Sunday 23 June 2024

The Sunday Reflection #16 - Are you feeling a bit flat?

 Are you feeling a bit flat this morning? I am. This is not just due to the beers last night after The False Dots gig at The Dublin Castle. In fact it's not that at all. Is it just me, or does this bloody election seem to have been going on for half of our lifetime? I hate to say this, but not a single candidate, party leader or other political sort has said a single thing that excites me. Perhaps the highlight has been watching Ed Davey falling into a lake full of sewage. Maybe we should throw them all into a lake full of sewage, with concrete boots on. Well not really, I'm not an advocate of violence and I don't wish physical harm on any of them, but honestly, they really are  an awful bunch. Rishi Sunak and the Tories. In 50 years time there will be whole textbooks written on their campaign, as the classic way to get it wrong. When they announced it, everyone was baffled as to why. Now we know, they all had a tenner on the date at Ladbrokes. Silly buggers didn't realise that the one lot you don't try it on with are the bookies. It was bad enough that Rishi disrespected the Normandy veterans, but now we know that the whole election was just a cunning ruse by a bunch of spivs to make a few grand. What's worse is that they were too thick to get their mates to do it for them, so they've all been caught. 

Then there is the new saviour, Nigel Farage, "Nigel, he's not the saviour, he's a very naughty boy!", It turns out he thinks that the reason Putin invaded Ukraine, poisoned people in the UK etc, is all our fault. He is a big admirer of the way Putin got his hands on the levers of power in Russia. Now think this through. Do we really want a PM who admires someone who gets their opponents thrown out of the 13 floor of the local hospital, who has assasinated just about everyone who has opposed him. I really don't want a leader who aspires to emulate Vlad The Impaler. If ever he gets in, don't say he didn't warn us all.

Sir Keir Starmer? If being boring and having zero charisma is a virtue, then he's the man. In truth, after Boris, a bit of boring might be nice, but the country is a mess and a bloke with no policies to address it surely cannot be the answer. 

What is hilarious is that the Tories seem to think that pretending that Sir Keir Starmer will morph into Joseph Stalin if he gets a 'supermajority' is a great way to win votes. The sad truth is that if Labour do win a massive majority, in 20 years time, as we do with Blair, we will talk about why he didn't be more radical. The idea that he will use a supermajority to pass laws insisting women have a penis or to tax roadsweepers £2,000 a year more are absurd. I am coming to the view that the best thing for the country would be a virtual Tory wipeout. It is clear that the lot running the party are totally corrupt. The betting scandal has exposed this. These are people who Rishi Sunak worked with on a daily basis and if he couldn't see what sort of people they were, then he really is very dim indeed. The Tories need a new broom and fresh ideas. Boris purged most of the sensible ones in 2019 and now the party is falling apart. Th next generation of people such as Michael Heseltine and Ken Clarke, people who see the bigger picture and are not right wing ideologues are needed. In my constuency, we have a candidate Ameet Jogia, who is one of Rishi Sunaks bag cariiers at No 10. A man who has not had a proper job in the real world. The Tory party should select candidates who have real life experience and have run businesses if they want to reconnect. Not people who have studied politics and are simply part of the machine. 

I had hoped that the football would provide some respite from these dullards kicking lumps out of each other on telly. Sadly England are playing as if managed by Sir Keir Starmer. There is no imagination and no fresh ideas. The only passes we seem to make go backwards. The few truly exciting moments have come from teams like Georgia, who throw caution to the wind and seem genuily proud to wear the shirt.

Which leaves music. We had a bit of fun last night at The Dublin Castle, our second gig there in a week. Next week, we are playing at The East Barnet festival. We'll be onstage at 5pm. I do hope that you can make it and we can raise all our spirits. Here's one of our tracks, one of my fave videos that the band have put together. 


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Saturday 22 June 2024

The Saturday List #445 - Eleven different instruments that have featured in recordings and gigs by the False Dots and who played them

Last year, a brand new member joined The False Dots! Master Trumpeter Tom Hammond was our first new member in fourteen years! Tom posted the following on Facebook yesterday -

 Following recent releases from Slash Fiction and Express Office Portico, the total number of artists/bands that have songs out featuring myself (Trumpet Tom) has reached 14. So I know what everyone is thinking... how many songs do you play in with each of these artists?
Well I'm glad you asked because I just created a pie chart. Here it is.
If you want to know more, here's a playlist. More songs have already been recorded and are out soon!
Check out Tom's playlist here, there is some brilliant music here.


This post got me thinking. Just how many instruments have featured on False Dots recordings and at gigs and reherasals over the years? I had a look through and the list is really quite amazing. I'd never realised that we'd actually featured eleven distinct musical instruments etc. I've not included vocalists here, as I think band members needed a little bit of spotlight

So here we go

1 Drums  - Dave Edwards, Deb, Paul Marvin, Dav Davies, Dave Williams,  Mark Barnet, Bill Lucas, Adam Francis, Graham Ramsey, Tony Cavaye, Carl Myers, Romi

2 Bass Guitar - Pete Conway, Paul Hircombe, Roger Tichborne, Doug Witney, Andy, Adi Denton, Fil Ross

3 Guitar - Roger Tichborne, Mandy Spokes, PauL Hircombe, Craigh Withecombe, Pete Trayling, Dave Peters, Neil Cox, Tony Robotham, Fil Ross, Boz Boorer, Huw Lloyd Langton

4 Keyboards - Roger Tichborne, Chris Potts, Fil Ross, Boz Boorer, Tony Robotham

5 Saxophone - Dermot Fanning, Mark McQuillan, Lee Thompson, Paul Amsterdam, Boz Boorer

6 Harmonica - Tony Cavaye

7 Trumpet - Millie, Tom Hammond

8 Theramin - Boz Boorer

9 Clarinet - Boz Boorer

10. Bongos, Congas & Percussion - Roger Tichborne, Fil Ross, Tony Cavaye, Romi, Gavin Sorochan, Graham Ramsey

11.  Triangle - Colin Mulberg

------The False Dots are playing tonight at The Dubin Castle party celebrating 50 years of Charly Records. We will be onstage at 8.45pm. Please come down if you can. Of course, we were chosen because We all love a party!




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Friday 21 June 2024

Friday Fun Special - THe Friday Joke, local music round up and The Robert Elms show is 30 years old!

 It's Friday, it's a tradition amongst us Barnet Bloggers, that we start with a joke, to get the weekend off to a good start! This wonderful tweet from the Lancashire Archive made me smile. I wonder if she's Aunty Dot! (CLICK HERE TO LISTEN if you don't get the reference!)

Today see's a special anniversary. Local boy from Burnt Oak made good, Robert Elms celebrates the 30th anniversary of his show on BBC Radio London today. I've listened to the show since he started on the channel in 1994. To keep a show relevent and listenable for 30 years, over two millenia is some achievement. I have a massive personal debt of gratitude to him. Probably 30% of the new artists I've discovered in that period, I've heard first on his show.. I've even made friends as a result of going to gigs and chatting to the artists in question. Such amazing artists as Eli Paperboy Reed spring to mind as a great example

 Robert was the first to play Amy WInehouse \(Although I knew of her first as she rehearsed at the studio!). His slot on a Sunday, where people plug there events is a must listen for anyone who wants to enjoy the good things in this city. It has alerted me to some wonderful events, such as the Jah Wobble book reading at The Social in Little Portland Street recently. Robert has been very supportive of our campaign to keep London's grassroots venues alive. We launched the Save London Music Campaign on his show. 

It has to be said that the BBC management seems to be less than supportive of Robert (and the other brilliant presenters) at times. His show times have been mucked around with several times over the years and most recently his hours were cut down. This has meant Robert has far less time to introduce new artists, have guest sessions etc. Fortunately for us, he seems to get on and get by. 

Anyway Happy 30th Anniversary Robert. Before we look at the gigs, here's a special track for Robert, hopefully reminding him of his roots!


LOCAL GIG ROUND UP

First some advanced notice of next week's big festival. Barnet's biggest music event of the year, The East Barnet Festival starts on Friday. I am delighted that The False Dots are playing at 5pm on Saturday. Click here Click here for the full line up

Next up, a plug for our gig tomorrow night, celebrating 50 years of Charly Records. Click here for cheap advance tickets.


And finally, this weekends local gigs


Bad Bones gig at East Barnet Shooting Club
Bad Bones (Acoustic, Duo) at East Barnet Shooting Club, New Barnet
info icon7pm - 9.30pm



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Thursday 20 June 2024

Charly Records at 50 - celebrating our Independent Record Labels

Imagine my delight at being asked by Tony Gleed, the promoter at The Dublin Castle, London's most iconic music pub, to play at the celbration they are hosting to celebrate 50 years of Charly Records. The headliners will be The Bollock Brothers, who released several albums and singles on the label in the 1980's. The label these days specialises mostly in reissues of jazz and 1960's slightly obscure music.  The catalogue is quite amazing and worth a look at if you are interested in music. For an independent label to keep going for 50 years is a fabulous achievement and we are delighted to be participating. They have done a sterling job in keeping the music of a whole host of musicians alive and also providing royalties for artists who the major mainstream labels had long ago lost interest in. Here's a list of just some of the acts associated with the label


The anniversary gives us an excellent chance to pay some homage to the Independent labels that have shaped the UK music scene. There are so many, operating in different genres, that it would be impossible to cover all in a short blog. Most labels eventually get gobbled up by majors, who want to monetise the back catalogue, and the creativity often dries up. Some manage to heep their identity, to some extent. Perhaps the most iconic of the Jazz labels is Blue Note, Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis.  Andy Warhol also did work designing covers before he was well known.

As well as releasing much of the best Jazz music ever released, Blue Note was noted for the amazing album covers, usually created by graphic artist Reid Miles using the photography of Francis Wolff. There are probably almost as many posters and prints of these adorning the walls of jazz collectors and music lovers as there are copies of the records (a slight exagerration but you know what I mean).

I suspect that without Blue Note, popular music as we know it would not exist. Blue Note invented the concept of cool, the music was cool, the album covers were cool, the artists looked cool. The rhythms on these recordings have formed the foundation of everything musical that has followed since. 

Blue Note Records was acquired by Liberty Records in 1965 and subsumed into EMI in 1971, who phased it out. Fortunately. in 1985 EMI saw sense and relaunched it as a specialist Jazz label. 

Next up on our journey we will look at Trojan Records. The label responsible for the late 1960's UK Ska Explosion. Trojan was set up in 1968 by Duke Reid and Lee Gopthal in 1968. Reid, a Jamaican, realised that the islands music had enormous potential for the UK market and teamed up with record shop owner Gopthal. Trojan was instrumental in introducing reggae to a global audience and, by 1970, had secured a series of major UK chart hits. Successful Trojan artists from this period include Judge Dread, Tony Tribe, Lee "Scratch" Perry's Upsetters, Bob and Marcia, Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff, the Harry J All Stars, The Maytals, The Melodians, Nicky Thomas and Dave and Ansel Collins. For me, the impact of Trojan is impossible to understate. I would not be in a band if it wasn't for Trojan. Bands such as The Clash, Madness, The Specials, The Police and The Beat, to name a few would probably not exist without the influence of Trojan. As a lover of Ska music since I was a nipper, Trojan was the soundtrack of my youth. 

In 1972, Island Records owner Chris Blackwell withdrew his interest and the label went bust in 1975. It was revived in 1985 by businessman Colin Newman, who sought to re-release much of the catalogue and has been owned by Sanctuary, Universal and BMG since. 


Next up on our tour is Stiff Records. Set up by music hustlers Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera, Stiff was at the forefront of Punk and New Wave.  Stiff signed various punk rock and new wave acts such as Nick Lowe, the Damned, Lene Lovich, Wreckless Eric, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, and Devo, also signing artists with significant crossover appeal such as Motörhead, Larry Wallis and Mick Farren. In the 1980s, with most of their early signings having moved on, the label found commercial success with Madness, The Pogues, Tracey Ullman, The Belle Stars, Kirsty MacColl and others.

The Damned released the first UK punk single. New Rose on Stiff. Stiff records was well known for it's innovative marketing and slightly naughty slogans "If it ain't Stiff it isn't worth a F**k". The label organised tours, with the likes of Ian Dury. Elvis Costello on the first "Be Stiff " Tour. Stiff were seen by many ast the label to be on. The label ran into financial trouble in 1985 and was acquired by ZTT.

If you've ever heard The False Dots, you will instantly recognise how much I love Stiff Records. It is impossible for me to deny the influence (not that I'd want to) of Ian Dury, Madness, The Damned and Elvis Costello on the band. I have all the releases by these artists on Stiff Records in my record collection. Given Stiff records annoying policy of deleting vinyl from the catalogue after a few months, this was something that required me to get a paper round when I was 14 to ensure I had cash and didn't miss out. 


And finally. A quick mention for a label that was one which changed the world, but unless, like me, you are a punk rock nut, you'll never have heard of. It is New Hormones. It was set up by Manchester band The Buzzcocks, to launch their career with the Spiral Scratch EP. It was the first UK self released punk single. It sold 10,000 copies of the first release. Although it didn't bother the charts, it inspired  a whole generation of artists to 'Do it yourself'. To this day, the ripples of New Hormones live with us. The concept of Indie Music was born. The Buzzcocks proved it could be done. 

In this day and age, setting up a label for your band is easy. The False Dots have our own label, Blue Moon London Records and we release songs on streaming platforms. It is not hard and inexpensive. It opens up your music to the world. As we do this, we realise that we are walking in the footsteps of giants!

If you want to come along to the party on Saturday night at The Dublin Castle, CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

You can listen to our independently released catalogue of songs here


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Wednesday 19 June 2024

Rock and Roll Stories #12 - I love Rock and Roll! Stick another dime in the Jukebox Baby!

 Why do I still do it? Let me tell you a story. When mym mum was pregnant with me, back in 1962, she was really unwell. She spent virtually the whole pregnancy in hospital, resting. She was terrified that she'd lose me. As she already had five kids, perhaps that wouldn't have been much of a disaster and after a few months, she'd have forgotton the baby that never was. An elderly nurse, who was also a nun, told her, when she was having a teary moment, not to worry. She said she could foretell the future and that the baby would be born, I would be strong and healthy and when I grew up, I would become Roger Tichborne, the Archbishop of Cantebury. That was why my mum named me Roger. 

Why do I mention this? Well because I suspect that I am about as likely to ever become the Archbishop of Cantebury as I am to appear on Top of The Pops, with a no 1 hit! So why do I do it? What is the point playing in a band that does not sell millions of records, have bevvy's of luscious groupies and go on world tours with The Rolling Stones as the support act? If you want to know the truth, for me, none of that was ever part of the deal. When Pete Conway and I wrote "The False Dots manifesto", before we recruited any other members, we said that the first principle was "No compromise on the music". We vowed that we'd never change a lyric or not play a song because 'the powers that be' objected. The second principle was that we wouldn't 'sell out and appear on Top of The Pops! This will seem bonkers to anyone too young to have lived through punk, but it was a sign of autheticity that bands 'didn't do Top of The Pops'. Except they all did, or at least all the ones people remember do (when I talk about people, I don't mean people like me who used to follow anarchist bands like Crass and The Poison Girls, who were never asked, but you know what I mean). Times have moved on. I'd loved to have played TOTP in hindsight, although not when Jimmy Savile was hosting! Not so much because it would have sold us lots of records, but it would have been a real crack. Sadly, TOTP is no longer with us. I think of all of the acts of cutural vandalism that the BBC have undertaken in the last 20 or 30 years, this is the worst. BRING IT BACK, even if they won't play The False Dots.

In the 45 years since the band started, I've mellowed. We did a gig on Sunday and my Sister Caroline, who has seen every incarnation of The False Dots, going back to our first gig was there. She said that in her opinion, the current line up and gigs we are doing are the best ever. I was quite surprised, but she gave several reasons. We can all play better, we've got a bigger selection of songs to choose from and for her, the fact that all our kids come along and have a boogie is a massive factor. The thing is that they enjoy the music and 'get it'. Of course, they are a home crowd, but what is great is that we seem to connect with all manner of people who turn up. There are quite a few bands doing Ska tributes etc, who are great, but we are one of the few mashing up Ian Dury/Madness and Ska themes and producing orginal music. As there is no one really like us around, it is a fresh sound. What is great is that in our recent run of gigs at The Dublin Castle. we've met some amazing young bands and become friends with them. Last Sunday, a young band from Ireland called WineMom were on the bill. I thought they were amazing. After our show, we had a good chat and they told is they loved our set. They were playing the final night of their mini tour last night. We went down to give some support. They were playing at The Social in Little Portland Street. We turned up and were amazed. The place was sold out and there was a mass of people outside. 


When we went in, we bumped into the band who were really delighted to see us. We had a nice chat, the went down and watched the support band. They too were on tour. They were called Radio Free Alice and were over from Australia. They were really good. They had strong Bunnymen and Artcic Monkey vibes. Clare loved them. Clare had been reticent about a late night on a Tuesday, but I bought her a ticket and she didn't regret it! Winemom came on and were amazing. Singer Rosanne's vocals remind me of Gloria Gaynor at times (I'd love to produce a song for them one day). She is an amazing front woman. If I was her manager, I'd get her to put the guitar down as she I felt she really came alive without the constraint of playing. Her playing is fine, but I do think Matthew on guitar can more than carry it. I wouldn't abandon it completely but I'd deffo do that for the second half of the show when it is cooking. As a guitarist/vocalist, I know that playing does constrain you. We don't have another guitarist, so I have no choice! None of this is a criticism, they were wonderful.


For me, there is nothing better than discovering new bands to get into. I am as much of a music fan as I am an artist. Often it is the little things. Going into a pub and someone puts something great on the jukebox is always a great buzz. A few of years ago, I met a mate at the Artillery Arms near the Barbican for lunch. I arrived ten minutes early, before the pub was open. The barman saw me and let me in. He was playing What we did on our holidays by Fairport Convention. It made my day. We had a chat about the band and he even gave me a free pint! That pretty much sums up how I feel about music. I mentioned this in a blog back in 2016. 

Ticket from our 2010 show 

As my sister noted, music brings us together. It gets us out and makes friends for us. For my band, our next gig is on Saturday supporting punk icons, the Bollock Brothers. We last supported them in Camden Town at The Purple Turtle in 2010. It was a great gig. The brothers are lead by the legend that is Jock McDonald, one of the key figures in the early punk movement. Jock is always great value for money, looking for schemes to cash in on the latest scandal. When Mchael Fagin broke into Buckingham Palace and found himself in the Queen's bedroom, Jock recruited him to record a version of the Sex Pistols "God Save The Queen".  When Nick Leeson crashed Barings bank, he was recruited by The Brothers to sing "My Way".  The Pistols cover was released on Charly Records, and Saturdays gig is a celebration of 50 years of Charly records. It should be a brilliant night. 

You can book tickets BY CLICKING HERE 

In many ways, Jock encapsulates the true spirit of Rock and Roll. A tradition that the likes of Wine Mom and Radio Free Alice are continuing. Why do I still do it? The answer is simple, to quote Joan Jett -  I love rock and roll, stick another dime in the jukebox baby!

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BTW we will be appearing as a three piece on Saturday as Tom is unable to make it. He will return for The East Barnet Festival. As such, we will be playing a few of our older songs, which Tom doesn't feature on. Here's Sci Fi Girls from last year

 

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