The Songs Of Steve

Dear Steve…

Today you turned 30 and are no doubt recovering from last night’s shenanigans, like the rest of us. As you now know a bunch of us have chipped in to buy you a shiny new Powerbook to replace your ageing PC, but I also wanted to do something else for your birthday and have decided to make a ‘Songs of Steve’ mix CD full of songs that remind me of you, and some of the good times we’ve shared. I’ve not got as far as making the CD itself yet, but here are the stories behind the songs that remind me of you…

Pearl Jam – Alive

Pearl Jam are a band Steve and I have both loved for a long time. Big time. We discovered Grunge together in the early 90’s despite the fact that Steve was living in Amsterdam, Holland and I was in sleepy old Aldridge, England. Every few months the postman would deliver a jiffy bag stuffed full of cassette tapes, albums by the latest Grunge sensations, fresh from Amsterdam! Bands such as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice In Chains, Screaming Trees, Rage Against The Machine, Faith No More, Stone Temple Pilots, and so on arrived through my letterbox and I lapped them up.

Every summer Steve’s family came back to England for a few weeks and we’d spend hours listening to the cassettes and catching up on what each other were listening to, something we still do to this day. Pearl Jam are one of the few remaining bands of this era, so ‘Alive’ with it’s “I’m still Alive” lyric is pretty apt.

Bon Jovi – Keep The Faith

I have a very vivid memory of a story concerning Steve and Bon Jovi – and not the obvious one. It was an important moment in my life as a music lover. At the tender age of 11 years old I travelled to Amsterdam without my parents to visit Steve and his family. On one of our many trips into the city we ended up in a record shop, where I made an important decision. I had enough spending money left to either buy ‘Keep The Faith’ on cassette single, or lunch at McDonalds. I chose Bon Jovi, and have never looked back – music over food!

Faith No More – Caffeine

FNM are one of Steve’s favourite bands. I can remember him re-telling so many stories he’d heard about them, most of which were pretty outrageous, and therefore very appealing to teenage boys. There was also Steve’s own story of the first gig he ever went to – to see Faith No More at a football stadium in Rotterdam. Being a rather naive gig goer he made his way to the front of the crowd during the support act, somewhat surprised at how easy it was to get to the front. Before long FNM took to the stage and opened with ‘Caffeine’ – the next thing Steve knew he was picking himself up off the floor at the end of the song, covered in ice cream, at the opposite side of the stage from where he’d started.

Feeder – Tangerine

A couple of years after coming back to the UK from Amsterdam Steve was on the move again, this time to Nottingham with his band the Boot Brothers. Having already been to Amsterdam alone aged 11, geting the train to Nottingham at 14 was a piece of cake. I made several trips there during which Steve and I went to Nottingham’s Rock City to see bands such as Terrorvision, Ugly Kid Joe, and Feeder – who became a favourite of ours for the next few years.

We saw Feeder several of times, and on one occasion came up with the brilliant idea of sneaking tangerines into the gig so that when the band played their song of the same name, we could throw the tangerines on stage (Geniuses!). The only flaw in our plan, having smuggled the oranges into the venue in our boxer shorts was that whilst we were in the mosh pit trading blows with fellow concert goers, the tangerines in our pockets were getting pulverised.

Six songs into the set Feeder abandoned the gig as their singer had the flu and was losing his voice. In a move of desperation we scooped what was left of the tangerine pulp from our trousers and hurled the contents at the stage. The fifteen fans that had turned up at the gig were looked on amused, and the band who were leaving the stage at this point looked rather bemused and left the stage grinning. They hadn’t even got around to playing ‘Tangerine’! Steve and I left the venue grinning like loons, with wet stains down the front of our trousers, smelling of oranges.

Jellyfish – Joining A Fanclub

One of the many band’s Steve has been a part was ‘Cheapskate’. This band consisted of Steve, Mike and Jimmy Mac. I remember one memorable gig when whilst playing at a Church in Derby the only goth in the youth fellowship group stood up at the end of their performance and set about tearing strips off the congregation for not showing their appreciation for the band. ‘Joining A Fanclub’ was a Cheapskate regular and the first Jellyfish song I ever heard, thanks Steve.

Carrie – Molly

In 1998 Steve and the Dum Dums were on the verge of signing a record deal. Confidence was high. One cold winter night we were headed to The Varsity in Wolverhampton in Steve’s blue Metro to see Carrie play. En route we were pulled over by the police. At the time it seemed that wherever we went in the Metro we got pulled over. (Possibly something to do with that bloody blonde stripe in Steve’s hair?).

After the usual questions the Policewoman asked Steve what he did for a job – he explained that he was a musician, in a band etc. The Policewoman then asked “Are you any good?” and Steve being Steve replied “Yeah, we are!”, “Sing me something then…” she said, so Steve & Stu began singing their song ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Thoughts’ on the road side. Once they were done, the Policewoman offered to get them a gig at the local Police station – they politely declined and we continued our journey to see Carrie, who were great.

The Lemonheads – If I Could Talk I’d Tell You

Before Steve moved to London to pursue his Dum Dums career he very kindly helped me and my friend Gav out and played bass in our band ‘Carousel’. Steve took us under his wing and gave us the benefit of his musical experience, giving us songwriting and performance tips, almost like a ‘musical director’ – something I’ve since seen him do numerous times with other bands. Along with a handful of original songs ‘If I Could Talk I’d Tell You’ by The Lemonheads was one of the songs we played and we clocked up a fair few gigs The Vaults in Walsall, along with the odd gig at The Wharf. Every time I hear this song it reminds me of the three of us rehearsing and playing gigs together – good times!

Ben Folds Five – Steven’s Last Night In Town

The week before he moved to London, Steve, Mike, Dicko, and I were all at The Vaults in Walsall where we spent almost every Thursday and Sunday night. Mike ran a live music night where a lot of our friends hung out, this meant we were able to play whatever songs we liked on the PA in between bands. As a tribute to Steve and the fact that he was leaving Walsall for the bright lights of London town (possibly to never return!) I played ‘Steven’s Last Night In Town’ over the PA, cranking the volume up. Being a jazzy number it stood out like a sore thumb amongst the mix of Ad Heath-approved Chilli Peppers and Hendrix, but then Steve never was one for blending into the background.

Lit – My Own Worst Enemy

It was the summer of 1999, Steve and the Dum Dums had just signed their record deal and completed their first tour supporting Nik Kershaw. I was heading down to London to visit Steve when I got wind that Lit were playing at The Garage in Islington. We’d discovered Lit via the video for their song ‘My Own Worst Enemy’ on the The Box music channel and at that time they were the embodiment of the kind of music we were into – super-catchy pop melodies, loads of harmonies, and Elvis Costello-esque vocals, pounding bass and drums, and crunching guitar riffs – power pop at it’s finest!

We booked tickets and after meeting up with a couple of friends headed to Islington on the tube. It was a swelteringly hot summer’s night and The Garage was rammed. Lit took to the stage to heroes welcome, despite it being their first ever UK show, and they were great. The highlight of the set was of course their soon-to-be hit single ‘My Own Worst Enemy’ during which we moshed our socks off. We left the gig drenched in sweat, hoping that one day the Dum Dums might get a reaction like that. Within 6 months they’d sold the same venue out!

These are just a few of the songs that remind me of times I’ve spent with Steve, here’s to another 30 years of them!