Some of the peripheral but very important Semi-Pants
(baggies)
The band began as a communal affair and at the beginning was a very fluid, New-Wave, Festival of Love, Socialist sort of nonsense (this was before the founder-members realised that fame, glamour, money, booze and women might be available and the less individual members involved the greater the potential rewards per capita).
So there were many other forgotten names which became entwined in the ideology of the Pants. The hol(e)y Pants that eventually gave birth to the World Rock n’ Roll monstrosity that we still have in all it’s mediocre abundance to this day.
It’s also the fault of the these heroic, talented individuals that the world has since had to endure the likes of Bryan Adams, Ozzy Osbourne and his awful harridan Sharon, the Spice Girls, Sniff This, etc
The mists of time being very cruel, not all the conspirators can be named but the following is a round-up of some that spring to mind. Readers who are able to fill in the gaps or help us locate some of our old buddies are more than welcome to get in touch.
a) Alan (Buy Us a Meal) McCloughlin, who inspired us
to concoct some remarkable ditties, in most of which
parodied .
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b)John (Smackers) Clarke, Skid bumped into him way back in 1992 outside Wimbledon Job Centre, he was working as a postman at that time, Skid was looking for work, Smackers was looking for the letterbox.
Luckily for us, Smackers has been in touch with Rock throughout the ensuing years so when Skid, and Justin met up with Rock recently, Smackers was there too
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c)Roy Meadows (Royston), so important to the whole Pants movement, Royston
was the 6th Pant, as important as Nicky Hopkins was to the Stones, we have tried very hard to locate Roy.
d) Peter (the Painter) Heffingham, became a drinking, dart-playing and FFC
watching buddy of Skid in the late ‘70s.
e) Chris (Horse) Marsdale, he was a great friend and although sometimes guested
was not at many gigs but hung around with the Pants. He featured in some of the earliest
photo shoots of the boys and famously appears on the cover of the first album, the Many
Moons of the Horned Planet. Horse was the brother of one of Skid’s best mates, Bob, who
is another long-lost shadow from the past we’ve had no luck in tracing.
f) Shaun Wright, (ok not actually a musical contributor but guested in the famous ‘Ring of
Fire’ flatulence ignition ceremonies) he now lives in America.
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g)Dave Benham, again never involved creatively or even remotely as a contributor but some visitors may appreciate remembering this reclusive old mate of ours.
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h)Bob Marsdale, a really close friend of Skid from the ages of 12 right up to 18 hwere we all drifted into grown-up lives and lost touch with each other. Bob suddenly vanished without a trace in around 1969. He turned up unannounced at Skid’s Chelsea pad and took umbrage that as Skid was entertaining, it was rather inconvenient at that time of the evening, something Skid has regretted to this day, we’d love to meet up with Bob again.
Ging recounted bumping into him in around 1979 and later that year , professing that he was a successful businessman and that Bob expected to be a millionaire shortly.
Ginger excitedly rang Skid in 1980 recounting how on reading his local newspaper his eyes were drawn to a newspaper article telling that ‘Mr Robert Marsdale had appeared in court charged with being drunk in charge of a bicycle’. Unfortunately it did not publish contact details.
