Steve Davis flies the flag for... Magma.
The
posters announced : "Steve Davis and Interesting Promotions Present Magma".
Music lovers the worldwide chorused : "The Steve Davis ? The consummately
professional number one ranking snooker player ? The oft-called Ginger Magician
who looks like the man you might complain to in Sainsburys and loses frames
as often as panda bears achieve sexual congress ?"
Swiftly followed by : "The Magma ? The uncategorisable 12-piece ensemble
of French and early '70s disposition ? The brainchild of the highly peculiar
Christian Vander whose name is frequently accompanied by the word 'otherness'
? The band who write concept tracks and sing in Kobaian - a language of their
own device ?"
"Yep, Magma", says Davis, 30. "I can't even begin to articulate
why I like them. They've had a big effect on... my life."
Most people had you down as a Shakatak boy.
"Pur-lease !"
he grimaces. "No. When I was in sixth form all the kids were into Led
Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and Deep Purple which was pleasant enough but I
felt I wanted something more complicated. I was into Gentle Giant - yeah,
the Giant, Caravan, Soft Machine, Isotope, Hatfield And The North all that
Canterbury jazz rock scene."
Gong ?
Yeah, a bit of Gong. I bought Camembert Electrique when it was 59p. I saw
that recently in a record collectors' shop for £5. What a rip-off !
The Cow?
"T'Pau ?! "
No, The Cow - Henry
Cow.
"Yeah, I heard a couple of his records. Didn't he do the one with the
pair of socks on the cover ?"
Your musical tastes appear
to stop around 1975. Do you listen to anything contemporary ?
"Some of that punk stuff was pretty rancid. I didn't get on with much
of that. But I listen to a bit of pop. I listen to Radio One before matches.
That way I've got nothing in my head when I go out to play."
Was it a spiritual experience
seeing Magma for the first time ?
"It was at The Roundhouse in 1974. They were the support band. I was
there in my afghan which used to stink when it rained. But they were just
... the best thing I'd ever seen. And I've collected everything they've ever
done since and been to see them as much as I could. But I've been busy recently
and I couldn't see them in Europe which is why I decided to put them on in
London."
It turned out to be an inspiring couple of weeks for Steve "Interesting" Davis. Three nights of Magma at the 560 seater Bloomsbury Theatre and one Mercantile Credit Classic victory worth £50,000. Of course, there was no question in his mind which event was the more satisfying.
Next month : Eric Bristow talks about his Incredible String Band fixation.
Adrian Deevoy
"Q" - April 1988
Note : Steve Davis,
grand champion de billard anglais ("snooker"), est très connu
en Grande-Bretagne.