Philip Chevron, A Man You Don’t Meet Everyday.

As today would have been the 58th birthday of someone who was a real inspiration to me, Philip Chevron from The Pogues, I thought that I would write a tribute to him.

Now that I have reached my mid-forties, I have come to realise that certain events in my life were meant to happen and that there are some people I was meant to meet for a reason. Philip was one of those people.

If you’ve read my previous blog about The Pogues, you will know that I have been a fan of them since my teenage years. I had gone to every gig I could afford and I had always wanted to meet them and hoped that one day I would. In the days before the internet existed this was impossible unless you moved in the right circles and I didn’t. I am also a little bit shy and if I had met them I know I would have stood there staring at them like an idiot.

The last time that I saw them perform back in the day was in around 1991. They eventually spilt up but reformed in 2001 as the classic line up and started a series of reunion tours around Christmas time. I went to see them in Manchester every year when they were on. In 2005 I discovered the internet and The Pogues official website which had a forum that I registered on.

There was a bloke who posted there registered under the name of Philip Chevron who I thought was an imposter at first but he posted something personal which only the real Philip Chevron would have known and then I realised it was really him.

I had always had a soft spot for Philip as his birthday is in the same week as mine. I was made up when I found out that he was posting on the forum and actually took time willingly out of his own schedule to do so and over time I discovered that our personalities were similar in some ways.

Over the years confidence had grown, but I was still a little bit shy. I could have contacted him any time I wanted by private message but felt that he would value his privacy and I respected that so I pretty much left him alone.

In December 2006 Philip lost the guest list for the Christmas tour. He posted about it on the forum. I replied to the message even though I hadn’t asked for after show passes saying that I would really like to go and had thought I might have to contact him if I wanted them. I ended the message with the words ‘maybe next time’. Out of the blue Philip contacted me by PM and arranged after show passes for the Manchester show for me.

It wasn’t one of the best gig’s that The Pogues had ever done. The sound wasn’t quite right and Tommy McManamon from The Popes who Shane MacGowan had played with after The Pogues had split up had died that day so the band were depressed. There was one part of the gig that made me really happy and that was when Philip dedicated Thousands Are Sailing to me. I was so surprised that I cried for at least three songs.

At the after show, I met him and six of the other members of The Pogues and had photographs taken with them. Philip was nice, polite and a gentleman. There was a couple at the after show who had been standing next to us at the gig and they gave him a Celtic shirt with Chevron written on the back. He showed it to me and my fiance.  He also came to say ‘goodbye’ to us when he was leaving.

It was six months later when he found out he had throat cancer. I was very upset. I wished him well and so did everyone else on the forum. He had to take time out from the band but eventually he was well enough to play with then again.

I met him on one more occasion. In September 2011. He had composed the music for Playboy of The Western World at The Old Vic Theatre in London. During the intermission my fiance and I were outside having a cigarette. My fiance spotted him walking passed. I was looking the other way. My fiance went over to talk to him and I followed.

He remembered me and although he was working he stopped to talk to us for about 10 minutes. I couldn’t think of anything to say and let my fiance do the talking while I just stared at him. When I did find something to say to him, all I could say was ‘you look well’. I was surprised that he’d actually remembered who I was from last time despite everything that he had been through since and also my shyness didn’t help.

Philip was a great lover of the theatre and posted about the shows he saw on the forum. I enjoyed reading them. I hadn’t been to the theatre for years and decided that I must go sometime. It wasn’t until 2008 that I did. It was European Capital of Culture year in Liverpool and the city was holding special events to celebrate. I decided then that it was time to go to the theatre and see a show. I haven’t stopped going since.

After that show I decided that I wanted to go back into theatre again. I wanted to be on stage again but felt I was too old. As I liked writing I decided that I would become a playwright. I started writing plays and even did a short course with the Open University which now no longer exists. So far I’ve had no success with the playwriting but if it wasn’t for Philip I would never have thought of it, nor would I have been doing the Journalism course I am currently doing.

A month after making a full recovery from throat cancer, Philip found that he had a secondary cancer. This time it was terminal. In May 2013 it was announced on the forum. Until this point I hadn’t realised that it wasn’t only me that he had done things for. It seemed everyone had a Philip Chevron story. I realised then what a remarkable man he was. Not many band members take care of their fans the way Philip did.

On August 24th 2013, I went to Dublin. There was a special testimonial concert for Philip to raise money for his on going care. There were loads of bands in the line up including his old band The Radiators from Space. Even Shane MacGowan made an appearance with some ot the other members of The Pogues. He sang Thousands Are Sailing.

Philip even made an appearance himself. He looked painfully thin and unwell and this upset me. He made a speech but his voice had gone and I couldn’t understand anything he said. It was really sad and very upsetting and I cried. There is a photograph of him at his testimonial concert on line somewhere but I cannot bear to look at it let alone post it here.

On 8th October 2013 he died. I was off work that week and we had gone for a trip to Manchester for the day. I had just sat down in a pub by the canal for a pint and I switched my phone internet on and found out the news. It was devastating. I was more upset because I had dreamt the day before that someone came to tell me that he had died.

I have never forgotten about him. I think about him at some point every day. I still cannot believe that he is gone and every time I go on The Pogues Forum I always look to see if he’s posted anything.

I feel that he comes to visit me from time to time. Sometimes he’s with me when I go to the theatre. Sometimes if I need inspiration he comes to see me and I saw him vividly in a dream a couple of months ago. We didn’t speak but the love was there.

I wrote a play for him. I haven’t submitted it anywhere but when I do, I hope that the place who gets it likes it enough to put it on as much as the people who read it through for me.

Philip was the best dressed man in show business, always in a suit and always wore a hat and fantastic shoes (I loved his black and white ones). He was an amazing dancer and an amazing person and he is missed by many people.