You Can Drum But You Can't Hide

Book excerpt: Among the many near-mythical figures of the Manchester music scene, they call him the Nearly Man. You'd expect a drummer to have better timing. Yes, he parted ways before The Patrol became the Stone Roses. Yes, he turned down The Smiths. Right place, right time, wrong choices? Timing is everything. But while Simon Wolstencroft can see what might have been, cultivating bitterness bears no fruit. And 'Funky Si' has tasted the nectar. Spending an unlikely 11 years in The Fall and hooking up with old mate Ian Brown during his solo days, his memoir reflects on a life driven by a passion for playing.