Ive had enough people.
For years the Fairies have turned a blind ear to the dreck that T.A.F.K.A.T. has dished out in our name, i for a fact have heard his record releases purporting to be us `rehearsing` or whatever, and on the whole, and with the odd exception, it just ain`t nothin` to do with Pink Fairies, but we pity him, and so let him get on with his apparent life`s work of piling up that ol` bad kharma by the shovel-full, (and dat` ain`t all he`s shovelin` dudes) so, as we say in Fairyland, when his name chances to come up, `Fuck him and the stolen horse he rode in on`, but i`ll tell ya why i`m speaking up now.
As anyone with at least one toe on the ground knows, i was in a band with my very good friends Steve Took and Dave Bidwell. We had other incarnations, Tim Taylor on bass, Phil Lenoir on drums, but i am here to tell you all, T.A.F.K.A.T. is lying when he says he was anything whatsoever to do with Shagrat. In all the years we did it, niether Paul Rudolph ( innocent party dragged in by shithead ) and T.A.F.K.A.T. were absolutely not involved in any way shape or form with any of us real Ratshaggers. His name never came up, unless of course a cheap joke was in the offing, he did not exist as far as Shagrat were concerned.
I have just learned that he denounced my part in Shagrat as being ficticious, and has issued a record of Shagrat, the accoustic tracks, which are already legally and justly for sale on the mighty fine Captain Trips label, ( Devies/Farren et al ) with recently added noises by the wanker himself, claiming that he was in the original `rat and i wasn`t! For the record: The Wanker tells lies about his past, which involves other prople`s pasts, and you just can`t re-write the facts. Fortunately, liars need good memories, and guess what?
The good news is that the tosser could be laid bare for the charlatan that he is in 3 /5ths of a second, (and this is for the tosser`s legal buzzards,) as: Ordinarily, this kind of rant would seem actionable, but he can be so discredited by :
The Fucking Huge Queue Of People Just Waiting To Tell Their Stories Of Skullduggerydug-a-duggery-dug at the claws of The Fartist Formerly Known As Twank, for his lies, deceit, and general bad behaviour in the music community. He would come out of it exposed and indeed recognized for the liar that he is, and of course incur the legal wrath of those of us whom he has ripped off.
What a waste of carbon that twat is.
Do not be fooled. Do not buy into the lie. And let`s be careful out there.
SCREW IT!
Vlad The Inhaler
People have been asking me a lot lately about who recorded what, where, and when in the matter of Steve Took, Shagrat etc.. Usually fancying a quiet life, I answer the questions and try to stay above the fray, but it would seem as though the current Steve Took releases that Twink has been offering for sale cross the line into art forgery. It confuses collectors and musicologists but, worst of all, this is fucking with a dead artist's work. And that is truly offensive.
The creative equivalent of building a condo on the Old Indian Burial Ground.
For the record, here's what I know, someone else can pick it up from there.
Think Pink was cut in July/August 1969. (Twink got all freaked out about the Manson murders, and Took and I laughed at him.) No demos were made. We didn't do that sort of thing back then. No home studios. We didn't have the technology or the funds, and a lot of the album was written right in the Decca studio at Marble Arch. There were no outtakes. Took left for US with Bolan right after. Deviants left for Canada around Sept 15th. On my return, Twink, Took and I tried to put a band togther, but no recording were made until we went into Sound Techniques to cut Mona. Again no outtakes or side recordings. After Mona, Twink throws wobbler to cover the fact that he's in with Russell, Sandy and Rudolph as soon as they get back. Twink and Took are not speaking. In other words, between July '69 and the early spring of 1970, no recordings were m ade by any combo including Twink and Took except those noted above. Okay?
I produced them and there were no secret recordings I didn't know about. Took was round my house every fucking day. In the latter half of this time space, Took and I met with Larry, tried to get something going, failed and LW hung with Took, and thus Shagrat was born. Nothing to with Twink though, Twink and Took still on the outs.
(tune in next week for another episode of Journey Into Space)