Blueboy, a band whose records I always tried to find and never could...

I have this depressing idea that now they may reappear somehow, under such sad circumstances.

The lead singer was, at least according to an interview in the biography section here, not gay...though I do find the obituary notices a bit vague in this regard (does one normally say partner for a straight person? I rarely see that...and one usually at least gets some hint of gender involved...as problematic as that binary model may be...)

Text of notice follows...

Dear Friends,

It is with immense sadness that I have to inform you that my dearest friend Keith Girdler died on May 15th 2007. Keith passed away peacefully after a recent deterioration in his condition - he was diagnosed with cancer in July 2004.

Keith was a truly special person and I know that many people will hold very fond memories of their time spent in his company. Keith is survived by his partner, his siblings and their families. We are all devastated at the tragic loss of Keith and we will miss him enormously.

Keith was known to many as the singer in Blueboy - a brilliant band who are still seen as influential many years since they last released a record. He was a gifted songwriter and he had a beautiful voice.

I considered Keith to be not only my best friend but an amazingly talented person. It was a huge privilege to know him.

Despite continuing to release records with his other groups Arabesque, Beaumont, Lovejoy and The Snowdrops, Keith's focus shifted away from music in recent years.

He enjoyed a successful career, first by training as a qualified social worker and then developing a skilled role as Volunteer Services Manager for Age Concern Eastbourne. He was passionate about his work and the need to stand up for some of the most vulnerable elderly people in our society. Keith was extremely brave and he continued in his work for as long as possible during his illness. I know that Keith was very highly regarded by his colleagues and the people for whom he provided care and support in his work. He was a selfless and gentle person who genuinely affected everyone he knew with his warmth, kindness, humility and humour.Keith wanted to be remembered, to use his own words, with 'happiness and smiles' - which for those of us fortunate enough to have known him, will come all too easily despite our grief.

Words cannot really come close to describing the feelings we have about Keith. However, I know that many people will want to express their sorrow at this news and their sympathy to his family and friends.

If you would like to send a message of condolence, or share your memories of Keith, please send an email to snowboundipc@yahoo.co.uk.

Messages and tributes to Keith will be published online in the near future, when a suitable web location has been established.

Richard Preece May 22 2007



RIP, Mr. Girdler (now I'll have to listen to that single I have with a Snowdrops song on it, another of his bands...)

Spring Cleaning

It's surprising what I had tucked away in various cupboards.


such as...


(1) A large number of queer 'zines I should probably think of donating to the Lesbian and Gay Archives


(2) FINALLY re-locating my master CD of my recordings


and, sadly,


(3) lots of old postcards from a certain someone back when he remembered to send valentines and say he loved me. :(

Today's Random Woof

In addition to being a political activist and evidently an even more committed atheist (something to the effect that humanity would not be free 'til the last brick of the last church fell on the head of the last priest), Emile Zola (1840-1902) was quite the looker (by my standards, anyway). Furthermore, in light of the upcoming movie Ratatouille, set in Paris, it is only appropriate that I have discovered he wrote a book called Le Ventre Du Paris (The Stomach of Paris) in 1873.

The Number One Band In Heaven (as it were)

1. Guitar - Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Cordell Jackson

2. Bass - Kristen Pfaff

3. Drums - Big Mama Thornton

4. Piano - Lucia Pamela

5. Tambourine - John Bonham (I mean, boys should only sing or perhaps do a little dancing in a rock band - but I guess a tambourine is okay...but he'd have to wear bicycle shorts and have no shirt in order to please the crowd, because men really have no place in the world of music other than as ornamentation (yes, this is sarcasm to make a point))

A few of my favourite songs about death, inspired by it being a bright sunny warm day

1. When People Are Dead by the Go-Betweens

2. People Who Died by Jim Carroll

3. Dead by the Pixies

4. Outta Here by Phranc

5. Asleep by the Smiths

6. Terry by Twinkle

7. Country Death Song by Violent Femmes

8. Did She Jump or Was She Pushed? by Richard and Linda Thompson

9. Comrade in Arms by Sandie Shaw

10. You're Gonna Kill That Girl by the Ramones (I'm sorry, but it just is)

And so the kitschiness continues...

Yes, I finally succumbed to kitsch and purchased a Sully doll for .10 at a garage sale (I also got a cutesy little box (don't bother) just about the right size to put my guitar picks in - with little bears all over it).

I confess I am powerless in the face of the Kitsch.

I also finally finished re-shelving the LPs and 45s, and discovered today that someone is searching for a copy of the 45 put out by my high school's band in the late 1980s - and, yes, I have it...all I have to do is learn how to do vinyl to CD conversion...

A few random thoughts, in relation to latest weather

(1) I can't stand the rain, against my window, bringing back sweet memories

(2) Who'll stop the rain?

(3) Have you ever seen the rain?

(4) When the rain comes, they run and hide their heads

(5) If there's any truth to the saying, lord, let it be a summer rain

and now some personal content...

I actually kind of grin when it rains, because, well, the first time me and my sweetheart ended up in an indoor intimate snuggle was when it was about to rain and we had to run back to his place. For a while after that, we used to say: 'Looks like rain' when we were out somewhere and wanted to go be IN somewhere. One day, at a local grocery store, an old lady overheard us and looked outside quizically, because it was one of those August days without a cloud to be seen.

Pray for us in this, the hour of our re-alphabetizing LPs

Oy, the incipient hernias...

But, once I'm done, next time someone asks if I have a given LP, I can go there and say: "Ye - oh, wait, it must be on the heap of de-filed LPs over there!' (which we all know will start to accumulate within seconds of completing this daunting task)

Too Much Music

I just got finished re-alphabetizing my 7"s.

You know you have too many 7"s when you discover you have duplicates, because presumably you forgot you had purchased something. (in one case I can think of, I DID buy duplicates deliberately of something very limited, in order to give one as a present - that doesn't count...).

I really have GOT to have my music/book garage sale SOON.

Bless Me, Father, For I Have Gayed...

Went garage sale-ing today, and got JUDY GARLAND LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL and ABBA GREATEST HITS VOLUMES 1 and 2 on vinyl (as well as WE ARE THE WORLD album and a modern queer CD by Gentleman Reg, DARBY AND JOAN). This, along with three books (an autobio by Arthur Miller, a Mark Helprin novel and a Lillian Jackson Braun mystery novel), came to a grand total of $3.

Also couldn't help but notice what looked very much like a Daddy-Son couple browsing at ONE garage sale. Both very cute in a butch sort of way...

Saw FRACTURE today. As the old Far Side Cartoon put it: 'Big book of story problems!'
Anthony Hopkins proved to have some nice chest fur action going on, though...

On which point, at a local mall, they were having a cancer fundraiser (I would have thought cancer didn't need money, but that, rather, those FIGHTING it did - but perhaps I'm wrong...), and one of the events seemed to be removing chest hair with wax, for a donation. So terribly, terribly EVIL - and the one fellow I was drawn to watch in a car-crash-viewing way didn't even have a lot of hair to drool over while simultaneously mourning its loss....

Just A Few Innocent Questions

1. If abortion is murder, then would miscarriage be manslaughter? Would adoption be conversion of property? Would child molestation or abuse then be simple property crimes? Just wondering...

2. If, as the Bible seems to imply, Jesus looked like everyone else in the region where he lived, why do some people persist in envisioning this Pat Boonesque figure? Now THAT would stand out...

3. Going back to #1 - evidently one senator proposed that the pro-life/anti-choice movement re-name itself pro-birthday (presumably to allow for the position of also being pro-death penalty). Now...(a) I envision people having to take out legal injunctions to prevent clowns, birthday cakes, balloons, etc. being visited upon them and (b) Now, doesn't being pro-death penalty deprive someone of a birthday, possibly (unless we are to execute everyone on his/her birthday, I suppose...what a happy occasion THAT would be...).

Greetings from a furry place

Hi - I'm sure I'll have something more profound or less threatening to say in the future.

For the moment, this is simply an introduction to someone you wouldn't probably want to meet, but are now obliged to smile politely at and pretend to listen.

Stay tuned for hopefully more enthralling developments...