The Falklands war lasted a long time and seems to have formed a backdrop for a number of cartoon strips and this one includes Sharko, El Maestro's manager. I can't remember if Benyon based him on a dude particular. However, there was one guy who could almost hypnotise him into taking on jobs that he knew were doomed. He could listen to an outline an idea that was amazingly stupid and be drawn into producing drawings or ideas for which no cheque would ever appear. "It's like Fagin, man, totally Dickens". In the 1970's Soho was littered with tiny offices with big ideas. Managers and promoters sharing corners of basements and meeting in local taverns for long beery meetings. "I'd rather have a beer in the company of insane dreams than no dreams at all". The desperate and devious had a magnetic pull.

Kevin Rowlands, erk alors! Wot an odd chap. First a working class Brummie on a mission: next an Irish fiddler in Walt Disney overalls and then a gent from the city. I'd say it was the fluctuating image  that did for him. In fact I was a fan of his first coming as a reincarnated Geno Washington and remember, well half remember, a night drinking with Jim the trombone player, a dude excellent.

Well, my visitor is still here and we've had some extended and confused conversations as we attempt to flex our memories. Mine is less corrupted with some files perfectly intact. Benyon's flat was discussed at length. People came and went and Terry Poole from Bakerloo Blues Line stayed for a while and joined a newly formed pop combo called May Blitz with Tony Newman on Drums and Jimmy Black on guitar. Tony had started playing with Sounds Incorporated when he was 15 and had just been playing with Jeff Beck. Jimmy was a Canadian who later returned to his homeland....I think.

Benyon claimed that Newman had suggested he design the band's album cover because he'd seen him draw a perfect circle. He invented an obese female cartoon character who could appear as a single cartoon style advert in the music papers. In other words the ads were small and cheap but it also got him a gig doing the Patto album sleeve and he did some other work for bands like White Mule, from memory.

I missed yesterday, it never really happened for me. Someone came down to check out the beach and we ended up in a splendid pub with a large fire and good bitter. He started off getting me up to speed with mutual friends who are still alive and coherent. It's good to know that some are still gigging but I started to loose the plot after hitting a strong westerly on the walk back. The sand beneath my feet began to crumble and my legs followed.

I wish I'd been alert because he had some good stories about life on the road during his time as a jobbing guitarist and I hadn't realised he'd stayed in Benyon's flat for a few months and claimed to have written a few songs with him. I've been so into sorting out the drawings that I'd forgotten about the lyrics he wrote for the Abasement Tapes. Anyway my visitor claims to have cooperated on a number that includes the line 'Mucho, mucho, mucho marvy. I've got a girl from Yugoslavey.' What a night that must have been? 

I was trying to work out what was happening in the papers when this strip appeared and without doing any research the obvious main subject was Mrs Thatcher combined with Eric Clapton coming out as having been on heroin. He was clean, and headlines about God being back were all over the place. I was at Art school when Cream played one of their first gigs for £80 and I remember being worse for drink and forced back against a wall by the sound.

I like Clapton because he lacks charisma so much so that I've failed to recognise him when sitting at the same table. My experience with Jack Bruce is rather different. I remember being driven by him in his open top sports car down narrow country lanes at speed, while he was shouting out a story about a band he was with travelling along the M6 late at night when they all saw a space ship land. Man,  I really gripped the door handle tight.

'Vasto Records' was one of my favourite Benyon names for a record company. Someone should have picked it up. The cartoon is about huge record companies owning small labels that were pretending to be independent.

No one would deny that Band Aid was a good idea and it was impossible at the time to criticise the event without being beaten up by pacifists. But the amount of show biz stuff going on in the background was much the same, switching off gigantic egos is not an easy thing to do. Even Bob had to croak his way into the spotlight and perform, but them it was his party. A lot of acts were pissed off they couldn't get onto the bill and show their charitable side to a world wide audience and were even more pissed off when they saw the impact it had on the careers of bands such as Queen.

I enjoyed the day and I know dudes who thought getting out of their heads and dancing was a great way to save the world, and who can argue. Of course we knew it wouldn't save the world and stop starvation. Famine in Africa keeps returning helped by politicians, religious divisions and demented gunmen. Band Aid certainly saved the lives of babies who have grown up and most probably had their own babies. How did they got on?