Rock and Roll Stories #72 - You are never too old to Rock and Roll

 When I started the band, I started a scrapbook to document the meteoric rise of the False Dots to the top of the charts and world domination of music. We genuinely believed that we would become the biggest band on the planet. We couldn't play, the songs were crap, our instruments were the cheapest rubbish we could afford. What could possibly go right? Well nothing at all. The scrapbook is a litany of the many failures of various line ups of the band between 1979 and 1990 to be successful, it is laced with bitterness and acrimony. I wrote it for myself and in some ways it is the first example of my style as a blogger, although the targets were ex band members rather than politicians. Then it stops until 2000. This is the first entry of the new century.

I restarted  the band for a specific purpose. To record some of the old songs for my own personal pleasure, as I had my own recording studio. I had no plans to gig, no plans to release music, no plans to take the band seriously. Then fate intervened. My best mate and business partner, Ernie Ferebee died, we decided to do a benefit gig for his family and the bug bit again. That was 26 years ago and the band has been active ever since. I was 37 years old then and considered myself past it, so it seemed pointless persuing the Rock and Roll dream. However, it was a total blast and great fun, so I saw no reason not to do it. We settled into a pattern of doing one or two gigs a year, at local venues and usually for cancer charities and local festivals. It sort of scratched the itch. In 2010-11 we had a brief period when Connie Abbe joined as singer, were we returned to Camden Town and recorded some material seriously, with a view to getting Connie a deal. Connie left to join Emmanual Jal on a world tour and Allen Ashley rejoined. We settled back into 3-4 gigs a year. 

Allen departed during Covid. I returned to singing duties for the first time since 1982 and we started writing new material. A gig at the Mill Hill Music Festival followed by a gig at the Dublin Castle in 2022 confirmed something that had been bothering me probably since Connie was in the band. The music industry has always been focussed on new young bands. Of course it is right to make the primary focus on upcoming talent and new ideas. However, there are so many great bands and solo artists who are not teenagers/young musicians who are making great music. The industry is not at all intersted in artists once they no longer look like teenagers, unless they are megastars with billions of fans. The artists who have the biggest income streams are generally not teenagers, they are established bands, like Madonna and The Rolling Stones, who have an audience of an age where there is plenty of disposable cash. But the industry completely lacks the wit and intelligence to see that there is a huge market for new music for this age group.

Bands like The False Dots, playing a genre that is not in vogue such as North London style Ska music still get a great reception live. We have nuerous radio plays on specialist online Ska stations. Everyone tells us our music is great. People like the fact that we break all the rules of Rock and Roll, and we don't give a $h1t but the gatekeepers of the mainstream sneer at us. Online, our Youtube channel has had just shy of 100,000 views. One of our songs, Put me in the Spotlight, was used by Manchester City FC as the theme tune for their Goal of the Month show in 2012. It was played 47 million times. Our gigs are a blast. It is enough for me. But it is 100% clear to me that a wider audience is being failed by the gatekeepers. I don't say this because we are not on Telly. I am saying this because over the last five years, we've played dozens of gigs, with other amazing bands on the bill, making mindblowing music and none get a look in. 

One of the things that the False Dots have started to do regularly is matinee gigs at the Dublin Castle. For many of our audience, this works well. Many have moved out of London, so there is no stress of getting the last train home etc. They can come and see us, have a few beers with mates, maybe a bite to eat after and still be tucked up in bed at 9pm with the cocoa (or whatever their tipple of choice is). I have realised that bands like ours have to adapt the way we do things. I still love playing headline shows finishing at 11pm and we get many younger fans who are also up for this. However I realised that we were missing a trick when many of our fans said "We prefer it when you do support slots so we can get home". 

Any band that wants to have an audience needs to stay in touch with its fanbase. So we've tried to gear our programme around making sure that anyone who may like our music gets a chance to see us when it suits them. You are never too old to Rock and Roll, but Rock and Roll needs to make damn sure that it gives everyone a chance to join in the fun, be it as a musican, a punter or both! The current stage of the  journey started in 2000 and I still feel we are only half way to Paradise! I hope that there are a few more chapters of Rock and Roll Stories to tell!

And if you've not heard the music of The False Dots, CLICK HERE and if you want to come and see us, in a Matinee Show click on the picture for full details of our album launch and my birthday show, on 23rd August at The Dublin Castle