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Author's Update
It's coming down on Monday... It's coming down on Monday...
Twenty years ago tonight the Style Council closed the Apollo with that shitty joke. Well, of course, the world's changed: we've all got more rings round our middles, but we still don't have a new Apollo.
I'm up north raking through the wonderful stuff you guys gave contributed, and bouncing email between a wide range of the people who played the Purple Palace. There's some truly passionate and energetic input from a wide WIDE range of people who care about their Apollo memories, and I won't let you down - you'll be wrapped around the tree on Christmas morning with a rollercoaster read from your loved ones. I'm aiming to give you an Apollo gig on paper, and I think I'm going to achieve that!
Even though the deadline's tight, I'm still watching the forum pages and keeping an eye on my inbox. I can't guarantee inclusion any more, of course, but I'd still love to see more pictures and read more stories.
One of the big problems is trying to resolve 20 and 30 year old memories. Some peope are convinced they were at gigs we can't prove took place, or remember a band playing after they split up. Some people think Paul Weller sang "it's coming down on Tuesday", for example, while others swear blind it was "Monday"... My feeling is Monday has a more musical feel than Tuesday, and I've got to go with one of them, so that's my choice.
There's one bloke who's convinced he saw a farewell gig at the venue in 1998 - NINETY eight - and another who will not be told she didn't see T Rex on stage two years after Marc died... They're the easy ones to sort out, but some of them will be less easy. Still, never let the facts get in the way of a good story! To an extent it doesn't matter very much anyway. It's more important to instil an Apollo feel to the book. And that's what will come first.
It's hectic 18-hour-a-day work but I'm falling deeper and deeper in love with the memory of the Apollo as I go. So if you have any last-minute contributions I'll promise to take a look - particularly photos - even if much of it is for my own satisfaction rather than for a nearly-finished book.
Incidentally, we're aware there'll be a huge overflow from the tome and we're looking at ways of bringing the new material to you as well. More news later!
But my biggest disappointment is another sign of how times have changed, and as SAHB manager I'm only too aware of it: some of the people you'd have naturally expected to appear in the book haven't joined in. There's no point naming names and it's my ardent hope you won't miss them too much because of the stuff we DO give you on publication; but I'm sorry to say the music industry has moved way past the Apollo era, and while I'm sure a lot of artists would like to talk about their memories, some management outfits have seen to it they won't even be asked. Still, let's not be bitter - it's their loss, and I predict once the book's out they'll come asking to be included in the next one.
And I love that idea, because it means that 20 years after it last spoke, the Glasgow Choir will shout for what it wants - and get it.
As far as I can work out the last member of the audience left the Apollo auditorium at 23.07 - I hope as many of you as possible will have a drink in the air at that moment tonight. Here's to us - wha's like us?
It's coming out in September... It's coming out in September...
Apollo Memories will be published in paperback by NWP around the 11th of November at £15
ISBN 1-903 238-70-6 | | |
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