Rich

A couple of wonderful songs from Fish. This lovely piece from his first solo album, with an orchestral arrangement so beautiful it brings a tear to my eye: And then there's this, later piece. Deals with the gradual loss of a loved one to dementia. Mascara warning:

The first time I really noticed the bass was at a concert at the Albert Hall when I was 7 or 8 or so. I distinctly remember pointing at the bassist and telling my mum that I could feel what 'that man with the guitar' was playing, making my tummy flutter. If memory serves correctly, it was a sunburst Fender of some sort. From that moment on, my ears instantly homed in on the bass whenever I listened to music. When ska hit in 1979, I wanted to be Horace Panter -- he was the Specials for me. And when a bunch of us in the 6th form decided to form a band, there was only really one choice for me. First influences were Horace, Dave Steele of The Beat, then Tony Butler of Big Country. And then one night, I saw Mark King on the telly and he quite literally changed my life.

Typical... So often the way, nobody's interested until you finally say "ah sod ya then", and it's only when you're walking away that they bother asking for your input. If I had a tenner etc.

Not for me, it's not. ANDAAAAAAYEEEEAAAA WILLALLWAAYS LUVYOOOOOO, oh spare me please. The way the acrobatic OOOOOOs drift in and out of tune is like fingernails down a blackboard. Give me Dolly's original any day.

Big Seven - Judge Dread

Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull

Ditto. CAR with matching headstock please.

Cigarettes and Alcohol - Oasisn't

I wouldn't hold your breath, it's been over 4 years since he even stuck his head round the door.

This, entirely. We've binned songs that we'd worked hard on and quite liked, because they were floor-emptiers. Conversely, Mustang Sally is absurdly popular with the punters but we had to stop playing it was because we'd been doing it for 20 years and it was affecting our mental health 😄😄

Bin him. Enough is enough. It's a baptism, a tremendously important day in those parents' lives, and he couldn't give a sh!t. Get rid, and tell him exactly why.

I Concentrate on You - Cole Porter

Weave Your Spell - Level 42

Xmas ads are all, without exception, awful and cringeworthy.

Hannibal approves.

Yup, thanks for the reassurance chaps. 👍

Here's a thought. Obviously the new pickups are active, and so is the eq. So... will it all work off a single 9v PP3? The installation instructions suggest that 2x9v is preferable in such circumstances, but it doesn't say it's mandatory. Problem being that if I want to go 18v, I will need to do some routing first -- thus making it all a substantially bigger job.

You've never played support for anyone then?

Currently either Spector 4-string or Shuker 5-string into Genz-Benz Shuttle 9.2 into Barefaced Super 12T. Overjoyed with the way it all sounds and in no hurry to change a thing.

Not yet... I need a gap between gigs.

Ska band a variety of t shirts (current favourite is a wild tie-dye I got in Grand Cayman) with a b&w checked shirt on top; either black jeans or patterned shorts depending on time of year; trilby or pork pie hat; b&w checked Vans. Daft party band I have 3 different outfits... 'Peaky Blinder' (grandad shirt, tweed waistcoat, watchchain, bakerboy hat, etc), 'Australian Idiot' (ridiculous Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts, huge boots, hat with dangly corks) and generic US footballer (Dallas Cowboys shirt, white leggings, inflatable helmet). They all look f**king stupid but that's the whole idea.

Woohoo new sonic toys.

I've had an extensive fiddle about with the DIP switches. Still experimenting. They're both Off at the moment but that's sure to change as I keep fiddling.

And so that's what I'm now doing. New 35P4 and 35DC are on their way to me now 😀