Sunday 16 November 2014

My Brilliant and Beloved Papa

Two weeks ago my father passed away.

My father had a huge influence on my work as a musician and on my creative life in general.

Michel Parry, or 'papa' as I more often called him, was a writer, horror anthologist and a dedicated collector of strange things.

As a child I marveled at his 'shelves of weird': the epicenter of a collection that included battery operated UFOs, macabre automatons, peculiar masks, a Medusa 'wig' and alien 'foetus' soap. As an adult I was better able to appreciate his vast library of books and 60s film and music posters.


Thanks to my dad my childhood world was filled with a wealth of alternative film and children's literature. With great fondness I remember Dorrie, the Little Witch, whose 'hat was always on crooked and stockings never matched'; Raggedy Ann and Andy with their psychedelic cartoon adventures; and, of course, all those weird and wonderful Beatles films.

Dad took my brother and I on regular theatre trips to the Hackney Empire where we saw legendary productions of 'The Invisible Man' and 'The Curse of the Werewolf' along with numerous Christmas pantos. As a family, we also played homage to the Forkbeard Theatre Company, going to see almost every surreal show and exhibition. For many years an annual tradition was to go to the Punch and Judy Festival in Covent Garden of which there is much home video footage taken by my dad.

This music video from a band I used to perform with, Bear Driver, is made up of film shot by my dad on one typically offbeat family outing. The location is Dreamscape, a touring art space that resembled a gigantic and inside-out bouncy castle.


The trail of inspiration that my father gave me to follow will continue to direct my interests and the creative choices that I make for the rest of my life.

And, of course, I will miss him very much.

If you would be interested to know more about my dad's work in the field of horror and weird fiction then a good starting place is the Fantastic Fiction site which has a full list of the publications he was involved with. IMDB also links to film projects on which he was a writer, including the cult B-movie, Xtro.

I will be dedicating my next release to the memory of my father.

2 comments:

  1. Lovely sentiments! Michel was pretty unique!

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  2. Super beautiful and touching tribute! awesome vid! Wishing all the beautiful memories of your dad will always warm your heart.. and journey with your soul. I am sure he will continue to inspire much magic and creativity in your life!
    Hugs kindred
    Victoria

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