Seer/Suckers, Greasy Truckers, Forward Thinking Motherfuckers,

In the name of the old religion, what’s going down? In early September, a speeding driver doing 70 through Avebury at dawn smashed head on into the huge diamond-shaped Swindon Stone, totalling the car and chipping a bit off the stone itself! Later in September, in the sacred Inca capital Machu Picchu, Greedhead U.S. advert makers filming a beer commercial(!!!) sneaked a 1000lb crane into the central sanctuary and then dropped it, breaking part of the Intihuatana, or “Hitching Post of the Sun”. This ancient sundial and solar observatory, which was used constantly until less than a thousand years ago, had been cynically set up as a drinks bar without the custodians’ permission. Oh, lobotomised Artholes! While Merrick is in Prague full on against the corporate onslaught, you lacklustre lackeys of the Greedheads actively violate a most righteous sacred centre (even the Independent had a little chuckle because it wasn’t one of ours). Me, I’m exhausted just reading about such cynicism, especially as the righteous and revolutionary John Lennon would have been 60 years old this week!

Did you keep up with the Olympics? How I love to see mystics like Steve Redgrave and Denise Lewis buoy the country up with feats of such breathtaking persistence, endurance and sustained will. Dorian sits in front of the TV screaming “Come on, Britain. Come on … Oh, I’m so proud to see us do so well!!!” She talks about these islands of mystery and legend with such love – by the time she’s finished, I’m standing around all proud and looking off into the distance, nostrils flared post-coitally.

Hey Drudes, the tour’s upon us. It’s midnight and the room is in chaos as I sit listening to Acid Mothers Temple’s “Speed Guru” on the headphones. Clothes are spread around, papers and plans, artwork for all the new CDs and t‑shirts. Donald Ross Skinner and I have rehearsed loads of songs, including “Leperskin” and “East Easy Rider”, this week, while Thighpaulsandra prepared CDs of between show music at his Mid Glam studio. Get to the show early if you can, ‘cause I’ve picked cool stuff for y’all to hear. Stuff by Bang, Sir Lord Baltimore, Amon Duul, Blue Cheer, Brain Donor, Kiss, Hairy Chapter, Funkadelic, Electric Eels, White Witch, Sabbath, Alex Harvey, Motley Hoople – the hits just keep on coming! I’ve been offered another one-hour road movie by the BBC, this time a pre-emptive film about Let Me Speak To The Driver. This spring, there’s also the offer of a two-day festival at the British Museum, if I can just get the most ideal format together properly. And you know how these things can drag so don’t hold your breath. And, anyway, the road beckons for the next two months. Thighpaulsandra is planning to play a couple of songs at the Gloucester show and in London, whilst Doggen wants to play “S.T.A.R.C.A.R.” in Nottingham on his ‘new’ 1957 Les Paul Goldtop, which a friend in L.A. found in a skip (sic sic sic!)

Meanwhile, the threat of another petrol blockade in 60 days hangs over the entire tour, though I’m generally supportive of the whole thing. Sure, I know it was cynical hauliers who started all this off with their need for cheaper fuel, but the rumblings of discontent in the populace are louder than the minor earthquake the Midlands suffered last week. And look at punk for a parallel: a stiff like McLaren may have started it off for selfish reasons, but look who he brought down unintentionally and what sprung up in its place.

So build your house on Rock – let none remain to mock.

Love reign on ya,

Mr DRUDE (M’Lud of Yatesbury)