Friars, Aylesbury, Dave Stopps and other stuff they didn’t want you to know about.

If you can remember the ‘70s, you were there…and in Aylesbury you might have been one of the still peckish Hungry Freaks roaming the streets with their vagabond cohorts, ungrateful, resentful and asking themselves: ‘What is this shit?’

Then someone said, ‘They’re treating us like peons.’ That wasn’t cool, so they shuffled off to a pad in Urban Hell, breaking the barrel of gassy but moreish and hyperdelic homebrew upstairs in a room full of counter-cultural iconic trash and a copy of the Aylesbury Roxette. The what??? Unbelievable. Well, as the desperados shook the barrel for the last pint, the Ritual Evocations and Incantations kicked in. ‘Wow, result!’ they cried as a voice came out of the gloom, ‘We name the guilty ones!’ Yes, they were realising it’s a stitch-up in this town, The Man is running the Friars gig, he’s got the small gigs too, he’s filling up the local rock press with wannabe celebs, The Deal is with him, and not the kids. The Voice was saying other stuff too, like The Mighty Ones are among us! You need Cosmic Assistance! Oi, you, get out that locally sourced Zippo Zap Cosmograph. And, out it came. A button or two got pushed and a horde of Planta Beings climbed out. Nice guys but better on your side, oh yes.

It took a few of them for the final act, and they had to take it outside too, into Brent Path. It was the Ultimate Poot, as they visualized their hero into existence, taking his name from that anonymous pathway which is still revered by those that know these things. Back in the room stuff was happening too. The Voice was urging them on to rip that old Gestetner off the wall and get printing, then it drained away with the dregs seeping out of the beer barrel…

So, the Aylesbury Poxette got started, to caricature the local scene-makers and their hangers-on, anonymously handed around outside of Friars gigs whilst being sought-out by heavies wanting to, ‘have a word’ with them Yes kids, while you were checking in for the Blondie/Ramones gig, The Boys were roaming around outside sniffing and snarling…

You wanna know about Brent Path, the Planta Beings, the Cosmic Guitar War that broke out over the Chilterns? Did Bob Calvert really leave Hawkwind the night before their Friars gig because he thought the Poxette guys might get stiffed outside? And who were all these crazy people called Spotts, Maj, Joe Rottaway and Framestite who ran the town? You’re gonna have to read on……… and feedback to [email protected]