Shortly after the final Rumpelstiltskin session Mick was approached by Nick Maynard, a guy we'd bought an amp from, to play bass in a new band he was putting together. Frustrated at playing covers in a 'party' band, Nick wanted to do something new, something arty, something original and in keeping with the times.
Mick hadn't played bass before but was told his 'personality' was just right and he'd soon learn. The Bats from Hell were born, featuring Nick, Mick, Paul Hull and Figgy Fox. When Paul left, Geoff Beaumont joined on keys and slide guitar and the band became Glasshouse. Check out our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Glasshouse-434135756633517/
After gigging for five years and recording a single, Death in a Rolls Royce / Russian Roulette which John Peel was kind enough to play on his Radio 1 show, Glasshouse bowed out in 1983 with a farewell concert at the Woolwich Tramshed in which they blew the remaining kitty by buying the entire audience a drink. Mick wouldn't perform in public again for another 25 years.
Just after his 50th birthday, Mick was asked by old journalist friend and pianist Shane Jarvis if he'd come and perform with him at a local open mic. They assembled an eclectic repertoire, took the plunge and have since made hundreds of new friends at open mics across North Kent and enjoyed many happy evenings jamming with some great musicians.
As well as performing as half of Taylor & Jarvis, Mick also plays solo, using the opportunity to showcase some of the songs he's written in the past few years. Having gained some basic music production knowledge working on Into the Blue, Mick has recorded them in a project called The Lightning Tree.
MICK JAGGER AND ME BY MICK TAYLOR When I was a kid growing up in Dartford, Mick Jagger was definitely persona non grata in our house. When my mum saw him on the TV she'd say 'He always was a horrible little boy. He kicked Aunty Hilda in the shins in the grocer's queue up at the Brent.'
It was the same when I arrived at Dartford Grammar School in 1969, when the Stones were at the peak of their diabolical notoriety. The headmaster, 'Tom' Holliday, was quick to tell us that although we may be aware that Mr Jagger had attended our fine establishment, he certainly did not represent its values. Should we be harbouring any thoughts of behaving in a similar fashion or, God forbid, following in his footsteps, we might as well leave now.
But stardom - real stardom - has the effect of disarming even the fiercest critics. My mum was the first to crack.
The lady next door to us - Elizabeth Taylor (I swear I'm not making this up) - was friends with Joe and Eva, Jagger's parents, from when they lived in Brent Lane. I returned from school to find mum wasn't there but she soon came in from next door, beaming all over her face. 'Guess whose baby I've been cuddling,' she said. 'Mick Jagger's!' Granny and granddad had brought little Jade Jagger to show off to their old friend, just as ordinary folk do. Once mum had met the family, Mr Jagger Junior didn't seem so bad after all.
Dartford Grammar School eventually changed its mind about Jagger too, although it took a while longer. Three decades in fact. But in 2000 the rehabilitation was complete. Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall were the special guests as the Mick Jagger Centre opened in the grounds of the school and he was encouraged to scrawl a piece of grafitti on the music room wall - 'I was back'.
Somehow, I don't think old Tom would have approved.