Punch The Clock (1995) liner notes: Difference between revisions
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It was the first rap record I had encountered that was anymore than an invitation to dance. It spoke about ugly life. It was the best and only record of its kind that I had heard since The Last Poets' "Wake Up Niggers".<br /> | It was the first rap record I had encountered that was anymore than an invitation to dance. It spoke about ugly life. It was the best and only record of its kind that I had heard since The Last Poets' "Wake Up Niggers".<br /> | ||
I could not adopt such a vocal delivery but I wanted to set my litany to a drum machine beat. So I turned the piano part over to Steve Nieve (who could actually play it) and switched on the device... that was on a Wednesday, the acetates were cut and distributed to the press and radio the following day and the finished single was in the shops by the following Friday. A week later it appeared in the charts. (The ability to achieve all this so quickly had everything to do with the fact that I was not, for the moment, being distributed by a major record label. "Pills and Soap", credited to The Imposter a "Fairley/Imposter" Production" appeared on the Imp records" - a Demon records imprint. It was released for a limited period only and melodramatically deleted on the eve of the 1983 General Election. The need to re-issue it the following day on a celebratory red vinyl 12" sadly never arose).<br /> | I could not adopt such a vocal delivery but I wanted to set my litany to a drum machine beat. So I turned the piano part over to Steve Nieve (who could actually play it) and switched on the device... that was on a Wednesday, the acetates were cut and distributed to the press and radio the following day and the finished single was in the shops by the following Friday. A week later it appeared in the charts. (The ability to achieve all this so quickly had everything to do with the fact that I was not, for the moment, being distributed by a major record label. "Pills and Soap", credited to The Imposter a "Fairley/Imposter" Production" appeared on the Imp records" - a Demon records imprint. It was released for a limited period only and melodramatically deleted on the eve of the 1983 General Election. The need to re-issue it the following day on a celebratory red vinyl 12" sadly never arose).<br /> | ||
This | This seemed to alarm the BBC who feared that the lyrics might somehow contravene the rules of broadcasting "balance" during the election campaign. A senior BBC producer questioned me about the song's subject matter. I said it was about "man's abuse of animals", a strictly truthful but slippery explanation worthy of a Tory cabinet minister. The producer then threatened me with banishment from the national airwaves if I should ever reveal that the song had a hidden agenda and more importantly - gloat about it. How very English.<br /> | ||
Given the outcome of the election that I was supposed to be trying to sway and all the miserable years since I can hardly say that the episode gave me much satisfaction other than to get such an unusual song to No. 16 in the charts without anyone noticing.<br /> | Given the outcome of the election that I was supposed to be trying to sway and all the miserable years since I can hardly say that the episode gave me much satisfaction other than to get such an unusual song to No. 16 in the charts without anyone noticing.<br /> | ||
"Shipbuilding" started out as a piano melody composed by Clive Langer. He had asked me if I could come up with some words that would suit Robert Wyatt ... "perhaps something to do with the hours of the clock" being the only clue. Robert had recorded a beautiful soulful version of "I'm A Believer" so I did not feel that the song had to be inspired by current events. Anyway he had a way of narrowing the distance between a simple love song and an obviously political number. Take a listen to his reading of Chic's "At Last I Am Free" and then hear his version of Victor Jara's "Te Recuerdo Amanda" and you'll see what I mean.<br /> | "Shipbuilding" started out as a piano melody composed by Clive Langer. He had asked me if I could come up with some words that would suit Robert Wyatt ... "perhaps something to do with the hours of the clock" being the only clue. Robert had recorded a beautiful soulful version of "I'm A Believer" so I did not feel that the song had to be inspired by current events. Anyway he had a way of narrowing the distance between a simple love song and an obviously political number. Take a listen to his reading of Chic's "At Last I Am Free" and then hear his version of Victor Jara's "Te Recuerdo Amanda" and you'll see what I mean.<br /> | ||
I was leaving for an Australian tour with Clive's demo in my bag. The government was in the process of reversing their disastrous fortunes by springing to the defence of of an obscure and obsolete Imperial coaling station and sheep farming outcrop. In as much as you spring to the defence of The Falkland Islands when when you are in the Northern Hemisphere and they are in the South Atlantic. Especially after the nincompoops in the Foreign Ministry have done everything possible to suggest to the particularly vicious junta in Argentina that their claim to "Las Malvinas" might go unchallenged if they would only care to invade... Oh! what a lovely war. Except that it was never called "a war" it was always | I was leaving for an Australian tour with Clive's demo in my bag. The government was in the process of reversing their disastrous fortunes by springing to the defence of of an obscure and obsolete Imperial coaling station and sheep farming outcrop. In as much as you spring to the defence of The Falkland Islands when when you are in the Northern Hemisphere and they are in the South Atlantic. Especially after the nincompoops in the Foreign Ministry have done everything possible to suggest to the particularly vicious junta in Argentina that their claim to "Las Malvinas" might go unchallenged if they would only care to invade... Oh! what a lovely war. Except that it was never called "a war" it was always referred to as the "Falklands Crisis" and later the "Falklands Conflict". Thank god CNN wasn't what it is today or we'd have had a theme tune and a logo overnight. "South Atlantic Storm: The Falkland Countdown"<br /> | ||
By the time I reached Australia the bloody liberation was underway. I thought I'd seen it all in the British media coverage. Grown men drooling over the hardware, the sick illusion of invincibility before H.M.S Sheffield was hit by an Exocet missile. The Sun's "Gotcha" headline when 300 Argentinian sailors drowned when the Belgrano went down, the construction of the odd heroic myth to cheer everyone up after a series of blunders had led to a pointless and brutal slaughter of Welsh Guards and of course the real star of the show: The Prime Minister arriving on our screens each day as if directly from the theatrical costumiers. Sometimes as Boadicea. Sometimes as Britannia. Oh! I nearly forgot the raving lunatic who reared up from the Tory backbenches to suggest a nuclear attack on Buenos Aires. However none of this could prepare me for the depravity of the Australian tabloid coverage. To listen to them the "Poms" were getting slaughtered Gallipoli-style and the "Argies" were eating Falkland babies.<br /> | By the time I reached Australia the bloody liberation was underway. I thought I'd seen it all in the British media coverage. Grown men drooling over the hardware, the sick illusion of invincibility before H.M.S Sheffield was hit by an Exocet missile. The Sun's "Gotcha" headline when 300 Argentinian sailors drowned when the Belgrano went down, the construction of the odd heroic myth to cheer everyone up after a series of blunders had led to a pointless and brutal slaughter of Welsh Guards and of course the real star of the show: The Prime Minister arriving on our screens each day as if directly from the theatrical costumiers. Sometimes as Boadicea. Sometimes as Britannia. Oh! I nearly forgot the raving lunatic who reared up from the Tory backbenches to suggest a nuclear attack on Buenos Aires. However none of this could prepare me for the depravity of the Australian tabloid coverage. To listen to them the "Poms" were getting slaughtered Gallipoli-style and the "Argies" were eating Falkland babies.<br /> | ||
Most of the above was beyond words but the notion that this might really drag on and become a war of attrition seemed as believable as anything else. Ships were being lost. More ships would soon be needed. So "Welcome back the discarded men of Cammell-Laird, Harland and Wolff and Swan Hunter. Boys are being lost. We need more boys. Your sons will do ... just as soon as these ships are ready."<br /> | Most of the above was beyond words but the notion that this might really drag on and become a war of attrition seemed as believable as anything else. Ships were being lost. More ships would soon be needed. So "Welcome back the discarded men of Cammell-Laird, Harland and Wolff and Swan Hunter. Boys are being lost. We need more boys. Your sons will do ... just as soon as these ships are ready."<br /> | ||
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"Milk And Honey" might have been an album of rough and unfinished Lennon recordings but hearing them in a dimly lit studio with the widow, who had only recently been able to face listening to the tapes, was a very emotional experience. This was probably due to the fact that Lennon's unedited "between-takes" banter was blasting out of the control room speakers while the studio itself was in darkness. The effect was quite unsettling. Yoko asked me to contribute to "Every Man Loves A Woman" (the other work-in-progress album): a collection of other artist's recordings of her songs. Although I would not pretend that her records are exactly a fixture on my turntable I was happy to help complete one of her husband's last projects which one must imagine was conceived out of love.<br /> | "Milk And Honey" might have been an album of rough and unfinished Lennon recordings but hearing them in a dimly lit studio with the widow, who had only recently been able to face listening to the tapes, was a very emotional experience. This was probably due to the fact that Lennon's unedited "between-takes" banter was blasting out of the control room speakers while the studio itself was in darkness. The effect was quite unsettling. Yoko asked me to contribute to "Every Man Loves A Woman" (the other work-in-progress album): a collection of other artist's recordings of her songs. Although I would not pretend that her records are exactly a fixture on my turntable I was happy to help complete one of her husband's last projects which one must imagine was conceived out of love.<br /> | ||
We were to cut a version of "Walking On Thin Ice", certainly one of Yoko's strongest pieces. However our touring schedule required that we record on one of the few days when we would not be either travelling or performing. Our itinerary suggested Memphis or New Orleans. Now we need a producer. I suggested that Yoko's office might approach Willie Mitchell in Memphis or Allen Toussaint in New Orleans. After all both these producers had created unique horn-section sounds and we just happened to have one with us.<br /> | We were to cut a version of "Walking On Thin Ice", certainly one of Yoko's strongest pieces. However our touring schedule required that we record on one of the few days when we would not be either travelling or performing. Our itinerary suggested Memphis or New Orleans. Now we need a producer. I suggested that Yoko's office might approach Willie Mitchell in Memphis or Allen Toussaint in New Orleans. After all both these producers had created unique horn-section sounds and we just happened to have one with us.<br /> | ||
I don't know if Yoko's | I don't know if Yoko's people ever heard back from Willie Mitchell but the next thing we knew we were at Sea-Saint studios in New Orleans with Allen Toussaint behind the board. Pete Thomas was delighted to be in the same drum booth as used by The Meters' Ziggy Modeliste while Allen worked closely with Bruce fashioning a very original bass part and swapped keyboard ideas with Steve Nieve. Ironically the main horn refrain was a quote from an obscure Willie Mitchell production "Let The Love Bell Ring" although Allen naturally tailored the overall arrangement and phrasing to a recognisably Toussaint sound. I don't believe that horn section ever sounded better than on this recording. During our stay we took in a couple of Neville Brothers shows where I first heard drummer Willie Green who, along with Allen Toussaint, later played on the New Orleans sessions for my Warner Bros. album "Spike". As for our concert in the city ... it was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales.<br /> | ||
"TOWN WHERE TIME STOOD STILL": The result of an experimental Eden Studios session between "Imperial Bedroom" and "Punch The Clock". Pete Thomas provided the drum loop (with my "vocal percussion") and I added the rest of the instruments. Much later I re-worked some lyrics for a song written with Ruben Blades "The Miranda Syndrome"<br /> | "TOWN WHERE TIME STOOD STILL": The result of an experimental Eden Studios session between "Imperial Bedroom" and "Punch The Clock". Pete Thomas provided the drum loop (with my "vocal percussion") and I added the rest of the instruments. Much later I re-worked some lyrics for a song written with Ruben Blades "The Miranda Syndrome"<br /> | ||
"SHATTERPROOF"? This 4-track home demo is my only recording of this song. It is my unsubtle revenge on the landlord who swindled me out of my last penny when I was a twenty-one year old "newly-wed". It was later recorded for a solo single by Rockpile's Billy Bremner. "THE WORLD AND HIS WIFE" and "EVERYDAY I WRITE THE BOOK": "live" recordings of these songs as they were originally composed. | "SHATTERPROOF"? This 4-track home demo is my only recording of this song. It is my unsubtle revenge on the landlord who swindled me out of my last penny when I was a twenty-one year old "newly-wed". It was later recorded for a solo single by Rockpile's Billy Bremner. "THE WORLD AND HIS WIFE" and "EVERYDAY I WRITE THE BOOK": "live" recordings of these songs as they were originally composed. |
Revision as of 22:09, 27 February 2021
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