Waltzing in Salzburg to being holed up in Hullbridge.
February 2012

Hello dear friends,

I must firstly welcome in the new year to you all and also want you to make our new bass guitarist Mr Brian Bethell very welcome into the family. Its been a tough call for Brian to have to learn so much so soon, but he is now truly starting to ripen and come into his best form. Brian actually joined NBZ in 1982 to do the Third Degree record, and I can clearly recall him coming to our auditions and ferociously laying down some wicked bass lines that became his trade-mark sound on Third Degree.

With Brian now established we went into rehearsals in early January to head out to Europe with the addition of Jake Greaves (Den's Son, and a lovely young man too) playing a little percussion here and there, in fact, he's so handsome that I didn't even want to get on stage with his film star looks on show.

We were also joined by our number one German fan, Mr Manfred Maus, who knows more about me than I do. He did all of our Merchandise and kind of baby-sited us around Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The tour went surprisingly well considering it was so bitterly cold out there. The venues ranged from a small intimate Jazz type club to a proper rock/blues venue as was the case in Bonn.

We finished in Salzburg, Austria and drove all the way home to central London next morning, leaving at 7.30am and arriving home around 10.30 pm. Home was truly sweet home when I turned the key to my flat.

Last week we did a three quick-fire shows in Chislehurst, Putney and Hullbridge (more later). The Half Moon Putney show was almost missed as a water main had burst in Wandsworth and Dennis was directed over the bridge by the police to the North side of the Thames and the Kings Road Chelsea... Would you believe me when I tell you that Dennis' journey took almost 3.5 hours to do just 13 miles. The two shows sold out and the crowds were very welcoming, thank you.

The guys will tell you that I am no Lewis Hamilton when it comes to driving fast. In fact I drive a big V8 four litre car that rarely moves faster than 50 mph, even on motorways, the reason I mention this is that nothing could have been scripted that was more downright terrifying than the moment we walked out to the cars to pack away our musical equipment after the Hullbridge show.

While we were onstage a snow Blizzard had engulfed Essex very badly and when I went outside to the band cars I couldn't recognise any of them as they were all under 4 inches of snow. Luckily Den's car and mine had Sat-nav, but what use was it when I couldn't even make out the edge of the pavement to the road in a head on wind swept snow blizzard in a remote dark corner of Essex.

We slowly left in Convoy, Dennis at the front with his son Sonny in his car. I swear not, I didn't see another car on that first hour of the journey home. Dennis suddenly vanished from my distant view, as did Brendan and Brian. Thoughts of… "I'm going to be found two days later, stiff as a board with my hands frozen to the steering wheel flashed across my mind."

How I got down to the A127 Southend-Dartford road I will never know as the car was sliding around in the darkness of remote and eerily silent Essex... It was the type of road where you would read of Gangland mobsters being found in a sack.

Once down to the main A127 I realised that nothing was on the road at all, no life, to trucks to find me if I crash, nothing, in fact the main artery into London hadn't even been gritted. All was silent. Still. I kissed the steering wheel and headed off west into the dark. I remembered that Essex is very flat and surely that would work in my favour as I could just lightly feather the throttle and limp home at 10 mph? It was just then when a distant car ahead of me seemed to be in front of me with lights flashing but diagonally across the carriageway. The car had obviously not made the slight incline and was trying its hardest to get moving but to no avail with constant wheel-spin. To my horror as I approached in second gear at 10 mph it was Dennis... I just had to keep my momentum going as I would have also became stuck in the worsening blizzard... Its the one time in 33 years that I have passed him in a car driven by me.

I pushed on at an electrifying 10 mph, when I happened to glimpse the orange fuel warning light flashing. "Flipping Hell" I said, "Damn and Blast!" I said. There must be a service station close by? God smiled down on me and the welcoming sign of BP loomed up out of the limited vision windscreen.

My mobile rang. It was Dennis, just as a police team were helping him get out of his suspended animation. "Why the F**k haven't these roads been gritted?" I'm just glad I wasn't there as he can be a loose cannon when agitated. He managed to get some traction apparently and was now some miles behind me but moving.
By this time the conditions were completely disintegrating and I managed to position my cars wheel tracks in the tracks of a truck that had maybe been ahead of me some 30 minutes earlier in the gloom.

I concentrated on the two wheel tracks and just stuck there, sometimes losing the back end of the car, sometimes wheel-spinning. I thank god that I managed to reach the foot of the Dartford Bridge. (59 million people live in the UK and in the previous hour i hadn't seen a soul on the road or off it). Dartford Bridge loomed as if to say "you thought you were going to get home did you?" I hate the bloody bridge anyway as I cant look left or right when crossing it as vertigo freezes me. The god given truck tracks in the virgin snow were still leading me home and I dared not get out of second gear. I finally reached the pay barrier at Dartford Bridge toll and there was me grappling around for £1.50 to give the attendant... What attendant, they had all left hours ago and shut shop... "no mug is going to drive in this!"

I finally arrived home nearly four hours after I left Hullbridge, 30 miles. I kissed the car when I got out, so thankful was I that she got me home. I shall be writing to the people at Reliant Robin for their marvellous motor car... I jest of course. That night will live with me forever. My mouth was so dry when I got in through fear that I downed a pint of water and fell asleep.

My dear fellow co-workers all got home and each one of us has a similar story to tell of that ghastly ghostly night in Essex.

I'm going now as I have a head ache and I have a typing finger/neck nerve spasm caused by the momentous tapping of one finger on this keyboard.

Thank you for listening, God bless, Feltham.

Rapperswil Weekend
by John Tissington
June 2011

Mark said he was feeling very tired after a lot of sucking and blowing and asked if I would write a guest blog.
I feel very honoured. Mark writes so well. My only recent success was a eulogy I wrote for a member of our Golf Club read at his funeral, another member said how good it was and could I do the same for him. I told him I wrote it a couple of months ago when I didn't think he looked very well!

We were in Switzerland at the Rapperswil Blues Festival. They grow a lot of roses there and it has the longest wooden bridge in Europe.

Zurich stands at the head of a long Lake. Rapperswil is about 3/4 of the way along the Lake and is on the only causeway across it. Away from this is the Medieval part of the town which is cordoned off every year for two nights of Blues and Jazz with a free day to follow.

We started going in 2003 which by coincidence was NBZ's first year. There were Bands from the US,UK, Italy and memorably the Smitty Dee Marching Band who all looked like they played in the Count Basie Band, but sadly never sounded as though they did, and all seemed to want to keep playing something different but all at the same time. We have been going ever since. It's a very special event and very Swiss! All the Acts start bang on time; finish on schedule; litter bins are constantly cleared: the festival pass includes local travel costs: and there is rarely a hint of any trouble. This is a town where you can get frowned at for crossing a road on a red light even with no traffic in sight. It's not for everybody.

There are 2 large stages set up in 2 squares; one much more open than the other.

There are 2 more stages, much smaller, one on the landing where the Lake Boats come in where they play traditional jazz and the other, a very small stage made to look like a cafe front, which sits on a promontory down by the water's edge where they play a lot of acoustic blues.There are dozens of food stalls. One doing Raclette (a Swiss cheese) is great for clearing the sinuses; what it does to your stomach is anyone's guess. A Casino, of course. Obviously, free ear plugs.

In 2005 when NBZ played there again Jenny asked Dennis to do L and N for me; she remembers she didn't want to ask Mark as with his shades and hat she always thought he looked "too cool''.

A new development for 2011 was the early announcement of the headline act Roger Hodgson, the ex lead singer of Supertramp. I remind you this is a Blues and Jazz Festival and which ever way you cut the music, his isn't either. I emailed the President of the Organising Committee. Where were Dr Feelgood; NBZ; the Gnola band (a great Italian Band)? How weird then, that when the rest of the Bands were announced all three were there.

The Feelgoods were on our flight and we came in through the Airport with them. We wanted to know why they never do 20 Yards Behind - did Wilko somehow still own it? One thing that came through talking to them briefly was the deep and sincere respect and affection each band has for the other. It would be easy be otherwise.

The Feelgoods were on at 7.00 and they went really well. Where we were standing we couldn't hear Steve Walwyn's guitar for the first 20 minutes until someone turned it up. We wondered how Mark would have reacted. On the other main stage Ana Popvic was warming up the patrons - it looked pretty crowded down at the front.

To our surprise the Feelgoods dedicated Route 66 to us leaving the audience to wonder "Who iz diz Jon and Jenny" and rounded it off with Boney Maroney before we scuttled off for the NBZ gig in the other Square, where Ana had finished warming up the locals.

As the band came on stage the MC launched into one of the longest introductions in living memory. All in Swiss-German of course. Dennis looked slightly bemused. Anyway, once he gave way we had some stuff from It's Never too Late and we were off and running. The Square filled up rapidly; lots of hand clapping; some really poor singing from the crowd; a woman in red down the front who bounced up and down a lot.
A bit of confusion in Out go the Lights when all the lights on the audience suddenly came on. A truly memorable Move It - very long; Gerry with a bass I hadn't seen before, slightly art deco looking, but with a really great sound. Any congestion remaining in the sinuses after the walk passed the Raclette stall instantly dealt with as the vibration rocked the rib cage. Don't Point Your Finger was dedicated to Big Willy - according to Denis he was the caterer and he thought he would be hungry later. Denis re-tuning his guitar a lot - he didn't like the amp - it sounded great to us.Hey Joe got rapturous applause even with the new lyrics Dennis had given it!

It made you feel very patriotic with the Feelgoods and NBZ going down so well and Roger, to follow. So we are still good at some stuff.

The hour and a half passed all too quickly and off they went.

We went down to watch a Japanese trad jazz band and listened to a few notes of the Supertramp guy. I suppose you either love that music or loathe it. Our hotel was about a mile and a half away onto the lake so we could hear him over the water.

He headlined the following night as well although the star for us was Lisa Haley and the Zydecats, all the way from Louisianna.

The Band accepted our invitation to lunch by the lake the following day ignoring our suggestion that they should walk the wooden bridge. Dennis was saying that the new cd with Glenn Tilbrook is in the artwork stage. The two week French tour with Eddie and the Hot Rods and the Feelgoods is definitely on. There could be more than just Teenage Depression at the end of that. I am off to find a film company to do a fly on the wall documentary.

One coincidence, as the Band were leaving the restaurant Dennis decided to demonstrate his favourite Pilates exercise to the amusement of fellow diners. The manager asked who our guests were; she knew NBZ's music; it turned out she used to run a Blues Club in Germany and had once booked Pete Gage who had replaced Lee Brilleaux. It is indeed a small world.

So all over for another year.

We left Rapperswil on the 100 year old lake paddle steamer to the strains of Watermelon Slim coming across the water - and how cool is that?