Buffalo

I’m one of life’s fans, I get very enthusiastic about stuff. This was the case with ‘Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids’ by Nige Tassel. The book tells the story of what happened to the bands on the NME C86 tape before, during and after the tape’s release, with Nige tracking down one or more members of each band. I fucking loved the book. It’s funny, sad and at it’s heart a human story. I loved it so much that I thought it would be a great idea to bring the author to Cardiff for a reading and signing.

I got in touch with the publisher and received a response from Nige pretty quickly, he’d love to do it. Then there was a bit of toing and froing with a choice of venue before we alighted on the excellent Pop ‘n’ Hops in Whitchurch, which proved to be perfect.

So we were all set and there was a date in the diary for January. It sorta went on the back burner through December with all my shenanigans' . When the New Year dawned I got into publicizing the events with a few shout out on 6 Music and mentions on appropriate socials. I wanted it to be worth Nige turning up.

Come the day we had ‘sold out’ the 40 allocated free tickets. Two weeks before the event I came down with a bad cold and a hacking cough but had - mostly - recovered by the night. I was nervous before, you never know how many people are actually going to turn up at a book event. Sian and I arrived early and were chatting to Trev Pop ‘n’ Hops when I saw someone who very much looked like Nige Tassel walk past the shop. I ran afterward him.

“Are you Nige Tassel?”

“Yes I am.”

“I claim my five pounds!”

Nige was stretching his legs. I introduced him to Ed at Cardiff Record Exchange next door before going back to Pop ‘n’ Hops where we chatted as the place filled up. By the allocated kick off time of 7pm the place was packed! I couldn’t have been happier! Nige and I had agreed to the format of him doing three readings from the book and me asking him some questions before a Q&A from the audience, one from a certain Mr Steve Dixon of this parish, who had been to the same sweary Bobby Gillespie event that’s in the book, which had been set in a church!

Nige was just brilliant, warm, funny and friendly. With our conversation before hand and in-front of the audience he provided context and insight into the book, I only stumbled once - I think - when I got Stump and Bogshed mixed up, easy mistake to make. The questions from the audience were great, and showed a great knowledge and love for the tape and Nige’s book. He was bowled over by the reception he got, Nige stayed signing copies and happily talking to the punters. Later Nige told me he’d never signed so many copies of the book.

It was an evening o be cherished.