Demos for the new studio album, tentatively titled “G7”
Crocodile Tears: This is my first video effort for the new CD - you can watch it on the GD Videos Page. The song can be taken as a warning to men of the actions of a certain type of (usually very attractive) girl who just can't be satisfied with what she's got. Tonight before tonight: Paul Shuttleworth came up with the idea for this arrangement. The Kursaals actually tried to record this in a shed in Sweden on our last tour, but it was never as good as this version (I say with all modesty!) Rochford Boys: The true(?) story of the early days of the Hot Rods. Please do take this with a large amount of salt - then, possibly, a few tequila slammers! Moses and Mohammed: Get real jews! Get real Moslems! See how these “wholly” men, probably, behaved. In all seriosness, the amount of damage to human society that has been caused by orthodox religions of all sorts has been immeasurable. It's about time to grow up and look at the stars! Peggy, Sue!!: As one who was never able to resist a good pun or ten, Will Birch came up with this set of lyrics, which, I think, has been used by various other plebs who put their own arrangements to it. I thought it was about time that I re-recorded it and allowed my version to see the light of day. Mau-Mau Sisters Another, totally fictitious, lyric which features my first MySpace (don't you just HATE Facebook, MySpace et al - what a waste of time and energy!) buddy. A Hollywood actress visits home to reminisce about schooldays. I bet you got the last laugh anyway: There was a time in the late sixties and early seventies when people were opting for peace, love and pass the chillum. It couldn't last - just as the hippies were ending the Vietnam war by driving out that crook, Nixon, the drug of choice switched from mind-altering substances to mind-numbing (heroin) and gibberish-speak (cocaine). It took most of the eighties and nineties for the record company executives tro catch on to the fact that most of the vast advances that they were paying to artistes was going up everyone's collective nose. Come the nineties and it was the red-braced bwankers who decided that, not only did they rule the world because of Thatcher and Reagun, they could mortgage it and make even more money by selling options on worthless debts. Up against the wall, mofos! Just like the Rain: From the Kursaal's album “The Great Artiste”, this song was,again, one I thought should have been recorded SO MUCH BETTER. Here is my version. Only the locks (have been changed): Will wrote this lyric just after the Kursaals recorded “Tour de Force”. I've had it knocking around for a while and, recently, rediscovered it. Not one of his most inspired efforts but, at least, there are no puns. One of those moments: Ben Waters, well-known Boogie-Woogie meister, plays the piano on this (Come on! You didn't think it was ME, did you?). Silver Wings: A gentle country song from the Chocs Away album (see - I told you Will Birch and the then-manager, Paul Conroy, couldn't resist puns) transforms into a traditional Scottish ballad. It's only because I'm desperate to get invited on to the Transatlantic Sessions. This and the following one will surely achieve this aim, won't they? Walking back to you: When Jim Miller and I formed the Engineers in the late nineties, I took advantage of his Scottish accent to tell a tale of the warring clans, the deceits and the betrayals. So what if I've nicked the plot from Romeo and Juliet! You think that Shakespeare thought up all those stories himself?
There are a couple more songs that I'm working on at the moment. I might have time enough to put the demos up here before I commit to final mixing and mastering, so, if anyone has any further comments (helpful or otherwise), please mail me. Thank you to all of you who have commented thus far. I hope you'll like the end result.
