It is devastating news of Ron’s sudden death; he will be sadly missed. The Dumbwaiters band started at Keele University in 1977. The DumbWaiters bassist, Ron was always seen in a leather motorbike jacket, several ears with piercings and short spikey hair flaunted his “Punk Rock” credentials, together with his “East-End” accent he was the genuine article epitomising the essence of genre. An uncompromising, controversial free thinker turning convention on its head.

During their first term at university Ron, Brian, Jim and Vic bonded through their love of punk music. With had a cheap second-hand electric guitar connected to an old valve reel-to-reel tape recorder and a bass borrowed from a bloke down the pub the band was formed. They spent hours jamming in Vic’s room coming up with ideas for songs and riffs.

Collections of the Dumbwaiters of tapes remain having been recently restored.

Ron had an excellent musical ear and was able to pick up playing the bass very quickly and intuitively could pick out a riff.

The first recordings of the band’s jamming on borrowed equipment is on a cassette tape which is nearly 50 years old. Now restored and featured on The Keele Tapes Vol.3 with additional instruments and lyrics documents the Dumbwaiters formation.

Vic recalls Ron and Jim staying at his mum and dad’s house in Yorkshire at the end of term. Thankfully his parents agreed to go to his Auntie Val’s for the weekend which allowed the band an opportunity to spend the entire weekend drinking beer and playing music.

Ron had discovered the walking bass line, Vic, on electric guitar, had recently purchased a second-hand Wah-wah pedal, and Jim jumped on Vic’s upright piano. The piano had never been tuned, bought by Vic’s dad for £10 from the Boy Scouts. Jim the wrote the lyrics in 2025 to turn the recording of the jam into a new song for KTV3.