Wednesday 27 May 2015

Update on the funeral of Colin Masters aka Colin Dredd.

Colin's coffin is going to be painted white and there will be special pens supplied on the day for mourners to graffiti it with final messages to him (there will be the duration of a medley of two songs playing in which to do this). I thought I'd let you know in advance in case you would like to contemplate what to write.
This way of saying goodbye is in place of flowers which Colin would have disliked as being a waste of money. I understand that a charity chosen by the family will be available to donate to instead.
You don't have to dress in black, dress how you would if you were meeting up with him normally. He'd always turn up wearing his rucksack so you turn up how you would.
There will be a photographer present to record the event, let's make it special!
Recap on date and times...
Colin Masters' funeral is at 1.00pm Wednesday 3rd June Harlow crematorium CM19 4SF
Drinks afterwards at the Greyhound pub 12 School Lane CM20 2QD
All welcome.
I know I am about to shout but on this occasion I think it is acceptable to do so!
PLEASE SHARE THIS POST AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND SPREAD THE WORD TO PEOPLE YOU THINK KNEW COLIN BUT ARE NOT ON FACEBOOK. There I did it, I just want to avoid heartache for anyone who loved him and who only find out about the funeral after the event.
We are beginning to put together an evening at the Square on Sunday 7th June for friends, family and fans to remember Colin. We are sort of thinking of displaying images of him, playing some of his favorite music and maybe some short solo acoustic spots.
This will help those that were not able to attend the funeral and/or wake due to other commitments a chance to say goodbye, and it gives us all another chance to enjoy our memories of him together.

All welcome!

Check your diaries and watch this space

Monday 25 May 2015

A statement from Steve Drewett on the passing of Colin Master aka Dredd on behalf of himself and the family.

Below is a piece written for the people who have responded on Facebook. Realising that not everyone uses facebook I have reproduced the piece below so that we can keep as many people in the loop as possible. If this is all news for you, go to the bottom of this thread and read upwards.

At this point, now a little time has passed from the loss of my dear friend Colin, having communicated a very personal account of my part in some of his final hours, and of my devastation at his passing. I must take a moment to give a little perspective on this.
I want to pass on thanks from myself and Colin’s family, to everyone who has posted their thoughts about him on Facebook. The response has been truly amazing, only now are we able to get an idea on how much he and his talent was revered both locally and globally, both by close friends, distant friends, fans and the famous. He name is legend.
And the thing is, he would be even more amazed, because he had simply no idea about this at all. Colin was one of the digitally excluded; he had no PC, no tablet, no internet, only a dumb phone which he rarely turned on.
In contrast to me, where I could luxuriate in peoples appreciation of our music through Facebook, day in and day out. He had little idea. Of course I would tell him every opportunity I could and sometimes show him a bit on my PC, but we wanted to spend our time together talking not looking at a screen.
He had no idea.
Again, I would like to thank you. I have been amazed how considerate and sensitive everyone’s contribution on Facebook has been. On what appears to be thousands of messages, only two perhaps have asked what he died of. Your respect for his privacy has been inspiring.
The omission of this information was put into place to respect Colin’s feelings, and was a measure intended to help prepare for his future after a major operation. As he sadly did not survive that operation, I can now reveal some details of his misfortune, both because you have all deserved it and, to prevent speculation that he may have had Aids or Cancer etc. Any speculation is understandable, I do not criticise it, it is a part of being human.
Since my intense and close friendship with him changed when he left the band, we of course kept in touch. As he forged himself a new life without the Neurotics, it was one I knew little of. When we had the chance meet up, we always had a blast remembering the old days and that invariably left little time for his news. Also, Colin was always intrigued about what everyone else was up to rather than talking about himself.
In recent years, ill health began to have a greater impact on him. Asthma plagued him every year, pleurisy finished off his ability to remain in the Neurotics, he then suffered deep vein thrombosis and finally diverticulitis, a pernicious condition where in some cases (in Colin’s case) your waste is able to enter the upper digestive system.
You throw up shit basically.
He was treated for this but not cured, it returned, as it often does, causing a fresh bout of abdominal pain. Colin was once again suffering acute discomfort and was in and out of hospital until recently. Eventually, he was kept in while doctors tried to fight massive infection within his body.
They threw everything at it, but to no avail. The only option left was to remove his colon and try to flush out what infection that was left. Once opened him up it was worse than they thought, they removed his colon, this spleen and probably some of his intestine too. After the operation, he fought for a week to recover, but the toxins in his body were too great and Colin too weak to fight it. Eventually, the doctors ran out of everything that might improve his condition except morphine, and that would just make him as comfortable as possible until the end. He died of toxic shock.
It was little wonder that in the last few years, he became more and more private, almost hermit like, insular and hard to contact. He also had to deal with signing on every day and at one point having his benefits stopped, leaving him penniless. I have no idea how much discomfort, pain and misery he suffered on his own in his little flat, but that would make anyone unwilling to get out and about more.
The thing is though, he wasn't alone. Since he left the band, he forged a relationship with a woman who would become a fantastic friend, a soulmate even. Her name is Val and she has loved and cared for Colin as a friend since 1988.
Every step of his deterioration she was there to support and comfort him, every hospital visit, she was there for him, she was his rock.
Because he had become so private, he didn't really want people to know whenever he had to stay in hospital, and so I didn't find out myself until very recently. By then, I knew he was going in for the opp and after he had it, I left it a few days before seeing him so that he could recover a bit before having visitors.
My point here, and it is a very important one, is that by the time I arrived on the scene, Val had spent uncountable hours supporting him in and out of hospital, I, made a couple of visits and then rushed to his bedside as he started to fade. I had the honour of spending his last night with him whilst Val caught up on a bit of sleep; she was with him when he passed away whilst I was catching up on mine.
My role was very small, Val’s was unmeasurable.

Colin Masters' funeral is at 1.00pm Wednesday 3rd June Harlow crematorium CM19 4SF
Drinks afterwards at the Greyhound pub 12 School Lane CM20 2QD
All welcome.
Please spread the word to people you think knew Colin but are not on Facebook.
There will be 'a celebration of Colin's life' event put together in a couple of weeks time or so which will enable all those who hear late about Colin's passing or cannot make the funeral/wake to be able to attend and we can then get friends and family and fans together for a big do.

Just putting it out there, we are beginning to put together an evening at the Square on Sunday 7th June for friends, family and fans to remember Colin. We are sort of thinking of displaying images of him, playing some of his favorite music and maybe some short solo accousitc spots.
This will help those that were not able to attend the funeral and/or wake due to other commitments a chance to say goodbye, and it gives us all another chance to enjoy our memories of him together. All welcome! Check your diaries and watch this space
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Tuesday 19 May 2015

Colin Masters aka Colin Dredd 1956-2015

Here are the last two posts have written on my dear friend Colin Masters, the sequence runs from bottom of the this post to the top.
3 hrs ago 19th May
Colin Dredd aka Colin Masters passed away at 10.45 this morning. These were the last moments I had with him...
"After that was done he had woken up to some degree and we continued to try to communicate. I then noticed that half of the cards he had received had still not been read to him so I suggested I read them and Colin agreed.
I did and he really really enjoyed listening to them being read. I can therefore tell all of you who sent him cards, that he received and heard them all, and they were read to him, just when he really needed them. Thank you to all who took the time and effort, as not only did he know about all the people thinking about him, but it gave us a very special moment that was to usher him out of the physical world.
When I eventually said I had to leave to get some sleep he turned in his bed to wave goodbye to me and that was to be my final memory of him."

I am aware that there are those of you who have sent cards that are still in the postal system. Do not be sad that your letters did not reach him in time, be reassured that the family are going to take great comfort in all of them, they are like echoes of the music he made, from the friends he leaves behind.

Colin Masters aka Dredd
Bassman Newtown Neurotics 1978 - 1988
Born 1955 (I think) - 2015

We are all heartbroken.





9 hrs ago 19th May

Update on the condition of Colin Dredd:
We nearly lost him last night, I had a text from his close friend Val to say the hospital had rung to say we had better go in. When I arrived Val was there and Colin was unresponsive. After a good while of talking across the bed, I saw his eyes begin to open and then he was back with us to some degree. After a while,seeing as he had perked up, Val left to get some sleep before she is back by his bedside again. I remained to stay by his bedside through the night. He kept trying to talk to me and I kept putting my ear next to his mask to work out what he was saying but failing miserably. Then on one of these occasions, he appeared to be making sounds that were not words and I said to him "Colin are you singing" and he nodded yes!

He sang to me! And I said Colin, I haven't heard you sing for years, that's brilliant.
Eventually he fell asleep and I watched over him through the night.
When the morning came the nurses, came to give him fresh meds and cleaned up the mask and his face. After that was done he had woken up to some degree and we continued to try to communicate. I then noticed that half of the cards he had received had still not been read to him so I suggested I read them and Colin agreed.
I did and he really really enjoyed listening to them being read.

I can therefore tell all of you who sent him cards, that he received and heard them all and they were read to him, just when he really needed them. Thank you to all who took the time and effort, as not only does he know about all the people thinking about him, but it gave us a special moment or two also.

When I eventually said I had to leave to get some sleep he turned in his bed to wave goodbye to me and that is the most I have seen him move for some time

Colin had massive infections before the operation, and these are now what are debilitating him, the doctors have thrown every type of meds they have at the problem and they now have nothing left. The disease will next go for the lungs and Colin's lung capacity has been debilitated by years of smoking.
I guess you know what I am saying here, because I'm not actually able to say it.
I've got to go to bed, I'm so tired.


The most famous line up of the Newtown Neurotics came together this afternoon as myself and Simon Lomond visited our old friend and comrade Colin Dredd as he lie in the Critical Care unit of the ICU. I was relieved to see that although he still had an oxygen mask on to help with his breathing, he was not so distressed this time, albeit completely out of it. He is in great pain hence he is on morphine and although his surgery was a week ago, he is now fighting toxins and infection that has riddled the lower part of his body. The aim is to neutralise this poison before it reaches his vital organs.
It is almost, (although not completely) impossible to communicate with him as when he speaks, you can't hear him over the hiss of the oxygen or what words fall into the bottom of the mask, destined never to reach our ears, and he is in cloud cuckoo land with the drugs of-course. The life support machines around him randomly make sounds that unfortunately sound like the phrase "uh oh" and they unnerve me each time it happens, drawing my eyes to the read outs each and every time. The bewildering array of changing numbers are like medical dice but they never stop long enough to tell me if he is winning or losing. I try not to look anymore.
He continues to get loads of cards and I bought another batch of them today. He has had at least some of the first batch read to him but if he understood what was being said I don't know. The cards will do their job as soon as he has recovered a little more.
Simon told him to hang on it there and get better soon and we managed to hear him say "I am doing my best"
The Newtown Neurotics were and are a gang, that's rare in a band these days and as Simon and I left, we were anguished in a way only a gang can feel when one of their own has been laid low for some reason or other.
It's been a week now since his operation, he is still here, still fighting and with the tick tick ticking of the clock, all this friends hope that he inches closer to recovery.
You are with him with your cards,
he knows you are there,
that's the main thing.

Saturday 16 May 2015

Colin as I found him yesterday

This is what happened when I visited Colin yesterday, I will be visiting him again this Sunday.
Hi all, I visited Colin in the ICU today and I'm afraid that I lasted around 30 seconds. He had an oxygen mask on and was breathing with great difficulty, I was alarmed by how distressed he was and felt that my presence would only distress him further. He lifted his arm and shook my hand. I asked how he was (at a loss what to say to him) and he gave me a thumbs down. I then told him about all the cards I had for him and placed them on the table near him. Thinking I wasn't helping being there I told him I would come back another day when he was feeling a bit better, he smiled and he shook my hand again.
The nurses wouldn't tell how he was doing in more detail as I wasn't family, they said he was stable at the moment which I take as "hanging on in there "
I couldn't stand seeing him is such pain
I left in tears.
He is going to be in hospital for some time, I think he is going to be a long time healing, If you haven't sent him a card because life is so busy and you forgot, it's not too late but the sooner the better.
Just in case.
Colin Dredd,
c/o No Wonder
154 Bishopsfield
Harlow,
Essex CM18 6UR

Monday 11 May 2015

Colin Dredd in Intensive Care but recovering

Just to let you know that Colin Dredd, original bass player with the Newtown Neurotics is in Intensive Care at the moment. Without invading his privacy I can tell you that he has been very ill recently and the condition led finally to major surgery. In these last 48 hours we have been worried that he might not recover. However the good news is that he appears to be pulling through and is on the road to recovery.
From people I know who have been in the unenviable position of having to be treated in the ICU, cards and letters of encouragement play a very important role in helping the patient to recover. It is not surprising, as it is the power of love (to coin an old rock ballad) and knowing that people care, that makes all the difference.
Now Colin is 'Old Skool', he has no internet connection, no computer, no smartphone and therefore no Facebook or email, so lovely messages left on these platforms are not going to do the trick for him. He needs something he can hold in his hand and read easily.
So I was wondering that if you have enjoyed what Colin brought to the Neurotics over the years and you could spare a moment, could you send him an old fashion card with one of those old stamp things, or drop him a line with some words of encouragement to the address below, I will then take them to him in his hospital bed. Because he is not online, he barely knows the pleasure he has brought people with his music as there is no easy channel for that appreciation to reach him. But of all the years he has been alive, this is the time he needs to hear it.
If you could do this, I would be so pleased.
Colin Dredd,
c/o No Wonder
154 Bishopsfield
Harlow,
Essex CM18 6UR
I will of-course keep you updated on his recovery here.
The great photo attached is courtesy of ©Tony Mottram


Wednesday 6 May 2015

Election agony

It makes me feel uneasy, and I can't for the life of me work out who would find it enjoyable, but the way TV presenters and programme executives frame their Election coverage, is that we are in for an exciting time watching a new and unpredictable political landscape unfold over the duration of an evening.

The only people who could possibly find this exciting are the TV people themselves, anyone who doesn't live here or is so wealthy and disconnected from harsh reality that they can luxuriate in some fascinated chin stroking.

I am in my 60th year now and therefore have experienced enough Elections to get a clear overview of this phenomenon. I have found every election coverage programme like a slow torture as the first part of the evening is unmitigated bullshit because no-one knows what is happening and as more seats are declared a thick cloud of despair and depression descend upon me as I realise that our lives are about to get even worse. It really is the most demoralising programme on TV, so much so it makes Big Brother seem hugely enjoyable.

Even when the results herald in the party I have voted for, it doesn't bring the joy and satisfaction I'd expect to feel, like I was seeing democracy bringing in a bright new future. This is because Murdoch's influence in the political process had hollowed out the manifesto from anything that might possibly be left wing.

Even when Labour won with the landslide that brought Tony Blair to power for the first time, I felt similar to having ate a wonderful but very greasy meal and immediately regretted it. Queasy doesn't adequately describe it.

We are on the verge of calamitous change and I don't know what to do tomorrow, I will feel like I'm by the side of the road watching a car crash in slow motion. I will feel my eyes are pinned open like Alex in 'A Clockwork Orange',unable to look away. I will feel a dissatisfaction that builds so slowly, with the ticking clock, with each passing minute, a dissatisfaction creating an anger that cannot be expressed externally and so I can only internalise it. Not nice.

You know the reason people now hate politicians? Instead of seeing them as being there to help us, they now seem like they are there to hurt us.

But despite that, I will vote Labour tomorrow. That is definate!

Despite my politics never being fully satisfied by the choices I get laid before me, I will fight the Tories until my dying day.

Although it is akin to the Myth of Sisyphus in which a man is condemned to roll a heavy rock to the top of a mountain, only to see it roll down the other side and then have to repeat the process for eternity, I don't want to be under that rock.


Having said all that, I still don't know what to do with myself tomorrow evening. I can't bear to watch that programme, however on this occasion ignorance is not bliss.

I think maybe, in my darkest hours I will watch the clip below and prepare to


 "Roll away the stone, why be cold and so alone".

Let's kick out the Tories, vote Labour Thursday May 7th and we'll take it from there.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2015/may/05/no-normal-election-dont-let-your-voice-be-taken-away-owen-jones