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  ::                                                              ::
  ::                     - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? -                    ::
  ::       The Weekly Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts         ::
  ::                          Issue # 23                          ::
  ::                Thursday, September 26th, 1996                ::
  ::                                                              ::
  ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

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From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (Aymeric Leroy)
Subject: The Harlingen Canterbury Event
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 22:17:08 +0000

Well, I was there !... Eight hours of train from Paris to the end of the
world... Harlingen, on the North-West coast of Holland. Off the train
to a tent just a few yards away (!)... there I was. Richard Sinclair
was already busy preparing a special performance with local kids, singing
a few Caravan songs together. The "festival" took place under a big tent,
at the back of which food was prepared, a few stalls had been set up
(Heather Kinnear of course had a selection of Sinclair/Hopper-related
CDs, including the brand new "Spaced" by Soft Machine and "Somewhere In
France" by Hugh Hopper and Richard Sinclair).
Richard and the kids sang "Magic Man" (a Pye Hastings song), "Golf Girl"
and "In The Land Of Grey And Pink". That was sweet and funny, especially
when the kids tried to "play" the trombone intro of "Golf Girl" with
kazoos. And hearing them sing "pick our fill of punk-weed and smoke it
till we bleed" was a good laugh too.
After that early performance I visited the tent and discovered a couple
of computers displaying the internet Calyx site !

The first "real" performance was by Richard Sinclair and local band
Pleegzusters. They are a trio of Jacques van den Oever (guitar), Teatse
Vogelaar (bass) and Kees van den Nieuwenhuizen (drums). They normally
perform covers of Frank Zappa and other blues-based music, but for this
occasion they played a set of Sinclair classics, with the man himself
on vocals and guitar. A special treat was "The Stubbs Effect" and "Big
Jobs" played as an introduction. The 40-minute set that followed included
versions of "In The Land Of Grey And Pink", "Share It", "Back To Herne
Bay Front", "A.A. Man" and a couple of instrumentals composed by van den
Oever. Let's note that he and Vogelaar (especially the latter) were very
involved in the organization of the whole event. Hats off to them !

The second concert was by Stips, the new trio formed by ex-Supersister
keyboardist/leader Robert Jan Stips. Formed in 1969, Supersister was a
very good band influenced by Soft Machine, Frank Zappa and classical
music. Despite being involved in the music scene for more than 25 years
(notably in Golden Earring and The Nits), Stips still looks very young
and enthusiastic, and that's what made their set a success. It was a
mixture of Supersister classics with a few more recent songs (some from
the debut release by Stips - this was their first performance, paving the
way for an extensive Dutch tour between October and January. Due to the
absence of sax (our own Elton Dean once played this instrument in the band's
ranks, in 1973-74, but no records were made during this period), the sound
was not jazzy at all and closer to pop/progressive. The rhythm section of
Martin (bass) and Roy (drums) Bakker was very tight, and Stips' playing
was impressive. Overall a bit too "poppy" for my taste, but certainly not
lacking in ambition.

For my money, the best set of the evening was that of the Hugh Hopper Band.
I didn't have extraordinarily high expectations for this gig, not being a
hardcore fan of the more "jazzy" Canterbury stuff. Yet I found the quartet's
performance breathtaking and highly emotional, from beginning till end. Too
bad the records don't necessarily convey the band's full impact. Dispensing
with keyboards, the Franglodutch Band now consists of Frank van der Kooij
(sax), Patrice Meyer (guitar), Hugh Hopper (bass) and (apparently not on
a permanent basis) Maarten Kruiswijk (drums). Each of them was outstanding.
Hopper's fuzz-bass solo nearly brought tears to my eyes. This man looks as
if he's in another world when he's playing - at the back of the stage, eyes
closed... A high point of the show was Patrice Meyer's "No Long Solos".
Meyer's playing is also incredible, both very technical (in a similar way
to Allan Holdsworth's) and emotional. And van der Kooij is exceptional too,
very lyrical and rarely free-blowing. The set consisted of a mixture of
classics (dating from as far back as Isotope) and more recent stuff.

Closing the evening, Richard Sinclair played a very special show, with no
old stuff. With the exception of the closing "Only The Brave"/"Plan It
Earth", the set only included "songs" from his latest album (from 1994),
"R.S.V.P.". We were graced with a full-band performance, featuring the
talents of Tony Coe (clarinet), Patrice Meyer (guitar), David Rees-Williams
(piano/synth), Richard (bass/vocals) and Hans Waterman (drums, formerly
of the legendary Dutch band Solution). This was almost exactly the line-up
I'd heard perform in Paris in June 1994 (Pip Pyle was on drums and Didier
Malherbe added sax and flute to an already varied line-up), except this
time they were much tighter. Highlights of the show were of course the epic
"Out Of The Shadows", and "Barefoot", with great clarinet solos by Tony
Coe. The set also included "What's Rattlin' ?" (yeah !), "Over From Dover"
and "What In The World". Probably the best Sinclair gig I've attended so
far. My only disappointment was the lack of new material - it seems we
shouldn't hope for a new album before 1997 at the soonest.

I had to leave early on Sunday afternoon, so I missed what was presumably
another unforgettable moment - I hope Teatse can tell us more about that
in the next issue of WR -, the 'Church concert', with David Rees-Williams
playing on a big church organ with Richard Sinclair singing and other
musicians contributing. I heard mentions of "Calyx" and "Fol De Rol" as
possible candidates for the setlist. Too bad I couldn't make it. I had
to be content with eating a nice typical English breakfast with fellow
Frenchman Patrice Meyer... Fortunately, I understand a CD of the event
may be released sometime in the future. Everything was recorded, and
there was certainly enough great music played during that week-end to
make a great full-length CD.

If all goes well, there will be yet another 'Canterbury Music In Harlingen'
festival next year. Pye Hastings sent a very nice encouraging letter to
the organizers, saying Caravan would love to be there next year. It was
certainly a very enjoyable and friendly event, and a well-attended one
(quite a shock to see my favourite musicians perform in front a such a
"big" audience !). Looking forward to Harlingen'97 !!!

Aymeric

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: neato@pipeline.com
Subject: Branson stories (cont'd)
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 15:27:24 GMT

[In WR#22 Aymeric Leroy quoted the following excerpt from an interview
with Robert Wyatt:]
>"Virgin charged us a lot for recording ["Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard"]
>at the Manor - I think I only stopped paying it off two years ago. I don't
>think we're supposed to live this long, really. It's not in the contract !".

This reminds me of a similar story related by Tom Newman in the Branson
bio... Seems that when Newman was the virtual live-in producer in the early
days of the Manor (the studio where much early Virgin recordings were made)
he would in the very off hours try to do some personal recording. He mentions
that he was very careful to use the studio only when there were available
hours, never wanting to interfere with anyone elses recording time... thus
he was greatly suprised when his LP "Fine Old Tom" (a great record by the
way - with a veritable who's who cast [CD on voiceprint]) was released and
he was hit with a large bill for studio recording time, as if he had booked
official time!

- That Branson bio, by the way, was an interesting read although it sure
could have used more early days music anecdotes!

cheers
neato@nyc.pipeline.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Clay Gaunce <cgaunce@ukcc.uky.edu>
Subject: U.S. sources for Canterbury discs
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 96 16:52:02 EDT

Hi, Aymeric.  First I'd just like to say how very much I enjoy "What's
Rattlin'".  I also subscribe to the "Elephant Talk Digest", and when con-
sidering the breadth and depth of what's going on there as compared to your
newsletter, I must say "What's Rattlin'" is a far superior product.  Don't
know whether you receive fewer postings than the folks at ET, or whether
you're a better editor then them.  My impression is that it's the latter.
At any rate, WR is less congested with mindless, sophomoric drivel.  (Could
it be the superior intelligence of the Canterbury fan!?!)  Anyway, thank you
for not letting inane strings get started.  By the way, thanks also for re-
cruiting and encouraging Bill Macormick's involvement.  I know of no other
newsletter currently enjoying the contributions of such an authoritative
source.

Now.  The reason I'm writing is to find out if you can point me to a vendor
for Canterbury discs in the U.S.  I am aware that I may order recordings dir-
ectly from Musart; however, I am hoping there is an importer here who can
provide timely service at a competitive price.  I recently ordered NH's
"Missing Pieces" from East Side Digital, but I believe they are a record
company and not a distributor.  Could be wrong there.  As a former musician
and current producer/host of a prog rock radio program on the University of
Kentucky's alternative radio station, I'm particularly interested in obtaining product from only legitimate sources, i.e., those which ensure that the
artists (or their estates) are compensated for what they sell.

Thanks.  For everything.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: MHolmes822@aol.com (HTD Records)
Subject: Caravan
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 19:03:53 -0400

Hi there,

I'm Malcolm from HTD Records. Just popped into your page and wish you all the
best. If I can help in any way please get back to me.

Caravan will be touring the UK in Oct/Nov, if you want details let me know.

[Caravan tour dates are featured at the end of this issue. Geoff Richardson
won't take part because of other commitments (he will be touring with Murray
Head and/or [French singer] Renaud (whose backing band also includes Francois
Ovide and Bernard Paganotti !) during this period - but he will be back in
the line-up for subsequent tours - AL]

And finally we are releasing on the 30th Sept the very first Caravan album
(HTDCD65)

All the best,
Malcolm

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From: d-wayne@lanl.gov (Dave Wayne)
Subject: What's John Marshall up to? (cont'd)
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 17:08:15 -0600

John Marshall has also appeared on 2 recent releases  by John Surman ("The
Brass Project" and "Stranger Than Fiction"), both on ECM & both very
available. You can find out more (incl. partial discographical info) via the
ECM homepage. (http://www.ecmrecords.com/). I have "The Brass Project" & it
is a really wonderful recording!

I also had the good fortune recently (1991 or 1992, I lived in the UK then)
to see John Marshall perform on a BBC broadcast of a John Surman Quartet
concert (w/ Chris Laurence on bass & Norma Winstone on vocals). It was a
particularly incendiary performance which brought to mind some of the really
early stuff Surman did with Barre Philips & Stu Martin (a.k.a. The Trio).

Take Care,
Dave Wayne

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Julian Christou <jchristo@eso.org>
Subject: (none)
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 08:29:41 +0200

Thanks for the feeback on John Marshall to both Aymeric and Dave. Good to hear that he's still working and with John Surman.

And thanks to Aymeric for pointing out that Nucleus was Ian Carr's group That
I had forgotten. BTW where can one pick up a copy of "Music Outside"? In
the US? or anywhere else.

But onto a different topic. I was browsing through a record shop in downtown
Munich yesterday and came across a brand new release

Kevin Ayers - The BBC Sessions 1970 - 1972.

I didn't get a track listing of it but I had a brief look and it features
sessions with Wyatt & Hopper (and possible Ratledge) as well as the Kevin
Ayers & Archibald duets (archie Legget that is). Some pretty cool stuff from
what I remember. I think it was a Strange Fruit release.

Julian

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: davidl@mail.tss.net (David Layton)
Subject: Canterburyish bands
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 21:39:13 +0100

I haven't seen any mentions of Canterbury sounding bands recently, and
thought I would make my own contribution to this topic.  Perhaps these bands
have been mentioned before as I came in at about WR #15, however I will
mention two bands: Midnight Sun and Good God.

The former were a Danish group who put out 1(?) eponymous record in 1972 on
the Kapp label with a cover by Roger Dean.  Though they did not have the
canterbury sense of humor, they had a canterburyish instrumentation (guitar,
e-piano, bass, drums, vocal, sax) and had the jazz-rock crossover sound.
Many of the members had better jazz credentials than rock credentials, but
the basic sound is a little bit on the blues side.  Song quality ranges
from OK to very good, the last represented by "Living on the Hill" a 15
minute scorcher (great guitar solo) and the showpiece of the album.

The latter group, Good God, I actually like better. Though the musicianship
is not quite as good as Midnight Sun's, the musical originality is much
higher.  Good God were an American band who produced 1 eponymous album on
the Atlantic label in 1972 without a cover by Roger Dean.  They had a
Canterburyish sense of humor and instrumentation exactly the same as Midnight
Sun's.  "Galorna Gavorna" often sounds like Caravan of the same period,
though this band tends to be a little rougher edged than Caravan. The album
also features 2 execellent covers, John McLaughlin's "Dragon Song" and Frank
Zappa's "King Kong."  Good God also have the distinction of being one of
two bands, so far as my ears can tell, whose songs were ripped off by
Fireballet on their "Night On Bald Mountain" album (1975).  You can hear Good
God's "A Murder of Crows" thinly disguised, also Van Der Graaf Generator's
"Theme One" just as thinly disguised.  To my knowledge neither Midnight Sun
nor Good God have been reissued on CD.

Yours, David.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Malcolm Humes <mal@emf.net>
Subject: Dashiell Hedayat / Allen/Burroughs/Riley & tape loop history
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 01:42:32 -0700

[In WR#22 'neato' wrote:]
>-Daevid Allen has said he connected with Dashiell Hedayat because...

My somewhat out of date William S. Burroughs web project has some info
on Burroughs recordings that lists the Hedayat record and a lot of
other Burroughs details. (http://www.hyperreal.com/wsb/)

A  bibliography (Barry Miles?) from 1972 notes:

>3. Quote
>   On Dashiell Hedayat, Obsolete, a 12-inch long-playing album
>   released as Shandar SR 10009, Paris, 1971. The short clip of tape
>   of WSB appears at the end of the track "Love Song for Zelda"
>   on face A and is WSB saying: "I have said the basic techniques
>   of novia are very simple: consisting of creating and aggravating
>   conflicts. No riots like injustice directed enemies" (12 seconds).
>   The tape is thought to have been supplied by Daevid Allen and to
>   have originated in the soundtrack of the film Towers Open Fire.
>
>   (This was reissued on cd by a label out of Paris called
>   Mantra (MANTRA 075) They actually list WSB as vocals on the song
>   'Long Song for Zelda'  The other artists on the disc are; Daevid
>   Allen - lead guitar, Dashiell Hedayat - guitar, keyboards, cutups,
>   Didier Malherbe - Sax, flute, and water music, Pip Pyle - Drums,
>   Christian Tritsch - bass and acoustic guitar.)

By the way, hasn't Daevid at some time said that Dashiel took off with the master tapes of this and added vocals against Daevid's wishes? If so then the intended original release might have been quite different.

Also of curious note on this lp is the appearance of some tape snippets of William S. Burroughs as noted above. The Softs also used some clip of Burroughs buried deep in an early song that appeared on the Triple Echo box. And of course took the name The Soft Machine from a Burroughs novel title.

The Burroughs connections came via Daevid moving into what had been Allen Ginsberg's room at the famous Beat Hotel in Paris that Burroughs and other Beat writers lived at. (see http://www.charm.net/~brooklyn/ for wonderful Beat lit pages, Literary Kicks)

Around that time Daevid had also hooked up with Terry Riley. They both sold newspapers together. I think Daevid told me that Terry showed him how to do tape loops and that they showed Burroughs how to loop reel to reel tape when they worked with Burroughs, I believe on a production of The Ticket that Exploded that was some sort of Beat Happening or something. Daevid notes having worked with Burroughs in 1961 in his Gong Dreaming 1 book but doesn't talk about it as the Gong book covers 1966-69.

Barry Miles in _A Portrait of William S. Burroughs_ notes: "In Paris, the Australian poet Daevid Allen was part of the Left Bank scene, centered around the Beat Hotel. He could be seen at the Dominae Petique, with his strange thick steel-rimmed glasses, reading alongside Brion Gysin. He knew Burroughs and the Olympia Press Crowd..." in reference to the naming of the Soft Machine.

sort of off topic a little but,
I'm most curious about the early history of tape looping and whether
Riley or Burroughs involvement with loops. Burroughs and Gysin were already
experimenting with tape cutups by around then, I think. I found an
interesting Terry Riley interview on the history of ambient music
at http://www.qaswa.com/rhythmos/terry.html  which goes into some
detail on Riley's early use of loops. When asked what he
was doing before he wrote his landmark "In C" in 1964 Riley says he was
working with tape loops in the late 50's and early 60's for dancers and
dance production. The Burroughs bio says Gysin was doing tape cutups with
Burroughs in 1959 and Burroughs was doing audio splicing alone by 1960.
But that doesn't really indicate if Burroughs was fooling around with looping
prior to working with Riley.

Regardless of whoever started it all (probably Cage in NYC anyway, or his
associates working with early reel recorders) it seems that both Riley
and Burroughs' works with tape decks had an impact on Daevid. Allen was
doing tape cutup pieces and loops of his own by a few years later and
fooling around on loops with Hugh Hopper. I believe some of the Squeezing
Sponges at the start of Camembert Electrique are loops that Hopper (and
maybe Daevid) created and I have heard or read that they used some of
Hugh's loops during Gong concerts in as late as early 70's. Daevid
went on to do a very bizarre tapeloop based tour and lp in 1980,
DividedAlienPlaybax'80, using cutup loops of 16 or 24 track master tapes
of the NY Gong lp sessions!

  - Malcolm
   mal@emf.net

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Vernon Fitch <Vernon_Fitch@notes.cch.com>
Subject: Robert Wyatt's Drury Lane Concert (1974) : recorded ?
Date: 20 Sep 96 13:25:03

[In WR#22 Aymeric Leroy wrote:]
>From an interview with Robert Wyatt in "Ptolemaic Terrascope", 1992 :
>"[The Drury Lane concert] was a good laugh, except Virgin sneakily
>recorded it and then put the cost of recording onto my bill, which I
>thought was a bit nasty".
>I think this sets the record straight - now let's flood Virgin with
>requests for an official release !!!

Don't bother. I have some of the Virgin "soundboard" recording on tape and it
has a horrible mix. Half of the performers can't be heard. I suspect that this
was due to the fact that the soundman was mixing for the hall. When an
instrument was already loud enough in the hall (such as drums) they weren't
put through the soundboard. As a result, the drums can barely be heard on
the tape.

BTW, the audience recording of the concert is excellent! The crowd was very
well behaved and the sound is very crisp.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Malcolm Humes <mal@emf.net>
Subject: Chris Cutler/Daevid/Robert Wyatt, etc?
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 00:49:21 -0700

[In WR#22 Chris Cutler (!) asks:]
>[...] What else can I tell you ?

I would love to hear some history or anecdotes regarding working with Daevid
Allen on "N'Existe Pas" and of the visit to NY and playing at the ManiFestival
or whatever it was of Gomelsky's that was mentioned by Michael Bloom in an
earlier digest. Something was said about playing under an alias because of
work visa concerns or somesuch. Sounded like and interesting time and of
likely interest to the rest of this list since we heard some of this from
folks who were there for a wild show.

By the way, Chris, it's wonderful to have you around and I appreciate your
help with Phil Zampino on his ReR discography pages!
(http://www.panix.com/~zampino/ReR/)

I think many of us would love to read more about the history of RIO and your
work with Henry Cow and the scope of this list really seems to flex beyond
"Canterbury" to tolerate if not enjoy tangential artists.

Do you perhaps have any anecdotes or details to offer on Henry Cow's live
touring with Robert Wyatt? I find the combination of Dagmar and Robert's
vocals makes such an unusual and wonderful texture built from two uniquely
distinct voices. Wyatt's work on The Last Nightingale is very powerful to me
also.

 - Malcolm Humes
    mal@emf.net

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Vernon Fitch <Vernon_Fitch@notes.cch.com>
Subject: Softs question
Date: 20 Sep 96 13:27:25

I have a live recording of the Soft Machine on a BBC Jazz show in 1979. Does
anyone know what the lineup for this incarnation would have been?

[Well, that's a surprise ! Soft Machine active in 1979 ? I'd always assumed
the band was "sleeping" between 1977 and 1980. In my interview with him,
Ric Sanders mentioned shows in Portugal with Allan Holdsworth back in the
line-up replacing John Etheridge, but Ric made clear that this was not long
after "Alive And Well" was recorded... 1979 doesn't seem a likely date.
Too bad Karl Jenkins isn't (yet) on the list !!! - AL]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: MykelC <mykelc@earthlink.net>
Subject: National Health in the US
Date: Sat, 21 Sep 1996 14:25:28 -0800

Hello Rattler's
I would like to provide a bit of info on National Health's 1979 US tour.

The tour was indeed a very low budget affair which was made possible mostly due once again to the pioneering efforts of Daevid and Gilli and Giorgio Gomelsky in braving the US in a bus for the 1978 ZU tour. The success of that
tour paved the way and promoter marveilleux (I hope that means marvellous) RICK CHAFEN of Kansas City in his very silly love and persistence convinced NH that they could do it to.  The band was comprised of Phil Miller, Pip Pyle, John Greaves, and Alan Gowen (Dave has a way of not participating in these things, see: Hatfields TV CD). I think they lost money.

Regarding NH being better known in the States, this might have been an effect
of Passport/Visa records release of the first album, and it's very quick
journey into the cut-out bins (so that a lot of people could buy it for 2 or 3 dollars) (I think that thanks for this release go to Phil Page). By the way, Dave Stewart once told me that he preferred the mastering of this US pressing to the Charly one. (discography note: there is a dj version of this lp which has the songs "banded", ie long pieces are broken up into a few "movements" to make it more radio friendly-this was also done by Virgin for the US released of Fish Rising and Hatfield and The North, hmmmm, maybe that is why Dave Stewart writes short pop songs now, so the record companies won't be able to chop up his music).

All For Now-
Happy to be here
Michael Clare

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Michael Bloom <MHB@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Frith/Kaiser "Who needs enemies?"
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 96 07:54:08 EDT

[Deleted info sent for inclusion in the online discography]

As you presumably know, this LP and its predecessor are way out of print.
Whereas With Friends Like These consists mainly of real time improvisations
on guitars, on this record they used the studio as a compositional tool,
using bass and drum machine tracks to build up foundations they could take
hot solos and maybe even play melodies over.

They subsequently did some live playing, using some of the backing tracks
from these sessions. Kaiser really wanted to make a live album, and went so
far as to compile and sequence the tapes, but Frith didn't want to release it.
A compromise occurred when SST released the CD With Enemies Like These, Who
Needs Friends? (SST-CD-147), which contains about half of each of the two LPs,
and almost half an hour of live "bonus" tracks. Do you have the information
you need about the CD or the previous LP?

One cute feature of the CD is the track which, on the original LP, was called
"Twisted Memories Give Way to the Angry Present." In the CD booklet, the word
"Present" is replaced with "Pleasant." On the tray card, it reads "Pheasant."
On the long box (an extra large cardboard wrapper they used to package CDs in
to discourage theft and encourage more sales with spiffy graphics) the word
was "Peasant." And on the disc itself, the track is entitled "Twisted Memories
Give Way to the Angry Gift."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Julian Christou <jchristo@eso.org>
Subject: Memories ...
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 10:28:51 +0200

The posting about "Memories" and the Kramer/Hopper album reminds me that
there's another album on Kramers's label produced by him with a duo
called Damon & Naomi who do yet again another version of "Memories" which
is well worth listening to.

Julian

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (Aymeric Leroy)
Subject: Hugh Hopper/Richard Sinclair "Somewhere In France"
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 22:17:08 +0000

As planned, the first copies of the long-awaited Hopper/Sinclair CD,
originally recorded in 1983 for a planned LP on Europa Records, then
abandoned, and now released on Voiceprint (VP133), were available at
the Harlingen 'Canterbury Event' last weekend.

This is not to be considered as a "real" album. Hugh Hopper says it's not actually finished. Indeed, it lacks the sophistication and perfection one would expect from a normal release. The drumming, in particular, is terrible, and most of the times misses the beat. Well, when I asked Richard about it, he told me Serge Bringolf (otherwise a drummer of some note on the French prog scene of that time) had recorded his parts in just one afternoon, without any prior knowledge of the material. This can be heard, and the versions of "Keep On Caring" and "Cruising" are vastly inferior to those on Richard's "Caravan Of Dreams" from 1992. I have a certain affection for "Video Shows", though, because I like the sound of the snare drum on it, very special.

Robert Wyatt fans will recognize the melody of "Long Lingers Autumn Time" as being later used on "Dondestan" for the track "Lisp Service". And of course the version of "Only The Brave" is exactly the same as the one used on "Caravan Of Dreams" (therefore Hugh Hopper should have been credited with playing the gong at the beginning of the song on that CD).

There are three very beautiful songs which make the album worthwhile in my opinion : "Potted History", a very nice account of the beginnings of the Canterbury scene (lyrics below); "Oldest Story Ever Told" (great melody and superb vocals by Richard as always); and a long-time favourite of mine (I've had a bootleg copy of the album for several years), "Colin-A-Dell", one of the sweetest Sinclair songs.

Much of the material has music by Hugh Hopper and lyrics by various friends of his. My tape copy listed Steve Lake as author of several of them, and Robert Wyatt was credited for writing the lyrics of "Colin-A-Dell" but this is apparently not the case. The two songs with music by Richard and lyrics by Hugh were used on "COD", as was "Keep On Caring" (lyrics and music by Richard). The instrumentation is pretty basic : Richard plays all the guitars and a bit of bass; Hugh plays bass and some synth; Bringolf drums on 3 tracks; Jacky Barbier and friends sing backing vocals.

The CD has lyrics to all the songs and liner notes by Hugh Hopper. And a nice sleeve painted by Richard's girlfriend Heather Kinnear. Definitely not a classic, but it includes some nice stuff, especially for fans of Richard Sinclair.

Aymeric Leroy

* * * * * * * *

POTTED HISTORY
Words : Stirling Bennett / Music : Hugh Hopper
(Rough Trade Publishing)

Out along the Kentish coast
The wilde flowers bloomed
It was a time of new beginnings, open skies
Of fledgeling tottering into flight and...

When we were young...
There was nothing we wouldn't try
When we were young...
Nothing could abord plans of soft machines and caravans
Planting hope for happiness
When we were young...

Pataphysically obsessed
When we were young...
Flagging down the Nova Express
Camping out on Dada's trail
Grabbing Desire by the Tail
When we were young...

Never sleeping all the way
When we were young...
From Herne Bay down to Saint Tropez
A certain kind of pattern set
In memories that haunt us yet
When we were young...

[Not only does this include a lot of Soft Machine songtitles, but also some very wyattish backing vocals...]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Eric Rutten <Eric.Rutten@irisa.fr>
Subject: Shiny Men (and Robert Wyatt)
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 18:29:16 +0200

[In WR#16 Michael Bloom wrote:]
>And somebody else mentioned the Shiny Men, who were also pretty cool.
>They sounded like Richard Sinclair kidnapped by the Buzzcocks and
>forcibly Mohawked-- which would have been a real challenge, given his
>follicular deficiencies :-) The only recorded work of theirs I know
>was an LP called Fall Out!

Well, I did, and in between I found another copy of the LP called "Again!",
featuring Robert Wyatt scat-singing on one track.

Eric

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: (Dave Stewart)
Subject: Stewart-Gaskin concert
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 96 01:46:23 -0700

              BROKEN RECORDS NEWSFLASH

Don't miss Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin live in concert this Saturday (Sept. 28th) at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, Waterloo, London. Some tickets still available, box office phone number: 0171 960 4242.

Doors open 7.45. Stewart/Gaskin play first, at 8.15.
Broken Records will have a stall in the QEH foyer. Hope to see you there!

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                            END OF ISSUE #23

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