Like some of John’s other friends, It’s taken me a bit of time to write something her. It doesn’t seem possible, going from a very recent converstion regarding which show we were all attending to see one of our musical heroes, Def Leppard, to now, where he’s no longer with us, at least in person, anymore. That very show we discussed, is happening in one week’s time as I write this. I don’t think it will ever be quite the same seeing the band again, knowing I won’t get that excited phone call from John, as I always did.

I can see from what others have written, that everyone had their own experience knowing him, like chapters in a book I suppose. I first met him around 2003, we were both on a Def Leppard fan forum and had a mutual interest in guitars. That same year, the band made a very unusual appearance at Portsmouth Guildhall, a place that was pretty local to us both, so he came up with this crazy plan that we should both take our very expensive Phil Collen siganture guitars to the Guildhall to get them signed by Phil Collen himself. We made a plan to meet but I didn’t take my guitar because I didn’t think there was any chance of getting them signed.

I ended up meeting the band outside the venue, no sign of John.. I mentioned to Phil that we were hoping to get a guitar signed, and true to form, John made his entrance as he came bowling down the street, guitar in hand, larger than life, no fear, no hesitation – some of the things I came to admire about him the most. Needless to say, he achieved his goal and got the guitar signed and we later even got in to the show to see the band. It was a great memory, and a great story. John just had a way of making things happen. Some of you will have seen the photos from that day at John’s encore. I took all of those pictures, so lost in the moment that I forgot to get any of me! He phoned me some years later to ask me if I still had the photos, saying ‘my wife doesn’t believe me that we met Def Leppard and sat on the floor with Phil Collen while he played my guitar’. I had the pictures to prove it haha!

What was to follow were many occassions where we met up for gigs, many hours long late night phone conversations, each time there was a story, as there always was with him. We had a bond, a shared love of music and bands. He was the only person I knew, who knew probably more than I did about rock bands and guitars, we truly were on the same page and it’s not often in life you can say thay about friends, as wide and varied as they usually are. I loved hanging out with John, and I loved our epic phone calls, it was always exciting and I could talk to him for hours, his enthusiasm made me enthusuastic.

I fell out of touch with him for a while, then out of the blue, a phone call, and another story, this time to tell me had got married, he called Susan his American rock chick, and I think finally, he had been tamed! I’m so glad he met and married his soul mate, he really deserved to find that happiness.

As I write this, I still find it quite upsetting. We had planned for ages to meet up in Bournemouth, but busy lives get in the way when you don’t think there’s any urgency, and of course we didn’t get around to it, something I regret now, and a timely reminder to make the most of the time we do have. It’s common to hear people described as being larger than life, but in John’s case, it really was true. I admired him and wished I was more like him. I don’t think anyone could meet him and not like him, that’s just how he was. 

John my friend, I’m lucky to have known you over all these years. I will miss you tremendously. I’ll be thinking about you mate, especially when doing the things we loved to do. I’ll raise a glass to you tonight. Adios buddy.