This originally ran in MRR #329 theOct/Fall ’10 issue, which is out of print

For those of you who have been long-time readers of Maximum Rocknroll, you may remember the cover of issue #204 which featured the seminal English punk band Cock SParrer. Well it’s been ten years since that issue and interview by the iconic Bruce Roehrs and it was his intention to catch the band play their first live shows in their hometown of London, England in eighteen years this past March and to conduct a follow-up interview at that time. Unfortunately as most of you know, Bruce never made it to that gig and went to the big punk-rock show in the sky… In his honor, we decided to carry out his mission to update all you readers of MRR and fans of Cock SParrer by taking the time to interview the band in the most passionate and Roehrs-like way that we could think of. We hope you enjoy this and whether you ever had a chance to meet Bruce or not, hopefully you will take the time to remember him and his contributions to MRR and the music scene in general as well!

Interview by Mike Josephson and Eric Mueller.

Photos by Jerry, Sam and James.

MRR: On the topic of Bruce, and the fact that we always seem to be having these conversations over a pint… Who is the best drinker in band? And of course, to follow that, who is the worst drinker?

Steve Bruce: Being a bible reading, teetotaler myself I wouldn’t want to cast aspersions. It just a shame the rest of the band have this chronic drink problem. Unfortunately, it is the cross I have to bear.

Colin McFaull: Mickey always has the best selection of booze. Anytime you go to his house you can guarantee that he’ll have a dozen different bottles of malt whiskey to choose from. Daryl doesn’t drink much, but I think Will is the worst drinker. After a couple of pints and he gets all loved up and starts telling me how I’m his best mate and how he’s looking after me, etc… etc… Tart.

Mickey Beaufoy: I am the best drinker in the band, as I have the most practice. The boys have always said that I am the same after fifteen pints as I am after two, I just get onto a plateau and stay there. I have also passed about fifteen police breathalyzers in my early twenties after at least six pints of beer, so I must have a lucky metabolism. Close call for the worst drinker, but I would probably have to vote for Will as he doesn’t always know when to stop—we’ve all had to put him to bed a few times over the years—and then there was the incident when he left his passport, wallet and everything else in the middle of the street outside a bar in Spain and I ended up searching half the bars at three in the morning until I found them for him—meanwhile he was safely tucked up in bed…

Steve Burgess: It depends what you mean by “best drinker.” We all like a tipple and the great thing about being such close friends is that, whenever we’re together and one of us gets embarrassingly drunk, there’s no problem. We know that, at a different time, that would be me. We also have our own favorite drinks, mine being a good single malt scotch whiskey. On tour once, I ordered a large glass of the most expensive one at the bar and was looking forward to sipping it gradually. Stupidly, I said to Will Murray (our road manager), “you should get into this, smell that” and offered him the glass to smell the aroma. It took the bastard less than a second to down it and the look on my face is still remembered by the rest of the band.

Daryl Smith: In fairness, the whole band can drink pretty well. Seasoned pros! Especially the top shelf. Personally when the Jack Daniels and the Brandy’s come out, I stick to the beers. I would say that if the best drinker is measured by the last man standing, then it has to be me as the others will eventually go to bed. I’m happy to stay up all night, Berlin ’09, London ’10, etc… If it’s about hard liquor then everyone else. If it’s about who is the best drinker of other peoples’ drink then it has to be Will! Worst drinker is probably the band member who wants to fight everyone when drunk—no names mentioned!

Photo: Jerry

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