Over the next few years, Janet became more and more important to me. She gave me unquestioning love and support, and I will be forever in her debt for this. Back to the book! Jim Miller gave me a call one day, and, for much of the nineties, we worked on songs that were to become my G2 CD. I didn't do much live work at all for the remainder of the nineties, with the exception of a few London gigs with Jim Miller and Ben Waters in the Engineers. This didn't exactly set the scene alight, although it was enjoyable enough.
With the millenium past (what a non-event!), and myself and Janet married, I got a call one day from Paul Shuttleworth. He had been offered the chance to tour with the Naughty Rhythms 2001 tour, featuring the Feelgoods, Canned Heat and John Otway, and wondered if I wanted to be part of it. Occasionally the Kursaals had gotten together to do a set at the Lee Brilleaux Memorial Show,and I think he missed the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd. I had been missing the live stage as well, and so I agreed to have a go. Having no hidden agendas this time, we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Driving round the country in a draughty Transit van was like being given a chance to revisit our youth, this time with no tantrums, and it was good to see people who had come to see us years ago. I had managed to finish off the G2 CD, and sold a few on the road. The band was not really representative of the Kursaals - but what the hell!
The Kursaals did a few gigs in the early part of the noughties to little or no punters. We got offered a chance to revisit Sweden which sounded like a good idea. Trouble was, there was just as little interest in Sweden as there was in the UK, so it was pretty disappointing, in terms of the live performances and absence of more than 10 audience persons per gig. They were magic and tried their best but it didn't feel right on stage; I didn't feel I performed very well and thus I was left with no choice but to leave. One of the problems was that there was no groove in the playing - I was trying to adapt to what I heard, but, for competent musicians, there was no feel, just chord charts on stage. Nothing against the guys, who were all pleasant enough, but not enough enjoyment, no buzz! I hear that Paul has knocked it on the head for the Kursaals, now, and formed the Ugly Guys, with Vic, Bobbie Clouter and Andy Farrell, who are playing basically what the Kursaaals started out playing, eg country rock covers. Probably a wise decision, as the Kursaals without Vic was never a half as good.
Time, now, for a new CD by Graeme Douglas and some Other Friends (or samples made by some other friends). The Kursaals have re-surfaced for one or two specials - notably a return to the Kursaal Ballroom (not quite as grand as it sounds as the ballroom was still being rebuilt after renovations, including the transfer of the Southend Pier Ten Pin Bowl to the Kursaal). The main drag of the Southend promenade has missed a trick - if they had played up to their fifties heyday as a themed experience, it might have been tolerable. As it is, the punters seem to be BNP-supporting, Sun-reading Lard-Asses. This was always the problem with Southend, in that it was always a magnet for thieves, car salesmen and witless X-factor contestants.