HW / Record Collector / Terry Ollis int.

[M Holmes]

Jon Browne writes:
>
> Terry Ollis
> "drums on the first two albums: now painting & decorating and playing
> part-time in West London blues bands, including The Wake"
>
> " I answered an ad in Melody Maker, and when I turned up it was just
> John the bass player, Dave Brock and me. That was Hawkwind Zoo. I was
> about 17; the rest were all, like, ten years older than me.
>   Dave was quite impressed with Can and Soft Machine, bands like that.
> He'd come along with a riff and then we'd jam for hours. We played loads
> of gigs with all seven of us tripping and it was fucking amazing - you'd
> go so far out and yet you'd all be there.
>   If I died at the time, I couldn't have done anything better with my
> life, because I totally believed in what we were doing.
>   I left because it was becoming like a business; the idealism was going
> out the window. Not from the band so much, but from the record company
> and the management. After I left, I lent my drums to Simon King but all
> their gear got stolen. I went to the management to get some money and
> they said it would have to come out of my royalties. I left the
> manager's office, bumped into Dave at the Mountain Grill, told him about
> it and he said "Yeah, that's right." It was the biggest fucking slap in
> the face I'd ever had, and it put me off the music industry. I mean,
> we'd been living in each other's pockets for three or four years.
>   I went off to Blackheath into semi-retirement, though I did play a
> benefit gig with my mate Steve Took, fuckin' lovely fella. I think he
> got a bit done in by it all, too."

Steve Took was the guy who used to write for "Gandalf's Garden" and
other alternative magazines? He died not so long ago. I dunno how. His
girfriend is trying to set up some kind of memorial and has ads in
various magazines including Record Collector.

> Jon Browne

FoFP