The 'Boys' (Men now!)

I have to say I have quite lived my life to the full. I am happy where I am today, and I am glad I am acquainted with such a special group of friends. Friends I have known for 25 years (some for nearly 40 years!).

When I turned 16 years of age I didn't know what would develop over the next 25 years of my life. Between the ages of 14 to 16 I had a long term girlfriend. My first real girlfriend (no I didn't date rubber dolls before her!). One month before my 16th birthday my girlfriend dumped me - I was totally devastated (well, just for a month at least!). For it was one month later I met with a couple of guys who would change my life forever.

It started with just the 3 of us (Palmer, Roy, and Me), but quickly grew to over 25 within the next 6 months. We were all into the same music, Rockabilly. We dressed the part - rolled up jeans, tee shirts, leather biker jackets, and Jeeper Creeper shoes, and combed back hair.

They were all a great set of boys, we were out to have as much fun as possible - wine, women, and song, you might say. We kept our antics within the law (well at least we never got caught!). We liked to go to our local dance and 'Bop' the night away, then crawl home! I have many stories to tell, many that I will be posting on this blog. Happy times and some not so happy times! So keep an eye out for some great stories!

This is a picture of some of my closest mates. It was taken last year in my mate's living room (Biffo) just day's after he died at the age of 39. It was his wish that we have a party in his house the night before his funeral - and what a night it was!

Here's to you boys! ~raises a glass~

A Tribute to a Great Friend

It has been one year that my mate passed away. I would like to post this as a tribute to him, he was such a special friend. His name was (still is) Biffo. I knew him for 25 years and I was so glad that he was part of my life for all those years. He battled cancer for 9 years, but he never complained. He wanted us to joke about it, so we did. We told him that if he started a band we could call him 'Kid Cancer and the White Cells', it made him laugh and that was the way he always wanted it!

Biffo loved his Rockabilly music, he lived for it! He had a huge record collection and he always dressed the part. He had the best quiff of us all. There were approximately 20 of us in the 'gang' and he was one of the 'main' boys. We always had such a laugh! I could tell some stories, in fact I may write a book about our lives. If any of you have seen the film 'Grease', 'Lemon Popsicle', or 'The Wanderers', then that's the way our lives were!

Biffo struggled during his last week. The boys and I visited him in hospital daily during that last week. We would stay for hours at his bedside. We would play his favourite music and tell our stories of our past. I could see that there was some response coming from Bif, he would try to open his eyes, and he would move his fingers. He knew we were there and it seemed to make him very happy.

We gave him a great send off. We dressed in jeans and tee shirts at the funeral, those were his wishes. We draped the American Confederate flag over his coffin and we played 3 rockabilly tracks. Do you know what the first track was? 'Well Now Dig This'! It's what he wanted - just his sense of humour! I wrote a poem and read it out in the service - that was really hard! I buried it with him when we lowered him down.

We all miss him dearly. Would love to have him back even for just one more day!

The picture shows a few of my best mates. From left to right: Biffo, Me, Lee, and Nyrion. This photo was taken in 2004 at a Stray Cats concert in Brixton, London.

R.I.P Biffo