- Place – The World
- Time – 1960 – 2005
- Artists – Various
30 Million in Just 2 Minutes, What a Triumph!
Full Blog in Bands
Mungo Jerry’s greatest success was with the song In the Summertime, which was released on the new Dawn Label and topped the UK charts for seven weeks in the early seventies
It was also number one in twenty-six countries around the world.
Barry Murray was Dawns label manger and the bands Producer.
Barry was laying down tracks for a new album but decided to mix a single for immediate release.
He was adamant, much to the Band’s dismay that the single should be In The Summer Time; the only problem was that the recording was only two minutes long.
Saved by the mixing engineer
Howard Barrow the mixing engineer came up with an idea, to run a microphone cable outside the building to the ramp where his Triumph TR6 roadster was parked and place a microphone close to the exhaust.
Some ten seconds, of the car revving up was recorded and then added to the end of the two minutes track.
After the car sound the original two minutes was copied and edited, then added repeating the whole song from the beginning.
The track could now be faded at three minutes thirty seconds. And the rest is history.
Strange But True-Oddball -The Drunk-The Gambler and The Dame
For more Strange But True stories go to Other
The Portsmouth Sinfonia – The self-proclaimed “World’s Worst Orchestra”
This somewhat unorthodox orchestra was founded in England around 1970 by a group of students at the Portsmouth School of Art.
The basic premise was that the Sinfonia would be open to pretty much anyone to join.
It ended up attracting people without musical training or, if they did happen to be musicians, people that chose to play an instrument that was entirely new to them.
As you can image the resulting ensemble had, shall we say, a unique quality about them.
The Session
In the late 70’s I was in the studio booking office at Wembley, when I overheard the secretary Miriam on the phone, she was taking a booking for a jingle on behalf of a maker of a famous box of chocolates.
By this time I had a real dislike for working on jingles, I was about to beat a hasty retreat from the office, when I heard Miriam confirm to the client the details of the session.
“So Studio One, 7pm until 10pm, artist The Portsmouth Sinfonia.”
I turned around before she had finished the word Sinfonia and much to Miriam’s surprise, who knew how much I disliked these mini TV nightmares, told her,
“I’ll do that one please, please.“
A few days later, with the studio set and ready, about fifty members of the orchestra arrived.
Once seated, they started to run through the music they intended to record.
I was desperately trying not to laugh to loud as I set about getting a recording level.
A Matter or Urgency
The music was only a minute long so I needed a few run throughs to achieve the right balance.
By the third run through the director turned to me and said,
“How long is this going to take?”
I explained being a fifty piece I needed a few more run throughs.”
“Please,” he went on to say
“Please do it as quick as you can, because the more they play it, the better they get.”
Lets do it
Within a minute, the red light went on and we recorded the most bizarre dissonance I had ever heard.
By 7:30pm the orchestra had packed and were leaving the studio.
Subduing the laughter once again, I managed to mix the track and by 8pm mercifully we were all done.
This is without a doubt the shortest and funniest orchestral sessions I had ever worked on.
Within days the ad was airing throughout the Country.
Whether it helped sell the chocolates, who knows, but for me what a wonderful session to have worked on.
You Gotta Have Faith that I’m Your Man
Full Blog In Bands, Stories
Georgios Panayiotou
Was an English singer, songwriter and record producer. Known as a leading creative force in music production, songwriting, vocal performance.
My Son Wants to Get In to the Music Business
Almost everyone I knew had a relation or a good friend who wanted to be in the music industry and Jack was no exception.
He asked me if there was anyway I could help his son Georgios, who sung and wrote songs and desperately wanted to break into the music business.
Having met his son several times, his image wasn’t one of star quality.
Pleasantly Plump
Georgios was a rather over weight, shy and spotty youth who helped serve at the tables, he was often referred to by some, rather unkindly, as Fat Georgie the Greek.
It was a different time but I always felt this to be a little cruel.
Anyway, with a due sense of dread, I asked Jack if he could get a cassette for me to listen too, which I would get to various record companies.
Dave Robinson was the owner of the very successful label Stiff Records.
Robinson took a pass saying,
“Even with the lights down low and the volume up high, no cigar.”
Georgios Finally Signs a Deal
Georgios had changed his name to George Micheal and had obviously been working with the top stylist money could buy. He had lost a huge amount of weight as well as having some wonderful dental work done.
George Micheal had been created.
He was a world away from the restaurant waiter with the unkind nickname.
I would say that I am pleased that no-one I gave the tape to, decided to sign George. It’s possible without the vision of Simon Napier–Bell, (The manager and architect of Wham!) He may have returned to serving at tables for the rest of his life.
Georgios Finally Chose to Leave George
The last few photographs I saw of George made me very sad. It seemed to me that before he’s untimely death he was more reminiscent of an older Georgios Panayiotou with no reference to the star George Micheal whatsoever.
Barry Gibb and Blue Weaver – Saturday Night Fever
For more Strange But True stories go to Other
Blue Weaver was a founder member of Amen Corner, a Welsh rock band.
He has also played with many great artists including Family, T-Rex on Get It On and Telegram Sam, Lou Reed on Berlin, Alice Cooper on Billion Dollar Babies, Chicago, Stephen Stills, The Osmonds, Stevie Wonder, Art of Noise, Duran Duran, The Damned and Swing Out Sister.
He joined the Bee Gees, staying with them from 1975 to 1980.
On one occasion Blue Weaver and Barry Gibb were in the studio, staying late into the night.
They were working one of the songs to be included on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album.
During the early hours of the morning Blue was in some pain from an on-going health problem, so Barry offered to take him to the local hospital.
On arriving in the out-patients department and before he could see a doctor, a standard questionnaire form had to be completed by a nurse.
Name, Date of Birth, Medical history – the usual stuff.
One of the questions she asked was
“Have you ever been a practicing homosexual?”
Before Blue could answer Barry chirped up saying.
“Practicing? He’s got it perfect.”
Cajun Adventure Part 1 of 4: The Search for Talent in Louisiana
Full Blog in 1-4 In Bands, Stories
First a quick history lesson, don’t worry I’ll keep it short.
In 1605 French settlers arrived in what is now Nova Scotia.
In 1755 they refused to pledge allegiance to the English Crown so a large number of the early colonists relocated to Louisiana.
Other cultures would intermix with the French settlers and the Cajun culture was born.
Fusing old Creole tune rhythms with blues and soul this mix, like Cajun music, results in infectious, feel-good music.
More recently, recordings such as Jonnie Allen’s version of Promised Land have introduced Cajun music to a more mainstream audience.
Working with seasoned artist
My relationship with Sonet Records in Sweden gave me the opportunity to work with Rockin’ Dopsie, a Zydeco accordion player.
I also got to produce the Queen Ida album On A Saturday Night, Queen Ida was the first female accordion player to front a Zydeco band.
The album was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Both Dopsie and Ida were seasoned artists with a hardcore following that revelled in this wonderful foot-stomping, body-moving music.
In 1992 I had an idea.
I wanted to find a young Louisiana musician or band and mix the traditional Cajun music from Louisiana with a more modern computer-based recording style aimed at the younger record buying public.
With naivety still playing a big part in my life I set off and headed to Southwest Louisiana to search the clubs and bars for a likely candidate.
I set off for Louisiana and headed for Mamou, a small town reputed to be the Cajun capital of the world, I hoped this would be the perfect place to start my search for a young artist.
Arriving in the Cajun Capital
I arrived in Mamuo around 7.30 on a Saturday evening; it was like a ghost town waiting for a ghost.
I found Fred’s Lounge Bar on Sixth Street and Chestnut, this was the place where it was all supposed to happen, the hub of the Mamou Cajun scene.
On arriving at the bar, I stopped the car and looked out the window only to find to my dismay that Fred’s was closed. Apparently, this musical feast started early on a Saturday morning and ended around lunchtime.
As I cruised through the town in my brand-new red Chevrolet hire car, the few people that were around were staring at me, this highly conspicuous stranger in their midst.
I stood out like a rare steak on a vegetarian’s plate.
Feeling uncomfortable
This was making me feel quite uneasy, Mamuo really didn’t feel exactly alive with hospitality.
With Fred’s lounge closed for the day and feeling tired, I decided to it was time to find somewhere to stay for the night but the only building I could locate claiming to be a hotel was a dilapidated two-storey hovel.
With my sense of adventure and my overwhelming tiredness outweighing my common sense, I took a deep breath and decided I would stay there for the night.
As I approached the entrance it was with mixed emotions I discovered it too was closed.
Time for refreshments and somewhere to stay
Nearby there was a shop with a sign that said, “Honk and Go”, it was a drive-in store where you just honked your car horn and someone from the store would come and serve you.
I honked, I ordered a coke and a pack of cigarettes and asked the guy if there was a hotel locally,
“Wont somewar carlean?” he replied.
“I certainly do” I replied,
“Wheell l i b, ya hav tar heyd bak ta Lafayette.”
A Lucky Escape
As dusk was descending this seemed like a very good idea.
Just as I was leaving, I spotted another bar, it looked promising, proclaiming to have live music.
Unfortunately with all the pickup trucks and their rifles hanging in the back windows coupled with nightfall about to arrive, my enthusiasm to enter the nightlife of Mamuo was somewhat curbed.
Heading back to the interstate I was totally absorbed in the music pumping from my car radio, but I did I notice in front of me a large pickup truck.
There were three locals standing up in the back of the truck and I could see the customary rifle swinging in the rear window.
The three men started making gestures and shouting in my direction, they looked about as friendly as a shark with a leg in its mouth.
I had no desire to overtake them so I tried to keep my distance but as soon as I slowed down so did they.
After what seemed like a lifetime of cat and mouse, they took a left turn off the road and with a huge sigh of relief I put the pedal to the metal until I arrived in Lafayette.
Reality sets in
It was only now the reality, danger and insanity of the task I was attempting began to dawn on me.
After a good night sleep at a Carlean hotel I was up early listening to the radio.
During the show I heard the DJ talking about a Cajun happening that afternoon at the Triangle Club located in a town called Scott .
Having studied my map for a while, I set off and arrived at the club.
The Triangle Club
Pulling up in the car park I could hear the music throbbing through the walls of yet another rundown building.
Although the place looked uninviting, I had come a long way to search for my young act, so there was no choice but to get on the front foot and venture in.
On entering the front door from the bright daylight outside, into the darkly lit inside of the club, my vision was reduced.
Luck was with me, someone was leaving just as I entered into the doorway, which made me aware that there was a large step down just inside the door; this could have been a catastrophe of epic proportions, with me missing the step, tripping and charging towards the bar, head down like a Matadors bull, hardly a dignified entrance.
I casually strolled to the bar trying to look inconspicuous and in total control, my eyes were now becoming accustomed to the light.
A Near Miss
There was a band playing on stage and man, were they loud?
So loud I wasn’t sure if they were playing Cajun or reggae or just tuning up.
I found a seat at the bar and sat down, between the songs, when the barman could hear me, I ordered a beer.
What little conversation I could hear was taking place in French Creole.
I asked a guy sitting to my right, in English, if he knew the name of the band playing,
“Don’t know, don’t care.” He replied curtly.
The band were just announcing their next song, I took a large mouthful of beer.
Having just swallowed the beer the woman standing behind me leaned forward about an inch from my ear and let out the loudest rebel yell I had ever heard.
Had this happened a fraction of a second earlier the mouthful of beer would have shot out like water from a fireman’s hose and hit the back of the head of the guy in front of me, no doubt causing me to be involved in some kind of major fracas.
Lady Luck was truly looking after me that day.
The band on stage weren’t burdened by talent and were less than impressive.
I figured I had pushed my luck far enough for one day, it was time to drink up and leave.
Time to go home?
After several more days of trudging around second-rate clubs looking at second-rate bands, I came to the conclusion this was not the way to discover my new star, the major artist I was looking for.
So far, I really wasn’t enjoying my trip to Louisiana, it was really quite disappointing.
I decided to give up and head back to Texas.
Back to Texas
On the drive back I tuned into a Cajun radio station to, the DJ was a guy called Camey Doucet.
I had a light bulb moment, Camey Doucet must know a great deal about the local bands and artists, he could be the key to —
Jack Fishman: How The Sting Got Stung
In Writers
I first met Jack at PYE studios and worked with many times over the years.
As a songwriter, Jack Fishman was a real wordsmith and wrote the lyrics to many of the hits from the late forties until the mid seventies.
He was also credited with exposing Kim Philby, the most notorious spy of the Cold War era.
Fishman’s lyrics can be heard in songs like If Paradise Is Half As Nice by Amen Corner, Just Help Yourself by Tom Jones.
The movie the Sting
I remember when Jack returned from America in 1973 he was raving about a movie he had just seen called The Sting, the movie famously features a song called the Entertainer by Scott Joplin
Jack spent a short time trying to buy the music rights for Europe but was unsuccessful.
Jack then decided to book the studio and invited the composer Roy Budd to play and record a cover version of the Marvin Hamlisch recording of The Entertainer.
Roy, a film composer that Jack managed at the time, for some reason did not want his name to appear on the single so Jack came up with a name instead – The Ragtimers.
Jack then proceeded to sell the track and obtain a rush release on Pye records.
Scott Joplin, the original writer,
Had been dead for over 50 years so the title was out of copyright and available for anybody to use.
On Jack’s version of the recording the writing credits read, Joplin and Fishman, not Joplin and Hamlisch, as on the USA version.
He then published the work with Leeds music, this appeared a little strange as he actually had his with his own publishing company.
Jack’s version of the record was released and before very long raced up the charts.
A very unhappy publishing company.
The American company who were waiting to release their Marvin Hamlisch version along with the movie, were horrified to see Jack had entered the chart with his version and had claimed a share of the writing with no mention of Hamlisch anywhere.
They were absolutely furious and immediately started legal action against Jack.
Unfortunately for them they were suing Leeds music, a publishing company they themselves owned, something they obviously didn’t want to do.
They had no other option but to pay Jack his royalties in full.
Jack went on to complete a full album of Joplin instrumentals that were featured in the movie.
Pye released the album which was a roaring success.
Jack then wrote lyrics for the whole instrumental album, added some singers on to the same recordings he had already sold to Pye and then sold them the same album once again.
–Now that’s a sting!
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