Norman
Ricky is a song I introduce at gigs as ‘a collaboration with two other writers, neither of whom know they’ve collaborated with me on it’. The first was Jacques Brel (1929-1978 see Jacques Brel on Wikipedia). He called it Jacky (or Le Chanson de Jacky) and in it he imagines himself growing old as a … Read more
Some time ago I posted about my quest to create an online presence for the late Di Williams, a songwriter whose work I love and who seemed to be resigned to obscurity. Well that site is now up. Through various friends I’ve managed to track down some people who knew her, and even a photo. … Read more
Having decided not to do my annual Acoustic Music Centre show this year, and focus efforts on the recording of the Heaven Sent album, I thought I wouldn’t be part of the Festival at all. But I’ve been kindly invited to a few stages during the Festival, both solo and with the band. So here … Read more
This is the start of a quest. In the mid-1980s I was living in Manchester. During this time I got to know a singer called Di Williams. She first came along to a folk club I ran with Lynne Percival at the Lamplight Club in Chorlton. She seemed a slightly eccentric figure, in charity shop clothes … Read more
A few weeks ago I watched a video on Taxi TV where Chuck Henry, a musician living in California, showed how he makes a living building hip hop and dance tracks, not for the charts, but for TV and films. They’re called ‘cues’ and you’ve heard them in the background of scenes – when someone … Read more
I’ve written some sad songs in my time, but this must be the saddest. It’s a sprawling 7.5 minutes. The theme song, the bit about the spell that opens and closes the song, reflects on how youth feels invulnerable, invincible, even if you know it’s not forever – ‘safe for the moment’. It bookends some half-told … Read more