Feeling somewhat sombre, somewhat sad, and very sorry

I don’t remember the exact date, it was in the early 2000’s, one lunchtime and I seem to think it was a cool grey day. It was lunch time and I sauntered over from the college I worked at in Weston-super-Mare town centre to the Sovereign shopping centre. I didn’t want anything in particular as far as I remember, and it may have been that the other members of the unit where I worked had wandered off somewhere too, because i was on my own.

I wandered into a shop which sold records and CDs – was it a music shop? Was it the now defunct Wilco’s? Did Waterstones ever sell music? Anyway, there were CDs for sale, and I looked through for no real reason and was much taken by one with a cover showing four men staring out at me in a challenging sort of a way. It was ‘The Mavericks Collection‘.  On the left a handsome short-haired man, jacket and open necked shirt looking at me as if to say “And?” Next to him stood a dark-haired, fierce man, moustache and chin beard, a challenging and slightly quizzical expression. The third man was sitting down, a handsome but expressionless face – however, there was an engaged look as if he might smile easily. The fourth man was sitting on the right, slightly behind the others and his face was less easy to read, but engaging, subtly engaging.

The name of the band didn’t ring any bells, but when I turned the CD over I recognised the first song as a number my husband’s ex-band used to play, “Dance the Night Away“. I bought the album… and the rest is history!

I have all the Mavericks’ albums, I must have played them hundreds of times, I have seen them together and in different combos so many times I can barely remember – in Bristol, Coventry, Manchester, Oxford, Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, and no doubt other places which have merged into one glorious gig! I have videos – some unofficial, and DVDs, and photos, hundreds of photos. I’ve been fortunate to actually meet the band, Raul Malo the lead singer who has written many if not most of their songs, Paul Deakin an incredible drummer, Eddie Perez, guitar, Jerry Dale McFadden, keyboard, vocals and crazy dancing, ex-member Robert Reynolds, and many other musicians who have toured with them. However, the best of all, I have friends – friends who are as crazy about the band as I am! I have made real friends from all across the country, and from the Netherlands, and we meet together even without a concert to go to.

However, one other thing which they have given me, is inspiration. I’ve never written about them – certainly not what’s known as “fan fiction”, but from them I have been inspired to write characters which might in some ways look superficially like them, but in every other way are completely creations from my imagination. I’ve partly used their appearance, but mostly used the idea of four people who are connected and united in a particular way. I suppose that is most evident in ‘Lucky Portbraddon’ – five members of the same family and what happens to them over the year after their grandmother’s death. There are no musicians in my story, but there is a writer and his musician son, an artist, a teacher and a dentist. In another book, ‘Night Vision‘ there are two characters, a fairly famous chef and a musician, who were inspired by two Mavericks.

I owe the band, and the members, so much – in many different ways, the music, the travel, the friends, the inspiration and much more.

Like every Mavericks fan, I am feeling somewhat sombre, somewhat sad, and very sorry because of news which has filtered through to us. I am fortunate to have the friends I mentioned – we are in contact with each other, grieving over what we have heard most recently. If you search on-line for Raul Malo you will find a great deal of coverage of his announcement that the prognosis for the cancer he’s having treatment for, is not good, in fact it is the worst possible news. He has been public about his diagnosis and progression of the awful disease, and his courageous battle against it which has been inspirational. Such a brave and courageous man, it’s no wonder that we respect and love him.