JAMES : TIM'S POSTCARD TO HIS MUM, 1998 TOUR PROGRAMME

Dear Mum,

What a year. A number one album, a sell-out tour. I even got to act again. And now we look out each night and see a sea of smiling faces. It's enough to make you feel loved. Heaven forbid. Hope your arthritis is improving. Have you tried glucosamine?

We are busking through some of the new songs we've recorded with Eno - yes, the man with the same name as your indigestion tablets. The new stuff sounds great, but I would say that. We took a few risks - all this success could turn us into old farts. Hope you get to the gig on time for the support acts. Well, hardly support acts. The Stereophonics are probably bigger than we are.

This new wave of success has shocked everyone. Even some of the press are reluctantly paying us our dues. They never understood that our songs are built like German cars and writing about the struggle to be a human being will always find an appreciative resonance. Even so, our audience's support overwhelms us. Long may it continue.

Hope the op goes OK

With love and thanks

Tim