piano, vocals born March 17th 1946 died in May 1995

	Charles Thomas Sean Mayes was schooled in Bristol before winning a place at Trinity College, Cambridge, there to gain a degree in philosophy. At 7 years he started playing piano, eventually writing classically influenced pieces for school concerts. At college his musical interests stayed along classical lines until a friend introduced him to artists like The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and Little Richard. Jerry Lee Lewis' "Hi Heel Sneakers" made a special impression. He decided to join a group. The only setback was, nobody really wanted to play that kind of music - "Hi Heel Sneakers" sure, but the real melodic goldies no. Sean ended up forming an R& B group 'Wildie Beasties' with Barry (probably the originator of that name) Sean was playing organ, as there was no easy way to amplify a piano. Sean and Barry then formed the 'Soulbenders' which lasted until Sean left university and joined Des and Mario. Now one step closer to what Sean wanted to play, they formed the 'Baloons'.

Sean Mayes - philosopher, poet and musician

Sean Mayes left Cambridge with a degree in philosophy before he joined Fumble. Sean was the quiet and thoughtful type, almost always working on some project or other. He was very organised, collected papers, photographs, addresses and made diary notes. Always carrying his typewriter with him, he virtually chronicled every day on the road with Fumble. Sean has made a list with every gig from the first 20 years. You find it in the 'Archive' section. "Fumble - The first 20 years!" Sean's list with every gig from 1967 to 1987

Sean has worked with many musicians including David Bowie and Tom Robinson. He was also a prolific writer and co-author of several books. His notes and memories of the 1978 world tour with David Bowie were later transformed into the book "We Can Be Heroes" , which was published four years after his death in 1999. Left picture: David Bowie Musikladen Special 1978 Photo © Radio Bremen David Bowie Sean played piano for David Bowie on the "Heroes" world tour in 1978 and on David Bowie's albums "Lodger" and "Stage". The Tom Robinson Band In 1982 Sean joined the Tom Robinson, toured with them and played on two of their albums.

Sean Mayes died in May 1995 at the age of 45 "I knew him as a kindly, patient, exasperating and brilliant man - solid as a rock. His death at 49 from AIDS is a ludicrous waste and for once the cliche really is true - we shall not see his like again" - Tom Robinson -

Albums / Books

	Sean Mayes- albums: David Bowie Lodger (1979) (Keyboard, Piano) David Bowie Stage (1978) (backing vocals, Piano, Strings) Tom Robinson North by Northwest (1982) (Percussion) Tom Robinson Last Tango: Midnight at the fringe (1988) (Piano) Sean Mayes - books: Kate Bush - a visual documentary (Kevin Cann & Sean Mayes) Omnibus Press (1988) ISBN 0-7119-1039-1 Joan Armatrading - A Biography (Sean Mayes) Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1990) ISBN 0-297-81058-8 We Can Be Heroes - Life on tour with David Bowie (Sean Mayes) Independent Music Press (1999) ISBN 1-89-7783-17-5