Aforementioned singer-songwriter malaises, spiced with delusional self-belief in my ability to play fretless bass to any standard of adequacy then topped with the purchase of a £100 keyboard featuring Arpeggiator function.
But, for those who must have a list... and I do see the appeal... here's an Ever-Ready on some dusty corners of my sadly no-longer alphabetical following an ex's mocking-derision in about 1992 vinyl-collection; the following now being hardwired-in:
Barclay James Harvest - Suicide
Beach Boys - 'Til I Die
Beatles - Fool on the Hill
Blue Nile - Downtown Lights
Blyth Power - Rowan's Riding
Buggles - Elstree
Camel - Summer Lightning
Caravan - Nine Feet Underground
Chameleons - View From a Hill
Petula Clark - Downtown
Doll By Doll - Main Travelled Roads
ELO - Can't Get It Out Of My Head
Graham Fellows - Wind From the Mersey
Flo & Eddie - Elenore
Frank and Walters - Russian Ship
The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
The Korgis - If It's Alright With You Baby
The Jam - English Rose
Jilted John - Shirley
Lindisfarne - Meet Me On the Corner
John Martyn - Spencer The Rover
Joni Mitchell - Amelia
Van Morrison - Hungry For Your Love
The Motors - Love and Loneliness
OMD - Souvenir
Peter Skellern - Hold On To Love
The Skids - Arena
Split Enz - Six Months in a Leaky Boat
Squeeze - Up The Junction
Status Quo - Living on an Island
The Stranglers - Walk On By
Sweet - Love Is Like Oxygen
Bram Tchaikovsky - Girl of My Dreams
Teenage Fanclub - The Concept
Waterboys - We Will Not Be Lovers
The Who - The Real Me
Rutland Water: Latest mix; just awaiting Sparkie to do a proper bass-part. The song's pure projection-romantique of course. None of my exes infest this one.
Lights of a Town: From Ben's mate Nick came a lovely old 12-string. Here's the first song I've written on it. First draft, this.
Suburban, Billy and PM were recorded a few years ago and whilst enjoying newly-acquired bachelor status...
Suburban Solstice: I wince just eversoslightly at one lyrical trill in the first verse. Apart from that, I still like it. Makes me wanna dig out my vintage beatbox again, in fact. What goes around... like bloody Christmas. She stayed gone, btw.
Billy's Gone: This started out with a slightly silly lyric bemoaning rootless townies moving out to the countryside then complaining about manure on the roads, but I saw sense to play up the pathos available via the juxtaposition of favourite chord sequence no.3 against bouncy-rhythm no.1 [which is not to suggest for a moment that the drum track has any roots in presets whatso-flippin'-ever. Took an age and many aspirin shandies to recover that not-quite 4/4 after the inevitable power-cut].
Perpetual Motion: Not exactly succinct, izzit? Quite a lot's been chucked at this one. It's not ackshirley perpetual... it does end eventually, but takes it's time waving goodbye.
Couldn't Love You More: the John Martyn song. I did this live to an empty room and into one mic, then added the keyboard bits after. Not sure wot ze rule wivregardto cover-versions is on here, but I claim the everyone-does-it defence.
Port of Amsterdam: and then Ben took his fretless bass back. This version does owe quite a lot to D. Bowie's. Cack-compressor goes a bit funny right at the end. Musta been the emotional-intensity.
Sans nom-de-blog, I'm touting for gigs with the esteemed Mr. B. Smith and the popular Mr. S. Dalton in the outfit monikered, imaginatively, Dalton Smith & Brown. I think it was very gracious of me to let my name go last. That's just the kinda self-effacing behaviour I like. In fact, I think I'll invite them to be my fwend.
March Untidy Night Out is this Friday and its another Friday 13th. Dr Iver Mike Halliwell (theres 3 of em) A Band of Hope (theres 1 of em) Smith & Brown (theres 3 of em) and The Colin Stark Quintet (theres 1 of him) will all be playing for your delight and delectation but remember nothing is as it seems! The Rising Sun Arts Centre Silver Street Reading and still only a measly £3 entrance fee!!!
Its been a crazy last quarter to the year for us. What with politicians, politics and mysterious, magically, disappearing discs aplenty. The Government is spinning wildly . . . out of control, lol.
Meanwhile, back in the real world . .
Have a great Christmas, and if you haven't already, sign the pledge. Go on you know you want to, a nice wee certificate to hang in the loo. And you are doing something to help protect your privacy and freedom, tah dah!
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