Cenni Mawr
A famous poet once said that we do not always remember what exactly a person said or what they did. But we always remember how they made us feel.
Kenny was a very special person. Someone who always made you feel like everything was okay with the world. Someone you were always glad to see. Someone who was always spoken about with genuine affection and great deal of love.
He was born in Muswell Hill , London into an Anglo Irish family. He had a happy childhood. We know this because he wrote song about it “Life was sweet for me in England in the 60’s”
From there the family moved to Basingstoke where he completed ‘growing up’
He met his wife Linda and they had two daughters.
One day in an act of unspeakable cruelty the company he was working for decided to move to Wales and the family relocated. However Basingstoke’s loss was Swansea’s gain.
Kenny had new workmates who became friends. Friends became a band, became a wonderful extended family. Ken was the glowing heart of that family. His incredible work ethic, discipline and sheer original brilliance inspired us all musically.
However he was already a creative person and collaborated with like minded friends in Basingstoke. Amongst the highlights a re-working of a recorded police interview of one of his friends who’d been arrested on a charge of cactus smuggling.
He was also a family man and had responsibilities. He worked during the day and created at night. Sometimes all through the night. In this respect he is a shining example of what each one of us can achieve if we put our minds to it. There was a layer of maturity and discipline in contrast to the rest of us who were trying to extend our teenage years well into our 30’s.
And create he did. At first onto a cassette tape recorder with scribbled notes for lyrics. Then hosting acoustic sessions in the kitchen while Linda and the kids were in the living room. Then onto proper recording.
Ken’s creative output exploded through the years. Through good times and the bad. Life isn’t always happy, fun and pleasant. It is how you deal with the most difficult of situations that show everyone the true strength of your character. The family experienced tragedy when Linda died at a tragically young age leaving Ken a widower aged 34 with two young daughters.
It was a hard journey back to some sort of normality. Enough to break most of us. Throughout it he remained the same thoughtful, considerate person that although scarred continued to live life to the full.
He found happiness with Sian and they were together for 20 years. He continued to be a creative force throughout that time.
Kenny was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in June 2018. He passed away on Sunday 25th November 2018.
For everyone who knew him Kenny was simply our friend. And because he was our friend our lives became more interesting, more colourful, more thought provoking but most of all a lot more fun
In today’s world people like him stand out as rare, precious things.
He was a wonderful person, the most human of beings who just made things better for all the people around him. With humour, with wisdom, with empathy and love. Our little world feels cold, empty and dull without his warm glow, but we also remember that he used his special Kenny magic to sneak a little bit of that glow into each of our hearts, a little light to help us on our way.
We can always call on his warm spirit whenever we need it. Just by thinking of who is was and how he lived his life
And that should be easy. Because although we may not always remember everything he said or everything he did. We will never forget how he made us feel.
We love you Kenny boy, We’ll treasure your music and our memories of you always. Thank you for being here and being you, our dear brave brother.
Ken had his own special way of saying goodbye when speaking to us, so in his honour we say :
Falaa! Kenny, Ching Chong! XX