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Hard Grafting, Hard Driving, Goal Oriented Grafter!!When I Was A Toddler My Mum Called Me The Mini Grafter :-)I Was Kinda Scrawny As A Teenager! Getting Sand Kicked In My Face Was Just A Way of Life Back Then :-(I Had A Proper Baby Face Too! At 16 Years Old I Was 5 Years Away From Being Able To Go To The Pub Without Being Hassled For I.D At Some Point In The Evening :-(Jazz Club............ NICE! The Person Who's Bedroom In Which This Photo Was Taken Was Incredibly Blunt. He Told Me Around This Time That I Had An Adult's Head On A Child's Body. This And Other Comments Led Me To Join A Gym To Try To Put Some Weight On! I Was Weighing In At 10 Stone 3 Pounds When This Picture Was Taken...Life Wasn't Always Easy :-( I Lived In This Draughty Rattling Mobile Home For a Whole Year___________________Nice Scarf!________________ ________________ Big Hair Day - 1988Well The First Proper Band In Which I Played Was Psychodelia In 1989. It Was An Amazing Time and Very Very Funny! I Played Guitar, The Bass Was Handled By 'The Famous Shadow,' 'Tim Sheridan' (Who Is Now A Famous Remixer and Ibiza Name DJ) Was The Main Songwriter and Lead Singer. But The Star of the Band Was Max Wooten. Very Young But Extremely Skilful. He Emigrated To The States With His Family In 1990 and I Never Heard From Him Again! Max, If You're Out There I Hope You're Still Playing. This Shot Was Taken At The Sadly Defunct Bishopsgate Venue, Which Was A Dedicated Outlet For Live Music. It Then Became Bibis and I'm Not Entirely Sure What It Is Now Although I Drive Past It Almost Everyday Going To The Faversham From HiFi or Wire..... Duh!1991 - Playing With G.M.R.S at the Legendary Much Missed Leeds Venue The Duchess of York Which Closed In 2000. Filling Out A BitG.M.R.S Were Like Spinal Tap Except That It Was Our Singers That Kept Changing! Our Drummer Des Had A Pink Drum Kit But No One Ever Gave Him Any Shit About It Because He Looked Like A Right Bruiser!Protecting The Man - - Bill Clinton's Security Detail 1995....... Okay, That's Reaching Somewhat :-) Securing The Stage at the Leeds Town and Country ClubMy War Face - Town and Country Stage Duty In 1996 - I've Always Been Meticulous About My Functions, Jobs and Duties and Frowned Upon Those Who Could Not or Would Not For Whatever Reason Try Their Hardest To Do A Good Job. It's A Capricorn Trait! For This Reason My Current Staff Call Me Gary 'The Bastard.' - I Wear This Name Like A Badge of Honour.This Is My Sour Face When Someone Isn't Trying Hard Enough or Just Pissing Me Off In General.....The Love Train at The Town and Country Club - Nobody Make A F**king Move ;-)1996 - Good Times On Holiday In Malia - Identities Have Been Concealed For The Protection of the Not So Innocent ;-)_______________________ Going Commando In Juan Le Pins - The South of France 1998 _______________________The Underground/T&C Christmas Party 1998. Note Ed and Andy In The Highlighted Circles. Corinne Bailey Rae Needs No Introduction Does She??? The Guy Sticking A Cigarette In My Ear Is Russ Thomas, One of the Hardest Workers I've Ever Known & An All Round Great Guy. Please Be Aware That I In No Way Endorse Smoking! It's Really Bad For You & Makes You Smell In Case You Didn't Already KnowThe Leeds Town and Country Club and The Underground Photographed In 2000B.C - - B.C Stands For Before Creation! Perhaps It Should Be B.F.C.... Before F***ing Creation. Talk About Ballsing Up Perfection! Both Of These Institutions Were Fine Live Venues and Nightclubs. It Was My Pleasure To Work For The T&C From 1993 - 2000 During Which Time I Saw Some Amazing Gigs. I Think My Top Three T&C Gigs Would Have Been 1 - The Stone Roses.. 2 - The Black Crowes.. 3 - David Bowie.. My Underground Favourites Were - 1 - The John Ellis Big Bang.. 2 - Ozomatli.. 3 - Roy AyersThe Underground Like The HiFi Club Had A Ferociously Loyal Clientele. As The First Point Of Contact For 995 out of Every 1000 People Who Came Through The Club's Front Doors I Made It My Business To Know As Many of Them By First Name As Possible! This Cameraderie Made For Many Sad Farewells At The End of Degree Courses Like The One Pictured Above. You Can Also See On This Picture Part of the Famous Underground Mural Which Was Made Up of the Many Musicians Who Had Played At The ClubSuited, Booted and Ready To Go! Welcome To The Underground Sir/Madam! How Are You?? ;-)What A Result It Was To Have The Mighty Roy Ayers Play At The Underground. There's A Saying That Goes 'Too Cool For School,' This Man Was Too Cool For Kindergarten, Nursery, School, College and UniversityWednesday 13th December 1995 - One of the Greatest Gigs I've Ever Seen Period, But To See The Stone Roses From The Pit of my Beloved Town and Country Club Was Christmas Come Very Early For Me. Thankfully There Were No Crowd Surfers or Emergencies In My Pit Section!! You'd Have Been Shit Out Of Luck As I Was Intently Watching The Band On This Occasion!I Don't Think I Ever Looked At My Guitars In Quite The Same Way After Watching John Squire Ply His Trade On That Cold November Evening! To Say That It Was a Six String Masterclass Extraordinaire Would Be An Understatement Of Gargantuan Proportions! Slide, Lead, Rhythm - Electric and Acoustic All To A Sorcerer's Perfection. Robbie Maddix on Drums Also Stood Out As A Very Complete Competant Musician, I Think It Was The Best Display of Drum Work I've Ever Seen Live, Narrowly Beating Chad Smith's Barnstorming Set at Leeds University For The Red Hot Chilli Pepps 5 or 6 Years PreviouslyWhat A Gorgeous Sight! Welcome To Daytona Beach.... Way Hey!I Love My Hometown Leeds, But I'm Also Seriously In Love With Florida. My True Natural Habitat Is On The Beach (This Particular One Is Clearwater On The Gulf Coast) In The Sun With Tall Drink (Matusalem & Coke please, with Three Medium Sized Pieces of Squooshed Fresh Lime, Two Straws, one straight and one at a jaunty angle, Oooh and As It's on the Beach an Umbrella too ;-) and a Great Book.....................Partially Shaded By A Swaying Palm Tree With A Pair of Budgies Singing In It! Paradise :-)))))))Since I Try To Get To The Gym At Least Twice A Week (Steve Ally Usually Manages To Thwart My Well Laid Plans With More & More Work ;-) It's Only Right That There Should Be A Picture. This Is Bodylines Gym Proprietor & All Round Good Guy Kieran O'Donnell & I Taking A Well Deserved Break During A Typically Arduous Session. We Took The Dude In The Middle Under Our Protective Wings Cos People Kept Punching Him.. Pretty Much Everyone Considered Him The Coward Of The County - He'd Never Stood One Single Time To Prove The County Wrong Etc