Rene Berg - An Obituary

I've never written an obituary before and I've certainly never written one
for a friend. I thought you just wrote lots of nice things about the person
concerned and everyone smiled and nodded, and remembered them fondly. I
have so many nice things to say about Rene, but I know it's just not going
to be that easy...Just thinking of writing about him in the past tense is
incredibly painful, but I'm going to try. 
The first time I saw Rene play in a band was in 1982. The Hollywood Killers
played with Lords Of The New Church for a Radio One 'In Concert' session,
in November of that year and you could just write in for free tickets, so
a bunch of us did. Years later, at Rene's flat, he pulled out some promo
photos of Hollywood Killers and I recognised one of them as a photo I'd
got at that very show! 
Rene appeared with a number of bands during his career, including The Brood,
Hollywood Killers, Idle Flowers, Hanoi Rocks and Westend Central (a.k.a.
Soho Vultures) and toured, wrote and recorded with them all. One of his
personal proudest moments was appearing onstage in New York, playing with
Chuck Berry! He was a fan of music, as well as a musician and as a result
he never forgot that the fans are the important ones; without them you sell
no records, play no gigs and make no money! Indeed, I was just a fan of
Rene's before I was his friend.
Some of the most wonderful memories I have are of time spent with Rene.
We would sit up all night, at his flat, just talking. Mostly about rock
'n' roll, but sometimes about fishing. Quite often about the songs of his
that I particularly loved; he would explain what they were about and why
they meant so much to him, too. He would talk of his plans for the future,
the tours and recording the other two albums he was contracted to do after
the first one. He promised that my all time favourite song of his, 'London
Town', would be on the second album. He was never to record another album.
I remember how thrilled I was when he dedicated a song to me from the stage
of The George Robey pub, during a gig. I remember how, after that gig, the
jam session continued at Rene's flat. He crammed me on the sofa between
himself and Nasty Suicide, and they played just about everything in the
Westend Central back catalogue. Darrell Bath, seated opposite, played the
blues until everyone was too tired to play anymore and the neighbours were
banging on the wall! I remember the gigs, the laughs, the jam sessions and
the car with no brakes! 
I have the beautiful, sensitive, eloquent letters Rene wrote to me. Sometimes
just a few lines to let me know he was okay, if he hadn't been in touch
for a while and sometimes several pages filled with all the thoughts and
ideas that were going through his head at the time; how he felt, what he'd
been doing, happiness and pain. They were always treasured and now they
become even more precious as reminders of a much loved friend.
And of course, his songs and his voice will be with me forever, in the form
of his amazing music. He was a true star and a real rock 'n' roller. He
had a wickedly dry sense of humour, yet he was sweet and sensitive and if
he was wounded he bled. I miss him so much already, and I'll only miss him
more as time goes on. It will always be an honour and a pleasure to have
known him.
Another beautiful human being and greatly underestimated talent, taken too
soon. I hope it's true when they say your reward awaits you in the next
life, because Rene's 'reward' always eluded him in this one.
Goodnight my friend; now you'll be able to sleep at last. 

RAZZ x