The Baker remembers Bologna 1980:
The band’s security man (Ray Jordan) who was driving him, simply lost his way (years before GPS or cell phones), so no one had any idea where he was or what had happened to him.
Mick suddenly turned to me and said, “You’ll have to go on Barry and do a few numbers till Topper gets here!”
Now I’d kept a beat for the band (in my own inept fashion) occasionally at sound-check or in rehearsals, if they turned up before Topper. They knew I could do a very ragged first part of ‘Jail Guitar Doors,’ and could probably keep the beat on some of the slower numbers – but live in front of thousands of fans? That was something I had never imagined and was a totally different kettle of fish! I was not a drummer! I’d face angry skinheads on-stage and the terrors of foreign customs officials but hadn’t bargained for that.
My heart skipped a beat and my stomach turned to water….I felt sick and wanted to throw up! “Me?” I exclaimed, “I don’t think I can do it!”
