Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: You are tuned into YCTR, the audio podcast, season six, episode 34. There's been 34 since the start of January and this is a special one.
The infamous legendary veteran punk poet Attila the Stockbroker.
He's been a musician, an author, everything in between. Just don't call him a comedian as he does speak about later on in the show.
It's actually his birthday today, celebrating his 70th birthday and he did it with an interview on. You call that radio. And the reason for this is that he has got a Scottish tour in November. He's playing everywhere. A proper score. A proper tour of Scotland. No Edinburgh, no Glasgow, just going to rural areas.
And we're actually running the one on the Elbow Butte and Rossi and the Craigmore bowling club on the 14th of November.
So I'll hopefully see you at that. I'm actually doing a wee bit of spoken word, first time in a long time. Calvin Baird will be there as well. It's an early kickoff. You get more information on skittle.
And before that, we also have the Merrill Folk album launch. You call that radios doing an after party called Bangers Galore with more Famish and Jigsaw Tiger. That's Saturday the 24th at the Rumshack. I think that will be sold at by the time you hear this.
But the following week is Friday 30th October. We're having a Halloween Sam and Stroke album launch for Apocalypse Theories, who involves Mark and Shannon, if you might remember, from Gyro Babies. They've got an amazing album out that they've not let anyone hear yet. But you've just got to trust me on it. I think they are releasing a song tomorrow, but there's also. They're brilliant.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: The album's great.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: The support from Jacko Trades, Minerva Wakes and Texture, who I believe will all have new music out by then.
And yeah, hopefully see you at one of those three shows.
Let's go to Attila the Stockbroker. There'll be no adverts during the show because we are powered by our patrons, so there's no paywall. If you want to support it, then please consider going to patreon.com forward/equallthatradio and if you already do, then thank you. I hope you enjoy the show.
Attila the Stockbroker, you are tuned into yct.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: Can you explain first of all, what. What you mean by your first proper tour of Scotland?
[00:02:42] Speaker C: Well, yeah. Hi, everybody.
Yeah, I mean, it's completely ridiculous because, I mean, I've been doing this. I've earned my living as a chill of the stockbroker since 1982. I started in 1980 using that stage name, doing my poetry and music, and I've earned my living now for 44 years.
And I've toured all over the world, done about 4,000 gigs. I've toured Australia four times, New Zealand three times, Canada six times, the States four times, and hundreds of gigs in mainland Europe. And I've never ever done a proper full tour of Scotland. I've played loads and loads of times in Edinburgh at the Fringe. I played sometimes, not even that often in Glasgow.
I've played once in Aberdeen, once at st Andrews about 40 years ago when they nominated me to be rector of St Andrews University, which was quite amusing.
I came second to Nicholas Parsons, but I've never done a proper kind of Scottish tour and I never really quite worked out why that was, because I, you know, I kept getting messages and contacts from people, but it never really happened. I just did sporadic gigs and I just thought, while I still could. I'm 69 tomorrow, it's our 26th wedding anniversary today and my 69th birthday tomorrow. And I thought to myself, well, you know, while I still can, it really is time that I toured, you know, if you like, the other half of this island that we're on, where not only, you know, have I never done many gigs, but I mean, I have this sort of ancestral link to via by my father. My. My surname is Bain, my ancestors are from Greenock, and I just thought it's really time I did this.
And because now I have a lot of social media followers on Facebook, I just put up. I thought, what I'm going to do is I'm just going to put up a message and advertise it saying, you know, if you'd like to put me on in Scotland, any way you like, really get in touch and then just see what happens. And I did. And it was phenomenally well received.
And within a very short space of time, I'd got 11 gigs out of the 12. Yours is actually the last in Rothsay, and it starts in two weeks, three weeks. And I've been doing the fringes, you know, the free fringe for ages. And I've been staying with my great friend Callum Baird, who's a lovely Scottish singer songwriter, radical singer songwriter, and he's. He's doing support for me and he's also accompanying me on my early music because I'm doing vast different things. I mean, obviously those who know about me know I started off as a Performance poet. But I've also been out before that I was playing bass in punk bands and I've always written little songs and over the years the musical side of what I do has developed phenomenally. I mean, I've got band now, Barnestormer 1649 that have existed since 1994. We've done five albums and the last one of which fulfilled another of my ambitions, which was to mix punk and early music. Restoration tragedy. I'm also, also doing dub poetry and so I'm just doing all this different stuff in this massive. You know, you've only got one life. I've always had these lots of different interests in, in terms of music and culture and I just thought, I'm just going to do what I want now, you know, and that's what I'm doing.
And it's wonderful because, I mean, I'm really looking forward to coming up and doing all the different shows in all the different places. I mean, I'm playing. It is a proper tour of Scotland. I mean, I'm playing McDuff and Gatehouse of Fleet and Lower Largo and West Linton and as well as obviously Inverness and Aberdeen and, you know, more well known places. And I'm really looking forward to it. I mean, you know, we'll just see what happens. But it's just going to be great fun. I mean, that's the thing now I can do, really, I can do what I want. I mean, you know, and, and, and that's what I'm doing.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: The G G of Fleet's lovely. I've been there before. That's. That'll be a nice one as well. Beautiful down there.
And the when with a Callum Be.
I played a gig with Calvin Beard a couple years ago. He's a great musician.
[00:06:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:49] Speaker B: So how did, how did you and Callum start work together?
[00:06:53] Speaker C: Well, I mean, he was a. He was. He became a fan of my stuff and he got in touch and I suppose that's it really. A lot of people, when you've been doing it for this long, I mean, he's less than half my age. When you'd be doing it for this long, people just get in touch with you and say, hey, you know, I like your stuff. I'm a poet, musician, whatever, you know, do you fancy doing some stuff together? And if I check them out and then if I. I like them, I like the material and I like them as a person, then, you know, I, I say, yeah, I don't have that many supports now because, I mean, I've got So much material. I mean, I'm. My regular show now is two hours to. You know, it's a mixture of performance poetry, my punk. My punky folky songs, early music and dub poetry. So it's kind of. I've got hours of material, but for this tour, I'm really making an exception. I'm taking Canon with me. Obviously, you're doing a spot. I'm really looking forward to that. In Rothstein. And. Yeah, I mean, the whole idea is, you know, is to visit loads of places I've never been to before. I mean, I think of the 12, there's 13, because I'm doing 13 gigs in 12 days because the other one's organized by Stephen Watt, the poetry residence at Dumbarton.
And I think of the 13 places that I'll be visiting. I think I've been to about five before and then only fleetingly. I'm also hoping to catch a football match somewhere. It's difficult, obviously, but I'm hoping I'll find somewhere to go before the Sterling, before the gig in Sterling the week after.
I think it's gonna be very difficult because I'm going to be with you lot.
There isn't a team on Roth. Say, is there a team on Rothstein? Because there's no one that plays in any of the leagues that I can work out.
Do they. I don't know. I can't even remember. Are you into football?
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
It's. There be. There's. There's. There's options in Rossi. I hope to try to figure that out because we want you to stay in Russi.
[00:08:49] Speaker C: Yeah, it's gonna be.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: It's gonna be a good time.
[00:08:51] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, obviously.
Yeah. I mean, the night before, we're. We're playing. I'm. I'm trying to think where. Where I'm. The night before.
Is it Lower Lago? No, some. I think it's further down than that. But we will come over in the afternoon. I said I've been there once before, had a great time, had a lovely gig at By. In a gig by the. By the seafront. And it was brilliant. And I'm Stayed with the guy called Aqua, so it was. That was really, really good. It was good fun. It's good fun.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: It's a beautiful place. Where.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: Where.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Where was it you performed last time you were on there with your.
[00:09:28] Speaker C: I'm just trying to remember. I. I can't actually remember.
No, I can't remember.
I stayed with her. With. With a. I stayed with Ange. I. It was great. It was great fun, had a lot of beer and got a really good, very enthusiastic audience. The only thing that was funny, it was funny because, because, you know, I, I, the local media did a really good review. They referred to me as a veteran comedian.
Right, Right. Okay. Now, if I'm gonna, if there's gonna be two C words used about me, I prefer, if I have to choose and I don't like it. I prefer the abusive term for the female genitalia to describe me than the word comedian because I hate being described as a comedian because although I love making people laugh, I hate comedy. My slogan is love humor, hate comedy.
Because basically, you know, what I do is a mixture of everything.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Why do you, why do you hate comedy? Why do you hate comedy, then? Well, there's comic elements to what you do. It's a serious message, obviously, but there's comic elements too. So
[00:10:36] Speaker C: it's obviously a, it's a bit tongue in cheek. But the point is the comedy thing, I mean, I started off in the early 80s alongside a lot of the early alternative comedy people when it was really varied. And then comedy sort of became this massive great big corporate splurge. And the reason I hate being called a comedian is because the implication, Dennis, that I get up on stage and the aim is to make people laugh all the time. And I love to make people laugh. But a lot of my material is the opposite of that. I mean, I do a 14 minute long poem about my mum's long battle with Alzheimer's. I do lots of angry stuff about politics. I do all kinds of things that are not funny.
And that's, I mean, you know, it is fine being called a comedian if you are a comedian. But I'm wrong some.
Yeah, I mean, I just, I'm a performance poet and wordsmith who is funny sometimes. I suppose that's the only way to describe it. But anyway, I mean, no, it's, I'm really looking forward to this too, and it'll be great fun. And I mean, and the very, the other thing is, what I'm trying, what I'm trying to do, what I'm aiming to do, if possible, is to set up with, obviously not so much myself, but to help Callum set up a kind of DIY touring network in Scotland, because one has never really existed for people like me.
And what I've discovered, I suspected all the way along that there were people all over the place that would love the idea of hosting kind of DIY Lo Fi type gigs of the sort of things that we do who hadn't ever really been approached about it. And of these 12 gigs, I think it's fair to say that every single one is in a place like that. So what I'm hoping is that this. This first tour that I'm doing will act as a kind of. A pioneering kind of catalyst, so that many more people, not just from England, but from other parts of Scotland and indeed the rest of the world, will be able to do gigs all over Scotland.
You know, in a way that hasn't happened before, because it is. I mean, my main preoccupation when I decided to do this was the ridiculous fact that I've done, you know, all these gigs with 4000 gigs, and I haven't been to most of Scotland in my life and not performed there. And that is ridiculous. I mean, given that, you know, that I'm. I'm more familiar with New Zealand and Australia and Canada than I am with Scotland. And that is nuts, frankly. I mean, it really is.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: Yeah. And there's a. I think that there's a lot of really good rural venues in Scotland, and a lot of the places, not a lot does happen. So usually when people do come to town, it's the. It's well received because people want to see something a bit different.
[00:13:11] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's one of the things.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: Cover bands all the time or whatever.
[00:13:14] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, one of the things. That's exactly it. You know, one of the.
One of the things.
One of the things for me that is really, you know, it's really important is I like to go to places where not a lot happens because I'm. I'm solo, except when I'm with my band, obviously, but I'm solo and I'm versatile. I can go anywhere. And I love going to places where not a lot goes on and making something happen. I mean, McDuff, apparently it has been said that. That me performing in McDuff is.
Is. Is something very unusual and noteworthy, which I don't know whether that says something about me or McDuff. But anyway, I'm very interested to perform there now. I mean, I was before, but, you know, it's. It's. It's just lovely to go.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: She mentioned.
I remember you.
Sorry, no, sorry, continue. I was just going to say that the. The. The dub poetry. I remember that you. The last time you were on the show, I think it was 20, 21, maybe before the Ice Box gig, and you gave us a little sneak preview of the dub poetry on that.
That was great. The Ice Box was A good night. That was.
That was good. That went well.
Sadly, sadly, the Ice Box is no longer there. But yeah, I believe that they're looking into getting a new venue.
[00:14:40] Speaker C: So many, so many places, so many venues come and go. I mean a lot of the interesting thing is that quite a lot of the gigs that I'm doing are in places that have, you know, existed in their own right. Like 33 RPM in, in Coatbridge, have. Existing in their own right. Putting stuff on for quite a while. And it's great to discover places like that because I mean, not only, you know, obviously I'm not just a performer. I also organize quite a lot of things and that's exactly what I do. I'm. I'm. I organize quite a lot of gigs for, for other performers from, from all over the place when they're in the area and I love to do that because I like to try and. You know, I mean I like to try and help the people that help me. I mean that's the way it works basically in our scene is everybody helps everybody else and that's, you know, and that's how it should be. It's. It's great.
So. Would you like me to do a couple of poems? I mean, what do you want? What do you want?
[00:15:32] Speaker B: I think it'd be good to get a couple of poems just in case there's some people that are. That aren't familiar with your work. I think it's always great and it's always great that you have the confidence to perform on the shows as well, which is something we. Bit scared but I don't think that's a problem for you.
I. Shouldn't you describe yourself as a confident vote? Just that I post another day. But it is quite obvious that you feel every word. You're very confident. Where does that come from? Did that take a while to build up?
[00:16:00] Speaker C: That's a really good question. You know, that really is a good question.
I am blessed with this personality and I know that it's. It's a privilege to have this personality. Although it can be. Some people find it a bit difficult, shall we say. I mean I've always had incredible self belief and, and I have a very thick skin and it's. And I've never really talked about this before, you know, in, in this kind of situation. So I'll tell you, I had a very, I mean I, you know, I.
I grew up when I was a little kid. I was very happy. I was. I did very well at school, blah, blah, blah. My father died horribly when I was 10.
And I won a scholarship to a horrible school where it was absolutely. I. And I had to fight. I really did have to battle to. To. To. To get my way through that.
And I. I made. If you like, I made myself into a confident person because I knew that unless I was confident then I was going to go under. And I had the capacity to do that. And what started off as being a kind of making a virtue of necessity turned into me. I mean, I am naturally like that now. I mean, I always was. I mean, this is the sad thing. When I was a little kid, I was. When I was at primary school, I was doing. You know, I was writing poetry, I was doing performances. You know, towards the end of time I was there. And then. And then I had. And then I had that knocked out of me by that horrible school that I went to and I had to bring it back for myself. And I was a nightmare. I mean, I was a nightmare when I was at school. And then when I came out, I mean, it was absolutely brilliant because I came out of that when I was 17.
I went straight to university. In 1975, I went to the University of Kent. Just. And just more or less straight after I got there. I mean, I got on the INS committee straight away. And then punk happened and, you know, and by 1970, at the end of 1976, we were putting on the Damned sort of 17th gig, supported Eddie and the Hot Rods and we put on all the early punk bands and. And I learned how to put on gigs and I started performing. I learned how to do, you know, I learned effectively. I was studying French and politics. Ostensibly what I was actually studying was, you know, how to be a performer and how to organize stuff. And that's what I've done ever since. I mean, you know, I am very confident. I mean, everybody who knows me knows that. And anyway, I'm going to do a couple of poems now. So this is called the Optimist, funnily enough. I mean, you know, this is. This is the point.
It's a kind of signature poem for me, really, because, I mean, there is no reason to be optimistic right now. Everything is completely bollocks, but I still am. And I did when I performed this at all my gigs. It's one of my starting poems. I've got this. My new book, which I've got here, is called Fiery Words. Fiery Words for Hellish Times.
And that's. It's the first poem in there.
And it's. It's basically it's about.
It's about how I feel about myself and about the world and what we have to do. And it's called the optimist.
Another new year.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:18:57] Speaker C: Another new year is upon us as the news goes from awful to worse. And reform is the billionaires plaything Though it isn't reform, it's reverse. As I watch the sea lap at our village where they tell me I'm spreading fake news and the Internet swallows their poison I refuse to succumb to the blues for a lifetime My work's been my hobby and I'm happier than I've ever been. But it's not about me here, it's history. It's the changes this old poet seen.
The reason the right wing attackers is because of the battles we've won for what they call woke is now normal let's ensure it does not come undone.
I remember when ape chants at football were just something that some people did. Disability as playground insult was the norm as a primary school kid and my granny's foul casual racism hand in hand with the tabloid she read went unchallenged in pub and in pulpit now those dinosaurs mostly are dead Force of nature still at 67 I'm actually 69 tomorrow but that doesn't rhyme as I final the memories here I know this year is not going to be heaven I'm afraid that's abundantly clear I'm ready for all that it brings us and I welcome to end at the bar so don't cow as it comes around the corner Stand up with me and say here we are, cheers and I'll do another one I'm going to do a Scottish one. This is.
This is.
[00:20:30] Speaker B: Please do.
[00:20:31] Speaker C: Please do what I have to. This is my. I want to buy. My other new book is called. Well, it's a lifetime of football poems.
Some of the people, those who know me will know I'm a very keen Brighton of Albin fan. I was very involved in the battle to save the club as well but I have Scottish roots and this is about that.
It's called old acquaintance.
My old paternal ancestors were Scottish, hence the name.
I don't mean stockbroker, of course, I mean my real one, Bain A line of Green at Coopers Enclosers of good ale.
But there is little solace for the Saltire in this tale. The last one left for South London in roughly 1840, so claims of Scottish ancestry would really be quite naughty.
I went to Green at Morton once to check out the old hood. They were at home to Hibbs that day and they weren't very good. The High Bees were no better. The game finished nil. Nil and truth to tell, would so remain should they be playing still. And I actually after that wrote a small kind of follow up of, you know Ichiku park by the Small Faces. I did a kind of a rewrite of that. Under Green Oak Skies. The very worst game I've ever seen. And I'm not telling lies to Capelo park, that's where I've been. What did you do there? I got bored. What did you do that? No one scored, the couches bleeding was ignored.
Yeah. So it was Neil there when it would have been, maybe I'll get there again. I mean I've been to quite a lot of Scottish games during the time that I've been up doing the Edinburgh Fringe and various other times in the 80s.
There's a few people who really old might remember this when Madabank Thistle were around I was, when I came up,
[00:22:17] Speaker B: I can remember that I used to
[00:22:20] Speaker C: hang, I've been at the stadium, I used to head a bank in the, in the, in, in the con in the Commonwealth. Stay with the Reddit, with the Meadowbank Break Club, the Punks. There were a load of punks that follow Better Bank Thistle and they had a fancy called AWOL which was really, really good and I'm still in. There's a few of them stay in touch with now, Grant Colley, you know, and you know, and Fearson and oh, Elvis, I remember Elvis and crikey, crikey.
There's about three or four of them but yeah, Grant from Grant now lives in New Zealand and Colin McPherson, quite a well known photographer I believe now.
Yeah, I mean I love football.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: How's your beloved Brighton doing?
[00:23:00] Speaker C: Well, I mean Brighton well obviously we're doing really well because we're third in the Premier League, we're in Europe.
It's a dream come true. I was very much involved in the battle to save the club. I was the co founder of our independent supporters association 30 years ago when we were bottom of the whole league with no ground. And the way that we've come back is absolutely amazing. I'm so, I'm really happy. And this the latest book, latest foot with this football book ironically it's quite a story behind this. I'll be as brief as I can.
A group of fans from Tampere United in Finland got in touch with me asking if they could publish a book of my football poems because they were inspired to start their club up Again after the Finnish FA closed it down for money laundering and they started their club up again as a fan owned club inspired partly by what we did at Brighton and they liked my poetry and everything so they published a book of my poetry. Now the thing that is really funny about that is after 10 years Tampere are now one league away from getting, they got promoted again this season. So they're now one league away from getting back to where they started because I mean, you know, 15 years ago they were the champions of Finland anyway and what they were done for was money laundering. Okay, so that £300,000 or something and the finish. Who do you think close the club down. Now compare that with Manchester City, who you know, what do you think should
[00:24:19] Speaker B: happen to Man City? What do you think should happen?
[00:24:22] Speaker C: Well, it's interesting. I'm going to be writing about this group we got. We're playing them twice next week.
First of all, I will say I don't think it's nothing. It's not the fault of the fans. I mean I remember one of the last games before the, before the, the people currently running a club took over. They were playing us in with Dean and we beat them in the, in the League Cup. You know, we win, we win. I think we win the third division or the second division, I can't remember.
It might have been back up to the second division by them. It was an awful game. They weren't very good and we won and soon after that they were taken over and then all this new stuff happened. And what has turned out to be the case obviously is that it has been done in an extremely dishonest way.
And what I think should happen to them is that they then is any point in reallocating the trophies.
It's a poison, it's quite literally poisoned chalice. I think they should be relegated probably down to the, the same sort of thing that happened to Rangers maybe, but maybe down to the third or fourth division. Keep the trophies that they've won because you know they, I mean I don't think there's anything you can do about that. You can just say they're tainted or whatever. But I, I do feel for, I will say I really feel for the fans. It's not the fans fault. It is the thought of modern football and modern football itself is. I mean, you know I, I think I'm in a good position to talk about this as a Brighton fan because everything that we've done, we've done ourselves. I mean we saved the club ourselves.
Our first chairman after we kicked the bastards out and destroying the club was a Brighton fan.
The guy who took over, Tony Bloom is the third generation Brighton fan. It's all been completely in house. We've done it the right way. We're now making. We're now the most success. I think we're one of the most. Well, I think we are the most successful club in the world because we've got a really good recruiting system. We get these players, every single sort of greedy agent in the world knows, send your player to Brighton and if they're really good, they'll be the first team in three months. That is. That is the difference between us and say, sending them to Barcelona or Man United or Liverpool where they'll be in the youth development squad or whatever. I mean, we got people coming in this season. I mean, Yaokua and Kema Andries, who. They just exploded out of nowhere. They're in the shop window.
Very soon they're gonna. When. When a player is at the right time and it's right for the player and right for the club, and the big club offers ridiculous amounts of money, they get sold and then the next one comes in and, you know, it's ridiculous we have to do that. I mean, it's completely ridiculous we have to do that. And I say this from the position of being a supporter of a club that does it incredibly well. So therefore, I think. I mean, you know. But I will still say I would rather see the grounds owned by the councils, I'd rather see a salary cap and the clubs owned by the fans. And I say that in the context of how well we're doing, because what we're doing is surfing the sea of sewage, which is modern football magnificently. But I don't think anybody should have to do that. The game's been taken away from the fans. I organize all my gigs around Brighton's fixture list. And in the old days it was quite easy because, you know, it was three o' clock on Saturday afternoon and for all these years everybody knew, you know, well, John, we're playing them then. And so John will want to come and do a gig then and it'll phone me up before the Internet will see anything. The phone might say, john, here's the date. You know, you're going to come and do a show. And I say, yeah, absolutely brilliant. Now, of course, we don't know, you know, when are we doing. Well, the game could be Friday night, Saturday lunchtime, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, Sunday or Monday. And I'm trying to organize gigs around I mean, it's a blooming pain in the ass. I mean, and it is. It's. It's contempt for the fans. It's all television. I mean, I. You know, despite the fact we're doing so well and I. And, you know, so no one can say it's sour grapes. Despite the fact that we're doing so well, I would rather see football run completely differently so that we didn't have to do what we do.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: Yeah, it's the. And how many. How many different channels and apps do you need to have to. To watch football now? It's just crazy. It's crazy.
The.
With the regards to the worry about the Prime Minister. We've got a new. A new Prime Minister in. I was wondering how you feel about Andy Bunham.
[00:28:27] Speaker C: Well, I mean, yeah, the. I mean, I'm still a member of the Labour Party. I'm still a member of the Labour Party for one reason and one reason only, and that is that in our local area in West Sussex, where there was no history of labor really at all, when Jeremy Corbyn became the leader of the Labour Party, we joined en masse. We created two big parties. We've won two councils and we've won both the parliamentary seats. And my wife, now my wife Robina, since 2021, has been the first Labour councillor for our ward, Southwick Green, the port town of Shoreham Harbour in between Brighton and Worthing on the Sussex coast. First. She was the first Labour council elected since the 1960s.
So that is the reason why I'm still in the Labour Party. It's because of what we're doing locally under Starmer. I was despairing, frankly.
I think Burnham is a hell of a lot better because Burnham has the capacity to communicate. And, you know, some people say it's only words. Where are the actions? But the fact is that words are the starting point. Words.
Words are incredibly important. Words are what differentiates, then differentiate us from cheap or whatever, you know. So the first thing you have to do is create hope. You have to communicate effectively. And that is what Starmer could not do. Now, Burnham can do it and he is fully aware of the forces arranged against him. And he is trying to be clever and I applaud him for that. I think it is incredibly difficult, the situation that he is in, because, I mean, my gut instinct, what I would like to see is the bloody water companies nationalized. I mean, we live in Southwick on the Sussex coast. There is disgusting pollution 400 yards from our front door. I want to see that nationalized without compensation. And I want to see the people that are responsible for it in jail. I want to see the National Health Service put right back. I want to see council houses built in their thousands. I want to see second homes banned. It's all this stuff now we know if they try and do that, then the guilt set, the parasites, the guilt sellers, the city, the short sellers are going to come down and deliberately wreck the economy. There's a problem on my new book about that called Guilt Markets because there is this idea that it's somehow democratic for people who've never been elected to think that they can decide and determine the political stance of the government. Because if they wait to do the poem, if the government doesn't do what they, what they want, then they will shut everything down and, and destroy it. And that is the most ridiculously undemocratic and ludicrous. I'm gonna, I'll read you the poem. I'll read you this poem.
[00:31:00] Speaker B: Right?
[00:31:01] Speaker C: It's called Guilt Markets and that's obviously guilt in the first instance is spelled with a U.
The human beings behind the gilt markets have no shame.
They announce the parameters. The super rich will accept and openly declare that if these are breached in the budget, they will wreck the economy, reduce millions to penury and subvert the elected government.
Logic would indicate that in a democracy they should be treated as traitors, but instead they are celebrated, their strictures viewed as immutable. A poverty stricken immigrant portrayed as the enemy and the dying screams of the planet. A minor issue because the human beings behind the guilt markets know others who run the media, who make sure the anger of those whose lives they destroy is directed at a rundown hotel and not at the people in the penthouses who are destroying the world.
There you go. That is what Burnham is up against. I think it's facile to say he should just take them all on and, you know, and, and then there'll be war. And it's facile on the other hand to say he should stick to the, the, the guidelines. There's got to be a middle way between the two. There's got to be. Because the fact of the matter is if we carry on as we are, the most important thing right now, and the thing that labor has forgotten and the thing that we should always remember in all, you know, I'm not interested in these so called culture wars. The most important thing is economics. It is raising people out of hideous, grinding poverty in a country where nobody needs to be in poverty.
You do that and Then a lot of the damage, a lot of the threats from everything from the far right will disappear and we'll be in a much better place. Now to do that, you've got to tax the rich and you've got to be very creative in the way that you do things. And the other thing that's got to happen, in my opinion, is that social media has got to be regulated so that the bile and the lies and the absolute disgusting disinformation which flows everywhere, people believing all this stuff that has got to be stamped down. I am proud to say I support censorship of social media. No problem at all. I have got 64,000 people on my page as a general stockbroker and if anybody comes on with any of these disgusting conspiracy theories or lies or racism, I just wipe them off it straight away. If people say that's against freedom of speech, I think that's completely ludicrous because people can come on and they can call me what they like. I get attacked from the right, obviously as a lefty, I get attacked from people on. Old comrades of mine for still being in the Labour Party say I'm a traitor and I'm, I'm a genocide enabler. What a ridiculous concept that is, you know, what a ludicrous thing to say. So both sides, you know, they can come on and say that sort of thing, you know, as long as they're polite and intelligent. But lies and deliberate obfuscation of facts, you know, should not be allowed to, to be present to warp people's minds because it is not free speech to spread pernicious lies as truth. I mean obviously the, when the most powerful man in the world, the President of the United States is doing it, you know, that is, it's a very, very bad, if you like, example that a lot of people, if you know, it's like, well, if he does that, then everyone else can do it. I don't accept that. I don't accept that at all. Not one tiny bit. Right? And you know, I'm not, I don't have a problem with censorship, but when I talk about censorship, I'm not talking about people not being able to criticize me or, or not being able to have sensible like in other words, non racist and fascist right wing views or of course be, be absolute sort of raving sort of Stalinists or whatever. If they, if they choose that then that they're entitled to do that. But what is not acceptable is for people to present absolute lies as truth and to make stuff up, which then warps the Minds of millions. Because that would just, that would destroy our society. Absolutely destroy our society. And the other thing that I think is absolutely and utterly unacceptable is the way that AI is being used now. Now, I don't really understand this stuff. I'm an old dinosaur. But I do understand that AI used in areas like medicine, various technical things where you're talking about analysis. You know, I get that the AI can be a really worthwhile, valuable thing, but AI used, you know, in the way that it is at the moment where evil people get hold of it to create weapons that will literally destroy humanity on the one hand, where it can be used once again to create the most disgusting propaganda, to literally, you know, use people's images and actual, you know, existing structures to literally make them look the opposite of what they actually are. To fall with a gullible and, and, you know, and the angry and the desperate, you know, combination of total economic insecurity and the application of disgusting use of AI by nasty actors, funded, supported by the extreme right and, and, you know, by Russian rule, whatever is completely unacceptable. I mean, it's wrong. I mean, it's not a question of just saying it's wrong. If it carries on, I think we could, I think it could end the human race quite soon. And I, I like our species. Most people, I believe, I still believe absolutely from my wide, long experience of 69 tomorrow I've traveled the world. Most people are really nice and want to have a good life and help those around them. A small number of people are not. And in my opinion, the small number of people who are not have got to be put to one side. I don't talk about being exterminated or even locked up, but their voice, their, their evil, pernicious influence has got to be neutralized. They've got to be taken out of the area where they can communicate this bile with billions because otherwise, I honestly think probably the human race is doomed. And the other thing obviously is the climate issue, you know, and again, that's all linked because the far right and those people, they negate, they don't care about the climate. I mean, you know, there are many people out there in that. There were rich people saying, you know, I don't, I, I'm, we're all going to die, so it's going to happen after I'm dead. So I don't care. I mean that, you know, that is, I suppose, one of the, if you like, one of the, in philosophical terms, one of the negative things about dying about, with all of us knowing that we're going to die is that if you have a particular mindset which is very selfish, you can say, well, I'm going to die in 15 years time.
That won't happen until 30 years after I'm dead, so I don't care.
There are literally people that are like that and now, which is even more mind boggling. There are people that say it openly. I mean, you know, it's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous.
[00:38:06] Speaker B: Oh, I mean I've actually heard that from a. There was a. Somebody said that Donald Trump's actually said that, well, we're all going to die sometime or something along those lines.
[00:38:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:16] Speaker B: Which is quite terrifying.
Alec Rant says wise words after that run. I've got a question for Garrity. Shoots to Ali Grant. Gary David says, what about the fact we're ruled by a minority? We ignore the majority who have given up voting because of the crazy system we have. What about the crazy way we vote and put in minority governments while the majority are kept silent and angry. Punk says, see you in Dundee. Would you like to respond to that?
[00:38:43] Speaker C: I'm looking forward to Dundee. I've never been to Dundee. It's ridiculous. I've never played in Dundee. I've never played in Inverness. I have. I did play at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen about 40 years ago and I think I played twice in Aberdeen's home. But I've never been to Inverness. I've never been to Dundee. You know, it's. That's ridiculous. I mean, you know,
[00:39:01] Speaker B: you need to get a pay a pie.
Yeah. Dundee used to say pear instead of pie.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, they have a 24 hour page. They have a 24 hour bakery.
[00:39:12] Speaker C: We've got. A funny thing is there's a. Anytime, day or night, I remember his name, there's a. There's one of our fans who's obviously lived in Brighton for a very long time. He's from Dundee. He's a huge Brighton fan now. And he's still got this incredible Dundee accent which he's lived in Sussex for like. He's probably my. Not quite as old as me, but I mean, he's still got it and it's like everyone's still got what?
Anyway, so. Yeah, I mean. And answer the question. Well, I mean, okay, if you're talking about the voting system, I believe that there should be proportional representation because, I mean the system is ridiculous in Scotland. Of course you do have it for some of your elections, as they do in Wales and Burnham has promised to bring that about, you know, Voting in minority governments. Absolutely. When 60% or 70% of the population vote and, you know, and the party that gets in power gets 31% of the vote. You're absolutely right. And that I've always believed. In fact, I was expelled from the Labour Party in 1997 for a tactical voting campaign which helped elect a Labour candidate in West Sussex. So that is just how ridiculous it is. But, yes. So, in other words, in answer to the question, I completely and totally agree with you. We need a different electoral system. And I mean, that's, you know, and I would like to apologize on behalf of, you know, so many of us in the, you know, in England for the shit that we have lumped on you lot for decades, because you never voted for these bastards that have ruled you.
It's all, you know, it's us that have done that, and that's wrong. I mean, you know, I. I've always said that I would support. I mean, if the people of Scotland vot voted for independence, I would support it. No problem at all. I mean, as I say, I do have this bizarre, tangible, bizarre connection, you know, on that.
[00:41:00] Speaker B: On that subject. Obviously, there was a lot of controversy with independence, but then there was Brexit as well. And people. Scotland and Ireland did vote against Brexit. And now the people that are saying Brexit was a good idea are now saying vote reform. And we've just seen that controversial expose that's came out on Sunday on ITV News about the. The sort of, the. The shenanigans that the reform's been up to. And then, then, I mean, I don't know.
I don't know if people are still talking about it in England, but it kind of disappeared. Scotland's been dealing with a.
A school bomb hoax. I don't know if you've heard about that, but that's been pretty much taken up, all the news coverage and timelines since.
[00:41:48] Speaker C: I mean, the fact of the matter is that we're in a situation now because of the disinformation in, you know, in social media and. And to some degree in mainstream media, things like the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, where the most unspeakable revelations about racism, sexism, you know, fan, you know, incest fantasies from reform UK councillors filmed on camera. I mean, it's like, you know, and people go. Some people go, well, so what? It's like. It's like. It's ridiculous cult thing with Donald Trump, you know, when he says he could walk down the street and shoot a couple of people, and then still vote for him now. I mean, I do think that. I do not think that this is anyone like a majority of the population in the UK or indeed in England. I would say that the actual percentage of the population that really support those disgusting ideas is probably no more than 15%.
But, you know, that's 15% too much. And it is vastly more than, I mean, we, you know, I, as I say, for someone of my age, I mean, I was. My first memory of. If you're anti fascist politics, anti fascist action was going to the Lewisham in 1977 to oppose the National Front, which is what it was one of the biggest. It was the biggest and most important antifascist demonstration of the 1970s. And I was there and in the. And then I got targeted by the far right as a performer. A lot of us did for a time after that and through the 80s and we saw that off. And I honestly never thought that this stuff would be coming back. I mean, I really honestly did not think that the N word would be used, you know, anymore and that the, the kinds of bigotry and I mean, you know, I mean, I'll give you an absolute classic example from where we are now. My wife is the local councillor here. We live on the Sussex coast.
She's very lucky. In our ward there is our lifeboat station, Shoreham lifeboat station and the lighthouse and the port and not so much here. And I will say we have absolute support from our local people for our lifeboat for the rnli. But unfortunately in other areas on the Sussex coast, there's been serious aggro for RNLI volunteers. They've spent their lives, they give that. They, they give their time for free to save lives at sea. And they have been accused of being a taxi service. All this evil, disgusting stuff. The people that say that sort of thing should be ashamed of themselves. Or more saliently, because most of them don't live anywhere near a coastal community. They should be set adrift in a boat, you know, half a mile out in, in the Channel and left there for five minutes with their mobile phones and told, right, okay, you've got two choices now. You drown or you phone the rnli.
I'll do the. I'll see if I can remember it. I wrote, I rewrote our YMCA as all right, you live in some far off. You live in some far knock town and say crap like, I don't care. Let them drown at the seaside. You get 20 pints down and your mates say, let's have a swim. Oh, water doesn't go well with beer. Soon you're drowning and you're moaning in fear and they grab you. They don't stand there and jeer, he's a dickhead. We won't save him.
You won't die because they're the rnli. You won't die because they're the rnli. They know you're a pratt.
They don't care about that. They'll save your ass from the sea. You don't care because you won't die because they're the rnli. You won't dare die because they're the rnli. They are husbands and wives. They go out saving lives and they do the whole thing for free. So there you go. I mean, that's one example of it. I mean, it's so ridiculous. I mean, I grew up in this community and, and, you know, I go fishing and I walk down to the beach where I've lived all my life. Well, not all my life, but where, which I've known all my life. And where I live, I grew up in this house and I live here now. And I, and I look out and I see the lifeboat station, I see the lifeboat and I see the port and the harbor arms and everything.
And I never, ever thought that communities like ours will be subject to abuse from the far right in places like, well, I mean, you know, in the Midlands or, or wherever, you know, where they're miles and know anything about what's going on. It's just completely ridiculous. Absolutely nuts. Totally mad.
So, anyway, I'm really looking forward to these gigs.
You know, I, I, I hope I, I think we're going to have reasonable turnouts everywhere. I'm hopeful that we're going to have really good turnouts in some places. But the most important thing is I,
[00:46:31] Speaker B: well, just, I'll just bring up the.
[00:46:33] Speaker C: I'm really looking forward to coming and playing for those who want to come and see us. I mean, and, and Callum is a great songwriter in his own right as well.
So. Have you got the dates there?
[00:46:43] Speaker B: Yeah, I've got the. I'm bringing the dates up just now and yeah, you did actually mention something about the.
I seen you doing a post the other day talking about the difference between a plane to, to sort of intimate crowds or a plane 150 to 15,000. And it just made me think about. I think I've, there's only been a handful of massive shows I've been to, and in the last five years, I've just kind of totally went off them as though that I'VE got.
So you give me an intimate crowd any day. But yeah, so, yeah, November 4th, it's. You kick things off at Mack Arts and Gala Shields. A fantastic venue. What a way to start.
[00:47:22] Speaker C: I played, I've played there before. Lovely place. Absolutely lovely place.
[00:47:26] Speaker B: Yeah. Great crew. Great crew in there. And then it's off to Gearhouse of Fleet, which is also a lovely place in the Mill Cafe. And then good old Court Bridge.
[00:47:37] Speaker C: Yeah, they sound like a right good bunch. They've been putting stuff on for ages. And then the next day, next day in Sterling, this guy called Charlie Gracie, who's involved with Nutmeg, the football magazine and all kinds of stuff. He seems to be involved in all kinds of things. And he's actually doing a house concert for us which should be. Which will be fun and done. I'm looking forward to Dundee because I've never been there and you know, and, and, and you know, and it's a big city and it's got.
[00:48:03] Speaker B: Just to clarify, you're saying that it says you're playing Clerks.
I mean, I think Clark's is a bakery. Are you playing the bakery?
[00:48:10] Speaker C: No, no, it's Clark's on Lindsay Street. It's a, it's a music venue.
[00:48:19] Speaker B: I'm a big. Got mixed up there. Yeah, but which they do have a 24 hour bakery. So everything. I think I done the. I think at the bakery and. But it's also got. It's. It's beautiful. You've got the Discovery center, you've got the water.
[00:48:30] Speaker C: And I'll be looking for some. One of the things I'll be looking for everywhere I go is some good locally brewed beer.
That's for certain as well.
[00:48:38] Speaker B: I think Dundee, Dundee likes a Suaway. I think you'll be fine. And also I'd recommend if you've got a space for a. Another poet. Mark Richardson is a Dundee street poet. He's absolutely brilliant. I'm a big fan of Mark Richardson. He's a local boy for Dundee. He does.
Last time he played Dundee was with
[00:48:56] Speaker C: him on the guest list. You can tell him if you see him. I'll put him on the guest list and certainly do five minutes. I mean he's got a pretty program there already. But yeah,
[00:49:09] Speaker B: I think I'll be up for it. He's. He's fantastic. I think he runs a wee open mic night just now as well.
[00:49:14] Speaker C: Right.
[00:49:14] Speaker B: And then you've got a. And then you're going to McDuff, which I don't even think I've heard the McDuff. What's that?
[00:49:18] Speaker C: Well, it's up. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, you know, it's up. It's up on the. On, on the. On on the coast. It's not, not far from. Well, it's relatively near Aberdeen.
[00:49:28] Speaker A: Right.
[00:49:28] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, you know, and they. The guy was really enthusiastic and it seems that it's the. It's a very. It's a kind of community where, should we say? The kind of thing that I do has not really happened very much. And there seems to be quite a lot of interest, which is great. I'm really looking forward to going back to Aberdeen. I had some great gigs there. Never been to Inverness.
[00:49:47] Speaker B: And then I know one of the bar staff at Krakatoa, so I've never been there myself, but I've heard it's great. I've seen.
[00:49:53] Speaker C: Yeah, they sound like a really good bunch. I mean, as I say, one of the things that I'm aiming to do with this tour is to help Callum to set up a circuit, because Callum is very active in his own right as well as being a performer. He runs a little promotions company. He puts on quite a lot of stuff at the Edinburgh fringe and he's. And, and he's a good organizer. So I'm hoping that I'll be able to help him actually set up a kind of a touring circuit for people like myself.
Yeah. You know, coming from England or indeed from other parts of Scotland or further afield to find. To go to play new places. I mean, I'd always said all through this long career that I've had earning my living as a performance poet, musician. I've always said to myself, why don't I ever do. Why don't ever go to Scotland, you know, except for. Except for the Edinburgh and occasionally Glasgow and a couple of other gigs elsewhere, you know, because it is ridiculous. I mean, because I've played everywhere in England. I mean, just about everywhere. And in Wales. I've played huge amounts of gigs in Wales. I mean, loads and loads and loads, but so little in Scotland. And I'm. And I, you know, and, and, and, and, and as I say, when I. When I actually sort of put out the message, you know, get in touch if you'd like to put me on. The response was really good. I mean, it was, it was. I suppose I would probably say it was better than I thought it would be. I mean, I. You know, I've been doing this a long time and I have a. You Know, I have a small following everywhere. But the response was great. I mean, it was. I certainly got, you know, 12 gigs in 12 days very quickly without any problem. And I'm really looking forward to going. I mean, it's. I love going. You know, I'm. You know, I'm. I'm getting on a bit now. I've got copd. I'm. I'm. My personality and my body are going in different directions to some degree, but. But I'm.
I love new experiences, I love going to new places and I'm really looking forward to. To this tour and it'll be great to do it with Callum. As I say, a young, great young singer songwriter with loads of energy and loads.
[00:51:50] Speaker B: A gig with Callum and Jeremy Corbyn. That was a strange lineup. It was Gyro Babies, Jeremy Corbin and Callum.
[00:51:56] Speaker C: Yeah, Callum is a good mate of Jeremy Corbyn.
[00:52:01] Speaker B: Yeah. And then you're going to Lower Largo. I don't know. I don't know Lower Largo myself, to be honest. I think that's near. In the Highlands somewhere.
[00:52:09] Speaker C: No, no, no, it's on the coast further down.
It's on, it's on the. It's on. It's on the. It's on the east coast.
Yeah, it's on the east coast, further down. Sort of not that far from Dun. Firmly places. I mean, basically what happened was I was trying.
[00:52:26] Speaker B: You're in the Kingdom of faith.
[00:52:27] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, but that's. Right. So that's the. It's all spread about everywhere, really. I mean, apart from going up to Thurso or somewhere.
You know, I'm coming over to Roth. I mean, it's great. So you're living in Rothstein now, are you?
[00:52:40] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, well, I'm. I'm back and forth to a few different places.
Yeah, I've been. I've done a lot. A lot of gigs and. And Rossy in general, so we've just been doing a lot of a sessions, so kind of going back and forth.
[00:52:54] Speaker C: Great.
[00:52:54] Speaker B: But yeah, and the Craigmore Bowling Club, we had a fantastic gig there a few months ago with Sh. In the Velvet Underpants and Becky Wallace and it was a really good day, so. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that one.
[00:53:10] Speaker C: Great. Great. Absolutely great. Absolutely great.
[00:53:13] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I think. Well, she was aware that you're coming to. You're going to Rossi, so he's. He said he'll be there, so you'll catch. You'll get to catch up with you and then you've got to Dumb Barton, which Is the poets paints and penalties Stephen Watt by any chance?
[00:53:30] Speaker C: Yes, in case it is absolutely. Stephen Watt, who's the poet in residence at Dumbarton. I'm the poet of residents of Brighton, of Albin obviously, and he's done quite a few of these. What it is, it's all the poets in residents from different Scottish football clubs, clubs and me basically. And I think the idea is we do, we do some poems and then we have, we have a penalty competition. And you know, and I mean I, you know, I'm. One of my few regrets in life was that I was never any good at football. I mean, when I say that, I mean I certainly was an enthusiastic participant, but I had no skill whatsoever. But, but when I was young I was quite fast and strong and, and a bit of a natter and so I, and I actually gave up playing when I broke someone's leg in two places.
But you know, but, but I can kick a ball hard even at 69. So I mean I'm certainly up for the penalty shootout and we'll see what happens. I mean now as I say, as I say I'm, I'm really looking forward to just going to these new places and meeting people and you know, somewhere deep in my, in my, in my genes as it were, I have this Scottish ancestry. When I, my wife gave me a DNA test thingy for, for, for my birthday and it came out exactly as I thought. On my father's side it was all Scandinavia because my, as I say, my, my ancestors were Coopers and, and, and upholsterers from Greenock. But it came. The last one came down in 1840, so it's a. But they go right back. I mean it's all kinds of history that one of my relatives did going, going back, you know, certainly 150, 200 years before that.
And, and you know, and I, I've. I remember my father, my, I have an amazing personal history. My father died when I was 10, but he was 59 when I was born, you know, and he had direct, you know, he had far more memories obviously, or direct contacts with, with some old, really older relatives in, in Scotland.
And I remember going up there on this, on the, on the boat trip, the sleeper train from, from London to Stranra when I was a little kid because my, my mother and father went, they, they had their honeymoon on the Isle of Harris as well.
So I've got lots of kind of really untapped links with Scotland and I've also, as I say, I love, I love football. I'VE seen many, Scott. I've seen many, many Scottish games. I mean every time I'm up for it for the fringe. I go to matches for the last three years because of the. Because of the practical fact that my shows have been, you know, my. My Saturday show, my normal shows that I play abandonments every year, which is great. It's my home, home from home, love it. But my lunchtime, my Saturday show is a 1:30 so it finishes at 2:30. So the only game I've been able to get to is Edinburgh City because. Because obviously it's not that far and they. It kicks off at three and.
And obviously Edinburgh City is the successor club to Meadowbank Thistle. Going back, way back.
But I mean, you know the old Better Bank Stadium and the ridiculous joke of a ground that they've got now. This weird sort of.
Sort of plastic pitched sort of thing with. With. With one little narrow stand and everyone banned from go and everyone banned from standing everywhere else. It's got the least atmosphere I think anywhere I've ever been in football really. But it's nice to go, you know.
[00:56:46] Speaker B: So I remember seeing it. I seen Middlebank Thistle play. Well, I nearly seen them play. I was a judo hang and we could see the pitch and just before the game started they shut the curtains.
[00:56:59] Speaker C: All right.
[00:56:59] Speaker B: So I nearly seen Middle Pink Thistle. It was in the same stadium
[00:57:05] Speaker C: when I. When I went to go and see them. They were just beginning. They were. They were making their way up obviously they had a. An amazing period when they. When they got up in the. You know, did really well. Tony Christie was the.
Andy Christie somebody. Christie was the manager. And then of course they got taken over by Livingston where rather like Milton Keynes dons took over Wimbledon. I mean although of course it was a little bit different with. With Meadow bank because previously to that they've been for Anti Thistle so it wasn't like they had a long established history of their own. I mean, I don't know. But anyway, I mean I know I'm just. I love football.
[00:57:39] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:57:40] Speaker B: I would like to ask before. That's an hour already we've just flown in. I'd obviously like you to finish with a poem if that's all right. But I would. One question I just want ask you before is if you had any tips obviously as an author. So I'm writing a book just now and it's just turning into albums. How do I. How do I finish the book?
[00:57:58] Speaker C: Sorry, how do I what?
[00:57:59] Speaker B: Sorry, I'm writing a novel. Have you got any tips for Me, because I keep on writing an out. I keep on writing a good paragraph and go, that'd be a good song. And I've accidentally made a new album, a new Jackal Traders album. But I want to, I want to finish the book. Any advice?
[00:58:15] Speaker C: Yeah, well, I mean, with me. I mean, I've done 10 books of my poems and my autobiography and my collective works. Collective works is obviously what it says. The autobiography took me, it took me a few months to write. It was a very easy process.
And I mean, my, I mean, I, I don't know. Everyone's different. All writers are different.
I've never written a novel, I've never read. I've never been into fiction. I mean, that's one of the things. I mean, I, you know, I've read a lot, but I'm not a reader of fiction. I tend to read. I read history, a lot of history, philosophy, factual stuff.
And these days with all the social media things and everything, I'm writing so much that I don't get time to read that much.
So I can't really advise you about, about, about novel writing at all. What I can say is that, you know, in terms of, Right, in terms of writing a book generally, I, I would say, I mean, you know, let it flow. Don't try and force yourself to write when, when, when it's not there. Wait for it to come and, you know, and it will come. And that's what I did. I mean, I did my autobiography, I wrote my autobiography. 2014 came out 2015.
And I'm going to do an update for my 70th birthday, which is next year. Obviously I'm 69 tomorrow, so I'm going to do it.
[00:59:40] Speaker B: And happy birthday. Happy birthday.
[00:59:42] Speaker C: Yeah, cheers, thanks.
[00:59:43] Speaker B: And congratulations for the anniversary as well.
[00:59:45] Speaker C: Yeah, cheers. I think, I think Georgia, one poem and then we'll call it.
[00:59:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, I think just one. Bomber bang. We're at 57 minutes, so an hour to take, so usually an hour on the show. So
[00:59:57] Speaker C: I'm gonna do this one. It's called the Lucky Generation.
It's about my generation.
I'll have the book handy.
I may well remember it, I may not. So I. Just to make sure that I do, I'll have the book with me.
I wake up 4am once more beside my sleeping wife Mourn for a broken world and then look back upon my life again the words stream out of me in anger and frustration those who spurned the chance to be the lucky generation Born to a brand new welfare state Hewed from the Pain of war and Bevan's pledge that now will be much better than before.
New council houses, towns and schools, free further education.
I was so glad to be part of the lucky generation.
Full grant at university.
First one of us to go learned how to galvanize a crowd and run a punk rock show. Life in words from then till now. Like many of my peers, I took the chances offered me and broke down the frontiers.
But others sneered at us, or worse, picked on us for a laugh. Mimicked my Tory granny's words, you're too clever by half.
No sticks or stones could break my bones. My heart was big and strong. I did my best to win them round in poem and in song.
But now the Bevan dream is dead and who has sealed its fate? The very generation whom it sought to educate.
Our grandchildren despair of us. Their words stick in their throats. They're saying, save our planet, please. We're saying, stop the moles.
This poem is for those like us, the 35%, who raise our outraged voices high in anger and dissent.
And to our right wing tabloid peers in this benighted nation, I simply say, last chance to join the lucky generation. And if you don't, your grandchildren should walk off in despair, say, sorry, Granddad, that's enough, and leave you standing there to end your days sad and alone in sorry contemplation of how the world was poisoned by the lucky generation. And I'm going to do one last poem, which is for my wife, Robina, on our wedding anniversary. I wrote this for last year, which is our 25th Silver Day.
Silver day.
You picked me up to take me to a gig and at my door you picked me up for life.
We caused a stir, but it was soon resolved. You quickly changed from roadie into wife and I, from freelance poet to family man. The gloriously unexpected change of plan.
So here we are now on our silver day.
Two forceful personalities combined. Not one moment of boredom. All that time, a load of healthy disagreements. Mine. And when we argue, we do it in style and love each other even more the while.
Cheers. Thanks for having me. I very much enjoyed it, Mark. And I'm very much looking forward to coming and performing with you in Rothstein as well.
[01:03:05] Speaker B: Yes, it's going to be good. I will see you on the Tropical Ale of but on the 14th of November alongside Callum Baird and yeah, go. And if you're go and check out Attila the Stock Brokers Facebook page for a list of all the gigs. But we'll have a look at that one more time. It starts off in Gala Shields, Gateous Fleet, coatbridge stolen, Dundee, McDuff, Aberdeen and Verness, Lower Largo, Newton Stewart Rossi, Dumb Barton FC and West Linton from the 4th of November all the way through to the 15th. So yeah, I'll definitely see that one. I'll see you in on the AU and yeah, have a good birth. Do the rest of your wedding anniversary tomorrow.
[01:03:44] Speaker C: Thank you very much for doing this, Mark, and greetings to everybody out there and see you soon. All the way.
[01:03:52] Speaker B: All the best.
[01:03:52] Speaker A: Bye.
[01:03:57] Speaker D: You call that radio? Radio, radio More like a TV show TV show, TV show on almost every night Every night Every night it's gonna be streaming live Streaming live Streaming live.
You call that radio? Radio, radio More like to TV show, TV show, TV show on almost every night Every night, every night it's going to be streaming live Streaming live, Streaming live. You come.
