A Leased Line to the Collective Unconscious

Wow!

The Gingers have landed a gig - on a rooftop in Covent Garden. We’re going to be playing to around 80 people, most of whom haven’t heard us before, so it’s going to be a hell of a show. We’ve also lost our drummer, Grant, for the day because he’s the best man at his best mates wedding, so James Cope is filling in for us.

We’ve got one more rehearsal before Friday…

Read this and then quit your job!

I found this on the internet about a decade ago - someone had OCR’d it in from the original book by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. It sat around on an old floppy in a dusty cupboard for a few years until I stumbled over it again the other week.

I re-read it and was really surprised at just how well-written it was. Clear, incisive commentary on the British music industry circa 1988, funny anecdotes about the rocky road to success and just what it takes to walk it. The “Golden Rules” section is pure magic.

Anyway, I decided that it’s no good keeping it to myself and - in the true spirit of the Kopyright Liberation Front* - I’m gonna share it with the rest of the world. It’s too good to hide away…

get it here (right-click to save the file)

Wow! what a night and what a great line-up: couple of acoustic artists, The Gingers, Bloutered! and National Snack.

I took to National Snack straight away, ‘cos their bassist kept dropping Cure basslines in the sound check (always a good sign if you ask me!) and they were great - really lively and entertaining.

The highlight for me was always going to be our performance - we’ve been looking forward to this one for a while, ever since we found out it was the Clash’s old stomping ground - and it didn’t let us down. Just turning up in Camden was eye-opening, so many people and so much life around.

We had a fantastic turnout - 38 people came to see us, all of them good friends - even my lil Sis came along with her fella and that made the show even more special. Playing to this crowd packed into a great pub and having people smiling and dancing in front of the stage was the best feeling ever. I loved every minute of it - I’d play the gig over again right now if someone put a bass in my hands and said “get on with it”.

On to the next one…