John Graham Mellor (1952 - 2002)

I went to a party in Liverpool and I was 3 years old in Field Way with Janet and Jane my young friends. A man came they called him Mr Music and he used a radio for the party games. He had a guitar too and I believe it was John Mellor who I also saw a few times in Leicester 2 years later. Then in Roleystone and at Araluen Park during my adolescence.

We had to go to a clinic because John had a major health concern with his epiglotis being inflamed and at the clinic I collapsed for a time and had concussion. After that we went to the Manchester Show Grounds and went on rides and it was a bit of an issue after the concussion so I wrote to the clinic who should have some access to records about our connection there apparently. I recall John had a hernia and psoriasis related to a heart condition and indent in his chest.

In Perth in 1984 when the clash played I had to turn up the sound master slider and I spoke to John about the sound because I was a roady then invited him to a party. I also met John on the streets of Perth a couple of times by chance and he used a rehearsal studio in Burke Street that I managed I do believe but if it needs to be contested that's ok. I'm sure I met John several times earlier in Perth but i wanted to discuss it with someone else before saying so. I'm sure i was only 15 when we first met and we had an interesting connection from the start.

My time with him in England was really substantial like we lived together and full of joy and celebration as a couple. He gave me a diamond ring with an orange brown stone on it on a white gold band plus an onyx silver ring like an engagement or friendship/love ring. We went out together a lot and went to pubs like the local ale houses and Afflecks Palace, cinemas - the Corner House, mini golf, parties, concerts, danced together really romantic jiving and charlston, pogo and just night clubbing techno scene but very public happy enthusiastic relationship. We ate together and had mutual friends. We shared beds and bathed together and it would be really stupid to not regard it as a marriage. He was a winner at games and competitions we entered like an egg and spoon race, needle in the hay stack and three legged race. He won at chess and backgammon with friends. We went to boot scooting classes.

John knew Robin Boyo a fashion designer and worked at David Gavin's in Withington for a short stint as a sales person and display artist whilst I was a cutter and machinist there. John did some display work for them and sort odd jobs like Flim Flam and cafe bar cleaning. Our relationship was extremely public then. He told me about his heart condition and short life expectancy and it was accepted that we both had to travel to continue our careers but his life expectancy and contagious disease was in our way so we celebrated it whilst we could and had a deep connection in spite of it all. We were both really in love and had a mutual agreement that was special. It wasn't a condition that we separate permanently but we had a major challenge to resolve the challenges we had with housing and money given the distance between Australia, the US and the UK where we developed different interests. I didn't forget about him but was trapped in circumstances beyond my control. We spoke on the phone to arrange to meet again but my memory needs some refreshing. I assume we met again in Australia after we were together in the UK and in my younger years we had a romance too that I called puppy love.

I used to meet this guy John on Paletine Road when I lived with my Grandmother Elizabeth in Manchester in the 1980's around Withington. We did go to a registry office and I had met him in Australia when i was only about 15 and any more information about this would be appreciated. I definitely was a roady in Perth before that and met the Clash at the Perth entertainment Centre because I worked as a technician in lighting and fold back sound. I went out with John and we did a lot of fun things like go to the Hacienda, enjoy the local parks, skimming stones on the water which he was a champion at, making daisy chains together, going to the Corner House, having picnics and riding push bikes. We did some archery, played board games like backgammon, chess, Tiddly Winks, Twister, mini golf, went to the library, read heaps of books - Carlos Casteneda (he liked Journey to Ixlan and Bruce Chatwin), we read science fiction and spiritual books, Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance, Ray Bradbury and Ann Rand, went to the local fairs and festivals, music events and we ended up living together in a house near the freeway and an underpass not far from Old Trafford and there was a weather vane and a laundry coin op. We sat in the Withington Ale House with my cousins and uncle. We went horse riding and both had jodhpurs and he had crop. He had a friend who was a jockey. We played base ball with a full kit in the rain one day we had 2 teams together. It was funny being so well equipped. We had shuttle cocks and tennis rackets. In Australia we went ice skating. I was always substantially a fashion designer too. I helped make some face and hand casts of him for the Hall of Fame induction.

We became very close and were asked if we were married and he said yes and so did I and he gave me a special ring to wear. We had to go to several clinics due to some scares and he had a very enlarged epiglotis that nearly killed him apparently and we seemed to have infections but I wasn't as sick as him think I either fainted or collapsed at the clinic and it was a bit of a mess due to staphlococcus mostly. He had syphilis in recession, which I really didn't get, from an earlier relationship but I didn't catch it only I just had conjunctivitis and it was so bad it was a threat to my vision and we both had floaters in our eyes and it was a big concern that we needed to end the cross infections to prevent further issues and then be separated as we were very intimate so it was confusing health wise.

We had no issue with each other interpersonally and still loved each other but had to follow our careers and be pragmatic about money and careers. He offered me a dog tag like a service man's neck chain and I bought him lots of clothes and presents. We exchanged many gifts and were very happy together - had a lot of fun. I was a fashion designer and had a stall at Afflecks Palace and worked as a cutter for David Gavin Furnishings. We had many common friends including some Irish women who seemed to know the Pogues and Haranguing the Boisterous Buffoon wee Allan they called him. We all knew Robin Boyo a fashion designer and he made John a cap of leather like a flat cap but I wasn't in an intimate relationship in Manchester with anyone but John and since have been mostly really celibate. The issue with Johns health has made me very careful, more spiritual and really I couldn't find anyone as interesting as him. John was the most interesting man I have ever met and my time with him was the most amazing significant time of my life. I never want to forget or pretend it wasn't of value to me. Ignoring my time with John would be totally wrong. I remember the weather vane like a cockerel we could see from the garden where he was living and the laudromat where I picked up his suits that were dry cleaned. John liked the space invaders and we played bit. We thought he was the man to change the records on the duke box in the pubs the White Lion and the Red Lion. john told me one day he had discovered that 'a camel can pass through the eye of a needle' (he was smoking Camel) and he blew smoke at my needle threading hand to which I replied that 'at the moment of death comes a mirage'. I miss John a lot still having dredged my memory so much.

We had a deep loving relationship and spent a lot of positive time together as a couple but lost touch due to finances and health problems. We didn't really divorce as such but planned to resolve our problems then get together again. I had to go overseas to follow my career and he did too.