I have to admit to a regret at not meeting Steven Wells. As I said in a comment on the Philly Weekly site
Funny that Steven and I never met in person given we are both Brits who have made Philadelphia our homes for the past 10 plus years. Probably because I have been working in the legal field and Steven in journalism. I did write him to say I agreed with his opinion on Christ and Christmas, after all we did come from a country which banned Christmas for being too pagan.
I googled Steven to find this page and saw he was also a writer for the Guardian and FourFourTwo as well as the Philly Weekly and NME.
Come on folks, give this bloke credit! the Guardian also ran a super obit on Steven
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/jun/29/obituary-steven-wells
That's worth noting as well.
I am not sure whether we would have loved each other or wanted to kill each other if we had ever actually met. We were both early punks, but I have moved away from that to World Music, although you could say I have always been into world music.
I can imagine him telling me that the Bollywood stuff I am listening to as I write this is shite. So, I just switched to L'Arpeggiata's Monteverdi. Anyway, we shared a love of music and I am sure we wouldn't have lacked for conversation. Probably the difference in opinion would have been one of our links if we were friends.
We had the Great Western Railway as another link, Swindon being one of the more boring places in Britain (although it did give us XTC). I was from further West: Warwickshire and went to University in Exeter, but Paddington was my link to home in the counties or in London. Swindon was the home to the GWR.
I have heard two sides of the Eton Story, one that said they thought he was an Etonian (scroll down) and another that said he hated them. Whatever. I know loads of old Public School boys in shit jobs. And as my Grandfather pointed out, the lowest are just as important as the folks on the top. So, I would hope we would be a class free zone, despite my putting my title in my comment on Philly Weekly.
Hey, we could have both sold out if we had wanted. So, I guess I should be glad to be in my position. I bet Steven is agreeing with W. C. Fields right now: "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
Well, it beats the alternative!
I mean what is someone who wrote for the Guardian and another who was a barrister in training who was told it was a shame I had to leave Britain to find work by Paddy Ashdown when I graduated from University given my credentials.
Not that Philly is a total wasteland.
Part of me says we would have gotten on like a house on fire, which gives me comfort in not having had met him. I would be another of the people who miss you and see the world as an emptier place on your passing. Maybe Philly is a wasteland now that you aren't here.
So, I'll raise a pint in your honour, mate, and miss you. I will add to those grieving your loss and write my ha'penny's worth to the cyber mourner's book.
