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Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 15:50:48 +0100
From: Helen Dinsdale <email address>
Subject: MV291 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Hi Steve,
What a tireless worker you are!
I'm not sure about the video, but I'd definitely like a CD of whichever
format is most popular amongst MV's.
Haven't yet received ordered CD from Magpie, has anyone else? I was told
when I ordered it was due out mid-end October.
All the best
Helen
--
Helen Dinsdale
<email address>
==============================================================================
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 18:25:04 -0700
From: Graeme Aldous <email address>
Subject: MV292: WE'RE ALL DIFFERENT
Isn't a lot of the PA/CJ appeal the very fact that there's SO MUCH in
there for us all to find, and hate/enjoy?
"I can't even get the Lone Ranger" and "a slight but considerable
danger" have both been cited as least-favourite lines (Jenny Cotterill
MV272 and Michael J. Cross MV286), but to me they're amongst the
wittiest in the whole canon -- in fact, I think BOTBS is probably my
favourite song of the whole lot, for its evocation of the world-weary
soothsayer, making a living from mystery, but underneath as prosaic as
the next man/woman.
Glad to see that Maurice J. Lovelock (MV289) is apparently in agreement
-- in this age of countless mobile phone towers all over our
countryside, the thought of a 'booster not far from this pitch' allowing
The Gypsy (called Lee) to 'screen you your life to the very last twitch'
has a wonderful ironic ring to it.
Not sure about releasing new recordings of old favourites, performed
umpty-tump years later -- unless you were actually THERE, and can
re-live the live event, they never seem to live up to the original to
me. But a good CD re-release of the originals is already on my letter
to Santa.
--
GRAEME ALDOUS.
<postal address>
<phone and fax numbers>
==============================================================================
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 00:07:58 +0100
From: Paul C Reid <email address>
Subject: MV293: CDs and videos
Dear Steve,
I would be interested in both the double CD and video
Yours,
Paul C. Reid
==============================================================================
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 10:50:01 +0000
From: S J Birkill <email address>
Subject: MV294: Watchmaker
Those of you who've followed my link from the Pete Atkin page to the
Watchmaker Productions Website (and we all know who THEIR main man is!) may
have observed the invitation (foot of the 'about' page) to submit ideas for
new shows.
The email address given is mail@watchmaker.co.uk
Need I say more? -- Steve
==============================================================================
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 14:22:03 -0500
From: Tony Currie <email address>
Subject: MV295: cds
Please put me down for a 2a).
I've read all the comments about the PA/CJ songs with interest, and joining
this group has prompted me to dig out my Touch Has a Memory CD and play it
frequently, to the chagrin of my partner who is one of those women who
thinks PA's voice sounds like Leonard Cohen singing with a mouthful of
razorblades. Nonetheless, I've enjoyed it.
Funny thing is, even hearing the songs again so frequently, I never find
myself concentrating on the lyrics so much that I could claim to understand
any one of them. But I do like them.
An earlier message also prompted me to dig out my Peter Case CD's, they're
still worth listening to, also. Thanx.
Tony
==============================================================================
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 15:54:53 -0500 (EST)
From: Ian Chippett <email address>
Subject: MV296: A King at Nightfall
Many thanks to those of you who gave their thoughts on the meaning of "A King
at Nightfall". I'd more of less guessed what all the various lines meant;
it's just that I couldn't decide if he was writing about a real historic
figure or a composite one. As long as it wasn't Prince Charles...
"The Faded Mansion on the Hill" has always conjured up images of Sydney
Harbour in my mind though the "old man crumpled in the back" makes me think
of the chap in "The Big Sleep". Perhaps because he lived in a big house, too.
It's definitely a great song because the images are so precise and evocative
and at the same time elusive.
Another song which I've never fully understood is "Tonight your love is
over". Why should one set aside a pharoah against a rainy day? Any ideas?
Ian Chippett
==============================================================================
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 22:01:21 -0500 (EST)
From: Richard Gibson <email address>
Subject: MV297 Re: MV289; MV288: Driver to the West End
To Maurice and Steve especially,
I read a reference to working at the Beeb. I worked there myself from
1973-77 as a television studio sound technician before switching to
information systems. Had the opportunity to work on many Old Grey Whistle
Tests, but unfortunately not when PA was performing. My one live PA
experience was at a tiny club in surburban Essex, in a school, I think, but
memorable as a chance to see someone who cared about the music and the
message and stirring something in each of the audience.
Regards
Richard Gibson
==============================================================================
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 22:03:55 -0500 (EST)
From: Richard Gibson <email address>
Subject: MV298 Re: MV269; MV260; MV256: Faded Mansion
Favourite line
"For an hour alone spells freedom to the slave" from 30 Year Man.
followed closely by
"you live in a dream and the dream is a cage and the bars nestle closer with
age"
Regards
Richard Gibson
==============================================================================
From: Mark Roberts <email address>
Subject: MV299 RE: MV296: A King at Nightfall
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 08:33:52 -0000
----------
Many thanks to those of you who gave their thoughts on the meaning of "A King
at Nightfall". I'd more of less guessed what all the various lines meant;
it's just that I couldn't decide if he was writing about a real historic
figure or a composite one. As long as it wasn't Prince Charles...
Why, whats wrong with Italians ???
==============================================================================
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 10:34:06 GMT
From: email address (Dr Jeremy Walton. Tel: <phone number>)
Subject: MV300 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
Hi Steve,
>> 2. Either (a) All the songs from Pete's set, but none of the links or
>> intros, on a double CD.
I'd add my vote to this option - I'd take at least two copies of it.
I wouldn't take the video, not having a TV. I'd also be very interested
in transfers of the extremely rare, privately-pressed LPs to CD, if that
was an option.
Thanks (once again) for all your hard work here.
Cheers,
Jeremy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Jeremy Walton <email address> |
| The Numerical Algorithms Group Ltd, Oxford, UK Tel: <phone number> |
| Fax: <fax number> |
| IRIS Explorer Center URL: http://www.nag.co.uk/Welcome_IEC.html |
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==============================================================================
From: Colin Boag <email address>
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 97 13:26:59 +0000
Subject: MV301: 2 days to go....
Anyone wanting tickets for Wednesday (other than the people with whom
I've already corresponded) please let me know (e-mail or a telephone
call to <phone number>) ASAP
Venue is The Railway Hotel, St Paul's Hill, Winchester - start time
is 20:30, cost £4.
Best wishes
Colin
Boag------------------------------------------------------------
==============================================================================
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 15:26:42 -0500 (EST)
From: Rob King <email address>
Subject: MV302: On tenterhooks
In reply to Helen, I too have been anticipating Magpie's delivery without
success, but I have always found them incredibly slow in delivering even
things they have in stock in the first instance.
But is there a problem with the CD? We should be told.
By the way, what is a Brindle crewcut (asks someone whose hair has never
risen above his ears)
==============================================================================
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 21:18:00 +0000
From: S J Birkill <email address>
Subject: MV303: Various MVs; new gigs?
Re MV297: Hi Richard,
Maurice and I were with Engineering, Transmitter Group (now Transmission,
and not even owned by the Beeb any more) where for many years (I was with
the Corp for 15) we maintained lonely vigils on tops of mountains keeping
alive the high power transmitters (and low power transposers) that brought
TV to vast swathes of Northern England. I even (in 1970) tended the
Cambridge (no mountains here) gasworks hut which relayed 405-line BBC-1
(note the period hyphen), including The Lone Ranger, to Pete and Clive
among a few others. I think we secretly admired the lot of the studio
technicians who got within sparking range of the real talent.
Re MV296, MV279: Ian,
Isn't the Faded Mansion also the old boy himself, or his ageing body,
observing the serene vigour below? (also MV256, 260). And the pharoah,
wrapped in bandages and myrrh, is stowed inside his pyramid with no real
hope (in his subjects) of resurrection. I think the 'furious lament' of
Last Hill emerged when Pete set the lyric, and though at variance with
Clive's original concept as he wrote it, they both agreed it was better
that way.
Re MV239: Helen,
I think the release may have been delayed a month or so. Virgin Manchester
told me last week that Pinnacle (retail distributor for SFM) has no date
for the release.
Re MV274: Chris,
You must be the man from Sony Broadcast. Thanks for the offer of standards
conversion. With all the interest expressed I just wished I'd called in the
pro crew who said they'd shoot the event for a (relative) snip. They'd have
provided 2 cameras, lighting too, and we'd have had an edited Betacam SP
(broadcast quality) master with perfectly synchronised sound, rather than
2nd generation VHS. Not to knock my end result -- it's pretty good
considering ... Yes please, if you can do it at materials cost only that's
even better than Maurice's kind offer (MV270, thanks M). Though I think the
total number of NTSC dubs will be no more than 5 -- I'll let you know.
Yes, I agree with your Live Libel song origins theory. After all, some go
back a long way: Upstairs Window was written in 1965, I've Got Better
Things To Do in 1968 and Stranger in Town in 1969, and Uncle Seabird
predates LL by a good way. But to me at the time Live Libel was a blow,
almost a betrayal. We'd followed the dynamic duo into the inferno (why does
no-one here ever say Tenderfoot?) -- while the funny songs always got the
laughs and audience appreciation it was the 'real' ones which changed our
lives -- then here we were with what seemed like a lightweight, humourous
collection, with flippant (though annoyingly clever) sleeve notes. Not the
swan song we'd hoped for. The 7th album collection would have been worth
going out on.
Re MV266: Leslie,
Cary points out to me that the original National Theatre cast recording of
'Guys and Dolls' has been re-released this year on CD by EMI in the UK:
Music For Pleasure CDMFP 5978.
Re MV300, Jeremy; MV265, Martin,
I don't feel it would be ethical to re-issue the private albums within the
group, and I know the artists would be uneasy about it. These are frozen
moments, collector's pieces, mementoes, Things Of Their Time, records in
the true sense of the word. But wasn't it you (Martin) at Hale End who
changed the subject when I requested the loan (for DAT-ing) of Steve Cook's
old copy of 'While The Music Lasts' (before good old Ed T saved the day)?
Re MV246, Cary (misheard lyrics),
My favourite is from a Voice, who shall remain anonymous to spare his/her
blushes: 'You'll love this chicken, it's really magic' (Practical Man).
That's all folks! -- S
Hang on, no, one more thing. Before our festival this summer I had a bunch
of e-mails asking if we could get Pete to play in Hebden Bridge, Chester,
Newcastle -- I can't remember all the places proposed. I told them,
politely I think, no, Pete did the few gigs he did as favours for old
friends -- he had a day job and wasn't looking for a bunch of folk club dates.
Well, now the bug has bitten again, and he's even got himself a groovy
electronic piano thingy so he's not at the mercy of some out-of-tune pub
upright he's gotta peer over or some baby Casio too small for his fingers.
Once a show-off, as he says. And only Winchester on the tour schedule. So
here's a challenge: fix Pete up with a good gig in your neighbourhood --
don't know if that could include Toronto, Edmonton or Chicago -- try it,
but don't forget the expenses! Or a TV show (PBS OK, really). Doesn't need
to be the 'f' word: small concert venues, support in theatres, arts centres
-- catch the people who'd never go near a folk club. The time is exactly
right!
==============================================================================
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 97 21:22:23 +0000
From: Colin Boag <email address>
Subject: MV304 Re: MV302: On tenterhooks
By the way, what is a Brindle crewcut (asks someone whose hair has
never
risen above his ears)
*** isn't it 'brindled' as in streaked ?*****
=================================================================
==============================================================================
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 23:58:03
From: Richard Ross <email address>
Subject: MV305 Re: MV239 and others
I'd certainly be interested in recordings, in this order:
1: The double CD, option 2(a)
2: The video
3: The single CD, option 2(b)
No interest in option 3. Sorry for the delayed response - I've just
returned from a week's holiday, to a mass of Voices!
Thanks for the reports of the Islington gig - it was touch and go whether I
could make it and in the event I couldn't, but it seems that I'd probably
have been one of those who couldn't get in anyway as it's not that easy
getting there from here in Hemel Hempstead in a reasonable time.
Regarding the FMOTH debate, I side with Sydney Harbour (especially given
Clive's origins). It has yachts and headlands, and probably mansions
a-plenty although my own faded memories of a visit there in '91 let me
down.... But I've always had a lovely mental image of the "cavernously
bumping" Cadillac. What a wonderful description of the soggy Yank-Tank of
yesteryear!
The resurrection of my interest in Pete and Clive's works, a result of this
list and the web site, has resulted in my rediscovering an old cassette I
recorded many years ago when a student. "Hello, this is Johnny Moran
introducing Sounds on Sunday with....Pete Atkin" Blimey! Remember *him*?
Also on the tape are some miscellaneous PA live bits I guess culled from
contemporary John Peel or Bob Harris wireless programs.... The only
unrecorded song among them however was "Beautiful Changes". That's one of
my favourites though.
Thanks Steve for all your efforts :-)
Cheers
Richard
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Ross
Hemel Hempstead, Internet: <email address>
England
RH Designs - Innovative Electronics for the Darkroom
* http://www.nildram.co.uk/rhdesign *
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
==============================================================================
From: "Maurice J. Lovelock" <email address>
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 19:56:55 -5
Subject: MV306 Re: MV297; MV289; MV288: Driver to the West End
Steve & I used to hare around Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire in
a Beeb Range Rover as a "Transmitter Maintenance Team". Nothing so
exotic as a studio tech. but it was really fun. I guess that's why
we identified with "If they put up a booster not far from this
pitch". I came to Canada in 1975 to work in cable TV after
working at the Beeb for nine years. In those days CATV was a strange
mix of domestic receiver technology and professional transmission
technology. Major changes today, Sonet, DVC, HDTV, High speed
internet access (10MBytes/sec to the end user) all give cable much
more respect. Take care, MJL.
==============================================================================
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 09:22:00 GMT
Subject: MV307 Re: MV304; MV302: On tenterhooks
From: email address (Stephen R Bennett)
Brindled is best described as "salt and Pepper" colouring , where because
its a crewcut the grey and black hairs give an almost mottled appearance.
What my hair would look like if it wasn't for the pony-tail.
--
Steve Bennett
<postal address>
<email address>
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..COME FRIENDLY BOMBS AND FALL ON-------------------.
Sir J.B.
<phone and fax numbers>
==============================================================================
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 04:53:22 -0500 (EST)
From: Rob King <email address>
Subject: MV308 Re: MV304; MV302: On tenterhooks
Brindled, eh?
If you say so, which then - though I am no hairdresser (though,
coincidentally, I do have the same stylist as the Brylcream Kid) - begs the
question 'How do you streak a crewcut?'
==============================================================================
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 05:22:55 -0500
From: Chris Harris <email address>
Subject: MV309 Re: MV303
Steve ,
>You must be the man from Sony Broadcast.<
'Fraid not, Sony don't do Standards Convertors - they do everything
everything else mind you. Standards Convertors seems to be the preserve of
European (mainly British ) companies. Strangely enough I also worked at the
"Beeb" - (Blow me down if it ain't a small old word cor blimey guv) at
what was then T.C.P.D (Transmitter Capital Projects Department) for a
couple of years in the 70's, on both T.V and Short Wave stations trucking
too and fro in their unmarked Range Rover, mostly between London and Emly
Moor/Oxford/ Rampasham ( Dorset) and somewhere next to Watership Down, the
name of which escapes me at the moment. Now I work for a company called
Tekniche who
manufacture amongst other things Standards Convertors. I can get access to
Betacam (1x PAL , 1x NTSC) and scrounge a couple of multistandard VHS.
All
Glad to hear that Pete has changed the "Ten quid from the bank" line . I'd
been using "A few quid from the bank" but now I can use the official
authorised "Quick trip to the bank" which scans much better and I don't
have to worry about a knock in the middle of the night from the Correction
division of the Anorak Police.
Cheers,
Chris
==============================================================================
From: Stephen Payne <email address>
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 19:25:37 +0000
Subject: MV310: quick trip to the bank
Apologies in advance for such a hopelessly obsessive note - I guess I'm
a signed up member of the Anorak Police:
Who am I to say, but the new line doesn't sound quite right to me -
maybe its the assonance of quick trip or maybe its the clash with the
unquick trip (by train). How about "some cash from the bank"?
While I'm here: I really enjoy the de-mystifying of song lyrics that
this group has attempted. Another line I've struggled with is "The
beginner's call and the very last call of all." Any ideas?
Stephen Payne
==============================================================================
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 21:54:13 +0100
From: "Tim's account" <email address>
Subject: MV311: CD
Dear Steve
I would be interested in the double CD.
Cheers
Tim Binsted
==============================================================================
From: Cary <email address>
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 01:30:09 +0000
Subject: MV312: Demystifying Lyrics
Stephen Payne wrote
> While I'm here: I really enjoy the de-mystifying of song lyrics
> that this group has attempted.
As a listener permanently mystified by most lyric!! I've been
listening to Pete in the car a lot and happily singing along ... my
favourite sing along line at the moment being " yesterday was oh so
long ago etc" No Dice becoming one of my favourite song once I came
to term with the long looooooong. So, can someone demystify the song
for me. I keep thinking I know what it's about but can't connect the
different thoughts together.
And on less mystifying lyrics my favourite lines at the moment are
from 'The Hypertention kid' - "The slide from grace is really more like gliding
And I've found the trick is not to stop the sliding
But to find a graceful way of staying slid"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_/\ /\_
Cary a a
Like Mary @
With a 'C' for cat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(should show a cat - if not ...
picasso eat your heart out!!)
==============================================================================
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 23:53:09 -0800
From: M Powell <email address>
Subject: MV313 Re: MV239: My voice will be the only one
A delayed additional reply regarding the CDs/video. This is on behalf
of ourselves and the other 5 in the group which came to that splendid
evening in Monyash. When I refer to I/me it means Mike Powell who
composes these emails.
I have already indicated that I would be interested in the double CD
(2a) and a video (PAL). I can now add two more of each, so in total I
will be able to vouch for 3 x 2a and 3 videos (all PAL). Does Steve know
when he will be able to predict the price of each of these? I hope it
doesn't slip too much from the 15UKP he estimated at the start!
Meanwhile I must order the other double CD from Magpie. Following the
trial run in Virgin in Leeds about 3 weeks ago I tried HMV a week later.
Virgin at least had the entry in the catalogue ("not released") but HMV
had no trace of it. I guess what is needed are some genuinely useful
ideas on how to plug the CD. The risk must be that if it is not more
widely available, and publicised, it might sell only (say) 200 copies
which would surely kill the re-release project. So here are some ideas
for publicity. We will be interested to read what everybody else
thinks.
1. Where is Clive James? Does he know about this revival? If he
doesn't know, why not? If he does know, why is he apparently silent?
On his own he could organise a veritable media blitz in support of the
re-releases, Monyash, more live shows and the unrecorded material. It
is not because he is ashamed of the original material, since he has
written in one of the volumes of his autobiography that he thinks the
songs are the most important work he has ever done and that he was
bitterly disappointed by their commercial failure. So the main
challenge must be to work Clive back into this - surely somebody must
know him well enough to make an approach.
2. Regardless of Clive's involvement we think that the specialised
music press is probably a waste of time. The review in Q a few years
ago of the compilation was so dismissive that they obviously don't
appreciate the music anyway. The last thing the project needs is a one
star, five line para in a similar vein in any such medium. The more
obvious media include:
Broadsheet Sunday newspapers featuring the spread of recent
developments - Monyash, other shows, re-releases etc.
Radio outlets (Pete can surely pull some strings) - why not look at the
full range? 1,2,3,4 or 5 could all find a different slant on the story.
TV outlets. Options include:
A slot on the Jools Holland show. He is varied enough to have a go.
An Arena or similar review of the full history and current project.
Clive's own show - he could 'interview' Pete and play some of the music.
More specialised magazines like Granta. The readership is more likely
to appreciate what is on offer and is surely more prepared to
part with the necessary dosh once convinced.
3. (This one will need some serious background work.) Do proper market
research on the current membership of the Voices and then work out how
to target the correct audience ( if such an entity is discernible from
the results). At the very least some clues should emerge. This idea is
Mel's and since she knows about arts marketing she is prepared to liaise
with Steve to do the research.
Anyway that will do for now. We hope this has not been too tedious and
we hope the re-releases go well. Look forward to seeing everybody at
Monyash next year.
Mel Powell
Mike Powell
<email address>
==============================================================================
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 18:16:14 -0500
From: John Ramsey <email address>
Subject: MV314: The beginner's call....
I think that "The beginner's call and the very last call of all" relate to
calls given to actors or performers waiting to go on stage. But they are
metaphors for birth and death in this context!
John.
==============================================================================
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 23:36:49 GMT
From: email address (Michael J. Cross)
Subject: MV315: Magpie Catalogue
Hi all,
I received a catalogue through the post from Magpie today - presumably
as a result of my order for the BOTBS/DTMA CD.
The CD is listed as C5HCD 664, with a track listing and a photo of the
cover, and the following comment:
"These 2 very original and sought after albums were the first
two by Clive James and Pete Atkin, attracting at the time a
fiercely loyal and intelligent audience who became long term
devotees to this supberb blend of poetic folk-pop-rock." [sic]
all the best,
--
Michael J. Cross BSFA Magazine Index at http://www.mjckeh.demon.co.uk
"Beware of the Beautiful Stranger/Driving Through Mythical America"
by Pete Atkin & Clive James, CD reissue 10/97 on See For Miles
For more info on all PA/CJ releases, see http://www.rwt.co.uk/pa.htm
==============================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 06:53:45 +0000
From: Leslie Moss <email address>
Subject: MV316 Re: MV310: quick trip to the bank
> Another line I've struggled with is "The
>beginner's call and the very last call of all." Any ideas?
I'd always assumed that 'the very last call of all' referred to the Last
Trump - so many of CJ's lyrics have an apocalyptic feel about them. But I'm
not sure what the beginner's call is - it feels like something to do with a
novice's audition.
Leslie
==============================================================================
From: Colin Boag <email address>
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 97 07:29:14 +0000
Subject: MV317: tonight's the night...
Don't forget that tonight Pete plays The Railway at Winchester -
starting around 20:30.
I haven't sold out of tickets but expect the venue to be pretty full.
Anyone with last minute thoughts of attending should call me on
01962 883253 anytime until about 18:30 and I'll arrange to hold a
ticket back for you / provide directions / etc...
p.s. to B & J Cotterill - I got your note but cannot seem to get a
reply to your ID - the tickets await you!
Best wishes
Colin
Boag------------------------------------------------------------
==============================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 05:28:16 PST
From: "Jones,David L" <email address>
Subject: MV318 RE: MV314: The beginner's call....
>From: John Ramsey <email address>
>Subject: The beginner's call....
>To: Steve <email address>
>I think that "The beginner's call and the very last call of all" relate to
>calls given to actors or performers waiting to go on stage. But they are
>metaphors for birth and death in this context!
>John.
=================================================================
"Beginner's call" might be from "orchestra and beginners" calling out the
first set of performers for a show. "Last call" is probably borrowed from
pub lingo. Could also refer to the "Last Trump", I suppose.
Dave J.
==============================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 15:41:40 +0100
From: Rob Spence <email address>
Subject: MV319: Touch has a Memory
My first posting to this group after lurking for a bit. I found the compilation
CD in a second hand shop (£5.95 - bargain!) last weekend, and I've been playing
it non-stop since. It's great to hear all those songs without the vinyl crackle
of my old LPs. What an awful cover though - it looks like one of those "Mike
Sammes Singers in Swinging London" things circa 1967. The booklet itself is very
interesting. Good to get both participants' perspectives.
I'd be very interested in the proposed live CD.
One other thought: as a Mancunian, am I right in thinking PA rarely ventures
north of Watford? I'm trying to work out why I never managed to see him 20 years
ago when, by all accounts, he toured quite a bit.
==============================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 20:53:58 -0800
From: M Powell <email address>
Subject: MV320 Re: MV312: Demystifying Lyrics
> As a listener permanently mystified by most lyric!! I've been
> listening to Pete in the car a lot and happily singing along ... my
> favourite sing along line at the moment being " yesterday was oh so
> long ago etc" No Dice becoming one of my favourite song once I came
> to term with the long looooooong. So, can someone demystify the song
> for me. I keep thinking I know what it's about but can't connect the
> different thoughts together.
>
The explanation, and connection between the preceding verses, is the
line in the final verse "to link the way men die with how they grow."
In other words, the song narrates the author's (failed) attempt to prove
the idea that humanity is 'progressing' by comparing the last thoughts
of people facing death in different times and cultures.
Each of the verses is in the voice of a different character, recounting
his/her thoughts immediately before death. (The character speaks from
beyond the grave in the same way as the protagonist/narrator in the film
Sunset Boulevard - who incidentally 'floated broken in the pool' at the
beginning/end of the story like Gatsby in Mythical America.) The chorus
is common to all: 'yesterday was oh so long ago' because it was the
last day of life, recalled from somewhere a long distance beyond.
The last verse is in the author's voice, acknowledging that his search
for meaning through this exercise of the imagination has been a 'lost
endeavour'. Whether this is because he feels he has failed to forge a
necessary connection, or whether no logical progression to a better
vision of humanity exists is not clear - certainly there seems to be
nothing resembling an upward path from the stoical self-sacrifice of the
Eskimo in verse 1. But perhaps the attempt itself, and the resulting
need to confront the death of his idealism, gives him a right to kinship
with the characters in the verses before?
==============================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 11:29:38 PST
From: "Jones,David L" <email address>
Subject: MV321 RE: MV319: Touch has a Memory
>Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 15:41:40 +0100
>From: Rob Spence <email address>
>To: <email address>
>Subject: Touch has a Memory
>
>One other thought: as a Mancunian, am I right in thinking PA rarely
>ventures north of Watford? I'm trying to work out why I never managed to
>see him 20 years ago when, by all accounts, he toured quite a bit.
Pete certainly ventured to York often enough, and usually gave the
powers-that-be fits by playing far into the night. Hardly the mark
of one who can't wait to get back to Watneyland. Maybe it was
the free-flowing Worthy that kept him going....
Dave J.
==============================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 22:41:46 -0700 (MST)
From: Jeff Moss <email address>
Subject: MV322 Re: MV310: quick trip to the bank
>While I'm here: I really enjoy the de-mystifying of song lyrics that
>this group has attempted. Another line I've struggled with is "The
>beginner's call and the very last call of all." Any ideas?
>
The beginner's call - a baby's first cry?
The very last call of all - surely that of the Grim Reaper
Jeff Moss
==============================================================================
From: Mark Roberts <email address>
Subject: MV323 RE: MV322; MV310: quick trip to the bank
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 10:02:15 -0000
A quick trip to the bank ?
I don't know where Pete does his banking but I got a Phd in Queueing
Theory while waiting to cash a cheque at Nat. West.
It now appears that The Man Who Walked Towards The Music has also be updated
as Pete started to sing a more PC version last night at Winchester....The Girl
Who Walked Towards The Music !
Regards,
Mark Roberts.
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 12:34:32 +0000 (GMT)
From: "E.J. Tolputt" <email address>
Subject: MV324: "No Dice"
Dear All,
Yesterday, having spent the morning in bed and the afternoon
wading through a cess-pit of incomprehensible lecture notes, I was
beginning to wonder which liar said, "You learn something new every day".
And then I read Mike's e-mail...
Cheers,
Ed T.
P.S. I am still not convinced by the explanation of "A King at Nightfall".
Aswell as being packed with specific historical references, is not
the whole song an analogy for something completely different? I'm
afraid I have no suggestions - feeble, I know!
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 21:18:03 -0800
From: M Powell <email address>
Subject: MV325: BOTBS/DTMA CD
I called Magpie today (Thursday 30 October). They were happy enough to
take the credit card order and I am now in a list of 50 back orders for
the record, which is "not available yet". Apparently it will be out
next week.
Fingers crossed.
Mike Powell
<email address>
==============================================================================
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 05:16:21 -0500 (EST)
From: Rob King <email address>
Subject: MV326: The Girl on the Train
I have found The Girl on the Train and she had the same effect on me...only
this time she was sitting in the audience at Winchester.
Sadly she was not reading but cuddling up to someone else who I suspect is
another Voice. But it was still a fathom by fathom experience.
As for Pete, he was suffering, both from a bad cold and a desire, one
suspects, to either really kick in to this comeback, or kick it into touch.
Maybe it was just me but I sensed some frustration with him that his schedule
does not allow him the kind of rehearsal needed to put the kind of polish on
his performance that any performer demands of himself.
No matter how indulgent or enthusiastic a small audience is, it obviously
hurts to stumble over a line or a chord progression.
But it also struck me that he is getting the performing bug in that he is
eager to unveil unrecorded material, eventually rather shyly but proudly
singing a song he says that is unknown even to Steve; it was a highlight,
without doubt, and for that rare diamond reason alone all of those of us who
know his work inside out should encourage him.
I am sure I am not alone in thinking that the release of the CD is the
perfect opportunity for him to widen his horizons and generate new bookings,
and that CJ really should get off his arse and help.
Pete was also happy to take requests; I had a slightly perverse urge to call
out for the Honky Tonk Train, but thought that was simply cruel, while I
resisted calling for Perfect Moments, assuming that would be an encore. Well
bugger me if he didn't perform his storming HTT as his curtain-fall, and I
never did get to hear PM live!
The girlfriend I was with thought HTT was one of his best, which is curious
as it was the only one he wrote on both sides of the blanket as it were.
It was a curious evening, with an attempted scene-stealer at the start of the
second half and a slightly disappointing audience of around 40 - where were
all the Voices?
And Pete spent much of his time wiping his streaming nose while he struggled
to find the right ambience. But his second set was much more assured and he
clearly loves his new keyboard.
I would love the chance to see him live again, especially now knowing what to
expect....but much as it probably goes against the grain I feel Pete ought to
establish a playlist and stick to it for a few shows, as much to put the old
polish back on as to increase his own confidence. But that's just me, a
typical professional critic.
==============================================================================
From: Rob King <email address>
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 05:40:57 EST
Subject: MV327: Promotion
On the subject of promoting the CD, has anyone approached Record Collector? I
note that they have not done their usual discography 'biography' on Pete, and
that would certainly provide a boost to sales if it coincided with the CD
release. I am sure Steve could help them out with info?
==============================================================================
From: Stephen Payne <email address>
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 13:04:48 +0000
Subject: MV328: Pete at Winchester
When the King of Difficult Listening sang in the Railway
He sang to folkies and computer nerds
To 'Chester came the ageing Midnight Voices
It was they and never him that knew the words...........
I'm being unkind. There were only a few slips, and the songs still
sound stunning. I made no notes, and yesterday already seems so long
ago, so I can't tell of the full playlist, and I'll probably misremember
the sequence. But here's a brief review, for what it's worth.
Pete seemed quite nervous at first, forgetting the very first line of
his opening Sunlight Gate, and then slipping up both lyrically and
musically in Care Charmer Sleep. But the longer he was on stage the
more relaxed and commanding he became.
I once went to an Elvis Costello concert in which he accompanied himself
on piano and guitar. He commented that he felt that some of his songs
got hidden in the recordings, and that the sparse accompaniment revealed
them in a new light. And so it was with some of Pete's songs. For me
the highlights of the concert were the songs that I like least on the
records.
The first highlight for me was The Man who Walked Towards the Music,
which Pete described as Clive's only autobiographical song. I'm like
Clive here, I'm afraid: I don't know a Bb minor from the capital of
China, but I liked the new guitar accompaniment the way Nat Lofthouse
liked the ball.
On to the piano for two unrecorded songs that I knew from the website,
Search and Destroy and Canoe. Pete's new piano showed off for Canoe,
sounding like tuned-up strings of sea-shells.
Then the second highlight - Wall of Death. The emptied spaces in the
music, and the atmospheric singer-as-actor performance revealed a much
stronger song than I'd appreciated from the record.
The first set finished back on the guitar with Have you Got a Biro I can
Borrow, which I suppose belongs in a group with Shadow and the Widower
and Prince of Aquitaine as a lyric inspired by a French writer.
I think the second set began with Laughing Boy, before Pete started
fielding some requests from the floor, moving over to the piano for I
See the Joker and Thirty Year Man. Staying on piano
we were treated to a song Pete claimed never to have performed before,
one that "not even Steve Birkill knows". I'm afraid I can't remember
its name - "For Ladies Fair"?
Perhaps inspired by the age of his audience Pete also played another of
his least-played songs - his "most depressing song of all, about a
mid-life crisis", Nothing Left to Say.
My memory has it that the rest of the concert was all on guitar:
National Steel (brought along specially), Tonight Your Love is Over,
Stranger in Town, Girl on the Train, Practical Man, The Original
Original Honky Tonk Night Train Blues. By that time the man was calling
time, but he wasn't quite right, for Pete squeezed in Beautiful Stranger
as a requested encore.
Stephen Payne
==============================================================================
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 16:08:29 +0000
From: Leslie Moss <email address>
Subject: MV329: Uncle Seabird
Can anyone help me with some questions about the lyrics of Uncle Seabird -
various versions. I can get most of the references but a couple have stumped me.
First, who was Luria Cantrell ("When Fillmore West was still a carousel And
the chick to know was Luria Cantrell ")
Second, why does "Zimmerman" change his name to "Weberman" and not Dylan? I
have the feeling I'm missing something subtle here!
I'm also wondering who CJ based Uncle Seabird on if anyone? He seems to me
like a mixture of Bill Graham and Timothy Leary.
Leslie
==============================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 97 22:26:16 +0000
Sender: Colin Boag <email address>
Subject: MV330 Re: MV320; MV312: Demystifying Lyrics
I was surprised to see that this came from: m.powell <email address>
It was written with such certainty that I felt it had to have come
from the author! If I was so sure of what would win at tomorrow's
Ascot meeting I would become a very rich man.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The explanation, and connection between the preceding verses, is the
line in the final verse "to link the way men die with how they grow."
In other words, the song narrates the author's (failed) attempt to prove
the idea that humanity is 'progressing' by comparing the last thoughts
of people facing death in different times and cultures.
Each of the verses is in the voice of a different character, recounting
his/her thoughts immediately before death. (The character speaks from
beyond the grave in the same way as the protagonist/narrator in the film
Sunset Boulevard - who incidentally 'floated broken in the pool' at the
beginning/end of the story like Gatsby in Mythical America.) The chorus
is common to all: 'yesterday was oh so long ago' because it was the
last day of life, recalled from somewhere a long distance beyond.
The last verse is in the author's voice, acknowledging that his search
for meaning through this exercise of the imagination has been a 'lost
endeavour'. Whether this is because he feels he has failed to forge a
necessary connection, or whether no logical progression to a better
vision of humanity exists is not clear - certainly there seems to be
nothing resembling an upward path from the stoical self-sacrifice of the
Eskimo in verse 1. But perhaps the attempt itself, and the resulting
need to confront the death of his idealism, gives him a right to kinship
with the characters in the verses before?
==============================================================================
Date: Sun, 7 Sep 1997 04:02:18 +0100
From: Tom Holt <email address>
Subject: MV331: Tenderhead
I've always felt that the horseman in "Tenderfoot" got a raw deal;
all right, he'd been a bit naughty, but the retibution was a bit out
of proportion. Here's a version in which the punishment really fits the crime.
Beyond the echoes of forgotten laughter,
The clink of glasses, nausea and uncounted cost,
The living hell they call the morning after
Reminds him of the brain-cells he has lost.
The ghosts of Courage, Watney, Bass and Truman
Were Banquo's children at the horrid feast.
For he who sheds the pain of being human
Must then endure the torments of the beast.
You can tell the drinker wishes he was dead;
He won't do that again,
Reminded of his night out by the pain
And of his folly by his splitting head.
The churning stomach and the burning eyeballs,
The tongue like leather and the shrivelled brain,
Are savage proof of one too many highballs,
A symphony of ugliness and pain.
The head that jangles at a leaf's vibrations,
The stomach gnawed by acid and corrosive bile,
The double vision and hallucinations
All make him wonder if it was worthwhile.
You can tell the drinker wishes he was dead;
He won't do that again,
Reminded of his night out by the pain
And of his folly by his splitting head.
"This stuff is lethal and it gives no quarter,"
The barman told him as he filled his glass.
"It's mutton dressed as lamb unto the slaughter;
A bit like a pre-emptive coup de grace."
But still his thirst was broad as Manitoba,
Whenever there were cold ones to be sunk.
His pride at never being wholly sober
Was just a lame excuse for being drunk.
You can tell the drinker wishes he was dead;
He won't do that again,
Reminded of his night out by the pain
And of his folly by his splitting head.
The words of others and his own insistence
Have brought this on him like a wizard's curse.
And all the misery of his existence
Has subtly been transmuted into worse.
As sick as parrot, maybe even sicker,
Stewing in a poison marinade,
He swears that this time he'll stay off the liquor;
Henceforth he'll stick to milk and lemonade
You can tell the drinker wishes he was dead;
He won't do that again,
Reminded of his night out by the pain
And of his folly by his splitting head.
==============================================================================
Date: Sat, 01 Nov 1997 12:08:02 +0000
From: Paul C Reid <email address>
Subject: MV332: Q
Dear Steve,
Congratulations on the plug for the website at page 169 of December Q.
But, wot! No review of the re-released CD?
Yours
Paul C. Reid
==============================================================================
Date: Sat, 01 Nov 1997 13:47:07 +0000
From: gerald smith <email address>
Subject: MV333: Winchester 29/10
Hello Everyone
I have just come home from a few days away hoping to find some comments on
the Winchester gig on the 29th.
No such luck. Not a sausage!
Did anyone go? If so, how was it? It would be great to see a review and
set list.
I hope we've all take Steve Birkill's message to heart (MV303). It would
seem that Pete does not currently have any gigs scheduled and it would be
unforgivable if he were allowed to fade away again.
Whilst writing, I'd like to thank Mike powell for his excellent elucidation
of the lyrics to 'No Dice' and the 'Marketing PA' ideas contained in MV 313.
Gerry Smith
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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