I’m truly sick of getting news of people passing away. Their
proximity to my age is a factor. Sure. Artie was 8 years older than me. When I
was living it up in Spain, I got the news that Prof my old mucker from Tyneside
had left the theatre. No doubt,
something else will happen and someone else will be taken in if not exactly
their prime, way too fucking early.
So this coming Thursday night, in a certain bar on Tres
Cruces in Mad-town. Mahou’s will be lifted in honour of our fallen comrade
Arturo Vega who not only designed the greatest, most enduring logo but he made
The Ramones possible. He and Monte facilitated their place in the firmament.
God knows where those guys would have wound up if it wasn’t for their role.
I can’t claim to have known Arturo well but we met on many
occasions where he took care of business as only he could. It’s a sad day for
rock’n’roll because there’s one less guy around that made a difference. His
spirit will endure though. Through everybody he met. Strangely, my last
encounter with him involved my trying to get a print of a shot he took of Joey
wearing his NBT shirt, the one in the anthology book. Then just last week when another
shot appeared on facebook, I was eager to prove it wasn’t one of Artie’s. He
came up in the “conversation” then bam – I get a message from Kevin with the
news.
Memo to the Reaper... enough with the collection of good
souls lately. Give it a rest for a while or maybe concentrate on the bastards
that deserve to be scooped up.
Come see The A-Bones on Thursday and hoist a glass.