OFF: the Enid

[Nick Medford]

In message <004701c063d6$28aab080$4e51893e at default>, david hall
<dave at PARMA29.FREESERVE.CO.UK> writes
>    I saw this mob at Stonehenge 84 they followed on from Hawkwind (who were
>    brilliant). By that point I had developed some bad stomach cramps (courtesy of the
>    scrumpy and other exotic fare) and was bent double over and clinging to some
>    scaffolding at the side of the stage. I couldn't move, I was in agony, my mate was
>    chucking up a few feet away....then that mob started up....horrible, horrible....I
>    couldn't escape -more sonic shite than sonic attack. Having recovered slightly I
>    returned to the stage to witness the Cardiacs, that just about finished me off. Bad
>    feelings evaporated somewhat on the arrival of the Hawks for the dawn gig.
>
>    Thought I'd share that with you
>
Most touching.

Believe it or not (I can't!) I saw them live somewhere between 10 and 15
times- can't remember exactly, a protective veil has descended over my
memory. I even went to a couple of the mini-festivals they used to hold on
their farm in Suffolk.  I would've been about 16. Even at that age I
remember having my doubts- I remember RJG used to send out these
communiqués to members of the fan club (which was called The Stand for
some typically pretentious reason) and in one he opined "...I think at the
moment of my birth, my heart must have been brushed by the wings of an
archangel" which brought on abdominal cramps even then. Other letters to
the fans were little more than pleas for cash, albeit couched in flowery
language.

The one thing for which I still think they deserve respect is that for a while
they took on the music business and won- living on the farm with its own
studio and financing the whole process of getting the records out and in the
shops, all done on a shoestring. Around this time they came across as
admirable English eccentric outsiders -they even used to print their own
tabloid "The Enid"- logo stolen from The Sun- with scurrilous tales of evil-
doing in the record industry. Still I won't attempt to defend the dreadful
music they made in the 80s (although I really liked some of it at the time).

--
Nick Medford