I didn’t intend to touch my blog today. I’d queued up enough posts on the weekend to allow me to focus on the frantic pace of my other freelance work at the moment. But sometimes things happen that force you to reevaluate your plans and make time that you’re not sure that you have. Sometimes you just have to stop and reflect for a moment. So here I am, writing when I didn’t intend to write because Doc Neeson’s lost his battle with cancer.
Doc was diagnosed with a brain tumour 17 months ago, and he’s been fighting ever since. The end was forecast time and time again and Doc got back up. I remember marvelling at his performance at the RocKwiz Vanda and Young show over the Christmas break, which was televised earlier this year, being so impressed that he still had more fight in him. He wasn’t looking good, but he was still standing. I guess a man can only do that for so long.
And so we take a moment and remember his contributions to the music industry. He split with the Brewster Brothers in 1999, but continued to defiantly sing The Angels hits like “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again,” “Take a Long Line,” and “No Secrets” with his new outfit. When my American husband arrived in this country around a decade ago, he declared The Angels his favourite Aussie act. Even international artists Pearl Jam and Nirvana cited his music as major influences.
He might have been born in Northern Ireland, but he was one of us, and he will be missed. Whatever you’re doing, however busy you are I urge you to stop, take a moment, watch this video, and remember him.