Journeys End Collage

This is London. The summer of 1978. I’m in a band, and a rock star. It all began when I was five years old, watching a cousin playing electric guitar.  Coming from a place where the only culture was agriculture, I found London astonishing, eye-opening, always full of surprises. Chelsea World’s End was where I lived, mainly. King’s Road and Fulham Road were the local high streets.  London had (and still has) the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. That summer I dated a 10 out of 10 dolly bird who, when she wasn't driving me mental, gave me the best time of my life. She was so hot that guys would stop and stare open-mouthed at her wherever we went.  I know many of the musicians in this collage – and the rest know who I was. It was a world of cheap (bad) English lager, kebab takeaways, practicing, writing, recording and publicizing music with the number one anticipated band on earth. That band (eventually called PIL) drank like fish, usually in Bermondsey/East End pubs where no one knew us and each time entering felt like walking into the OK Corral. We had Public Enemy Number One for a singer, which was incredibly dangerous, but being young and thirsty and with money to spend we'd brave the uncharted world of ancient public houses, never knowing if today was to be the day we'd all end up in hospital. I used to particularly enjoy walking down the King’s Road with my band. It felt like being in a movie, because we were IT. Nobody but nobody could top us. We recorded our music, knowing that it would be heard by millions of people around the world. Jealous types would say stuff like "Oh, they're not so famous, they're not in the Mirror or the Sun", then the very next day we'd appear in both papers, with pics attached, and they had nothing left to say.  It didn't always feel like it at the time, but it really was the best summer of my life.  © James Walker 2013

Collage:Paper on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:30 W x 22 H x 0.1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.