Eight-track recordings
In 93/94 I ran an eight-track demo studio in Birmingham. I had
loads of bands through the place, and typically found very little time to
record anything of my own. But here's what I managed. Some of these recordings
have drop-outs and errors in them, since the "experimental" digital format that
they were mastered to hasn't fully withstood the last decade of storage. This
page contains the few solo efforts that I managed to fit into the studio
schedule, and the 2% of the bands that I recorded that I still dig out and
listen to from time-to-time.
Solo Material
Until this year, this was the last material that I recorded.
Samba Pig - an experiment to see just how many guitars I could
force-feed into a recording, this is a nasty tune. Don't listen to it.
I'm Not Dead Yet - guess who was getting a divorce? The .mp3 of this is awful, so don't download it.
Fat Passenger - so, I kind of fell for the idea of chugging
loads of guitars onto a tune. This is a cover of one of my favourite songs, but
with loads of extra guitars. It truly sucks.
My advice would be to avoid it, but there y'go.
You'll Never Know - I got dumped and didn't really give a damn
at the time, but it made me remember all the other times I got dumped,
and I got massively pissed off. The result should be avoided at all costs. Hide
this file away where you won't accidentally find it.
Uncle Lucy
These guys were brilliant. They recorded two demos in my
studio, and every track was a winner - except for this tune, 'cos it's got
yours truly on it, doing backing vocals and perpetrating mandolin. In my
defence, they were all a lot bigger and harder than me. They made me do
it.
This song is Everything by Uncle Lucy (Paul, Gavin, Snowy and
Leon). Fantastic. Unusually for this site, this file is actually worth listening to. Apart from the obvious bits
that I've already mentioned, of course.
If by any freak chance someone reads this page who knows where any of these guys
are, I'd love to get in touch. Pass it on.
Neon Ten
When Davey Dunn (ex-Picture This! bassist) phoned me up and
told me he'd got a new band, and they'd like to use the studio, I was well
chuffed. Then they turned up. "Er, Davey, mate," I said, "There seems to be a
girl in yer band." "Just listen", he said, so I did. And I still do, from
time-to-time. Neon Ten were Dave, Toni and Rich, and were very... odd. But
good. Give it a listen. If Toni and Rich have email, I'd love to hear from
them!
Dreamer - I might have the title wrong for this one, but this
was the first track they recorded and I was... distracted. Listen to it and you'll see why.
Jumbled Words - with Rich on vocals. Reminds me of The Cure,
for some reason. Check it out, it's good.
Celluloid Blue - Another drifty Toni number. Gorgeous.
Fiver Man - a song about a tramp. What? What else would it be
about? Shut up and listen to this!