Q. Full name and nicknames:
Rick: Richard John Cyril Allen.
Phil: (laughing) Cyril?!
Rick: Yeah, I should have been a fucking lawyer or something, my initials are RJCA! And my nickname is Bus Head. It came from the last tour, we'd be traveling for ten hours or so at a time, and while you're laying there you sweat your balls off. It's a bit like being in a coffin. Every time I'd wake up my hair would be everywhere, so they called me bus Head. Bastards!
Q. Date and place of birth:
Phil: Hackney in London on December 8th, 1957.
Rick: I was born at home in a place called Dronfield in Sheffield on November 1st, 1963.
Q. Current home:
Rick: I kinda live between Los Angeles and England.
Phil: Yeah, we've got places in England too. But at the moment I live in the Orange County, in a place called Laguna Hills, in California. I really like it there. I've got a little apartment in Los Angeles too. And a place in Paris as well, although I haven't seen it in over a year.
Q. Three words to describe yourself:
Rick: I'm happy. I'd like to think I was consistent, but it'd depends on which day you got me on.
Phil: Yeah, I know it's a boring answer but we're all pretty positive people. That's three between us, isn't it?! Positive, consistent and happy. That's gonna look pretty crappy in print!
Q. Do you have any pets? And if so, what?
Phil: Yeah, I've got a German shepherd dog called Woof! And two cats called Paula and Turtle.
Rick: I've got a dog too, and my Dad looks after it. I've got a German gun dog called Susie. And I've got a cat too, with a really original name. It's called Tiger!
Q. What team do you support?
Rick: I think me an' Phil are the same on this one. We both kinda went off football when the violence got out of control a few years back. I used to support Sheffield United, but all that unnecessary stuff drove me away from it.
Q. What car do you drive?
Phil: 'Cause I've got a wife and kid - and a cat! - I've got a Toyota truck at the moment. But my wife just got me a vintage Corvette, and she drives an XJS.
Rick: The missus drives a BMW and I've got a Wrangler jeep.
Q. If your house caught on fire, which possession would you save first?
Phil: I'd hve to get Rory, my two year old son.
Rick: I'd run out of the door with my missus. Possessions or actual people? If you were talking purely possessions and there was nobody in the house I'd grab the wallet. Oh shit, which wallet?! I'd need it so I can check into a hotel.
Q. Do you get on with your parents?
Phil: Yeah, great. We get on really well. I've never known such a bunch of people who get on so well with their parents. They helped us, they encouraged us to play. They supported us, so it's only fair that we're supporting them now.
Rick: Mine were really supportive from the instrument point of view, from the age of ten upwards. I was destroying all their worktops with my drumsticks, so I suppose they didn't have a choice!
Q. What's the last thing you do before going on stage?
Phil: We used to do all sorts of stupid things! Steve (Clark, sadly deceased Leps axeman), used to have this stupid f***ing (pauses)...God, I don't know what it was!
Rick: Y'know, like handshakes high and low. They used to have this dance which involved jumping up in the air and all kinds of odd things.
Phil: Only we'd do it onstage when we played in the round, and the arena would be full up, and we'd be in the centre doing all these stupid things with the curtain round us, and it kept getting longer and longer. Also, Rick would go and play with the support band, but from underneath the stage.
Q. When, where and at what age did you lose your virginity?
Rick: I was about 14 or 15 and it was with this dodgy old beaver at this party. I can't even remember her name. I was totally pissed and she said "You're coming with me"! It was one of those!
Q. If you gave up the music business, what would you do?
Phil: Still use the ol' right hand, I guess! No, I'd probably sit at home, write songs and produce bands.
Rick: I'd probably get into production or arrangement. We've all learned enough from working with Mutt Lange to get almost any band to a really good standard.
Q. Which film would you most like to be in?
Rick: Something to do with adventure, or that was set in the future. Probably something by Mel Gibson.
Phil: Or something like Raiders Of The Lost Ark, or Bladerunner.
Q. If you were an object in the bathroom, what would you be?
Phil: I definately wouldn't be the bog.
Rick: I'd quite fancy being the razor.
Phil: What if it was a disposable one?
Rick: That's true. We'd probably be taps because we both get turned on a lot!
Q. Who's the most arrogant dickhead you've met in Rock 'n Roll?
Phil: I know it's boring, but we don't tend to meet any. We avoid them like the plague, we don't go to places where dickheads hang out. We don't go to flash restaurants, we'd rather just have a curry.
Rick: Yeah, Phil's right.
Q. Would you shave your head for charity?
Rick: Malvin, one of our crew would, already has. Phil: Maybe if there was a few quid involved. But probably not.
Q. What part of your body would you like to change?
Phil: Love handles is always a bummer, even though I work out a lot. It's always the last place that you lose weight from.
Rick: I'd say my stomach. And my left arm.
Q. What are your views on groupies?
Phil: American? Japanese? European? Oh anything. Well, they're always gonna be there. Every form of entertainment has its groupies, whether its actors or whatever. In some cases that's the reason why some people get involved in entertainment in the first place. When we first started, when there wasn't AIDS, we thought it was great, but after a while the music took over. You get more serious about what you're doing.
Rick: Looking at it from the outside, it adds a certain amount of glamour to the whole in an odd way. It'd be weird if there weren't any groupies.
Phil: Sometimes it's nice to stroke people's egos. Some bands thrive on it, but we're all married.
Q. Most peculiar place you've had a bonk?
Phil: There's been a few funny ones. In an airport toilet was a novelty, worrying about getting caught.
Rick: The old airplane toilet is the one. I always think there are hidden cameras in those places!
Q. What do you wear in bed?
Phil: Nothing.
Rick: My wife!
Q. What's the worst thing you've ever had written about you?
Rick: The only negative thing I can recall was that someone called me an immature little prick. But that could've been true! That was before Phil joined the band (1982), so it was a long time ago.
Q. Proudest moment of your life?
Phil: When my wife gave birth to ROry. I was there and cut the cord and everything.
Rick: September 29th, 1991, when I got married. That kinda makes everything else pale in comparison.
Q. Which song would you like played at your funeral?
Rick: How about one of ours? How about "Too Late."
Phil: Yeah I like that.
Q. Would you go to Heaven if you died today?
Phil: Probably, I don't think I'd go to Hell. It's not just what you did today, it don't work like that. But I'd be reasonably confident of getting there.
Rick: I think it's to do with trying to make peace with your past. I know I've done things that don't impress myself much, but all you can do is try and do better next time. I'd probably be somewhere halfway!
