Porcupine Tree - An Empty Box

 

Porcupine Tree An Empty Box

by Pete Clemons

The build up to the release of this album seems to have taken an age. Although, to be fair, 'The Future Bites' was written and completed long before Covid 19 took hold. Through no fault of Steven Wilson, it has been the pandemic that has played its part in the albums long delay. But it is now almost upon us and the reviews of the album, so far, have been very encouraging and incredibly positive.

The theme for 'The Future Bites' questions commerciality, and I found myself ordering the box set. But the longer the delay ensued and the release date was put back I found myself recalling a very early Porcupine Tree tune called 'An Empty Box'. No idea why. I maybe guessed that Steven was being mischievous and maybe, in some way, he was going to have the last laugh on us. Those with long memories may remember the spoken sequence, a fictitious interview, at the beginning of the track:...............

'You did mention recently in an interview with the New Musical Express that you were considering issuing a box. Unreleased demo's, psychedelic jams that kind of thing.

Well the thing is, at the moment and the way that the money is going, I think that the box is as far as we get – an empty box. Which seems fairly unwise at the moment'.

As it turns out, the box set is far from empty. Musically there are plenty of surprises in it. I'm not sure if there are many left. If you want one to listen to, and not just to own, do not regret missing out on the chance to buy it.

In addition to commercialism, 'The Future Bites' has also investigated what the internet has done to us as consumers. Inadvertently, this album, via the internet and social media, has drawn out of us, some of the funniest and strangest reactions that I have ever come across.

An angst and a furor, rarely heard or seen since Bob Dylan and T. Rex went electric or The Beatles and Abba split up, has built up on the various social media sites during the period that the album was on hold. Steven Wilson has got it absolutely right when it comes to the album's subject matter. From being a closed, and rather private society, we now appear to be more than happy to reveal our most personal of details and our innermost nature.

During the 'To the Bone' tour, which lasted 14 months, the touring band racked up 145 concerts taking in over 30 countries and over 100 cities around the world. In hindsight, the more electronic nature of this album was hinted at during that last tour. And recently, Steven Wilson is quoted as saying that, 'for the first time in my life I actually wrote something topical to our current climate'.

Another twist is that Steven has even managed to recruit Elton John to guest on the album. Elton was involved on the track Personal Shopper. He does the monologue towards the end of the track. And it is true what Steven says, in that we sometimes tend to buy stuff for the ownership of it rather than for what it is intended for. Such how the algorithms have seeped into us.

Steven Wilson has been doing what he does within his world of music for majority of his life. Additionally he has been recording, releasing and touring music for the last 30 of those years. He is astute and clearly thinks about the wider business. In terms of career length he has far surpassed many of his contemporaries. And, despite that, he still wants to release music of value and worth. So it is only fair that if he says that he has done all he can with guitar based music, and wants to explore other avenues, then we need to respect that.

When Mothers Club Came to Coventry

 

When Mothers Club Came to Coventry

by Pete Clemons

Mothers Club in Erdington was one of the first of its kind outside of London that really meant anything to the music fan. When it opened as the Carlton during 1963 its aim was 'to provide live music and regular dances for the burgeoning teenage population'. And that policy continued when it was renamed Mothers during 1968. Occasionally dances would move to places like the Town Hall in Birmingham. A Mothers themed night was added to the Lanchester Arts Festival of 1970.

King Crimson were supposed to have headlined the evening and, even during mid January 1970 within a fortnight or so of the event, they were still being advertised in the national music papers and local press. But instead, and at very short notice, they were replaced on the bill by Danny and the Heart-throbs. The rest of the bill was completed by Free, Yes, Mott the Hoople, Atomic Rooster.

For that downstairs main hall gig social secretary, Bob Jones, did a lot of hyping for Danny and his Heart-throbs in 'Lanch' bulletins with a backstory saying they had come over from the USA. And it seemed that many bought it. But in reality it turned out that several local bands combined to put together Danny and the Heart-throbs. And they lasted for just two gigs.

The idea for Danny and the Heart-throbs came from future Indian Summer bass player Malcolm Harker. He drafted in band mates Brian Whittle on sax and Paul Moreton from Ultra Sound. Completing the band were sax player Tim James, guitarist Steve Cottrel, Bob Jackson on keyboards and Paul Hooper on drums. Paul Morton took on lead vocals as Danny. There was also a great boogie woogie piano player and a brass section. To give the band an image Malc had them all dress in drape coats, bootlace ties and brothel creeper shoes.

The first gig was at the 'Lanch' in a top floor room, for a Freshers party, where, as a result of this gig, further live music was banned. The crowd were so enthusiastic jumping around to the rock n roll - which was pretty much a novel genre at the time - that they cracked the floor/ceiling so no bands were allowed to play upstairs after that. That aside, the band were invited back again because they had gone down so well. The second, and final gig, was as part of the main Lanchester Arts Festival and Danny and the Heart-throbs went down an absolute storm with a set made up of tunes like 'Rock Around the Clock', 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'At the Hop', 'Summertime Blues', 'Shakin All Over' and 'Lucille' to name a few.

The event was reviewed in a national music paper as follows: An odd sort of evening at Mothers, the Birmingham 'heavy' club, as Friday's contribution to the Lanchester Arts Festival.

No really popular groups, and last act of the evening, so presumably top of the bill, was a last minute addition, local group Danny and the Heart-throbs. Unheard of outside Birmingham, Danny and his boys do a rock 'n' roll set which is a send up of the whole scene, black leather greasy hair and all, although the music is a straight laying down the line of what rock is all about.

Free were on before Danny's mob and played a predictable set including the popular 'Woman'. The crowd loved them and gave them the accolade of being the only group of the evening to be asked to do an encore. Much better live than on record, Free had the audience on its feet with a mind blowing ear splitting set.

Yes, possibly one of the finest live acts in the country, seemed a little out of their depth and got something of a cool reception until they moved from their sweet music on to some more pounding material.

I asked Paul Hooper for his memories of the gig: We did it as a spoof joke but in fact, had we kept it together, there may well have been potential for real success as was proved a little later on by Showaddywaddy amongst others..but we didn't take it seriously. Because we'd done a gig shortly before upstairs in the Lanch, and bought the house down, I do recall Chris Welch giving us rave review in Melody Maker. Perhaps we should have stuck with it eh?

Bob Jackson agreed: We went down a storm. I was in drag along with Paul Hooper. So it was a wild night!! It was packed in there and I got pulled off the stage by my ankle onto the floor. I had a shift dress on but that was all. You've never seen anyone move so fast to get back on stage. It was a winning formula.

Thanks to Bob Jackson and Paul Hooper for their help with this article.

PS Pete Clemons adds "the Danny gig was at the point where Malc Harker got to join Indian Summer. Steve Cottrel was still guitarist and he left shortly after, making way for Colin Williams as lead guitar in Indian Summer.

Indian Summer above  Colin Williams, Malc Harker, Paul Hooper, Bob Jackson

Joe O'Donnell – The Long Sobs

 

Joe O'Donnell – The Long Sobs

by Pete Clemons

'Les sanglots longs / des violons / de l'automne' ('Long sobs of autumn violins') is a poem by French poet, Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), and was first published during 1866. During World War 2 lines from the poem were used to send messages from the Special Operations Executive to the French Resistance about the timing of the forthcoming invasion of Normandy, otherwise known as the D. Day landings. They were used as a code if you like.

The poem is in fact referred to during the 1962 epic war movie 'The Longest Day'. And local resident and violinist, Joe O' O'Donnell, has long been intrigued by this poem. So much so that it is featured in Joe's latest musical project. More than that, Joe has made the whole project relevant to the City of Coventry.

 During the 1970s, when Joe was a member of folk rock band East of Eden. One tour saw East of Eden supporting the Climax Blues Band. East of Eden were instructed to plug themselves into the Climax Blues Band's back line equipment. And Joe found himself plugged into sax player, Colin Cooper's, Leslie Cabinets. This was not what he was used to and for Joe it was a revelation. From behind him and through the monitors the sound was astonishing. It felt as though he was inside large rotating cabinets.

 During the 1960s and 70s Leslie Cabinets were incredibly popular and very difficult to acquire. Together with the Hammond Organ they were the perfect fit. And these instruments featured on many great albums from that period. But it wasn't until Joe moved to Guernsey during the 1980s that the opportunity arose for him to buy these prized cabinets. Joe noticed an advert for a Leslie. But when he arrived to buy it, the seller offered him a second. They were in almost mint condition and hardly played. Joe adapted them for violin and, in Joe's words, 'there is not a sound like it'.

After relocating to Coventry during the 1990s Joe was quickly get to know fellow musicians around the city. After filling in on a gig Joe ended up at, of all places, Foleshill Road Fire Station. He had been invited to play his violin there. But what struck Joe was this incredible feeling of ambiance from the building. That then led him, sometime later, to record the sound of his violin through those Leslie Cabinets at 3 locations around the city. The Guildhall, the Roman Fort at Baginton and the New Cathedral. He fed in on the natural acoustics and ambience of those settings and drew that into the Leslie cabinets and back out again. While at the Cathedral the Long Sobs poem came back to Joe. It just seemed to fit in with feel of it all. And the Long Sobs became central to the entire project.

What had began as an avant garde project has, over time, evolved into a suite of music. The original recordings have now been overdubbed with authentic war time sounds which would have been heard during the Coventry blitz. These include aircraft engines, ambulance bells, Ack Ack guns, air raid warnings. Joe even discovered recording's of the original bells from the old Cathedral Tower. And these would have been heard prior to the cathedrals destruction. And all of these sounds have been mixed into the recording process.

The Long Sobs project has been, and still is, a work in progress for a number of years. Recently, however, it has began to gain traction. The arts council have shown an interest. And have been most helpful by accepting a bid for a development grant. This broad based suite of music runs in at around an hour and a quarter. It is similar in feel to an orchestral piece in that it is built up of several movements. It takes you on an emotional journey.

When live theatre returns there are plans for an ambitious interactive concert. The hope is that Joe's band, Shkayla, are accompanied by an on screen orchestra and choir. Adding to the overall audience experience their would also be narration and sound effects. And penciled in as the setting for this spectacle is the Albany Theatre in Earlsdon. Watch this space.

https://www.vox.com/2014/6/6/5785954/how-paul-verlaine-helped-the-allies-pull-off-d-day

On June 1, to tell the resistance to stand by for further alerts, the BBC transmitted the first three lines:

Les sanglots longs

Des violons

De l'automne

Then, on June 5, to signal that sabotage efforts should begin, the next three lines were sent:

Blessent mon coeur

D'une langueur

Monotone

Paul Verlaine. His poem Chanson d’Automne (1866)

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l’automne
Blessent mon cœur
D’une langueur
Monotone.
Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l’heure,
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure;
Et je m’en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m’emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte.


Translation
The prolonged sobs of the violins
of autumn
wound my heart with their
monotonous languor.
All breathless and pale,
when the hour sounds,
I remember former days
and I cry;
I am carried on an ill wind
which tosses me
here, there,
like a dead leaf.

Joe O'Donnell's Shkayla