Time Flies

For most of the last twenty years I've picked bay foliage from the garden of an old house in Emerald. Most but not all because for a few years the trees were infested with scale insects and in a few others the demand for bay lulled or I was busy with other things. The house changed hands in 1996 and the new owner, Nigel, was happy for me to continue picking there on the two or three times a year when I needed a small amount of bay, or some helleborus or geranium or box or other bits and pieces.

I interviewed Nigel today for Signpost magazine for a profile I hope will appear in August in what will be the celebratory 100th edition. I chose Nigel because I wanted something a little different from my usual format which is becoming a little routine and predictable.

Nigel is different to the other people I've profiled because he's younger (62) and his working life for the most part has been as a musician, or otherwise in the music industry. When he was 14 and still at school in England, he was coerced by his older brother Paul to buy a bass guitar and join a band he Paul was forming, The Cortinas. They performed live around London doing cover versions of Beatle songs and others for two years while Nigel was still at school, then two more while Nigel worked as a clerk for the Civil Service. At age 17 Nigel and Paul, who was 5 year senior, quit their jobs and the band shifted from semi professional to full time. It was a family affair with mum as bookings manager and Dad road manager driving them and the equipment around in his van.

The band changed its name to Octopus to refresh and Nigel wrote songs as they continued for another four years till the early seventies. They then became the Kincaids for a year or two touring Europe performing the song "Jenny, Jenny, Dreams are Ten a Penny", which had become a hit, along with others, but which had never been performed live by the creators who did not want to perform or tour. They'd go away for a week or two to Holland, Spain or Germany where they were treated as "stars" and do TV and stage gigs miming. They were a front for the Kincaids, a band that never really existed. When this finished Nigel branched out on his own in the early seventies and joined a band in Hollywood following which came stints in numerous bands, all of which were short term.

In 1977, in England, Nigel auditioned for a bass player role for a band that was going to Greece for a 3 or 4 month attractive tour and from a large field of applicants, and after being called back time and time again to audition, the field narrowed down to two and one final audition "play off". Nigel, by this time really wanting to join and needing the steady and lucrative income, gave it all he had but missed out. He was gutted after the build up and effort, but as so often happens in life, it turned out for the best. A couple of days later the phone rang and he was offered the bass player spot in 'Split Enz' at the same time Neil Finn joined. If he'd gone Greece he'd have missed out on the 8 years of  success that followed as 'Split Enz' toured Australia, England, the US and Canada.

If I can translate Nigel's story into an article acceptable to the Signpost editor and it makes the August edition I'll post it on this blog at the end of the month.  I fell asleep in the chair after dinner of the oxtail stew and mash which turned out superb. Abstaining from alcohol since Sunday night I made up for it tonight with a bottle of Barossa Reibke which put me into glorious slumber. Waking up after midnight here I am fresh as a daisy after two black coffees in the wee hours. Off to bed now but I know I'll lie there mindmapping my Nigel article, trying to reduce the story down to the 800 or so word restriction I have and yet capture the essence of it in a way that will entertain the readers and perhaps add a message. Maria says all the time, you have to ask yourself, who am I writing this for, and why. So I have to work out the angle from which to approach it.