A NEW PAGE OF THE SYCOPHANTIC, THE PSYCHOTIC, AND THE UNCOVERING OF GUILTY SECRETS....
Dear Mr. Clayson, I would like to thank you for being with the Brian Jones Fanclub in Cheltenham last week-end. I really appreciate the trouble you and Mr. Dick Taylor took to entertain us the way you did. Please do tell him when you seen him. I will certainly never forget your astonishing rendition of Paint It Black ! ( I sure hope you've got your voice back ) Kind regards.
	Hi Alan, Just felt like saying "hello" to you. I went to school with you - Farnborough Grammar - left in 1969 to pursue a mega boring career of academia and business, which I hate. Do you remember having your sideburn (only one) cut off? Your life looks like it's been fun and probably still is. I'm really envious of all the biographies you've written and researched - no doubt you'd say I could have done it myself. But I didn't and you did. I think I was in the year ahead of you at school, which only means one thing - I'm a year older! Anyway, I will continue to read more of your writings and remain envious. Best of luck to you. G.M. Dear G. You're mixing me up with someone called Steve Allen, who was in the year below us. He was also the drummer in some local group whose name escapes me. He was dark; I was blond. Moreover, while you were among the elite "X" stream, I was in the thickest class - and worse - from start to ignominious finish at FGS. For reasons that you, perhaps, were unable to appreciate, I was quite sensitive about my lowly academic status, and an associated comment about it by you led to us turning the air blue during a spat that almost came to fisticuffs at a party hosted by Spot Hopkins while his parents were away. Nevertheless, I recognised a certain intangible affinity between us, and it says much for you that I did not erase your message immediately - as I have when contacted by others from a past that seems like a previous existence nowadays. I notice from your e-mail address that you still live within these islands. If you pinpoint the region, I will send details of any Clayson performances in the vicinity. Maybe we could meet up and exchange persecution complexes. Best wishes - yes, really! Alan. Bloody hell, Alan, you've got an amazing memory! As you're the first Old Fernebergian I've been in touch with since 1969, it shows you how important those days were to me too - a different life, another world. Anyway, sorry mate, if I ever ruffled your feathers. It was probably the outburst of a big-headed, adolescent git with chips on his shoulder. Hopefully, I've grown up a bit now - but not too much! You're the one with the impressive career, notwithstanding being in the "thickest" class. Despite my "X-stream" status, I've achieved bugger all compared to you. It was only yesterday I was browsing the Tesco book internet site for Christmas presents (still a lazy git too!) when up pops Alan Clayson - wow! And writing about my cult heroes. So on I went to the Alan Clayson website, which is why I had to say hello. Godfrey Mather didn't appear on Tesco! Alan, I obviously owe you a beer or three. I live in Essex (Leigh-on-Sea) and have offices in Hertfordshire (St Albans) and London (Fleet Street). Let me know when Clayson's performing in the South East and I'll be there. Best wishes, sincerely meant, G.
Hi Alan, A while ago I helped a mate of mine who was writing a book about the Granary Club in Bristol. There were lots of details to check, and one of them was about a gig by Clayson & The Argonauts (1 October 1977, fee £100!). The story we heard was that there was a lot of trouble from a big gang of punks that turned up after a punk show somewhere else was cancelled. Some people reckoned it could have been the Pistols, but the date makes that unlikely. The book is now published, but there is a web site for additions and corrections, so if you can remember the story and who the band that cancelled were, we'd still like to know! Cheers, S. B. Dear S, That was when £100 was worth something. It was Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers - who we met in an M4 service station later that night. As well as an influx of punks - because of the sudden cancellation of the late Johnny's group at the university - the Granary show was remarkable for some bloke clambering onto the stage and stripping naked during our arrangement of "Arnold Layne". Best wishes. Alan.
	Dear Kevin, Here is an excerpt from an Amazon review by someone called Christopher "Weirdears" Forbes of Edgard Varese:- "The single worst book I have ever read...mind-numbingly braindead...don't waste your money on this drivel". We ought to insert this in the review section. Alan
Dear Kevin, I was sent the review below by some bloke (who also writes "Your web-site is fascinating") Alan Clayson is weird with a capital W. If Des O' Connor was an acid casualty, Clayson would be frightening his audience. He's got the scariest eyes I've ever seen. Indeed, he's a veritable horror figure. His very presence sends a shiver up your spine. He sings like a pantomime dame with a backing pianist on grand piano. He also waves his arms a lot. My companion for the evening, Steve, feels duty bound to mutter, "It,s like Catweazle on acid," and is told to "Shoosh" in no uncertain terms by half the audience".
	I get to the Bread and Roses late, I think, but find Robb Johnson sitting at the bottom of the stairs looking unconcerned, so it's alright. I go up and find the room full of people. It's a nice room, and even nicer when there are people in it. I should talk to the management and see if I can get them installed permanently. It appears that I'm on in the second half. Des de Moor is in charge for the evening, and does a couple of songs to begin with and then introduces the Official Support for the evening (I am Official Floorspot) - Alan Clayson. I describe him as "John Otway's Grandad", not that he is. There is a level of chaos to the performance that could be either calculated or not. It really is difficult to tell. His lead guitarist (who turns out to be Dick Taylor of the Pretty Things) is playing through a Marshall stack whilst everything is virtually acoustic, so there was a definite imbalance there. A bit of an outsider artist himself, Mr Clayson is an afficionado as well - it appears that he has written a book about death stars and did an affecting song dedicated to David "Lord" Sutch, of whom he was also a friend, so there. John Peacock.
hi alan! i am the bass player of glassglue, a band you played with at the 12 bar club last saturday 5 november. i was really impressed by your performance. i really thought it was a well balanced and funny blend of music and comedy. i will definitely try and come to see you on 3 december! you have a new fan! :) i don't know whether you heard our performance and liked it or not. but i'm gonna ask you anyway... i'd like to include you mail address to our mailing list. so that you'll be always updated for the forthcoming gigs of glassglue. looking farward to seeing you on stage again, gianluca. Dear Gianluca, Thank you for your most flattering message. Because I was being sidetracked by various people and situations demanding attention, I am unable to offer constructive criticism of Glassglue - except to say that I found you intriguing enough to want to experience under less distrating circumstances. Therefore, please keep me informed of your activities. Also, if you have anything released, I can try to get it reviewed in Record Collector and other publications for which I write. See you ar the Metro. Best wishes Alan.
	hi alan, just to say that you've always been an inspiration for me, as i play my onemanplus keyboard solo gigs around the north west. my song COME BACK MADELINE SMITH (remember her?) is now an established manchester anthem. Thanks for showing what can be done!!! john
Hiya Alan, We spoke after your cellars gig last week if you recall and, after I mentioned the fact I'd emailed you afore the Argonauts first descended on Portsmouth in the Summer, you urged me to write again. So here I am! As I said to you then, I saw you in London town - think it was the 100 Club when you did a peculiarly manic version of, not only "Arnold Layne", but "Sweeney Todd The Barber". I refused to wash the blood off me coat for weeks afterwards -- until a wayward dog decided to lick same. However, the Argonauts roundel stayed on the jacket for many years until sun and rain ended its life. Great to finally get a copy of your Roundhouse set - shame that there were just not more to see you down here (As a bit of an amateur statistician, I've calculated that, in all probability, of the 997 people who attended that show, 698 have got married/co-habit and 'don't do that sort of thing anymore', 77 refuse to admit they were there in the first place, 67 have died, 46 have been sectioned, 35 are in prison [2 for stealing women's underwear from washing lines], 22 have emigrated, 15 are in bands [5 of whom were inspired by after seeing yourselves to do same], 13 were persuaded to become barbers (11 of whom ended up in prison for re-enacting your Sweeney Todd tricks], 17 are policemen/women, 2 are strippergrams in a North-east town, 1 is a dog walker in Islington - and 4 are still trying to find their way out of the Roundhouse toilets. Such are stats hey?? OK, see you when you return!!! Andy Dear Andy, Thank you for your most entertaining message - which got through this time. As I mentioned during our conversation, I suspect that it probably did previously, but got wiped in error during a particularly virulent week of spam. Best wishes. Alan.


	Copyright Alan Clayson