JOHN HELLIER

Original 60s mod around town. Author of the Steve Marriott biography 'All Too Beautiful'and the editor of the worldwide respected Small Faces magazine 'Darlings of Wapping Warf Launderette'. Writer of numerous sleeve notes for various albums. Contributor and advisor to various television programmes and films.

Organiser of both the Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane memorial concerts and the always popular annual Small Faces Convention and Christmas Mod Ball.

John Hellier speaks to Deep Joy (April 2015).

You were born in Romford, what was it like in Romford during the 60s or had you moved by then?

Romford was great back in the day. Geographically it's only 25 mins into London on the Liverpool Street line but you didn't always have to go into town for fun as it had its own very healthy music scene. Local haunts such as the Wykeham Hall and Willow Rooms used to feature all of the classy acts of the day such as Geno, Amen Corner and the Small Faces, as well. The Small Faces played their very first gig their after signing with Don Arden. Steve once told me "We played for over an hour and then the promoter refused to pay us as he said we were too loud, a sign of things to come!" Romford also had some great local bands such as Scrooge and the Misers, the Chasers and the Farm.

How old where you when you became aware of Mod?

I first became aware and got involved with the Mod scene around 1964 that was the year I left school. It was just a fad of the day and I drifted into it, along with most others, without a lot of thought. If somebody had told me back then that I'd be writing about it in half a century's time I'd have laughed my head off. We lived for the day, well the next weekend maybe!

I believe you were something of a Face on the scene. What was it like in those days? Where did you go? Who did you hang around with?

Mod was my whole life and firstly I'd just hang around with like minded school mates in local dance halls and coffee bars but pretty soon I'd be taking the train into Soho to frequent the likes of the Marquee and Scene Club. This was quite an eye opener for a 16 year old Essex boy! Places such as those two afore mentioned clubs were alcohol free, all you could get to drink was Coca Cola but pills were rife. I remember dodgy looking guys mingling with the crowd and taking orders. They'd then disappear outside and come back fifteen minutes later with a little brown bag!

Tell us a bit about your days as a drummer. I believe you played in several Mod bands? Anyone go on to achieve fame from the bands you played with?

I bought my first Premier drum kit in 1965 on HP, which for the benefit of younger readers was Hire Purchase. I remember my Dad having to sign for them as you had to be 18 to take out an agreement. You'd pay just a small deposit and the rest was paid weekly on the never never. I played with various Mod bands around Essex and East London including Circles, Music Box and Pink Gin but band wise my closest brush with fame was answering a "drummer wanted" ad in Melody Maker for John's Children. They were a fairly established Mod band in London whose drummer, Chris Townson, had walked out. I auditioned, got the job and spent a month or so rehearsing with them. Unfortunately (for me) Chris and the band made up their differences and they took him back. He had recently depped for Keith Moon on a European tour. That tells you how good he was, I had no chance!

How many times did you get to see the Small Faces? Did you get to know them in those days or did that come later?

I saw them many times between 1966 and 1968, probably around ten times or perhaps even more. There were two types of Small Faces gigs really. The small clubs where they would become Booker T and the MGs for the night with long rambling Hammond fuelled instrumentals and an attentive audience. Then there would be the Pop package tours in theatres and cinemas in which they'd play 20 minute sets consisting of the hit singles only. These gigs attracted a completely different type of audience consisting of mainly screaming teenage girls. It was like Beatlemania all over again.

What other bands did you get to see in those days? Did any of your bands get to support anyone big?

I saw most of the big bands of the day i.e.: Rolling Stones, Move, Action, Animals, Yardbirds, Spencer Davis Group etc. etc. I could go on and on. None of my bands got to support anybody of real note. We did a short Friday night residency at the Ad Lib club in London with a trio called Safari whose lead singer/vocalist Labi Siffre went on to have some hit records a bit later on.

How did your writing career start? I guess it was with your mag Wapping Wharf?

Yes, that pretty much started in the early 90s with Wapping Wharf. I took the mag over as from issue 5. It was started by a guy in Liverpool who produced the first four on a very low budget. They were copy/paste efforts with a print run of just 100. I thought they were smashing and told him so and offered to write a one off article for the fanzine. This I did, he liked it and asked for more. He threw in the towel after issue 4 and I took it over. It went glossy and generally more attractive.

How many subscribe to Wapping wharf these days?

In 2015 the magazine has a print run of 5,000 and a large majority of these are distributed worldwide by Cargo Distribution. I handle all of the subscriptions myself which total around 1,500.

Tell us a little about the US documentary The Life and Times of Steve Marriott. How did you become involved with that?

I was approached by a Los Angeles company to act as Executive Producer on a new Steve Marriott documentary that they planning for the US market only. They wanted me to oversee the project and also set up lots of interviews for them in London, which I did. They sent a crew over and we spent about 3 weeks filming.

It’s a great film but clearly for an American audience and somewhat dated now. I know there are plans for a new film Midnight of My life but are there any plans to do an up to date British version of the American film?

Work has already begun on an updated Marriott documentary (as yet untitled) for DVD release worldwide. I'm working on behalf of the estate with respected Producer Jamie Brewer. It's scheduled for completion and release in 2016.

Can’t wait mate!

Tell us about the new film Midnight of My life.

Midnight Of My Life is a short movie by Nina Gerstetner. It's set in 1985 with a running time of around 10 minutes. It involves the likes Martin Freeman and Quadrophenia's Phil Davis that alone should ensure interest. The idea is to show the film at festivals etc. worldwide and hopefully it will drum up enough interest to warrant a full length Marriott biopic based on the biography All Too Beautiful.

Sounds Great.

The Steve Marriott Memorial gig in 2001 was without doubt one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to and will stay with me forever. How on earth did you pull that off?

That gig was indeed awesome and was staged ten years to the very day after Steve's tragic demise. There were many highlights for me, none more so than putting the strongest possible Marriottless version of Humble Pie together with both Clem Clempson and his predecessor Peter Frampton playing together. There was also a Small Faces set with Mac, Kenney and Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher depping for Steve and Ronnie. It worked wonderfully and to top the night off we broke the bar takings record. That stood until the day they demolished the building some nine years later. Steve would have loved that!

And then to the Ronnie Lane gig. The Albert Hall for God’s sake!

Well after the success of Steve's show we just had to do one for Ronnie and where better than the Rolls Royce of venues the Royal Albert Hall. It was a big plan but everybody rallied around for one of the most liked and respected guys in the business. We sold the venue out and raised a very nice five figure sum for Ronnie's boys who had recently been made homeless due their (wooden) house burning down. Getting the DVD of the show released took me 10 years due to the very delicate politics involved. That was more difficult than putting the show on in the first place! The full three and a half hour show is available now from www.wappingwharf.com

The Small Faces convention. As you know I’ve been a regular for years, rarely sober though! How soon after the convention do you start planning the next one?

When I staged the very first one in 1997 at the Ruskin Arms it was intended as a one off event and if somebody had said that we'd still be doing them nearly twenty years on I'd have giggled. These days they're attended by fans from all over the world. It's totally amazing, it's very much a part of the London music calendar these days. I don't normally give the next one much thought until at least January, too many other projects going on.

Is there anyone you would love to play the convention that hasn’t as yet?

I'd love Paul Weller to do one but he's a busy man. He did the two Memorial shows for me so can't complain. I've had many wonderful guests over the years none more so than the legendary Stanley Unwin. A Gentleman of the highest order.

The Steve Marriott biography All Too Beautiful was a superb book and incredibly detailed. Together with Paolo Hewitt you pulled off a master stroke, How?

It was a good partnership. I did all of the research, some 77 interviews in total, then I transcribed everything and send large chunks of text over to Paolo who would put it all together chronologically. Just like a big jigsaw puzzle! It's now in its third edition and an eBook version will be available soon.

How was the book received by the Marriott family?

Not very well really as it is a warts n all account of Steve's life and career and there were probably too many "ugly" references in there to drugs and his general lifestyle. Myself and Paolo joked whilst writing the book that we'd have to get an edited version printed for Steve's Mum. I don't have any regrets about its content. If you're committed to telling the story, tell it all. A biography by somebody close to the subject is always more honest than an autobiography. Anybody writing about themselves would be very selective about which bits go in and which bits are left out, just human nature. With us everything went in.

Wapping Wharf records seems to be going from strength to strength. How the hell do you fit it all in?

Just before he died in 2004, Steve's manager of the 70s and 80s, Laurie O'Leary gave me a hoard of unreleased master tapes and made me promise him that the world would get to hear them and that's what we've been doing ever since. Even though he gave me the tapes they remain the property of Steve Marriott's estate i.e. Steve's widow, Toni, and everything is licenced and approved by her.

The Christmas Mod Ball was amazing this year. PP Arnold with the Small Fakers; again how did you pull that off? Did Pat take much persuading? (December 2014)

That gig was truly amazing and it'll take something very special to top that this year. I'd been trying for that gig for years so I suppose you could say Pat did take some persuading. At first she was very wary of playing with a tribute band but as soon as she saw them and rehearsed with them that was all blown out of the window. The Small Fakers are not just any ol' tribute band are they? They're pure class and as good as any tribute band in the world.

What’s next for you John? Anything up your sleeve?

Lots up my sleeve! Fingers in many pies! These include more mags, more Conventions, more Christmas Mod Balls, an updated Steve Marriott documentary, a possible BBC Small Faces special, more Marriott CDs and other merchandise in conjunction with the estate, assisting with the Marriott movie, several book projects including Pete Meaden and Ronnie Lane biographies and a couple of Small Faces specials, more TV and radio work including a second series of Soul Britannia and a Melvyn Bragg special on youth culture of the 50s 60s and 70s. I could do with more than 24 hours in the day really but not complaining because I love everything I do and not too many guys get to earn a living by doing that.

JOHN HELLIER www.wappingwharf.com

Many Thanks John for taking the time to answer the questions.

See you soon mate! Mez.