I Am Not The Beatles

Click above for big pictures, click below to play me…

I’ve got a new boyfriend.

Oooh, good for you. What’s the lucky boy’s name ?

Win.

How unusual, is that short for anything ?

Winston. Or as I like to call him…my little Winnie.

Got a picture ?

Of course, take a look.

Bloody hell… I know you like your lithe young men to be in posession of somethingtohangonable good heads of hair, but I never thought you’d go for the whole pencil moustache and robes look to accompany it.

Gosh, does he always look like that ?

Like what ?

Like a dopey dog resting his chin on your knee determinedly begging for a biscuit.

You bet. I love the dopey dog look.

Takes all sorts, I suppose. Known him long ?

Somewhere around 3 minutes and 46 seconds, but it appears his love for me is as monstrous as mine is for him - because he also has a petname for me.

Wow. This is all happening rather fast… what is it ?

He calls me his dusty heartfelt.

Why ?

I have absolutely no idea - but it certainly beats the nickname my previous boyfriend had for me.

What was that ?

Suckslut.

Well, if your previous boyfriend’s attempt at affection is an accurate reflection of your personal predilections, then you may well be about to make Winston a very happy man indeed… where are you both off for your first date ?

Date ? I have no time for dates, so we’ve… errr… slept together already.

You slept with Winston after knowing him for 3 minutes and 46 seconds?

Actually, my pants were off in under 30 seconds and I was reaffirming my boyfriend’s old nickname for me in just under a minute. I will admit to feeling slightly strange about it all in retrospect, but Winston was tremendously charming. He sweet talked me initially by telling me he loved me more than The States loved the Kennedy’s - and I love Neighbours… so the pants came down.

I don’t think you’ll find he was referring to the ever lovable Dr Karl Kennedy but, even if he was, I am afraid Neighbours isn’t really that big a show in the US - so as compliments go… it’s not exactly the best.

Really ? Hmmm, well now you come to mention it, Winston did say something else a bit odd.

Yes ?

He asked me to send him the pillow I sleep on.

Why didn’t he just take it with him ?

That’s what I thought… I mean I was definitely having more than just my dusty heart felt by Winston at the time of his request - and my first thought was precisely the same as yours : “When you’re done, just leave the house with the sodding thing if you’re that bloody enamoured with it.”

I didn’t say that about the pillow at the time though.

Why not ?

I was too busy biting it.

I hate to say this but I would guess that the reason your little Winnie is asking you to send your pillow to him, is because he is never actually going to come back and collect it in person.

Indeed, I strongly suspect that he uses these pillows as some strange sort of one night stand bednotching system - and I’d bet very good money that he’s got hundreds of the buggers hidden in his cellar… the dirty bastard.

Are you trying to tell me he isn’t going to come back and film us both having sex with a film crew entirely populated by tigers ?

It certainly seems unlikely…

And I’ll never be able to sing for him ?

Sing for him ? Why would you want to do that ?

Well, he said he would send me a firearm if I did.

I fear Winston is getting his Hedda Gabler’s mixed up with his Head And Gobbler’s.

Change the locks.

Now.

Is This Song A Winner ?

Yes it is.

It comes from Winston’s second album called Freaky Trigger and is actually an ode to one of his favourite singers… Dusty Springfield.

The first verse claims that JFK and his family were all rather fond of Dusty and although I can find no definitive proof of this, in a coincidence that I am sure both Dusty Springfield and JFK’s son would have found totally fascinating - if only the coinicidence I am about to relate didn’t rather unfortunately involve them both dying in order to make the coincidence happen in the first place - they both died in the same year : 1999.

Now, upsetting though death most definitely was for poor old JFK Junior I bet Dusty was doubly gutted, as she died just 10 days before she was due to be inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame :

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/99deaths1.html

Stuart Maconie gave Freaky Trigger 10/10 in the NME, with the praise that ‘These are the 10 best songs Salvador Dali never wrote’…

http://tinyurl.com/348oog

and claims this song really does sound rather similar to T Rex’s Telegram Sam. He’s right, of course - it is certainly directing a rather large knowing wink in it’s general bottom wiggling direction, but it also certainly isn’t the ‘note for note’ copy that he claims :

By the way, I was convinced that Winston chose to sing a song about Dusty Springfield against a T-Rexy backdrop because they were in some way obviously yet cleverly inter-related - but the only connection I can find (apart from the obvious teasing sexuality of both when they were alive) is that Marc Bolan used to be managed by Simon Napier Bell… who also wrote the words for You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me :

http://tinyurl.com/yvrve7

What Was All That Stuff About Pillows ?

Send Me The Pillow You Dream On is the name of a perfectly pleasant country song written by Hank Locklin in 1958 :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69dN6aI6BuI

This song title was appropriated many years later by Morrissey in The Smiths song Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others…

http://www.passionsjustlikemine.com/words/smiths-w-sgabto.htm

and then along came Winston another few years later who swapped the word ‘dream’ for ’sleep’… and called it his own.

Want to know where else Morrissey has nicked some of his words from ?

http://www.oz.net/~moz//nicked.htm

I Am Not Interested In Bloody Morrissey, Tell Me More About That Dastardly Winston.

Well, rather shockingly, it seems the name of the chap on the front cover isn’t actually Winston at all - as Win were in fact a band… and that fluffy mess of dewey eyed unbrushed hair is actually called Davey Henderson.

Where Is Fluffy Davey Now ?

He is a broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners and will always be missed for his slight resemblance to David Allen Grier who also, presumably, looks a bit like a begging dog :

http://sayhey.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/nostalgia-whatever-happened-to-dave-henderson/

Except, of course, that isn’t really our Davey at all… well, unless he’s put on a bit of weight and done a Jichael Mackson ie a Michael Jackson in reverse.

Nope… our Davey seems very lovely and is both Scottish and pretty darn cultish. He was initially in a band called The Fire Engines in the early 80’s, who are very fondly recalled by many :

http://www.myspace.com/fireengines

and then went on to form Win soon after their dissolution :

http://www.myspace.com/freakytrigger

If your interest is piqued by this really rather lovely record, and frankly I wouldn’t blame you if it were, then there is an almost scarily detailed - and also very blue - page all about Win… here :

http://home2.btconnect.com/iconic-trash/index.html

Since then, Davey - along with Simon Smeeton the Win bassist - have both been in a band called Nectarine No.9 and also reformed The Fire Engines reasonably recently at the behest of Franz Ferdinand :

http://news.scotsman.com/indiemusic/Hottest-old-act-in-town.2587179.jp

Unless you know differently, however, the rest of the band, Ian Stoddart (Bass), Russell Burn (Drums/Keyboards), Emmanuel Shoniwa (Guitar/Bass), and William Perry (keyboards) - like La Bouche before them - all appear to have left the planet.

Incidentally, Davey’s got a bit of critical double whammy thing going on… as Win’s first album, Uh! Tears Baby, was voted the 51st best Scottish album of all time, whilst The Fire Engine’s frankly superbly named Lubricate Your Living Room was voted in at 65 :

http://news.scotsman.com/100bestscottishalbums/100-best-Scottish-albums-.2470409.jp

Please beware : The above link also contains the word ‘Runrig’.

What’s Davey Doing ‘Til Sunday, Baby ?

I have no idea, but if you think he’s going to pop back and spill some more of his Love Units all over your face you’re going to be sadly disappointed - as Davey is now married … with a child :

http://kevinwilliamson.blogspot.com/2007/12/dec-23rd-remembering-joe-strummer-five.html

So get over it.

Money Update

Cost : 8 pence

Current Value : 1 pound and 98 pence. No wonder Davey was so keen for you to send him your pillow on his behalf… it’s not like he could afford to cover the postage himself.

Current Profit : 177 pounds and 52 pence.

The best Dusty Springfield story I came across : In 1979 she played a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. To kick the concert off she was greeted on stage by some hand selected friends of hers. She then announced - referring to both herself and her friends - ‘I am glad to see that the royalty here tonight is not only confined to The Royal Box’… only for Princess Margaret not to understand the reference, ask who else was actually there from the royal family as it was the first she’d heard of it, get it all explained to her, sit in a huff for the entire concert, ignore Dusty at the after show party, then later send her a letter containing a pretyped apology for insulting the Queen… for Dusty to sign and return :

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_1999_April_27/ai_54492600

Supporting Cast Update : Franz Ferdinand ; Locklin, Hank ; Smiths, The; Morrissey ; Runrig ; T Rex; Maconie, Stuart; Kennedy, Karl ; Grier, David Allen; Dali, Salvador ; Kennedy, John F; Springfield, Dusty; Christ, Jesus ; Gabler, Hedda

Hey… It’s Easter. Have Fun! That man in the picture Winston is holding is about to… oh… that’ll be his last cigarette then.

Click above for big pictures, click below to play me…

Thomas Leer Likes You Alot

Really ? How nice. I must have made quite a first impression as I hardly know the man.

You Certainly Did. In Fact, Despite The Brevity Of Your Current Aquaintance, He Wants To Tell You That He Rates You As A Number One

Gosh. How sweet. What’s the scale ?

I Beg Your Pardon ?

The scale. If one is presumably the highest score I could possibly get from the obviously lovable Thomas, what would be the lowest ? Am I, for example, in his ever sultry eyes… one a million ?

Errr… No.

What then ?

Ten.

I am number one on a scale of ten ?

Yes… Are You Having Fun ?

Well I was until you came along and ruined it with the details of Thomas’ totally ridiculous scoring system. It’s a fucking insult.

I Think You’ll Find He Was Trying To Be Nice…

Trying to be nice ? That’s almost as bad an excuse as only following orders in my book. Nope, you can go back to your good friend Thomas and tell him that he can try to be nice all he bloody well likes, but perhaps he should attempt to go that one tiny step further and actually be nice.

Sorry, Can You Calm Down Please ?

You’re trying to matchmake me with a man who finds it morally acceptable to squeeze the entire sprawling mass of individuals that make up the human race into an overpopulated and totally degrading scale of ten, and you’re asking me to calm down ?

I would be fascinated to watch Thomas attempt to justify the warped rationale he uses to differentiate between people he has marked down as a one and a two, let alone a one and ten - because there are going to be some pretty diverse individuals all branded together into his rather pathetic narrow world view, don’t you think ?

If I - presumably for reasons of excellent bone structure - have been marked as a one for example, where does Mother Theresa sit ? Or Gandhi ?

Most worryingly, I must also presume that Thomas has marked The Real Cunts Of The World Who Did Things Like Murder People with the lowest score possible. Whilst this obviously isn’t an incorrect thing to do, it does mean that as far as he is concerned :

I am only ten points away from Hitler.

I Suppose You Have A Point…

Thank you.

Now, how do I get off this pathetic list ? I want nothing to do with it.

I Don’t Think You Can Get Off The List - It’s Just Like The Masons and Facebook. ie Once You’re A Member You Can Never Actually Leave…

The total fucker.

Song Any Good ?

Despite Thomas’ slightly worrying number fascism, this record really is quite incredibly fabulous.

It’s rather like being on the receiving end of a particularly satisfying all body massage from Sade.

In drag.

Does Thomas Leer ?

In 1978 Thomas recorded the whispered vocals of a song as his girlfriend slept merrily in the next room of his flat in Port Glasgow, Scotland, called it Private Plane and released it on his own label. Over the coming months it went on to sell over five and half thousand copies, is cited by Matt Johnson as the reason why he was inspired to start The The, and is generally regarded as a bit of a lost classic.

The rave reviews when Private Plane was released hailed it as pop masterpiece of the new electronic era where synthesisers would be king. Ironically though Thomas couldn’t actually afford a synth at the time, so all those hi-tech wibbles are in fact just a guitar and a bass run through craploads of effect pedals.

Want to hear it ?

Now, this older record is all very well - and is making me feel oh so breathlessly retrotrendy - but lets face it, the Thomas Leer of No.1 sounds like a smokey man you’d happily turn your body into a receptacle for, whilst the Thomas Leer of Private Plane sounds like that teenage boy you’ve been desperately trying to avoid for the very good reason he has one too many piles of used Kleenex badly hidden beneath his bed.

After the success of Private Plane Thomas released a few more records independently before eventually signing to the major label Arista. It appears that, despite my moral misgivings, Thomas was very proud of his socially divisive experimenting, and ultimately highlighted it by unapologetically calling the album this song comes from… The Scale Of Ten.

‘The past response has been rubbish… It’s down to the radio play I wasn’t getting… I am fed up with being a cult… I don’t see anything wrong with being successful…’ he said at the time.

‘<I did it to> subvert the mainstream from the inside‘ - he said a few years later after leaving Arista having sold no records, and signing with ZTT to form a band called Act with Claudia Brücken from Propaganda :

http://www.zttaat.com/search.php?search=thomas+leer

Not long after this Thomas was obviously having a very bad day as one second he was in the midst of legal wrangles trying (and failing) to clear an Abba sample for one of Act’s songs - and the next he suddenly got a bit flustered, decided everything was crap and disappeared for 15 years.

You will be relieved to know though that he is now back.

Take a look :

http://www.thomasleer.co.uk/

Is Thomas Leer Really A Total Fucker ?

Of course not.

His website above contains a few free downloads for us to all to listen to, and this obviously makes him utterly lovely. In fact he is so lovely that I have decided to forgive him for our initial disagreement, and - just like he did 23 years ago - would like to publicly announce to the world that on a scale of ten…

I’d give him one.

Money Update

Cost : 8 pence

Current Value : Some people want 15 pounds - whilst others want 1 pound and 17 pence, which is 2 tiny pence more than Rupert Everett. Just like the sales of this record then, it’s disappointing.

Current Profit : 163 pounds and 38 pence. Our number’s are definitely up, but the ship has totally failed to come in.

Supporting Cast Update : The The ; Brücken, Claudia; Bojaxhui, Agnes Gonxha (Mother Theresa) ; Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (Gandhi… err, obviously); Abba

Click above for big pictures, click below to play me…

The Intro

It starts with a musical reference which is as strange as it is unexpected. Recognise the rhythm of that one note synth intro ? I promise you now, your ears aren’t deceiving you - yes, it really is a recreation of the beginning of ‘Congratulations’ by Cliff Richard.

Now, as well as this being a strange and unexpected way to start any song that isn’t actually ‘Congratulations’ by Cliff Richard, it is also of course an incredibly clever thing to use in this particular instance. This song is called ‘Pride Of Winning’ after all and, when you win something people very often say ‘Congratulations’ - which also presumably makes you ‘as happy as can be’.

The Song

Once you’ve got over the shock of the Cliff Richard allusion, the other astounding thing about this record is vocalist Brian Atherton’s Really Rather Posh Baritone.

When you first experience his low articulate warble, it is almost impossible to supress a giggle at the overbearing silliness of it all - sounding, as it does, like a young Harry Secombe singing an elocution lesson. However, if you listen to this rather pleasant song more than once you can end up becoming rather enamoured.

If this happens to you, as it did to me, then you are in real trouble as what happens next is this :

a) You can’t imagine this song sung in any other way - indeed, you can’t even imagine there is any other way to sing. Then

b) Whilst out buying a replacement windscreen wiper for your car in Halford’s, you will suddenly notice that all the other customers are looking at you in a slightly funny way. Only then do you notice that you have actually been singing this song out loud to yourself for the past five minutes in your own approximation of Brian’s Really Rather Posh Baritone. What’s more, you sound more like that blonde bloke from G4 doing an impression of Nana Mouskouri being played at half speed than you’d care to admit.

Whatever Happened To Brian ?

Well, one thing is for sure : Brian was certainly quite well connected as it appears that Eddie Lundon - one of the founding members of China Crisis - played guitar on this song.

Also, it was recorded in Amazon Studios in Liverpool where alot of the great and the good have also recorded. Loads of people from Echo and The Bunnymen to James to New Order have all done stuff there. It still exists, by the way - renamed as Parr Street Studios - and claims to be the largest studio in the UK outside of London :

http://www.parrstreet.co.uk/

Want a more exhaustive list of people who have recorded there ? For reasons that I still don’t fully understand, the list of luminaries includes Mystic Meg :

http://www.parrstreet.co.uk/artists.htm

Brian Atherton isn’t the most common name in the world, but it still takes time tracking down the right one. This Brian Atherton is a ‘dark brooding man heavily into martial arts’ :

http://www.shawnolson.net/smo/friends/brian/index.html

But it’s not our Brian. Whilst another Brian Atherton has written a book about the Red Paint People - a pre Columbian indigenous culture in North America :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Paint_People

Off topic I know, but actually that’s really interesting. Here is another fascinating article about a whole group of people I’d never heard of until today :

http://seacoastnh.com/history/prehistoric/redpaint.html

Again though, sadly, this is yet another Brian. However…

Brian Found !

Brian was originally a member of a band called Box Of Toys, who managed that most Holy Grail of Musical Holy Grail’s in 1983 - ie they recorded a Peel Session:

http://tinyurl.com/2rdjaa

After that he recorded a bit as The Light , now writes bits and bobs for TV and adverts - and lives in Brazil. Actually, he wasn’t that hard to track down to be honest, he’s on myspace :

Brian On Myspace

Incidentally, he’s playing a gig in a couple weeks in a place called Novo in Sao Paulo - if you just happen to find yourself in the area - and helpfully he also has another webpage with stuff about The Light on it here :

http://www.thelightatherton.piczo.com

On it he asks if you have ever heard any of his songs, and you can feedback immediately via a webform thing. So if you want to be nice - and who doesn’t want to be nice ? - you could pop over there right away and say that, yes, you have heard one of his songs.

It was called ‘Pride Of Winning’, and bloody pleasant it was too.

Money Update

Cost : 8 pence

Current Value : 2 pounds and a penny

Current Profit : 135 pounds and 91 pence.

Supporting Cast Update : Echo and The Bunnymen - James - New Order - Red Paint People - John Peel

Click above for big pictures, click below to play me…

This is what pop music is all about.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good one, but your patience is about to be rewarded - as this an absolutely superb song.

It starts fearlessly - totally comfortable within and ultimately utterly transcending it’s chosen genre. It is time to put away any preconceptions you have and just nod your head along to that really quite incredible intro. It struts around your ears like a euro-pop John Travolta quite literally owning the street at the beginning of ‘Saturday Night Fever’.

That, my friends, is confidence.

Billy Vera should take some serious notes here, as the subject matter is essentially the same as his interminable ‘At This Moment’ - that of a lost love - but it has a lightness of musical touch and a yearning in the vocal that Billy can only dream of.

It is also lyrically far cleverer than it perhaps even realises itself.

The ‘beat’ we are being asked to ‘touch’ is the memory of ‘the rhythm of two hearts’ of yourself and your ex love. It also plays nicely on euro-pop conventions, using a seemingly throw away line such as ‘Touch and go’ to show the ultimate fleeting nature of your daliances. ie You touched, they left - but you still ‘need (them)… so much’.

Elsewhere, lines like ‘Real life made you think my words have already been said’ is far too deep for it’s own good, whilst “It happened on a night like this, an empty table and a silent kiss” has the kind of rhythm and measure that would make Morrissey proud.

All in all, this is a perfect example of what the best love songs should sound like - luxuriating in the bitter joy of times that now leave you empty. When this is expressed in the right way, despite the sadness and loss, it should bloody well make you smile.

Just like this song.

Could This Song Be Any Better ?

You know that recurring lyrical theme it uses in the verses : ‘It was Sound on Sound’ , ‘It was Pain on Pain’ etc - wouldn’t it have been nice if Super Enig Matix had released three separate versions of this song a la Pulp’s Something Strange with the interchangeable line ‘It was Boy on Boy’, ‘It was Girl on Girl’ and ‘It was Girl on Boy’ ?

Then you could have bought your own personalised copy depending upon your personal preference.

Where Are They Now ?

It seems the band name was taken from a song by 70’s progressive rock band ‘Be-Bop-Deluxe’ who had a song called ‘Superenigmatix (lethal appliances for the home with everything)’ on their 1978 album ‘Drastic Plastic’.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Bop_Deluxe

Apart from that, I spent almost a day searching frantically but could find absolutely no reference to this band whatsoever.

But then - many hours into the search - I discovered an obscure Italian music forum talking about people’s favourite songs that nobody else knows. On it was the following short, but groundbreaking statement.

Prepare yourselves… this is incredible :

” Lunica possibilita’ di riascoltare le belle canzoni anni ‘80 rare e ormai dimenticate, e’ proprio quella di scambiarcele qui sul forum. Mi vengono in mente brani fantastici come Touch the beat dei Super Enigmatix (voce di Limahl). “

You don’t need to know much Italian to recognise two simple supporting words and one Very Important One : Voice Of Limahl.

Bloody Hell.

http://www.limahl.com/

Hmmm… The only Kajagoogoo song I own is the much underrated ‘The Lions Mouth’ but I will admit - having just given it a quick spin - there are similarities.

So, if we take this one statement written by an Italian I have never met before as pure fact, I can now tell you that Super Enig Matix’s newest single was released under his much better known guise of Limahl called ‘Tell Me Why’. You can listen to it here :

http://www.myspace.com/limahl

and watch the video here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynTl4rh2DgQ

Which all reminds me - ‘The Never Ending Story’ is still a bit of a toe tapper isn’t it ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3khTntOxX-k

Money Update

Cost : 8 pence

Current Value : 2 pounds and 87 pence.

Current Profit : 122 pounds and 92 pence. Incidentally, I am still not totally convinced that this is definitely lovely Limahl - so I’ve just emailed him to ask. Watch this space.

Supporting Cast Update : Kajagoogoo - Be Bop Deluxe - Travolta, John

EDIT : Update now available in ‘Corrections and Clarifications’

Click above for big pictures, click below to play me…

What Do The Dolphin Brothers Think They Sound Like ?

‘Fashion’-era David Bowie.

What Do The Dolphin Brothers Actually Sound Like ?

A slightly more suave and upmarket Thompson Twins - fronted by a vaguely drunk David Sylvian.

Are They Any Good ?

Well the groove isn’t anywhere near as hypnotic as it thinks it is - sounding as it does like they are both battering seven shades of shit out of their kitchen appliances - but don’t be distracted, this record is certainly one of the more stylish ones on here.

They certainly do their best to cock it up though : employing an Alan Darby impersonator for a recreation of his slightly pointless and noisy guitar solo doesn’t really help their cause, and neither does the lack of any truly distinct chorus. But there is something about it - even if I can’t tell you exactly what that something actually is.

How Would You Describe Them ?

Like that most maligned of British institutions - the Sherbet Fountain. Sure, there is other more showy sherbet based confectionary available on the market - such as the Double Dip for example, which offers both two flavours of sherbet and a Swizzlestick. But Double Dips are everywhere in the world of music and sometimes you just crave for the classic simplicity of a nice piece of plodding liquorice and some good old plain sherbet.

So much so, despite the fact that the lack of multiple sherbet flavour options means the taste of your chosen snack won’t change at all for the four minutes it takes you to eat it, by the end you may well find yourself licking your lips and saying to yourself :

” That was lovely. I think I might have another one in a couple of weeks. ”

Looks Like A Nice Cover Too

It is a nice cover. Very tasteful.

The photograph on the front was taken by a lady called Sheila Rock. In fact, I like the blue tint so much I think I’ll try and track her down as well in a minute. I wonder if she is married to that very very rich man Bob Rock, previously of Rock and Hyde infamy ?

I Don’t Like It At All. Any Reason I Should Stick With It ?

Yes, at the very end the synth gets so bored endlessly repeating the same four bar phrase over and over again - it shoots itself.

Where Are They Now ?

Errr… this is a bit weird - as well as slightly satisfying.

The Dolphin Brothers are two chaps called Richard Barbieri and Steve Jansen. I accused the singer of sounding like a drunken David Sylvian, and it turns out that both Richard and Steve used to be in the band Japan with… David Sylvian.

What’s more, the vocalist (Steve) is actually David Sylvians’ brother.

If you want a copy of The Dolphin Brothers album, a CD is still available :

http://tinyurl.com/yumz2o

I hope Sheila didn’t take the photograph for the cover though - that pink filter they’ve used is vile.

Away from the cover, if it helps tempt you in any way, the backing vocals on the album (including the ones on this song) are all done the pretty darn famous P P Arnold :

http://www.pparnold.com/

Who is now heavily into healing :

http://www.pparnold.com/content/view/31/65/

“PP Arnold is known for her youthful looks, her boundless energy and her larger than life personality. Reiki plays an important part in all three, without it she would not be the woman she is today.”

So. There You Go.

I Don’t Care About PP Arnold’s Bloody Healing. Where Are Steve and Richard ?

Richard plays with a few bands these days including The Bays and Porcupine Tree - and also boasts that he recently programmed some of the patches for the new Roland V GT Synthesiser :

http://www.richardbarbieri.net/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Barbieri

Meanwhile, Steve still tours with his brother David, has a new solo album out himself - ‘Slope’ - and also contributed to the recent Penguin Cafe Orchestra tribute album :

http://www.stevejansen.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jansen

And Sheila ?

Sadly she is not married to Bob, but she does seem to be unnervingly successful. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and has been accepted into the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London :

http://tinyurl.com/2kjaug

She has also released a coffee table type book thing all about Tibetan Monks :

http://www.amazon.com/Sera-Tibetan-Monk-Sheila-Rock/dp/0231128916

“Rock discovers beauty in the simple…Her lens seems to capture another kind of light–the luminous glow from within.”

Working with ‘Shining’ 20 years ago, and with ‘Luminous Glows’ today - seems like a nice job, doesn’t it ?

Money Update

Cost : 8 pence

Current Value : 2 pounds 34 pence - although some scamp is trying to sell his 12″ for 41 quid.

Current Profit : 116 pounds and 81 pence.

Supporting cast Update : Thompson Twins - Sylvian, David - Japan - Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Arnold, PP - Fountain, Sherbet - Dip, Double - Monks, Tibetan