20/03/2024
EGGS FOR THE TAX MAN – A Short Memoir.
As the ‘Forever Ending Mendip Tour 2024’ concludes with a Northern Soul night in Bristol this Friday and Dr Love prepares to take his final bow, I thought I’d pen a few notes on how the whole thing came into being. It was the winter of 2011 and one day over a pint in the Kings Head, Cheddar, I regaled Jon the landlord, with a story and a dilemma. Sometime before, I had borrowed a battered old HMV portable ‘wind-up’ gramophone from a friend and having now bought one of my own, had had them both professionally restored, intending to return my friend’s to him as a gesture of thanks. He refused it however and insisted I keep it. “But what will I do with two?” I protested, “DJ with them” he joked “twin-decks”. Jon laughed but thought this was a great idea and promptly offered me a Sunday afternoon slot.
The Fabulous Grammy Bros dutifully performed a trad’ jazz/ rock‘n’roll set in the front bar of the King's Head for the next year or so, gathering a small but loyal audience and even a few paid gigs (four live chickens on one occasion – eggs for the tax man). The shows became increasingly eccentric until my reluctant and embarrassed co-performing brother announced he had had enough. Enter ‘Harvey the Pooka’, a Celtic nature spirit manifesting as a 6ft 3 ¼” invisible rabbit, but I will save such detail for the unabridged memoirs.
The’ Fab Gram Bros’ soldiered on until I told Jon, that what I would really like to do, was bring my home hi-fi into the pub and play some of my record collection. Vinyl was still very much a redundant format at this time but I had held onto mine during the CD revolution and liked the idea of playing some classic sides to the many music fans among the pub regulars. Analogue DJ’s were few and far between but included inspirations such as Bristol’s DJ Derek and the completely bonkers “Mad Ernie”, landlord of the Shakespeare Arms in Totterdown. The idea was both retro and novel enough for Jon to agree. I was offered an immediate Friday night slot.
With little time to spare, I needed a DJ persona to mask my still performance-shy disposition. ‘Dr. Strange’ (from the Pink Floyd song ‘Cymbeline’, more significant to me than the Marvel character to which they were referring) became ‘Dr. Strangelove’ and that in turn was shortened to ‘Dr Love’. I had previously known a Dr. Love back in the 1980’s: a colleague, he had introduced a group of us to the Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out down at the Deptford Tavern in South London, giving us all something to look forward to at the end of a hard working week. I could offer that! With Vic Reeves’ bizarre characters and naive homemade props in mind, the persona took form. I had already acquired the Dr Marten boots, kilt, top hat and Lennon shades for a Halloween costume and was pleased to find a new use for them. The jacket, I cobbled together from a photograph of my erstwhile teenage anti-hero, Johnny Rotten.
The monthly Vinyl Revival shows became very popular and the pub was often packed. They were halcyon days but the pub changed hands numerous times (hello-goodbye Jon and Sharon, welcome back Tony/ hello Rachel) and eventually closed with a riotous and legendary final show.
Nevertheless, the carnival continued with an ever-growing, pulsating vinyl repertoire, increasingly expensive equipment, a lightshow and the launch in 2014 of the 'Never Ending Mendip Tour' taking in gigs as far afield as Cornwall(!), Portsmouth (!!) Bristol (!!!), Birmingham (!!!!) Scotland (!!!!!) Germany (!!!!!!) and Stow-on-the Wold, but mostly up and down the village halls, pubs and even cinemas of this peculiar stretch of Somerset.
Never knowingly hustled for a gig, all have been through word of mouth and have taken in tractor runs, flying conventions, sports rallies, birthdays, weddings, jubilees, festivals and funerals. Highlights have included support slots with (former members of) Country Joe and the Fish, the Steve Miller Band, Bowie Tribute Nights, loads of ska and reggae, discovering Northern Soul, the joys of Studio 54, LGBTQ+ nights at the Art Bank, 'Lockdown in the Cellar' sessions and turning down Mick Jagger due to a prior booking (that one hurt).
As we reach the end of the road, eternal thanks are due to my long-suffering but wonderful roadie, Deborah (without whom….), Hana for technical expertise and tolerance in the face of increasingly obscure demands for poster design, Jon for getting it going, Tony for keeping it rolling, Emma for the encouragement and all of the pub landlords, event managers, celebrants, dancers, reprobates, libertines, drinkers, grievers, groovers, ne’er-do-wells, lovers and loungers, you are glorious, each and every one.
It has been a long strange trip, but as Cat Stevens once said, “Life is like a maze of doors and they all open from the side you’re on”. Around we go. Anything is possible. But for now, if any of you can make it to the Bristol Docks on Friday, it would be a joy to see you for the swan song.
To the rest of you, so long and thanks for all the eggs.
The 20th Century Boy
