JP has just come back from Gronigen (see 11 January 2000 for a detailed account of how John couldn't find the record shops Solex had told him about) and has some new records. This was of course the momentous occasion when he encountered the White Stripes for the first time (and apparently only bought the LP because it had two slide guitarists on it).
(JP: 'I'm not much of a one for gossip columns and things, but a couple of weeks ago I was reading something about Jim Kerr coming home and finding his wife at the time in bed with Bono and Mrs. Bono[2]: that sort of thing doesn't happen to me, I must admit, but there you go, to each his own (make a note of that, you can use it yourselves if you like). This led to a discussion between me and whoever it was that I was with at the time about the merits and demerits of Simple Minds. I said that they had made some good records in the past, and he said no they hadn't, they were all rubbish. In defence of my cause, there's this track, which I still think is a pretty darn good record.')
(JP: 'How does that sort of thing come up, I wonder? Do you get a knock on the door, "Hi, remember us? We're the Bonos and we'd like to sleep with you and your wife." It's never happened to us anyway, and with a reasonable degree of good fortune, I think probably never will.')
↑No reference to this can be found on the Internet, other than an oft-repeated comment that the press were reporting this early in the 1980s. Since Kerr and Patsy Kensit were married between 1992 and 1996, the rumour should obviously be regarded with some scepticism.