ROGER AND OUT

Somewhere between 1974 and 1978, I was the Senior Press Officer for the London Fire Brigade and worked at Lambeth HQ. The Tate Gallery was a 10-minute walk across Westminster Bridge, and I used to go there during lunch times. One time there was a Dali exhibition, and I went to sit on a seat to take in one of his masterpieces. The man already on the bench shuffled sideways as I did so, still looking straight ahead at the painting. I thanked him and he kind of mumbled something I didn’t quite hear. He continued looking at the painting for a short while before getting up and walking off. I took a quick glance at him, and he looked a bit overweight, mainly bald, and although it was summer and warm, he was wearing an old raincoat.

A month or so later I saw him again on the same bench staring at a painting and I sat down next him. He shuffled over again. I said thanks and he said quietly, “That’s okay... I’m Roger”, which to be regretfully honest I thought was a bit odd. I replied, “I’m Colin” at which he stood up and walked off again without looking directly at me.

About a year later I saw him for the last time. He looked a bit tidier, and his hair had grown a bit from the back and was combed forward – I thought about saying hello just as an attractive woman walked up to him and they walked off.

I thought nothing more of it until years later when there was photo of Syd Barrett in RC taken around the mid-70s and I thought, “Eff me, that’s Roger!” Then the obvious thought came: Roger is Syd’s real name!

It goes without saying that RC continues to amaze and enlighten us music lovers.

Colin Williamson, email