|
NIKKI
SUDDEN RIP
|
Blimey....
Elton Dean, Ivor Cutler and now Nikki Sudden gone.
Before punk lurched onto the scene me and Nikki were big Bolan fans though we didn't know each other then. We met on Marc's tour where he had the sense to take your mates the Damned along as support act and, although you wouldn't have thought it the double act worked out great. Our fans loved his act and vice versa.... although admittedly he had cranked up the tempo of most of his set to suit the times... and bloody good it sounded too.
Mr Sudden was always to be seen backstage in ours or Marcs dressing room.... I don't know how he did it and all that, getting past security, etc but there he was. So much so that we devised a nickname for him.... 'SPY'... our theory being that he was in the employ of Bernie Rhodes (Clash manager) and was paid to find out how the Damned could play so much better and faster than his own dodgy act.
Needless to say, that tour was heaven on earth for a couple of Bolan fans and I've kept in touch with Nikki over the years. I visited him at his place in Berlin in 2005, then collaborating on a track that evening at a local studio.... a tribute to Iggy Pop for a forthcoming album I think it was. Pretty 'rock n' roll' as you'd expect from Mr Sudden, I wonder if it ever came out? And then it was round the corner to a late restaurant for plenty of rotwein and a good old chat about the glorious days of the 70's.... all that glam and punk, fantastic stuff.
Unfortunately Nikki lived the lifestyle a little too hard and he is no longer with us but he left some good memories and a buncha cool records. I've got the excellent Swell Maps playing now as I'm writing this... and last years pirate themed 'Treasure Islands' was a real nice record too. Oh, and he had almost finished his autobiography when I was over there... which I bribed him with a few beers to give me a nice mention in.... I wonder if THAT will come out sometime?
So (raises glass) here's to Nikki Sudden, mate of the Damned who's gone off to join his heroes Johnny Thunders and Marc Bolan in that great gig in the sky.....
cheers - Captain Sensible
PS - a great example of Nikki's own brand of rock n' roll can be found on this session he did on US radio somewhere recently.