It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Indeed I am very sorry that it has been so long since I’ve posted on this blog, and I do wish that I had been able to post something sooner.
I’ll try and keep my explanation as concise as I can: as many of you may know, I’ve only just submitted my dissertation, declaring me ‘free’ from university after three years (although it wasn’t as much of a prison as so many people see it, I’ve loved most minutes of it). It is something I am extremely proud of, and I was able to do some incredible things during its conception, namely interviewing Columbia Records’ co-president Mark Terry, Hassle Records founder (and world’s coolest boss) Wez and Rick McMurray, drummer of Ash (my all-time favourite band, in case you miraculously didn’t know).
Completing my dissertation wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, but without listing off my entire list of acknowledgements, I’d like to thank everybody who helped me pull through. So yeah, cheers for that.
I can’t wait to get back into writing on my own terms after handing in my final ever piece of university work, but there is another reason why I haven’t updated Randon’s Reviews in a long time: if you are connected to me on any form of social media, you may be aware of the passing of Nick ‘Ringo’ Southall on 6th May. I’d struggled recently with figuring out who my ‘best friend’ was, but through being my Dad’s best friend for 24 years, I would feel comfortable in saying that Ringo was my best friend as well. Not only a best friend, but from the day he gave me my first drum kit when I was seven years old, Ringo was a mentor, a role model, and a source of invaluable wisdom and insight. Even in his final days, he was a true rock star.
Today (22nd May) is the final date of said rock star’s ‘Farewell Tour’, where he is being laid to rest in his hometown in the Midlands. I unfortunately couldn’t be there for the burial, but over the last few days, I’ve been thinking back to my last encounter with Ringo. I visited him in hospital five days before his passing, and I remember telling him that I was on the fence about going to Hassle Records’ 10th birthday party, due to the dissertation being still very much ‘in progress’. In true Ringo fashion, he gave me a bollocking for being so tentative, and told me that I should take every opportunity that comes my way, especially one where I would be able to hang out with the likes of Frank Iero and Daniel P Carter.
As sieve-like as my memory is, that is one piece of advice that I will never forget. Maybe I did re-launch Randon’s Reviews at an inconvenient time, with my final year at uni being more consuming than I could ever have foreseen, but I took it on last summer because I was finally getting some recognition within the industry and I wanted something to show for it, and as long as it serves as a platform for me to speak my mind about the things I love (and the things I hate), I will not give up on this blog.
Even as I type this, my mind is abuzz with ideas for new content – I don’t know when those ideas will formulate, but I do know this: the future is full of opportunities, and this is quite possibly the opportunity to light the touch-paper. It would be disrespectful of me, not to mention extremely stupid, to turn it down.
This one’s for you, Ringo. It’s time to (as he would say) ‘man the fuck up’ and get back in the game.
In memory of Nick ‘Ringo’ Southall (16th March 1971 - 6th May 2015) - Miss you loads buddy x
