Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

Glamorous Glue, The Bottle Imp,
Amy Winehouse and Malcolm Owen.

I've always seen DRUGS, whether recreational or prescription, as a cross between Morrissey's Glamorous Glue and Robert Louis Stevenson's Bottle Imp. Once you open the jar it's a bugger to leave alone and almost impossible to shake yourself free. When notoriety is then introduced LIES & DRUGS become inextricably conjoined. As Morrissey succinctly put it "everyone LIES, everyone LIES, everyone LIES". The hard bitten Muzos brag about the DRUGS they once took; when they never supped anything stronger than gripe water. Whilst the goody goodies wipe coke away from around their nostrils and try to convince you they never ever inhaled. The TRUTH and DRUGS have never even passed the time of day let alone cohabited.

So it will be no surprise to me if, the story surrounding the death of Amy Winehouse at the ridiculously young age of 27, gets written and re-written a hundred times over. There are musicians a plenty that have died prematurely because of their drug intake but have somehow escaped the fate of being a Rock n Roll casualty. Some because their heart failed in middle age, some because, we are told, they took too many pills by mistake. And there are musicians a plenty who all and sundry will swear died of an OVER DOSE, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Truth becomes a story, and the truth gets lost

Obviously on a humanist level I feel nothing but sympathy for the family of Amy Winehouse. But I would be a bare faced liar if I said I will miss her music. For me Amy Winehouse never registered; she was neither a lyrical genius nor an original vocalist. That tactless sentence over then, I can truthfully say I can sympathise with the folk who differ with me and loved everything that Amy Winehouse did. Because 31 years ago I was going through exactly the same thing they are now.

On the 14th July 1980 Malcolm Owen of The Ruts died of a heroin overdose. He'd gone from DRUG hater, with his song "H-Eyes", to DRUG user, to DRUG victim in a matter of months. His death hit me hard. I only got to see The Ruts once with Malcolm. People are always quick to tell you what the best gig they ever went to was such & such. And it would be easy for me to rate this Ruts gig at the top of a list of one. But in truth that would mean zip. All I can say if I had the chance to revisit one gig from my personal gigography that would be the one. It was a perfect moment in my life, and a perfect gig to behold; Malcolm Owen was overflowing with life.

I only got to see Amy Winehouse once in the flesh too. She was at The Libertines gig at The HMV Forum last August. I think I said at the time. She was not in a good state that night, and try as they might none of her companions could convince her that leaving the safety of her seat in the circle and venturing downstairs to be with the standing folk, was not a good idea. She stumbled and slipped her way down the stairs and attempted to scale a barrier next to where I was standing. Oh dear. Still her companions could seemingly do nothing. Suddenly in a brief moment of lucidity amid the push and shove of a bun fight she was finally told no by a member of the HMV Forum Security. And she desisted.

Now rightly or wrongly when everyone is on the payroll it's difficult for anyone to say NO, especially to the person holding the purse strings. And when you become notorious there are suddenly a 1001 folk wanting to assist you with copious amounts of Glamorous Glue. I remember Richard Burton telling a story about going for a cup of tea after he'd finally got himself off the booze. He went to a quiet café and ordered a mug of tea. When he came to drink it he realised it tasted strange. At first he though the milk was off. Then he realised the café owner had slipped a double scotch into it. He went for the guy, asking him what the hell he'd done that for. The guy just replied "Well you're Richard Burton, you like a drink, don't you?".

The only thing that is certain when the Glamorous Glue is taken and The Bottle Imp released, nothing is ever certain except the truth will never be told.