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Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 00:13:21 +0100
From: Leslie Moss <email address>
Subject: MV231: Where have they all gone?
Haven't had any MV messages since Friday. Am I missing something or has
everyone dried up?
See some of you on Thursday.
Leslie
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From: Mark Roberts <email address>
Subject: MV232: Sighting of PA records,
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 09:20:46 +0100
Hi,
I was in Beano records in Croydon on Saturday and they had the
following PA albums
if anyone is interested
BOTBS
Road Of Silk
Secret Drinker
Essential PA
Live Libel.
Prices were 6 to 10 pounds.
Unfortunately I was looking for King At Nightfall.
Regards,
Mark Roberts
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Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 11:22:56 +0100
From: Mary <email address>
Subject: MV233 Re: MV222: PA at Islington Folk Club
> .... Pete is performing at Islington Folk Club on Thursday 16th
> October.
> useful if you could let me know if you are intending to come, if you
John Harris and I are intending to come - I hope we'll be able to get
in? We should be there by 8pm.
Looking forward to meeting you all - and the great event of course :-)
mary
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Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 13:39:41 +0100
From: gerald smith <email address>
Subject: MV234: Islington on the 16th
In reply to Mary's mail, yes, I shall be at Islington on the 16th along
with two fellow fans not on MV.
I've never seen Pete before, so I await the great event with bated (?)
breath !
I just hope we can all cram in as I've heard it's quite a small venue.
Whilst writing, has anyone listened to some of Pete's unpublished stuff
which Steve put on the website ? There really is some tremendous stuff
there. Check out 'A Man Who's been Around' and 'How like You This'
especially. Brilliant stuff.
Hope to be able to put a face to some of the voices on the 16th.
Is the CD out yet?
Gerald Smith
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From: Stephen Payne <email address>
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 15:23:48 +0000
Subject: MV235: songs for albums
In the hiatus, I wonder if I might ask a question? I guess only Pete
could really answer this, but anyone might have an interesting guess.
I wonder how it was decided which songs would appear on which albums,
(and then, in which order).
I'd always assumed that Pete and Clive (and anyone else) would wait
until they had an album's worth of songs, then go ahead, but it seems
from all the stuff on the web site that it didn't work like that at all.
To give one example, I notice that Tongue-Tied was around long before it
was recorded on Secret Drinker. Maybe it was - the c. 10 songs Pete
liked singing most at that moment? Maybe the albums are somehow
thematic?
An answer to this question should explain the mystery of the unrecorded
songs, which from what I've heard on the web site are just as strong as
the recorded catalogue. Are they all newer songs? It seems not. How
can we start a lobby for a new recording?
Stephen Payne
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Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 16:49:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ian Chippett <email address>
Subject: MV236: Shadow and the Widower
The title of this song, like "The Prince of Acquitaine", comes from a French
poem by Gerard de Nerval called "El Desdichado". The author was a 19th
century poet famous for taking his lobster for walks on a lead. The poem
begins, if I remember correctly, with the lines:
"Je suis le Tenebreux, le Veuf, l'Inconsole,
Le Prince d'Acquitaine a la tour abolie"
According to my son's French-Spanish dictionary, the title means "The
Unfortunate Man" or maybe "The Unhappy Man". I wonder, in passing, why this
poem which is not famous outside France should have inspired Clive James
into writing 2 great song lyrics.
Ian Chippett
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Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 15:41:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: Rob King <email address>
Subject: MV237: A competition to liven us up!
Well, there's me feeling as if I have been in frozen animation while I help
feed the nation's footballing hysteria, working like a rat in a treadmill,
strolling round the streets of Rome (about time they thought about
modernising the place, it's full of decaying old buildings), more work, lunch
with the Ambassador (some gaff he's got, missing only the peacocks strutting
on the lawns - wasn't a good idea to invite a couple of Socialist ministers
along) while sitting next to Alex Ferguson, then the match - an experience
that is up there among the memorable football night's like Gerry Armstrong's
winner against Spain in Valencia, Ian Stewart beating West Germany in
Belfast, Diego Maradonna's wonder goal in Mexico City, the Irish penalty
shoot-out in Genoa, and so on; such noise, it was like massive interference
deafening one's ears.
Then a jubilant flight home with the team, late but who cared until I got
indoors at 6am - I am getting far too old to miss a whole night's sleep, be
it for football or other physical pursuits.
But anyway, once I picked myself up I looked forward to a nice big delivery
of MV post. What a disappointment. This group seems to be running out of
steam.
So how's about a competition.
Now we all know that CJ's lyrics are sublime, but there is the occasional
duff line sitting there like a lump of coal among the diamonds.
How about everyone submitting their worst line?
Mine, by a mile is: "The Omega Incabloc Oyster Accutron 72 is the only
wristwatch for a drummer - It tells true and it ain't no bummer."
Now, I would love PA's honest reaction ...did he not always cringe when he
had to sing the word 'bummer'. Such a dated expression. Couldn't CJ have come
up with a better rhyme? Suggestions?
And on the same subject, do you think CJ was being sponsored by Omega? Did he
get a free watch? I think we should be told?
I would like to know what line PA hates the most, and his favourite.
Anyway, just trying to provoke some life....
Rob
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From: Benjamin Peterson <email address>
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 97 15:35:25 +0100
Subject: MV238 Re: MV237: A competition to liven us up!
>Now we all know that CJ's lyrics are sublime, but there is the occasional
>duff line sitting there like a lump of coal among the diamonds.
>How about everyone submitting their worst line?
This sounds like a source of tension :)
>Mine, by a mile is: "The Omega Incabloc Oyster Accutron 72 is the only
>wristwatch for a drummer - It tells true and it ain't no bummer."
>Now, I would love PA's honest reaction ...did he not always cringe when he
>had to sing the word 'bummer'. Such a dated expression. Couldn't CJ have
>come up with a better rhyme? Suggestions?
Oooooooh no no no no! You're missing the point! It's *supposed* to sound
vaguely feeble, dated and sad -- that's the PA ethic. Like that line about 'the
plush and flock soak up the brain's kerfuffle' in the Hypertension Kid. It's
the kind of line that'd be spoken by the kind of guy who'd attach importance to
wearing the right watch when he plays the drums. It's feeble and grim, but as
ever, in a *good* way. Grim is good.
Now (flame on!) *my* worstest ever CJ/PA lines would have to be:
1) I See the Joker. All of it.
2) 'Do you think I was born in a manger?' -- I know he needed a rhyme, but honestly!
3) 'As I powered down to zero from the grid' -- If you're gonna do a whole song
where you use the dame rhyme each verse, you better make sure you've got enough
rhymes before you start.
And in order not to get a reputation for negativity, I'll just say that some of
my fave lines are:
1) Faded Mansion. All of it.
2) 'Grimly chasing shorts with halves of bitter / in a Mayfair club they call
the Early Quitter' -- Here in chicago I'm trying to recreate the ambience by
drinking Amstel Lite and Maker's Mark in places with names like 'Guido's
Tarvern', and let me tell you, it is not working.
3) Er, almost everything else.
Benjamin
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Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 11:33:20 +0100
From: S J Birkill <email address>
Subject: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Well, I'd thought it was the hush before curtain up, but the show's over
(Whelan's) and still no clamour!
Here's something to consider: I'm wondering whether I might duplicate, for
distribution on a small scale among festival patrons and MVs only, the
recordings I made at our Monyash Festival.
We decided against a professional video shoot on the grounds of cost, with
no guaranteed market for the end result, and instead shot on amateur
camcorders (one was NTSC even) without full-time operators (hence mostly
static shots), with a soundtrack compiled from DATs at the mixer and in the
audience. Of course converting, editing the bits together in sync (and
lip-sync), without timecode, ultimately cost us far more in time than the
pro crew would have charged! And then the edited master is only on regular
VHS, and second generation at that ...
So I have a few options:
1. The 2h 35m PAL VHS recording of Pete's set, complete, from my own
nervous intro to Bill Blackburne's wind-up, including all 31 songs and
guest appearances from Julie Covington and (briefly) Brent Mason and Ed
Driscoll. I wouldn't offer any condensed options on the video -- it's had
all the editing it's getting!
2. Either (a) All the songs from Pete's set, but none of the links or
intros, on a double CD.
Or (b) A CD of highlights -- a selection of songs from Pete and Julie's
set.
3. (This we'll be doing in small CD-R quantities anyway, for the folk bands
who played the Festival,) a CD of highlights from all the artists. Not yet
edited, so haven't decided whether to include anything from Pete. Depends
on whether I do (2) I suppose.
I would charge a price in line with normal retail product, to yield a
contribution to the Festival's fund after covering duplication costs (which
I haven't yet investigated). I'm not looking to cover my own time -- I'd
have done the work anyway for myself, and besides I'm way too expensive --
you couldn't afford me (:=}). So maybe something like 10 pounds for the
single CD, 15 for the double, and somewhere in the same region for the video.
What I need is an indication, nay, commitment even, so I know whether to do
50 or 100 videos, CDs or double CDs, or just stick at the handful of
prototype CD-Rs and VHSs I've made here. You'll understand I can't stretch
the latter into double figures (so don't ask for a copy!) -- it's just too
demanding of time.
I'm quite prepared to hear absolutely nothing in reply, but should the
requests come flooding in, and should 2(b) be preferred, it would be nice
to know which songs should definitely be included, and indeed also any
which I should omit. I don't guarantee to take any notice either way, though.
Watch out for an embryonic Julie page (soon) at (you guessed it)
http://www.rwt.co.uk/jc.htm
Cheer-Oh!
-- Steve
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Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 07:16:17 -0400
From: Frances Kemmish <email address>
Subject: MV240 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Dear Steve,
Would you consider a North American compatible version, if there were
sufficient demand? I don't know what the cost would be - it costs about
$75 to get a conversion done the other way, over here (for small
quantities)
Alternatively, would you allow a North America based member to have
copies made for distribution over here?
At least CDs would be compatible !!!
I assumed that the reason the list was so quiet was because you all were
sitting home listening to your new CDs, and I am going to have to wait
for the US Mail to bring mine - who knows how long that could take. I
was getting jealous:-> Is the CD actually released yet?
Fran
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From: "Maurice J. Lovelock" <email address>
Subject: MV241 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 12:25:08 -0400
-----Original Message-----
From: Midnight Voices <email address>
To: Midnight Voices :; <email address>
Date: October 18, 1997 6:40 AM
Subject: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Steve: I'll take one of everything you do, plus if the new CD is
available, maybe you could add that to the package. I'll pay any shipping
costs incurred to Canada. Thanks for keeping Pete's name alive. M.
P.S. The PAL videotape will be fine. I have a PAL playback machine
available. M.
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Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 17:22:12 +0100 (BST)
Subject: MV242 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
From: email address (Stephen R Bennett)
Steve,
put me down for a copy of the Video and option 2a ( the double CD).
Price sound O.K. to me, do you want a cheque for £30 put in the post?
--
Steve Bennett
<email address>
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..COME FRIENDLY BOMBS AND FALL ON-------------------.
Sir J.B.
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Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 17:55:29 +0100
From: gerald smith <email address>
Subject: MV243: PA at Islington 16/10/97
Hello Group
Well, the voices have gone quiet, haven't they? Where is everybody ? Still
down at Islington folk club from Thursday night, judging by the bodycount.
It was a bit like the old student passtime of seeing how many people can
fit in a phone box, mini, or the SU bar on the last night of term! The
front row was practically sitting on Pete's lap !
I arrived quite early, but strangely, the room seemed to fill from the
back. It reminded me of a quip Frankie Howard made when he spoke to a
meeting of the Oxford Union; "I'm not worried when people walk out...it's
when they start coming towards me..!"
But, in all seriousness, what a wonderful evening I had in Islington. Pete
did a total of sixteen numbers, mostly old faves, but with a couple of
unreleased songs, 'Search and Destroy' ( a clip of which is on the website)
and 'Commercial Traveller', a song which Pete described as being about
coming home. Both had PA and CJ written all over them in terms of theme,
lyrical content and music, and would stood side by side with all the other
songs we know so well, had they been released.
Pete seemed relaxed and in fine form, although cuttingly self-deprecating.
Before the gig opened with 'Laughing Boy', Pete pointed out that he did't
do this kind of thing for a living any more, for reasons which should soon
become clear ! Ho ho ho.., but *hardly* !! And before the second half of
the show kicked off he said, wryly, "I have had several requests during the
interval....but I'm going to sing anyway..!!
Well let's hope that Pete decides to carry on singing. It's not often that
you get the chance to listen to some of your favourite music being sung by
the original composor in a setting as intimate as your front room (despite
the crush to get in with others queuing outside the door).
And so there he was. Just Pete and his one keyboard and acoustic guitar.
No gimmicks, gizmos special FX, or even a microphone cable! All the songs
were thus presented in their barest form and yet lost nothing in the
process. 'Wristwatch For A Drummer', 'Shadow and the Widower' (which Pete
claimed not to have performed in public before) and 'I see the Joker' still
had all the drive and energy of the original recordings. And to me, Pete's
voice was just the same, lacking nothing that all the knobs and screws and
toggles that modern production gadgets offer, might have added.
As one of the midnight voices suggested, Pete brought 'Girl on the Train'
into the 1990's with a subtle change of lyric in the first verse : 'Ten
quid from the bank' became 'Quick trip to the bank'. Neat.
In contrast to the raw energy of 'Wristwatch', 'SATW' and 'Joker' you could
have heard a pin drop in the packed room when Pete did 'Senior Citizens'
and 'Faded Mansion'. Probably in reference to the great debate about FMOTH
which occurred on MV a few weeks ago, Pete described the song as being
about 'everything and nothing'. Did he mean that it's a song about people
who have everything and those who have nothing, or, was he saying sometimes
a song is just a song, just as Freud once said 'sometimes a cigar is just a
cigar' ? The whole room hung on his every word as he sang 'Senior
Citizens', a truly beautiful love song, delivered a little more slowly than
the album version, I thought, but with great sensitivity, and met with
rapturous applause.
Far from detracting from the show, Pete's occasional lapse of memory, and
indeed false start (in FMOTH) only added to the experience. It was indeed
a live show, warts and all. Far better this way than those concerts which
we've probably all been to where we may as well have stayed at home and put
the relevant artist's CDs on the hi-fi. 'Practical Man' turned into a
singalong when Pete dropped a line in one of the early verses and it was
the audience itself which threw Pete when he started to play 'Beware of the
Beautiful Stranger', such was the enthusiasm which met those opening
chords. 'What do singers *mean* when they introduce a song by saying 'it
goes *something* like this', mused Pete before going for take two. 'Don't
they mean it goes *exactly* like this.?!
(My seven year old step daughter now sings along when I play BOTBS).
The show was over all too quickly, and Pete wound up with 'Perfect Moments'.
How appropriate, for the whole experience was just so - a perfect moment
(well, perfect 90 minutes, anyway). Here's to the next, and many more.
Roll on CD re-releases, videos and the long-overdue seventh album.
(The whole set list was as follows : Laughing Boy, Girl on the Train,
Between Us..., Search and Destroy, Sessionman's Blues, Stranger in Town,
Wristwatch..., Practical Man, Thief in the Night, Senior Citizens,
Commercial Traveller, I see The Joker, Faded Mansion..., Beware OTBS,
Shadow ATW, Perfect Moments.)
Gerry Smith
==============================================================================
From: Stephen Payne <email address>
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 18:42:46 +0000
Subject: MV244 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Wasn't sure whether to reply to Steve or the group on this one.
My view is that
a) I'd definitely want to purchase a CD of Pete's set. I'd prefer
non-edited to highlights, but I'd buy either. (In fact I'd happily
commit to 3 copies.)
b) I wouldn't be as keen on a video, but would probably buy it if there
was no CD.
If the CD must be highlights, my vote for songs goes first to any that
have not been recorded - I remember Search and Destroy and Canoe - or
that have only been recorded by Julie but were performed by Pete -
Beautiful Changes - there may have been others in both categories,
second for those that are maximally different from the recorded versions
(e.g the wristwatch for a drummer).
==============================================================================
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 12:50:26 PDT
From: "Jones,David L" <email address>
Subject: MV245 RE: MV239: My voice will be the only one
I'd go for the double CD, though I itch to see the video. The CD would have
to be snailed to the US, of course, P&P extra.
Dave Jones
Rochester NY
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From: Cary <email address>
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 23:53:43 +0000
Subject: MV246 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Steve,
Re all and any Cd's - yes please
Video's - YES PLEASE
and the whole shooting match - yes please!!
Commitment hereby declared.
Re. Lyrics, another category to add .... misheard lyrics!!
Pete is one of the clearest enu.... ennun ...... enonci ...
sounding singers in the business but every so often ...
From the Hypertension Kid - 'Casper the dreadful memories.'
From The Joker - 'and then from Rantzen industries.'
Checked out pa.htm lyric ..... Casper the ghost and Esther Rantzen
are NOT mentioned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_/\ /\_
Cary a a
Like Mary @
With a 'C' for cat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(should show a cat - if not ...
picasso eat your heart out!!)
==============================================================================
From: Colin Boag <email address>
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 97 11:03:55 +0000
Subject: MV247: fewer notes...
There have been a number of comments about the decrease in the
number of notes which subscribers are writing. Surely this decline
isn't surprising?
Isn't it the fact that we are a disparate bunch of people with very
little in common other than our mutual liking for a particular
artiste? In addition, there is a limit to just how much admiration
we can each express for PA before it becomes repetitive / cloying /
etc...
Whilst I'm on my soapbox I was always uneasy about the correspondence
which sought to find a way in which devotees could identify each
other at PA gigs. The question which kept coming to mind was 'why
would we want to?'
If there are, say, 100 people on the list, isn't it simply the case
that any one of us will probably find 5% of them deeply irritating,
80% neutral to invisible, 10% quite pleasant and then, if we are
lucky, 5% who could become potential friends! Of that final 5%,
goodness knows how slim the chances are that any one of us would
strike a genuine, lasting friendship with someone else on the list.
This isn't cynical, it's just the way the world seems to work!
I really hope that the renewed interest in PA continues/grows, but
if it does, it will be down to new people discovering the excellence
of the music - not us wrinklies telling each other what we already
know!
Steve has done an amzing job of getting the ball rolling but I
suspect that long-term the determining factor will be just how much
PA feels he wants/needs/can bear to perform/tour/record. That's a
deeply personal thing which surely none of the 'Voices' will (or
would want to influence).
I'll (obviously) be at Winchester on the 29th but since I will be
wearing no identification you'll have to search me out - if you
have the inclination! Seriously though, I hope a number of you come
to what I'm sure will be an excellent evening.
Best wishes
Colin
Boag------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 18:24:03 +0100
From: Leslie Moss <email address>
Subject: MV248 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Steve, count me in for:
1. Double CD of Pete's Monyash set (I assume that you're including Julie's
songs too)
2. Video (I don't understand the difference between PAL VHS and any other
VHS but assume that what you have in mind is a video that is playable on UK
machines)
Say the word and a cheque'll be in the post.
To Gerald: many thanks for the review of the Islington gig. I was two hours
from attending then a work commitment delayed me. It sounds as though Pete
was in great form and your piece gave a real sense of being there.
Anyone know when he's next going to be appearing in the London area?
To Steve; thanks for starting the Julie site. I assume you're aware that
you're missing a reference to Rock Follies.
Re favourite and unfavourite lyrics. Favourite: I find the whole of Thirty
Year Man incredibly evocative, especially the line about "it isn't my hands
that brings them in, it's a little girl just starting to begin, it's her
they're turning out to hear, and it's my bent over back she's standing
near". Unfavourite: No real hate lines, but Touch has a memory is a bit
insipid both lyrically and musically.
To Colin and all. I'd like to disagree about the pointlessness of trying to
make contact between ourselves. Yes, the only thing we've got in common is
an unabashed admiration for a little-known artist, but that very fact
suggests some common threads/likes/dislikes/emotional responses to music
that I for one would be very happy to explore. (Except I guess for the 5% of
you that I am going to irritate beyond measure!). It would seem a bit sad to
attend a PA gig knowing that other Voices were there yet go home without
having identified each other. How about something not too attention-drawing
like a particular coloured tie/shirt/sweater/dress that would at least
encourage a "are you by any chance a Midight Voice" conversation during the
interval. I do agree though that unless Pete continues to perform,
preferably with new material, interest is bound to dry up after a while in
communicating between ourselves.
Happy listening.
Leslie
==============================================================================
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 13:50:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: Richard Gibson <email address>
Subject: MV249 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
I am delighted to hear that we have the prospect of obtaining current
recordings of Pete and of Julie.
My vote is for 2(a)
although I would be satisfied with 2(b).
I intend to start to spread the word by giving Pete's discs to friends and to
find a way into the Boston radio stations, consequently, put me down for
several, probably five.
Regards
Richard
==============================================================================
Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 08:44:54 +1300
From: Ramsey Margolis <email address>
Subject: MV250 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Put me down for a CD -- I'll be happy with whatever comes up most
popular. Or a DAT.
Ramsey
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