Back to the music. I purchased a Vox P-bass copy in bright tomato and repaid my Dad back 50p a week. I practiced without an amplifier by feeling the notes through my jaw, until my Dad bought a Sinclair amp kit, which burnt out within a month.

I learned every Quo bass line there was and ten minutes later went round a friend's house and discovered Jack Bruce via his Cream record collection. Having mastered the "Sunshine of your Love" riff I thought it was time to form a band. So - assembling some so-called friends from my pretentious Westwood secondary school - a period of garage bands began, until it was time to learn to drive.

My musical career began again in 1978 when I hung out with some college friends, they played, I advised, roadied and drove them to gigs in the Vauxhall Viva that I had bought by selling my tomato bass. Then in 1979 , my neighbour's son - a session Drummer - sold me my beloved Black Fender P-bass for £150 and I was playing again.

I auditioned for a show band called "Mainstreet" run by the Anderson family in Orpington, quickly learned everything from Elvis to Blondie and was out gigging all over London and Kent for every weekend for the next two years. This was a very busy time; usually playing Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights, practicing twice in the week, new songs from the charts and requests, and sleeping at work during the day. God bless the seventies, unions, real music, flairs, cheap beer, packed pubs and working mans clubs, all gone for good with the last century. "Mainstreet" was a large band with 3 girl backing singers! Two guitarists blessed with good voices, a talented keyboard player, a variety of mediocre drummers and me on bass standing 12 inches over the rest of the band. Big on talent and stamina, low on height. The picture above is from 1980 when I was playing a fretless Musicman Stingray bass. The band came to an end for me in 1981, nuff said.

Passing through Mainstreet were many guest drummers and singers. My next band was "Paul Millard's Equation", featuring the aforementioned Singer/guitarist songwriter and Tony Bellingham on drums with his wife Carol on keyboards / vocals, for about 18 months we practice and polished Paul's songs before recording an EP and a single that got airplay on Radio Kent. That folded in late 1984 and I stopped playing in bands for 10 years.

During this idle decade, I wrote and recorded at home about thirty songs mainly played on acoustic guitar and for my wife's ears only.

In September 1994 I auditioned for "Matrix" and began the ten year (so far) career with Mick and Stuart, until Bill quit and here I am with my faithful Fender on bass for "S.w.a.m.p.".