This is the place Jon first appeared, preceding an underhanded but harmless nickname of 'Crazy Jon' by attacking a vending machine that swallowed his coins. I noticed him out and about from then on; manic reflexes, someone who would make a playful meal of hellos and goodbyes and he seemed well beyond his years. "Have a listen to this.." he said swinging over one of the earphones from his walkman, our first meeting, in the common room of course. "What on earth is this shite?" is something I refrained from asking him "what is it?" came the alternative. He pushed a CD case into view "Trout Mask Replica" "who?" "Captain Beefheart... most people have to give it a few listens but I liked it straight away" didn't doubt that for a second, in fact he could have said he'd been to an early gig and it would've been
just as believable. Another of our early meetings involved his box of 'Yes' paraphernalia in which contained a scathing article that he was not all too impressed by. He got me on to prog-rock for a while but I managed to kick it, I'll never forgive him for that! Had anyone met a man quite as engaging and buzzed up to the eyebrows before? this chap had many a creative colour on his pallete.In contrast to the manic showmanship of Jon there was Phil: a more subdued character with Radiohead lyrics scrawled on the soul of his shoe, earphones permanantly plugged into his ears. A Welsh-looking choir boy come-of -age. Subdued that is until politics became the topic of conversation, especially that of the radical left-wing variety. Phil became one of the figureheads of political debate and discussion around our common r
oom table, someone who had a lot of anger towards the ne'er do wells yet at the same time maintained a ridiculously silly sense of humour which sometimes made it feel like none of that political guff mattered. He once tried to control himself laughing at a passing dwarf. "This is Phil, he wants to come to Jilly's" "can you mosh?" "yeah" Phil had interesting ideas he was keen to express & if he liked something he would let you know, be it a song or a walk in the hills. Another one who insisted you listen to his music.Joe or
'Bouffant Joe' was a friendly chap who often seemed frustrated by his own thoughts and being patronized from time to time, he would ask every possible question in attempt to understand what you were talking about but never seemed entirely satisfied by what he heard unless you said something funny at which point he would be relieved via laughter. His ability to turn what might be considered an otherwise standard experience into an entertaining anecdote was quite impressive.It would be easy for me to say Eoin was a complex man because a) he was an
d b) he was listening to Joy Division, not M People when he was 9 years old apparently. A showman like Jon, they complimented each other well artistically and both seemed to share a slightly warped and giddy sense of humour that would spill over into silent, red-faced laughing fits. In hindsight this was quite pubescent behaviour but it was interesting, there was a creative surge behind it.Rich, who was a good few years our senior was mature and a good bloke. There isn't much more I can say about him other than he was talented and seemed well disciplined, I hadn't spent much time with Rich other than poking around rehearsals with a camera asking him daft questions all of which he responded to in a very civilised way.
I had become friends with Jon, Phil and Joe independently of each other & then learnt that they had formed a band together. Good times. Jon had met Eoin through Eoin's girlfriend in his Spanish class, Rich through some of his musically-minded friends I imagine and they began to rehearse utilising one of the tiny box rooms at college. Their musical playgrounds expanded after a while going as far as Levenshulme, Ancoats and Newton Heath. With this came some spectacular performances and catastrophic hurdles (a £1400 ransom on their equipment as well as a ban, though not their faults it must be said) at various venues around town that were to make or break the lads who referred to themselves as Rapid Pig & the Hundred and Two Camels and Cows. These were not just "my mates band 'The Debonaires' are playing" type gigs, they delievered an experience for the audience.. whether it was deemed amazing or shite it was never dull. When they were spot on it was pure creativity and individual expression. After a time there were others becoming involved, namely G of Sundowner fame. The Pigs weren't involved in any particular trend, they didn't want to be scene and not heard. I regret not witnessing Jon take to the drums at a gig in Satan's Hollow where by his own account managed to shock the audience and himself at his stick bashing incompetence. That's what I admired about them: they'd have a go, take risks. A lot of belief in their own creative abilities but mainly they seemed to be enjoying themselves more than anything.
And where are they now? Well, I haven't seen them perform in a while, the Pigs. Are they still together? I don't even know. Hope they are.. bored of The Debonaires!
