The 21 June 1986 gig was my _first ever_ Robyn Hitchcock show - the one that got me hooked. I think it was a full Egyptians lineup Robyn-Morris-Andy-Roger. I subsequently bought a tape of that gig which I still have. What date do you have for Roger leaving the Egyptians? [probably late 1986 - exact month is not known. He did play keyboards and glass harmonica on Element of Light. Ed.]

Naturally I went back for Glastonbury 1987, but was disappointed to find Matthew Seligman playing instead of Andy. They didn't seem very together, and stuck to old tunes - Kingdom of Love etc. I didn't really know anything about the Soft Boys then and I was disappointed at the lack of songs from 'Element' and 'Fegmania'.

Round about the same time (1987-88) I saw a few 3-piece Egyptians gigs at Moles in Bath, at the Bierkeller in Bristol and at the Western Star Domino Club (great name for a gig) also in Bristol. After that I basically lost sight of Robyn until I heard about the first of the Isle of Wight events in 1995(?).
- Mike Godwin

actually, i was just listening to the show last week, and in introducing the band, robyn actually introduced their "long-time" road manager, howard gilman (presumably the same "howie" that andy can be heard addressing in STAND BACK, DENNIS!). -- Tewsie