Hefner

I met Darren Hayman last week at The Star and Garter show, Darren was DJing at the Smile Party, gave him a copy of Ironing the Soul, subsequent emails between us suggest the possibility of supports with Hefner later next year which I'm childishly excited about and look forward to whenever good willing [like god willing only better]. Thanks to Jane from Wirral who emailed re the date confusion in the last poem on these pages, 1976 or 1979 whatever but a long time time ago all the same. I'll leave as it is in the name of accidental deliberacy or suchlike. I've finally sorted the new VP band out for the 12th Dec and hopefully the Feb tour so there will be less monolgging and more noise between songs. It's been ages since I did band gigs, really looking forward to it. New albums are just back from pressing, they can be ordered direct from the site or [if you can wait that long] purchased from major record stores throughout the UK from 16th Feb. Heres another poem from out of nowhere that touches on some of the Growing Up with themes ...without an axe to grind VPxx Phil and Vera I was doing the married mans shuffle Baby to the nursery Bus to the job A sitter once a week Friends in A local pub It was Birmingham In the early 1980’s It was Duran in Rumrunner static Plus the go feet fantastic And we knew someone who knew someone who knew them And you were the actress dressed up as a nurse And I was a media-student of the alternative press And we toyed with the values of socialism We opposed the tory dogma and demonstrated our opposition You joined a feminist theatre group And I did the Music I was on pins to prove that Men too can be feminists As I became my own extremist I opposed all pornography I partook in the social analysis of male dominated voice over ad speak I listened in to the Theatre Groups’ workshops Things were very serious in our house And I took great pride in being seen to wash up the dishes I was at war with my own my sterotype When I discovered you had slept with another man I was mortified I locked myself in the bathroom And cried my first real grown up tears And now for some reason I am thinking about it All over again