joined us... I went for a sauna. H and our lighting crew were also there, Mickey Legg joined us..... also Willi.....
I cleaned up, went to the hall to check my drums and do sound-check.....
GOOD SHOW...
We all eat in the, hotel...
August 3rd 1978:
Swinn called at 11:00am to say we would leave earlier..... Checked out of the hotel and drove to Lodz.
Checked in the hotel and went straight for sound-check.
GOOD SHOW. Came back to the hotel. I drank with the roadies.....
August 4th 1978:
My alarm call came through at09:00..... I cleaned up and packed, and went for breakfast before driving to Warsaw.... Checked in the hotel..... I did some laundry, had tea with H and Nick..... Went for the sound check...... GOOD GIG... We all went to a disco after.??????
August 5th 1978:
I stayed in bed until 12:00..... I cleaned up and went for tea. Did an interview with an English reporter??????
Did our sound check, so-so show....
Afterwards, we all went to a ‘Jazz-Club’..... Then drinks in the hotel....
August 6th,1978.
I was awake, 07:30, cleaned up, packed and went for, breakfast before driving to, ‘Krakow’
DAY OFF. checked in the hotel and ate there..... Relaxed in the hotel all night, drinking....
August 7th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 1:00..... Cleaned up.... Apparently, some of our lighting crew ‘mooned’ out of the coach window to a religious procession (yesterday). We could be in ‘BIG’ trouble.....
Had a so-so show.... Came back to the hotel and ‘Jude’ (lighting guy) drank in my room while we played music....
August 8th 1978:
I was awake at 08:00am, cleaned up and went for breakfast....
Met the press for interviews..... I then had a walk round town before the sound check.....
GOOD SHOW.....
After, we all went to a ‘jazz-club’ to eat.......
I caught a cab back to our hotel......
August 9th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 11:00am. Cleaned up and went for breakfast... Had a walk round the town...
Did sound check before a so-so show....
Came back to the, hotel for an early night......
August 10th 1978:
I stayed in bed until 11:00am.... Ordered tea to my room..... Cleaned up to drive to Tarnow.
Decent show...... came back to the hotel. Had a drink in Swinn's room before going to bed....
August 11th, 1978.
Got up, at 10:00 when my call came through... Cleaned up and packed... Went for breakfast before driving to Katowice....... On the, way we went round AUSCHWITCH... George, our interpreter got so drunk, so he wouldn’t have to go round. We found out later, he lost his family there.......
We checked in the hotel and relaxed all night.....
August 12th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 12.00. Cleaned up and went downstairs to eat..... Jim and myself did some shopping before the sound check........
AMAZING CROWD....
Went to a Russian Restaurant to eat....... Spent the rest of the night in the hotel bar.....
August 13th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 10:30.... Packed and drove to Opole......... Checked in the hotel.... Went for sound check.... Did the show and drank in the hotel bar afterwards.......
August 14th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 10:00am. Cleaned up, packed and drove to Wroclaw...
Only a short drive. When we got there our truckers were very angry, as last night their passports had been stolen out of their trucks....... They got them back straight away...... We didn’t ask any questions......
I went to eat..... H and Nick joined me for a sandwich.....
Had a, great last show.......
August 15th 1978:
H rang to see if I wanted to go shopping and get rid of our Polish money........ I got some ‘flimsy’ cymbals which bent when I put them in my suitcase..... a ‘penny whistle’?????? I gave the rest away..... I felt like Mother Teresa.
Drank all night in the hotel bar.....
August 16th 1978:
I got up 05:00am. Packed and checked out to drive to the airport to fly back to London.....
VERY INTERESTING TOUR...
Spent the last day at Advision......
June 3rd 1978:
Spent the day at Olympic Studios going over the ‘Live’ stuff....
‘H’ stayed in at my place. JJ and myself went to Ilford to see Sparrow.... I got up and ‘jammed’.
June 4th 1978:
Spent the day in Olympic going over the ‘live’ stuff......
June 7th 1978:
I called H as he and Jim had been to see ELO in Stafford....... Not impressed....
June 9th 1978:
Willi and myself drove to Ilford so I could 'jam’ with Sparrow.
June 10th 1978:
Swinn and Mickey Legg arrived from Wolverhampton. Nod and Leandra also met us at my place...
Made our way to Wembley Arena to see ELO..... Met everyone backstage and drunk most of their booze.
Me thinks they were miming partly to backing tapes.
June 13th 1978:
The CID called from Brighton to arrange a court case to do with my stolen suitcase.... They needed to know when I would be free..... I gave them my schedule.
John (singer with Sparrow) called. He wanted to fix an appointment with Mike Hayles (Chas’s label manager at Barn).
June 14th 1978:
Nod called about coming round for a chat....
My old school, Etheridge Secondary School made contact with me about giving a lecture there......
Spent the night at the Sparrow gig.
June 15th 1978:
All of us had a meeting with Chas..... It was agreed that we would now produce our own records..... He would produce one more.
Went with Mike Hayles to see ELO again at Wembley.......
June 20th 1978:
Spent all day in Olympic going over the ‘live’ stuff.....
June 21st 1978:
Spent all day in Olympic..... From there I went to the studio to work with Tommy Boyce (The Monkees’ writer and producer).Can’t remember what I did.....
June 22nd 1978:
The CID from Andover called to say the thieves who had my suit case away, had been fined £200.
June 26th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing at the Lafayette in Wolverhampton.
June 27th 1978:
I picked Nod up for rehearsals at the Lafayette.
June 28th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio recording “I’ve Been Rejected”.
June 29th 1978:
All day in the studio finishing “I’ve Been Rejected”.
June 30th 1978:
Played Sparrow's recordings to Mike Hayles....... NOT IMPRESSED...
July 1st 1978:
Swinn, Deb, Micky Legg, Rose and myself went to see David Bowie (at Earl's Court).
July 3rd 1978:
Spent all day in the studio??????
July 4th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio recording “ Rock n’ Roll Bolero” again..........
July 5th 1978:
Spent all day and all night going over “ Rock n’ Roll Bolero”
July 7th 1978:
Spent all day in ‘Olympic Studios’ going over the ‘live’ recordings.
July 9th 1978:
All day in Olympic.. ??????
July 10th 1978:
Spent most of the day at Gered Mankowitz’s for a photo session. From there we spent all night in the studio....?????
July 11th 1978:
Spent all day mixing in IBC. Frank and myself spent the night in Emmanuelles (Swiss Cottage, London) drinking..
July 12th 1978:
Drove back to Wolverhampton for rehearsals.....
July 13th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing in Cannock. Drove back to London after.
July 14th 1978:
The office called to say they were having problems with our Polish visas (Needed for our trip there)...
July 15th 1978:
Went to the Rock Garden (Covent Garden) to see Retainers (with Hubbard, Spenner and O’Malley - ex Kokomo) + Greaseband & Paul Carrack.
July 20th 1978:
Flew to Copenhagen. Then on to Aalborg.
Not a very good show.....
July 21st 1978:
Drove to Skagen.
Jim had to get his back fixed?????
Better show than last night...
July 22nd 1978:
Show in Denmark...?????
July 23rd 1978:
Flew to Warsaw, Poland. Promoter George met us. Checked in the hotel.... ate and drank there all night...
July 24th 1978:
I was still in bed when JJ called. Everyone was in the lobby waiting for me....
We flew to Sopot.....
H and myself sat in the sun all afternoon????????
Did sound check. Good show.....Early one.
Back to the hotel to eat and drink.....
July 25th 1978:
H borrowed my watch to go for a walk to the beach.....
We played here in Sopot again.... Good show.....
All back to the hotel to eat and drink....
July 26th 1978:
I was up at 10:00am, had breakfast and packed to drive to Szczecin.
Checked in the hotel.....ate and drank there. Night Off.
July 27th 1978:
I was still in bed at 1:00pm when Chas came round to borrow my hair brush (didn’t know I had one)...... Nod came round for us to go and eat.....
Went for, soundcheck..... Good show.
Came back to the hotel to clean up to do a press reception.
July 28th 1978:
Nod called me lunchtime to see if I wanted to go eat......
I cleaned up, went for the sound check.... GOOD gig.
We all eat with the promoter at the hotel......
July 29th 1978:
Got up 9:00am. Cleaned up, went with the lighting crew to the gig. I wanted to sort my drums out....
GOOD gig....
All eat together at the hotel..
July 30th 1978:
I was up at 11:00am. Cleaned up and packed to drive to Bydgoszsz....
Ate and drank in the hotel. I went to bed early..... BUT, I was woken by Nod and JJ talking in the corridor to some American football players..... ALSO, there was a ‘sing-song’ in the next room.?????
People came from downstairs to complain....
July 31st 1978:
I was wakened by traffic, stayed in bed until 12;00
Cleaned up, went for, sound check and the concert........ so-so show....
We all eat in the hotel after....
August 1st 1978:
The traffic woke me again 08:00..... I stayed in bed until 09:00 when Micky Legg came round for his, socks, pants and boots...????????
I couldn’t take a shower, the water was freezing..... I went for breakfast before moving on to Torun...... Not a very good show.
I drank at the hotel later with Jim, Nick Eade (support act) and Chas...... I had an early night....
August 2nd 1978:
I was awake early..... BUT stayed in bed until 11:00. Called H to see if he wanted to go for breakfast.....Our ‘truckers’ Mike & Paul were there..... Mickey Legg joined us... I went for a sauna. H and our lighting crew were also there, Mickey Legg joined us..... also Willi.....
I cleaned up, went to the hall to check my drums and do sound-check.....
GOOD SHOW...
We all eat in the, hotel...
August 3rd 1978:
Swinn called at 11:00am to say we would leave earlier..... Checked out of the hotel and drove to Lodz.
Checked in the hotel and went straight for sound-check.
GOOD SHOW. Came back to the hotel. I drank with the roadies.....
August 4th 1978:
My alarm call came through at09:00..... I cleaned up and packed, and went for breakfast before driving to Warsaw.... Checked in the hotel..... I did some laundry, had tea with H and Nick..... Went for the sound check...... GOOD GIG... We all went to a disco after.??????
August 5th 1978:
I stayed in bed until 12:00..... I cleaned up and went for tea. Did an interview with an English reporter??????
Did our sound check, so-so show....
Afterwards, we all went to a ‘Jazz-Club’..... Then drinks in the hotel....
August 6th,1978.
I was awake, 07:30, cleaned up, packed and went for, breakfast before driving to, ‘Krakow’
DAY OFF. checked in the hotel and ate there..... Relaxed in the hotel all night, drinking....
August 7th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 1:00..... Cleaned up.... Apparently, some of our lighting crew ‘mooned’ out of the coach window to a religious procession (yesterday). We could be in ‘BIG’ trouble.....
Had a so-so show.... Came back to the hotel and ‘Jude’ (lighting guy) drank in my room while we played music....
August 8th 1978:
I was awake at 08:00am, cleaned up and went for breakfast....
Met the press for interviews..... I then had a walk round town before the sound check.....
GOOD SHOW.....
After, we all went to a ‘jazz-club’ to eat.......
I caught a cab back to our hotel......
August 9th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 11:00am. Cleaned up and went for breakfast... Had a walk round the town...
Did sound check before a so-so show....
Came back to the, hotel for an early night......
August 10th 1978:
I stayed in bed until 11:00am.... Ordered tea to my room..... Cleaned up to drive to Tarnow.
Decent show...... came back to the hotel. Had a drink in Swinn's room before going to bed....
August 11th, 1978.
Got up, at 10:00 when my call came through... Cleaned up and packed... Went for breakfast before driving to Katowice....... On the, way we went round AUSCHWITCH... George, our interpreter got so drunk, so he wouldn’t have to go round. We found out later, he lost his family there.......
We checked in the hotel and relaxed all night.....
August 12th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 12.00. Cleaned up and went downstairs to eat..... Jim and myself did some shopping before the sound check........
AMAZING CROWD....
Went to a Russian Restaurant to eat....... Spent the rest of the night in the hotel bar.....
August 13th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 10:30.... Packed and drove to Opole......... Checked in the hotel.... Went for sound check.... Did the show and drank in the hotel bar afterwards.......
August 14th 1978:
Stayed in bed until 10:00am. Cleaned up, packed and drove to Wroclaw...
Only a short drive. When we got there our truckers were very angry, as last night their passports had been stolen out of their trucks....... They got them back straight away...... We didn’t ask any questions......
I went to eat..... H and Nick joined me for a sandwich.....
Had a, great last show.......
August 15th 1978:
H rang to see if I wanted to go shopping and get rid of our Polish money........ I got some ‘flimsy’ cymbals which bent when I put them in my suitcase..... a ‘penny whistle’?????? I gave the rest away..... I felt like Mother Teresa.
Drank all night in the hotel bar.....
August 16th 1978:
I got up 05:00am. Packed and checked out to drive to the airport to fly back to London.....
VERY INTERESTING TOUR...
August 20th 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing in Cannock...
August 21st 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing in Cannock.
August 25th 1978:
I was up at 09:00am. Cleaned up, packed and met Nod and Nick Van Eede at the office to drive to Withensea...... Did the sound check..... Nick had a real hard time with the audience....
H’s sister Carol was there with her husband and his family.... After the show, we went to one of their mates pub to drink for hours.....
Spent all day rehearsing in Cannock...
August 21st 1978:
Spent all day rehearsing in Cannock.
August 25th 1978:
I was up at 09:00am. Cleaned up, packed and met Nod and Nick Van Eede at the office to drive to Withensea...... Did the sound check..... Nick had a real hard time with the audience....
H’s sister Carol was there with her husband and his family.... After the show, we went to one of their mates pub to drink for hours.....
August 26th 1978:
Swinn called me at 10:45 trying to find someone to do a radio show.......
We drove to West Runton..... Did the sound check and gig.... Had a drink with the manager Steve McNerney (from The Pleasers band) was also there. We’ll keep in touch.....
Drove back to London with Nod, Nick Van Eede and his driver Nick.....
August 28th 1978:
I was awake early....... Cleaned up, caught a cab to Nod's...... We drove to Porthcawl in Wales....
Checked the equipment.... Good show...... BUT when we came off stage a guy broke Nod's nose ‘cause he was being rough with the kids down front and Nod told him to "clear-off".
August 29th 1978:
Swinn picked Nod and myself up to drive to Cleethorpes.
GOOD SHOW.
August 30th 1978:
Reception called to say we had to check out..
Did the sound check before going to the Police Station to make statements about the ‘punch-up’ in Porthcawl. We had a good show. Nod and myself drove to London with Nick Van Eede and his driver Nick........
September 9th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio listening to ‘mixes’ ????????
September 17th 1978:
Rehearsed all day, going over the ‘single’????????
September 18th 1978:
Rehearsed all day ???????
September 23rd 1978:
Swinn picked me up to drive to Chatham...
Did the sound check.... good first show.....
September 24th 1978:
Willi drove Nod and myself to Baileys Watford....
Did the sound-check..... Good Show....
Willi drove us home.
September 25th 1978:
Played Watford Baileys again.....
Nick Van Eede stayed at my place.....
September 26th 1978:
Drove to Watford....
GOOD SHOW...
September 27th 1978:
I went to the office to do some interviews with ‘Newsbeat’.
Played Watford again..... so-so show....
September 28th 1978:
Played Watford again.....
September 29th 1978:
Played Watford again.......
September 30th 1978:
Played Watford again......
October 1st 1978:
Played Watford again
Swinn called me at 10:45 trying to find someone to do a radio show.......
We drove to West Runton..... Did the sound check and gig.... Had a drink with the manager Steve McNerney (from The Pleasers band) was also there. We’ll keep in touch.....
Drove back to London with Nod, Nick Van Eede and his driver Nick.....
August 28th 1978:
I was awake early....... Cleaned up, caught a cab to Nod's...... We drove to Porthcawl in Wales....
Checked the equipment.... Good show...... BUT when we came off stage a guy broke Nod's nose ‘cause he was being rough with the kids down front and Nod told him to "clear-off".
August 29th 1978:
Swinn picked Nod and myself up to drive to Cleethorpes.
GOOD SHOW.
August 30th 1978:
Reception called to say we had to check out..
Did the sound check before going to the Police Station to make statements about the ‘punch-up’ in Porthcawl. We had a good show. Nod and myself drove to London with Nick Van Eede and his driver Nick........
September 9th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio listening to ‘mixes’ ????????
September 17th 1978:
Rehearsed all day, going over the ‘single’????????
September 18th 1978:
Rehearsed all day ???????
September 23rd 1978:
Swinn picked me up to drive to Chatham...
Did the sound check.... good first show.....
September 24th 1978:
Willi drove Nod and myself to Baileys Watford....
Did the sound-check..... Good Show....
Willi drove us home.
September 25th 1978:
Played Watford Baileys again.....
Nick Van Eede stayed at my place.....
September 26th 1978:
Drove to Watford....
GOOD SHOW...
September 27th 1978:
I went to the office to do some interviews with ‘Newsbeat’.
Played Watford again..... so-so show....
September 28th 1978:
Played Watford again.....
September 29th 1978:
Played Watford again.......
September 30th 1978:
Played Watford again......
October 1st 1978:
Played Watford again
October 2nd 1978:
Willi, Nod and myself drove to Leicester Baileys. We had a good show then drove back to London.
October 3rd 1978:
We drove to Leicester (we had a week's residency at Baileys).
October 8th 1978:
Had a good gig in Southport.
October 9th 1978:
Had a good gig in Blackburn.
We played Blackburn Baileys for the week......
October 10th 1978:
Played Blackburn Baileys.
October 11th 1978:
Played Blackburn Baileys.
October 12th 1978:
Tonight’s show was cancelled as H had burned himself trying to light a fire in the garden with PETROL..... It was in all the newspapers that he should have had an ADULT with him.......
October 13th 1978:
Had a good show..... H was OK...... After the show, we all drove to Newcastle and checked in the hotel for Chas & Madeline’s wedding the next day.
October 14th 1978:
Had a great day at Chas & Madeline’s wedding. From there we drove to Blackburn for the last show....
October 18th 1978:
Nod and myself went by train to Wolverhampton and Swinn drove us to Keele University.
Good show.
October 19th 1978:
Nod and myself drove to Ipswich/Sheffield.???????? To do a radio show...
October 20th 1978:
Nod and myself drove to Newcastle, good gig. John Steele and his wife Anne was there.
October 21st 1978:
Swinn drove me to Nottingham met H and Jim (who’d done a radio interview). GOOD show.
October 23rd 1978:
Willi, Nod and myself drove to Sheffield for a gig...... Good show. We drove back to London after...
October 25th 1978:
Swinn drove Nod and myself to Webbington Country Club, Nr, Western Super Mare.....
October 26th 1978:
Willi drove Nod and myself to, Reading to do a, radio show, From there we went on to ,Reading University to, play, Chas & Madeline were there.
Drove back to London.
October 27th 1978:
Drove to Guildford for a good gig..... Willi and myself drove back to London.
October 28th 1978:
Nod, Nick Van Eede (who later formed the Cutting Crew), Willi and myself drove to Bradford. Good show but later Nick had to go to hospital for a check up - he didn’t feel good.....
October 29th 1978:
Drove to Derby. Good show - drove to London after......
Willi, Nod and myself drove to Leicester Baileys. We had a good show then drove back to London.
October 3rd 1978:
We drove to Leicester (we had a week's residency at Baileys).
October 8th 1978:
Had a good gig in Southport.
October 9th 1978:
Had a good gig in Blackburn.
We played Blackburn Baileys for the week......
October 10th 1978:
Played Blackburn Baileys.
October 11th 1978:
Played Blackburn Baileys.
October 12th 1978:
Tonight’s show was cancelled as H had burned himself trying to light a fire in the garden with PETROL..... It was in all the newspapers that he should have had an ADULT with him.......
October 13th 1978:
Had a good show..... H was OK...... After the show, we all drove to Newcastle and checked in the hotel for Chas & Madeline’s wedding the next day.
October 14th 1978:
Had a great day at Chas & Madeline’s wedding. From there we drove to Blackburn for the last show....
October 18th 1978:
Nod and myself went by train to Wolverhampton and Swinn drove us to Keele University.
Good show.
October 19th 1978:
Nod and myself drove to Ipswich/Sheffield.???????? To do a radio show...
October 20th 1978:
Nod and myself drove to Newcastle, good gig. John Steele and his wife Anne was there.
October 21st 1978:
Swinn drove me to Nottingham met H and Jim (who’d done a radio interview). GOOD show.
October 23rd 1978:
Willi, Nod and myself drove to Sheffield for a gig...... Good show. We drove back to London after...
October 25th 1978:
Swinn drove Nod and myself to Webbington Country Club, Nr, Western Super Mare.....
October 26th 1978:
Willi drove Nod and myself to, Reading to do a, radio show, From there we went on to ,Reading University to, play, Chas & Madeline were there.
Drove back to London.
October 27th 1978:
Drove to Guildford for a good gig..... Willi and myself drove back to London.
October 28th 1978:
Nod, Nick Van Eede (who later formed the Cutting Crew), Willi and myself drove to Bradford. Good show but later Nick had to go to hospital for a check up - he didn’t feel good.....
October 29th 1978:
Drove to Derby. Good show - drove to London after......
October 30th 1978:
GREAT show at the MUSIC MACHINE (Camden Town, London).
November 2nd 1978:
We all met at IBC (later called Portland studios) to record some new tracks?
November 3rd 1978:
Spent all day in the studio.....????
November 4th 1978:
Nod and myself drove to Portsmouth for a radio show...... Drove back to London.....
November 6th 1978:
Spent all day in IBC recording.... ????????
November 7th 1978:
Had the most awful day in the studio recording "Don’t Waste Your Time" making a pillock of myself.....
November 8th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio doing overdubs....
November 9th 1978:
Spent all day recording an Elvis Costello style reggae song?????
November 11th 1978:
The bloke from across the road came to complain about how loud my stereo was and was going to call the police.....
November 13th 1978:
Willi and myself drove to Brighton to see, Chas’s new signings The DP’s...... PUNK BAND.....
GREAT show at the MUSIC MACHINE (Camden Town, London).
November 2nd 1978:
We all met at IBC (later called Portland studios) to record some new tracks?
November 3rd 1978:
Spent all day in the studio.....????
November 4th 1978:
Nod and myself drove to Portsmouth for a radio show...... Drove back to London.....
November 6th 1978:
Spent all day in IBC recording.... ????????
November 7th 1978:
Had the most awful day in the studio recording "Don’t Waste Your Time" making a pillock of myself.....
November 8th 1978:
Spent all day in the studio doing overdubs....
November 9th 1978:
Spent all day recording an Elvis Costello style reggae song?????
November 11th 1978:
The bloke from across the road came to complain about how loud my stereo was and was going to call the police.....
November 13th 1978:
Willi and myself drove to Brighton to see, Chas’s new signings The DP’s...... PUNK BAND.....
November 21st 1978:
Chas called me and asked if I would go to the studio to put tambourine on Nick Van Eede's track "Rock n’ Roll’ Fool"?Of course I did.......
November 24th 1978:
Willi called to say he was working on my new drum-riser.
I watched the Muppets with Alice Cooper.....
November 26th 1978:
Met Nod at Euston to go back to Wolverhampton. Jim met us at Wolverhampton station and we spent all day rehearsing, the ‘live’ show.....
November 27th 1978:
We all drove to Cardiff for a show..... Had a good first show. Drove back to, Mom & Dad’s 05:00.
November 28th 1978:
Drove to Norwich. Good Show..... Drove back to London after....
November 29th 1978:
Had a good show at Wembley.
Chas called me and asked if I would go to the studio to put tambourine on Nick Van Eede's track "Rock n’ Roll’ Fool"?Of course I did.......
November 24th 1978:
Willi called to say he was working on my new drum-riser.
I watched the Muppets with Alice Cooper.....
November 26th 1978:
Met Nod at Euston to go back to Wolverhampton. Jim met us at Wolverhampton station and we spent all day rehearsing, the ‘live’ show.....
November 27th 1978:
We all drove to Cardiff for a show..... Had a good first show. Drove back to, Mom & Dad’s 05:00.
November 28th 1978:
Drove to Norwich. Good Show..... Drove back to London after....
November 29th 1978:
Had a good show at Wembley.
November 30th 1978:
We all met at the office for a photo session with Robert Ellis.
December 1st 1978:
Willi, Nod and myself drove to Cardiff..... Good gig. Swinn said we should buy the crew something for Christmas. I said “a Slade CD”..... Drove home after.
December 2nd 1978:
(Anniversary of ‘N Betweens 1st record release “You Better Run” 1966).
Willi and myself went to Wembley to see Nick Van Eede supporting David Essex. Swinn & Debbie & Micky Legg & Rose were also there...
December 11th 1978:
I found out I had a small fracture in one of my ribs? (How?)..... They gave me painkillers.
December 13th 1978:
Nick Van Eede called to see if I wanted to go for a drink......
December 20th 1978:
Charlie brought my drums down for the studio tomorrow.
The BBC were on strike.... stuck with watching ITV all night.
December 21st 1978:
Spent all day in Advision doing overdubs on ‘My Baby’s Got It’.
Peter Kauff (our American agent) was there with his new wife.....
Strange. I just heard Peter died December last year (2013).... He’s the last entry of this particular year..... RIP Peter. You were a good man..........
We all met at the office for a photo session with Robert Ellis.
December 1st 1978:
Willi, Nod and myself drove to Cardiff..... Good gig. Swinn said we should buy the crew something for Christmas. I said “a Slade CD”..... Drove home after.
December 2nd 1978:
(Anniversary of ‘N Betweens 1st record release “You Better Run” 1966).
Willi and myself went to Wembley to see Nick Van Eede supporting David Essex. Swinn & Debbie & Micky Legg & Rose were also there...
December 11th 1978:
I found out I had a small fracture in one of my ribs? (How?)..... They gave me painkillers.
December 13th 1978:
Nick Van Eede called to see if I wanted to go for a drink......
December 20th 1978:
Charlie brought my drums down for the studio tomorrow.
The BBC were on strike.... stuck with watching ITV all night.
December 21st 1978:
Spent all day in Advision doing overdubs on ‘My Baby’s Got It’.
Peter Kauff (our American agent) was there with his new wife.....
Strange. I just heard Peter died December last year (2013).... He’s the last entry of this particular year..... RIP Peter. You were a good man..........