Sunday, June 09, 2013


I’m truly sick of getting news of people passing away. Their proximity to my age is a factor. Sure. Artie was 8 years older than me. When I was living it up in Spain, I got the news that Prof my old mucker from Tyneside had left the theatre.  No doubt, something else will happen and someone else will be taken in if not exactly their prime, way too fucking early.
So this coming Thursday night, in a certain bar on Tres Cruces in Mad-town. Mahou’s will be lifted in honour of our fallen comrade Arturo Vega who not only designed the greatest, most enduring logo but he made The Ramones possible. He and Monte facilitated their place in the firmament. God knows where those guys would have wound up if it wasn’t for their role.
I can’t claim to have known Arturo well but we met on many occasions where he took care of business as only he could. It’s a sad day for rock’n’roll because there’s one less guy around that made a difference. His spirit will endure though. Through everybody he met. Strangely, my last encounter with him involved my trying to get a print of a shot he took of Joey wearing his NBT shirt, the one in the anthology book. Then just last week when another shot appeared on facebook, I was eager to prove it wasn’t one of Artie’s. He came up in the “conversation” then bam – I get a message from Kevin with the news.
Memo to the Reaper... enough with the collection of good souls lately. Give it a rest for a while or maybe concentrate on the bastards that deserve to be scooped up.
Come see The A-Bones on Thursday and hoist a glass.