Following a series of fantastically well-received live dates, both in the UK and Europe, Thunderstick are back with new recordings. Led by the NWOBHM icon, Barry Graham Purkis (aka Thunderstick), and fronted by the mesmerizing lead vocalist, Raven Blackwing, the band have recorded a brand-new studio album which is set for release in October 2023. Available in both CD and digital formats, it will be the band’s first new studio album since 2017.
A single from the album, a thunderous new studio recording of the band’s long-time stage favourite ‘Go Sleep With The Enemy (I Dare Ya)’, is released on 25th August.
Lead singer Raven Blackwing:“I, along with the rest of the band, wanted to show that the material on the new album follows an altogether weightier vein. Releasing a single from the album in the form of a song that people already know and love played live seemed a perfect way of introducing everyone to our new direction. I hope you love it the way we do.”
Thunderstick’s alter ego and creator Barry Graham Purkis adds:“The single ‘Go Sleep With The Enemy (I Dare Ya)’ is a four-minute tale of infidelity and the wrath of a woman spurned. Although released before on the album ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ and as a track on the very limited-edition EP ‘The Singles’, I wanted to re-visit this particular track by way of demonstrating the heavier aspects of the new band that make up the forthcoming album. I felt this track was the ideal vehicle to do that.”
“With the new album now completed and ready for an October release I am of the opinion that the collection of songs on it are the strongest Thunderstick have ever recorded.”
You can read Barry’s full interview with Darrenhere
About Thunderstick:
Charismatic Raven Blackwing (vocals) is joined by her thunderous band-mates: Pete Pinto and Dave Butters (guitars), Rex Thunderbolt (bass) and the legendary Thunderstick/Barry Graham Purkis (drums).
Best known for his time with Samson and an early Iron Maiden Barry Graham Purkis (AKA Thunderstick) has been the legendary icon for the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) scene since the late 1970s. His eponymously-named band, renowned for its female-fronted power rock and theatricality, have a considerable heritage. The band played live and recorded for six years, both in UK and in the US, throughout the 1980s until playing their last gig October 1986.
Then in 2016 former lead vocalist, Jodee Valentine, tragically died following a five-year battle with early onset Alzheimer’s. In recognition of Jodee’s memory Barry decided to record some of the songs that Jodee had performed live. This became the Something Wicked This Way Comes album, the first Thunderstick product in over thirty years. It was released in July 2017 to enthusiastic reviews worldwide.
Barry:“Back in 2017 after the ‘Something Wicked’ album was released I had no intention of forming a live performing band or indeed a follow-up studio album but after such positive encouragement from both long- time supporters and new followers alike I realised that there were still an audience of many out there that wanted our particular brand of mayhem. The die was cast. After much deliberation a new Thunderstick was formed staying true to its theatrical roots but still relevant in today’s fast changing-musical environment. I am so lucky to have found the musicians that I now work with especially Raven of whom I consider to be one of the finest rock singers that I have the good fortune to watch and listen to every time we perform. She is the ‘real deal’ both in terms of voice and stagecraft. The next chapter in our story is now ready for the writing.”
Upcoming live dates:
‘A New Day’ festival – 18th August
‘British Steel’ Festival Fismes, France – 7th October
‘Legends of Rock’, Ilfracombe – 10th November
A live DVD of the band’s appearance in Lublin Poland is also scheduled for release towards the end of the year.
Following an enforced two-year break due to Covid, going to last year’s Cropredyfestival almost felt like a novelty. This year, though, it very much felt like being part of an annual fixture once more, the two-year gap now but a distant memory. With various combinations of friends and family over the years, I’ve been going to Fairport Convention’s annual bash in rural Oxfordshire since 2010 so it’s been part of my summer for a good chunk of my life now.
Day One – Thursday
As usual, Fairport Convention opened the festival with a short acoustic set, Dave Mattacks now returning to the band he’s been in and out of since 1969 in order to take the place of Gerry Conway (who departed last year). As is now traditional, the band opened with Chris Leslie’s ‘Festival Bell’ timed to coincide with the ringing of the church bells over in the village (although even after all these years I’ve never actually managed to hear the ringing from the festival arena).
Chris Leslie up on the big screen for Fairport’s acoustic set (Photo: Simon Putman)
It was then straight into a blistering set from Merry Hell. The Wigan-based folk rockers have been frequent performers at the ‘Festival Fringe’ in the village of Cropredy but until now had never actually performed on the main stage. Formed back in 2010 out of the ashes of ‘folk-punk’ band, the Tansads, they’ve now put out six studio albums and released a double-disc best-of compilation earlier this year, a number of the songs from which they performed as part of their Cropredy set here. The band certainly know how to turn out a rousing anthem and many of the songs have a theme of communal togetherness (‘We Are Different We Are One’, ‘Lean On Me Love’, ‘Come On England’, ‘We Need Each Other Now’). More recently there’s been an additional (and very welcome) focus on environmental themes, represented today by ‘Leave It In The Ground’ and Greta Thunberg tribute, ‘Sister Atlas’. I suspect many Cropredy-goers will already have been very familiar with the band but they are sure to have won over many new fans this weekend.
Merry Hell’s John Kettle (Photo: Simon Putman)
Damian Wilson & Adam Wakeman were an entertaining duo, largely performing the latter’s songs rather than material from the more proggy or heavy metal-oriented parts of Wakeman’s past CV. However, by far the standout moment for me was their rendition of Bowie’s ‘Life on Mars’ which Wakeman’s father so memorably played piano on. Maybe it was just that I’d reached that time of the evening where I just wanted a succession of sing-along-to-every-word rock covers. Which was very fortunate indeed as soon it would be time for Toyah and Robert…
Fresh from the success of their Sunday lunchtime YouTube performances which became an unexpected lockdown hit, Toyah Wilcox and Robert Fripp made a surprise guest appearance last year as part of Trevor Horn’s set. This year they are back in their own right. Who could have guessed that an ’80s pop icon and her prog-rock-royalty husband would make such a fantastically entertaining duo. Blasting out one rock classic after another (‘Paranoid’, ‘Kashmir’, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, Sharped Dressed Man’…) as well as Toyah’s own ‘I Wanna Be Free’ and ‘It’s A Mystery’ it was utterly, utterly joyful.
Welcome to Cropredy festival (Photo: Simon Putman)
From being a young teenage heavy metal fan my musical tastes have certainly broadened over the years to incorporate so many additional genres: from folk to blues to country to prog to reggae to punk and much. much more besides. Would Nile Rodgers & Chic be a step too far, however? When the disco craze was in full swing at the end of the ’70s I absolutely loathed the music with a passion but I tried my hardest to approach the Thursday night headline slot with an open mind. What can I say? Engaging showmanship, consummate musicianship and hugely talented vocalists but to my ears it turned out to be little more than a compendium of some of the most irritating hit songs of my entire lifetime. I didn’t get it back then and it looks like I’m never going get it now. It was nice to see others clearly enjoying it, however.
Day Two – Friday
The Joshua Burnell Band kicked off Friday’s music on the main stage. While I’d never seen Joshua or his band live before, I’d previously reviewed his extremely impressive Flowers Where The Horses Sleepalbum back in 2020. He’s since recorded another album, Glass Knight, which he was actually releasing this very weekend at Cropredy. It’s a stunningly good set, best described as Hunky Dory-era Bowie meets folk rock meets prog, and the band are extremely well-received by the Cropredy crowd. The decision to time the release of the new album to coincide with their Cropredy slot was a smart one as they are bound to have shifted a sizeable number of copies based on that performance.
Joshua Burnell and bandmates (Photo: Simon Putman)
Next up was Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri. I’d already made arrangements to spend Friday afternoon at Cream Of The Crop, the boutique festival that takes place on an adjacent field (but where ticket-holders for the main festival are very much welcomed). It meant I wouldn’t have time to see much of Kiki Dee but I was rather hoping she’d do ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ very early on before I headed over to the other festival – and I’m pleased to say she did! Her musical partner explained that since he began working with Kiki Dee he was never going to attempt to pass himself off as Elton John, so that most famous pop-rock duet has been reinvented as a tender, laid-back solo ballad with some neat guitar work from Carmelo Luggeri.
Over at Cream of the Crop I was looking forward to seeing Parkbridge, but as a small festival with a couple of a hundred attendees maximum at any one time it has also proved to be the perfect location for catching up with old friends, a succession of whom I bump into before Parkbridge come on stage. Hailing (unsurprisingly) from Park Bridge in Greater Manchester, the band combine a love of folk rock, 70s-era classic rock and blues to come up with their own unique formula. Seasoned musicians all, the band have their debut album coming out in October, which would provide the bulk of their set today, albeit with a couple of well-chosen covers thrown in, too, courtesy of the Stray Cats and Free.
Parkbridge on stage at Cream of the Crop (Photo: Simon Putman)
We made it back to the main stage well in time for Strawbs, for what would be the last ever public performance by Dave Cousins, following medical advice. I must confess that the only Strawbs album I ever listen to with any regularity is the one they recorded with Sandy Denny before she joined Fairport but it was an emotional experience witnessing Cousins making his swansong performance. He was visibly moved by the warm response he got from the crowd. Just as I was secretly hoping all the way through, they even threw in ‘Part Of The Union’, too. It’s not one of Cousins’ own songs but it was definitely a defining Cropredy moment this year as we all bellowed out the words to that famous pop-folk novelty workers’ anthem of the early ’70s.
Dave Cousins gives an emotional final performance (Photo: Simon Putman)
The crowd-singalongs did not stop with ‘Part Of The Union’ because before too long we were on to a rip-roaring set from Fisherman’s Friends. I’ve seen the film, bought their top-selling ‘major label’ album and even saw them live when they came to Hastings a few years ago. I always knew they’d be a stonking festival band though and they did not disappoint. With raucous sing-alongs, tongue-in-cheek banter and shanties galore, for sheer unadulterated fun it actually turned out to be one of my highlights of the entire weekend.
Jon Cleave of Fisherman’s Friends (Photo: Simon Putman)
A combination of age, beer, cider and waking up at the crack of dawn this year due to our tent being right next to the busy railway line meant we decided to call it an early night and give 10cc a miss. Plus I didn’t want to miss out on a certain midnight rendezvous with Fairport the following evening. If I was going to be a party pooper better it be for ‘I’m Not In Love’ than ‘Meet On The Ledge’.
Day Three – Saturday
If Friday afternoon was all about bunking off from the main festival to spend time at Cream of the Crop, Saturday afternoon was all about spending time in Cropredy village. It’s an adorably picturesque Oxfordshire village, steeped in history – both of the English Civil War variety and of the folk rock variety, with a number of Fairport members having lived there (or in neighbouring villages) over the decades; an iconic shot for the band’s Nine album being taken outside one of the village pubs and, of course, the annual festival taking place following the band’s self-proclaimed ‘farewell concert’ here in 1979.
Welcome to Cropredy village (Photo: Simon Putman)
This year there was an extra special reason to be visiting the village, however, and that same pub The Brasenose. The late Sandy Denny’s daughter, Georgia, was hosting an exhibition at the pub, celebrating Sandy’s life. Featuring dresses and jewellery worn by Sandy, together with other personal effects and notebooks of song lyrics, it’s a lovingly put-together tribute to one of England’s greatest ever singer-songwriters. I also had the opportunity of to meet and chat with Georgia who kindly signed my exhibition programme.
Souvenir book from the Sandy Denny Exhibition (Photo: Darren Johnson)
The village of Cropredy really throws itself into the festival weekend and local residents make the most of thousands of people descending on them for a few days each year. The village hall, village school and sundry other buildings are repurposed as temporary dining establishments and every spare bit of space seems to have a pop-up stall of one sort or another. I got waylaid at the CD stall where the stallholder cheerfully told me that he was now selling everything off for a pound. It was good stuff, too. I ended up coming away with 40 CDs. Passing by half an hour or so later I could hear I’d even been enlisted as part of his sales pitch: “It’s all quality stuff. See that bloke over there in the orange shirt. He’s just spent forty quid here. ”
Forty more CDs for the collection (Photo: Simon Putman)
After depositing my second-hand CDs back at the campsite I was back at the main festival in time for Solstice. They were one of the bands that materialised as part of the prog renaissance in the early 80s, along with Marillion, Pallas, Twelfth Night and Pendragon who were all on the bill for the 1983 Reading Festival which I attended as a 17year-old. I can’t remember whether I saw Solstice then or not but I certainly remember walking around with the band’s name on the back of my festival t-shirt for a couple of years afterwards. At least I will know for sure that I saw them this time. Probably the most out-there and proggiest band of the weekend, at first I thought it was all a tad self-indulgent but after starting on another four-pint jug of cider I began to think it was all rather glorious. I would definitely go and see them again.
Stocking up on cider (photo: Kevin Smith)
The Young ‘uns I’d seen many times before and was confident the Cropredy crowd would immediately warm to them – which they did. When the trio first started out it was very much with a focus on traditional songs but as the songwriting of Sean Cooney developed, the Young ‘Uns carved out a niche for themselves singing songs about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Whether the stories are historical or contemporary (from the Spanish Civil War to the London Bridge terror attacks to one young woman’s uniquely heartfelt approach to suicide prevention) they sing with gusto, passion and strong regional accents. It’s always a delight to see them and they end their triumphant set with a suitably folked-up cover of ‘Sit Down’ by James. Fantastic stuff.
Gilbert O’Sullivan I remember from my childhood as my step-mum played his albums a lot when I was a young kid. In other circumstances I would have happily stayed, being both familiar with many of his big hits and mildly curious about what he’s been up to in the intervening decades. But it was time for a break from the cider, some chill-time at the tent and a strong cup of tea – ready to be rested and reinvigorated for the festival’s perennial headliners themselves.
Dusk over Cropredy festival (Photo: Simon Putman)
As Fairport Convention were not celebrating any major milestones at Cropredy this year (albeit that 2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of both the Rosie and the Nine albums) we didn’t get any reunited line-ups of surviving former members or albums played in full – although Fairport founder member Ashley Hutchings was one of the guests invited on stage this year and, of course, long-time member Dave Mattacks is now back playing with the band following the departure of Gerry Conway. As such, Fairport’s set perhaps lacked some of the dramatic “pinch me” moments of previous Cropredy appearances. But it was still a very fine two-and-a-half-hour set with a plethora of classic Fairport songs from the band’s early days and a heavy sprinkling of songs from their most recent studio album, Shuffle & Go. Indeed, there were perhaps rather too many of the latter since it is now three years old and the band have made far better albums in the past decade or so in my view, such as the truly excellent Festival Bell.
Fairport Convention’s Dave Pegg up on the big screen (Photo: Simon Putman)
No matter, it was an enjoyable set with guest appearances from the aforementioned Ashley Hutchings along with Vikki Clayton, Becky Mills (who is one of the very best interpreters of Sandy Denny material around today in my view) and Hannah Saunders & Ben Savage. At least having a fairly minimal number of guests this year and no logistics to juggle with that come through performing an entire album in full, it meant they could avoid cutting the set short this year – unlike last year where ‘Matty Groves’ had to be unceremoniously dumped to make sure they still had time for ‘Meet On The Ledge’. Once again, an emotional and triumphant end to a highly enjoyable weekend. It all came round again.
Lead single: ‘Why Do You’ released 18th August 2023
Coming together through a shared love of classic rock, folk rock and blues, bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention and Free, Parkbridge is a four-piece from Greater Manchester. Formed in 2022, all four members had cut their teeth playing in local bands for many years. But after some informal jam sessions working on songs that had been written by vocalist and guitarist, Robert Carter, Parkbridge rapidly evolved into the fully-fledged band it is today. After a series of well-received live gigs, work soon began on putting together the band’s debut album.
Parkbridge is: Robert Carter (guitar, vocals), Sean Dyer (lead guitar), Ian Turford (bass) and Dave Johnson (drums). The name comes from the area of Park Bridge on the outskirts of Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, where the band was originally formed. The area of Park Bridge was founded during the industrial revolution and for nearly two hundred years the village was home to the famous Park Bridge Ironworks. This local foundry provided essential components for a number of the world’s great engineering projects, giving the band not only its name but the inspiration for the title of its debut album, too.
“If you ever go to Paris, in the museum at the Eiffel Tower there is an inscription that says “Rivets made by the Park Bridge Iron Foundry, Ashton-under-Lyne” and so Rivets For The Eiffel Tower became the obvious name for our first album,” says frontman and vocalist/guitarist, Robert Carter.
A single from the album, ‘Why Do You’ is released on 18th August.
Commenting on the single, Robert Carter says:“It’s about obsession, angst and in a way about dishonest love. Things aren’t always as wonderful as they first seem and control becomes more important than the relationship. It isn’t about anybody in particular, more about witnessed experiences and observations and it nicely showcases the musicianship in the band.”
The album itself is a collection of eight original tracks – a mix of acoustic, rock, folk-rock and blues.
Commenting on the album, Robert Carter adds:“I have long had an ambition to release an album of music containing songs that I’ve written. Thanks to the guys in Parkbridge, that dream is about to become a reality. All three are great musicians and it’s a privilege for me to work with them. There’s a couple of songs of what you would call folk rock. There’s a couple that are classic rock in style. There’s a couple that could be classed as indie rock and there’s a couple of blues songs. We’re probably a little different to most of the newish rock bands you hear these days. We try and be melodic. We try and tell a story in the lyrics. We try and offer something different. So if you’re into that classic rock sound with style, have a listen and tell us what you think!”
Rivets For The Eiffel Tower is produced by Buzz Hawkins at Hawkins Studios 215 in Mossley.
Rivets For The Eiffel Tower will go on general release on 6th October 2023 with a limited-edition CD available from 18th August. The album is available via: www.parkbridgemusic.com
Upcoming live dates:
Cream of the Crop Festival, Cropredy Oxfordshire – Friday 11th August, 2.30pm
Colne Blues Festival at The Venue, Friday 25th August, 7.00pm
Tameside Beer Festival, Hyde Town Hall, Friday 22nd September, 6.00pm
Launch event: Tapsters Bar, Old Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Friday 18th August, 7pm
NWOBHM legend, Barry Graham Purkis, resurrected his Thunderstick persona back in 2017 and released a critically-acclaimed album, Something Wicked This Way Comes – the first all-new Thunderstick product in thirty years. The revitalised band has since proved a popular live draw at festivals. Now they’re back with a new single and a new studio album set for release in October 2023. Here, Barry updates me on what’s been happening.
You were one of the pioneers of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) back in the late 70s. Apart from one or two obvious examples it’s an era that tended to get overlooked. Do you think the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal is finally starting to get the recognition it deserves?
Yes and no… I often get asked, “Did you think it was something special at the time?” Well, the answer is no to that because it was very much a kind of work-in-progress. It was after we’d had total domination by punk. The record companies were only signing punk bands. And a lot of them got their fingers burnt through doing so because there were only a handful of bands that were really iconic and of their time. We all know the Sex Pistols – absolutely amazing album, Clash, Siouxsie & the Banshees, there are a number of them. Whereas a lot of other bands, there was a lot of dross as well. But because of that domination, nothing was happening with any other musical genre. And there was this underground movement of all these bands that were learning to play as a throwback against punk, because of the simplicity. Punk was all about a feeling, wasn’t it. It wasn’t so much about musical proficiency. It was more about an attitude and everything else that it signified. And so be it. Because before that we had the self-indulgence of the prog rock bands that would go for ten-minute drum solos. And then you’d have a five-minute bass solo and then a keyboard solo and it was just ridiculous. So there was a backlash against that. But there was also a backlash against punk – the simplicity of it and that a lot of these bands hadn’t even learnt how to play their instruments. And so there were a lot of metal bands or hard rock bands at the time that actually had.
So there were quite a few bands around but they didn’t have any exposure. And then, bit by bit, they started emerging. Samson, the band I was playing with at the time obviously had a great stake in that because we were one of the first bands to release an album that was considered to be New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. And that was the Survivors album. We also had a management company that were prepared to put money into that band and so they financed what was known as the Heavy Metal Crusade. Paul Samson knew a band from south London that he was good friends with because we were looking for support acts to come out with us. He recommended a band called Angelwitch and so they were put on the bill and we were still thinking about a third band and I said, “Well the band I played with prior to joining Samson was a band called Iron Maiden. Would you be interested in them?” And he said, “Yeah, sure.” So that’s how that came about.
One of the venues that we played at regularly was a place called the Music Machine in Camden in London. Quite a sizeable venue and when we played that – around 1979-1980 – there was no social media, there was hardly any VHS let alone DVDs and there were no real rock magazines. They were all black and white weekly music rags – Sounds, Melody Maker, New Musical Express etc. One of the main contributors to Sounds, a guy called Geoff Barton, came down to have a look at this gig with Samson, Iron Maiden and Angelwitch. And he went away and wrote up his piece and that was the very first time when he coined the phrase ‘This is the new wave of British heavy metal’. I mean up until then it wasn’t even called heavy metal, it was called rock – hard rock. And because I was doing the Thunderstick thing with the mask, I got on the front cover of Sounds and they said, ‘Is this the new face of heavy metal?’
And that’s how it came about. And now, let’s move forward up to these days and there are so many bands who like tag themselves in on NWOBHM and say, “Oh yeah, we’re a NWOBHM band.” A lot of which you can totally disregard because it was only a handful of bands at the time that were there and doing it. A lot of publications at the time thought that bands such as Def Leppard were part of that movement. I think they’ve distanced themselves suitably enough now but there are the bands that are still trading on that such as Tygers of Pan Tang and Diamond Head. And I guess it’s the same for me. Whenever we play, I always seem to get the phrase New Wave Of British Heavy Metal coming up. Which makes me laugh because I’m not heavy metal at all. My band, Thunderstick, are purely hard rock, pushy, punchy rock. We’re not metal by any stretch.
The Thunderstick persona that you developed, that was captured on that cover of Sounds, it brought an element of that very theatrical style of rock from the mid-70s to a new generation in the early 80s. Was that a conscious decision?
Very, very much so. The way the mask came about was the simple fact that there weren’t very many glossy colour magazines that catered to a certain genre or anything like that. And when they did start bringing out posters of bands, you would always get the singer at the front strutting his stuff, you would get the guitarist pulling all the stereotypical poses and then you would get the top of somebody’s head and a row of cymbals. And that was the drummer! Now there were certain drummers that were obviously iconic. There was Keith Moon and Ian Paice and John Bonham and drummers of repute such as that. But I’m talking about grassroots bands. Nobody would really be able to tell you who the hell the drummer was. So I went ahead and I created a faceless drummer. And in doing that I then came up with the name Thunderstick. Now the theatricality came in with that image. Well it kind of wrote itself. Because the moment I put the mask on, that’s it – I kind of became that person.
You stopped being Barry and you became Thunderstick while the mask was on.
Exactly! And also the fact of my love of theatricality in bands. To this day I still worship at the altar of Alice Cooper because I just love that. The Tubes was another band that I really, really used to love going and seeing when they toured over here. So it’s always been paramount in my thinking. Always.
Who are your favourite artists and who have been the big influences on you? You’ve mentioned a couple. Are there more?
Well there are but the main thing about my musical taste is that I like to regard it as very eclectic. There’s bands like The Residents. I used to love them. Very, very strange band. But then, as I’ve just mentioned, I would love Alice Cooper. I would love hard rock. I also loved experimental music like Brian Eno, for example. As well as that, I’ve always loved female vocals. So, yeah, I have got a very eclectic taste. As regards drumming, very strange influences. Obviously, I’ve mentioned Keith Moon. John Bonham I loved and it’s only at an older age as I am now that I can appreciate exactly what he did.
So my influences at the time, there was a guy called Guy Evans, who played for a band called Van Der Graf Generator. Another one was a guy called Pierre Merlin who played for a band called Gong which I love. I used to go and see them quite regularly – and that harks back to the theatricality in music. And what a fantastic drummer. The hi-hat stuff that he used to do was just quite incredible. Prairie Prince from the aforementioned Tubes – absolutely amazing drummer as well.
And I just thought they were able to treat the drums as a musical instrument rather than just a rhythm-making machine. And I’ve always maintained that. I can’t abide drum solos. I hate them. I have had to do them in the past, many years ago. With my particular style of playing, I have always tried to put everything I can into the musical arrangement. And so for drum solos I haven’t really got a great deal more to say. All I’m doing is a repetition of what I’ve done within the song anyway. And also the fact, technically, I’ve never had a drum lesson in my life. I literally learnt to play from the heart and that’s my style. I really wish that I could be more technical and I see these young kids of 8 or 9 and they sit down behind a drum-kit and they’re just wizards and they hardly break a sweat and I think how the hell do they do that? Because it’s something that I’ve never been able to do. In some ways I’ve found it frustrating and I suppose to a certain extent it’s held me back. But the other side of the coin is that I bring something to my style of playing that is unique. And I hope I am one of those drummers that when you hear them for the first time you know exactly who it is. And you can go, “That’s Thunderstick!”
So when you left Samson did you have a very clear idea about the kind of band you wanted and the kind of music and image you wanted?
Yeah.. there was a stop-gap between Samson and Thunderstick. That stop-gap was Bernie Torme’s Electric Gypsies. I was the drummer with them for a little while and we did selected dates. I also did a Capital Radio session… But then some of the press jumped on the fact that I was ‘Thunderstick unmasked’ and that became a bit untenable so it was time to move on. Bernie didn’t want any of that. It was Bernie’s band obviously.
So I then started putting together Thunderstick and, yes, I was totally focused on what I wanted from it. I used to even design the lighting – nine times out of ten it was design of lighting that I could ill-afford – but I used to design the lighting, the choreography, and just anything and everything regarding Thunderstick, as well as being the songwriter. I had a clear-cut idea of what I wanted it to be. I also immediately thought that I wanted a female vocalist. There were two reasons for that. One being the fact that I always liked writing for a higher register voice. But more so because the Thunderstick image within Samson was very stark. And it was during the time of female emancipation and the women’s lib group were really quite active in what they had to say, and rightly so, but felt that my image was very detrimental to women and belittled women. It didn’t help that we all know the story that there was a guy called the Cambridge Rapist who wore a mask very, very similar and was breaking into women’s homes and raping them which was just horrific. I’ve never viewed the Thunderstick character to be anything but the knock-about character that it was.
Like Alice Cooper and his guillotine…
That’s it. Exactly right. You can read into things that happen on stage so easily and with certain people in their hands it becomes quite an incendiary type of thing. So I thought, you know what, I’m going to put a female vocalist at the front of the stage and then that way if I do get any comebacks from other women I can just say, “Look, go and talk to her.”
And there’s an obvious counterpoint then on stage.
Yeah the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ thing.
In 2017 Something Wicked This Way Comes was the first new Thunderstick album for thirty years, picking up many positive reviews. Were you surprised by the response to that album?
Yes, totally. I didn’t know because I hadn’t put any product out for, as you’ve said, thirty years. Thunderstick had died a death within the ‘80s. The reason behind putting that album out, as you also know, is it was due to Jodee Valentine’s death after her fight with dementia. For those that don’t know, Jodee was an American singer who loved everything English regarding rock bands. Her all-time favourite band was The Who and she came from the States, on the east coast, and had a degree in classical piano and decided that she wanted to just jump on a plane and come to England, home of The Who. So she did just that and in the meantime I’d gone through a few singers because they weren’t right. The first singer was a lovely lady called Vinnie Monroe and then I had another lady called Anna Borg and through one thing or another they and the band parted company. It was nothing acrimonious. With Anna she kept losing her voice and I had to blow out a tour because of that.
So in goes the advert for another vocalist and Jodee came along. My main rule regarding the band was no fraternisation amongst the band because it really doesn’t work. And what do I do? I commit the cardinal sin and I move in with Jodee. So Jodee and I became an item but it was great on stage because we were, as you just said, that counterpoint. We were able to really work off each other. But the music industry being the volatile environment that it is, has had many a relationship that has fallen foul of it and we were just another one. So she jumped on a plane, went back to the States and that was that.
And many, many years later, I read that there was a guy that had been visiting her in a care-assisted home. I had recently remixed all of the early material and put it out on an American label and it was called Echoes From The Analogue Asylum. The reason I called it that was because purely and simply it was of its time and all of the songs were recorded analogue. Digital didn’t exist. So it was the first time that I was able to put it out in a digital format. He got a copy of it unbeknownst to me and he then went and saw Jodee because he was a musician and he would go to these care-assisted homes as a visitor. And he took a copy of the album and played it to her and she didn’t even recognise her own voice. She was just staring out of the window. Which is absolutely terrible. And he told me that she’d been in there for five years before she passed. It was, for me, a very emotional time. Although at that time I’d moved on and I have my wife and I have a daughter and what have you. But there was just so much material there that I thought, you know what, she would have loved it to actually come out on an album. So that’s what I did. That’s when I went into the studio and the studio found me a session vocalist at the time and she was good enough to be able to put on the album and the rest regarding that album is history.
It came out and it received really, really positive reviews all the way around the globe. And I was just amazed by that. I really was. It was simplistic in its approach because I didn’t have a great deal of money. In fact, I mixed the album in two days, with the engineer. And it was funny because a lot of the reviewers picked up on it and said, “You’ve managed to encapsulate that simplistic late ‘70s, early ‘80s type of NWOBHM sound and projected it into the now. Is that something you actually worked at?” Yes, it was something I worked at but also it was the fact that I had no money and I had to mix it in two days! Which was great, because they picked up on that. That was wonderful and yeah, it received some very good reviews.
And you now have a new studio album coming out in October. Tell us about that.
Well, after the reviews of Something Wicked people were asking why I didn’t have a performing band going out and promoting the music. And it was purely because I hadn’t even contemplated putting a playing band together to be able to do it live. Getting those reviews, I started having to have a rethink. And I started thinking along the lines of, maybe I should put a live band together. And I did. I put a live band together and used a young lady who I’d seen something of in a band that she was singing in and so I approached her. She came with her partner who’s a guitarist and I started putting together a live show to be able to play the material that was on the Something Wicked album. It didn’t work out with them because they were a partnership and without going into too much detail they were promoting their band rather than promoting Thunderstick.
So then we started looking for another vocalist and one of my friends, who also played in a NWOBHM band – the guitarist from More, a guy called Dave John Ross – he came to me and said, “Have you seen this vocalist? She plays for a covers band and she also does solo material with backing tapes.” I was completely taken aback when I listened to her. I thought, oh my god. She had this unique vibrato in her voice and she had never sung in front of a real loud, hard rock band before but she came along for the audition and she blew me away. Completely! And I also hope that we did her. And we got together and she’s been with me a good three years or so. She has great stagecraft and she has an amazing voice. So there was all this material left laying around that I had written in the ‘80s that had only got as far as the demo stage. And I thought, yep, it’s time to do this thing that musicians do of getting in the studio and bringing out another album. With her on it. It was so important for me to get something out with her on it.
Thunderstick live in 2019
So yes, it’s been a long time in the making. I can tell you a little bit about it. There was a lot of material taken from the early days. I also started writing with one of the ex-Thunderstick guitarists, a guy called Dave Killford, who had appeared on Something Wicked as well. And I also started writing with Rex (bass-player with Thunderstick). Thunderstick was, for me, always my baby. Completely. And I used to write the material, I would produce it etcetera, all the way down the line. So, for me to start writing with other people, I found it was quite cathartic for me to actually do that. Because instead of having all the responsibility, all the time, I was able to work off other people and that was really, really good.
So we started writing and I put the drums down in 2019 with the thought that we would release it sometime in 2020. But we all know what happened. We’d just started putting the bass tracks down when it came about that we had to self-isolate and nobody was allowed to get together in a room and it just absolutely decimated my timetable. I then had guitarists, a lot of guitarist that are friends saying, “If you need me to do anything you know where I am.” So a lot of the guitar work is my friends that have recorded remotely and sent all the files in but therein lies a problem because my drums when I put them down, they weren’t done in a recording studio. They were done in a rehearsal studio and I just found that there was so much wrong with the drums. There was spillage onto different mics and there were problems with mics that weren’t connected properly, just one thing after another. Technical problems. And then most of the guitarists that had contributed to the album always wanted to put their effects on it. At the time I should have insisted and said I want a dry signal which enables me to then at a further date when we mix be able to do what I wanted. I thought it was saving time but in the long run it didn’t save time at all.
So, I have a plethora of guitarists on it – but they’re all good friends and they’re all people that I regard highly as musicians and their contributions have been amazing. I have now, obviously, my own live band that continues. Raven has done some amazing vocal tracks on the album. She really has. And where are we now? 2023! And it was only about two to three weeks ago that I actually finished the mastering of the album. It’s a long album. It lasts for about an hour and twenty-five which is really good. I think material-wise, it’s some of the strongest stuff I’ve ever written and my co-conspirators I hope are also pleased with what they’ve put on it so, yeah, I’m looking forward to it coming out.
And you’ve got a new single coming out later in August?
I said earlier that I needed to get something out with Raven on it. We put out a single called ‘Go Sleep With The Enemy (I Dare You)’ and it was a limited-run which we sold at gigs. So I’ve revisited that because I thought it would be good to have something that represents the album and the way that we’ve moved forward as a band on that album. It is a heavier version of the original track but I think it’s more representative of the way that the album will sound so, yeah, I’m looking forward to putting that out again. I’m looking forward to people’s response on it.
Thanks Barry. Before we wrap up, is there anything else you want to tell us?
I’d just like to say, check us out. We’re doing a couple of festivals. We’re also doing one in France in October called British Steel. Obviously, we’ve just done the Iron Maiden after-party (at the Cart & Horses in east London) when Iron Maiden did the two nights at the O2 and we did the first night as an after-party. It was really well-attended. It sold out. I’m also very happy that we put one track up that had been recorded by somebody. The sound quality was really quite good and we’ve had two-and-a-half-thousand views on that, which is amazing and, as you said, the album will be out in October. And I’m just hoping and praying that everyone receives it as well as they did with Something Wicked because I think the material on it is even stronger. And thanks for supporting Thunderstick if you are, indeed, a supporter. And if not, check us out and welcome you on board!
Former Judas Priest guitarist, K.K. Downing, made a dramatic return to the frontline of heavy metal with the launch of KK’s Priest and the release of the Sermons of the Sinner album back in 2021. Reviewing the band’s debut album I concluded, “Every riff, every yell, every beat, every second of the album encapsulates the spirit of Priest and is executed with power, panache and pure class.”
And the very welcome news is that a second album, The Sinner Rides Again, is scheduled for release on 29th September, accompanied by a short UK in October. Fans already had a taste of what’s in store from this album with the release of the ‘One More Shot At Glory’ single earlier this summer and that’s now followed up by a second single from the album, ‘Reap The Whirlwind’.
K.K. Downing says of ‘Reap The Whirlwind’:“’If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind’ – this is a common phrase that has been familiar with me from a very young age. Obviously it’s very meaningful – it’s a warning that if you mistreat people, or really whatever you do in life, you need to be very careful, because whatever sufferance you inflict on anyone, it could come back to haunt you, and your suffering could be even more severe. Everyone knowingly or unknowingly has made the mistake of thinking they can get away with small misdemeanors to suit their selfish pursuits, but if justice is to be served, you will reap exactly what you sow. That is the message of this song.”
KK’S PRIEST is K.K. Downing (guitar); former Judas Priest vocalist, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens (vocals); A.J. Mills (guitar); Tony Newton (bass); and Sean Elg (drums).
Discussing the forthcoming album, Downing recently said,“We’ve lost a lot of great people – Dio, Lemmy, for example – but this amazing and unique style of music must be preserved for as long as possible and I feel it within me to continue to play my role, as I always have, and to defend this metal genre, which we all know and love.”The Sinner Rides Again is a testament to this call for the classics while speeding full force into the future, delivered by some of heavy metal’s most essential performers.
KK’S PRIEST UK tour dates:
October 7, 2023 – Birmingham @ O2 Institute
October 8, 2023 – Glasgow @ SWG3
October 10, 2023 – Nottingham @ Rock City
October 11, 2023 – Manchester @ O2 Ritz
October 12, 2023 – London @ O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
KK’s PRIEST – Jul 16, 2021. Photo credit: George Chin
Combining elements of glam, punk, power-pop and rock and roll, The Artist Formally Known as Vince Band (or TAFKAVince Band for short) formed in 1996, releasing their debut album in 2002 and building a reputation as a fearsome live act in their home-town of Chicago as well as out on tour around the US. TAFKAVince is Vince SanFilippo (vocals and guitar), Lauren Kurtz (vocals), Brian Chinino (drums, percussion and backing vocals) Chris Geisler (bass, percussion and backing vocals) and Vee Sonnets (guitar, backing vocals and keyboards).
The band’s latest album, A Problematic Opera, is a six-track album released in May this year and features guest performances from Brian Smith, Joe Vitti, Yoko Schmadeke, and Maureen Grady. I instantly warmed to the band’s brand of trashy glam-punk and, hopefully, this latest album should bring them to the attention of a wider audience and win them plenty of new fans.
Vince tells Darren’s music blog:
“The tracks from A Problematic Opera came quickly in a songwriting binge. I chose these six songs as they seem to all mesh together and cover all aspects of what the band does. There is variety yet consistency; late-night thoughts and late-night experiences; theatrical imagery that always slips in. I envisioned these songs together on a 10-inch record so we headed into the studio to make this album. A couple long weekends in the studio gave us time to add a little extra to the solid base we worked out in our rehearsal room. Every band member individually suggesting “A Problematic Opera” as the title really brought it to completion.”
Lucas Pasley is an old-time fiddler/banjo-player and singer-songwriter from Sparta, North Carolina in the heart of the southern Appalachian mountains. Pasley has spent most of his musical life performing traditional Appalachian music and formed the band, Gap Civil, in 2018 with a motto to “honour and innovate” traditional mountain music. In recent years, however, he has also moved into singer-songwriter territory.
Ponies Back Home is his second solo album and follows Souls Living On, released in 2020.
Still very much rooted in traditional Appalachian music, Pasley is heavily influenced by his grandmother’s songwriting, while also bringing in wider country influences together with his own sense of originality. The result is an album packed full of appealing melodies, heartfelt lyrics and authentic playing.
A number of additional guest vocalists, together with a stellar line-up of musicians complementing Pasley on vocals, guitar and fiddle, makes for a strong album. Ponies Back Home will certainly appeal to those with a love for the Appalachian traditions but there’s plenty here to tempt anyone who enjoys some fine Country/Americana-flavoured singer-songwriting.
Coming together through a shared love of classic rock, folk rock and blues – bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention and Free – Parkbridge is a four-piece from Greater Manchester. The band’s debut album Rivets For The Eiffel Tower comes out in the Autumn. I catch up with lead singer, lyricist and guitarist, Robert Carter.
Firstly, what got you into performing?
It was really my cousin, Steve. He was in bands from being a teenager. He’s five years older than me and I used to go round to his house and he’d be playing the piano and he’d try and teach me how to play ‘Chopsticks’. His fingers would just go up and down the keys and I was just so impressed. And then as he got older he started being in bands. And then when I started writing songs, he was the first person that I contacted to see if he was interested in playing around with them. In the early ‘80s we got together once a week for about a year and wrote songs together. In those days it was usually his music and my lyrics. But then we both had young kids and we kind of let it drift. He’s in Whitby now but we still get together at least once a year. And we just get the guitars out and start playing. It’s great fun.
What prompted you to start writing? You said you started off writing songs with your cousin.
It was probably about 1980 when I was 20 years old. Believe it or not there was a Paul Gambaccini series about various bands and he did one on the Doors. He was talking about how Jim Morrisson had written a load of poetry and he took them to Ray Manzarek, who was obviously an accomplished musician, and Ray Manzarek said something along the lines of, “These are the greatest lyrics I’ve ever seen. Let’s form a band and make a million dollars.” And I thought it was going to be that easy. So just find a really great musician – my cousin – and we’ll make a million dollars. But it didn’t quite work like that!
So you’re still waiting for the million dollars?
Yes, although that doesn’t go quite as far these days, does it? But it did 40 years ago!
And now you’re the singer and guitarist with Parkbridge. Tell us how this project first came about.
There’s an area of Ashton-under-Lyne called Park Bridge – two words. And it’s a famous old area that I’ll come back to in a minute. But it’s got an institute which is basically like a co-operative pub and about three years ago they had what they called an acoustic night. So I trundled up with my guitar and played a few songs and our bass player, Ian Turford, was in another band at the time. Their band played a few songs and Ian then said to me, “Let’s get together and do something.” But Ian works full time and he’s playing in bands almost every night of the week. And he’s married and he’s got grand-kids and kids and all that stuff. So fitting it in was difficult. And then a couple of years later, I was introduced to Sean Dyer by one of the members who said, “You play guitar. You play guitar. Talk to each other!” So, we started chatting and even though he’s considerably younger than me, he has very similar music tastes. We talked about Paul Kossoff and Free. We talked about Peter Green and David Gilmour and Led Zeppelin. And then we started talking about folk and Fairport and Cropredy Convention and he said, ‘Oh, I’ve just got into Fairport.” And he likes a bit of Bert Jansch and Richard Thompson and the more we talked, the more we kind of clicked. I just invited him round. I said, “I’ll play you some of the songs I’ve written and see what you think.”
So we did and it worked out quite well. He started noodling – that’s a technical term for playing arpeggios and licks! – around the songs I was singing to him. So I said, “We’ve got to do this again.” So we met again the next week, did the same songs and played around with them and I said, “Do you know Ian?” – who also lived in Park Bridge at the time and he said, “Yes, of course I do – great bass player.” And I said, “Well, he and I have been talking about doing something and we’ve just never got around to it.” So, I phoned him up and the next week when we got together, Ian came, too, just with his acoustic bass. And we sat in my kitchen and started just formulating arrangements for the songs that I’d written. Ian then got us a gig supporting another band he was in and it went really well. But his band had a drummer. And Sean and I were watching this second band and we said, “Oh, we need a drummer don’t we?” Anyway, a couple of months later a drummer that Ian had played with, Dave Johnson, had his drums set up at the back of the hall in a rehearsal room. So we went and met Dave and it all started to click together. We said let’s work on some original songs, let’s play around with some covers just to get the feel and get tight as a band and that’s kind of it. So by about May last year, we’d become the four-piece that we are today.
As a band you’re upfront about bringing that mix of rock, blues and folk influences into your music. Was that a conscious decision or did that just evolve from those first few jam sessions together?
I think it’s evolved. When Sean and I first got together we were talking about folk and folk rock – in an acoustic environment. And then there was one particular song called ‘Hired To Kill’ which is on the first album, and I said, “This isn’t working.” When I wrote the song, I wrote it as a rock song and it needed a riff. So Sean started playing around with an electric riff and we bounced it around and it evolved into a rock song. As did another one called ‘Alright Jack’ which is the opening track on the album. And, again, once we put an electric riff to it, it just took on a whole new dimension. But we’ve not done that with everything. The album is a mix of rock, acoustic rock, folk rock and blues. A couple of songs I wrote were definitely written as blues songs in the twelve-bar format. So it’s evolved really. It started out as a folk rock duo and has now become either a folky blues-rock band or a bluesy folk-rock band.
What are your favourite artists and who has been a big influence on you?
After I graduated from the pop-rock bands of the early ‘70s like Slade and Sweet, I was at a neighbours. They were all a few years older than me. And one day one of the guys put on Led Zeppelin 2 and it changed my life! I heard Led Zeppelin as an 11 or 12-year-old and I just thought wow! So then I started to discover new things and started listening to the Alan Freeman show was on the radio on a Saturday afternoon. So the bands that I really got into: Led Zeppelin I’ve mentioned, of course. I love Free, Family, Pink Floyd. The heavier stuff, like Black Sabbath. I got into Uriah Heep as well. It was all of those kind of bands. A friend had Wishbone Ash’s Argus which is a sublime album. So it was really what we now call classic rock that influenced me. But, I always had a soft spot for Fairport Convention. And I got into Fairport, as many people did, because of Sandy Denny doing the duet with Robert Plant on ‘The Battle of Evermore’. And I thought, “I’ve got to hear more of her.” So I went and discovered Fairport and I’ve been a Fairport fan ever since. I go to their Cropredy festival every year – as you do! I’m also a big Neil Young fan. And the Byrds. And I just love Bob Dylan, as a song-writer, and against popular perception, I do also actually like Bob Dylan’s singing voice, too. I think he pus his songs across really, really well.
You must be excited to have the band’s debut album coming out – Rivets For The Eiffel Tower. Firstly, tell us where that title comes from.
I mentioned Park Bridge earlier. Park Bridge was formed as a village during the industrial revolution. There was a big iron foundry in Park Bridge and a mill. If you ever go to Paris, in the museum at the Eiffel Tower there is an inscription that says “Rivets made by the Park Bridge Iron Foundry, Ashton-under-Lyne.” And so Rivets For The Eiffel Tower became the obvious name for our first album. They also, we believe, made the rivets for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, too – so there might be a second album title there. And as third album’s often sink – ours won’t of course – they also made the rivets for the Titanic but we don’t talk about that one too much!
So what can people can expect from the album?
They’re all original songs. There are eight songs on the album. There’s a couple of what you would call folk rock. There’s a couple that are classic rock in style. There’s a couple that could be classed as indie rock and there’s a couple of blues songs. And they are all words written by me and music and arrangements by the band. And if you’re into the kind of bands that we’ve been talking about, maybe you’ll like what you hear. I have to say that I’m working with three fantastic musicians. Sean’s two big influences are David Gilmour and Peter Green and I think that comes out in the album. Ian, the bass-player, loves a bit of Black Sabbath and you can hear a bit of Geezer Butler’s influence in there. He plays a melodic bass quite regularly, not just a thump-thump bass, and Ian’s style kind of captures that. And Dave is quite eclectic. He loves a bit of John Bonham but he loves quite a few modern drummers as well. And they’re all great musicians and it’s a privilege for me to work with them. We’re probably a little different to most of the newish rock bands you hear these days. We try and be melodic. We try and tell a story in the lyrics. We try and offer something different. So if you’re into that classic rock sound with style, have a listen and tell us what you think!
You also present your own music show on Real Rock Radio. Can you also say a bit about that?
It started last year at the Tameside Beer Festival. Immediately after Parkbridge played, Tony Charles, the managing director of Real Rock Radio did a set of classic rock songs and we got chatting and he said, “I could really do with someone on the station who could do country rock.” And I said, “What about folk rock and acoustic rock, with a little bit of country rock thrown in?” He said, “I love it!” So I now present every Friday at 7 O’clock ‘The Acoustic & Folk Rock Show’ on Real Rock Radio. It’s repeated on Tuesdays at 2pm for those people who have better things to do on a Friday. And it’s great fun. It’s a lot more work than I expected but it’s introduced me to a lot of bands that I wasn’t aware of. And on this week’s show I’ve actually sneaked in ‘Why Do You?’ from our album but don’t tell anyone!
Rivets For The Eiffel Tower by Parkbridge goes on general release on 6th October with a limited-edition CD available from 18th August 2023.
Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate are a UK-based progressive rock outfit featuring Malcolm Galloway (vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer), Mark Gatland (bass, Chapman stick, backing vocals, additional guitar, keyboards and co-producer), and sometimes accompanied by Kathryn Thomas (flute, backing vocals).
Their forthcoming album, the band’s seventh, is The Light Of Ancient Mistakes which is set for release on 9th September. A first single from the album is the excellent ‘Burn The World’ with it’s compelling climate-themed message. All proceeds from sales of the single (at least until the end of 2024) will be donated to the Prog The Forest fundraising initiative (which donate funds to the World Land Trust, to support their work buying threatened habitat to put into protective trusts in collaboration with local communities).
Malcolm Galloway tells Darren’s Music Blog:“Of all the balls of rock in the sky, ours is the only one we know for certain harbours life. We seem so reckless in how we act. We know that increasing CO2 in the atmosphere warms the planet, and warmer air leads to more extreme weather events. Every forest is part of our life-support system. Saving rainforests from being burned down for short term financial gain helps in the fight against climate change and against the mass extinction of other species.“
Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate are co-organisers of Prog The Forest, the annual progressive music environmental charity fundraising festival that has raises money to protect over 40 acres of threatened habitat.
“We work with Chris Parkins of London Prog Gigs to organise an annual fundraising progressive music festival in London. The festival donates all profits to the World Land Trust, which acquires threatened rainforests and other valuable habitats to place them in protective trust in collaboration with local communities. We will be donating all the earnings from the Burn The World single release until at least the end of 2024 to this fundraising. So far, Prog The Forest has raised enough to save over 41 acres of threatened habitat.”
The Light Of Ancient Mistakes album is available to pre-order on Bandcamp, and will be on general release on 9 September 2023. The centrepiece of the album is ‘Walking To Aldebaran’, inspired by the science fiction novella of the same name by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The tracks ‘Avrana Kern Is Made Of Ants’, ‘The Requisitioner and the Wonder’ and ‘Gothi and Gethli’ are references to a character, two spaceships and a pair of crow-like creatures which insistently deny they are sentient in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s ‘Children of Time’ series.
Science fiction author Iain M Banks’ novel ‘Look To Windward’ is the inspiration of the title track. The track ‘The Man Who Japed’ is named after the Philip K Dick novel. The childhood experiences of David Cornwell, who wrote as John le Carré are the inspiration behind ‘Sixteen Hugless Years’. ‘The Glamour Boys’ was inspired by Labour MP Chris Byrant’s book of the same name about the experiences of a group of mostly homosexual or bisexual Conservative MPs who argued against appeasement, despite the threats from Chamberlain’s government to expose their secrets. Many went on to risk, and in some cases lose their lives in the Second World War.
The album also features ‘Sold The Peace’, which explores how after spending and risking so much to fight the Cold War, some of our leaders seem willing to risk our democracy for relatively small sums. ‘The Anxiety Machine’, is a three part instrumental is interspersed within the album. ‘Goodbye Cassini’, isa flute led tribute to the space probe, and ‘imtiredandeverythinghurts’ s about Malcolm’s experiences with invisible disability due to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and the difficulty knowing how to respond to the well-intentioned question ‘how are you’? The album ends with the climate change inspired ‘Burn The World’.
The Light Of Ancient Mistakes is released on 9th September 2023 and is available to pre-order on Bandcamp:
A collaboration between UK-based singer-songwriter , Tim Izzard, and US-based lyricist, DJ and owner of Dandy’s Stardust Dive online radio station, Gregory Dobbins, Glitter, Gum & Bubble Pop is twelve tracks of shiny, sparkly, retro pop. It’s an album that unashamedly celebrates both the late ’60s US bubblegum scene and the early ’70s UK glam scene, while also paying homage to the golden age of Hanna-Barbera cartoons through the creation of the duo’s animated alter-egos, Sir Prize & The Twomorrow Knightz.
Tim Izzard and Gregory Dobbins:
“Hear ye, Hear ye!……..The future of the music of the past has arrived……50 years in the making, ‘Glitter Gum and Bubble Pop’ is an album that takes the lyrics of a young American teenager in the 70’s to create a retro-modern Bubble Gum Pop and Neo-Glam sound. The 12 original songs are performed by the fictional, ‘cartoon-like’ Sir Prize & The Twomorrow Knightz just like the old, Saturday morning cartoons of the past.”
“Imagine being young again. A new, weekly cartoon is on TV on Saturday mornings. Each episode includes a song that you can’t help but sing along to till next week’s episode …..when you hear another new song!!!”
“The memories of Hanna-Barbera hang with the ghosts of US 60’s Bubble Gum pop and UK 70’s Glam Rock to produce something for the future from the spirit of the past. Arise ‘Sir Prize & The Twomorrow Knightz’……and strut your stuff!!”
The collaboration came about because Dobbins has been playing Izzard’s solo music on his station for the last three years. A friendship grew out of their shared love of 70s pop with the idea for an album eventually emerging.
Lead single, ‘Automatic Satin Circus’, is an irresistible slice of glam-inspired pop with a crunchy riff, an infectious beat, a Bowie-esque vocal and lyrics celebrating many of the Glam heroes of the era.
‘Little Lambs Dressed As Mutton’ is more the art-school glam favoured by the likes of Roxy Music et al, while songs like ‘Bubble Gum Kisses’ and ‘Stewy Stewy’ nicely capture that archetypal bubblegum sound of The Archies and early Sweet. 70s space rock and the middle of the decade’s Doo-Wop revival also get a look in on the album, too
Packed full of instantly-recognisable sounds even if the songs themselves are unfamiliar, If I didn’t know any better I’d have assumed this was another of those ‘Junkshop Glam’ compilations that had unearthed and repackaged yet more delightfully obscure singles of the era. But it isn’t. These are all brand-spanking-new songs, and Sir Prize & The Twomorrow Knightz are here to inject a much-needed dose of glam-pop into our twenty-first century lives.
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