Being Mark Rylance 2

Being Mark Rylance 2

by Pete Clemons

Artist Nicky Cure and musician annA rydeR, spelt as such to presumably distinguish herself from the interior designer and TV personality, are collectively known as Radar Birds.

Together, the Radar Birds have developed a penchant for Oscar winning actor Mark Rylance. And additionally, they have directed and produced a couple of short films that extenuates Mark’s non emotive style and acting personality.

The first episode of Being Mark Rylance has actually been viewed by the man himself. And at Marks own request he challenged the Radar Birds to come up with another spoof. This time though, using his character from the multi award winning film, Bridge of Spies.

With task accepted Radar Birds set about achieving it. And the resulting efforts were recently premiered at the incredibly comfortable Everyman Theatre, Stratford upon Avon. And I was honoured to be present.

To ease you into the theme of what was to come you are gently transported back in time by way of a public information film and a couple of adverts that brought the era of ‘Pearl and Dean’ to mind.

Hot on the heels of that opening sequence you are treated to the main event. Thirty minutes of pure escapism that, in addition to the Radar Birds, also features the talents of musicians Sally Barker and Marion Fleetwood. This silent film, set at the time of the 1960s cold war with the Soviet Union, is essentially the story of a spy swap and release. The plot here is an adaptation of the scene showing secret information being typed up and which is then carefully removed from a fake coin. With the vital information in hand it is exchanged on a bridge, suspiciously with a backdrop very similar to one of those in Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa. The film is also embellished by an avant-garde jazz soundtrack……….or so you think until you see the making of the soundtrack tagged on as an extra at the end.

After viewing MR2 - Bridge of Spies, Mark Rylance was compelled to reply again. ‘Once again I am undone. Both Steven Spielberg and I watched and enjoyed it immensely’.

On a personal note, I truly enjoyed it all, and at the end my immediate thought was that, the other Anna Ryder needs to watch out. She could be next. Would it help?

Radar Birds enjoy laughing a lot. It’s infectious and, presumably they enjoy making others laugh too. And with their brand of humour they certainly achieve this plentifully. The work Radar Birds produce may be light hearted, but both Nicky and annA are right to be proud of their achievements. For further information, a Radar Birds website exists and both films, as I understand, are up on YouTube and well worth checking out.

50 years of the Quo

50 years of the Quo

by Pete Clemons

I must admit to having a soft spot for the Status Quo. There early hits were a regularly played at our youth club. And the tunes just stuck in my mind. To the point where, whenever I hear them, they kind of transport me back in time. The sell-out concert they played at Coventry Theatre was a highlight. Another was when, the ‘frantic four’ as they were known, reunited for a reunion tour in 2013. They repeated it again in 2014. This after the Quo had split up, bitterly, during 1985. The cracks, however, had first begun to appear a few years earlier after drummer John Coghlan departed.

The Status Quo story began when Alan Lancaster and Francis Rossi, then known as Mike, first met during 1960 at school when both were aged 11. Francis has made no secret that he loved Alan’s family and in particular his Mother.

By 1962 and amongst other musical activities both Alan and Francis had a band going called The Scorpions. They met up with the slightly older John Coghlan while they were rehearsing at a T.A. barracks. John was over the road at the Air Training Corps centre rehearsing with his band. Having recruited John into their band The Scorpions became known as The Spectres. Alan Lancaster’s Mum became involved and oversaw the band and dealt with any issues and organised events.

About two years in and The Spectres were joined by keyboard player Roy Lynes.

Meanwhile, future Status Quo guitarist, Rick Parfitt, was winning local talent competitions that led to gigs at places like Butlins on Hayling Island. Rick also had a season with a trio called The Highlights at Minehead during 1965.

Coincidentally The Spectres also happened to be auditioned at Butlins in Minehead during the summer of 1965. And it was there that they met Rick Parfitt. It seemed that Rick had wandered across to The Spectres audition and was hugely impressed. Despite Ricks more cabaret background, The Spectres and Rick hit it off and became firm friends.

That same year the band The Spectres gained their first recording contract. They recorded three singles: ‘I Who Have Nothing’, ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ and ‘We Aint Got Nothing Yet’ under the directorship of John Shroeder. All three singles failed to touch the charts though.

1967 saw The Spectres change their name to The Traffic Jam. At the same time they decided that they also needed another singer and so offered Rick Parfitt the opportunity to join. After a brief spell as The Traffic Jam, the band became known as The Status Quo during August 1967.

With producer John Shroeder The Status Quo released their debut single, ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’ during January 1968. Matchstick Men which became a huge hit both in the UK on the Pye label and also in the US where it was released on the Cadet Concept label. The Status Quo was also invited to play Top of the Pops which was an incredible experience in those days.

Strangely, Matchstick Men was to be the only major Status Quo hit in the States. After the follow up single bombed, the band returned to the charts later on during 1968 with ‘Ice in the Sun’. Although the Quo broke as a psychedelic band, Francis insists that this had been at the guidance of their management. ‘They even sent us to Carnaby Street to buy frilly shirts for photoshoots’.

Around this time the Status Quo management hired Bob Young as a roadie and tour manager. Almost immediately Bob began writing with the band. And over the years Young became one of the most important pieces in the Status Quo family. In addition he would also play harmonica with the band both on stage and on record.

But the hits dried up for a while and the group began to re-think their direction. On tour in Germany they heard ‘Roadhouse Blues’ by the Doors and they all suddenly had their heads turned to a certain sound. In addition, Status Quo came to the realisation that they were all about jeans, pumps and t-shirts.

After a short time away they returned to the charts in 1970 with a tune called ‘Down the Dustpipe’. It was the first record to feature their soon-to-be trademark boogie shuffle. Roadie, Bob Young, plays the distinctive harmonica on the single.

Soon after the ‘Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon’ album, also released during 1970, Roy Lynes left the band. Roy had appeared on three Status Quo albums before leaving and was, by all accounts, just a bit too easy going for the rest of the band. He was replaced, albeit not as a full time member, by Andy Bown.

Between 1970 and 1976 the Quo became hugely popular. Their easily distinctive sound was as clear on their albums as it was on stage. And this tended to set them apart from other rock bands. During that period Status Quo released 5 top 5 albums. The first of those was the ‘Piledriver’ album. Piledriver also contained the song that changed their fortunes ‘Roadhouse Blues’. 1972 culminated with a highly successful appearance at the Reading Festival. After that success sales of albums and singles grew with successive releases. The ‘On the Level’ album hit the number 1 spot at the same time as the single ‘Down Down’ topped the singles chart.

It wasn’t to last though. At the time of the Rockin all over the World album during 1977 Andy Bown became a full time member. At the same time Status Quo found themselves exiled in Jersey and the excesses of rock n roll were taking over. After the single of the same title drummer John Coghlan left the band to be replaced by Pete Kircher.

In the words of bass player Alan Lancaster ‘the band was never quite the same again’ and that they ‘suddenly made bad albums’. So the band embarked on an ‘End of the Road’ tour.

But it wasn’t quite the end for Status Quo. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure had organised the Live Aid concert in July 1985 and at their insistence The Quo regrouped to open up the event. They opened with ‘Rockin’ All Over the World’ and finished with ‘Don’t Waste My Time’. This would be Alan Lancaster’s last gig with the band. It seemed that Alan and Francis just couldn’t work together any more.

That didn’t stop the band carrying on though. They recruited and added Jeff Rich and John ‘Rhino’ Edwards to their ranks and along with Alan Bown, Rossi and Parfitt embarked on a new phase. The first album in this new format was titled ‘In the Army Now’. And it was this version of this band that continued to tour until the untimely death of Rick Parfitt on Christmas Eve 2016.

The ‘classic’ line up of Parfitt, Rossi, Coghlan and Lancaster did, however, have a final and timely hurrah. Under the banner of the ‘Frantic Four’ they toured together during 2013 and 2014 simultaneously while Parfitt and Rossi kept the current Status Quo line up going. I remember hearing an interview on the radio with Francis during 2012 when rumours were rife of a reunion and where he recalled, fondly, his thoughts of Alan’s mother and how close he had been to that family. Coordinated by the bands manager, Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster got talking again, about the old days. Any bad blood was suddenly buried.

Status Quo is an institution of the British Rock scene. With Quo you got what you heard. No aires and graces. They were unfashionable among the more ‘thinking’ rock fan but their denim clad army of fans was fanatical about them. And that was all that bothered the Quo.

1968 – As I remember it - by Pete Clemons

1968 – As I remember it

by Pete Clemons.

1968 was a tumultuous year for news items. Amongst them, The Vietnam War was raging, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated and Enoch Powell was making his controversial speeches. In sport, racing driver Jim Clark was killed, Manchester United became the first English football team to win the European Cup and West Brom won the F.A. Cup. I chose these happenings as they are things I can recall fairly easily. Despite that it is still hard to believe that these events happened fifty years ago.

On television we were watching such stuff as Magpie, Joe 90, Please Sir, Father Dear Father and The Champions. Mary Hopkin appeared, and won, Opportunity Knocks. Mary was then recommended to Paul McCartney who promptly signed her up on the newly formed Apple Records. Mary would then top the singles chart with ‘Those Were the Days’. Again, I chose these programmes as they are, simply, ones that came to mind.

The music charts during 1968 were equally eclectic as the TV stations were. The first few weeks, for example, still found The Beatles ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and ‘The Sound of Music’ original soundtrack still battling it out at the top of the albums chart as they had done through a lot of 1967. But this was soon to change as February saw them over taken by the first Tamla Motown LPs to reach the top of the UK chart. And these records came by way of The Four Tops and Diana Ross and the Supremes.

And so it went throughout the year with the likes of Andy Williams, Otis Redding, Tom Jones, The Small Faces and Simon and Garfunkel all reaching that coveted number one position until, in December, The Beatles returned to number one with their double white album which grabbed attention from all corners. But the imaginative White Album came at the end of a year where popular music was already beginning to stretch itself with a good number of bands, throughout the year, both from the UK and US, challenging peoples listening habits.

Amongst the records I remember listening to, that fell into the ‘against the grain’ category back then, included albums by bands on both sides of the Atlantic such as Family, Spooky Tooth, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Canned Heat, The Soft Machine, The Pentangle, The Eclection, Spirit, Fleetwood Mac, The Steve Miller Band, The Gun, Love Sculpture and Jeff Beck. I’m sure there were others.

Even more remarkable was that for a lot of these bands, they were releasing their debut albums during 1968. Andin fact, Steve Miller, Canned Heat, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall and The Moody Blues each managed to release a couple of classic albums during this year while bands like Cream were releasing their final albums. This was also the year that Pink Floyd added guitarist David Gilmour and released ‘A Saucerful of Secrets’.

Donovan’s grand boxed release ‘A gift From a Flower to a Garden’ had its UK release during 1968 and, although released some years earlier, listeners caught up with John Lee Hooker’s classic ‘Burnin’ album after it was given its first official UK release on the Joy label. 1968 also saw the release of Jimi Hendrix’s incredible double LP ‘Electric Ladyland’ and the recording of The Rolling Stones concept show titled ‘Rock and Roll Circus’.

Finally on the LP front, and of more local interest, is that of The Ray King bands LP ‘Live at the Playboy Club. 2018 also sees this remarkable recording hitting the landmark of having been released 50 years ago.

Equally as diverse as the albums chart was its equivalent for singles. Number ones here included songs by Des O’Connor, Esther and Abi Ofarim, Tommy James and the Shondells, The Union Gap, The Rolling Stones, Hugh Montenegro, The Scaffold and The Equals.

Other notable singles success I remember from 1968 included releases by Herb Alpert, Status Quo, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Jose Feliciano, Aretha Franklin, John Fred and his Playboy Band, Judy Clay and William Bell, The Beach Boys, Mama Cass, OC Smith and Booker T and the MG’s.

So that is the way I remember 1968. Others will no doubt see it all so differently. And, as is the case, I am sure I will be kicking myself for failed to mention an obvious release.

Music charts and sales are a fact of life. It is how a lot of people judge a records success. However I personally feel that the benchmark of a good record is its longevity to the individual. By that I mean ‘do I still listen to it’. And after 50 years a lot of the above mentioned records, particularly those that were a part of ‘the underground scene’, still give me an awful lot of pleasure even today. To me, that says an awful lot about them.

Kast off Kinks – Belgrade Theatre

Kast off Kinks – Belgrade Theatre

by Pete Clemons

Although they should have been, I never felt The Kinks were really given the same credit that bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who had. That’s not to say they never got any credence. Of course they did, and anyone who seriously enjoys listening to music, loves them so much, and can reel off plenty of their song titles with ease.

I have always thought that, regardless of the talent, music is all about luck and timing. The right place at the right time. Maybe The Kinks didn’t really fit into a category. Were they a mod band or a rockers band? It shouldn’t matter one bit but yet these things have always tended to.

And then there were the differences between Ray and Dave Davies. There have been many telling statements over the years. Ray Davies - ‘He has had his problems with me. I am not an easy person to work with’. Dave Davies - ‘Many times I played the older brother’. ‘I was never allowed the same creative space as I allowed him (Ray)’.

Their songs pulled in so many different and diverse influences. Dave Davies - ‘Record companies didn’t know what to do with us’. Songs like ‘Come Dancing’ and ‘Village Green Preservation Society’ were really good songs. In retrospect both are seen as classics. But at the time of release they never quite got the praise they deserved. Maybe it was a case of being released at the wrong time? The Village Green Preservation Society album was certainly more than just a collection of songs. Given all of this, and in terms of their style of writing, The Kinks were incredibly unique.

Carrying the flame for all those great songs nowadays are the Kast Off Kinks who recently appeared at an almost packed Belgrade Theatre. And all the band members have strong associations with the parent band, hence the ‘Kast Off’s’ moniker. None more so than drummer Mick Avory, who was with The Kinks since its inception, give or take the first month or so. The rest of the ‘Kast Offs’ are bass player John Dalton, Ian Gibbons on keyboard and lead guitarist Dave Clarke.

Armed with a vast body of work at their disposal the Kast Off Kinks opened with ‘Where Have all the Good Times Gone’. And that song opened the door to two sets, the first of them clocking in at around an hour and the second, well over an hour.

And the creativity and wordplay of the Ray Davies songbook continued with songs such as ‘Days’, ‘Sunny Afternoon’, ‘Lola’, ‘All Day and All of the Night’, ‘Dedicated Follower of Fashion’ and so many more including the song that many consider the greatest pop song ever written ‘Waterloo Sunset’.

It is true to say that during their existence The Kinks did have timing issues that led to periods of little, or no, commercial success. But the body of work they have left us will ensure that the Kast Off’s will be wowing an audience for as long as they want too.

Kast Off Kinks with Ray Davies