A Pogue, A Rogue, A True Legend

Philip Chevron, Pete Holidai, Jimmy Crash, Mark Megaray and Steve Rapid. Yes, those were our real names. Names that were real to us, at least, as we started our adventure. Five naive comrades trying to play rock music with an energy we couldn’t find elsewhere so we had to make it ourselves. We were The Radiators from Space.
Everyone had their skills and their role within the band and we did our best to be heard. We didn’t like what was going down and that debut single ‘Television Screen’ was the first inkling of what a great writing talent Philip Chevron was.
That B-Movie trash aesthetic soon grew up and walked the streets of the Ghostown. A place created in a studio. In the minds of Pete and Philip. Channeled by Tony Visconti into something lasting and special.
The Radiators didn’t receive the commercial recognition they deserved and the means to survive – so everyone moved on, for the time being. Philip to the Pogues and to his many projects. He was a diverse and diligent talent.
Philip Chevron – gentleman, musician and a lasting friend. As his Testimonial t-shirt stated “Chevron Lives”. He does – in our hearts, memories and through his music. The buck, unfortunately, for Philip stops here. But we will keep playing the songs. Philip, we miss you.

Steve Averill

I would like to open with a quote from the works of William Shakespeare, which was one of Philip’s great passions. I apologise in advance for taking it out of context.
“When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.”
Act 3 Scene 2 Romeo and Juliet
Firstly, on behalf of my mum Christine, myself and all the family, I would like to thank you all for coming here today to celebrate the life of my brother Philip. He would have been enormously pleased that so many of you took the time to attend this, his Grand Finale.
I would like to acknowledge that An tUachtarain, President Michael D Higgins, has sent his ADC Captain Comerford to represent him at today’s ceremony. He also wrote to Philip before he died and subsequently to send condolences to the family. We are very grateful.
I would like to thank Susie Kennedy for conducting this ceremony so beautifully. I have never attended a Humanist funeral before and I am very moved by what a relevant and inclusive event it is. I would also like to thank The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Oisín Quinn, and all the staff of this beautiful Dublin Mansion House. They have been so courteous and helpful throughout the preparations.
In August of this year, a testimonial concert was held in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, in Philip’s honour. It was a wonderful evening. It will probably go down in the annals as one of those events which, if you weren’t lucky enough to attend, then you had seriously missed out. I know that Philip enjoyed it enormously and said afterwards that everyone should have one before they die. I know that the testimonial was not easy to organize and a lot of hard work went into it. I would like to thank all of the artists who so generously and willingly performed that night. I also wish to thank Paddy McPoland, who co-ordinated the event. Paddy is one of those capable people, who just get on with doing things and leave no stone unturned until everything possible has been done. Paddy continues to help us, Philip’s family, and I cannot say enough about what a generous man he is. I also want to mention Mr Denis Desmond for his generosity at that event. Mr Mark Addis and all of the Pogues Management Company have also been SO helpful to us that I don’t know what we would do without them.
Two of Philip’s good friends Steve Averill and Pete Holidai of The Radiators have been outstandingly helpful and generous with their expertise and time. I know Philip’s death has hit them both very hard. And despite this, they have unselfishly continued to make sure that all which needs to be done IS done. They have been wonderful friends to Philip.
Philip was first diagnosed with cancer in 2007. He told us this news during his 50th birthday celebrations. With Phil, timing was everything. We always thought he would beat it. And he did. For a short while. In March 2012, he got the 5 year all clear, but unfortunately two months later he was re-diagnosed. This time there was no cure and what followed was a long slow degeneration. He fought his illness with every fibre of his being. He expressed a wish that he be allowed to stay at home for his final days. It was only due to the wonderful love, devotion and complete selflessness of my wonderful mother that this was able to happen. She truly granted him his final wish.
Of course, I cannot talk about Philip’s final days without mention of the lovely staff at St Francis Hospice, and in particular the home care nurses. They allowed him to live his final days with dignity and treated him as an individual rather than an unwell terminally-ill patient. In particular I would like to mention his special nurse Yvonne. She instinctively understood Philip and their connection was a lifeline for him. Thank you, Yvonne, from the bottom of my heart.
My father Brendan is, of course, missing here today. Phil and himself share a mutual love of theatre, literature and opera. They would talk for hours about all things theatre. Dad would have been immensely proud of Phil’s achievements and also to see this wonderful crowd gathered here today in his son’s honour.
Philip and I had a happy shared childhood. He was my older, much more driven brother. When it came to deciding what games we played and how we spent our time I think you can probably guess who called the shots. You can also probably guess that much of that playtime was theatre and music based. Entertainment was the name of the game! So, I was always the handy spare female, useful for leading lady roles and backing soprano vocals. I was cast in plays, musicals and sometimes even mock Eurovision contests. I was drafted into his first band The Jangles. I acted as one half of a folk duo he formed during our early teens. We regularly appeared in various venues such as St. Anthony’s Theatre Merchant’s Quay, The Junior Common Room in Trinity College and several RTE television shows where, for authenticity, Philip equipped me with a bodhrán (which I had no idea how to play). Always at my side, he tried his best to generate in me some enthusiasm for performing. To no avail. And so we went our separate ways. He went on to become the legend that he is and I retired from the stage. Until now. Here I am at his Grand Finale. But Philip is no longer beside me. Our double act is forever gone. I miss you, Phil.
And many people will miss him. His family, his friends, his colleagues. The remaining members of The Radiators and The Pogues. His wonderful fans. The world is a poorer place without him. But he lives on in the legacy of his work and that must surely be a comfort? In the words of an old Irish verse:

‘Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there.....I do not sleep....
I am the thousand winds that blow....
I am the diamond glints on snow....
I am the sunlight on ripened grain....
I am the gentle Autumn rain....
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of gentle birds in circling flight....
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry –
I am not there....I did not die....’
Goodbye sweet brother. X

Deborah Blascoe

I remember the first time I met Phil. Myself and Steve [Averill] had put an ad in the paper looking for people to form a band. An endless procession of the “wrong” kind kept applying – and then Phil turned up. He obviously had something very special about him. He looked different for a start – he had this wiry hair. But we found that he was much more tuned in to what was going on at the time.
He’d been in a band before, with his sister Deborah, called The Jangles – who were apparently once described as being “a sort of folk Bay City Rollers”. We all had common areas of interest musically, but Phil had a big interest in the theatre and in the old crooners and stuff like that. He also brought Jimmy and Mark into the band as well.
The job he applied for originally was as a lead guitar player, but he didn’t really want to do that and was more interested in songwriting. He had a great understanding of the structure of songs and he paid a great attention to detail, especially when it came to the lyrics.
We all got on well. If there was any conflict within the band, Steve was always the mediator. We were good friends and even when we went our separate ways we stayed in contact all the time. I came across Phil one time in Switzerland when I was managing Engine Alley and The Pogues were playing there.
Did he take part in the rock and roll lifestyle? He partied, yes, of course he did. He did his fair share of debauchery just like the rest of us. Some people thought he was shy, but in interviews he came across as more thoughtful than shy – he wouldn’t just rattle off things off the top of his head. He was always supportive of the common man. He was more a humanist than a socialist.
Even when The Radiators got back together, we never wanted to be a parody of ourselves. After we did that comeback gig in The Village, Phil said he really liked playing with the band again and that maybe we should think about writing some more material. When the first few songs came along, he thought well ‘why not work towards making an album?’ We are immensely proud of that album, Trouble Pilgrim, which we produced ourselves.
Phil was the driving force behind Sound City Beat. He strongly felt the need to shine a spotlight on all these obscure Irish bands that he had heard growing up. He felt strongly that these were long forgotten gems. I was familiar with some of them. He and Steve picked most of the tracks.
The Olympia tribute show was very much driven by Phil, and he made known his wishes about who should be there – and we made it happen. He thought everyone should have a testimonial. Someone said to me recently that it must’ve been very hard to organise, but it was actually very easy because of all the goodwill that was around.
The funeral service in the Mansion House was very moving and very emotional for everyone, but still very uplifting. It shone a spotlight on his legacy. Even though he wasn’t really a household name as such, he still did enough in his life to warrant that kind of acknowledgment. There was a representative of the President there, which was nice. The last year of his life was spent in Dublin, so he did come home.
There’ll be no more Radiators From Space gigs. Myself and Steve will continue with the Trouble Pilgrims and in fact we’re doing a couple of alternate Sundays in the Stag’s Head, kicking off on November 10. Phil has an archive of unreleased stuff which he has given us access to. If he had lived, he would certainly have been looking at doing some sort of Anthology. There was the musical he wrote which is recorded – I don’t think that’s ever been released. So that’s something we’ll be looking at in the future...

Pete Holidai