There´s a risk of this blog turning into a monthly obituary column, but all my heroes seem to be dying at once. First Norman Collier, Eddie Braben, and now, before his time, Graham Walker from The Grumbleweeds.
He´d made me laugh as a kid (I watched all the TV series and listened avidly to all “Grumbleweed” radio programmes) and made me laugh even more as an adult. That was the beauty of the man, he came from an era whereby you had to entertain across the generations, not like now where you have specialist kids entertainers and comics who do adult stuff.
I saw “The Weeds” live many times, from back in the day when they were five of them, then down to three and finally when they were a double act when Graham performed with fellow founder member Robin Colville. Each and every time without fail I loved them, mainly because of Graham.
They visited here in Benidorm many a time to perform, and I bumped into them in the street once. Graham was from my corner of the world and he told me excitedly about an Indian Takeaway he´d just purchased just around the corner from where I was born, also mentioning gleefully that he´d just purchased a pair of jeans from the market" for 2 euros"! He asked me about where I was working and if I was doing alright (even though he didn´t know me from Adam). He was just making idle chat, and I remember thinking what a lovely gentle man he seemed but more than that I recall having to stifle a laugh as he was seriously funny without even trying – and when he did try – well, he was simply brilliant.
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