Wednesday, December 31, 2003

It Don�t Come Easy

Good Rocking Johnny (Manuel) McSnoater
1950 something � 29th December 2003

Lady El said I should do this.

When I started this blogging lark I suppose I didn�t really have any idea of how long it would last, how serious it would become or how much of myself I was prepared to be out there for everyone to see. Its been around long enough to for me to know that there are no half measures, you have to put enough into it or its just not worth it.

I�m just in the process of going through a particularly shit day, with tears rolling down my cheeks as I write this. I have received the news that my very close friend Manuel, is dead. I�m still really struggling to come to terms with it. It was only a few nights ago that we were having a fabulous night in and now this, I wrote about it here. I am going through all sort of stuff in my head and I just want to numb it all and play loud music. I am currently playing a compilation that I made for him soon after I got broadband and a CD Writer, I emailed him requesting a list of songs that he would love to have on CD, but didn�t have. I made it and dropped it round it goes like this:

It Don't Come Easy, Ringo Starr et al, Concert for Bangladesh Madison Square
Gardens (Apple, I think...1971?)
Jailbait Wishbone Ash, Pilgrimage
Yours Is No Disgrace, Yes, The Yes Album
White Room, Wheels of Fire, The Cream
Green Manalishi, Fleetwood Mac
House of the KIng, Focus
Hocus Pocus, Focus
Sylvia, Focus
Dark Star, Grateful Dead
St. Stephen, Grateful Dead
Magic Carpet Ride, Steppenwolf
Midnight Rambler, The Rolling Stones (Get yer Ya ya's Out)
Happy, the Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street
Locomotive Breath, Jethro Tull
Weaver's Answer, Family
Swifts and Swains, Amazing Blondell
Satisfaction, Blue Cheer

I first met Manuel at a Labour Party meeting, yeah we were young and idealists I guess in 1984. We kind of hit it off and he was a good contact to have for my then new job, we worked together at his office in Saltcoats, and he like helped a lot making the new job pretty successful. Lunchtimes we would hit Culliss� Amusements, he was one mean mutha on the Indiana Jones machine, kids would come from miles to watch him rack up a score in the bonus round the like of which was very rarely seen.

It�s the silly wee things you remember, like the day he was selling his Opel Kadet and gave me a lift home, stopped off to pick up something and I swear the mirror just came off in my hand��

He had just moved from Irvine to Stewarton when we started hanging out so to speak, which was a bit of a nuisance, but less trouble than the Nottingham, Coventry, Manchester, Inverness axis. Despite the distance we still kept up the friendship, Manuel would come up every Christmas stay at my flat and generally have a fun packed noisy time, catch gigs do fun stuff. When I think about it, it was Manuel who got me back into the habit of going to watch Killie again after a gap of many years.


I went my first holiday abroad with Manuel, to Paris. I should I say I met him there, he was already in France and we were to meet at a caf� next to a particular Metro station and I�m thinking at the time you better be there I can�t speak a word of French. It was brilliant, pure brilliant in so many ways, we ended up at a French Anti-Apartheid demo which was fabby, they can really demonstrate the French. Dancing across the street to the sound of Free Nelson Mandela outside the South African Embassy, traffic at a standstill and the CRS in full riot gear.

I remember when I first attached a modem to my Computer in 1992 and we played on Compuserve for a while I have never laughed so much at the antics of a randy dog (you had to be there) in a chat-room.

Even on such a ludicrous level Manuel was the most accomplished communicator I have ever known, he could speak to anyone on any level, I remember a tale of him being reduced to discussing Stars in their Eyes with a relative of a relative to break an uncomfortable silence in a hospital. He could do that.

When work took me down south occassionally I would regularly stay at his place in Coventry which I always looked forward to, immensely.

A bit of who you are is intertwined with who you know and who you choose to know. When I look around at my life and the really important standout bits, good and bad, Manuel was always there even though we lived far apart. New Jobs, Wedding, New Music, My fortieth birthday bash where he agreed to play in the rock band that I formed for the occasion as long as we did it properly. It was around that time that he and Lady El got together which was truly a wonderful thing. They both needed it and they both fitted so FUCKING well together. We did play the gig and by all accounts we were quite accomplished given the minimal rehearsal time. Apart from my wedding that was probably the most memorable night of my life and he enriched it so.

Not just the gig, my whole life.


posted by timesnewroman at 10:51 AM  

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