Songwriter / music industry
A relaxing weekend thanks to a short trip to Jersey with Julie and Ben. We stayed at the Radisson Blu on the harbour in St Helier, which turned out to be a superb hotel with attentive staff, stunning views from our room across the bay, and ideal facilities by the way of its fitness suite and a pool.
Filmed in August by Greg Fitzgerald, the introductory promo video for Waterloo Sunrise is now available on YouTube. This features brief snatches of four of the songs from the album, which accompany my outline of the aims and ideas behind the project. The vinyl edition of the collection is currently in manufacture and news of its release will follow very soon. In the meantime, you can view the lyrics from all the songs on this site.
A rewarding twenty-four hours in Brighton courtesy of an invitation from the TUC Comms team to attend this year’s Congress and specifically the Monday night Dinner at the Grand Hotel, which brings together the current and former top brass of the organisation plus major names from the Labour Party.
A wonderful afternoon at Ascot as we celebrated Julie’s turning 60 at the Ascot racecourse. Dinner in the On5 restaurant was delightful and our thanks to all the staff who made the hours fly by. A further highlight of the day was the opportunity to visit the parade ring with former jockey Conor Shoemark and see a number of thoroughbreds at close quarters.
An engaging evening in Stratford as highly-respected saxophonist Snake Davis played one of the opening gigs at the new jazz restaurant, Soul Mama. Snake and his four-piece line-up delivered a selection of classic British sax numbers, including Baker Street, plus Stateside standards such as Aretha’s Respect and PP Arnold’s I can’t stand the rain.
I caught the train to London Bridge this morning for a few hours in my old stomping ground, with the principal aim of visiting the MU HQ at ‘Arthur’s Mission’ and to attend the London Regional AGM in the company of members and officials. It was certainly interesting to hear from Organiser Jamie Pullman and his colleagues Graham, Simeon and Helen, as to their wide-reaching and valuable work undertaken on behalf of employed and freelance musicians.
Jazz singer and business mentor Sarah Eyden hosted her first networking session this afternoon, at Brown’s, St Martin’s Lane. A valuable opportunity to meet aspiring musicians and small business entrepeneurs. My thanks to Sarah and everyone I met, especially David Brooks, perhaps best known for playing keyboards with Gary Numan.
I could be found at the Oval today, courtesy of a Taverners’ event in the India Room, to enjoy both the venue’s excellent hospitality and a County Championship match between Surrey and Lancashire.
I met with Greg Fitzgerald and Mark Batchelor at Waterloo today, as we prepared footage for a promo video for the new album. Locations included Roupell Street, Lower Marsh market, Leake Street, the steps at the Station, the garden of St John’s Church and the Southbank.
I visited Pony Studios in Hackney this afternoon at the kind invitation of Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey to attend the recording of an anthem for the women of Afghanistan by UK based Hazara singer/songwriter, Elaha Soroor.
A highly enjoyable day at John Thirkell’s studio in Buckinghamshire, as we collectively checked out both his superb contributions to the Waterloo Sunrise album and the collection as a whole.
A productive day in Richmond and Kingston as I dropped into photographer Jonathan Stewart’s office and Prinststore’s premises to collate and formally approve the gallery of images for the Waterloo Sunrise project.
A weekend in the south coast sunshine as Julie, Ben, Lisa and I travelled down to Christchurch for my sister-in-law’s 60th birthday celebration at the local Sailing Club. A pleasure to join the gathering of the clan, included my brother Ken and his lovely wife, birthday girl Debz; my sister Janet and her husband of nearly fifty years, Frank; my niece Katherine, my nephew Steve, his wife Trish, and their daughter Beckie.
During a visit to the West End this afternoon I walked the length of Marylebone High Street, stopping off at several of the areaâs independent boutique outlets. I heartily recommend this corner of the city, just yards away from the mainstream bustle of Oxford Street.
An invigorating night at the IET London, Savoy Place, WC2, courtesy of UK Music and their annual summer party. So many from the music industry and politics were on hand to network and hear speeches from UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl, UK Music Chair Tom Watson, Culture Minister Chris Bryant and award-winning songwriter Michelle Escoffery.
A marvellous evening at the Phoenix Arts Club following an introduction to the captivating music business event that is Quizwar! Definitely for lovers of a madcap approach to testing your knowledge of pop, rock, and industry insider information. Let alone daring to meet the challenges of the lyric karaoke, Japanese horse racing, and wheel of fortune rounds.
A proud moment last night as Ben received a special presentation from the Mayor of Croydon. 15 cadets from across the Borough and the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and St Johnsâ Ambulance, had been selected for the Greater London Cadet/Young People Awards.
Class hit songwriter and musician Graham Gouldman performed in Beckenham last night as part of the annual “Arts at St George’s Festival.” Graham, accompanied by an excellent acoustic trio of Iain Hornal and Keith Hayman, and Dave Cobby, delivered a marvellous set of hits including songs he had written for the Yardbirds (Heart full of soul, For your love), The Hollies (Bus stop, Look through any window), and Herman’s Hermits (No milk today).
I travelled into town today for lunch at St Pancras with one of my oldest friends, Chris Lawson. I have known Chris since we met at our first day at North London Poly in Holloway Road in September 1977. Having not seen him for some years, it was a pleasure to hear of his respected work in photography and training horses, plus to remind ourselves of our previous adventures sharing flats in the 1970s and 80s!
I enjoyed a very pleasant few hours at Cherry Lodge Golf Club in Biggin Hill, as members gathered for the combined Clare Yonge Memorial Golf and Beckenham Sports Club Days. Over fifty players and members of Clare’s family ensured a moving memorial event to our former President and the sun suitably shone throughout the day.
Waterloo Sunrise (theme)