Solo #1

After the "House Of Dreams" recordings (that are soon to be released on Black Widow) Rod started a solo career playing his own songs in public and getting into the feel of things once more. I can imagine going on stage straight takes some getting used to, when you've forgotten what it feels like.
RR: "Back in '82 and '83 1 was playing guitar for hours every day and writing stuff that would eventually turn up all over the place. By the end of '83 my recordings were getting increasingly more demanding.! began writing semi-classical pieces and one 'anthem' was performed by the choir of St. Swithin's Church, Compton Bassett; for Christmas. I've got a newspaper clipping to prove it; fame at last! As the medical profession began to ease its ludicrous rules over prescribed drugs I was (by 1984) being prescribed a regular daily dose of opiates which allowed me to live a fairly normal (?) life without alcohol. Things seemed to be going my way again at last, until, on Friday 13th January 1984, the landlord announced that our little cottage, our physical and spiritual home, was to be sold to the highest bidder! Then I heard that Simon House had been rushed to hospital with a complete sinus collapse. My borrowed reel-to-reel tape recorder then exploded and I thought "whatever next"... We started using the I Ching to make any little decision and things began to get really weird again. But, with the help of my prescription I hung on and resisted the urge to hit the bottle again; after all, I really do prefer drugs, but how Christine managed I'll never know.
All through these narratives I have never had any money. It had always seemed that I could glide through life without recourse to soiling my psyche with the filthy lucre. However, after the breakdown of the reel-to-reel machine I realized that my rediscovered ability to compose music and songs would soon flounder if the whole thing had to rely on my addled memory, so I agreed to completely design and redecorate my mother’s new bungalow, thus adding enormously to the going-rate of the property... so Christine and I gladly accepted £ 1,000 for a job well done. This had to pay off all our debts, buy us a new banger of a car and, most importantly, leave enough over to acquire a brand new Tascam Porta One home recording studio. It was eventually purchased on 6th April 1985 and a whole new era was about to start thanks to that artful little bundle of technology.
At the time I was fascinated by the new American band explosion that was happening, a bit like the “grunge” phenomenon but in a much smaller, underground way. Bands like The Rain Parade, True West and The Gun Club were really happening and Australian bands like Hoodoo Gurus, Lime Spiders and The Scientists were also grabbing my interest There were dozens more of course, but two of the most significant gigs in '85 that contributed to my own return to the stage were Green On Red (at Bath's Moles Club) and The Bangles (at Bristol Bierkeller)... WOW! I was suddenly back in the mood of'67/'6& On 6th May '85 I wrote and recorded the song "Two True Believers" and on 15th May (just nine days later) I recorded "Living On My Own " (both on the Jellymonsters tape, L.
Of course I wasn't the only one feeling "something in the air" On 1st May '85 Steve Lines (yes, indeed, him of the magic pen that does most of the Crohinga Well artwork, L.) issued the first "Mardenbeat's Calne's very own music fanzine, with the urgent cry "support local bands! " (the river Marden runs right underneath and through the centre of Calne, just in case you were wondering, L.). Later that summer; on July; 27th, 1 made a solo live appearance at the first Mardenbeat party that was actually captured on video; a drummer (an American named Tim) got up and joined me for the last two songs and we "rocked out" When I came off stage, there in the wings was my old pal Android Funnel. We had played one of our first ever gigs on that very stage together back in 1963, over twenty years before. Of course Android came back to our cottage for the night and we listened to a great re-mix of the Rustic Hinge & Swimmers' "T On The Lawn" tape with my vocals" (I'm still waiting for this tremendous piece of music to get a proper airing at last, L.).