 They loved many things. It all started when they were about six years old,
with the Bay City Rollers. Over the next ten years, their obsessions grew and
diversified: The Jam, Harrison Ford, Sting and The Police, Visage, Duran Duran, Hammer horror films, hot sweet
tea and toast, John McEnroe, endless novels by James Herbert and Guy N Smith, Keith Moon,
Tabac aftershave, Spandau Ballet, Rutger Hauer, Kevin Rowland & Dexys Midnight Runners
and The Who... Neither of them ever got hooked on Earl Grey Tea though, despite the
relentless efforts of Lisa's grandmother every other Saturday afternoon...
Hitting their teens, creativity (and
hormones) set in. The girls decided to best way to be close to their dearest loves
was not to try to sneak into their hotel room (though given the chance, they probably
would have tried that too) but to imagine themselves as some item always about their
beloved's person. Susan therefore decided she was Gary Tibbs' yellow chest stripe
(Prince Charming era, obviously), and Lisa was soon to become Billy Currie's checked
scarf. Occasionally though, she did lapse into a schizophrenic state where she was
simultaneously Sting's left gym sock... It should be noted that Susan later became
Robert Lindsay's Boxing Glove, which just goes to prove she had exceptionally good
taste...
It went further.  Suffice
it to say certain people around them also took on similar personalities - but neither
Marco's Only Fan Club Member or Jimmy Connor's Left Armpit were ever made  aware of
their alter-egos. Which was probably for the best...
The relationship, it has to be said, had its
rocky moments. There are times when a checked scarf and a yellow chest stripe are
bound to argue. But years later, when Susan found herself doing a research project
for Who drummer Kenney Jones, all she could think about was what Lisa would have made of
it all... (Incidentally, she asked Kenney to sign her "Face Dances" LP
and then got invited to a polo match!!)
* * * * *
 Looking back, it was utterly insane, but I
wouldn't have missed it for the world. And I will never, ever forget Lisa's Dad driving us
round and round Chertsey one Sunday afternoon to look for Tara (Keith Moon's house). I
seem to remember we  insisted on listening to the 'True' LP all the way there, too... That
poor, poor man.
Anyhow, that's quite enough of the masochistic
revelations. I make no apologies for the nonsense. I haven't seen or heard
from Lisa for more than 15 years, but I just wanted her to know that nothing is
forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten. (Hmm. I seem to have lapsed into
being Michael Praed's quarterstaff...) Not so long ago, I visited a restaurant in
Florida and they played the entire "Chinese Eyes" LP. I *so* wanted someone else
to know all the words, and I suspect that, like me, Lisa will never forget them...
"It always rains in Sunnyside
Road"
ps. for the benefit of anyone who
has read this far and is curious about the fates of our beloved hosts...
Time has not been kind to Gary Tibbs: http://www.adam-ant.net/pictures/march2001.html,
but Billy seems to be doing ok: http://www.billycurrie.com
pps. since writing this page we have been
blessed with Tesco's McEnroe vs Borg tv ad, which is total genius, and made
me think of one mad summer when JPM was all Lisa and I could talk about.
Sigh. You can watch the advert on
YouTube...
ppps. Oh, and bloody
Artemis 81 is out on DVD!!! And its down to ME. So actually its
Lisa's fault. The rest of the world didn't really need to see it again...
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