Is it just me ? surely I can't be the only one who has accumulated and hoarded what can only be loosely described as rock 'memorabilia' ?? ... hallowed artefacts that can under no circumstances be thrown away or otherwise disposed of. If  you have something of similarly epic Indiana Jones proportions you would like to share with fellow rock cognoscenti please CONTACT MARK EDEN with a photo and the story behind your treasured acquisition.
 

WHAT'S THE STORY GUV ' ? ~ In 1978 I travelled to America with John Butcher (Singer in my band Bordello) to tout tapes of the band around the L.A. record company offices. Unbelievably in those days you could literally walk in off the street unannounced and an A&R guy  would actually sit down and take a listen. A drummer called Mike Owen who  was lodging with me at home had a brother called Barry and he was drum roadie for the Average White Band based in L.A. at the height of their 'Pick Up The Pieces' fame. Barry's wife worked in the box office of the  'Roxy' theatre on Sunset Strip and she kindly gave us free passes to the club for the duration of our stay. She ALSO kindly gave me the above picture disc which had been the 'invitation' to watch the L.A. debut of an unknown band called Toto a few months earlier to mark the  launch of their first hit 'Hold the Line'. Little did I know that 7 years later I'd spend 6 weeks on the road with my all time favourite band as they promoted their 5th studio album 'Isolation' across the Southern states of America. Even stranger is that in 1985 I returned to the Roxy to help out at a video shoot that John Parr shote there for one of his album tracks called 'Love Grammar'  at .. Yup, you guessed it the Roxy . Funny old world innit ?


WATCH the 'Love Grammar' video on YOU TUBE  (the Roxy sequence is at 0' 53" and the video has an extended cameo by Parr's manager (and latterly co-manager of SEVEN) the legendary John Wolff
 

 

 ... and what self respecting music memorabilia collection is complete without something Fab Four related ?

WHAT'S THE STORY GUV' ?  When I was 11 or 12 years old I played with a neighbour John Beeston. His mum Margaret was a waitress at the Palace Court Hotel next door (adjacent to the Gaumont) . Cinema)   Margaret happened to serve the fabs breakfast one morning and plucked up courage to ask for their autographs for John's sister Jane. Fortuitously Jane was a  Rolling Stones fan and was persuaded to sell me the artefact for 12s 6d (my entire pocket money for that week). (ABOVE) Here they are displayed with pride alongside my complete collection of pictures that were given away free with Findus Fish Fingers ! ...Tell that to the kids today .....

INTERESTING FACTOID ~ The Beatles became frequent visitors to Bournemouth and over a fourteen-month period played more concerts in the town than any other town or city in the world apart from London, Liverpool and Hamburg. A six-day residency at the Gaumont in August 1963, a one-night stand three months later at the Winter Gardens plus a further two nights at The Gaumont in August and October 1964, at two performances a night that made eighteen shows in total. READ MORE

 CONTACT MARK EDEN