adventures in the world of sound
did you know?
'Nobodies - Cup of Tea' has been now recognised as one of the
21st Century's most poetically consistent albums, and it should
come as no surprise that during the recording process the K 505
Wordatron was used throughout. In principle a Doggerel Limiter
combined with an Orphean Sensitivity Amplifier, Wordatron
became the standard studio lyrical enhancer during the nineties
and the K 505 is its latest manifestation. Engineer Bob Drake
operates it set between 4.9 and 5.7, believing that with these
parameters the unit will add a nuance to a lyric rather than a
vulgar or conspicuous makeover. Drake has been quoted as
saying, "People always ask, "what happens if you turn it up to
ten?" but to my knowledge that's never been tried, and we can
only speculate as to the result."
The Wordatron (originally called the de Kuyper Nematic
Locution Remodelling unit until it renamed itself in 1999), has
been the cause of one legendary sacking when an engineering
assistant on Oasis' 'Don't Look Back in Anger' was fired for
accidentally leaving it set at -15 for the entire recording session.
The mistake wasn't noticed until the record had been pressed
and distributed and the calamitous result can still be heard today!
In 2009 I decanted to la France Profonde to work with Bob Drake on the album Nobodies Cup Of Tea.
Here is a song from that record, sung by the delightful Rachel Gardner
did you know?
From the very beginnings of time and at the ends of the earth there has exisited a tradition so complex in its development, so profound in its rigour, and so intricate in its execution that, in comparison, European concepts of time, place, historical linearity and emotional coherence are revealed as the transitory and fragmented caprices of distracted children. A tradition of such studious skill that, for the outsider even one glimpse will cause to take root in him a yearning that he will not satisfy in a thousand lifetimes. A tradition that would condense the millions of litres of vaporous current day psycho-sexual waffle into a single drop of cold water. A tradition that is GEISHA. In the last years of the last century, word of the arrival of three representatives of this very tradition had reached the sickly love-communes of London, and two men, their minds twisted and their souls emptied by ceaseless aphrodisia and narcosis, decided they would celebrate the coming of these goddesses by offering themselves as the slaves and bondsmen of Geisha, tendering unswerving allegiance, a hundred and ten per cent humility and sublime submission. They were the sordid nightmare that is THE MURPHY LOVE EXPERIENCE. And so from Yoshiwara, Geisha capital, come two 'oiran'...the mysterious Akiko Sato, and ms. inscrutability herself, Tomoko Minamizaki. From Gyon, most ancient of red-light districts comes the 'meiko'...the enigma that is Kyoko Mimura. From the squalid depths of Dickensian Southwark comes Mr Robert Storey. And taking time off from his job as schools' inspector, Mr Jason Templar. Together they are MURPHY NO GEISHA.
2002 found me working with Murphy No Geisha, the premier exponents of Cockney Enka. Here is an example sung by that captivating pair, Tomoko Minamizaki and Akiko Sato
did you know?
On a day close to the completion of the recording of our 'Variations' I was most surprised to be informed by Mr Cornetto that he had occulted several secret messages within the music. When I asked for some exposition of this arcane encoding he explained that the final drawing together of the cryptic threads would require an intense effort of rumination, and twenty pounds from petty cash for 'essential equipment'. Twenty pounds was a large sum in that distant halcyon summer but so thrilled was I to soon be learning the mystery I immediately handed over the funds, only to see the normally languorous Cornetto exit the studio with a rarely seen vigour. He returned after thirty minutes and without a word secreted himself in a back room locking the door behind him. How can I express the anguish of anticipation that gripped me as I returned to my labours at the studio consoles! Of what mystic conundrum would I presently be cognisant? Into which clandestine brotherhood was I about to be initiated? I can't count the number of times I returned to listen at that door during the next days but on none of those visits could I ascertain that which was taking place in the locked chamber. My agonies were not brought to an end for fully thirty six hours, at which point I heard the key turn in the lock and hastened to the door through which Cornetto was now emerging, wreaths of smoke in his wake. He stopped when he saw the look on my face. "What?, he said. "What is the solution to the enigma!", I almost shouted, "What enigma?", he said.
On divers occasions I've had the pleasure of working with the unique talent of Mr Chris Cornetto, as here on the Murphy Variations album, where his exemplary horn playing is displayed
Rachel Gardner of the Nobodies
Tomoko Minamizaki of Murphy No Geisha
Chris Cornetto
I have ridden the roller coaster, (or is it a ghost train?), of collaboration with Bing Selfish, many times and here is an example from the album ‘Dizzy With Success’
did you know?
What the public see of Bing Selfish is a self-serving, hateful ogre, with a preposterous shtick of arrogant assertion and disdain for those he considers inferior in ability. Adamant that we think of him as a horrible shit, inflicting for decades what could only be described as a sporadic talent on the listening public, a dreary and hidebound lyricist and a prosaic musician unself-critically determined to complete a canon of work that seems to always favour quantity over quality, his scowling mien has hardened into a carapace that he is unwilling, maybe unable, to remove.
Of course, this is a caricature, nobody could live like that, and when I look upon the Bing I have known for many years, I see a deeply complex man, headstrong but hesitant, gauche but sensitive, (and I have always found him to be a subtle and studious lover!), but prepared to live out his time suffering the contumely of his peers in the service of his role. A scapegoat, if you will, a stage-villain, but one who, in the theatre jargon of our time, inhabits his character, and consummately so.
