Lives &Times Meets Dave Sharp From The Alarm

With Dave Sharp in Llandudno 2017

Dave Sharp played at The Gathering in Llandudno earlier this year, so it was really nice to have a quick chat and photo with him, and update him on the book, which has now raised over £3400 for Beating Bowel Cancer.

Dave Sharp at The Railway Inn

I met up with Dave, the original guitarist with The Alarm, at his acoustic gig at The Railway Inn, Winchester in October 2015. I had been on Dave's trail for the book ever since I had photographed Nigel Twist & Eddie Macdonald from the band a year or so before. In fact Eddie had hoped to try and get Dave to be at the meeting with Nigel, which alas didn't happen. Dave proved to be somewhat elusive, and as the publication date drew close I had pretty much given up hope of hearing anything. I was going to his gig in Winchester so I thought it was worth emailing him one final time, and I was delighted when Dave emailed back just a couple of days before the gig and he was very happy to be part of it.

I hadn't seen Dave play live for a few years, and the gig was absolutely brilliant. He is a real master craftsman... It's a great venue and I was lucky enough to see a bit of the soundcheck where Dave went to great lengths to ensure he got the sound absolutely right. This paid dividends for his set as the sound quality was superb. Dave was very enthusiastic about what I was doing and we were able to have a chat in the bar before doing the photo. He was also keen that the photos were as good as we could make them. He certainly has a creative eye and it made my job really easy. The photo I use in the book is a great black and white photo of the man.

So I managed to meet and photograph all four original members of The Alarm for the Lives & Times book. Short of getting them together in the same room this was quite an achievement and one I am really pleased about. Bowel cancer remains the 2nd highest cancer killer in the UK, and yet if caught early it is one of the most treatable cancers. All proceeds raised from sales of the book are donated to Beating Bowel Cancer. My mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012 and over the course of 4 years following her successful bowel operation, also received treatment for cancer on her left lung and cancer on the brain. Both cancers are secondaries from the original bowel cancer. Sadly Mum passed away in August 2016, but the fundraising continues now in her memory with a new book in the pipeline.