Trouser Press, September 1977: Difference between revisions
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TP: ''There's a great variety of styles on Get It, though. | TP: ''There's a great variety of styles on Get It, though. | ||
DE: | DE: I think it's believable, that it is one artist. You tell me, I think so, that's what I tried for. I did throw in a few strange ones. "Where or When" was an odd one. I just liked doing it. | ||
TP: '' How come "New York's a Lonely Town" (English B-side of "Where or When") wasn't included? | TP: ''How come "New York's a Lonely Town" (English B-side of "Where or When") wasn't included? | ||
DE: | DE: For that reason. It was getting too messy like the other ones. To put a surfing thing on as well wouldn't have been right. | ||
TP: '' Last time we spoke you said how reluctant you were to put together a band, how you didn't like being on the road. | TP: ''Last time we spoke you said how reluctant you were to put together a band, how you didn't like being on the road. | ||
DE: | DE: I'd have never believed it a year ago if someone told me I'd be doing a four-month tour of the States back on the road. | ||
TP: '' What made you change your mind? | TP: ''What made you change your mind? | ||
DE: | DE: What happened was I signed with Swan Song and I had this album to do and had the time booked and had recorded a few tracks. I was doing nothing apart from that. I knew this album wouldn't take long to do as opposed to the others. It was done in six weeks apart from "Ju Ju Man" which was recorded two years ago and "My Baby Left Me" which was a throwaway thing I'd done about eight years ago. | ||
TP: '' It's astonishing the way you captured Elvis' feel on "My Baby Left Me." | TP: ''It's astonishing the way you captured Elvis' feel on "My Baby Left Me." | ||
DE: | DE: That's what we were doing with Love Sculpture when we came over here. Terry [drummer Terry Williams] was in the band then and it was the same line-up; we recorded "My Baby Left Me" and a few others. Greg Shaw brought them to light. Somehow we found out about them and I was asked questions about them in inter-views. Y'know, "What about these legendary mystery tapes you did?" and so on. So I tried to dig them up, but could only find one, although we actually did four of them. | ||
TP: '' Who actually played on it then, you and Terry? | TP: ''Who actually played on it then, you and Terry? | ||
DE: | DE: And John Williams and Micky Gee from Love Sculpture. | ||
<center>On the Road Again </center> | <center>On the Road Again </center> | ||
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DE: I just wasn't interested, or thought I wasn't anyway. Well, I definitely wasn't interested when I jacked in Love Sculpture —I really didn't want to know. | DE: I just wasn't interested, or thought I wasn't anyway. Well, I definitely wasn't interested when I jacked in Love Sculpture —I really didn't want to know. | ||
TP: '' Do you think of yourself as being a producer? | TP: ''Do you think of yourself as being a producer? | ||
DE: No, never, I never thought that. It was just a question of giving a hand out to a few mates in the studio if they wanted me to do it. If they want to call me "producer," great. And give me two percent, lovely. But it was just that I do the engineering and act as a go-between, between the equipment and the band. I throw in a few suggestions but I couldn't be a producer as such, sitting next to the engineer and telling the group what to do, what songs they could do and what they can't do and all that. I couldn't do that. | DE: No, never, I never thought that. It was just a question of giving a hand out to a few mates in the studio if they wanted me to do it. If they want to call me "producer," great. And give me two percent, lovely. But it was just that I do the engineering and act as a go-between, between the equipment and the band. I throw in a few suggestions but I couldn't be a producer as such, sitting next to the engineer and telling the group what to do, what songs they could do and what they can't do and all that. I couldn't do that. | ||
Birth of a Songwriter | Birth of a Songwriter | ||
TP: '' Do you write at all on your own? | TP: ''Do you write at all on your own? | ||
DE: I've got one on Get It, but apart from that I hope to do more in the future. | DE: I've got one on Get It, but apart from that I hope to do more in the future. | ||
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DE: I first knew him when the Brinsleys came up to Rockfield to do a couple of albums, but we became good friends when I produced New Favourites for them. | DE: I first knew him when the Brinsleys came up to Rockfield to do a couple of albums, but we became good friends when I produced New Favourites for them. | ||
TP: '' Do you write with him often? | TP: ''Do you write with him often? | ||
DE: Well, I'd never written a song before. I was convinced I couldn't write songs, because of a few abortive attempts and Love Sculpture B-sides which were all miserable. Then I moved to London, which was a great idea because I realized I'd been completely out of touch. I'd been in Wales | DE: Well, I'd never written a song before. I was convinced I couldn't write songs, because of a few abortive attempts and Love Sculpture B-sides which were all miserable. Then I moved to London, which was a great idea because I realized I'd been completely out of touch. I'd been in Wales for five years, taken too many quaaludes and too much speed and the only musicians I met were people who used to come down to the studio. Seeing bands play, getting into what's going on and watching Nick write songs spurred me on. He used to come up to my flat and write and I'd say, "Why don't you try this chord here." He admitted later that he was thinking, "Who's this guy telling me how to write my songs?" Then he agreed that some of the times it worked out. That's how "Little Darling" came about and "Here Comes the Weekend." With "Little Darling" he did all the lyrics and I just changed the chords and tune about and arranged it. It was just two verses and a middle eight he dreamed up and strummed out to me. I had a go at it and he said, "Well, you've completely changed it, you may as well have half of it." All of a sudden I felt like a songwriter. My ego was starting to increase; I had lift-off, right? Then one night we were in the Nashville watching Graham Parker and I asked Nick if he had any songs and he said, "There hasn't been a song about the weekend since Eddie Cochran [obviously unaware of the Dictators' epic — ed. ], let's do one. Next thing I knew we were scribbling away on a cigarette packet in the dressing room. After about 10 minutes we had it done. So now I thought, "What a fucking good song... and I contributed over half." Well, my ego was being fed even more. By now I was fired and ready to go. One night at the pub I told Nick this great idea I had for a country and western song based on a line I got from a Bob Hope movie. Someone wanted some money from Bob in the film and he said, "My suits are worn out, but my pockets are brand new." Nick looked at me and didn't know what I was talking about, he later admitted. He really thought I was onto a turkey. So I just carried on and did the whole song myself. | ||
TP: ''So now you're a songwriter. | |||
DE: Yeah. That's why I was very dis-appointed when "Here Comes the Week-end" wasn't a big hit. It came so close. A Bunch of Stiffs | |||
TP: ''Where did the "Jo Jo Gunne" track come from? | |||
DE: That was another joke, really. It was done about 1970. I was just messing around with phasing and using all the effects I could find. In fact it was only phasing and echo at that time. | |||
TP: ''Who was on that one? | |||
DE: Just me. | |||
TP: ''Who are Wreckless Eric and Elvis Costello? | |||
DE: Elvis is Elvis. His real name is Dec—don't know what that's short for. It's him in the picture. | |||
TP: ''And Wreckless Eric is a real person? | |||
'' | DE: Yep. A little guy about 5'2". He walked into Stiff one day and went up to the receptionist and said, "I'm one of those idiots who walks into record companies and wants to make a record." All rehearsed. She told him to see Jake, so he goes over and says, "I'm one of those idiots who walks into record companies and wants to make a record." Nick was there and there was something, Nick being the oddball that he is, that he loved about it; perhaps it was a certain bit of bad taste. So he asked to hear the tape and we loved it. | ||
TP: ''Tell us about "Food Rock" and the Takeaways. | |||
DE: It was just a one off, though there's another cut we did called "Let's Eat," it's better than "Food." Nick sings on it. | |||
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{{Bibliography notes header}} | {{Bibliography notes header}} |
Revision as of 02:29, 27 June 2013
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