This page is in memory of Billy 1989-2008.
Las Palabras del Pájaro
Hi! my name is Billy Bird aka Billy the Beak. I am a cockatiel and musician. I sing and play percussion.
Cockatiels are small Parrots, but remember birds are people too. Here is some of my story.
Careful with that Cockatiel Eugene
I was hatched in London in July 1989 but moved to South Bank, Middlesborough at very early age. The human I was with when I was hatched put me in shoebox to take me from London to the North. I think this was an indignity; he should have purchased a seat for me so I could look out the window and shriek at the other passengers.
Mi Amigo Peter
In Middlesbrough I lived briefly with an elderly woman called Eileen, and therein hangs a tale (a long, sleek and feathery one of course). Eileen was about 80 at the time and sadly has since passed away. When I arrived there was another bird, Peter the Budgie, who was my companion while I was there. I moved away after not very long because Eileen was not able to cope with a young trouble-causing cocky Cocky like me. This probably saved my life, but Peter was less fortunate and his untimely death became a national news story.
Peter died of passive smoking because Eileen had a 40-a-day habit. The diagnosis was made by vet David Talbot and reported in the Daily Mirror on 27 January 1994 (page 7) by Denna Allen and John Ungoed-Thomas. The Mirror quoted Eileen saying "I loved little Peter. He was a like a human being to me, and it broke my heart when he died".
Peter's death also featured in a Mac cartoon in the (national) Daily Mail. The cartoon was published on Friday 28 January 1994 (page 11). The picture shows an old lady sitting in an arm chair in a large room smoking heavily and talking to her doctor. She is surrounded by numerous plant pots with little crosses in, where doubtless the avian victims of passive smoking have been laid to rest. Behind the old lady, in a cage, is a very worried looking bird wearing a gas mask. The caption was "Honestly, Doctor, I'm trying to kick the habit – I'm down to ten budgies a week". The cartoon also featured bird-head trophies on the wall and there is a bit of a mystery here – see my blog and comment if you can work out what is going on.
Highway to Hull
I moved temporality from Eileen's to another family member near Middlesbrough while the word went out to see if anyone could find a home for a quiet and well behaved Cockatiel (well, that's what they said anyway, hehe). Julie and Ian in Hull said they would look after me so off I went in early 1990. This time in a car not a shoebox, which was much better. I like car rides as long as it is light and nobody overtakes us ("faster, daddy, faster…"). When I first arrived I was a bit shy and used to practise my talking, singing and drumming when I thought nobody was listening. So Julie and Ian would sneak behind the door to listen to me!
Rock and Roll!
I mainly perform live and do not spend a lot of time in the studio, but I collaborated with a well known Hull musician and released a limited edition cassette of a song called "Beakmania" by JMC featuring Billy the Beak. I did the vocals and John did keyboards and programming.
Billy passed away on Sunday 1st of June 2008. He will be missed by everyone who knew him