"You can love her.
And you can love me at the same time."
They say never
meet your heroes. Nonsense. I say always meet your heroes. And apply for jobs with
them.
In the Winter
of 1991, I’d been unemployed about six months and my Job Centre Careers Advisor
insisted I look for opportunities beyond writing. So I wrote to John Peel, as he’d recently said
he needed help managing his record collection. This didn’t exactly appease my Careers Advisor.
And I didn’t really expect a reply. But six months later I got one. Handwritten.
Apologising for the delay and wishing me luck in my job search. It remains my
favourite rejection letter ever.
Flash forward
three years. I’m watching Electrafixion (Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant’s
short-lived Bunnymen diversion) in a tent at the Reading Festival. And there’s
John Peel hovering on the outskirts of the crowd. As the set ended, I got a
chance to go over and thank him in person for the encouraging letter and let
him know I’d since found a job as a scriptwriter. His handshake made my year.
 |
| This numbered first edition (4214) comes with a superb extra LP of early album recordings called 'Demonstration' - yet to be reissued. |
Spotify linky:
'Dry' was possibly my most-played album of 1992 and remains a favourite to this day.
ReplyDeleteI can clearly picture spending my income support cheque on this at the Rough Trade in Covent Garden.