I only had to see one photo of Rachel Stamp to know that they had to be something I would like. During 1999, I had a lovely little hobby of going to Tower Records on a regular basis... and sitting on their little futon couch reading the imported magazines, Kerrang being one of my favourites. Kerrang was the magazine that featured the bands I actually cared about... Coal Chamber, Amen, Machinehead..... Pretty much all the bands on Roadrunner Records that the local magazines didn't much publicize. Anyhow, several times when looking at these magazines, I kept reading about this Rachel Stamp. But, no matter how great their glam look, I still wanted to hear them. So, I'd look in the Imports section of Tower while I was there everytime... to no avail. I finally found a website at some point that featured short clips of their songs. I chose one titled "Pop Singer" and within seconds of hitting play, I knew I loved this band. However, I literally only had about 3 songs to listen to and they were all short clips. So, my knowledge was still very limited.
Fast forward to April 1st, 2000... When my flight touched down at Gatwick airport in London, England. I was there to live for a semester of school and live with a host family. When they came to pick me up, they asked if there was anywhere in particular I wanted to go.... I told them I wanted to see the Tower Records... So off to Piccadilly Circus we went... Now, this Tower. This Tower was EPIC. THREE FLOORS of Tower Records. And on the lowest floor... there it was. Rachel Stamp "Hymns for Strange Children." I was floored. After so long of turning up dead ends, my first request of London was granted within an hour. I bought it and went to tour my new home for the next few months.
A couple weeks later, a group of us in our class were trying to find a club to go to. Using the Time Out, I was searching for clubs and found one that scored high with me. Metro. Cheap admission, cheap drinks... and boasted Thursday night music like Motley Crue, Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses and the Doors. I was in. Thursday night came around and we showed up a little before 10pm, when the club opened. We were handed flyers that would grant us the £1 admission. On this, it stated "DJs David and Robin Rachel Stamp" My heart stopped. I looked up at the person handing out the flyers and asked "Is this just their DJ names or is this ACTUALLY guys from Rachel Stamp?" She smiled and said, "It's really the guys from Rachel Stamp." I was elated. What luck! Of all the clubs in ALL of London...
After what seemed like hours, I finally spotted them. They walked in and couldn't be missed... with David's green hair and Robin's blonde and pink hair, they illuminated in the blacklight. At this point, I just was trying to find the nerve to approach them and figure out what on earth I was going to say... Finally, I yanked out the foil from my pack of cigarettes and wrote a note. Realizing it was gonna be hard to explain while shouting over the loud music, I figured this was my best choice. I wrote something to the effect of being from America, being a fan and do they have any shows coming up? I walked up to the DJ booth and handed the note to David. He turned away from me in order to bring the note into the light for him to read. As he is reading, he jumps with joy and whips around to see me again, a giant grin on his face. He then tells Robin that I'm from the States and I'm a fan. Robin tries to call bullshit, but I explain that I read Kerrang at home and listened to their songs online. Later, David played Guns N' Roses' "My Michelle" in my honor (as that is my real n
ame, for those who don't know.)Over the course of my time in London, I spent nearly every Thursday in the glowing lights of the Metro, hanging with David and Robin... During the month of May, I found out they had tour dates across England... I went to two of these gigs. One in Bedford and one in Farnborough. Which if you speak to anyone in England, are basically the styx. At least, Farnborough. The Bedford show included a little band called AntiProduct, with the singer, Alex Kane, reminding me greatly of Johnny Rotten in demeanor and appearance. After a great set from them, Rachel Stamp took the stage. Both Robin and David acknowledged me in their own ways (pointing and thumbs up) and I got to meet the lovely Shaheena Dax and the awesome Will Crewdson, who round out the rest of the group. Robin signed my cd "This hotel wasn't free..." which if you've been paying attention, is referring to the GN'R song that David would play for me at the Metro.
At the Farnborough gig, I didn't get to see them off stage and actually ended up being stranded there overnight. But it was worth it completely. When they were done with their short tour, they came back to Thursday nights and Metro... One night after, I was standing with David and one of the other Metro DJs waiting for our busses/minicabs to go home. The other DJ was talking about how he usually hated American tourists because they always just wanted to hear the Doors all night and never requested anything else. I stated, "But I don't! I request stuff like Buckcherry and GN'R!" David pipes in, "Yea, but I don't think you're actually American. I mean, I know you were born there, but I think you were actually British the whole time." Thus stating probably one of the greatest compliments of my life.
As anyone who knows me knows... I'm a britophile. I love everything British and am part English in my ethnic heritage.A huge part of my time in London WAS Rachel Stamp. I love them to this day and will never forget the amazing time I spent with them in their native country... When they came to mine... well, That's another story for another time.
I miss them all sincerely, especially David, whom I bonded with the most. I hope I won't have to wait too long before we hang out again!
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