![]() ![]() The way I handled it was to live in the minute and to absolutely accept that I was going to die. That extraordinary year of facing death is fading like a dream. Have you ever felt that your recovery cheated you out of the perfect death? Feelgood, influencing and becoming part of the story of rock’n’roll, I’m quite proud of that. He’d been watching us on stage and sussed me out as a speed freak. You don’t know it yet, but you are,” and pulled out a huge bag of whizz. After the first show, Lemmy came up to me and said: “You’re really pleased to see me. Feelgood signed to United Artists they gave us some gigs supporting Hawkwind. Over the last three decades I’ve got more disillusioned with politicians generally. Back in those days I thought of myself as an anarchist. When I was at university I was left-wing. He’s got these soliloquies where he’s just so bitter, railing against mankind. He’s partying down with everyone, they’re all spending his money and then he runs out of cash and freaks. To which Shakespearean role would you be best suited? It’s an expensive one, but I can’t be bothered with it. So we got it home, and I can’t even make the propellers go round. But on the way I got a bit pissed, went into Maplins and I come walking out with one of those drones. Just last week I was hunting around and the mission was to get a reel of gaffer tape. Then I’d barge into him and he’d send me off on a silly-walk solo. Look at pictures of Feelgood and I’m always looking across at him. Feelgood stage dynamic centred on me responding to Lee’s ferocity. Who’s the fiercest: Roger Daltrey or Lee Brilleaux? I had this technique of blowing over my tongue while drinking. I used to be able to drink a cup of hot coffee quicker than anyone I’ve met. If I was ever going to rejoin I should have rejoined the proper Dr. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if that hadn’t occurred. I sometimes think I regret the bust up with Dr. Johnson says he can’t quite summon up the sensations of that fantastic year now, and so life has reverted to what it always was: complicated and occasionally chaotic.What are the best and worst drugs you’ve taken? They made a mistake, yes, but that mistake led to one of the most fantastic years of my life.” I didn’t see that taking action against an NHS hospital would be useful to anyone. “When this book of mine was at the lawyers,” he says, “they told me that I had a strong case for suing those doctors for that misdiagnosis. He referred him to a cancer specialist, who later pronounced that the cancer was operable after all. And then something remarkable happened: a doctor at one of his shows became convinced he was not showing symptoms of imminent mortality. ![]() He fully expected that feeling to fade, but when it didn’t he became unusually productive, embarking upon an emotional farewell tour, and recording a hit album with The Who’s Roger Daltrey. Album reviews: Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey, The Hold Steady, Shakira, Liars, Sabina.The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson, film review: Modern-day renaissance man celebrates life. ![]() From Wilko Johnson to The Kinks’ Dave Davies, the musicians who came back from near death.And then he began to win awards with the word “Legend” inscribed upon them, thus elevating him from cult hero to national treasure. The film director Julien Temple made two documentaries about him – Oil City Confidential, The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson – which led to him being offered the role of a mute executioner in Game of Thrones. As he entered his seventh decade, Johnson began to enjoy something of a career renaissance. But I made a living.”Īs Pete Doherty might one day experience should he make it into his 60s, the British public tends to react generously when our nihilistic rock stars fail to die of their foibles. I just drifted along, often making terrible misjudgements. I never expected it to happen again just because I went solo. But then, you know, the band succeeded far more than I ever thought we could, so success always seemed like a very lucky thing. Dr Feelgood broke up, bitterly, in 1977, and ever since Johnson has lurched, as he puts it, “from one chaotic moment to another. ![]()
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