Tuesday September 14th 1999

Received this today. Mr Numan need not fret: as far as I’m concerned, friends are electric.

>You’ll be pleased to know that they’re talking about you more than Mark E Smith on ‘Fall-Net’.

>> Anyone remember this twat? His diary is reassuringly unaltered, and he still deserves as horrific a death as is imaginable.

> >http://freespace.virgin.net/dickon.edwards/

>> Stuart

>

>>Actually I think D’s diary is quite interesting. Has anyone here ever heard his music?

>>PJ

Check the record, check the record, check the guy’s track record. It’s out on October 25th, according to Saint Nic at Something Velvet Records. Hopefully Fosca will play a date or two around the time. That’s when I’m not playing guitar for my new employers. I had heard there were a couple of vacancies in Oasis, but somehow I don’t think I’d fit in. My favourite Sondheim musical is Assassins, while Liam Gallagher’s is A Little Night Music. We would never get along.

So I’ve plumped for playing Auxiliary Guitar in Spearmint, the Smiths you can do Northern Soul dancing to. They are kindly employing me to enhance their live performance in my own strange way, at all of their concerts from now till Christmas at least, taking in much of the UK, plus Paris, Amsterdam, and a week of dates in Japan. Full details can be found on the Spearmint website. It’s all terribly exciting, and it helps that I do actually like the band, having spent many an evening at Soho’s Blow Up club strutting my stuff to “Sweeping the Nation”, arguably one of the greatest singles of the Nineties.

I’m particularly looking forward to the dates in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, because ever since I started to frequent the less discerning pockets of the London music industry scene, people have taken one look at me and said “Oh… you MUST go to Japan. They’d love you there.” It’s as if I’d be offered my own Manga animated series (SAILOR DICKON!) within seconds off stepping off the plane. Well, now I shall find out. I shall be taking copies of the Fosca EP with me on tour and see what happens. I hope to be drinking sake while reading the short stories of Saki. And being sarky.

But for now, the Spearmint schedule kicks off this week with shows at Dingwalls in Camden, the Louisiana in Bristol and Aldershot West End Centre. Oh, the reckless glamour of it all! Roadie! My mascara!