rivers2cross

One of the last people I spoke to for The Record was Jules Peters. This chapter was a long time in the making, and when a meeting with Jules before The Alarm’s December 2018 gig in Reading had to be cancelled, I did wonder if my opportunity might have gone. However, we had a brief chat in Llandudno at The Gathering in early 2019, and Jules was still keen to support the book, so plans were put in place to make it happen.

It was one of those chats which I prepared myself for without knowing how long I would get, or how many questions I would be able to squeeze in. My thinking was I would have about 20 minutes. Well… over an hour later our conversation ended having covered Jules’s life, music and cancer. She was ever so forthcoming and honest, and really opened up to me in great depth about her breast cancer experience and life in The Alarm. The common theme throughout all the highs and lows is Jules’s positivity, and she is a huge inspiration, and has provided great support to others going through similar tough times. Jules, like everyone else featured in the book reveals the first record that they bought, and hers is a classic, but quite a long way from the rock and roll she plays in The Alarm. It ended up being the longest chapter in the book by a distance.

It was also mission accomplished once again. In Lives & Times ,my previous book, I managed to meet all the original members of The Alarm. For The Record I set out to meet the current line up. It took me a couple of years, but getting Smiley, James and Jules was a real highlight, and all of them have been so supportive. Of course much has happened since these meetings, but they provide fascinating insight into their lives and careers.

My own amazing journey with The Alarm continues. Started back in early 1983 when I heard ‘The Stand’ on John Peel’s late night Radio 1 show, here I am over 38 years later still loving their music as much as ever, and enjoying History Repeating, the most recent 40th anniversary release from The Alarm. The bowel cancer fundraising has led me to making many new friendships in The Alarm community, and has even resulted in me travelling to New York to see the band in 2018 and 2019. So out of sadness of losing my mum there have been some incredible positives.

The Record was written in memory of my mum who died of bowel cancer in 2016 after being diagnosed in 2012. Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK, with 16,000 deaths each year. However, if detected early at stage 1 it can be successfully treated on over 90% of cases. At the late stage 4 this figure drops to just 7% highlighting the need to raise awareness and improve early detection of this awful disease. All proceeds from sales of The Record are donated to Bowel Cancer UK.

As well as meeting Jules, I met and photographed a variety of famous people from the worlds of television, sport, music as well as some amazing and inspirational people from the cancer community. Each person featured in the book has told me about the first record that they bought.

Click here here to see all the ways that you can buy the book. It’s available as a paperback, hardback and an ebook. Over £1000 has been raised so far.