Pick your own "Desert Island Discs"

The BBC radio show "Desert Island Discs" is built on one of the simplest of ideas. If you were marooned on a desert island with just eight pieces of music, which eight pieces would you choose?
Each week, a different guest is asked to make their selection of music and also pick a book and a luxury item to make their exile more bearable. The show, devised by Roy Plomley, was first broadcast in 1942 and is the longest running factual programme in the history of radio.

For a short period, the BBC have given all those of us who are never likely to be invited onto the show, a chance to make our choices. So if you fancy registering your particular desert island listening faves, check out the "Your Desert Island Discs" web-page.

Just for the record, (no pun intended) the songs that I picked are:


"Harry's house/Centerpiece" by Joni Mitchell
I'd have to take something by Joni Mitchell. She was probably the first female singer/songwriter that I picked up on and she will always be the bench-mark. She's written so many outstanding songs over the years that I could have easily used up all eight choices from her back catalogue. This song is a perfect evocation of a particular American lifestyle. It also has the advantage of being two songs in one, so I effectively sneak in an extra choice. Smart, eh?

"One of those days in England (Parts 2 to 10)" by Roy Harper
An anthem of nostalgia for an England that may well have existed and that I can almost remember. I was too young to remember ration books, but I do remember the smell and heat of steam trains and how, if you were lucky, the engine driver would acknowledge with a grin if you'd waved at him.
The song also begins with references to "signing on" at the dole office. That rings a few bells too. 

"He's on the beach" by Kirsty MacColl
This is a song that I could imagine being sung by everyone who isn't on my desert island.
It's also fabulously upbeat. 

"Watcher of the skies" by Genesis
I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard this track. The mellotron introduction was like nothing I'd ever heard before and it made me realise that there was a whole new area of music out there that I could enjoy. A shared appreciation of this type of music led to sharing flats and houses with a whole raft of friends and this song is for them.

"Black light machine" by Frost*
The first time I heard this, I could not believe it. As with the Genesis song, I know exactly where I was for that first time. It had probably been decades since I'd been so joyfully surprised by any piece of music.
Ten minutes of almost perfect "prog" and it also includes my absolute favourite guitar solo.

"You've got a friend" by James Taylor
A song for me to sing along with while I watch the sunset and think about all my friends back in civilization.
 
"Bring the rain" by Judie Tzuke
Another female singer/songwriter. If there's a British Joni Mitchell, this is her. I've never understood how she failed to get the recognition that she really deserves.
A lovely song.

"Winter wine" by Caravan
This track is taken from "The Land of Grey and Pink", the first album that I bought. That record was played almost to destruction in a flat that I shared with some friends back in the 1970s.
If there's a single lyric from any song that I feel sums up how I'd like to live my life, it's in this song.

Life's too short to be sad, wishing things you'll never have

You're better off not dreaming of the things to come
Dreams are always ending far too soon.

The spirit of "Spinal Tap" is alive and... well

My band, "Nightflight" had a gig last Saturday at one of our more regular haunts, "The Old Ship" in Macclesfield. 

This is a great little boozer. We generally have a good time when we play there, so we're always happy to accept a booking. 

Up until about a year ago, the space available for setting up the equipment was pretty cramped. We had to find a way of shoe-horning four people, a PA system, a bass amp and speakers, a drum kit, a keyboard and sundry microphone stands and foot-pedals into a small alcove surrounded on three sides by bench seating and an upright piano. Playing in tight spaces is difficult enough, but setting up the gear is even worse. Everybody is in each others way and it becomes hard not to have a massive sense of humour failure.

Fortunately, it's much better now. The landlady had all the benches taken out, along with the wretched piano and installed some extra power sockets and a nice new floor. We've got sufficient elbow room to set up the gear without constantly bumping into each other and our performance is less likely to be marred by the guitarist getting  a cymbal stand jabbed up his rectum every time be takes half a pace back from the microphone.

So the gig went pretty well. There were quite a few familiar faces there, so we played the usual mix of classic rock covers and our own original songs and this was very well received. We had a good time. In fact I think I may have been enjoying myself  a bit too much.

A couple of our most loyal fans had come along and as they are keen on our version of "Holding out for a hero", we decided to finish the night with it.

Yes, I know it's completely cheesy and that Bonnie Tyler should never be forgiven for inflicting the song on humanity; but it's fun. There is no way that you can overdo this song. It is an excuse for all manner of over the top power-chord nonsense, monstrous drum rolls and neo-operatic vocal drama.

The fan club was lapping it up, everybody was up and dancing and "Hero" was going down a storm. 

For the big finish guitar solo, Dennis, taking advantage of his wireless guitar rig, set off across the bar into the midst of the dancers, so I decided to join in too. As we shredded away surrounding by the bopping throng, I had a brilliant idea. 

"I'll try that thing they did in the Spinal Tap film, where the guitarist does his solo and leans backwards so far that he ends up lying on his back, still playing."

It started well enough. I went into a sort of limbo posture and dropped down on my knees, then gradually leaned further backwards as I pounded out a thundering bass line to underpin the howling guitar solo. 

Further and further backwards I went until, inevitably I lost my balance. 

My shoulders hit the floor and I continued playing. as I lay on my back surrounded by completely perplexed punters.

Now why I ever thought that this would be a bit of quality showmanship, I have no idea. After all, in "This is Spinal Tap" it didn't exactly end well, but at least they looked the part. Check out the video clip of the trailer at about 2 minutes 30 seconds, and you'll see what I mean.

When I did this, I just ended up looking like some poor old bloke who'd "had a fall".

It was a very long way from rock and roll...

The world is full of nutters... (Thank Heavens)

The technology that delivers the music we listen to has come a long way during my lifetime.
I was reminded just how much things have changed by a recent post on Techno-Billies.

The first record player I can remember was a varnished mahogany box with a handle at the side to wind up the clockwork motor, and louvred vents at the front to control the volume of the sound that was produced by a steel needle as it tracked the groove in a 10 inch disc, spinning at 78 rpm. I can't have been more than four years old, but the memory of The Goons singing "I'm walking backwards for Christmas" is still clear, more than fifty years later.

During the time that has passed, the way we listen to music has changed almost beyond recognition. Now, my entire music collection is available, stored on pocket sized sliver of digital wizardry that barely weighs as much as that single, scratchy recording.

So bearing in mind the compactness of modern audio equipment, the ease with which we can use it and the quality of the sound that it produces, I find it hard to understand just what possessed  Simon Jansen of Auckland, New Zealand to build his "Steampunk Record Player".

Whatever drove him to create this work of whimsy, I salute him.
The Sex Pistols have never sounded better.

Another way to hear new music

 Although I'm in the middle of writing one post, I've simply got to write a quick one about yet another way to hear music via the web.

If you haven't already come across it, have a look at "Last FM"

You don't have to register or log in, you can simply decide which band or artist you'd like to hear, enter their name and then sit back and listen to a selection of tracks by that artist and others that are of a similar style, presented as a sort of customised radio station. This can be a great way to discover the sort of stuff that you might enjoy but wouldn't normally get a chance to hear.

This week, I have been mostly listening to "Frost* Radio"

Support your local band

Being in a band is great.

It ensures that you carry on playing an instrument and learning new pieces of music, it forces you out of the house to rehearsals when you might just be tempted to blob in front of the television and it gives you an excuse to go into music shops and try out ridiculously expensive instruments and amplifiers that you have no intention of buying whatsoever.
Whether these were ever the reasons that anybody first decided to join a group I have no idea, but certainly, once you have got past the expectation of chucking in the day job and setting off on a world tour with all the attendant joys of fame, fortune, fornication and freely available recreational pharmaceuticals, it's the small joys of the hopeful, amateur rocker that make it all worthwhile.

My band, "Nightflight", rarely gets to play to huge crowds, typically playing pub gigs, the occasional function or local fetes or festivals.  With the varied mix of solid rock covers, power ballads and original material in our repertoire, we can cater for quite a varied audience and even add customer requested songs to the set if we've had reasonable advanced warning. So far (touch wood) we've never got it hopelessly wrong, so the response is somewhere between favourable and very enthusiastic. this is particularly gratifying when you've played an original song that folks may never have heard before.

One downside to being in a band is that it's often not so easy to get to see other bands play. As I work a rather complicated pattern of shifts for my "day job", it's quite unusual for me to be at a loose end on a Friday or Saturday evening. If I'm not actually at work, my band will probably have a gig shoe-horned into the date that is available. Yesterday evening, however, was one of the rare occasions when Blight-of-my-life and I were able to go out and see some of our friends play for a change, so it was off to "The Navigation Inn" in Macclesfield to see "Amandla".

Three quarters of "Amandla". Sarah must be at the bar...

"Amandla" are a local four-piece band and they have been delivering quality blues and rock to the good folk of East Cheshire for ages. When Blight had what is known as a significant birthday, a couple of years ago,  they played at her party. I've been lucky enough to play alongside two of the guys. Corin has depped for us several times when we've carelessly lost our drummer for one reason or another, and it was Ross (the one with the hat) who invited me to join him when he was putting together a band a few years ago and lured me back into performing.

I'd forgotten just how good they are. They opened the first set with a Pink Floyd medley which began with the introduction from "Shine on you Crazy Diamond". Ross has absolutely nailed the guitar tone for this and when the Corin and Al (bass) joined, nobody in the pub was left with any doubt that they were in for something special.
Since Sarah joined them, "Amandla" have been able to broaden their repertoire to include material which would not otherwise be such a comfortable option. Alanis Morissette's "Ironic", "Call Me" from Blondie and a cracking version of Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet" have all found their places in the set, allowing Ross to concentrate on the bluesier stuff from Buddy Guy and Dr Feelgood.
To top it all off, they finished the night with their Rock Classics medley; fifteen minutes of pure and unadulterated joy. 

So altogether a splendid night out.

If you get the chance to see them, do yourself a favour and grab it with both hands. 

"Shackleton's Voyage"

Following the comment from Anonymous on yesterday's post, I thought I'd draw your attention to a rather interesting re-telling of story of The Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition  and of Ernest Shackleton's remarkable achievement.

"Eureka" were not a band that I'd come across before, but Amazon suggested that their CD, "Shackleton's Voyage" was something I might consider worth buying. I listened to the short samples of each of the tracks and was impressed enough by what I heard to order it.

If you are totally averse to Prog Rock or the very idea of a "Concept Album", you may well be strongly inclined to dismiss this piece, but as far as these sort of compositions go, I reckon that it is almost too accessible. If I was forced to compare it with any other album, I'd say that some of it was reminiscent of early Mike Oldfield. There are a few short spoken passages which may remind you of "War of the Worlds" and there is a particularly celtic feel to some sections.

I had a quick trawl through YouTube and found several clips from the album, so here is "Going Home". 

The family curse

Yes. I can reveal that our family is beset by a dreadful curse.

We seem powerless to resist the siren call of the bass guitar.

OK, it can't compete with the Hound of the Baskervilles, but there is something vaguely unsettling about the way it follows us.
It shows no respect for either age or gender and it can strike without warning at any time.

The first victim was the elder of my two brothers. He played bass in a group in Worcestershire around the end of the 1960s. As far as I can remember, they stuck together for a couple of years playing functions and some local clubs, although I never saw them play. I do remember the guitar he had though, a rather pleasing Hofner Blonde semi-acoustic.

It was several years after my brother had stopped playing that I fell under the spell. A friend of mine decided that a smart way to supplement our meagre wages would be to form a dance band. As we were living near Torquay at the time, he reckoned it would be a doddle to get some gigs during the tourist season. I had played acoustic guitar in folk clubs for several years, but I'd never considered playing in a band before, so I was quite surprised when he suggested that I join him. I probably could have resisted if he hadn't said the one thing guaranteed to sucker me in.
"You'd look great playing bass", he said, and I fell for it.

At the end of that summer, the band broke up and we went our separate ways. I moved to Cheshire and although I kept the Fender Jazz copy that had served me so well, it was exiled to the loft.
It seemed that I had shaken off the curse.

Then another member of the family was ensnared. This time it was the daughter of my other brother. The curse had somehow skipped a generation, missing him but catching my niece instead.
To make matters worse, at around this time I was lured out of retirement by a work-mate who was learning to play the guitar and needed someone to play with. I retrieved my bass from the loft and discovered how much I'd missed playing it. I began practicing again. I bought a Rickenbacker 4003. I was invited to join a band. We played a few gigs. We split up. I joined another band...

...and we're still gigging.

A few of days ago, it was my eldest brother's birthday, so I 'phoned him for a bit of a chat.
It turns out that he's just got hold of another bass guitar and has started playing again.
After all these years of lying dormant, the curse has re-awakened and caught up with him.
He's just turned sixty-nine.

Happy Birthday mate!

England Football Team .v. Nightflight

Well that's a bit unfortunate.

In a major upset, England's abysmally under performing football team have somehow managed not to get eliminated from the next stage of the FIFA World Cup. 

Their failure to get beaten by Slovenia yesterday has put them into the knock-out stages of the tournament where their next game will be against Germany at three o'clock on Sunday afternoon.

This is a cruel bit of scheduling, as it means that the game will take place at the same time as my band will be on stage, playing at the Langley Village Fete...

 "Nightflight" make a desperate attempt to cheer up disappointed football fans...

End to End Frank: Day 6

Once again, the first text message of the day arrived as I was having breakfast.
Frank was just setting off, but he wasn't expecting to make huge progress, as his ankles had swollen up. This was not encouraging news, because it was trouble with his achilles tendons that put paid to his previous attempt on this route. He reckoned he'd just aim for Preston and see how it went.

By the time I'd driven to Worcestershire and arrived at the rehearsal studio, there were two more messages.
The first was timed at 10:41, marking the passing of the 400 mile point, while the second had been sent from Wigan at 13:22. Not such dreadful progress  then.
The drummer I was rehearsing with was very sympathetic, as he'd done the same journey some years ago. He said that he'd never quite got over how when he'd reached Scotland, there was so much further left to go. I decided not to pass this depressing thought on to Frank.

By the time our rehearsal was over and we'd been for some refreshment at "The Plough" in Pershore, Frank had reached the campsite at Scorton where he will be spending tonight.

As I drove the hundred miles homeward, back up the M6, I struggled to get my head round the fact that for the last few days, Frank has been repeatedly covering the same distance on a bike.

Extraordinary.

Scorton

I can't believe I hadn't noticed...

I'm sure most of us are familiar with those wierd little pictures where you are asked, "What can you see here?"
Quite what the answer that you give is supposed to say about you or your state of mind, I've no idea, but I'm not a psychiatrist... Well, I believe I'm not a psychiatrist.

Apparently this image is either two people looking at each other, or it's a vase... or two people looking at a vase, I suppose.

So what has brought this on?

I listen to quite a lot of music and although I've nattered on about Prog Rock in several posts, I'm also very keen on female vocal artists. With iTunes set to 'Shuffle', the pomp complexities of Pink Floyd, Spock's Beard, Porcupine Tree and all the other unusual suspects are offset by the simpler clarity of Sandy Denny, Kirsty MacColl, Kate Rusby and Judie Tzuke.

...and then there's Joni Mitchell.
I think the first time I became aware of her was in 1969, when a bunch of us went to the local cinema to see "Alice's Restuarant". As this was the first "18" rated film that I'd managed to get to see, it was always going to have a disproportionate impact on me, but although all the subversive-hippie-free-love-commune-anarchy action was heady stuff indeed for this seventeen year-old, it was "Songs to ageing children", sung by Joni Mitchell that really moved me.

Since then, I've bought most of her albums and was even lucky enough to see her play live at Wembley Stadium in the 1970s, so I guess that makes me a fan.

She can paint a bit as well.
Many Joni Mitchell albums have cover artwork that are reproductions of her paintings, including "Both Sides Now", which was released in 2000.
This is an unusual album, comprising mostly cover versions of jazz standards and a couple from her own back catalogue, with full orchestral arrangements. The individual songs are strung together to tell the story of a love affair, from the enfatuation of "You're my thrill", through the doubts of "You've changed" and the despair of "Stormy weather", to the hopefulness of "I wish I were in love again" and the resigned philosophy of "Both sides now". 

Even though it's a fairly melancholy selection, I was pleased to hear a track come on today as I was idling at the PC. I glanced at the image of the album cover on the iTunes display and suddenly noticed something I had never seen before.

I cannot believe that I'm the first person to see that she is wearing her heart on her sleeve.

Edge of darkness

There are trailers on TV at the moment for the latest Mel Gibson film, a remake of "Edge of Darkness".

I heard a review of it on "Front Row", the daily arts show on BBC Radio 4, a couple of days ago. It sounded as if it could be reasonable, but throughout the piece, the reviewer couldn't help but compare it with the original and the general impression was one of disappointment.

As luck would have it, I was at the library the day after I heard this review and was delighted to discover that they had the DVD of the original, award-winning 1985 TV series.
I grabbed it.
For a drama that was made twenty-five years ago, it is amazing how well it has aged.

I remember being thoroughly gripped by the series when it was first broadcast and what an outstandingly unusual drama it was for its time. The story, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, follows Craven, a detective, as he tries to come to terms with the murder of his daughter. He is drawn into a dangerous covert struggle between the burgeoning nuclear power industry and organised environmental activists. The quality of the cast, the writing and the production values set this series apart from anything else that was around at the time; it didn't do it any harm to have theme music by Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen either.

I'm not about to suggest that you don't go and watch the new version of "Edge of Darkness", but I'd definitely encourage you to get hold of the DVD of the original.

...and if you want to hear what the music was like, have a listen to this...

 

Return of the Prog-monster

I've got myself involved in a slightly unusual musical project.

When Blight-of-my-life had her birthday party, last April, I was approached by three of the folks who I shared a house with, back in the dim'n'distant, to play a bit of bass with them.
Well, I say "approached", but what with all of them clustering around me and  bouncing up and down with enthusiam, it was actually more like being mugged by the some of the world's oldest puppies.

As these were some of the people who shared the Christmas meal I posted about last month, you'll appreciate that we've got some history.

I was fairly reticent about getting involved to be honest, as I'm a believer in the philosophy that you should "never go back". The memory is a dangerously selective beast and if you aren't careful it'll conveniently edit out all the stuff that, if you're brutally honest, you're glad to have grown out of.
I said "I'll think about it...", and left it at that.

As the months went by, I decided that although it would undoubtedly be a bit odd, it wouldn't represent a true musical reunion, as I was never actually a player in the old band.
As such, getting involved wouldn't mean that I was "going back".
Having squared it with my conscience, when a second invitation to participate arrived in amongst the Christmas cards, I accepted.

A couple of weeks ago, I drove down to Pershore to see what we can do.

After three hours in the rehearsal room at Tower Studios, things were a bit clearer.
I had a pretty good idea of how the piece should go, although some reservations about how easy it will be to get desired end result.
Musically it shouldn't be too problematic, but the difference in compositional style from the way we work in Nightflight is quite unsettling.

In spite of this it's good fun, and that, for me, is what playing music with other people is all about.

Where's Captain Pugwash when you need him?

Has anybody got any idea how to classify this musical offering from "Alestorm"?

I've tried, but every time I get as far as "completely bonkers", I just start humming the chorus again. Absolutely marvellous.

"Arrrr!!"





Thanks to Wyrdwhorl, for posting it at Wyrdsongs.
(Albus Dumbledore was right about music)

Did somebody say, "Let's rock"?

Playing at a venue for the first time is always a bit of a worry, so I was a little apprehensive about last night's gig at "The Old Millstone".
We'd never played there before and to make things slightly more alarming, Dave was on holiday, so we'd drafted in Corin from "Amandla" to play drums.

As is so often the case, I should not have been worried. It was a smashing night out.

The Millstone is probably one of the busiest pubs in Macclesfield and is sufficiently large to allow a band to play to a good size audience while allowing other, less musically inclined, patrons to drink in relative peace and quiet.

It was a bit of a novelty for us to have so much space to set up the gear. Usually with a pub gig, it's a major challenge to shoe-horn the drum-kit, bass stack, keyboard, PA, mixing desk, guitar gubbins, monitors and mic-stands etc. into the corner of a room that the landlord assures you is "where the bands usually set up".
Here we had the space that would normally have been occupied by a couple of pool tables. Luxury! Not only does it make it more fun to play on an adequate stage, but having a sensible amount of space makes it a hell of a lot easier to set up the equipment; you aren't perpetually falling over your band mates and trying to avoid getting poked in the ear with a cymbal stand.

The acoustics of the room were fairly easy to work with, so we didn't have any problems with getting the sound sorted out; we just played the stuff and had a good time. We all played our socks off and this was clearly well received by the crowd, if the enthusiastic applause and demands for an encore are anything to go by.
I'm definitely looking forward to playing there again.

As for any qualms about playing with a 'dep' drummer, I should have known better. Corin was, as always, a joy to play with. So special thanks to him for helping us out. I think he's far too sensible to be a drummer; they're all supposed to be raving bonkers.

Set List

I've just read an email of the set list for the gig we're playing tomorrow night...

No. Wait a minute..., it's tonight.

Writing stuff in the early hours of the morning is always confusing.

So, whenever it is, 'Nightflight' will be playing at "The Hollins" in beautiful downtown Macclesfield and, now that I've got the set list, I know which songs we'll be doing.

When I joined 'Nightflight', four years ago, I was a bit surprised by the set list policy. Every other band that I'd been associated with had tended to have a fixed list of songs which were played in pretty much the same order at every gig. This band never does exactly the same set twice running and to add further uncertainty, the choice of songs is left until the day before the gig.

The main reason for this fuzzy arrangement is the number of songs that we actually know. Dennis and Sue have been playing for decades and have an extensive back catalogue of standard covers as well as a load of original compositions. At every change of line-up, the band's repertoire has been influenced by the differing tastes and styles of the various musicians. As time passes, some songs fall out of favour and new songs take their place but, rather like a comfy pair of old shoes, you can't bear to chuck them away. These songs remain in the repertoire's equivalent of the attic, waiting to be rediscovered, dusted off and perhaps given another outing.

So let's have a look at what we're going to play.

First Set:

• "Werewolves of London" (Warren Zevon) An unusual song concept, but a comparatively stress-free opener.
• "Ghost Train" (Nightflight) The first of several songs from the recent CD. It's got a slightly tricky arrangement which nearly caught us out last time we played it at "The Hollins".
• "It's a start" (Nightflight) A bit of ska.
• "Don't stop believing" (Journey) This song gained some new fans when it was played during the final episode of "The Sopranos".
• "One last summer" (Nightflight) Anthemic ballad.
• "Dancing in the dark" (Bruce Springsteen) We've only recently rediscovered this one and it makes a good opening song. We'll see how it fares in the middle of the first set.
• "Ton of love" (Nightflight) I've always enjoyed playing this. It was the first original song for which I'd had to create my own bass line.
• "Parisienne walkways" (Gary Moore) Simply a lovely song.
• "Go your own way" (Fleetwood Mac) Although I think we do this rather well, I personally don't enjoy playing it; relentlessly fiddly bass line which is a nightmare to recover if you lose your place.
• "My generation" (The Who) You can't fault the irony of "hope I die before I get old..."
• "The Chain" (Fleetwood Mac) Another 'bass player's benefit'. Formula 1 Motor Racing fans always like this too.
• "Auberge" (Chris Rea) A good solid finish to the first half.

Second Set:

• "Don't forget me" (Nightflight) A bit of reggae with some saxophone from Sue.
• "Dancing in the streets" (Martha Reeves) We've only been doing this one for a couple of months, so it's pretty lively.
• "Comfortably numb" (Pink Floyd) This always seems to go down well and I love playing it.
• "The racers" (Nightflight) This is heads-down-no-nonsense-rock'n'roll, and it's a bit of a killer for me with an almost relentless assault of sixteenths (Many notes in a short space of time). The smell of scorching flesh will be my finger-tips.
• "Nothing else matters" (Nightflight) This is a beautiful little song that Dennis wrote years ago. We've only gigged it a couple of times and it's still improving.
• "Sweet home Alabama" (Lynrd Skynrd) Very popular with the punters, but Dennis enjoys it about as much as I like "Go your own way" i.e. not bloody much.
• "Waltzer song" (Nightflight) I always think that this has a bit of a Dire Straits vibe to it.
• "A bad case of lovin' you" (Robert Palmer) Crash-Bang-Wallop! Wailing guitar and loads of pointing.
• "I saw her standing there" (Beatles) We tend to do this slightly faster than 'The Fab Four', so it has a bit of a punk sensibility and so it's even more of a giggle to play.

If anybody wants us to play for a bit longer, we'll probably do "Black night" (Deep Purple) and/or "Whole lotta love" (Led Zeppelin).

There's even an outside chance that we might sneak in "Holding out for a hero" (Bonnie Tyler). It's complete and utter cheese as well as being Dave's least favourite song, so it's always funny trying to cajole him into doing it.

Altogether it should be a fairly silly way spend a Friday evening.

See you there...

Now that's what I call... Er, something...

This post concerns a phenomenon for which I don't know the correct name. The sort of thing I'm thinking about, is when you get two different types of musician working together. I had been under the impression that the name for this was "crossover music", but it appears that this is something rather different.

So, whatever they are called, these hybrid musical projects can be a bit risky. It's always going to be a toss-up whether a collaboration between stylistically diverse musicians will produce an inspired synergy or a hideous cacophony.

One of the finest of these unlikely unions, was the Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield in 1987 with "What have I done to deserve this?", successfully blending white soul and electro-pop. Arguably less successful, was the 1969 album "Concerto for group and orchestra" which was a live concert featuring Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing at The Royal Albert Hall; they played the same piece, in the same place, at the same time and yet somehow they weren't playing together.

To these examples of musical alloy and the many others that are already out there, I'd like to add the fusion of Scottish pipe band and Cornish Samba band...

I know what you're thinking, but have a look at this. It's curiously uplifting.

(If you're wondering how I came across this, my eldest brother and his wife are in the samba band)

Comfortably numb

It's often a pleasant surprise to hear versions of songs that you've known for years, performed by other artists, so I was intrigued to discover a video clip of Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably numb', that was posted earlier today by Wyrdwhorl on Wyrdsongs, her other blog.

This is a song that my band has been gigging for several years, and it invariably goes down well with just about any audience. Whenever we play it, there are usually men-of-a-certain-age, singing along and often some discrete air-guitarists attempting those enormous string bends that make this a Dave Gilmour signature piece.

If you want to see what the combined might of prog-rockers "Dream Theater" and metal-monsters "Queensryche" have done with this classic,
click this link to Wyrdsongs.

Thank you, Wyrdwhorl.

Won't get fooled again

Back in February, my band were booked to play at a pub in Cheadle Hulme.

A few hours before the gig, the landlord rang us up to say that another band had been booked by a private function, which was also taking place at the pub that night, so we wouldn't be required to play.

We were annoyed, but we were philosophical.

Stuff happens.

So we arranged another date to play there and moved on.

Yesterday was the date that had been arranged for the return gig, so you can probably imagine how delighted I was when, on arriving at the venue, I discovered that there was another band already there, setting up all their gear.

You've guessed it; We'd been double-booked for a second time.

I could describe my conversation with the landlord, but quite frankly you wouldn't believe the lame excuses that were offered for how this situation had happened; I know that I certainly didn't.

Based on the experience of two oral contracts with the management of the Ryecroft Arms, I am inclined to agree with Samuel Goldwyn...

"What's that coming over the hill...?"

"... is it a monster?

...is it a monster?"




Well actually, it's "STENDEC", the new five-piece rock band that we went to see at "The Red Lion", Goostrey, on Saturday night. Two of the guys are work colleagues, so I've been following the development of the band with some interest. It's taken a while for them to get the line-up right, with all the usual strife and comedy of "musical differences" that usually signal the departure of one or more musicians.
I've not been keeping score, but I think that they lost a couple of people here and there. Although this may have stalled their progress, they've stuck with it and on Saturday they made it to the critical, "First Gig".

It's always fun to watch your mates play, and as this was their first outing, it was one that I didn't want to miss. I've been through a few First Gigs myself, so I was looking forward to seeing just how close to blind panic they'd get. Disappointingly, they didn't seem to be awfully worried; there was no sign of obsessive equipment adjustment or excessive toilet traffic. They did a swift sound-check and everything sounded as well balanced as you can reasonably expect in a pub, then they went back to the bar. When they started the first set, they just got up and got going.

The gig went well. Actually it went very well. (Curses!!!)

They stormed through a sound choice of covers that suited the line-up well; 'Kaiser Chiefs', 'Franz Ferdinand', 'The Automatic', 'Sex Pistols', 'Blink 182' and more besides. All the songs were clearly well rehearsed and played with bags of attitude. If there were any mistakes they weren't obvious to me, so they either all played faultlessly or they've developed the confidence in each other that prevents a single player's error degenerating into an on-stage multiple car pile-up. I think that the latter is more likely, even though it is often a far harder thing to achieve.

Every song was perfectly paced thanks to some fierce and yet artfully controlled drumming, with a gloriously thick bass guitar binding the rhythm to the melody. On top of this were the two guitars, hacking out brutally crunchy rhythms and wailing through some mighty lead riffs, while the singer gave a stadium performance.
The crowd lapped it up, needing no encouragement at all to get up and dance. Once they were on the floor there was no chance of them escaping back to their seats, as the transitions between the songs were so crisp.

Altogether an excellent evenings entertainment.
I shall have to warn the rest of my band that the competition just got a little bit better.

[Photo by Mike Peel]

"Let's do the show right here..."

Shopping is so often a disappointing and glum experience. That dreary plod round your favourite supermarket (this must be an oxymoron) to replenish the fridge, or the desperate search for sensible clothes at reasonable prices that don't make you feel like the sort of person you're afraid you're becoming. 

Yes, shopping is mostly a 'bad thing'.

...and yet, every so often there's a tiny glimmer of sanity.

I finally cracked a couple of days ago, and went to buy that mixing desk I mentioned on the previous posting. Having done all the research, I went along to the Stockport branch of Dawsons, to see what sort of deal I could get.

There's usually music playing in the shop; even if there isn't a customer torturing an innocent guitar, there is often a live concert DVD or album playing, to demonstrate bits of PA kit. This time, as I walked in, I could hear some bloke singing "Come together", from "Abbey Road".
I assumed it was a prospective purchaser trying out a microphone. Then I realised that he was one of the salesmen, and that the music that I had assumed was a karaoke backing track, was being provided by the rest of the shop staff, playing instruments from the displays.

There was one bloke pounding away on a Yamaha electronic drum kit, another squeezing out some lovely sounds from a Fender Telecaster and a guy playing a Fender Precision bass through a rather nice 100watt Ampeg Combo. It was a great demonstration of how real instruments, played by real people can sound.
You can find reasonable pub-rock bands on any Saturday evening in any town, but this was entirely unexpected. It also felt oddly subversive. When the shop door 'pinged', and another customer came in, I found myself thinking guiltily, "Oops, if that's the Area Manager, we're all going to get into trouble."

Their version Electric Six's "Gay Bar", was pretty convincing too, with bags of attitude and tongue buried firmly in cheek.

(Err... I'm not sure that the previous sentence reads terribly well. Oh well, the double entendre wardens can do their worst.)

So, a resoundingly successful afternoon shopping. I got the mixer I wanted at a very reasonable price and was treated to a blast of live music as a bonus.

Dawsons of Stockport, I salute you.