I first met Kosmo Vinyl (above) at an Ian Dury concert in Aylesbury in 1980, I was taking photos for Melody Maker. Kosmo was always a stylish lad – he had started out at Stiff Records, hoping to become a roadie, but as he tells me his ” big mouth soon put at end to that” and he became Ian Dury’s Press Agent working very closely together on pretty much everything to do with him and The Blockheads, except for money – “neither of us had any interest in it”  Later he moved to the Clash camp where he did all sorts of things : Spokesperson, Management, MC, Barber and lots more over time.

Ian Dury (above) Aylesbury 1980 during the ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll’ days

Now over 30 years later we both live in New York City – and I am taking a portrait of him for his blog which is all about the ‘Hammers’ – Kosmo is a life long West Ham fan and follows the team religiously. He makes collages after each game and posts the results on his blog ‘Is Saitch Yer Daddy’ Trials, Tribulations and Triumphs of being 3,473 Miles from Upton Park and West Ham United. This results for theis last game with Manchester United on Thursday Jan 17 were a bit of a disappointment – see below. But it was nice to see Kosmo – stylish as ever – and have a chat about the old days over a cup of tea.