Stump singer is no more (Mick Lynch R.I.P.)

I remember being thrilled when I saw Stump on The Tube. My mother had only recently begun hiring a video recorder. The promo for Buffalo (which I think The Tube paid for)was one of the first things I taped and I watched it over and over again. John Peel gave the band some much needed promotion which led to them being signed and getting on the cover of Melody Maker magazine. My friend Barney bought the band's debut album with record tokens he got for Christmas. I can remember sitting in his bed room listening to songs like "Everything In It's Place" and feeling envious that I didn't have enough money to buy the album myself. When the band played The Deptford Albany Empire my friend and I were the youngest heads in the crowd that night. We didn't stay to the end and I remember we ran from the venue to New Cross station as we were scared something bad would happen to us. Stump's second album featured the near hit "Charlton Heston Put His Vest On" I remember wayching the video on The Chart Show and not enjoying it as much as I want to. C'est la vie. Five years after being hooked on "Buffalo" I met Stump's sing Mick Lynch is Camberwell, South London. I was now aged 18 and was doing a foundation course at Camberwell School of Art - Mick Lynch was working as sort sort of technician. My friend Rowland Smith went over to him and asked for his autograph. After chatting to the Stump singer for a few seconds Rowland went off to the bar, when he eventually came back he explained Lynch had said he would only give him an autograph if he bought him a drink. Rowland showed me what Lynch wrote - it said: "To Rowland, a man with more money than sense." 15 or so years later I put together an exhibition where artists paid tribute to John Peel by doing a painting of a band he championed. Rowland and I had a go at painting Stump. It was a bit of a rush job. Maybe now the time is right to do a better one?

I still love Quirk Out and the video for Buffalo. R.I.P Mick Lynch