The winter of 1977 seems a long time ago now, meeting you for the first time on the Lincolnshire schools cruise, though we didn’t exactly get on then! It was only later at Lincoln tech that our relationship grew. Many good times on the college bus & Christmas drinks along with our time at Sleaford Venture Scouts. We then had a few years apart while you were in London and I completed my education before meeting up again in 1984. Our relationship continued for the next 6 years, we even tried living together for a while, that didn’t work out, however we carried on seeing each other even after I moved away from the capital.
We had some good times going to gigs & festivals, notably Knebworth 1985 getting soaked, Queen the following year, Marillion’s garden party in Milton Keynes and our final festival at Croperdy in the summer of 1990 before finally parting company at the end of that year. There was also the motorbike rallies such as the Kent Custom bike show throughout the late 80s. Our paths crossed a few times after 1990 the last time being OTT just after your son Rob was born. For a short time at least while we lived together your favourite song was Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man so next time my band plays live this will be dedicated to your memory.
I only found out about your passing a few weeks ago so was a bit of a shock, we always joked that our paths would continue to cross throughout our lives, sadly this never happened. So long Spike, maybe we’ll meet again.
Derek Sawyer
10/11/2026
