"April is the cruelest month,

breeding Lilacs out of the dead land mixing memory and desire,

stirring dull roots with spring rain".

'TS Eliot: The Wasteland.1.The Burial of the Dead'

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since the tragic death of Mr Johnny Thunders, the worlds lonely planet boy. What seems like only a short while before, in December 1990, I'd seen Thunders play a great set at The Marquee, with some excellent new songs and a band that did them justice. If it's true that 'words are just dust in deserts of sound', then if there truly was any justice in this world, every media network across the globe would play L.A.M.F. and So Alone back to back for 24 hours on the 23rd April Every Year.

For anyone who has lived and loved Thunders music and had the pleasure and privilege of seeing Thunders live over the years, especially when Jerry Nolan was supplying the soulful backbeat, then you'll have memories that will last forever...A smoky club, bathed in red light, Nolan playing the drums like his life depended on it and then Johnny, making the sign of the cross and playing the best solo you've ever heard, with a sound and feeling that encapsulated the very essence of Rock and Roll, 'till finally, with perspiration dripping down your leather trousers, mascara running and black back-combed hair collapsing around your shoulders, and then, almost at the point of sensory overload, Johnny plays Born to Lose...life doesn't get any better than that.

With love and Respect

Steve Pegrum

April 23rd 2001