"Between yesterday's acid and today's nihilism I seem to have drifted from the main rut of Groovessence". A groove is a cool rut, or is it ? It's okay staying in a groove but you always have to get out of a rut. Watching the sun bounce brilliantly off the sea this morning while drinking strong black coffee I'm struggling to work out if I am in a rut or a groove. I mean, has my groove, maaaaaaaaaaaaan, become a rut. He who rides a tiger may never dismount and he who is in a rut may never get out.  Gaspo!

Back to the gag which is ancient, about the time Angie Bowie, Dave, Mick and Bianca were going through their transvestite, clubbing period and Ken Russel was still hot. It was an attempt to get El Groover a partner, which failed to get off the ground and was an extra figure to draw which Benyon wouldn't have liked.

The rain started immediately the hosepipe ban was introduced because of the drought and I've been driven off the beach. It's even been too cold and wet to have a liquid lunch outside watching the world, well at least half a dozen people, pass by.

Anyway, I turned up this gag which puzzled me for a moment until I remembered  the publicity for Bruce Springsteen's first London gig. Bruce the Boss, the "future of rock'n'roll' as claimed by an American Journo whose name rather frustratingly escapes me. The first album was great and 'Baby we were born to crash at strangers pads smoking dope' was a favourite of mine.

It seems a lifetime since the Berlin wall came down and the Czechs got to vote Hmmm,  a lot of bands have floated under the bridge since then and gone straight over the weir.

 

I sat up with a bottle of red wine last night and listened to Vanilla Fudge and became so depressed that I needed a quick burst of the Young Rascals before crashing out. So, where did Pronto come from? Obviously he was based on Tonto the Lone Ranger's sidekick but I remember a roadie called George who lived in Benyon's flat for quite a few years. He came down with the Bakerloo Line and stayed on to work for May Blitz. He was a part of the Birmingham lot who knew Black Sabbath from their early days. He used to come back in the early hours of the morning wired up and he'd wake Benyon by emptying the nights takings on him before handing it on to 'the management' or just give him a good shake and as 'cup of tea?'. He was a good guy and strong as an ox. I remember standing in the kitchen at the flat late at abut 3am and George came running up the stairs with a full size fridge on his back shouting 'check this out, man'. He also had hilarious stories about meeting various bands while sleeping in vans on Belgian bomb sites or on the cross channel ferry. These days kids creep off into their cellars alone and post their stuff onto You Tube. It's all very different to transit vans with aircraft seats  and signs saying Hatfield and the North.

 

Classic early Groover from Ziggy Stardust days, waxed spikes and rat codpieces and early hat with references to the Lone Ranger. It was drawn on an odd piece of paper unlike later drawings on illustration board. Benyon had been working with Patto on an album sleeves and some odd adverts for the Melody Maker and met Muff Winwood who was involved with the band and it was in his office that he head Mott the Hoople's version of 'all the young dudes'. He couldn't get Ian Hunter out of his head but after 'roll away the stone' MTH trickled away into the sand. I knew I had the band's first album upstairs and after finding the cartoon I started to look for it and got waylaid by two Vanilla Fudge albums that I can't remember buying and then I saw Benyon's name written on the inner sleeve. He was sharing a flat and wrote his name on his albums in those days. Maybe he lent them to me but I really can't remember how I come to have them. But wondering, looking, thinking and a long lunch took up most of yesterday, c'est le groove.