Sales started off a little slowly and were entirely local, a couple of dozen in The Rock Box in the first month (in those days, sales hitting triple figures was a cause for celebration!) and a few odd copies elsewhere. To be honest, I hadn't been working that hard to promote it, July had been something of a tough month personally. Still reeling a bit from Jay quitting the band back in April, its future had been completely thrown into an uncertain state (along with my everyday life) when my marriage to Shona fell apart, so Kate decided to call it a day too. So, as you can imagine, I was a little preoccupied with other matters. Amidst all this, I was contacted by Sid and Mania, they were absolutely fuming that they'd been included on the album without their consent, something I found absolutely baffling in those pre Asperger's diagnosis days. I arranged a meeting with the two of them in the hope that everything could be resolved amicably and crossed my fingers...  

Fancy a souvenir copy of the original A3 poster for your bedroom wall? Well, all you have to do is

click on the... er... 'thumbnail' image above and it shall be yours, all 8.24 glorious megabytes of it.

       We met in a pub in Camberley, I'm not sure which one. This was always going to be a difficult meet; I'd long felt the two of them were a bit wilfully awkward with me, like they just seemed to enjoy making my life less pleasant for no apparent reason. Hindsight, of course, points to the Asperger's and says, "No, Mick, that really wasn't it." But whatever the reasons may have been, we really didn't get on very well. Nevertheless, I wanted to come across as reasonable (which I wasn't always back then) and sat and listened to their complaints. Mania didn't think the choice of "Colour Me" did her singing much credit. Fair enough, there were a couple of wavering notes in there, but I made the argument that it was a live recording, it was their first gig, that I didn't think any of us had got through our sets without mistakes and they were probably setting the bar unreasonably high. And it wasn't like they had a demo I could have taken a track from. And, in any event, it was definitely the best overall recording from their performance, that's why I'd chosen it, an assertion I don't think they were quite ready to trust. Then there's the question of using a track at all without their consent. I argued my case that this was meant to be a permanent record of what The Grain had achieved as a co-operative, and that I thought they would have been more pissed off to have been omitted. I don't recall there being any raised voices or angry exchanges, but Mania's own version in her memoir suggests otherwise. I hope what I've written here is the absolute truth, but willingly accept her memory of the events is as likely to be true as my

own. We all colour our memories, they are never black and white, the truth of them exists somewhere in the shades of grey between. There is one aspect I think it is about time I did put my hands up to though; Ehrlich Bullet. Mania had complained bitterly about the clip of Momento Mori used in "We At Grain Festival", a rather long sustained bum note vocal. I, of course, just shrugged and insisted that was nothing to do with me. But it was, and yes, if I'm trying to be honest here, it was carefully selected as a kind of petty rebuke against my perception of the way they were with me. So, I as I said earlier in the article, I feel I wronged Mania there, and I owe her an apology, sorry it's taken me 27 years to deliver it. I think the meeting had concluded with my saying "... and come on, it's for charity." Hand on heart, I had left their company with the absolute certainty that everything was hunky dory (see "Asperger's Syndrome" and "Failing to pick up and understand signals"), but it wasn't. Not long afterwards, I received a letter from Great Ormond Street Hospital, following one they had received from Sid and Mania. They made it clear that they did not want to be the beneficiaries of anything contentious, so only weeks into its existence and with merely 47 copies sold (so I figure Lethal Dose owe me about 30p), "Grain-Aid!" was withdrawn from sale. It was an ignominious end to such a noble project, and it means so much to me to be able to finally put the album online now, complete and in its original format, with Mania's blessing, for which she has my undying gratitude. As does everybody who was ever involved with The Grain, because it changed my life and is a time I will never forget.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? - THE GRAIN FESTIVAL BANDS

THE CHARLES

Count Five (Chris Carter) is no longer involved in music and is now enjoying the world of jobs, mortgages and being a daddy. He does play around a bit on his YOU TUBE channel though...

Benedik Charles (Ben Williams) doesn't answer me.

Jacob (Ian Merrick) is still in a band, but says it's all a bit more chilled out these days. You'll find him on SOUNDCLOUD...

Tarquin Experiment? (Shawn Parlour) now lives near Abergavenny in Wales, where he renovates houses. He is currently learning to play the guitar and has written some songs.

SLACK BLADDER

Martin Crook is no longer involved in music, working now in property maintenance, and he is also developing a business called HIGHLAND FARM LOGS. Yes, your chance to own a log from the very site of The Grain Festival! Oh, I mean from a tree, not the latrine...

Andy Bullock doesn't answer me either (or Martin, for that matter), but I know he works under the name of ANDY BOLUS now and is a highly regarded experimental musician. His official websites are; EVIL MOISTURE and SCHOOL OF MEAT CUTTING, he also has a YOU TUBE channel...

Neale Brodie - pass.

GREED

All efforts to trace the members have come to nothing, so I haven't the vaguest clue what happened to any of them, sorry...

MAGIC MOMENTS AT TWILIGHT TIME

Shona Moments (Atkinson) is no longer involved in music, but we remain good friends and meet up when we can. She lives in Farnborough nowadays with her lovely teenage daughter, Charlotte.

Kate Twilight (London) was killed in a road accident in Sunningdale on 23rd September 1999, she will never be forgotten.

Jay Time (Symons) - I've not seen or heard from him in something over 20 years, but should he ever find and read this, I'd really like to.

MOMENTO MORI

Sid Philpotts is also sadly no longer with us.

Mania Rose has asked not to be publicly identified.

Bobby Max (Marks) is no longer involved in music, but still plays for his own pleasure. He still lives in Camberley too.

Ozy - pass.

THE VISIONARIES

I've only recently made contact with bassist Pete Burgess, but I can at least tell you he married singer Kym Wright the year of the festival. They don't seem to be involved in music any more, but still being together after 27 years is an achievement in itself! Shaun Jackson has also taken a non-musical route, he's something to do with the University Of Surrey nowadays. John Way I've not managed to track down, but I have found his ex wife Sarah (well, she found me actually), that's something. Her ex-boyfriend list also includes The Charles' Ian Merrick and Momento Mori's Sid Philpotts. Bit of a Grain Groupie on the quiet, I reckon...

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