Tuesday, June 23, 2009

B-side myself

You know how some days you wake up with a song in your head for no apparent reason- you haven't listened to it for ages, no one's spoken to you about it, you haven't even thought about it as far you know but there it is, as large as life in between your ears. Well, it happens to me... anyway the latest one to manifest itself in this way was a Deep Purple song called 'When a Blind Man Cries'. Do you know it? It's brilliant- somewhat out of character for them as it's a slow minor-key blues that's rather at odds with the hard rocking material that they're better known for, but it's one of my favourite songs by them. Check out the original studio version here or a more recent live version (with Steve Morse on guitar) here and see what I mean- it's good isn't it? It's currently available as a bonus track on the CD release of their classic 1972 album 'Machine Head'- it was recorded during the sessions for said album but, so the story goes, guitarist extraordinaire Ritchie Blackmore didn't like it and so insisted that it was left off the record. I hadn't heard it for ages but it sounds to me to be as good as anything on the album, in fact when it comes on after the last track 'Space Truckin' ' it sounds like it's part of the album, sounds like it should have been part of the album...

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, leaving aside the fact that it's my blog and I'll write whatever I want to write (it's been a bad day ok?!?) it took me back to those days when music came on flat circular pieces of vinyl either 7 or 12 inches in diameter, specifically the smaller of the 2 options which, for the benefit of any younger readers still wading their way through this madness hoping for a punchline, used to be referred to by us disciples of sound as singles. These for cash-strapped schoolboys such as myself were among the greatest things ever created, as they enabled us to own music by the gods that we'd made without having to save up for an album which, lets face it, normally went on a bit and therefore wasn't as magnificent as the breathless bloodrush of mayhem mysteriously contained within the grooves of a single. You bought the single because you'd heard the A-side but you also got the B-side- and that's how I first heard 'When A Blind Man Cries' as it was the B-side of the 'Never Before' single. B-sides were often songs that were recorded during sessions for the A-side and/or accompanying album- they might have been rejected as not good being enough to be on the album, or they didn't fit in with the rest of the tracks. Not all artists that took singles seriously (more about them later) but those that did would often specifically record material for single release. In my opinion great bands made great B-sides, and given the fact that some of my favourite songs by my favourite artists were often on non-album singles or hidden away on the flip side I thought it would be interesting to explore this subject further here- so let's start as we mean to go on, with arguably the very best singles band of them all...

During their time together as a band The Beatles released 22 U.K. singles; well over half of them contained material not on any of their albums. (The 'Past Masters' albums neatly collect together these 'missing' tracks.) This was a common situation in the 1960's as we shall see, but The Beatles took it further than most, and as such are often seen as the definitive pop group. There aren't any bad Beatles singles in my not-so-humble opinion and picking a favourite is practically impossible (it changes on a day-to-day basis, as does my favourite Beatles album) but I've always thought that 'Paperback Writer' is a brilliant band performance on every level. Recorded during the sessions for the 'Revolver' album the single also features a track often held up as the best Beatles B-side- 'Rain'. It's a state-of-the-art recording for the time, with both vari-speeding and backward vocals (click here for further technical details, and here for the promotional films for both songs- imagine looking that cool! And do people really still think that the first pop video was made for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? Silly people...) heavily featured, and Ringo's tremendous drumming shows up his detractors to be little more than the jealous no-hopers that they so often are. A magnificent single in every way. Other famously brilliant Beatles B-sides include 'Yes It Is', (extraordinary vocal harmonies) 'I'm Down', (out rock 'n' rolls their rock 'n' roll heroes) and the wonderfully mad 'You Know My Name (look up my number)' which is allegedly Paul McCartney's favourite Beatles track. And then there are the double A-side singles, where both songs were so strong that they were both hits in their own right- 'Strawberry Fields Forever' / 'Penny Lane' is probably the most lauded of these 'though 'We Can Work It Out' / 'Day Tripper' isn't exactly hopeless in the 'perfect pop music' stakes. It's no accident that millions of words have been written about The Beatles and that they continue to be a huge influence on today's pop culture- even the best part of 50 years after their first recordings were released, one listen to any of their music tells you why.

Running parallel to The Beatles many of the greatest bands and artists of the 1960's released non-album material on singles. The Rolling Stones released many classic 7-incher's (oo-er missus) but were never great B-siders for me- then again with the likes of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', 'The Last Time' and 'Paint It Black' among their A-sides it hardly seems to matter. The first 3 Jimi Hendrix singles stand up as fine psychedelic pop with his first recorded composition 'Stone Free' on the B-side of 'Hey Joe', 'Purple Haze' giving us our first hearing of 'the Hendrix chord' (and '51st Anniversary' on it's flipside) and 'Highway Chile' (the B-side of 'The Wind Cries Mary') featuring a great 'live-in-the-studio' performance from the band. Unsurprisingly from my point of view I have to say that The Who win the race (with The Kinks and The Small Faces not too far behind, and The Beatles somewhere else entirely if you know what I mean) for the definitive '60's singles band. Most of their early singles can be found on the 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy' compilation album; I'll rave about the A-sides another time (all of which were written by Pete Townshend) and concentrate on the b-sides here, many of which were written by The Ox himself, John Entwistle. Among his classic flipsides are 'Doctor Doctor', 'Heaven and Hell' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', all of which feature his trademark black humour 'though my personal favourite is probably 'When I Was A Boy' which reveals an oft-overlooked philosophical side. Keith Moon wrote 'Waspman' and 'Dogs part 2', both of which have to be heard to be believed; Roger Daltrey came up with the country-ish 'Here For More' and there was a blistering live take of 'Baby Don't You Do It' on the B-side of 'Join Together'. As the singles were all deleted shortly after initial sales subsided (a common practice for the time) most if not all of these tracks were unavailable for many years until the 'Who's Missing' and 'Two's Missing' compilation albums appeared in the mid 1980's- it's a testimony to the strength of the songs and the performances that they were both fine albums in their own right, and with the advent of a comprehensive CD re-issue programme, many of which featured the B-sides as extra tracks, younger listeners (like me!) were finally able to hear the 'lost' songs in the context of the better known material. They rarely sounded disappointing.

As a schoolboy in the 1970's glam rock loomed large in my embryonic singles collection, and the king of it all for me was the mighty Marc Bolan. Many of the T.Rex singles featured 2 songs on the B-side, giving a value-for-pocket-money feeling every time you bought one. The first record that I bought with my own money (earned on a milk round no less) was 'Metal Guru' which featured 'Lady' and 'Thunderwing' on it's flipside- unsurprisingly these are among my very favourite Bolan numbers. (Click here for a classic T.O.T.P. clip that I remember seeing at the time.) Whilst the B-sides can't quite compete with the A-sides they still sound pretty good in their own right- the double CD re-issue of 'Great Hits' featured one CD of A-sides and one of B-sides and both can be played through without skipping too many tracks- which considering how many pop classics bear the Bolan name is quite an achievement. The Sweet were an interesting B-side band as their A-sides were mostly written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman whereas the B-sides were self-penned and showed a much heavier side to the band, although their later Chinn/Chapman material also moved in this direction and they ended up writing their own hit material after splitting with the Chinnichap team. Mud were another very successful band of the time who's Chinnichap A-sides were backed by their own material- if you ever thought them to be little more than a novelty band then check out 'Mr. Bagatelle', the other side of 'Tiger Feet' which is a great song in anybody's book. Slade were another classic singles band although their A-sides beat their B-sides by no little distance in my book, and David Bowie released any number of killer singles including one of the great non-album A-sides of the time with 'John I'm Only Dancing'. But to me one of the great B-sides of the time is 'As Long As You Tell Him' which is hidden away on the flipside of the last Faces single 'You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything'- unavailable for years it was finally re-issued on the excellent 'Five Guys Walk Into A Bar' box set and features all the elements that made The Faces such a great band. Ok, it's not quite as good as 'Stay With Me', but it's not far off it, and anyway, very few things are as good as 'Stay With Me'...

Unbeknownst to me (and indeed quite a few others) punk rock was now approaching, and your humble narrator had by now realised that pretty much all the artists that he liked were the type that released singles, rather than the bands who concentrated on albums, maybe putting out an occasional perfunctory single with the appropriate 'we don't like it but the record company do' quotes in the music press. There were a few exceptions- I've already confessed to liking Deep Purple, and I'd also heard and enjoyed Led Zeppelin and Rory Gallagher as well as quite a few of the older blues artists, none of whom were even remotely interested in single chart success. The 'serious' bands like Yes and Genesis just sounded boring and not a little ridiculous to me, especially compared to something as exciting as the live-in-the-studio (it says so on the label!) version of 'Route 66' by Dr. Feelgood, which could be found on the B-side of their wondrous 'Roxette' single. (Click here for a live-in-a-T.V.-studio version...) I remember reading in the music press about a new label called Stiff Records that were releasing singles by bands that I didn't know but that sounded great- sadly lack of funds meant that I couldn't just send off for records without hearing them first, especially not to a bunch as dodgy sounding as this lot... I eventually heard 'New Rose' by The Damned on John Peel's radio show, I'd never heard anything like it before and thought it was absolutely astonishing- rather significantly I realised that I didn't know anybody that agreed with me, although quite a few people changed their minds over the next year or so...
Suddenly everyone was talking about punk rock and there were singles everywhere. People were even putting them out themselves; incredible as this concept was it was even more incredible to find them in high street record shops. The times they were a-changing, and changing for the better as far as people like me were concerned; many that it wouldn't last and that 'real' music would win in the end, but in the meantime it felt as though there were a million and one great punk singles to get hold of. Although many of the bands released great albums it's the singles that they're often best remembered for, and rightly so- 2-and-a-bit minutes of out-and-out energy seemed to be just right for most people's central nervous system. For many people the first 4 Sex Pistols singles (and indeed their one and only studio album) stand as the definitive punk statement, and that's an idea that I'm certainly not about to argue with, although I think that the B-sides are often overlooked. If ever a band proved the 'great bands made great B-sides' adage it's The Pistols- their astounding cover version of The Stooges' 'No Fun' (originally set to appear as the B-side to their debut single 'Anarchy In The U.K.', eventually coming out on the flipside of their third single 'Pretty Vacant') was one of the most radical recordings that I'd heard up to that point in time. Come to think of it, it still is! 'Anarchy' originally came out on E.M.I. Records with 'I Wanna Be Me' on the B-side; the single was withdrawn after the Bill Grundy incident although it was still available as a French import which is how most of us got it, and 'I Wanna Be Me' was also on the infamous 'Spunk' bootleg album. 'God Save The Queen' and 'Holidays In The Sun' featured 'Did You No Wrong' and 'Satellite'- taken together they're 4 of the best singles that I own.
Meanwhile The Clash were releasing classic after classic in quick succession, many of which weren't on any album- indeed they collected many of them together as 'Black Market Clash'. Picking a favourite Clash single isn't easy (for the same reason as it's hard for me to pick a favourite Beatles single) but I remember buying '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais' without hearing it (getting braver!) and initially preferring it's B-side 'The Prisoner'; after playing it God-knows-how-many times I came to the conclusion that it was one of the greatest records of all time... mind you I played 'London Calling' 5 or 6 times in succession in jaw-dropped amazement before flipping it over and doing the same thing with 'Armagideon Time'. And then there's The Jam- analysis is almost futile here, so I'll just say that I couldn't believe how good 'Going Underground' was, until I turned it over and played 'The Dreams Of Children'. Things like this happened a lot in those days- yes I was young, but there was just so much great music about it was hard to take it all in. I haven't mentioned The Buzzcocks yet- suffice to say that their 'Singles Going Steady' compilation album is one of the great punk albums- or The Ruts ('Staring At The Rude Boys' / 'Love In Vain' anybody?) or XTC (another band to release compilation albums of both A and B sides) among many others. And then there's Elvis Costello, who released so many great singles around this time (and indeed a compilation cassette of single-only tracks) that I could almost write a whole article on them- maybe I will someday but in the meantime I'll just say that the chilling 'Tiny Steps' (the B-side of 'Radio Radio') features one of what for me is one of his most extraordinary vocal moments; listen to the disgust in his voice on the lines 'she's your baby now, you can keep her' and see if you don't squirm. (Incidentally Costello also features on a version of 'Tomorrow's Just Another Day' by Madness for which the word 'venomous' might have been invented; click here for a live version that's nearly as good.) But a real flipside fave of mine from this time is 'I'm Alright Jack' by The Tom Robinson Band- on the other side of 'Up Against The Wall' it heavily features the amazing talents of Danny Kustow on lead guitar, as do most of the T.R.B. recordings of the time.

12'' singles had first appeared in dance music circles in the mid-70's as a way of allowing longer tracks to be cut at a higher volume, often emphasising bass response which sounded good in the clubs and discos of the time. The first one I remember buying was 'Marquee Moon' by Television, which had the 9+ minute track in stereo on one side and in mono on the other. (I bought the album soon after which had the track on it so I could have saved my money!) Pretty soon they were everywhere, often with otherwise unavailable extra tracks- I bought a few, notably 'She's A Windup' and 'Baby Jane' by Dr. Feelgood as both had exclusive live tracks, but it all got a bit daft after a while, what with 7'' versions, 12'' versions, coloured vinyl, limited editions, extra tracks... it was too commercial, too cynical, and besides, I only had so much money! Of course I still bought them...

There wasn't much in the '80's for your humble narrator to get too excited about. That said the classic 'How Soon Is Now?' by The Smiths was originally a B-side so maybe there was? Then again there were The Prisoners, whose awesome single 'Hurricane' had 'Tomorrow (she said)' on it's B-side; they also released the 'Electric Fit' EP (short for extended play, these generally featured 4 or more tracks) which included the magnificent 'Melanie', one of my favourite records (and you can find a clip of them playing it on French T.V. here) of all time. The Godfathers collected their early singles on 'Hit By Hit' and in doing so made one of the great albums of the decade but by the time the likes of The Senseless Things, Mega City Four and Carter U.S.M. came along things had changed- CD singles were now appearing, often featuring 4 or more tracks making the old 'A-side/B-side' format all but redundant. With this in mind the last great B-side band might well be Oasis, with many of their best 'lost' songs being collected on 'The Masterplan' compilation album- the likes of 'Acquiesce', 'Half A World Away' and 'Rockin' Chair' are every bit as good as anything else in their catalogue, although how they managed to leave a song as good as 'Round Are Way' off it is a bit beyond me.

Thinking about it now maybe the golden age for the 7'' single was actually a bit before my time- sales in the 1970's were lower than on the 1960's reflecting the shift towards albums and away from singles; that said my personal golden age is probably the punk rock / new wave explosion in the late '70's, which no doubt goes a long way towards explaining my continued enjoyment of the music from that time. In these days of downloads singles seem to me to be a thing of the past, and not even of the recent past judging by the comments I get from people who don't even buy CD's anymore as it can all magically appear on their computer at 79 pence a track. I think that's a shame- I remember buying records when I was young and reading every word on the cover, lyric sheet, even the label, such was my excitement at hearing and indeed owning the music; a few clicks of your mouse and a flash of a credit card doesn't seem to hold the same alure for me I'm afraid.

So- I started off this piece by listening to a Deep Purple song and end it by sounding as though I'm bemoaning the death of popular music. Maybe I am! Oh well- at least I can always console myself by playing the rest of the 'Electric Fit EP... or how about 'Out Of Style' and 'Tilt' by Joe Jackson, both on the B-side of his cover version of 'The Harder They Come'? And then there's the great version of 'Pills' by The Lurkers from the B-side of 'I Don't Need To Tell Her'... actually now that I think about it, that came with a flexi disc of the extraordinary 'We Are The Chaos Brothers'... flexi discs! Remember them?!?

Hmm... EP's... flexi discs...that gives me an idea for a posting or two...

Friday, June 19, 2009

Time on my hands?

I got in at 1.23 a.m. today.

I'd been to the Load of Hay with East- I had some posters to put up for this Sunday's Acts Less Ordinary gig (Rob Power and Mr. Kite, 2 excellent local acts- come on down!) and we had things to discuss (merchandise for possible upcoming Price gigs taking up much of our evening) and drinks to drink... as I was walking back through Uxbridge I saw a chap that I recognised from... somewhere, the shop I think although I'm not too sure really... anyway, I waved across at him and as he waved back I couldn't help noticing that he had another chap sprawled out on the ground in front of him. After deciding that they hadn't been fighting I walked over to them- the chap on the floor was really drunk. 'He's having a bad time at the moment' said the chap that I recognised from somewhere, 'you couldn't help me could you? I only live around the corner, if we can get him to my place he can sleep it off'. 'Arrghhgroowwurgh' said the chap sprawled out on the ground, which I took to mean 'oh go on, please, I'll be here for ever otherwise'. So, with the words 'I'll give you a hand, 'though I'll have to watch me back' I helped the chap that I recognised from somewhere help the chap sprawled out on the ground to his feet. it then took us about an hour to travel a couple of hundred yards; I never did find their names but by the time I left them I felt as though I'd known them for years. I also wasn't sure which one of them was more drunk... still you have to help people don't you? And it wasn't as though I had a lot to do this morning, or indeed this evening- there are no gigs until next month and I'm not due back working in the shop until Monday week. I've told myself that this is a good thing as I can do all those jobs that I've neglected over the last few months- do my accounts, fill in my tax return, learn the songs for a gig I'm doing in the summer with a Madness tribute band, tidy up- you know, that sort of thing.

Let's hope I'm right- it's exactly 12 hours since I got in and I haven't got much done. At least I'm still working at the theatre with Stuart the guitar repair man...

Saturday, June 13, 2009

300 not out!

This is my 300th blog posting!

In the year or so since the 200th one I've played my guitar anywhere and everywhere that would let me; I've been nice about some things, not-so-nice about others, and have thoroughly enjoyed writing it all down in these hallowed pages. As I think I've mentioned before, it's the nearest I get to having a hobby outside of music, and even though I'm never sure if anybody's actually reading it or not, it's always fun to think that they are.

The next 100 postings should feature more of the same- stay tuned for further details...

Happy birthday Shirley! Lots of love to you!

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Gotcha!

Last night saw the only Chicago Blues Brothers gig for this month (June is normally a quiet time for us, 'though I'm not sure that it's always this quiet?) and it was a good one- The Summer Wishes Ball is part-organised by trumpet maestro Dave Land and took place this year in the Barford Suite at The Barnham Broom Hotel near Norwich. It's an annual show for us which helps to raise funds for the local Quidenham Children's Hospice (the table had balloons in aid of E.A.C.H.) and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Tracy's away and with Richard off gigging in the West End Ian's on saxophone but aside from that it's the A-Team all the way, 'though it's got more than a slight air of relief about it- Ian Gibbons was taken ill on tour in Germany with Roger Chapman a couple of weeks ago with appendicitis and it's the first time we've all seen him since his emergency operation. Pete and Mike are running the charity auction, and we're playing a half-Blues Brothers/half-party music set; as has happened a few times lately there's subterfuge in the air, and for once it's close to home as it's the long-suffering Shirley's birthday next week...
With the band all set up (there's no stage but they've put one of those temporary dancefloors down so we set up next to that) and soundchecked everyone gets changed- it's a black tie event 'though after my misadventures with a bow tie last year I decided to opt out and wear a standard tie instead; I don't think I looked too untidy (others may disagree!) and I wasn't the only non-conformist so didn't feel too bad. There's maybe 100 people in and with Mike's iPod providing background music and Pete on M.C. duties the meal begins uneventfully enough. Just as the auction is about to start Pete mentions a bit about the band and how there's something of a family atmosphere at most gigs as wives and partners often help out in various capacities, he mentions his wife Jayne, Ian's wife Nadia... Shirley rather bravely says something like 'what about me?' and in doing so plays right into Pete's hands, he gets her up and with everyone singing 'Happy Birthday' he presents her with a bag of presents and cards. She comes back to the table smiling and a little shell-shocked, says that she can't believe that she didn't suspect anything, Pete looks pleased with himself and I'm thinking that it's my birthday next month and we've got a gig that night... hmm...
Talking of gigs our one goes very well indeed- Matt and Mike deliver the Blues Brothers songs to a full dancefloor with Mike introducing Pete as 'our very own queen of soul' (he sang the 'Think'/'Respect' medley normally performed by Tracy) and Matt's scary splits manoeuvre somehow seeming even scarier when performed on the same level as the audience as opposed to on a stage. The 'party music' set included 'Mustang Sally' (we hardly ever play it!) along with other dimly-remembered pieces from our Commitments days and with plenty of money raised for the charities the evening's a success on pretty much every level.

So- no more gigs for 3 weeks. I'm telling myself that it'll be nice to have a bit of a rest- let's hope I'm right...

Monday, June 01, 2009

It's a small world- but you wouldn't like to paint it.

In case you're wondering what else I got up to on Thursday (ok, I know that you weren't, but I've been sitting here for ages trying to work out how to start this posting in a way that would allow me to introduce the fact that I was on a tube train and therefore received a voicemail message on my mobile phone when I got off it, and this is the best way that I can come up with; it's not easy writing this stuff sometimes!) it was business as usual at the theatre where Stuart the guitar repair man and myself bought the 'We Will Rock You' guitars back up to fighting spec. before wending our merry way back home on the Metropolitan line. (I bet you can't guess what happened next..?) When I got off the train my phone rang with a voicemail message (Oh! You guessed!) from Tony James, lead singer with The F.B.I. Band, asking me if I was free for a gig with them on Saturday night... so it was then that while the rest of you were watching The Cup Final or listening to Andy and Jen's show on Hayes FM, your humble narrator was still attempting to unravel the intricacies of a setlist that included songs from artists as diverse as Elvis Presley and James Brown. There's nothing like leaving things until the last minute is there?
6 oclock in the evening and I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be; we're playing at Clive's 50th birthday party at Harpenden Rugby Club which is less than an hour from us but we're due there at 7 so I load the car up and, as is the way of things in these (relatively) techno-friendly times, go to get the sat. nav. out of the glove compartment to programme in the venue details. It's not there- no problem, it must be in the draw in the hallway... no, not there either... Shirl thought it was in the glove compartment as well, perhaps we bought it in the other night after the T.V. Smith gig? No I don't think that we did- which can only mean one thing...
It's a strange feeling when you realise that something's been stolen from you isn't it? I think I remember reading somewhere that it's very similar to being bereaved and that there are various stages that we all go through- after realising what had happened we both got stuck into the 'anger' stage straight away, trying to work out where and when the theft might have happened with oaths and curses a-plenty, although in the end it's all in vain, it's gone and that's about all there is to it and no amount of swearing will change that. It doesn't half make you feel better 'though! Fortunately we still own a map which equally fortunately was still in the car (not much of a black market for them I guess!) so we were still able to find Harpenden (M1 junction 9) and arrive at the venue in good time. We sit in the car park for a minute or two, still angry but more resigned, defeated even, not a good feeling to have but there's a gig to do and the evening can only get better. I go inside the main building to look for where we're playing, the first thing I encounter is the changing room so it must be upstairs and indeed it is, with the walls adorned with pictures of the birthday boy in various stages of undress and embarrassment (this is a rugby club after all!) and Ian the saxman (often seen depping in the CBB band) setting up his P.A. system. I go back down the stairs and out into the car park to start loading my gear in- and a familiar face greets me with the words 'hello- what are you doing here- you're not in the band are you?' Yes Dave I am... 'you're joking, so am I!' The evening just got better...
The band set up on the floor in the bar; I'm on the far right as you look as us (ULC if you're taking notes) with the mixing desk to my left and Tony's laptop (to be used to provide background music) is on a table next to that. Tony's setting up, I'm setting up- suddenly a drink gets knocked over and it's the first time in ages that I've worn my stage trousers to a gig (I thought it might have been a good idea to look reasonably smart for once! Remind me not to do it again...) and my left leg gets most of it, the rest goes on my guitar leads and effect pedal which Carl the bass player had just been asking me about. Bugger! Still after our stress-fest earlier I decide that it's not worth getting upset about, after all it all works fine and that's the main thing. We're on at 9.30 so there's plenty of time to check the keys and talk through the arrangements of the songs with Carl, it's a lovely evening and we sit out overlooking the rugby pitches wondering just how mad the audience are going to be.
Our first set is mostly Blues Brothers/soul songs which I'm reasonably familiar with- Carl and Dave work together a lot at the moment which certainly helped things rock along 'though I had a bit of a strange moment when the lights were turned off during the first guitar solo which meant that I made some rather, shall we say, interesting note choices... the second set was a bit more diverse, meaning that I got to play songs like 'It's Not Unusual' and 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You' with the man who drummed on 'Babylon's Burning'. Strange but true, 'though not as strange as the birthday boy being encouraged to perform The Full Monty by his Dad; he did it (of course- it is a rugby club after all!) which had Shirley running for cover and me making bad gags about recognising him from the photos.

Talking of evenings that got better, last night's Kris Dollimore gig at The Load of Hay was everything that I'd hoped it would be i.e. absolutely and totally brilliant. I got there around 7 o'clock to set the P.A. up- Kris (who once worked with Dave in Adam Ant's band) was due there for 8 but the phone call came through not long after that to say that he was stuck on the M25. I chewed what was left of my nails for 15 minutes or so (putting gigs on is much more difficult that playing them!) until he arrived; after loading in he set up in a matter of minutes and got on with the job in hand. The opening number 'Soul Of A Man' had bearly finished before one of the pub regulars came up to me with the words 'you said he was good but I didn't realise he was going to be that good'. There followed 2 sets of some of the best guitar playing that I think I'll ever see- yes, it was that good. There's a new album due in the Autumn (sadly it won't include his instrumental version of 'Jolene' as he's hoping to release an all-instumental collection one day) which should be a contender for album of the year- and this was another contender for gig of the year, very different from the New York Dolls gig a couple of weeks ago but no less captivating, no less inspirational, no less magnificent. All in all a fabulous performance from a master musician at the top of his game- if you were there you'll know what I mean and if you weren't then please don't miss him next time. Yes- it was that good.

Thanks to Andy C. and Mario for the title of this posting- click here to find out why!