Tag: john otway

The innocents can all sleep safely – 18th July 1994

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

That day sure was young and nothing would have prepared us for the events of the evening. Here goes. As Broni and I sat eating our tea in the garden in the beautiful evening sun, Julie (evil soul) turned up and proudly announced she been to a solicitor and had got the letter stopping John and I from ‘harassing’ her and not allowing us to kick her out within two days. She said she’d go as soon as possible and well, I didn’t really care so long as she was on her way.

Then, pow! She said she’d spoken to Tony, our agent, and he said the owners wanted to put the house on the market so the tenancy wasn’t going to be renewed. This meant we had until the first of August to get out. Well I wasn’t impressed, just another of her lies (though I didn’t think she’d go that far – which was worrying, maybe there was some truth in it!?). Well, we just walked away and the phone rang and it was Tony, who was confirming that this was true. Wow! What a fucking bombshell!

He said the owners had heard about all the trouble and decided not to renew the tenancy. He was saying it was all down to Julie, according to him, and, of course, she was happy as hell. I was fucking furious that we should have to carry the can for her actions but Broni managed to calm me down and at the end of the day we figured it may work out quite well for us. We get everything packed and ready to send to Oz, move to Kerry’s while she’s away in Japan (for all of August) and basically have a good time for the last eight weeks here. A catalystic turnaround. Sure, our wonderful home won’t be there for our comfort but we’d have to leave sometime anyway.

Michelle was a bit upset too and had a few other ideas that maybe we weren’t getting the whole truth out of Tony and our minds were working overtime. John didn’t get back till about 11 and we shellshocked him with the news. We thought about our rights and all that stuff but me and Broni decided we’d go anyway – we had nothing to gain from contest ing the decision.

Friday, I was kind of shellshocked about the huge turnaround and thankfully Julie was out most of the day. She did come back in the evening though and so did the police! To see her! I tried to find out from the cop what it was about but he wouldn’t tell me, I did overhear her saying, “I’ve got the receipt” and him saying “Make a statement at the station as soon as you can.” Not till I mentioned this to Broni and she said it maybe about the video Tony took from her (which she had offered up to him against rent payment). Fucking hell – it all happens doesn’t it?

While all this was going on, Rob came down in the afternoon and we had a great time going through our poetry. By the time Broni was back home, we decided we needed Indian food and beer! An excellent meal in the evening provided us with pleasant relief from our mini stress out! Picking up a couple of bottles of wine, we got drunk watching our home movies and John Otway and passed out soon after.

In the morning we headed out, the three of us, across the lovely English countryside fields, red with poppies or blue with other flora, up to Salisbury to check on our wedding rings! I wanted a bit more done to mine but Broni was happy with hers – it being different to how we imagined, now a two piece affair – like an engagement ring that fits perfectly into the wedding band and when put together looks just like one ring.

We took Rob around the town which was very enjoyable in the hot noonday sun. I must tell you this boyish joke occurrence that happened to us totally by accident. We checked out Pizza Hut for some food and were being served by a pretty, friendly girl. I jokingly introduced her to Rob saying “By the way, this is Rob – listen to what he says ‘cos Rob is God”. ‘Rob is God’ was spray-painted by Steve on his amplifier and is a cool insert picture on the Thirst 7″ single). Rob, laterally (and literally) thinking, blurted out “It says so on my 7 inch!” We all burst out laughing and I apologetically tried to explain he’d got a record out! She was cool about it too.

Checked out the cathedral and sweet shop, getting some Jelly Bellies that came in such weird and wonderful colours and flavours such as buttered popcorn, cream soda, watermelon etc. Yum!

The thunder cracks against the night, the dark explodes with a yellow light – 4th July 1994

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

From bad to worse. Julie turned up Thursday night/Friday morning, broken fingers and avoiding explanations. Drunk again Friday night and claiming poverty re the phone bill. And the list goes on but enough.

On Friday I took my baby and John-boy and Sarah up to Southampton to see the mighty John Otway (one-hit-wonder and star). On the way we got caught in the most magnificent thunderstorm. I had to slow down to about 30 miles an hour on the motorway due to poor visibility, the dark skies lit by sudden surging flashes as bolts came down around us. Such a beautiful feeling of refreshment in the air as we passed through.

We met Mick and Lisa, with friend Michaela and lovely puppy dog Floyd. And then laughed our socks off for an hour as Otway and pal did a manic performance of huge proportions! We grinned so much our faces hurt.

After getting back home again we stayed up and watched some comedy on TV before going to bed but my rest, and subsequently Broni’s was disturbed by my fits of uncontrollable coughing which seems to be the last remnants of my cold.

Saturday was big meal day as my sweet and I went for breakfast in Boscombe and stuffed ourselves silly before paying for our flight to Australia (no turning back now) and the sun was out for us just to let us know what it was going to be like.

Later we went Indian and, stuffed again, went down to the river near Wimborne and played on the bridge over the murky water, the light of day now gone. Home again, bed again and another night I coughed us awake.

Despite all that we got up (dragged up in my case) in cheerful mood, Broni off for a swim while John and I crash banged our way to the beach on our bikes, racing through the woods and paths of Branksome Chine. It being so nice there we thought we’d come back later with Broni and Sarah. The sun was baking, high in the hazy sky. So, racing back up paths and woods I turned and twisted and fell on a tree stump and cut my knee open just like I used to daily when I was about 5 or 6, giving me plenty of practice at scab picking. I wonder how my knees may hold out in later life.

So, Sarah came over in her open-top jeep and we took balls, food and water down to the beach, me and John hanging on in the back as people looked on in wonder. And at the beach Broni took it easy, coming down with tonsillitis and tiredness (and did I mention the mouth ulcers, big as Moon craters). John and I ran into the water and played ball, I surprised myself by actually enjoying being in the water and was reluctant to leave later. Sarah waded in a bit but understandably wasn’t too keen on getting soaked all over (as we were). Me and John played for ages, throwing, heading, skimming, passing all manner of balls from then I felt like Superman, spurred on by John’s manic activity.

Back in the jeep and home, Broni fell asleep as I watched football (Sweden beat Saudi Arabia 3-1, a good game too). Then, after some munch, John and I went to play football tennis at his friend Lauren’s. Despite the cloudy mist, we sweated buckets in the evening’s still. Then back for more football (Romania brilliantly beating Argentina 3-2) as Broni fell back to sleep, then me following until some early hour, us both awake again with my worst fit of coughing so far.

Today Broni’s off work at my request (she was not well enough, despite her protests and I think she’s welcome of it too really) Well, during today I got a bit better as rain started to tipple down but now the sun’s back out and the oppressive atmosphere is claustrophobic on my chest. I’m looking forward to getting back down the beach again sometime despite it knackering me out today.

Due to circumstances, it looks like I’ll be doing some more driving at work which is cool with me – I gets chance to write this! Found out Kerry smashed her face surfing on the weekend, poor girl, losing part of her front tooth and tonight we go to celebrate the last day of her diet in which she lost three stone and looks much better (in herself) for it. Of course, I’ll be there coughing up my guts, Broni with sore throat and ulcers and Kerry, a-bruised – sounds like a good reason to party to me! This, after we watched Ireland play Holland to stay in the World Cup.

John Otway and Attila The Stockbroker – Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK – 12th April 1991

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

12th Apr 2023 – I have no memory of this at all. I saw John and Attila a couple of times in Bournemouth and Southampton around this time period which I do have vague memories of. I’m surprised about this one as Salisbury Arts Centre is a quite memorable space as it is inside a church, not great for sound but as you can see from the picture the stain-glassed windows make for a nice backdrop.
Perhaps the problem with my memory is that I also saw Cardiacs here and that memory is much clearer due to it being filmed and released as All That Glitters Is A Mare’s Nest which I watch quite often.