Common Sense Dancing: Ladybird

Ladybird Books are a feature of many a childhood for children in the UK, and indeed, around the world. While the Ladybird name was first used by Leicester based printers Wills And Hepworth shortly before the First World War, the books as we know them were devised by Douglas Keen and appeared in shops in 1948. This song gives a potted history of the books between 1948 and 1971 (when they ceased to be part of Wills And Hepworth, and became a company in their own right.

There were many folk involved in the making of the books over the years - artists, researchers, story tellers, academics, etc - and I felt I could only highlight certain key points and people. Even then, in trying to be brief and non-didactic, it still ended up with eight verses, three versions of the chorus, and the middle eight appearing twice..!

The piece is intended as a celebration of the books, some of the people behind them, the 2oz tome's place in the shared history of many lives, and the joy that they represent.

If any relatives of people who worked on the books hear the song and feel I ought to have included their mother/brother/auntie/uncle/etc, I'm so sorry.. Omission wasn't personal!

Backing vocals ably supplied again by Kim Eames and Jeremy Richardson

See you tomorrow!

Common Sense Dancing: Mellotron Suite: Main Theme

I had a bunch of short ideas that I never thought I would never make in to full guitar pieces, but when the notion of making Where Shall We Go appeared, I felt I could use those ideas as the basis for the music through the play. During the writing stage I new I was going to be arranging for flute and violin so set up those sounds on virtual Mellotrons (using GForce's excellent M-Tron Pro). And got rather used to the sounds!

Once the real instruments had been recorded I felt it would be a shame to have the Mellotron versions of the music lost, and that it would be nice to have some of the music separated off from the play to be pieces in their own right - thus the Mellotron Suite was born.

This piece, however, never appears in the play in this form. The chord structure appears at the start and end of the play, along with a couple of other arrangements popping up here and there, but without these flute/ violin parts. The melodies appear without the context of the guitar (I'll let you work out where, should you wish to know!), but here everything is presented together, united at last..

See you tomorrow :-)

Common Sense Dancing: Cupboard Luv

In the 90s I worked with a chap Marc Catley. We made four albums together and contributed tracks to a variety of compilation albums between 1992 and 1996. Some of the work was released under a bandname Paley's Watch. Only one album was released, November. There was to have been a follow-up, a concept album about Art and The Arts, but it was never made, sadly. Arguably, Common Sense Dancing is now that album.

In preparation for the second Paley's Watch album I asked a friend for a suggestion for 'arty subject matter,' and she suggested sitcom. Much as I liked the idea, I couldn't find a way in to make it work; but with so much sitcom humour relying on farce, I felt I could more easily tackle a song about that - and Cupboard Luv is the result!

It tells the story of some self-aggrandised old ham at a local dramatic society getting his comeuppance during a performance.

Muted trumpet by Hester Russell and female BVs by Kim Eames.

See you tomorrow!

Common Sense Dancing: Family Entertainment

Family Entertainment started with the humming of a riff and singing the title while walking home from work as I'd missed the bus..

It was a number of years later before I revisited the idea, when I was getting this album together. Once I'd decided how the song was going to work, writing the lyrics came fairly quickly - singing them didn't! Rather than completely empty my lungs, the verses are sung in different overlapping takes so I wasn't blue-faced, gasping on the floor by the chorus..

"Is that a.."
Yes! Rather than guitar or synth solo, that's a.. listen and find out!

Backing vocals by Kim Eames and Jeremy Richardson

See you tomorrow <3

Common Sense Dancing: Antasia

Like yesterday's My Island, Antasia also started life as a short piece for a KvR monthly competition.

I had had the opening guitar part knocking around as an idea since the mid 90s, I liked it as it was reminiscent of the work of Genesis co-founder, Anthony Phillips. The atmospheric opening section gives way to a more rock tinged second half, which again drew on my love for Ant's work; I had elements of arrangements from the Private Parts And Pieces Vols II and VIII albums in mind with this section. NB 'Antasia' is, of course, a fantasia for.. well, you can work it out ;-)

The violin is by Sarah Sharp, who often performs under the name 'Tsarzi,' and I was thrilled to have Mick Somerset play saxello.
I had hoped to get Ant himself to play harmonium, but sadly that wasn't to be, and is now played on a Mellotron.

See you tomorrow :-)

Common Sense Dancing: My Island

My Island is just a silly song written as part of an island-themed monthly competition on a music website, KvR, in 2003.

It was, so far as I know, the first full, properly mixed piece of music recorded using Zynewave Podium while it was still in beta. This re-recorded version, as with the whole album, was made using the same software (just a few versions later!).

I'm not certain of many songs that include the word 'compunction.' Only other one I knowingly know is an old Stackridge tune - Marigold Conjunction. Any one know of any others..?

Thank you John Hackett for your fluting, and Kim Eames for your backing vocals!

See you tomorrow!

Common Sense Dancing: I Could Dance With You

Hope you've got your breath back from all that walking yesterday..

Today we have the album's proper introduction with I Could Dance With You.

It makes heavy use of a tape based keyboard machine from the 60s, the Mellotron. Mellotrons were stock in trade for many, mainly 'progressive' bands in the 70s, but their original design was for being a fairly full musical entertainment device, and as such earlier models had a collection of rhythm/backing tapes which could be played behind a 'lead' voice. I Could Dance With You makes use of the Rhumba rhythm from the MkII Mellotron. The harp rolls, strings and clarinets are all Mellotron too..

From the middle onward there is a part which sounds almost like a Clavioline (think 'Telstar' by the Tornadoes, or read this!), but is in fact layered Mellotron violin and viola played via electric guitar and a MIDI interface..

The was a song written with someone in mind who, it turned out, had no interest in me! So it goes.. But I like the song, and will often start my solo gigs with it.

So go, go get your dancing shoes, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Common Sense Dancing: Where Shall We Go

The lockdown is in place. Being beyond the limits of one's property is limited to essential food or pharmaceutical shopping, or a single act of exercise; with this in mind, we'll start with the half-hour 'radio play,' Where Shall We Go**.

It's based around the idea of a couple (She and He) going for a circular walk around the Peak District from Eyam via Abney. It's a real walk that they follow that can be found on the Dales Trails website (It's a nice walk, I'd recommend it for 2021!). As they walk they end up talking history about Ordnance Survey maps, telephone boxes, and, coincidentally - plague!

Using a BBC Timeshift documentary, and a few other sources, it was originally intended to be 10-15 minutes, but with wanting to include proper pieces of music and have the talking not be overly didactic, it grew to the near half hour it now takes. There are some music references buried in the exchanges - can you spot them..?

'She' was played by Melanie Crawley. The flute was played by John Hackett, violin by Clare Lindley, and horn/trumpet by Ant Clifford, with backing vocals by Kim Eames. The majority of the sound effects were recorded in and around Eyam, tho' the café doorbell came from Wales..

Get a cup of your favourite brew, maybe a biscuit or two, get comfy, and press play :-)

See you tomorrow!

** No, there's so question mark. I am known among my friends as something of a strict grammarian, but I elected here to flount convention. It's art, dahling, art!

Common Sense Dancing: UK Lockdown

It's 24th March 2020, the UK has pretty much been placed in lockdown**.

My most recent album, Common Sense Dancing, was put live on Bandcamp last Friday, ahead of its 'proper' release on the 3rd April. Since the lockdown is due to be 3 weeks and Common Sense Dancing has 20 tracks, I thought I'd highlight a track a day and here and there talk about the story behind it, and hopefully by the end the world will be a better place. Because everyone did sensible things, of course, not because of the healing powers of art!

The tracks will be presented out of order, for no other reason than I can.

There will be a link to the track on Bandcamp, on which it is free to stream - there is no obligation to part with money to hear it. If you would like to play any of the tunes offline, or to see the full album artwork this will involve the movement of currency, but that is, of course, your choice!

Common Sense Dancing is built around themes of the Arts and Nostalgia, has history, humour, and reflection, and incorporates many styles of music. There should be something for all comers over the next three weeks.

So, I look forward to having you along on what might be, perhaps, Corona Sense Dancing, or may be Common Sense Distancing..

** I provide this contextual information for future readers! A bit like the brief exposition sometimes given in radio comedy sketches to set the scene..