Well here we are out on the road again. The crossing from Dover to Calais was smooth and the white cliffs of Dover looked striking in the fading sunlight. The wind was fresh on deck but I managed to get a few pics.

Rob says I can have two more strings if Im good

The weather is good for travelling and spring is in the air. We had a great night in Vervier Belgium at Spirit of 66. Thank you Francis for good time gig, last night (Thursday).

see I´m already to go - what you lot playing at

We are getting some feedback from the UK gigs and people are trying to arrange the next dates in the UK. We are going to try to play some weekend dates so as soon as we have news we will post it on the EBB site. We are all looking forward to the Athens gig in May. It will be an almighty rocking night and it is Steve´s birthday at midight on the day of the show. Should be a night to remember.

The band bus is full of chatter as we speed our way down the autobahns. We had a very deep discussion today about useage of certain so called swear words and obscenities in a feminist and non feminist context. We did honest! It so happens one of my favourite words is used as a swear word or as part of an insult and I don´t like it at all. We´ll see what some of you think in a later post.

We are taking our day off in Osnabruck, Germany with our dear friend Connie. We just ate some great barbecue and now people are relaxing before the rest of the German gigs. I have begun to take some video footage of the guys on tour on my new toy. I dont expect to be Spielburg but it is great to be able to shoot moving images and look at them with out delay. The new hard disc recorders offer a wealth of features and so I have lots to play with. Its early days but I´ll keep you posted with more pics and news as and when I get chance.

copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2007

Mary Seacole nurse and heroine of the Crimean War

It is clear that while his contribution was important Wilberforce’s contribution to the abolition of slavery is exaggerated. You could be forgiven for thinking it was achieved by him alone. This is typical of the way british historians have chosen to falsely portray the way things have happened down the years. It is a typical strategy of Imperialist nations. For example the heroine of the Crimean War was always Florence Nightingale and there was never a mention of the nurse Mary Seacole.

Since the out burst of protest by Toyin Agbetu at the recent commemorative service at Westminster Abbey marking the 200th anniversary of the act to abolish the slave trade, I have pondered over a simple question. Is this man exercising his right to protest at the spectacle of the ruling classes absolving themselves of the stain of slavery or – is he unwilling to accept that this was a genuine attempt to make amends and we should all move on?
I have concluded that his voice is essential for us to understand what happened and how it affects the black people who live in the UK as well as all the children or descendants of slaves world wide. His indignation is righteous in my opinion. Many of the aristocracy of this country are descendants of slavers. The British industrial revolution was mostly funded by slavery and some piracy. Many of the great Corporations of this nation were founded by slavery. Think sugar – think Tate and Lyle etc, etc. The list is long. The entire white British nation derived huge benefit from slavery and still benefits from institutional racism.
Toyin was surely pointing out that the establishment of this nation has no cause to celebrate it’s decision to abolish slavery. The discussion as to whether or not the modern “baby father” phenomena and the high incidence of absent fathers from Afro Caribbean families is attributable to the dispossession of fathers during slavery goes on. Young children were allowed to be with their mothers for obvious convenience to the slaver while fathers were often separated from wives and children.
When a young black person or any other young person in the UK commits a crime it is very likely he will be placed on an ISS program if prison is a possible sentence. ISSP stands for Intensive supervision and surveillance program. One of the most important requirements of the offender on this program and conditions of them not going prison is that they make some REPARATION. It’s a good word but the white establishment has made no attempt to make a meaningful reparation for the iniquitous acts in the name of Great Britain under the Union Jack. Millions were paid to the slavers as compensation for having to give up their slaves.
So, thank you Toyin.

A few facts about slavery -

Eastern European Networks trafficking women run east to Japan and Thailand, where thousands of young Slavic women now work against their will as prostitutes, and west to the Adriatic coast and beyond. The routes are controlled by Serbian gangs or Russian crime gangs based in Moscow Centered in Moscow and the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Bonded labor is another ancient form of slavery that survives. Also known as "debt bondage," it is rampant in certain parts of Asia. A loan shark or trafficker lends money to someone who works at a very low wage to pay it back. The debt may not be paid off for decades and can be passed along to family members, sometimes enslaving generations.

In Sudan anyone with $20 can buy a black woman as a slave. Human Rights Watch has long denounced slavery in Sudan in the context of the nineteen-year civil war. In this contemporary form of slavery government-backed and armed militia of the Baggara tribes raid to capture children and women who are then held in conditions of slavery in western Sudan and elsewhere. They are forced to work for free in homes and in fields, punished when they refuse, and abused physically and sometimes sexually. Raids are directed mostly at the civilian Dinka population of the southern region of Bahr El Ghazal. The government arms and sanctions the practice of slavery by this tribal militia, known as muraheleen, as a low cost part of its counterinsurgency war against the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), which is identified with the Dinka tribe of southern Sudan.
Dinka lawyer Peter Nyot Kok said he has been horrified that the government in Khartoum have not taken any measures to end slavery. He had returned to witness the release of several former slaves bought for about 100 dollars by a Christian Solidarity International so they could be freed . One 12 year old boy, Yak, told of how he'd been kidnapped from his village by Arab raiders the year before and enslaved on a farm in the north of Matar. He told the story of how on a day he had been too sick to work, his master chopped off all the fingers on one of his hands as punishment.
There are cases of young girls being forcibly circumcised to “stop them thinking about home” and, “ to break their hearts so they will not be trouble some”. A group of young girls abducted by slavers in Sudan were tied together by a fire one night as their captors slept. One was purposefully tied loosely. During the night she escaped. She was brought back to the group by her captors. The other girls were forced to bite her to death. This was how the slaves were deterred from trying to escape.

Governments of the world should act together and with what ever sanctions or force is necessary to eradicate slavery. The government in the UK should do every thing it can to genuinely set out to address the needs of descendants of the people Britain enslaved and make due reparation where ever it can to assist the passage of young black people through this life. It might begin by properly investigating why so many intelligent young black people fail in the education system and become disenfranchised and marginalised. It isn’t over. There is still work to be done Mr Wilberforce.

copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2007

Ice on Fire

Hey Ho the army is coming
People dancing children running
Cardboard boots in the snow
Shirts wide open let it all go
Girls cry - Hello soldier
Come closer – let’s get bolder
I fall like ice on fire
Caught in a spot light
A frozen border
A deadly crossfire
Some refugee

Hey Ho the army s going
Farewell fathers cold winds blowing
Hardened hearts turned away
Burned the place where children play
I die every time
I see the mail man bringing news
to our street
a bitter harvest
Those waiting widows
no one comes home
The empty air waves
no one is there

Girls cry hello soldier
Come closer – lets get bolder
Hard times
with out some closure
or consummation
the endless seeking
some sweet approval
why do we do this
are these things written
this time is shortening
these days are counted
like ice on fire
like ice on fire
a scarf on barbed wire
a rain filled shoe
the light is changing
this feels like fading
can’t feel a thing now
like ice on fire
like ice on fire
no one is listening

transmission ended

So two arch enemies sit down to speak with each other for the first time in their less than honourable associations. Neither of them got what they want but they have learned about compromise some thing they would have both described as capitulation not so many years ago. Paisley and Adams are over and this farcical attempt at reconciliation for the greater good of the group is forced upon them. They are icons of the past and we will be all the better for their demise and eventual passing. I remember listening to Paisley’s ranting back in the seventies at a huge open air meeting in Belfast. We were one of the only bands interested or mad enough to go there to play then. I hated the sound of his bullying dogma then and I still do. I always thought the term Rev when applied to him must surely be seen by all as a concrete sign of his hypocrisy but he survived all manner of opposition and remains to this day a belligerent, intransigent bigot to all but the saddest of democrats. Adams is a swift and slippery mind with a solid criminal streak who has as much blood on his hands as any protagonist during the so called Troubles.
So to their respective hells with both of them but if their compliance helps effect the re-affirmation of a workable Assembly then they will have achieved some thing. A revolutionary freedom fighter knows how to lay down his weapon and adapt himself when the time is right. Many still cling to the way of life they are used to regardless of the cost in human suffering. These two were dragged kicking and screaming into the now and about time too.

Gordon Brown does a slippery with the budget. Brown is the guy who forgot about the VAT bill for the Olympic Games in Britain. Brown almost mumbled his announcement that he was going to remove the 10p starting rate so few realised that he'd announced, in effect, an £8.5bn pound tax rise. So some who cheered his £9bn tax cut felt deflated when they learnt what had really happened. Is there any one left in the labour Party with any integrity who still has a job where they can effect any positive influence. I suppose it is far too late in the day to expect any one who is fundamentally honest to step forward. Blair has culled most of the likely candidates ages ago or they have left on matters of principle.

Last year the government paid out benefits to 57 million dead people. Are they practising for some thing BIGGER?

The war rages on as though it was always meant to. The British government was advised against publicly criticising a report estimating that 655,000 Iraqis had died due to the war. It was decided that the report was accurate and so it would not be a good move to criticise it. Gosh! Those chaps at the Foreign Office Know how things should be done, don’t they?
Bush still maintains the figures are not credible. Now there is a man who knows how to rubbish anything that does not fit into his born again, end timer religious perspective. He probably isn’t too bothered about the 655,000 Iraqis who died as it’s all grist to the mill that grinds towards the end of other civilisations as the USA End Timers have it scripted. Even though they accept there must be chaos before the Rapture Bush's gang won’t take any personal responsibility for causing it.
People who saw the EBB over the past weeks will have heard my joking about the End Timers and The Rapture.'The Rapture' – the belief held by huge numbers of American Christians that Jesus is due imminently to come down from heaven and collect all 'true believers', who will then be transported to paradise. It is estimated that some 50 million Americans are followers of 'The Rapture' movement, while many more believe in the New Testament's Book of Revelations, with its prophecy of the tumultuous Last Days and the end of the world, when Jesus saves the godly and damns the sinners. I shall probably miss it due to rehearsal committments.

Tomorrow I will begin to try to assist a seventeen year old young man I know to get the support he needs to begin to determine the way he lives his life. Soon his father will send him to “the homeland” where he will be forced to marry a young girl who must be impregnated with his baby asap. This is to save him from a life of degradation in the west. His family fled here as refugees and are now UK citizens. There is no doubt his father is a victim himself and extremely damaged. He has declared his son must live in his image and if he refuses he “ will become as a slave to them”, "them" meaning his family. He will be cast out to fend for himself. He will effectively lose his family if he refuses to comply. He has decided not to comply and now needs an agency to support him in his decision, a decision not taken lightly. Some times I despair at this world but more so at the impositions and abuse rained on children by the people who should love them best of all. I am reminded of the story about walking in a mans moccasins before making any judgements. It seems that some times the coming together of cultures with out mutual comprehension and acquiescence will inevitably lead to hard ship. I hope my young friend can find what he needs to live his life freely. I know that with support it is possible. A young man who I know of, and who made a contribution to an earlier post on the subject of his freedom, had suffered extreme privations in his own country and was then subjected to the indignities of the UK asylum system as a refugee. How ever, he is now a free man and has a roof over his head here among his own community, in London. He has the opportunity to realise his dream and his right - to be educated.

I shall be fishing again at the weekend on a private lake. It is close season otherwise and I need what I call a hydro fix or some time spent by water with rod in hand and an imminent cup of tea if I can just stop casting long enough to drink it while still hot. Old Pikey has eluded me for some weeks now mainly because I have been hanging out with a bunch of complete nutters who play musical instruments. In a week or two we are back touring in Germany where you need to pass an exam to get a fishing permit. So that will be a fish less, experience again. Bloody touring! All that adulation (lol)! 'Ain’t life tough?


copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2007

This photo of the EBB guitars was taken by Tony Smith at the Musician Leicester

Lo smeegen. R asks me to tell you this 'cos ees a busy wiv tick tocks, no -tactix or summat. Summat boot Blabber n Smoke. So ere goes en -

We are all safely home after the UK leg of the 2007 Tour. The 100 Club was a great gig to end on last night and I think in some ways it was one of our best, if not the best. It was lovely to see you all at various points on our travels. You know if you see us in the street or any where else it is always ok to come and say hello. Special thanks goes out to those First Supperists who helped with advertising, took photos, welcomed us on our arrival at venues. Special big up to Lincyshire Tony and Lamerie, Connie and crew, Phil, Neil and yahoo group, Chrissy, Jenny, R M Dave R and all who helped. Thanks for all your good stuff. Biggest thanks to Kris, Spadge ( Andrew ), Tom and Ric with out whom none of this would have worked.

The winner of the caption competition is chosen. The Drum Meister and father of the little girl has spoken. He has chosen "C'mon lads, if we can look silly enough we could end up as a digitised image on a caption competition on a, yet to be invented, worldwide network of computers viewable by billions of people in every corner of the globe". From Jim of Bristol.

So Jim e mail me at : edgar.broughton@btinternet.com and we'll send the goodies. I can't leave it there with out thanking every one for their contributions. What a clever lot you all are! The EBB had a good few laughs so here's to the next comp.

The guys are getting back to their various every day tasks and pieces of work. I was back in the Youth project this evening and I was surprised how easily the transition was. I am sure this was helped by the fact that I spent most of the time setting up and managing a recording of a delightful young female singer who was making unaccompanied vocal demos. Wait til the paperwork kicks in again. I'll want to be back on the road. Actually I do now but we've got a gig in Belgium and the last German leg of the tour to look forward to in a couple of weeks.

OK that's an over and out from me for a while. Normal service will be resumed asap. FIRST SUPPER postings will return over the next few days.

copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2007

Here is a photo of Steve modelling the new EBB T-Shirt

We are enjoying the competition entries so much we have decided to let it all run on until we finish the UK leg of the tour, next Sunday at the 100 Club. We will announce the winner on Monday the 19th of March.

Statue at Liverpool St station. This is a gift from Israel to the Uk to commemorate the saving of 10,000 Jewish children during World War Two who arrived from Europe to the UK by rail - an evocative and poignant sight as Luke and I began our journey from Liverpool St Station to Stansted airport from where flew to a Germany.

Life in the bus is actually very convivial. We become connected and exist in a kind of bubble. There is clear purpose in the spirit of one for all and all for one. It even feels strange to me when one of our number is out of sight which happens from time to time. We all need a little time on our own. We don't always know where we are going next or where we are most of the time. We always look forward hopefully to the next gig where ever it is.

In the bus. Steve and Art engaged in their usual banter. It's a rythm section thing.

A view from a hotel room. The modern face of Germany. A backdrop to a Kraftwerk tune?


Self portrait - in the back of the bus.

Aschaffenburg on the river Maine

We were well received and well treated by every one we came into contact with in Germany. Earlier today I suggested to Art that perhaps as older travellers we are less intimidating than the younger EBB which might account for what appears to be a more benevolent change in peoples attitudes to minstrels like us travelling through Germany. I also assume that the concept of a united Europe has had a broadening effect and has impacted on peoples of the E.E.C. in a positive way. I hope the average young German citizen is more secure in their modern national identity and own the fact that "the war" was not their fault and that we are brothers and sisters in peace and should remain so.

Germany is a very interesting place. Many of their practices could be emulated in the UK to our advantage and the quality of environments and service for musicians shames the shabby and neglectful attitude of many UK clubs / venues by comparison. On one occasion in a less than perfect environment one of our number commented that " we were back in the UK for the night".

Almost every one tried their best to make sure we all had what we needed technically and we were well provided for in all other areas of importance. Catering compared to the shabby UK norm was lavish. So come on UK clubs - get it together - we are coming your way. It is no longer o.k. to bash out the British is best line and it is a fact that quality venues and conditions for bands like ourselves in the UK are rare while in Germany they exist everywhere.

We made new friends and rekindled some old friendships. Audiences were mostly very warm and responsive. We met lots of EBB fans who reminded us of past exploits in Germany some of which we had forgotten. Mean while we are looking forward to playing for you guys in the UK even if the catering is out to lunch.

Special thanks to Connie and to Karen, Rosie and Ruth who drove us to and from the airport on our arrival and on our way home. A special thank you to every one in Osnabruck who shared their space with us and looked after us with their usual abundant hospitality.

copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2007

Hi Folks - Here we are again on the road in Germany. We have just finished a couple of gigs at Hamburg and Oldenburg. Things are going well and we are being well looked after. The following photos were taken by Dave Cox our guitarist.

sat nav our friend the 8th wonder of the world

I know I had a little piece some where

Kris Gray - our man in Germany


Connie of Connie Tours - our gracious hostess in Osnabruck



Luke and ectoplasmic father


Luke again


Art and Edgar


Andrew ( Spadge -nav ) road angel


Steve and Art - at the board meeting

Dave the photographer

Band is on fire and will be burning as bright as ever was when we return to see you all in the UK. Don't forget to look at the gigs page on the EBB site for the latest updates. We are in the middle of an on road publicity drive at this time so if any Firsts Supperists know how we can increase the effectiveness of this then email me and let us have the details.

We'll keep you updated over the next days here in Germany. Meanwhile I am sure the Yahoo group will enjoy Tony's photos of the Hamburg gig. I am sure we'll be meeting up with him again in the UK.

Keep on making those competition entries on the comments section - there are some very amusing ones there already. Oh well! Must dash - time for some goulash and chocolate.

copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2007