The March of Time and other stuff

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The March of Time

If you don't have children, it is, I imagine, almost possible to deny the march of time, and live blissfully unaware of your advancing years as life's experiences come your way, day in, day out. But if you are blessed with offspring,the inexorable ticking of that celestial clock grows ever louder with every new birthday, not yours, but theirs! I woke up today for instance, with the knowledge that my son Corey was now a strapping 15 year old, drumming in a band of his own, when by rights he should still be crawling around on all fours and puking up. (Something he will enjoy again when he becomes 18)Nothing focuses your attention on your advancing years more than the seemingly miraculous morphing of your child into adulthood at warp speed. The old saying, "Children are not yours, you only borrow them" rings so true on days such as this. It only remains for me to gird my loins, and march onward into the future, safe in the knowledge that Miki and I, as two incurable kiddies-at-heart, are having more fun now, than I ever did at fifteen! Happy Birthday, Corey!




Other stuff

Miki and I enjoyed our return to the Street Gallery last Sunday, buoyed up by good sales and good weather. I had to leave her to it for an hour or two, as I disappeared to Sands bar to catch a short set by our Client and friend Frans de Wijs, a renowned jazz pianist, who is known for recreating the style of the late Errol Garner. Though I couldnt stay long, it was most enjoyable. I had listened to Frans' work with Thijs van Leer (ex-Focus) on a CD he kindly gave us, and it was nice to catch him live. Another nice surprise was discovering that the venue has its own Thai restaurant, suffice to say Miki and I will be investigating that further tomorrow evening! The thought of a nice meal helped me remain calm as I returned to the Street Gallery and informed Miki that Sands bar was actually about a mile away from where she said it was....I think she thought I needed the exercise!

Unsung Heroes No.2

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Here's the second in my occassional series "Unsung Heroes" Today;

Glenn Hughes

Glenn Hughes is something of an enigma. World-famous as a Part of Deep Purple between 73 and 76, Vocalist on KLF's Number One hit "America:What time is love?"
he is nevertheless, to the majority of listeners, unknown. His list of collaborators over the years reads like a who's who of rock; Steve Lukather and Bobby Kimball of Toto, Gary Moore, Pat Thrall, Tony Iommi, Motley Crue, George Lynch, to name a few.

He has released consistently stunning solo albums, beginning with 1977's Play me out and culminating in his most recent; Music for the Divine featuring Chad Smith and John Frusciante of the Chili Peppers.

Glenn is arguably the greatest Rock singer of the last 40 years, his range and breadth of styles is simply phenomenal, from the Stevie Wonderesque, Blue-eyed soul of "Coast to Coast", to the straight ahead balls to the wall rock of "Soul Mover" , he never fails to push all the right buttons. His career began in earnest when his band Trapeze stripped back to a 3-piece, and gave the world some of the first Funk-Rock at the beginning of the 70's.
When Purple replaced Ritchie Blackmore with the young Tommy Bolin, Hughes found a soul-mate with whom he could take Purple into funkier territory. The rock fans weren't keen, but with hindsight, the resulting Come Taste the Band album is an undiscovered classic, running the full gamut of musical emotions, from the rocking "Comin'Home" through the funk of "Gettin'Tighter" to the jazzy "This Time Around".

But that album probably encapsulates Hughes' problem in reaching a wider audience. His abilities and styles are so varied, record companies struggle to market him, and partisan music lovers are put off by either the funk, or the rock, or the ballads, depending on their personal preferences. This is why Hughes has a relatively small, discerning, and loyal following. Recently however, it seems the record buying public is accepting a broader view, and steadily, Hughes star is rising once again. Considering the problems he endured through the late 70's and early 80's, self-inflicted, by his own admission, his strength of character to "come back strong" to quote one of his songs, is remarkable. To see him on stage, firing on all cylinders, 37 years after his recording debut, and blowing away opposition less than half his age, is a salutory lesson in how it should be done. Let's hope a new wave of singers and bass players take heed, and learn from the master.

Recommended listening:

Trapeze: You are the Music, We're just the Band (73)
Deep Purple: Come Taste The Band (75)
Glenn Hughes: Play Me Out (77)
Hughes/Thrall: Hughes/Thrall (82)
Glenn Hughes: Feel (95)
Glenn Hughes: Soul Mover (2005)

Old Dogs, New Tricks

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As we await the Police reunion tour with bated breath, it's perhaps a good time to look at some of the older bands, and ask if they have anything to offer in the 21st century. Is new music so submerged in its own cool, that it is deaf to the sounds drifting up to it from the murky waters of rock music's past?

Today, I'd like to give a shout to two bands, One English, One American, who were thought to have faded into obscurity as the seventies bade a cautious welcome to Punk.

Firstly, Blackfoot Sue This Midlands based band scored mightily with their debut single "Standing in the Road" on the Jam label, the B-side being the equally impressive "Celestial Plain". However, their Second single, "Sing Don't Speak, just crept inside the Top 40. Fate, and record companies were unkind to them over the next few years, as they tried to shake off their ill-fitting Glam tag.By the mid-seventies, as far as the British Public were concerned, they were history.
They flirted with further success through a series of Name changes- as Liner they nearly made the 40, and as Outside Edge the released an album in France, and played Reading Rock in '86.
But enough of this preamble, suffice to say, a reunion album recorded in 98, resurfacing in 2003 as "Red on Blue" firmly gives credibility to the name Blackfoot Sue.

Its a great, no-nonsense Hard Rock album that some of the younger pretenders would do well to heed. The band sadly once again fragmented, but as of January this year, were spotted onstage in London, with the orginal 1972 line-up!

Secondly, Jo Jo Gunne This American band formed by ex-Spirit keyboardist Jay Ferguson struck gold with the classic "Run Run Run" back in '72, but struggled to reproduce their early promise, despite fantastic songs like "Ready Freddy". The band initially featured future Heart stalwarts Mark and Matthew Andes, but a new guitarist. John Staehly was brough in for their Fourth and final album "So..where is the show?" The band had a highly distinctive sound, driving guitar married with pounding piano lines, all dressed up with Fergusons easily recognizable vocals. They floated off the map in the mid-70s and Ferguson embarked on a successful solo career, notably "All alone in the End Zone."

However, following hastily snapped-up CD reissues of their early albums, the rumour mill got busy and in 2005, a brand new album surfaced, "Big Chain" containing new material and reworkings of some of their early classics, played by the original line up! Its a great album, and totally unlike anything else on the market. They sounded different in the 70's and they sound different now. This is classic rock, and like a good wine, it gets better with age!

A Slender Thread

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In the past two weeks, three things have happened that make me realise our lives hang by the slenderest of threads. My daughter was involved in a car crash that saw her vehicle written off, my Father has to go into hospital for major surgery, and today, in a cruel twist of fate, we learned that Miki's Father (see photo), too, must have major surgery.


All of these things makes me painfully aware of our own mortality, that we are all but a fragile machine let loose in the big bad world, and machines break. It brings into sharp focus the feelings we have for our loved ones, not just those who are suffering the ordeal, but those others close to us. We imagine, against all reason, for a nanosecond, how it would feel if they too were to have a brush with their own mortality, and we shudder.

And yet, my Father, though assuredly worried about his forthcoming operation, seems resigned to the procedure, maintaining his wry humour as the date approaches, and Miki's Father, too, seems to be pervaded by an inner calm that belies his predicament.

Perhaps when you are staring down that barrel, there is a moment of clarity, and these brushes with death actually serve to make us feel exactly the opposite: ALIVE

To the Devil a Daughter

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This week, I've been lucky enough to have my daughter, Hollie, and her boyfriend staying with me. Hollie has her own band "Theft of a Doll" and their new video promoting their upcoming debut CD has just been completed.
As Miki and I waved them off at the airport this morning, I counted myself a lucky man. Here was a girl who was not only following, unbidden in her Father's footsteps, but who was doing it her way, with a steely determination, and a sensible head on. She is about to complete the final year of her Music and Performing Arts degree, and she intends to get a teaching qualification to fall back on should the band not reach the dizzy heights. She has my natural musical ear, and although not touring and recording professionally as I did at her age,she has studied music notation, and passed exams in bass guitar and saxaphone.
She seems to view her career path with enviable clarity, and I sense she is more at ease with herself than at any time in her young life.
A Father's love for his children is unconditional, but the feeling one gets when you see your child happy with her life, her partner, her future, and above all in the career you too have given your life to, is indescribable. You feel...well, certainly I feel I don't possibly deserve it, but all the same, the feeling, slowly but surely spreads its warmth through your whole being...Pride.

Clone Wars

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Hello all.

Just a quickie this evening! I'm down in Mojacar for a few days this week, and I was checking up on one of our exhibitions when I noticed some MTV going on in the background in the bar. It was a guy called James Morrison. It suddenly struck me how generic these acts are sounding now. I think you could mix 3 or 4 of these type of semi-rugged slightly designer-troubled guys together and you'd barely notice the join. I think it started with James Blunt, then That Jack somebody guy. Now this dude. The danger is it will spread like viral wallpaper, and everyone will chase the same act/sound and originality will be lost. If you're out there looking for a deal, be brave, try something different! It's all for the good in the long run! End of sermon.....for now!

I've got it covered

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During a bit of a blog browsing session the other day, I chanced upon a comment by someone about the horrendous cover versions that have been forced upon an unsuspecting public over the years. I left a comment, agreeing, and adding a few candidates of my own. However, it got me thinking about the cover versions that have succeeded in taking a song somewhere else, and, if not improving it, at least given the listener a bearable alternative to the original. So here goes...

Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin - It's My Party originally by Lesley Gore, this 80's electronica treatment completely disassembles the original and puts it back together in an interesting and bizzare way.


Dan Reed Network - Money A Pink Floyd classic, this is scary territory for any band, but Dan and the guys grab this track and shove the funk into it. The reworking of the opening bassline and cashtill samples to give it the funk, is nothing short of genius.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded by the Light A great example of somebody having a better idea of how to do a Springsteen song better than the man himself, arguably improved by the wonderful Chris Thompson malaprop "Wrapped up like
a douche"

Two other great Springsteen songs leap to mind, "Sandy" beautifully covered by The Hollies, and "Fire" immortalised by The Pointer Sisters. Love him or hate him, The Boss writes a mean song.


Midge Ure - No Regrets Take a classic 60's torch song by Scott Walker, throw in a sprinkling of Ultravox's "Vienna" and you have a great, moody reworking of a great song.

So there you have it. a little food for thought. Covering a classic isnt necessarily a bad thing, but if you're not going to input some of your own creativity, whilst maintaining a healthy respect for the original, you'll be on a hiding to nothing.

As a post script, I've joined the team at AMERICAS METAL where I'll be posting my views in a series of articles on the Hard Rock scene past and present, click on the link and check out my inaugural piece!

The Emperor's New Clothes

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Afternoon,all. I've just published the following article on my MySpace blog, but I'm in turbo-rant mode at the minute, so I'm giving it the benefit of a double-post in the hope that my blood pressure will ease after learning of the goings-on at The Brit Awards. Read on, and weep....

The Emperor's New Clothes

Is it just me?

There are times when I feel like the little boy in Hans Christian Andersen's tale "The Emperor's New Clothes".

I see an award such as "Outstanding contribution to Music" conferred upon Oasis, and I want to go around shaking everybody and pointing, shouting "but look, at them! they're rubbish!"


Doesn't anybody see this? Do you just have to be uncouth Mancunian louts whose breathtaking bigheadedness far outstrips their talents by a country mile? Is that qualification enough? I despair sometimes. People who can genuinely write a great, well-constructed song like Nik Kershaw are normally dismissed as lightweight 80's has-beens, when the truth is, he's one of the UKs greatest songwriters. So are Difford and Tilbrook from Squeeze. Can anyone honestly tell me that Oasis' song output even vaguely rivals Squeeze's for inventiveness and originality? Have Squeeze been awarded oustanding contribution to music? Didn't think so.


Next years recipient? Jade Goody. Probably.

Counterpoint to Cleaning

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It's inevitable, unavoidable, and comes to us all. No, not death. Cleaning the house.
So I grasped the nettle, or rather the brush, and set about my task. Actually, cleaning clears the mind, and allows it to wander, and during my domestic chores I idly though back to the classic "Butterfly Ball" album by Roger Glover and friends. Roger, it must be said, had some serious friends...Ronnie Dio, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Tony Ashton to name a few. On the album there is a delightful duet between the characters Saffron Dormouse and Lizzie Bee. It's basically a song about cleaning their house before skipping off to the ball. Whats remarkable about this song is its use of counterpoint. The Dormouse comes in with the first verse, and the answerback from the bee is a completely different melody. The third and final verse is a beautiful juxtaposition of both melodies, totally different, yet intertwining and combining to produce a third verse that finishes the song beautifully. Counterpoint is a wonderful tool in songwriting.


Another classic example is on McCartneys "Tug of War" album, on the track "Wanderlust" where he employs a similar trick, combining the verse and the chorus towards the end of the song to great effect. Check them both out! My song "Miss Hollywood" (still under construction!) will have a counterpoint effect at the end, with three layers. I will bring snatches of the verse in over the chorus, plus have the guitar solo phrases as a refrain underneath. When I've finished cleaning the house....

Bulls, Bookworms and Blogs

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Why did I have to open my big mouth?

It's a seriously hectic life here on Planet Goodaboom. You drop your guard for an instant, and rashly suggest a new idea, and that's it, mate, you're off down another avenue of discovery, with another song to compose, a poem to invent, and a blog to write!!

Suddenly, Mildew Bookworm, unwitting star of our little film, "The Thief of Hearts and the Firecat", insists on having his origins documented in The Mighty Pen.
He says there's been a clamour from the public, I say he's an insufferable egomaniac, but there it is. I suppose we did invade his planet.

In another spectacular mouth-opening moment, it was suggested that we use some of the larger paintings for our Brush with Poetry performance on International Women in Business day on March 8th. So, at the drop of a matador's hat, I had to come up with Poem, and music for the above painting. Yesterday afternoon. If you throw all the blogs created by this activity into the mix, you're looking at one busy boy.
This is my second foray into "Bull-friendly" music, (check out the "Bullfight" movie of Miki's paintings at the bottom of this blog.)and this time I wanted to add a contemporary menace to the traditional Spanish sounds. It's a challenge, and moreso when you are trying to build the track, but having to avoid drowning out the narration of the poem. This one has a rise and fall, the crescendo achieved by extremely distorted guitar and liberal use of the whammy bar. (tremelo arm for the uninitiated) I've stuck it on a player here, below the painting to which it refers at the top of this blog. Give it a listen, and post your comments if you like!


In the meantime, I'll get started on our next crazy goodaboom idea!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Yes, its that day again, spread some peace and love around the world people, you know we need it.

I'm sitting here uploading our new short film (in two parts) for Valentines day, its made by Miki and myself, using her incredible paintings and illustrations, and the help of one Mildew Bookworm,(see photo) who does a bit of narrating. It is 5am in the morning here in Spain, I'm only up becuase the internet seems to be on strike, and I'm having a job getting the files uploaded! But all being well, when the sun rises..(well, by lunchtime anyway) we'll have our new film online for you.

Have a great day, and love one another!

Unsung Heroes No.1

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Firstly, the answer to my question yesterday; the music for The Old Grey Whistle Test was called "Stone Fox chase" by Area Code 615!
And now,Welcome to the first in an occassional series celebrating the work of singers that don't always get the recognition they deserve. Today:

JESS RODEN

One of the great British vocalists, with an immediately distinctive sound,Roden cut his teeth with the Alan Bown Set in the 60's, achieving a minor hit with the single "Emergency 999". He eventually left to form the band "Bronco" which recorded two albums, which though well received, particularly "Ace of Sunlight" failed to set the world on fire. Roden surfaced again on the eponymously titled "Butts Band" album, a wonderful collection of songs performed by a great band comprising Roden, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore of The Doors, and session favourite Phil Chen on bass. Check out the wonderful "Baja Bus" and "Sweet Danger".




Around this time Roden also appeared on Keef Hartleys "Lancashire Hustler" album with Robert Palmer. Island records then stood by Roden for a string of great albums, both solo and with his band. The self-titled "Jess Roden" album features the wonderful "Ferry Cross". "The Player Not The Game" ia a beautifully made album with the cream of New Orleans session men, including Allan Toussaint. Jess also made a memorable version of "You can leave your hat on " from the album "Keep Your Hat on".
Sadly, he was never destined for the big time, and albums like "Play it Dirty" and "Stonechaser" became the rarities at the back of the record shop. A brief return in the 80's with "Multiplay" by the Rivits and some session work, notably Grace Jones "Nightclubbing" album marked a less productive Roden.

However, in the mid 90's he made a surprise return with a band called The Humans,featuring ex-Strider and Rod Stewart guitarist Gary Grainger, recording one great album, subsequently disappearing from the scene once more following a live album.
This Kidderminster born vocalist has a voice of pure gold, and for most of the record buying public, is an undiscovered gem, check him out!

Recommended:

Butts Band/Butts Band (73)
Jess Roden/Jess Roden(74)
Jess Roden/The Player Not The Game (77)
Jess Roden Band/Play it Dirty, Play it Class (76)
Jess Roden and the Humans/Jess Roden and the Humans (95)

Caramelisation, or The Old Grey Drunk Whistle Test

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So, I have just returned this evening from a brief trip to Mojacar for a show and the mounting of a new flower paintings exhibition in Vera for Miki.(see photo)
I encountered someone at the gig who had seen me perform several times previously, and who goes by the unlikely name of Snake. He's normally marinaded in a goodly amount of alcohol, so you can imagine my surprise when firstly he recognised me, and secondly, not only remembered that I debuted an original song at the last gig in Mojacar, but also the title!!

He requested "A Cat called Caramel" our song of the month here on Goodaboom. This may seem a small detail, but to a songwriter, to have your song, and its title, remembered from one performance only, is like manna from heaven. It means it passes the test. The ultimate aim is to "hook" your song in the public's conciousness. Its the first, and most essential step to creating a universally popular song.

Back in the 70's there was a wonderful programme on BBC TV called The Old Grey Whistle Test. Certainly, if yo're British, and of a certain age, you will know it. It was the only place discerning kids could find decent music on TV. It played host to classic early performances from Bowie, Montrose, Queen, Little Feat, XTC, to name but a few. The name of the show is derived from Tin Pan Alley legend. Tin Pan Alley being the area in London where all the music publishers were located. It was generally accepted as a rule of thumb that the comparitively elderly heads of these companies were sage in their wisdom, and, if they were found to be whistling the new tunes following their early hearings, they were said to have passed "The Old Grey Whistle test" and were destined for greater things.

In my own humble way, and thanks in no small measure (and he NEVER drinks small measures)to the permanently rinsed Snake, I feel "A Cat Called Caramel" has passed the Old Grey Drunk Whistle Test with flying colours!

P.S. For a bit of fun, see if you can remember the Title of the Theme Tune for the programme, and who it was by! I'll post the answer in my next blog.

A Blustery Day

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Yikes! Seriously windy here today, and by that I mean, if it wasn't nailed down, it's history...Nevertheless, against this blustery backdrop (not uncommon here in Albir, the favoured form of transport is the kite)I managed to get some spadework done on "Miss Hollywood". I mentioned yesterday that I was having trouble dealing with the lyrics, and I must confess I shamelessly avoided them today, concentrating instead on fine-tuning the lead guitar break and piano parts. I seem to have developed a routine for putting my solos down, which basically is a bit of a no-brainer, namely playing and playing for usually twice as long as the solo section needs to be, then cherry-picking the highlights to create a suitably cohesive and pleasing solo. The editing facility is so precise, I can alter a great deal to change the nuances after I've put the part down, and it's fun to do. It's perpetually a learning curve, writing and recording, and as I'm relatively new to Mac, having suffered for years trying to get to grips with recording on a PC,(I just don't find them user friendly for recording) even more so. I have been scratching my head over a cluster of notes that reoccur on piano through the song, but stop abruptly, leaving a lone note sustaining. Well, today, I solved it! Putting the track into "Magnified Edit Mode" (my term, not Macs!) I noticed a tiny sliver of the three notes peeking out from an edit point. The program was playing these for a millisecond, and not the following notes. Once I'd dug these out, it worked perfectly! Technology is a strange thing...It gives us so much, yet dresses up these gifts in a copious wrapping of havoc!
Consider the wise words of French ex-president Georges Pompidou-

"There are three roads to ruin:Women, Gambling and Technicians.
The most pleasant is with Women. The quickest is with Gambling.
But the surest is with technicians!"

Further On Up The Road

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What was it Rex Harrison's Professor Higgins was trying to tell Audrey Hepburn's Eliza Doolittle? ah yes, "The Rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain." Well, I've got news for you Higgins old chum, it bloody doesn't! It chucks itself down on Albir for starters. But never let it be said that such aqueous disturbance dampens the spirit of creativity here on Planet Goodaboom, forsooth, nay! We may be a little soggy around the edges but inside there rests a...well, soggier interior....

Anyway, enough of this shilly-shallying. Music note: I'm listening to Slam Dunk by the DLR Band as I write this piece. Ol' diamond Dave's still got it, in my humble opinion. The guy reeks showbiz, and that ain't no bad thing, as he himself might put it. I managed to nail "My Baby Paints The Stars" after the fourth mix yesterday, so thats one down, two to go. Today, I revisited "Miss Hollywood" a song that tips a hat in some small way to Ben Folds, having a fairly piano led sort of groove going on. I'm having two major problems with this one, the first being my quite stunning ability to tie my fingers in a number of the Scout Movements favourite knots whilst trying to play a cohesive and aurally pleasing guitar solo. The second is trying to tell the story of the song. It's a tough discipline,getting your story across in a meaningful way within the confines of a pop song. The subject matter for this was a young starlet trying to reach the Hollywood dream, and being destroyed by a savage and bitchy female reviewer following her first break into the movies (The Miss Hollywood of the title) By the solo, she's done the movie, been savaged, and winds up back as a waitress in a diner nursing her wounds. The next bit needs to tell of the film critic turning up in the diner purely by chance, and I need to punch line the song with the ex-starlet waitress emptying the coffee jug on this woman and humiliating her in front of all her customers. The chorus lyrics will work great here, as the line will have a different meaning after the final verse. However, its proving really hard to get all the explanation of the scenario into the space provided. I'm leaning in the direction of just extending the verse in a totally random way, singing line after line until I've said what I need to, then hit the chorus regardless. This of course is the luxury you can afford yourself if you are not beholden to some record company with a power complex, and here at Goodaboom, the plan is to release stuff on our little label, cottage industry style, and look for licencing in different territories to supplement sales through our site.

Now, of course, we will never sell a million this way, but could I live with myself if I sold a million of the birdy song? That's the kind of damage to mankind inflicted by the likes of Pol Pot!
Check out the lyrics to "Funk Pop A Roll" by XTC from the album Mummer, and featuring our drummer with BC Sweet, Pete Phipps,I think they sum up the music business beautifully..

Funk pop a roll consumes you whole
Gulping in your opium so copiously from a disco
Everything you eat is waste
But swallowing is easy when it has no taste

Until the next time...

Revisiting the scene of the crime

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Unfinished songs. For whatever reason, I always seem to have a number of open ended opuses floating around on my hard drive. Either the muse has deserted me, and, rather than persevere and spoil a good idea, I shelve it for a while, or, another more immediate idea has come along and hijacked my brain. In my current vein of creativity, the latter is usually the case, and I don't like to turn off the tap while its flowing, so I often tend to start on the new idea straightaway.

But sooner or later, the unfinished songs need to be revisited, and this can be a difficult task. I have earmarked three recently that I want to "put to bed". The first of which is a song I wrote in Bouges, France, last summer called "My Baby Paints the Stars". The arrangement was somewhat dictated by my surroundings, all the instrumentation and samples being done with my portable keyboard and laptop, so it is, unusually for one of my songs, guitar-free! The backtrack I have always been happy with, but the vocal (recorded badly because I forgot a certain cable) I was less enamoured with, exacerbated by an unenthusiastic review from our gracious hosts in Bouges!

So, yesterday, I began to re-record the vocals. This process can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, my fresh look at the song produced some nice additional counter-harmonies towards the end, which Im really happy with, but as soon as I started recording over the original vocal I felt I was losing something. I think it's true to say that, whatever the shortcomings in the initial performance, or technical drawbacks, there is a great deal to be said for the spontaneity of that first take, which, in this case, was inspired by my surroundings, and the beautiful 17th century chateau in the French mountains where it was recorded. I struggled all day to recapture it. I think its a common problem, I've seen it many times in my career. I remember a band called "The Uncool Dance Band" who recorded locally in Yorkshire as we did back at the beginning of the 80s. They cliched a deal with Polydor, who promptly poured thousands of pounds into their first single, which had none of the magic of their bargain demo. (Its interesting to note that their bargain demo was produced in the same studio and by the same producer as the EP that unleashed Def Leppard on the world)
Similarly, our Portastudio version of "Walk Away Renee" had an atmosphere we never managed to recreate on 24 track with EMIs money. Our guitarist in Tubeless Hearts and Christie, Fos, almost without fail produced his best solos on the first or second take, it then becomes subject to the Law of diminishing returns, the more you chase "the moment" the less likely you are to find it. (We developed the technique of keeping his first solo, whilst other attempts were made, and invariably used the first one!)

I persevered yesterday, and, I think, 90% of the track is how I'd like it. I played it to Miki, who is a great sounding-board, and has good instincts for the "wrongness" in a track, and she immediately picked out three places where the vocal is too hard sounding. I left it for the day, and will return to it this afternoon. I know what I need to do, and that is put myself mentally in that 17th Century room, the half-open shutters filtering the sunlight across my face, a glimpse of Miki, painting, gazing out across the valley, and the vocal line will soften to perfection...

So, in my long-winded fashion, I guess I'm trying to say that although it can be an uphill struggle in the search for the required results, its not an altogether unpleasant business revisiting the scene of the crime!

Note: The photo below will appear in Miki's forthcoming 3D photo exhibition featuring "A Cat Called Caramel" our Song of the Month. You can hear it by clicking on the title!

The Camera Never Lies

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Having been lucky enough in my career to have been a part of numerous music productions on TV around the world, it comes as something of a challenge to try and make some "homegrown" promo videos, with its zero production values and even less equipment. However, Miki and I like a challenge, and it certainly means that your creativity has to come to the fore when you have no location, no technology, and one camera!

We are currently working on a video for "A Cat called Caramel" which is our Song of the Month for February. The simple fact is, we are enjoying this experiment immensely, and I hope you will follow our journey as our videos (hopefully) get more ambitious and, well, better! In an ideal world with a limitless budget, I would have loved to have shot the story on its two levels; it can be about a real cat, or a "cat" who lives in the city and is usually up to no good! But we are trying to create a moody atmosphere, with me as two characters, a cat-like character, and a regular bloke. Just using simple night-shot and slow/fast effects are already giving the film some mood and pace, and although its obviously done with the simplest means, I like how its complementing the song. But I have to tell you, its important to get it right first time, because once the make-up's off, you really dont want to be re-applying it in hurry!

I've got you under my skin (and I don't like it)

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Music is a very subjective artform.One man's Metallica is another man's Poison, or so the phrase might've been written. I've long held a theory for example that a "standard" middle-aged person's record collection, who is anxious to appear cool (but achieves the opposite)will look something like this;

Abbas Greatest Hits
Meat Loaf-Bat out of Hell (maybe the other ones, but only if they have Bat out of hell in the title, they dont realise he made any others)
Absolutely loads of ELO, (all featuring Bev Bevans only drum fill)
Saturday Night Fever
Dire Straits, anything really, but must have Sultans and the Brothers in Arms album
and of course, the people's friend Phil Collins. What is it about Mr. Collins? A perfectly inventive and interesting drummer and vocalist with Genesis, but out on his own, vapid wallpaper music from someone who almost seemed to be entwined with the Royal family in the eighties!

Allow me to take the moral high ground for a moment. In my humble opinion, ELO were doomed artistically from the moment Roy Wood (genius) left the band. If you want to hear ELO at their best listen to the singles from 10538 overture (ripped off by Paul Weller in Changing Man) through to Ma Ma Ma Belle. In fact, just listen to The Move, a wonderful band that contained Wood, Lynne and Bevan, and pre-dated the unfathomably far more successful and inspirationally bereft ELO.After Ma Ma Ma Belle, Jeff Lynne and co. lost it. He only climbed the tree of credilbility again with The Travelling Wilburys, becuase, lets face it, if you dont learn anything working with Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Roy Orbison, you might as well give up!

That said, look at the millions upon millions they sold.So is it just me? I cant listen to their later stuff on the radio without being forced to turn it off! But ELO pale into insignificance when I am confronted by the two mighty pillars of purveyors of annoying music....

THE PET SHOP BOYS AND ENYA

God forbid some suicidal record executive comes up with an idea for them to record together, for I shall be forced to drive up to Millau in France and throw myself off the worlds highest viaduct.(below)
What I don't understand is, Enya's music is supposed to be calming, people use it in these pseudo-new-age health retreats, where the word retreat is just a euphemism for "old decaying manor house we got cheap cos its in the middle of bloody nowhere and we stuck a few sunbeds and a plunge pool in it."
But Enya's music has the opposite effect on me! It makes me want to kill people! Never mind putting Judas Priest in court for alleged subliminal messages, THIS is the real devil's music! Its just so annoying! And yet, her sister Maire, with Clannad, makes perfectly lovely albums. Do you see how fine the line is? Orinoco flow. jesus. "Sail away, sail away sail away." yes indeed. please.

And so, to The Pet Shop Boys. I have just one word, its something like aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrgh!!! Neil Tennants effected vocal, achieves something extraordinary in me, it gets under my skin like a mutating virus and I want to die. Couple this with his smug self satisfied "I used to be a crappy music journalist for smash hits and now Im a star so meh" half-smile just puts the bloody lid on it. Id rather have my heart scooped out with a spoon as Alan Rickman's Sherrif of Nottingham once remarked.
If you can bear it, just listen to the way he delivers the line "Picasso and Debussy with a disco beat" and I think that will allow the case for the prosecution to rest, your honour. And befor you ask, I've done my time, I had to play "Its a Sin" by the Pet shop boys nearly every night for two years in a covers band. I'm still on medication.

You can imagine my horror, therefore, when putting a new CD cabinet on the wall the other day, I found in Miki's collection a cassette of the Pet shop boys greatest hits. She denied it was hers, and thereby gave me an opportunity to exorcise my ghosts. I smashed it into little pieces.....

p.s.don't forget to check out my Rant Number Three in The Mighty Pen!

Alternate Title

www.goodaboom.com

Those of you of a certain age will know that this is the title of a Monkees song, and a good one at that, from the Televisually created pseudo-mop-tops. But today I use "Alternate Title" as the title of this entry to draw attention to Miki's latest feature here on Planet Goodaboom. It's called Give Me A Title and will be a bit of interactive fun for our site visitors, not to mention a big help to Miki and I, as her output is so prolific, we have trouble titling them all! Don't forget to check out Miki's diary by the way, with her thoughts on Birds, Fishes, and Inspector Morse!!
I thought I might share with you a little of the process I go through when titling a painting. I suppose its not unlike when I compose a poem inspired by Miki's work. I imagine the painting as a snapshot of a moment in time, in some other world usually. I try to imagine what had occured before that moment, and what may occur afterwards. Also, what if one could step inside, and take a glimpse around the edge of the frame? What would one find there? These thoughts then set my mind racing, and usually, the poem pours out in a stream of consciousness style. But the salient point is this; my first impression almost always gives me the title. So, if you're up for having a go, check out the larger image of the painting shown here on the Give me a title feature, open your mind..and do it!

By the way, check out the second of my rants in The Mighty Pen, particularly those of you incensed by discourteous driving!


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Apt Pupil

www.goodaboom.com
I'm sure you recall Miki mentioning in her diary the other day a German man who was desperate for painting lessons... Well, she left the answer hanging, but the idea ate away at her and the result was Goodaskool, launched on our site the other day. Well, no sooner had she done this than the German guy turned up at the gallery, and it now seems there will be some lessons in the real world as well! It's a busy time, particularly for Miki, as we have an exhibition to mount in Albir tomorrow, and then another in Vera on February 10th, when I also play my next show in nearby Turre. On top of this, she has a recently finished portrait, and two nearing completion.

Of course, I am insisting that she helps me with my video for "A Cat Called Caramel" which will be our February song of the month! I'm hoping to make promos for a lot of my new material and launch them simultaneously on Goodaboom and YouTube. The Youtube network has afforded me a look at some gems from the past, most notably XTC and It Bites.
In the case of XTC, and in particular Andy Partridge, the word genius cannot be overstated. The wealth of music this band has given us over nearly 3 decades is simply breathtaking, and as a bass player, Colin Moulding's basslines are a joy. There is a slight connection in as much as Pete Phipps, our drummer in BC Sweet, was the drummer on two of XTC's albums, "Mummer" and "The Big Express" and fine bodies of work they are too!

Then we have It Bites, and an anecdote...back in the early 80's, this big brash lad called Frank used to pester our band (Tubeless Hearts) to get a gig or two together with his band up in their native lake district. It never materialised, but the drummer would occasionally come and see us play, and we heard they'd headed to London to give it a go, and were struggling somewhat, living in a squat. Well, history was kinder, and Virgin signed them up, and they released as It Bites a string of mouthwatering albums. Frank became Francis, and a revered solo performer. They always seemed to be derided in Egremont, their hometown, and we were often asked if we were jealous that they'd outstripped Tubeless Hearts in the fame stakes. My answer, then and now, is "Hell, no!" Bands like It Bites have TALENT. They are the ones that deserve to make it. Likewise XTC. God knows, there are precious few talented acts around nowadays. I remember seeing Ash, hailed as a fantastic young band, appearing live on Jools'LATER show, they couldnt even keep in time for the one chord jam at the beginning! Now compare these "young prodigy's to the 16 year-old Andy Fraser (bass) and 17 year-old Paul Rodgers (vocals) of a young Free...point made, I think?


I heard a story about Francis Dunnery of It Bites. It was said that his older brother was even more of a virtuoso than he was. If that was the case, let's hope Miki's German art student proves to be a similarly apt pupil!