Way back in the very early seventies, it might even have been the very late sixties I first heard about the group Dr Strangely Strange.
They were a seriously hippy, Trinity/Newtown school group of musicians who were reckoned to be Irelands answer to the uber cool Incredible String Band.

Now it just so happened that I had an intro to this group as a Cork friend, Mary Mac was going out with Ivan Pawle one of the band.
Through them I met their manager Stephen Pearce, the potter, and as I was based in Dublin, Steve would get me to help out when the group did gigs there.
I became a sort of unofficial groupie/roadie.
Another of their groupies at that time was a guitarist called Gary Moore and if he was good they would let him play on some of their gigs (they were that cool)

The bit of unofficial roadying meant of course that I got free into the concerts and Steve would mostly get me to sit at the console by the mikes just to turn off switches if anyone started getting electrocuted.
There was another fan,a black guy about my age who also helped out and so the two of us would regularly meet when the Stranglies did a gig.
We became casual buddies.

In the fullness of time Strangelies wound up (not before they had made two LPs)
Mary and Ivan married (in the arts club in TCD) in 1970, I was at the wedding, and Tim Booth, another Strangely played at Sile and my wedding in 1973.

It was probably in the middle Seventies when I was walking down Grafton with a young nephew when I spotted the young fellow who used to sit at the console with me during the Strangely’s concerts.
We stopped and did the usual ‘Long time no see thing’ stuff and went on our way.
I suddenly noticed that my nephew had gone quite pink.
“How in the name of God ” he said “Do you know Phil Lynnot !”

I had no idea.

The reason I am suddenly remembering all this is that I had two visitors from the past stay with me last week.
Ivan and Mary Pawle, now suppliers of Organic Wines to Irish restaurants were down in the Languedoc sorting out their wine list last week and they stayed with me overnight.
We hadn’t met since their wedding forty years ago.
And they came bearing gifts, two digitally remastered CDs of theirs.
I played “Kip of the Serenes” yesterday and am glad to report that I am still word perfect.