EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

I recently received the collection of press cuttings that belonged to the Moon Family via Christie's Auction House.

At no small expense, I'm glad to know that these now sit in the hands of a true fan as opposed to "someone" that is likely to stick them up on Ebay in order to make a fast buck or two. What saddened me about the previous acution of the John Entwistle estate, was the number of items that subsequently appeared on the Ebay site - I was desperate to get hold of something that I could immediately remember John by (other than, of course, the stunning musical legacy he left us with!). I wasn't successful on the day, but sure enough, items that I had bidded on during the auction, then showed as being "for sale" again. Should Ebay police this kind of thing? I guess not in a free market economy.......

The cuttings provide a wonderful insight into not only Keith's life and death, but also, the great sense of pride that his family felt a having such an immense talent and SUPERSTAR under their wing. To begin with, there are three scrapbooks:

1) 1960's scrapbook containing 22 pages and three additional cuttings.

2) 1960's scrapbook containing 37 pages.

3) 1960's scrapbook containing 16 pages and 38 additional cuttings.

One contains a large colour picture of Keith, under which, his sister Linda has inscribed in bold biro's capital letters "THIS IS MY BROTHER!" How excited she must have been to have seen him appearing on "Ready! Steady! Go!" or "Top Of The Pops"; how great it must have felt to know that her brother was responsible for helping to shape the face of British music and subsequently revolutionise rock drumming. You can just see her now, sitting in front of the TV with a huge smile on her face; mum Kitty in the background wondering just whether this is Keith's true vocation in life.

To go along with the scrapbooks are a further 6 cuttings packs:

4) A collection of 20 cuttings for various UK newspapers from 1978.

5) A collection of 126 cuttings from various UK newspapers from 1965 to 1978.

6) A collection of 26 cuttings from Record Mirror and Sounds from the 1960's and 1970's.

7) A collection of 29 cuttings from Melody Maker from the 1960's and 1970's.

8) A collection of 43 cuttings from Disc And Music Echo from the 1960's and 1970's.

9) A collection of 99 cuttings from NME from the 1960's and 1970's.

The set from 1978 covers Keith's death - interesting to note is that he is remembered fondly by the journalists, although with a nod towards that fact that he was considered to be something of a joke character in line with his innate abilities as a musician. Number 5) contains a great deal on the accident which caused the death of Keith's driver, Neil Boland in 1970. As well as this, there is a large amount of coverage on the split between Keith and his wife, Kim.

What a contrast to those heady days of the early 1960's.

All in all, my collection of Who press cuttings / magazine articles now totals something in the region of 2000 items. How best to manage this, I have no idea at the moment. Had I had this earlier It would potentially have been of great use to the makers of the forthcoming film "Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who".

I'd dearly love to have the time to scan everything properly and publish it on the web - after all, what use is a collection like this just sitting in my cupboards? Surely it's of more use being viewed by people with a similar interest?

However, it may be opportune to get some of the items scanned and sent across to Trinifold for reference for the biopic of Keith's life. If they choose to use it, great - if not, no one's any the worse off, are they?

Maybe I could transcribe them and present the detail here? Hmmm - again the time issue.

Given all of this, it seems I have plenty to occupy myself with during the winter weekends and the run up to summer 2008.

Shit - I'm going to see the Vicar tonight with Jeannie to discuss the wedding!