Hip hop
There are music fans, and then there are music fans. Gary Stewart sits in this category – music isn’t just a passion or a hobby, it’s his lifeblood, the reason he gets out of bed in the morning.
It all started as a Bowie kid in the early 70s, addictive to the white heat of glam; as a kid he hung out with Lemmy, helping Hawkwind to load-in their gear. Fascinated by the world of northern soul he spent countless nights at the Wigan Casino and Blackpool Mecca, absorbing everything from rare Motown to the exuberant colour of Funkadelic.
The 80s brought a side-line as a DJ, before managing a number of groups, gaining support slots with The Smiths and new Order in the process. A record label came and went, he built a recording studio, and amassed the kind of memorabilia that other folks can only gasp at.
An enormous personal archive, Gary Stewart has sifted through his collection to detail just a few of these gems at a new exhibition. Airing as part of the Louder Than Words Festival, NOSTALGIA FOR A FUTURE THAT NEVER HAPPENED is an incredible journey through the decades, as committed to new groups like The Orielles as it is to greats, such as Bowie or Nile Rodgers.
Summing up the exhibition Gary Stewart recalls a meeting with KLF founder Bill Drummond. “He did a lecture last year,” Gary remembers, “and he came out and showed off a big canvas painting that he’d done. All it said on it was: ‘Go out, see things.’ I can’t have a better blueprint for a young music fan than that.”
Ahead of this, Clash spoke to Gary Stewart, and we’re able to show off a few gems from his collection.
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Prince – Manchester Academy 12/02/12 setlist + ticket stub
Prince’s gig at Manchester Academy was one of the last shows he played in the UK before he passed. It was on the piano and mic tour, and it was very high security – you had to go through three stages of security, and they put a little sticker on your phone camera so you couldn’t take any photos. If you were caught without the sticker on your camera, you’d be thrown out – part of the deal!
I was stood next to the sound desk and asked the sound engineer if when the show’s over, can I please have the setlist, but he replied “I’m not meant to give it to anybody.” So I went into full blag mode – I said to him: “Well that’s really interesting, because I’ve just left the man in his dressing room and he’s told me to come and ask you for it!”. “Well, if the man said it, then it’s yours!” he said, and at the end of the gig he was leaning over the desk with these three pages, saying “here you go buddy, I’ve saved these for you!”
During the encores, Prince was inviting people on stage who were dancing and playing along. When he finished, everybody left the stage apart from one guy who was still dancing – he had a checkered shirt on, jeans with big turn-ups and big leather shoes. And Prince just got up from the piano, looked at him, and said: “Hey, Mumford and Sons, fuck off!”
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Brian Eno – Oblique Strategies card set
Brian Eno and the artist Peter Schmidt came up with Oblique Strategies. They were made for artists and producers so that if you hit a dry spot in the studio, you could pull out a card and whatever it said, you’d have to do it. There was apparently one occasion where he was with U2, and they pulled out the card that says “everybody swap instruments”.
I went to see the band James at a Q&A – they’re the band I’ve seen the most, I lost count after 40 times – and I was wondering what question I’d ask. I knew that they’d used Oblique Strategies with Eno, so when it came to my turn I pulled out the box and said “I would like the question to be whatever card that you pull out.” Larry pulled one out and then Tim came across saying “I love this idea, I’m going to have a go as well!” I think they found it amusing that I wasn’t just asking, “what’s your favourite colour?”
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David Bowie – signed Hunky Dory print
Hunky Dory is, obviously, a very iconic album, and its album cover is to me one of the most defining images of Rock n Roll – I’ve heard it classed as the Mona Lisa of the genre. Having one of the original prints signed by Bowie himself is one of my pride and joys in my collection, as at one stage in Bowie’s life, that passed through his hands.
Now that he’s passed, it’s made even more valuable – not just in money but in sentiment. There were 195 prints made, and when they were released I made sure I got No. 72, as it’s the year the album came out.
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Beastie Boys – framed Licensed to Ill t-shirt
I went to see the Beastie Boys at the Royal Court in Liverpool, right in the middle of the hysteria. They had just played Brixton the night before, where there was a bit of an uproar, and when I got to the Royal Court it kind of felt like something was in the atmosphere – something was gonna kick off.
Adam Horovitz came out on stage with a baseball bat and said “Liverpool, let me fucking have it” – and Liverpool let them have it! The DJ was hit on the head and fell over backwards, the mixing desk was picked up and thrown, there were girls screaming in their gogo cages, and people were out in the streets causing mayhem. Consequently the Beastie Boys were arrested for inciting a riot and threatened with deportation (which obviously, they got off with).
I was wearing this t-shirt the night of the gig, and in the aftermath the police went around telling door staff and landlords to not serve anyone who’d been to the Beastie Boys gig. So, I went into a chip shop and bought the shirt off the back of one of the guys behind the counter so I could go and get a drink.
The Smiths – Complete box set + Johnny Marr’s plectrum
I went to see Nile Rodgers in conversation with Dave Haslam when Nile’s book came out a few years ago. It was completely sold out, and when I got there I noticed right before it started that there were a few empty seats beside me. None other than Johnny Marr – who’s a massive Nile Rodgers fan – came and sat next to me with his family. Johnny had just remixed that boxset, and as we were leaving we had a little chat. He pulled the plectrum out of his pocket and said “put that with your box set – and don’t sell it on eBay.”
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Chic – Tres Chic LP signed by Nile Rodgers
I got this signed by Nile on the same occasion that I met him with Johnny Marr. I had two records with me, which had covers that the record company deemed to not fit with the band’s image, so they had them all destroyed – but I managed to get my hands on some.
I gave the album to Nile to sign, who said he’d never seen the cover before, and Johnny said he hadn’t either. I gave Johnny the album, and he replied he couldn’t take it, but I said “well you’ve given me lots of music Johnny, so take this – but don’t sell it on eBay.”
Hawkwind – Photo of Gary Stewart playing Simon King’s drumkit
On the 1st January ’74, Hawkwind were back in Blackburn after bringing the Space Ritual tour to town the year before. The tour was the first of its kind – a multimedia show with a live cinema projection, dance and poetry – and I was keen to meet the people who had conjured it all up. At lunchtime, I headed down to the venue early to see if I could meet them, and ended up helping them unload their gear! I noticed the back of their speakers all had the words ‘Pink Floyd’ painted on them, and the band explained they were good friends of theirs and the only people who could finance such a setup.
They let me hang around for soundcheck and even play on Simon King’s drums. This was long before the rider was a thing, so afterwards they asked me if I knew anywhere that would be open on New Years Day – I took them to a cafe down the street but it was closed. I told them, “well, my mum would have plenty of food,” so we all bundled into a cab – it was me, the bassist, the keyboardist, a dancer and Lemmy, who went on to found Motörhead. My mum must have been horrified I had brought home a rock band on New Years Day!
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NOSTALGIA FOR A FUTURE THAT NEVER HAPPENED: An Exhibition of Pop Ephemera curated by Gary Stewart runs this weekend (November 11th – 13th) at the Innside Hotel, Manchester. It is part of the Louder Than Words festival.
With thanks to Jay Singh.
