For many years I have known Rat Scabies only as the drummer from The Damned, you know, the one licking the pumpkin pie off of his bandmates head on the cover of their self-named 1976 album. But recently my brother, as he often does, made a gift of an interesting looking book for me, Rat Scabies & The Holy Grail.
Christopher Dawes is a music writer who learned shortly after moving into his home in the London suburb of Brentford that Rat Scabies was a neighbor living just across the street, and in a short time a friendship was struck. Rat introduced Chris to his hobby, or obsession, with unraveling the mystery of the cathedral of Rennes-le-Chateau in France, and the suspected connection between the church and the Holy Grail. And the two pursue an Indiana Jones-ish quest, but from the back of a tour bus. It’s a fun tale of friendship, travel and adventure. You don’t need to be a fan of The Damned to enjoy the book, but it doesn’t hurt.
In hunting for links for the blog post, I came across Rat’s page on MySpace. It was a cool find, especially for the YouTube videos that Chris and Rat took of their travels and described in the book. And I’m glad to say Rat accepted my ‘Friend Request’, making me his 2,997th friend on MySpace, and he is my 15th. Stay tuned to lear more, as me and my friend Rat will set out in search of the Ark of the Covenant someday.