Service. I knew what I needed was the chance to sit down with a veteran international networker or two and really understand what was going on out there. As luck would have it, you were planning an incredible European Tour with Kevyn Dymond, the man behind Guaranteed Cleveland Records, for that very fall. For five weeks, the two of you would travel to Germany, England, France, Denmark and Norway, visiting many of the underground networkers you were in touch with. Even more incredible when you consider Kevyn was in a wheelchair! We, of course, were delighted to offer you a sofa (and a parking space for Kevyn) on your travels. Where did the idea for such an amazing trip come from, what are your fondest memories from the journey and have you finished paying for it yet? 

DC:  It was Kevyn’s idea . It holds incredible memories for us both and we packed a lot into our European “tour”. We were quite the pair running from one city to the next and meeting various underground music types. We even did a live show in Eastern Germany with Das Freie Orchester. At the time, Europe and Great Britain were not well suited for disabled people. Good thing I was young and strong then because there was a lot of carrying him from the wheelchair to the train or to various places. Then, I would go back and get the wheelchair, reassemble it and move on. Sometimes the train doors would not allow the wheelchair on until it was disassembled making some of our departures “iffy”. In the end, his rear end really took a toll from being handled so harshly in the chair for so many weeks.  He developed an infection on his backside which required more than one surgery and month after month of him laying only on his stomach in his bed. This is a guy who never once complained about anything and I don’t think I’d be able to lie in bed on my stomach ONLY for 18-20 hours a day without going batty and griping big time.

MM: Quite, I go batty and gripe if I break a fingernail! I remember we had a great evening, Pete Program and Lulu came down to visit, Kevyn bought us all a Chinese (but I gave you the credit for it, or was it you that bought it and I gave Kevyn the credit?) and there was lots of beer. Lulu and me got rather drunk and/or stoned and made the foolish mistake of trying to perform “Spirit” in that condition. Foolish because you were recording it all. Foolish because you would release it on the imaginatively titled travelogue cassette “Don Campau And Kevyn Dymond In Europe, Oct – Nov 1991”. Foolish because you would also play it on your radioshow. Maybe it was divine retribution for my constantly referring to you as Ronnie Corbett or The Magic Munchkin and asking if you had turn-ups in your underpants. As for “Mick Sings”, I can’t remember, and my copy of the tape snapped years ago, which is maybe no bad thing. I remember the jam the following morning went better! What are your prevailing memories of your visit to Mmattland and who exactly did pay for the Chinese?

At our old Frimley base, October 1991, left to right; Sensemillia Peach, Pete Program, Leonie 'Lulu' Jackson, me and The Magic Munchkin, all waiting impatiently for Kevyn to come back with the takeaway...

DC: Man, I don’t recall who paid now, although I’ll gladly take credit for it!

MM: It was Kevyn then…

DC: It’s all a little fuzzy some 23 years ago.

MM: Of course it is…

The really rather remarkable Kevyn Dymond. We called him Hot Wheels. Much more flattering than what we called Don: The Magic Munchkin...

DC: The tape you mention was a type of Audio Vérité and not meant as a music tape of songs. There were church bells, snippets of conversations, weird city noises, unrehearsed jams, etc. I only have fond memories of travelling and seeing you and so many other people I considered friends, but who I’d never met. It was a good way to escape the emotional pain I was also undergoing after my recent divorce then. The bonding that Kevyn and I did really united us as life long friends and although I do not see him often we still talk on the phone . 

Don "bonding" with Kevyn...

MM: On a more serious note (with my reputation?), yourself, Kevyn and I did have some hugely informative discussions about the nature of the underground that really began to shape the future of M&E. Kevyn was a deeply inspirational figure, one couldn’t help but be impressed by him. He had achieved more in a wheelchair than most people do on legs, that wondrously positive attitude and his wry humour, and what a gifted musician that man is. And he still sends me a birthday present every