25/02/2024 'Bobby has flown' by David

After a fortnight of feeling a definite weakness in my legs following my final run, I have had to accept that the strength that I hoped might return, is not going to, and the progression of this illness is becoming real. I now can't walk for much more than 5 minutes without the help of someone's arm or my stick, and I have noticed that I need to sit down much more now. 

As every stage of this debilitating condition invades my life, I have no other option but to accept it and embrace it. In doing so, I have given myself certain goals that I want to reach before I give in to that which I cannot stop. 

I want to be able to walk to the shops, make myself a coffee and carry it out into the sunshine, and continue to walk a 5k parkrun, for one more summer. I also want to be able to climb the stairs, get myself in and out of a bath, and shave, cook and play my records into the autumn, and hopefully the winter. Any independance after that time, I will be grateful for.

Of course, I know that this disease can progress very quickly in some sufferers, and that I may not reach these milestones, but the most important thing to me right now, is to be able to walk my daughter, Rachel down the aisle in April. I will be so proud to do so, and any step I make after she is safely married, I will be very thankful for. 

I have upped my MND Smart medicine/placebo to 7.5mls after being asked to by the trial doctor as I continue to show no side effects, though it continues to taste horrible! 

The other thing Alice and I have both noticed is that I'm becoming very forgetful. MND can be associated with dementia and I do wonder if this is also going to become part of my journey. Just this week, I forgot something silly like how to fold a crisp packet into a triangle - something I've always done with my packets over the years. It did eventually come back to me but then I didn't have the strength to tuck the corners in! Alice is frequently called 'Rachel, Anna or Lois' these days but most worrying, I was delighted to discover some cash in the house with no idea where it had come from until Alice reminded me a friend had given it to me for my bike just the week before. Yet I had no memory of this happening....

I DJ'd at another open decks night in Southampton, again with my friend Darren, and I played an hour of eclectic music from my vinyl collection to an audience of diners and drinkers including my friends Paul and Gina from the island, who were travelling home from a few days away in the west country, and decided to surprise me with their presence.

They both loved my set, as I hope you do too.

Lucky Number - Lene Lovich

Thinking Of You - The Colour Field

Genius Of Love - Tom Tom Club

One Step Beyond - Prince Buster

Southern Freeez - Freeez

Money - The Flying Lizards 

Genetic Engineering - OMD

Buz Buzz Buzz - Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

Just Who Is The 5 O' Clock Hero - The Jam

Young Parisians - Adam And The Ants

(Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star - Bill Wyman

Days Of Pearly Spencer - David McWilliams

I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass - Nick Lowe

He'll Raiser - The Sweet

Monkey Magic - Godiego

Up Town Top Ranking - Althia & Donna

The Sound Of The Suburbs - The Members

Are Friends Electric? - Tubeway Army

Rip It Up - Orange Juice 

(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash

I enjoyed a lovely spa break with Rachel, and my younger daughter Anna, this week and it was lovely to spend some quality time with them, relaxing in the pool, steam room, saunas, and jacuzzis, then in the restaurant and bar, followed by a stay over with breakfast in the morning.

We reminisced about the beautiful times we had together when they were young and laughed about what we all got up to as they were growing up. I am so proud of both of them, and the lovely human beings they have become. 

Alice and I walked our first parkrun, after my decision to stop running a fortnight ago, at Andover, with a lovely punnet of fellow vegan runners. As usual, after they had finished their run, they joined the Baker fun bus at the back and cheered us into the finish. We are very lucky to have so many lovely friends. I held on to Alice with one arm, and used a walking pole in the other, and my legs were pleasantly, quite strong. It gives me hope that I can continue to walk a 5k parkrun for a while longer, as I really look forward to it, and it gives us both so much pleasure to meet our friends, go for breakfast after, and also to visit so many different towns and cities. 

So finally, to my saddest news this week. 

Afrer much thought recently, I made the sad but sensible decision that I have played my final gig with my great friends Bobby I Can Fly. My legs and more importantly, my hands just can't do it any more. We have played 138 gigs on the Isle of Wight, the South coast, London and even Gibraltar, which culminated with 3 very emotional gigs since my diagnosis. I will miss playing and singing those great songs, the friendship of the guys on stage, and the friends that I have met on the way. 

I, like most school children in the 70's, started playing the recorder, but unless you play it with control and emotion, it sounds awful. I had neither, and it did. 

Next, I learnt the piano. A local eccentric music teacher used to come to our house to teach my brother, my sister, and I. He smoked his pipe, played the piano so hard that it shook, and sometimes let us play. I didn't learn much.

Then in my teens, my brother Rich became a punk and bought a drum kit. He played in a group called The Obscene Phone Calls and I used to jump on the drums at any opportunity and play along to records. I then played bass, drums, and sung, as me and my school mates formed a number of bands, none of which ever played a gig, but we had fun practicing and I still have the recordings to this day.

So to the best musical days of my life. My friend Paul had got together with a guy called Duncan to write some songs and they brought me in on backing vocals and keyboards. We called ourselves Bobby I Can Fly and we played a summer residence at the Metropole Hotel on Ventnor seafront, but once we had brought in a trumpet and sax, the keyboard was out of the window, so I had to come up with something else to busy my hands with. Now everyone knows a Scottish hippy called Andre right? No? Well this is Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight in the 80's and anything goes and usually did! Andre lent me his congas and Bobby flew! 

I added rota toms, bongos, snare, cowbells, tambourine, wood blocks, and shakers, and for three years, we played all over the island, travelled to Gibraltar to entertain the troops, played the legendary Joiners in Southampton, before our pinnacle gig at the Astoria in London, to 1700 people. We had built up a good following and raised interest from several promoters and record companies but like a million other hopeful bands, we didn't get the breaks, and we split up. We then got married (not to each other), raised children and got proper jobs. 

I became proficient enough to play guitar in a couple of cover bands, in local pubs for a few years, before I retired from music, moved to Southampton and began watching gigs, rather than playing them, until nearly 30 years after we formed, the Bobby boys reunited.

Since 2014, we have played another 31 gigs in Southampton, Portsmouth and the island including the Isle of Wight festival and Rhythmtree festival.

We have released a cd, dvd, cassette and now a record (raising money for the MNDA), and it has been an absolute pleasure to play with such lovely guys.

Of course, I cannot, not mention, the ukulele duet that Alice and I performed at our wedding, surely a lifetime highlight for those present! Our rendition of 'Tonight, You Belong To Me', was rehearsed for months and was very sweet. 

I will continue to sing in the shower, giving it lots of emotion, but my life on the stage is done.

"Thank you, and goodnight!"