Well, Gene and the Singer flew to London sunday morning while Daddyo, Chap, Rusty, Davie and I did the 8 hour drive in the bus from Glasgow…lucky for us as a big snow storm hit Scotland just as we escaped! But I love Scotland, and as I was telling Norman Blake the other day, Glasgow feels like home. As a matter of fact, George, who books KING TUTS said to us when he arrived at the club, “WELCOME HOME!!!!!” makes ya feel all warm inside.

Now, nothing to take away from the Ediburgh folk, but there’s something about Glasgow…maybe because it’s west coast but it makes me feel like I’m in Cali (certainly not the weather!!!!!), cause of the laid back attitude I spose. But we all had a great time in Scotland in general, snow or no snow. I still can’t believe I ate a Pidgeon!

So, we finally get into London and then had dinner at BAR ONE near Royal Festival hall. Then the other guys went to the hotel and Gene and I went to Queen Elizabeth hall to see CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN, one of my fave bands, a band that certainly influenced PAVEMENT and possibly even GREEN DAY (don’t blame them! The singers sound exactly alike to me…you know, that fake London accent…although David Lowery’s isn’t such a fake attempt, where as Billy Bob from green day is…)

So, after the show, we’re kicking it backstage and Lowery says he recognizes me. I tell him of the funny twist of fate in that, I was in a band called ALMIGHTY HI FI in 1990 and our drummer, JOEY PETERS, quit to join CRACKER (he later quit Cracker to join Grant Lee Buffalo). So we placed an AD in the local music paper and a guy named DAVID GREEN answered. when that little group broke up, Rusty and I called Green to see if he wanted to start a band in 1992. less than a year later we were touring the west coast as LOVE. I love it when a plan comes together…

But that story wasn’t how David Lowery knew my face…turns out he has a copy of my solo record, MY MUSIC LOVES YOU (EVEN IF I DON’T) and he totally dug the cover art (we re-shot the cover to mimmick the Leonard Cohen “Death of a Ladies’ man” cover)….so we got a mighty fine laugh out of that…then we noticed, in the corner, a famous british musician (who I am a very big fan of)…so Gene and I convinced him (only after a few drinks!…he was hesitant, thinking he might be getting set up for a smackdown!…nothing could be further from the truth..this is the “nice” tour, ok?) to play guitar on a song with us for tonight’s show and he agreed! and it’s funny, because this person is so perfect to play with LOVE and anyone who knows his music would know that there is no bigger LOVE fan in the british music biz.

So, with that deal done, I headed off into the freezing british night at 1am. But being a bit loopy, decided to walk over to the Thames and just reflect on what has been so a fun, exciting and memorable tour. Everyone involved in this tour, from the crew (Kose, Davie and Goff), to the management and promoters (Gene, Glenn Povey, Glenn Max), to the excellent opening band (Brent, Dave, Rosanne and Ryan) to the VERY SOULFUL FC horn section (Stefan, Bjorn, Oscar and Karl) to the best string section on the planet (Ketil, Andreas, Caroline, Eric and Anna) to the band (Daddyo, Chapple, Rusty and moi) and down to the main man himself.

No matter what, the show rolled on. And every person that came out, whether it was Scully and Michelle, or Lizzy or Mel C, or Carayne, or Jane (all the way from the Isle of man!!!!)or those cheeky monkees, Kieth and Paul,not to mention Barry B. or Natasha in Madchester or Lisa for filming some of the shows…just way too many people to name but i think you all get the hint. This was only possible because of you and I want to say, on behalf of everyone, Thanks.

Mike Randle