The Stairs are one of the great, lost bands... maybe too enamoured with that long distant past of analogue tape machines, valve amps and recording desks with twisty knobs in stead of faders to be widely considered 'great' by the critics; but they were great as far as I was concerned, and in 1991 and 1992 they provided the 'Mono' soundtrack for much of what was going on in my life.

I lived in Liverpool - the Stairs' home city - at the time. 21 Chetwynd St. Just off Aigburth Rd. and directly across from the 'bohemian paradise' that was Lark Lane. That's what the student guide told us Lark Lane was, a 'bohemian paradise', but in my experience it had one good pub [The Albert - I think...], one good second-hand record shop [where I bought a mint copy of Green Circles by The Small Faces, kick-starting a lifelong obsession], one patisserie that was the height of decadence for a penniless student [I'd spent all my money in the second-hand record shop] and a bunch of other pubs and wine-bars [Kellys] that were up their own bohemian arseholes.

I had fallen in with a crowd of potheads in my first year, and - much as I liked monging out in front of Dougal and the Blue Cat while those around me tried to outdo themselves with feats of spliff architecture - it was all a bit static and anaesthetizing for me. I had grown up in a village, and being in the city I wanted to take advantage of all of the temptations and distractions on offer; so, I used to go to gigs - hundreds of 'em - on my lonesome and lug gear for the bands; anything to try and get in for free without having to join the wankers in 'Band Soc'.

That's how I first saw the Stairs. I can't for the life of me remember where I saw them for the first time... Casablancas [now, there was bohemian!], the Cosmos or the Cavern... all the best places began with a 'C'. I remember being blown away with their retro look, and their sound... Edgar, the singer, had a great voice; shameless American accent in the way that all British singers from the beat boom used to try and sing in an American accent.

He also had worse teeth than Shane Macgowan, god bless him.

Anyway, I was well into my Brian Jones phase at this point, so the Stairs were very much speaking my language. I remember the band I was in at the time, Metroland, going over to the International 2 in Manchester to play an Anti Gulf War gig [two weeks after the war finished... if it ever did finish], and all the way there, in the back of our hired tranny van, we listened to Weed Bus and Flying Machine over and over and over again...

I wanna fug off in a great big flying machine,
I wanna fug off to India, yknowwharri mean...

Dan [our singer] and I met a beautiful and brilliant photographer called Bev [Dale?] who we talked into taking some 'shots' of our band. Why she was interested, I don't know... anyway, I remember going up to her flat on Rodney St. to see some of the pictures, and Edgar was there. I think they were seeing each other. Lucky Edgar! He might even have come to Spike Island with us. I know that Bev drove us there. But, from the moment I sat in her car on that magic day, I was lost in some sun-spangled haze, and I can only remember a general feeling and not any of the details.

I went to see The Stairs a number of times after that. I remember being a little disappointed by the album, Mexican R'n'B cos it all sounded, and was presented, like it was a cartoon, or a pastiche or something... In retrospect, the album sounds great. If you can get hold of a copy, do so.

Part of me will, forever ironically, be on the Weed Bus.

I dropped Weed Bus into my pre-band set last night and a girl dancing next to the DJ booth nearly wet herself. She was absolutely overcome with pleasure at hearing it,

"I've never heard anyone play this before! You've made my night!"

And that - obviously - made my night!

It was a good one, last night. Despite Tony and Soundhog not being there. The music went down well, and only a couple of people dared to ask for requests... ;0)

I think I might, even, have played them!

We've got some new CD decks coming into Telfords. I can't wait. We need to redesign the DJ booth, though, so that they will fit in with the Technics, the mixer and my laptop.

There's some very positive feedback about bravecaptain's mix for last week's programme on his website, which is cool. He put a load of effort into that, la! It would have been a shame if only five people had heard it. If you keep an eye on the site, it might become available in one way, shape or form. It's well worth waiting for.

Oh, yeah, and I went jogging yesterday. That was fun. A big bunch of agony for no reward or enjoyment whatsoever. It's my kind of past-time.

I smoked last night. A lot. Told you ;0)

Bugger! I'm missing the footie! [missing nothing, we're 1 - 0 down to Fulham. I hope we have a second half like we did last season.]

** STOP PRESS **

I came across this during a gogle [an ogle of google].

There's some very interesting shit there.

The 'W' section could do with an update, though.

'Racing Birds' bubbling under in the Top 10 Welsh pop singles of all time. *I* released that single. Aren't I a fancy dan?

I've got two hundred and sixteen copies in boxes in Ava's bedroom. If you want one. mail me. If you pay for

postage, I'll send you a copy of the CD single.


And, a search for more info on the Stairs brought me to this, which I've ordered, It's great to see that Edgar's still at it. What happened to the rest of the Stairs, I wonder.

We got beat 2 - 0 by Fulham. Bloody hell. Our away form is awful. We have to give Morientes up as a lost cause. He just isn't cutting it. The guy was world class; but that class has evaporated. Sounds like we battered Fulham in the 2nd. half but couldn't find the back of the net. Did we use all of our luck up in last season's Champions League win? Probably.

At the time of updating this entry, the website's server is down. It's a right pain in the arse. Worryingly, I'm beginning to feel an umbilical connection between me and the site. When [if] I go on holiday, I'll have to get a sand-proof lappy with wi-fi for the beach. Back to the top of the page...