Here’s an ode to Nedra Talley
A member of the legendary Girl group
The Ronettes
Who I first heard as a love-struck teenager
Back in 1990
Tuning in every night to Randal Lee Rose’s
Late night shift on Capital Gold
And what music he played
Ending every show with Tommy McClain’s heart-breaking version of
Sweet Dreams
Have you ever heard the organ break on that?
And at this time all my friends were listening to Darlek music
And popping low-grade ecstasy
In gloomy, dirty warehouses
It was the era of dance music
Apparently
To be sociable, I went a few times, and felt the rush of the love dove
But immediately sensed it’s superficial, chemical, artificial nothingness
I saw through it all
But it didn’t matter
Because I had Randal Lee Rose
Every night
And during one such show I caught The Ronettes
For the very first time
With the earth-shattering voice of Veronica Bennett
Sand-blasting my eardrums
And making the hairs on my neck stand up on end like porcupine quills
A teenage symphony
So I taped all their songs
And listened to them again and again, and again
And afterwards I had to see those girls, to know what they looked like
And I did
I chanced upon a TV documentary of the Sixties
And it showed the girl-group in their heyday
In all their classical pomp
And I heard the voice and saw the sister
But it was the cousin that caught my attention
Shimmying to the left of Ronnie
Ohhing and Ahhhhing
Giving it all she had
And I fell in love with her
It was Nedra
I wanted to be with
And when she sang Baby I Love You it was me she was talking to
And I told her I loved her right back!
After listening to all the fantastic music I made it my mission in life to find out
What happened to Nedra
After all those years
It took a while
But I found out
She got married, had kids, and became a born again Christian
Sadly for me the unrequited love affair was over
But I still had the music
So fare thee well
Nedra, Ronnie and Estelle
You may have changed
But the music never did
And that’s what makes life worth living

Joe grew up in the East End of London and left school with few qualifications. He then embarked on a succession of menial jobs. After being stabbed in a bar brawl and getting robbed at knifepoint he decided it was time to leave the country and promptly travelled the world; Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. He stayed in Australia for three years living mostly in the Kings Cross area of Sydney until he became an illegal immigrant. To avoid being deported Joe then went to Thailand and brought a share in the world's smallest bar, the famous and now defunct Barcelona Bar. After fleeing Thailand with a tail between his legs he returned to London in 2001 where he lives and writes to this day. To read a selection of his work on the showcase section of this site, click here.

© 2007 Laura Hird All rights reserved.