nicknames

For reasons best left unexplained Bruce and I were known as Balloon-face and Square-head last month. Now these are not exactly the most flattering of nicknames but they capture the moment brilliantly. Panic and Greta (Pete and Steve) complete the latest in-band offerings. You do not choose your nickname, you have it thrust upon you and you hope the best one sticks. The original line-up used to conjure up quite wild versions, some fairly obvious some not. On one tour we thought it would be hilarious to be known by our middle names hence, Brian was Frank, Steve was Norman, Mick was Tom, Mick Angus (our TM who was always party to these pranks) was Jim and I was Dave. Not quite as off the wall as Android (Steve’s creation for me), Oracle (Louis Austens name for me, our recording engineer) or Clutch (coined by Mick Angus after a night of clubbing in Berlin when I managed to move from place to place still clutching a glass) - these were my highlights. The oddest nickname, but thinking back quite appropriate, was given to me by Herman’s Hermits long before Sweet. In 1966 The Silverstones won Opportunity Knocks and therefore ended up appearing at Granada TV Studios, Manchester, on a show with the Hermits. Both bands played live and were set up opposite each other. After a short while I noticed that they were pointing and laughing, one of them said “How long has Alfred (me!) been in your band?” We scratched our heads and then were told “Alfred E Neuman” the face of MAD magazine. Well if you had seen me in those days as a fresh faced 16/17 year old you would have completely understood their logic. The late Derek ‘Lek’ Leckenby (Hermits Guitarist) became our Record Producer and it was during those sessions that I first met Mickie Most, John Paul Jones, Brian Auger and Clem Cattini but that’s another story.

Stew: Andy - could it be this photo??

This entry was posted on 29/10/2008 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Sweet Bits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print