London was calling - and I finally went!

Motorhead, old friends, vanishing Soho and revisiting the infamous Columbia Hotel!

My apologies for the recent lack of newsletters. The last few weeks have been extraordinarily hectic and eventful; not least the sad passing of Nina’s lovely mum Gaynor after a year of pinballing between hospitals and shockingly dodgy care home. Gloriously feisty until the end, she loved dancing, skating and early rock ‘n’ roll. I’ll always treasure my last memory of reading to her on Mothers Day about Lonnie Donnigan from Pete Frame’s wonderful The Restless Generation, her fave book. Gaynor didn’t want a funeral, just a party, currently being arranged at the Dolphin pub near her Ilminster home.

Apart from being swamped with magazine work, I’ve also just got back from my first trip to London since moving deep into the west country over a year ago. Hitting the WH Smith’s on Waterloo station brought home the amount of stuff I’ve churned out lately as it featured in six of the mags in the music section.

The main reason for the visit was my being called to recall witnessing Motorhead record their classic Ace of Spades at Jackson’s Studio in 1979 before its resprayed new mix was unveiled at Dolby Atmos HQ on Soho Square.