Another miracle has happened in the form of an album of BBC Sessions – Almost A Jubilee, 25 Years At The BBC (with gaps), which I think is a snazzy title. I wanted to subtitle it 24½ Years At The BBC (With Gaps) but they wouldn’t let me because it’s not commercial enough. Here's a picture of the product so that you can see what you’re buying:

The latest news on the book is that it's due out on August 21^st and we're having a launch followed by a celebratory concert or gig or whatever you call it in London at the 100 Club on Oxford Street. I'm planning to do Wreckless Eric Visually Enhanced for that one with Andre playing and Karen doing the visuals. In case anyone doesn't know yet, the book's called A Dysfunctional Success and it's an autobiography. If anyone else asks me if I employed a ghost writer I'll butter them all over the lawn and dance on their remains wearing hobnailed boots (which is a paraphrasing of a PG Wodehouse character called Spode).

We had a great time at the 12 Bar the other night. We actually played most of the Visually Enhanced set but without the visual enhancements because there's no room in there to project anything. I'm getting very attached to the 12 Bar. It's very shabby and it's almost impossible to park and the PA is little more than a hi fi system but it always works out. The soundman is really good and Mike Gething who promotes the gigs I do there works hard to get the place full. I almost feel like a traitor going to the 100 Club.

The car broke down on the way into London. I managed to get it all the way to Clissold Park in Stoke Newington so that I could sit in the sunshine while I waited for the AA to come. It meant that I missed Liz Kershaw's programme - actually I talked to her on the phone, sitting on a wall while the AA man pumped an airlock out of the diesel line (and failed to solve the problem). Liz sounded very nice - apparently we once met at Leeds Polytechnic back in the balmy old days of Stiff Records and punk and all that. Her brother Andy was there too - he must have been standing in front of her being handsome (Karen thinks he's gorgeous and so does her best friend Suzanne) but Liz assures me she's the better looking of the two. I'll find out tomorrow (Monday) because I'm going on her show to have another chat and play a couple of songs live.

 I should really include a couple of live shots from the 12 Bar here so that you can imagine you were actually there but I haven't got any. The car broke down again on the way home and a nice little AA man who I shall always remember and think of as Harvey, the Roadside Repairman, fixed it up for me in a lay-by on the A11 at seven o'clock in the morning. It was a bit of fuel line that someone had replaced with water pipe - the diesel had rotted it through.

The only other news I can think of is the film Heartlands is out. It's directed by Damien O'Donnel who directed East Is East. East Is East is a really good film so I've got great hopes for this one - Oh yes - the reason I mentioned it is that it's got Whole Wide World in it. Please go and see it and recommend it to all your friends so that it's a huge box office success and I then I won't have to die eating cardboard in the freezing cold at the age of seventy-seven. Thanks a lot.

 © Eric Goulden, May, 2003