Been clearing my study lately. It’s a difficult one, throwing stuff away. Shredding papers you’ve piled for no reason for years. There are piles even on the floor. Time passes so quickly now. I can remember adding that sheet to that pile the other day. No, it must be longer than that – like, five years longer.

But discarding the detritus of half-a-lifetime is difficult. I keep telling myself it’s like that overcoat you gave to charity seven years ago. It was tough to let it go, even though you hadn’t worn it for an age. It was hard to say goodbye, not knowing where it would end up, whose back it would adorn for future times. But did you miss it once it was out of your wardrobe and off your hands? You bet I did. Still think of that overcoat now. But these papers and paperback books and CDs and all did not cost a small fortune, bespoke-made in Savile Row, as that Crombie coat did. So I’m on a mission. First we clear the floor, then the shelves. Books: not easy to throw out/give away a book. But my village will hold a coffee morning in June, and they want the discarded ones, and there’ll be maybe 200 of them. The PCC is thrilled to learn of this great number. I will box them up, get them over there as soon as possible, and pretend it never happened.

But then among the piles of deadwood and funk a gem appears. Mike Johnston sent me a couple of tickets last year, from our American shows in 1975. We toured briefly as a headline act, and again later that year as support to The Kinks. I think that’s what happened. But Mike throws a spanner in the works, asking about the earlier ticket, from February that year, us alone, and whether it belongs to a concert that never happened. He wonders was it “one that was cancelled”, and I can’t say. I started keeping a diary in the middle of 1975. So that February date is lost in the pop ether. And Mike gave me the programme for our show at The Capitol Theater, New Jersey, November 26th, supporting The Kinks. It’s a fascinating read, not least for the back cover which has 6 boxes, with diagrams showing how to roll the perfect spliff. “Rolling 201: HOW TO ROLL BETTER, Prof. E.Z.Jay”. The papers were made by e-z wider. I only remember our own Rizlers.  So on with the clear-out. But it’s slow, because every other piece of nonsense needs confirming, so I stare, peruse, consider. What a waste of time. I wonder does Mike want the pristine programme back? And the tickets? I’m not a collector of memorabilia, just detritus, apparently. I’ll keep them safe. Fascinating to read it all, but these rarities deserve a better home.