Where do I begin…
Well, while I’m writing this I’m listening to Dogs D’Amour – In the Dynamite Jet Saloon on green vinyl (one of the few records that survived the chaos of the Castle Wholey party days and which he later gifted me in very used condition I might add, ha!) and I should be drinking but it’s midday so I’ll let Tyla do the drinking and debauchery for me…and I’m getting drunk on these potent memories anyway (they were one of Jon’s favorite bands which was decidedly not my thing but I eventually came around on Tyla’s poetic and streetwise interpretation of the romantic struggles of life. Jon turned us onto many bands and we in turn him. Like Type O Negative – Bloody Kisses…which was on perpetual loop for like a year straight on his stereo!). That’s how we instantly connected, through our love and passion for music, many existential pontifications about the mysteries of the Universe, enjoying the excesses of life to its absolute fullest (spitting in the Devil’s eye!) and a lot of partying, lol (and Tolkien too, of course!).
We all met Jon through a strange kind of fate when Mr. Wholey got a post at the World Bank in DC in late ’91, I believe (a fellow workmates son, Eric, listened to Metal, Mr. Wholey’s son listened to Metal, they should meet up! The father’s said). Jon was new to the states and Eric was asked to maybe show the young Brit around (here’s some beer money, ha), Eric asked me to come along…we had no idea what to expect. When we first saw him it was like seeing a lost member of the Sex Pistols, LOL! Tall, young, Punky, with spiky dyed blonde hair and spiky boots too! It was instant chemistry…we were friends instantly…and Jon instantly became my little brother. There was an immediate and lasting connection. That’s how things happen when you’re young and you’re traveling at the speed of light through this epic journey called life.
Well, we had a million and one crazy times from around ‘91-‘96…let me tell you. I wasn’t there for all of them because I went to college up north in mid ’92 and would come back during holiday breaks (or long weekends) and since I didn’t have a family (long story) Mr. Wholey graciously allowed me to stay at the house (lovingly called Castle Wholey). So I was like a part of the family. Let me tell you that there is A LOT of powerful and residual energy in that house, lol. One of the most memorable occurrences being the night that I brought a bunch of fencing equipment back from college from a Fencing class I was attending and it is…legendary. Let’s just say drinking and fencing doesn’t mix, lol. I mean I brought fencing masks but who could be bothered to use them when you’re living the dream of swashbuckling like Robin Hood (me and Jon of course!) and you’re also young and invincible! Well, let’s just say I didn’t lose my left eye but that was definitely a night to remember, lol! (Don’t worry, happy ending. My left eye is actually stronger than my right eye, ha)
Another one, seeing Ozzy on the No More Tours Tour in ’92! ‘Nuff said!
When we all found out Jon had passed we were already setting up a memorial for two of our friends (also friends of Jon’s from those days) that had passed away a couple of months of each other in the spring of ’18 (heart attack and drug overdose respectively…both in their mid-40’s…) so when we heard about Jon we were…gutted…he was the baby of the group…it was impossible…just impossible…😢
We had lost contact after I graduated in ’96 and he moved back to England but we reconnected over the phone in the mid ‘00’s and I always thought that I would be visiting him in England one day (which we talked about for years because he knew my love for history and England and I had never been) having a pint at the local pub, listening the Sex Pistols/Motorhead/The Cult/The Ramones/Type O etc on the jukebox, and talking about old times…
We love you man. You Wild Hearted Son…travelling in the Great Beyond…a part of the chorus in the Great Gig in the Sky…
Your brother forever,
Skull