Brush With Roger's Uncle
I can't tell you about running into Roger's mum backstage at Brixton, but me and Stathis actually met a senior member of the Glover clan at the stagedoor outside Liverpool Empire in Februray 1996.Stathis, myself and a bunch of other fans are waiting while a few of the band are inside doing a soundcheck. In fact at this point Roger's already been and (just) gone. We spot this old pensioner coming up the street, leaning on a walking cane - I describe him this way because we were yet to learn who he actually was. He appears to have no teeth in his mouth (apparently forgotten his artificial teeth on the kitchen table at home!) and this has a considerable effect on his speech when he starts talking to us. Most people ignore him but for want of something better to do I actually pay a little attention. His words sound to me something like "Muuuh mamn polamm mmene nmmu munme naann munom". Me? I'm a foreigner so I nod politely whenever it seems appropriate. What I do understand from him though, is the fact that he's Roger's uncle. "Christ" I mutter under my breath to Stathis (convinced the old man's half deaf) "this is Roger Glover's uncle!" Apparently the old man detects some sort of disbelief in our faces and swiftly pulls out some sheet of paper from an Art Club he belongs to, which lists all it's members, including a Mr Glover. "That's me!" he says.
The bottomline is he hasn't seen Roger since 1976 (he tells us), but then Roger's never been to Liverpool since then, so... And we tell him he's just missed him then - what an incredible case iof bad luck. We direct him to the band's hotel, but he returns a short while later explaining to us that the hotel staff said Roger wasn't staying there! If they'd known he was a relative I suspect he'd have gotten a different reply.
As it turns out he did meet his Nephew later on, Roger confirmed this. But Stathis and I thought it was quite hilarious to have actually met Roger Glover's uncle (one out of a big family I guess). Stathis even took a picture of Mr Glover and myself...
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