As suggested as a tribute for Mr. Ripper while his funeral is on tomorrow at 1.30pm we all agree not to post on the site between 1.30pm -2.00pm, making a kind of silence in his memory. I appreciate if observed and feel it would be a memorial to a fellow Poolie.

Indeed.

Very commendable Mr E.

That's a very thoughtful idea.

A great turn out and a lovely service. More later.

Just got home,

It was nice to see the church packed but the two young boys following the coffin was heartbreaking. Plenty of nice speeches, especially from Kev’s brother. They are clearly a close family and this has torn them apart as you would expect.

I was really impressed by the way Clair held it together but as most will know; the loss hits home when everyone has gone and you close the front door to be left with your thoughts.

The Eulogy I mentioned went like this although it was toned down a little and the odd word probably inappropriate for a church.

Back in 2005 a group of Pools fans released a record called Never Say Die which was an updated version of the 70’s version by Hartlepool United that had such lyrical gems in it as “a group of lads from far up North, you’ll see that we’re still bottom of the fourth’.

In the wake of the upcoming Cardiff play off final against Sheffield Wednesday and the general positivity surround Pools and its fans at that time some of us felt that it needed updating. It’s fair to say that at the time it captured the mood of the Hartlepool public and sales were far in excess of expectation. It created an industry record for reaching number 24 in the official charts without any national distribution.

Kev was instrumental in this project; not only did he write some of the lyrics (yes really) he helped manage the distribution of the CD’s and negotiate with sales outlets.

Perhaps the most important aspect was when he fielded calls from the music industry and chart investigators. Kev typically took calls from contractors, clients and suppliers in his day job but when the midweek chart update was released to the media, sat there at number 9 was a record none of them had heard of from the oddly named ‘Monkey Hangerz’. It was sold only in two Hartlepool shops - Music Zone and Asda however it had outsold Madonna that week and they were suspicious.

They called the Mail and Pools and asked who they could talk to. They got Kev.

So sat at work one day a call comes in; Can I speak to Kevin Minton please?
Certainly, who’s speaking?
Radio 1 chart show.
Eh?
The Radio 1 chart show.
Have you got the right number?
I think so - Kevin Minton?
To Kev: Hoy Elvis, I’ve got Radio 1 on for you.

Ten minutes later:
Can I speak to Kevin Minton please?
Certainly, who’s speaking?
Top of the Pops.
I’ll put you through.
And.. Can I speak to Kevin Minton please?
Certainly, who’s speaking?
BBC Look North
I’ll put you through.

Several others of the same ilk called and all wanted background information and a copy of the record. More immediately Kev’s workmates wanted to know why the entire music industry hierarchy seemed to have woken up this day and decided to ring Kev!
A little later:

Can I speak to Kevin Minton please?
Certainly, who’s speaking?
The BPI
I’ll put you through.
The BPI is the organisation who police the charts and Kev had one of their investigators asking questions. They wanted to know how an unknown record with no backing and zero history had managed to sell 5000 records from a single Asda in 48 hours. They didn’t believe it, they weren’t having it and were calling to tell us that they were disqualifying the record sales from the charts.

Kev managed to talk them down and with a mixture of his normal calmness and practical approach they accepted that this was real.

Kev’s description to me later was a little more direct..
The fookin hoops that we had to jump through and the fookin blag I had to give the fookin chart investigators when they rang me at work that Wednesday afternoon…

Without question without Kevin Minton’s input that whole project would have flopped badly. He took care of a lot of the background organisation and we were lucky that the BPI called him and not one of the others. The end result apart from a lot of fun was that a couple of local kids charities received £20’000 they weren’t expecting.

Kev was the most politically incorrect person I ever knew but also one of the most genuine and funny. Rest easy mate.

Warm memories there Mr I….and is life about nothing more than memories, because without them, what’s the point.
He left a legacy, that could have better left thirty more years down the line, he was ironically cheated by fate and chance, of enjoying his full potential.

Wonderful eulogy for a guy i have never met but wish i had.
RIP Kev.

Well done Mr I. Kev would've enjoyed that.

Two big personalities gone. Sleep easy and stand down Kev and John. Between the two of you; political correctness doesn’t have a chance!