OK Yah..

Smudge, I can see where you are coming from and you are right that we should be a little careful in what we say. However, "Rock Legend Gets Wasted on Booze" is hardly the most damaging headline - in fact, it can be positively career boosting.

I don't know if there is any substance to it but if Andy enjoys a few drams too many from time to time then I am more than cool with that !

I'm sure the whole band's sampled the rock 'n' roll lifestyle to the full in the past and good luck to them. It just seemed a bit unnecessary & disrespectful at this late stage in their careers to imply that one of them's too fond of the sauce. Perhaps I'm becoming a prude; I'll let you know when I sober up!

More than happy to discuss the potential reappearance of The Metaphors over a few jars with Andy, if anyone can arrange it for me!

Maybe Ian will pop in at the end of the session and settle our bar tab for us (ok, yah?)...

When you put it that way then you obviously have a point. At the same time, Ian is the source of a lot of interesting and presumably reliable insider info that I, for one, would never get to hear about if he didn't decide to share it with us. I wouldn't like him or anybody else to exercise too much discretion or to feel unduly inhibited about what they post.

It's a bit of a dilemma. I guess that JO'B has ultimate authority over things like this.

I'm only a fan,sharing any info I've picked up over the years. But I'm no Hero Worshipper. Nothing wrong with a drink or two. Nothing to be ashamed of or disrespectful in talking about. We all make decisions n life and if anyone wants a drink, it's ok by me! It's not illegal.

I had heard the rumors that Andy's playing pre-2000/1 gigs was borderline....then I heard him play, and he delivered that special signature sound. Great stuff. And several years later, the playing during the metaphors' gigs was really special. I haven't got a clue about how he sounds right now, but if that stuff was his last real blast, what a song swan it was

Wasn't it Alan Spenner (not wishing any disrespect) who had the use of a wheel chair after gigs due to a slight problem with sauce ?

I met Alan Spenner around 1988 at The Marquee Club when he was in Kokomo.They did one set,had a short break, and finished off with another set. In between sets he got hammered ! Couldn't fault his playing though. I also heard he got off the plane in Switzerland for The Bride Stripped Bare sessions....and needed a wheelchair to get him to the hotel!! It was a long flight !

To add a more topical side to this thread I believe Andy is appearing live in London at the end of July.
A few weeks back a free booklet, given away with the Telegraph about the London Festival, mentions the "Saxophone Massive" created by Jazzman Andy Sheppard. It goes on to say,
"On July 21, the British saxman and a group of fellow virtuosi, of the order of Roxy Music's Andy Mackay, will let rip from the roof of Somerset House, while the sounds of 200 more players, many of them almost total amateurs, will come surging from the courtyard and the cellars of the building below......"
A bit of on-line checking suggests the date could be Sunday the 22nd so it's worth waiting for confirmation.
If you like a bit of out-door sax this could be for you.....