With the incomparable Bex Dori
I HAVE BEEN PRIVILEGED ENOUGH TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE ROLE OF MUSICAL DIRECTOR/COMPILER FOR THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SPARKS TRIBUTE CD 'A RAINBOW OVER THE FREEWAY'http://www.myspace.com/arainbowoverthefreewayhttp:// therainbowtrust.org/ukIT IS AN ASTONISHING COLLECTION OF PRICELESS VERSIONS OF SONGS WRITTEN BY RON & RUSSELL MAEL, AND WAS LAUNCHED AT MADAME JOJO'S, SOHO UK ON 29 NOVEMBER 2007 WITH THE LIVE APPEARANCE OF EX SPARKS FAVOURITES IAN HAMPTON & TREVOR WHITE - LIVE TOGETHER ON STAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 DECADES.NOT ONLY DOES THE CD DEMONSTRATE THE DIVERSITY OF SPARKS SONGWRITING ABILITY, BUT ALSO THE PASSION WHICH THAT SONGWRITING INSPIRES IN FELLOW ARTISTS. A UNIQUE TRIBUTE TO A UNIQUE BAND.PLEASE BUY YOUR COPY HEREIT WAS KINDLY APPROVED BY RON & RUSSELL AND ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO DIRECT TO THE RAINBOW TRUST
MUSIQUE SANS FRONTIERES.....Pushing boundaries, stretching limits.........Heaven Scent, Sparks, Bigger Feat, Glam and Punk. Too much to list.Favourite albums : -1 Sparks - Kimono My House/Propaganda/Indiscreet - IMHO equally mindblowing Holy Trinity from the Mael brothers. Unrivalled and as vibrant and exciting now as they were 30 years ago. Pure genius.2 Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks. THE rock album. I can almost hear me growing up in there. No Future ? These songs were the framework of my future.3 David Bowie - Diamond Dogs. The last album before he went one way and I went the other. So many classic tracks including my all time Bowie favourite - 'Rock and Roll with me'.4 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Juju. Their strongest line up and finest songs - McGeoch at his innovative peak.5 New York Dolls - New York Dolls/Too Much Too Soon. Everything I love about rock and roll.6 REM - Eponymous - the best 'best of' collection there is - before the dollars err changed things a bit...... What happened Michael ?
Westerns & WW2 movies from 50's & 60's, Laurel and Hardy, Britsh cinema 1940-80, Ealing, Alastair Sim, St Trinians, Carry On, Richard Harris, Peter O Toole, Dennis Hopper, George Cole, Audrey Hepburn, Wes Studi, Terry Thomas, Ian Carmichael, James Bond, Hellraiser (we will tear your soul apart....), Tron, Labyrinth, David Niven, This Happy Breed, If, Ray Winstone
THE SIMPSONS, Young Ones, Filthy Rich and Catflap, Kevin Turvey, Dangerous Brothers, Blackadder, Saxondale, Alan Partridge, any Steve Coogan, TOTP2, Worzel bloody Gummidge, Harry Hills TV Burp, Magic Roundabout, Tommy Cooper, Morecambe & Wise, Benny Hill, Patrick Moore, anything very english dont you know....
'Animal Farm' - George Orwell; Music Star Annual 1975; 'On Liberty' - John Stuart Mill; 'Oxford English Dictionary', 'Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and Albums', 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee' by Dee Brown, 'England's Dreaming' by Jon Savage, 'No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs' by John Lydon; 'Last of the Mohicans' by James Fenimoore Cooper
Heroes implies 'worship' which I dont consign to. Rather, this lists those for whom I have love and respect - and those who I consider to have been 'influential' to me - musically and elsewhere : - Georgia; Ron Mael; Russell Mael & Susan Birchall (the ONLY 2 singers with the goosebump factor), John Lydon, Ziggy Stardust, Mum and Dad, Martin Gordon, Ian Hampton, James Whild Lea, Steven Severin, Rolf Harris, John McGeoch, Trevor White, Harley Feinstein, John Hewlett and Muff Winwood, Chris Townson; Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Mike Mills, Lou Reed, all of the Ramone bruddas, Neville Holder, Roy Wood, Bolan, Mick Ronson; The Kinks, Howard Devoto; Paul Robinson & Jake Riviera: Michael Stipe, REM when Bill Berry drummed; Jook, Captains Scarlet & Black, Arthur Kane, Norman Diamond, Adrian Fisher, Mrs Andrews & Mrs Harewood, The Cocteau Twins, Homer Simpson, the mysterons, Richard Jobson, The Sweet, Jon Pertwee, Rough Trade, Destiny Angel, THE Captain (easily mis-spelt as Curtain if not concentrating at all. As I've just found out), Iggy versus Andy Ellison, James Lowe, Stan Laurel, Billy Duffy, Ian Hunter & Mott