| Ian inherited his
father’s love of writing and silent moods. Kevin Curtis had written several plays,
but they had never been published. One of Ian’s favorite relatives was his
father’s sister, Aunty Nell, a large overbearing woman with an excessive
determination to get what she wanted from life. Bold and generous, Aunty Nell showered Ian
with gifts and transfixed him with tales of her youth and her early modeling career. She
made her life seen so exiting and instilled in him a belief that there was more to living
than working nine to five and sharing an identical existence to your neighbors. Their
personalities were strikingly similar in that they were both self assured and determined,
although sometimes it seemed as if Nell would actually lend some of her confidence to Ian
- he was visibly more outgoing in her company. As she had no children of her own she
tended to mother him a little and often their relationship would appear slightly
conspiratorial. One had the impression that if Ian were to confide in anyone, it would be
Aunty Nell. Ian’s main love in
life was music and many lunchtimes were spent at the Victoria Park flat listening to the
MC5, Roxy Music and the Velvet Underground. His fanaticism for David Bowie, and in
particular his version of Jaques Brel’s song "My Death," was taken at the
time to be a fashionable fascination and merely Ian’s recognition of Bowie’s
mime, choreographed by Lindsay Kemp. The fact that most of Ian’s heroes were dead or
obsessed with death was not unusual and is a common teenage fad. Ian seemed to take
growing up more seriously than the others, as if kicking against it could prolong his
youth. He bought a red jacket to match the one James Dean wore in Rebel Without a Cause.
He wanted to be that rebel but, like his hero, he didn’t have a cause either. Mostly
his rebellion took the form of verbal objection to anyone else’s was of life and, if
he thought it appropriate, a sullen or disinterested expression. Because he was different,
people wanted to be included in his circle of friends. He could draw in a person with his
enigmatic charisma, which even then was obvious.
Ian and his contemporaries were able to
smoke dope, sniff solvents and still leave time for studies. Although it was obvious to
his friends that Ian was clever, he never seemed to do any work. His studies may have
suffered, but he still managed to gain seven O levels in English Language, English
Literature, Religious Knowledge, History, Latin, French and Mathematics. He was even
awarded prizes in his favourite subjects - History and Divinity. Ironically, despite his
admiration of the pomp and power of Germany, he failed O level German. He never spoke
about furthering his education or which university he would like to attend. Although it
was seldom discussed, the other boys had realistic career plans, but Ian always talked of
a career in the music business. He and (boyhood friend) Oliver (Cleaver) would bicker
about who would be the singer in the band, but Oliver never took the conversations
seriously. It was clear to Oliver that groups such as the Beatles became famous in the
music business by practicing labouriously. No one ever saw Ian learning to play the guitar
and he never stood up and sang. His posing antics in the bedroom were taken as part of the
fun, not a serious commitment to stardom. |
