JOHN COCKRILL

John was educated at the same school as Epic. John was mainly into Progressive Rock music, and he had actually received guitar lessons, unlike the others who were all self-taught. They had never met a “proper” guitarist before, so this was quite puzzling at first, but John was welcomed into the little gang, and his ability to play in strange time-signatures became an asset to the collective.

John received the curious nick-name of “Golden” thanks to Mr Trevor Godfrey, In an attempt at showing his ready wit, Trevor immediately seized upon John’s surname, and swiftly replied: “Ah, a Golden Cockerel!” This was so bizarre and surreal they all howled with laughter, much to Trevor’s embarrassment. He was referring to an opera called The Golden Cockerel, composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; rather an obscure reference.

From 1977-82 John was involved in sessions as one third of an experimental combo called Independent Piggies. Curious fact: Golden, Dave Wright and Phones were all “only-children” and left-handed. Very sinister!