RENTA-PROUD

“Why don’t you put her in the dustbin and stick the lid on it, mum?” doesn’t sound like the most promising of starts to a lifelong family bond does it.

But as the perpetrator of those words was only a toddler at the time and the babe in his mother’s arms was going full pelt on the screaming child decibelometer you could probably sympathise with him for being put off his stride whilst trying to play with his stickle bricks.

Somewhere along the way however we did manage to put aside our differences and become the best of friends, getting up to mischief together and driving my mum to her wits end.

He ,the daredevil who would push his trike to the top of our street  then whizz down  without a care in the world and only a white plastic police helmet for protection, as my mum stood at the kitchen window ,heart in her throat at what she was seeing.

And I, the little madam who gave the impression of being sweetness and light then would say something that left adult mouths agape, a bit like arsenic laced honey.

For a couple of years we were just a double act then in 78 and 81 we were joined by two more brothers and became a tight knit little band of siblings.

Always there for each other, giving support when needed and best of all, encouraging one another in anything we tried to achieve.

Then two of us became teenagers in quick succession and the lovely motivational bond that had once existed disappeared, swiftly replaced by the expression of anything towards each other through the medium of sarcasm.

So when my big brother decided he was going to learn to play the electric guitar and form a band you can probably guess how much ammunition this provided me with.

Despite all that hard work learning his chords every night blossoming into the formation of his first band with school friends I still wouldn’t take it seriously and even regular gigging didn’t convince me that this actually might be something that was going anywhere.

“What do i want to see your band for, you’re in them which means they must be rubbish “I once shamelessly stated at him in the midst of hormonally charged fury.

Slightly harsh I admit but he gave as good as he got, so don’t imagine for a moment I got off lightly for that Simon Cowellesque review.

Eventually one day though i did relent from my refusal to listen to anything that he might have had a hand in the writing of just because it might be a load of old cobblers as he’d breathed life into it and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my big brother Glenn was actually quite talented .

From Crosstown traffic to The Wogans through to now in the Len price 3 , how could I not love the songs of a band who’s inspiration comes a lot from our life growing up in Medway and that are sometimes so personal they’ve caused me to shed a tear while listening .

And as I look forward to the Chatham premiere at Sun Pier this Friday of the film Pubmonkey in which the guys make a cameo appearance as a pub band I just want to say

You did good big brother, I’m proud of you and all you’ve achieved.

And thanks for not putting me out in the rubbish that day!

GIRL FROM THE NECK DOWN COLUMN - MEDWAY MESSENGER 3/11/14