Roger Dean interview: 2002

I've just stumbled across this posted on a Yes fansite: It's the interview that I did with that lovely Roger Dean in 2002 around the release (and subsequent withdrawal from sale) of a DVD about the artist called Views (natch). It was done for the BBC Music site when it was still held together by string.

Dean was utterly charming, still obviously passionate about his work and with an infectious enthusiasm. He was accompanied by his daughter, Freya, who is possibly the best-behaved child I've ever met (and obviously no longer a child).

My questions were obviously those of a not-so-closetted fan. I took my copy of Views (the book) and he signed it. I could die happy.

Anyway I thought I'd share it (albeit as a PDF because it's a bit bloody long); if only because it has a few interesting points. First is the information that it was Dean falling out with Jon Anderson that led to them using Hipgnosis for Going for the One (see my last post). Mind you, that's not that surprising is it? The second is his apparent ire at Rodney Matthews for possible creative copyright issues.

And lastly it makes me happy to read his closing remark about the relationship between commercial art and music: "... if it's wrapped up with care, it can be a gift again; and I think it's about time music became a gift again."

Get the PDF here:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?xumpmizaum05nbx

On Some Faraway Beach

It must be my age, but I've recently become equally entranced and appalled by Desert Island Discs. Colour me 70 years behind the times!

The estimable franchise - set up by godlike Roy Plomley all those years ago (29 January 1942!) - now comes equipped for 21st century nerdy trawling and curation via the internet. The website has a fully searchable database wherein you can stack and slice the stats according to guest name, music chosen and even by luxury items chosen (have a look at how many guests chose drugs or fags). This can lead to literally MINUTES of late night fun and discussion when exploring the peculiar tastes and choices of guests.

I admit to being drawn to the site following Brian Moore's recent turn. Moore is (apparently) a rugby player. Means nothing to me about my life, but how my aged ears pricked up as he chose (somewhat apologetically) a Peter Gabriel-era Genesis track (In The Cage) - from their weightiest double concept album, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. Congnoscenti will know this as the tipping point point for the Charterhouse oiks, where hubris outweighed camaraderie, and the singer left them to their increasing search for chart success.

So when Mr Moore plumped for such a hoary old prog tune I thought some research was in order.

Let's look at the information from a very Jonesisdying perspective. How WAS the most reviled rock genre represented in the listings? How would 15 minute songs in 17/8 about the book of revelations fare on Roy's idyllic, conceptual isle? The answer was (predictably), not so well. Yet there were still some surprises…

Not one Yes track; one King Crimson track (Alice Cooper choosing 21st Century Schizoid Man); Genesis get 5 choices but only two of those are pre-Phil Collins as singer era (David Gower chooses I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - what is it with sportsmen and tricky time signatures?), Jethro Tull get one (Jenny Agutter chose Bouree?!?); no ELP and there's predictably no Van Der Graaf Generator. Mind you (and this is amazing) there IS a Gentle Giant track in there: but it's unsurprisingly chosen by snooker-playing Magma fanboy Steve 'Interesting' Davies. In fact Steve's entire show is just plain weird. He goes for a Christian Vander solo track instead of one by Magma, AND he chooses TWO George Duke tracks. I bet Sue Lawley loved all that…

By extension, Peter Gabriel, the man who sparked off this futile nonsense, gets eight listings, mainly for his political 'masterpiece', Biko or sappy unemployment duet with Kate Bush, Don't Give Up, although uber bloke, Jeremy Clarkson, does go for Solsbury Hill (which, as you all know, chronicles his departure from Genesis). John Cale, in true miserabilist form takes the apocalyptic Here Come The Flood. Oh, and avuncular old Terry Wogan chooses That'll Do - from the soundtrack of Babe 2: Pig In The City. Well, the allegorical tale of a small pig, lost in an urban jungle doesn't sound a million miles from a prog rock concept, does it?

Proto-prog and art rock is, definitely better served. Ladies seem to love the Moody Blues, with both songstress Clodagh Rogers and football-loving chef Delia Smith going for the Brum-based mellotron-botherers. But only irksome Chris Tarrant chooses the predictable Nights In White Satin. Respect to the girls! Procol Harum get on the list five times (including Oswald Moseley's wife), but only 'crossword compiler' John Graham dares to choose something other than you-know-what. And it's Homburg, not something off Exotic Birds and Fruit. Pah…

With our legacy acts reaching (or outstripping) retirement age, these days it's not surprising that both the bassist and guitarist from Pink Floyd have been on the show by now. But as for the other guests choosing their work? It's all mainly DSOTM, Wish You Were Here or (urgh) Wall tracks in the 25 listed. Only Desmond Morris and explorer Christina Dodwell break ranks, with Morris taking Syd Barrett's masterful Interstellar Overdrive and Dodwell the eery One Of These Days. Meanwhile flautist James Galway gets bonus points for settling for the whole first side of Atom Heart Mother. Logic tells me that this is because he possibly played on it. I can't think of any other reason that anyone would choose that.

The Velvets? Six time choosees: one of those by the aforementioned Cale. Roxy Music? Eight choices with only George Michael choosing Eno-era stuff (Do The Strand), and Brian Eno (who guested himself in 2008) amazingly has only been chosen once (by Superman actor, Christopher Reeve).

Anyone hoping for a blast of Canterbury scene jazz prog will be sorely disappointed. With no Caravan, Soft Machine or even Henry Cow to leaven the stodge, it's left to Lenny Henry to choose Robert Wyatt's Shipbuilding. I'm not a fan of Henry, but his choices do seem to indicate that he knows and cares for music. Only his choice of Bob Marley seems dull alongside Bootsy, Funkadelic, Prince and Ry Cooder.

And going further - no, there's no krautrock, and let's not even touch on either experimental music or jazz, suffice it to say that there are far more Miles tracks picked than, say, Ornette Coleman.

Oh, and Ian MacMillan's John Cage choice is inspired.

But this is the point: any amount of slicing can be merely made to serve the researcher's own prejudices. Of course there's little of the stuff that moves ME, and of course the choices will seem predictable ie: everyone who chose Massive Attack only went for Unfinished Sympathy. In my geeky excitement I'd lost the point, that music was chosen not just for being GREAT but having significance for the individual. And most individuals have other, more important stuff to be doing with their lives.

In the past the show was primarily filled with classical choices. Go back into the archives before about 1973 and, naturally, the tracks and the castaways all seem to be far too worthy and staid. The establishment did not condone rock 'n' roll and pre-80s almost NO popular musician was a castaway, unless they had gained recognition via the honours list or hung out with aristocracy (which must be why Georgie Fame, of all people, appeared on the show in 1973). This still seems to be the case, hence Phil Collins, Bob Geldof, Paul McCartney… although I'm perplexed as to why, from the Stones, only Charlie Watts has been a guest. Maybe because they knew he'd pick tasteful jazz.

But as I grow older the guests grow more contemporaneous and their choices reflect my own demographic (well, up to a point): and thus I turn into my parents…

But it was (and will remain) a fun game to play, and for this I thank Radio 4. Try it yourself.

Puckish

A heaven and hell proposition is currently available on Radio 3's website: Mendlessohn's music for Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream performed at Middle temple in London. Conducted by Charles Hazlewood. It's a combination of the text and the music which you can watch online.
Heaven, because it's one of my favourite plays combined with some of my favourite music (my Mother used to play it to me as a child).
Hell, because only a blind person would have approved the eyeball searing Lichtenstein/cartoon graphics in which the offering is wrapped.
Treat people like children and they'll act like children. This is NOT the same as 'reaching out to a broader audience' or whatever committee-born half-witted excuse for rationalisation came up with something so ugly.
Still, the music and the performances are exquisite.
Ye spotted snakes etc...

They don't make 'em like that anymore. Pt 578

You know me: can't resist a bit of clever cloggery. Which is why I've already blogged about this bunch. As a teen I dug their smart subversions of pop in singular form. As an adult I finally discovered their four albums (as the original four piece) and was predictably smitten all over again.
But what set them apart was their studio craft just as much as their songwriting chops. Many conversations with the Bass Player about how the band, esconsed in their Strawberry Studios base in Manchester using the STUDIO AS AN INSTRUMENT recently prefigured the sudden synchronistic appearance of this on the BBC. Grab it on the iPlayer while it's hot folks!
It's a delight from start to finish. The combination of Gouldman's early diet of easy listening and fab four, Stewart's love of James Burton and Godley and Creme's art school background as well as a healthy dose of smart Jewish humour made for something that was every inch as clever as Steely Dan, but without the slavish devotion to jazz.
The BBC's Record Producer series, hosted by Richard Allinson, is old school programming that satisfies because it goes one step further than straight biogs by getting a real record producer to run through the original masters, highlighting studio chat and outtakes and pinpointing excactly how the bands got THAT sound. previous triumphs have included one on Britain's very own Phil Spector: Roy Wood!
Anyhoo, listen as the band fluff Donna, use drums that were messed around with by Paul McCartney for a previous session in the studio or decide to invent the Fairlight years before digital technology was available, by using separate tape loops to recreate the chromatic scale and using the mixing desk as the instrument (I'm Not In Love).
Of course, your scribe can't stop there. Unable to stomach the post Godley and Creme years (despite Eric's awesome geetar) I'm drawn to the even-cleverer-cloggier sounds of the aforementioned duo. Be warned folks, it's strong stuff.
Obvious fans of Zappa, vast quantities of weed and Hollywood musicals (weirdly Godley describes 10cc's early hit, The Dean And I as Doris Day meets Frank Zappa), from their triple concept album (featuring Peter Cook AND Sarah Vaughan!), Consequences, to the pop genius of later hits like Cry and Wedding bells, these guys obviously loved to a) tell stories; b) multitrack voices like muthas; c) play with sequencers and d) tell jokes, albeit bleak, dark ones.
Ignoring the dubious joys of involving Andy Mackay etc. it's still an acquired taste. But never, ever boring.
We shall not see their like again.

They wouldn't put up with this in the States y'know...

(Alt. title: The License Fee - The Case Against)
God knows, I'm not one to rock the boat, especially when it may contain the hand that feeds me ;-) BUT my exposure to the first two episodes of Dr Who spin-off, Torchwood, last night did result in me doing my rabid dog impression. Honestly, are there really no half original ideas left in the UK? Obviously not.
Ok, ok I'm probably the worst person to judge such lightweight fare, especially as I've spent all year getting frustrated (which can be a good reaction to evoke in your audience) by Lusht and frankly floored by Battlestar Galactica - both of which are now into their third seasons, more of which later - but even compared with its parent show, which is designed for KIDS, it sucked on many, many levels.
Let's deal with the issue of CHEAPNESS first. Ooh, we're back to FZ again - and as he says: 'i LOVE cheap monster movies, in fact the cheaper the better'. Frankly we KNOW that the BBC's publicly funded budgets don't come close to those of ABC or Fox. The amount spent on an entire series of Torchwood would probably just about pay for Matthew Fox's face coach. But for some reason, the Beeb feels it necessary to try and poorly emulate the things that have long since become the norm for prime time adult Sci Fi in the US. Dr Who's recent resurrection saw perfectly fine CGI work (though clunky by comparison with even something like Lexx) which was leavened by amusing multi-levelled scripts and not-at-all-bad acting (though I don't totally buy the Billie Piper reappraisal. She's still only one level above X Factor stage school scum). Sure, it raised the bar, for a BBC drama, but had it tried to give us anything other than what was, at heart, nothing more than the old skool favourite with a fancier wrapping it would have failed miserably. Torchwood tries to repeat the rather quaint style but, in combining this with its more 'adult' themes, it draws attention to its huge deficiencies rather than letting you say 'bless, it's all just a jolly silly romp innit?'. Despite the fancy HQ set and the flashing lights you found yourself getting annoyed at the rubber antics of the 'Weevil' and the derivative nonsense of a purple alien sex fiend gas which, frankly, could have come from a 1967 episode of Star Trek. Of course, to cap it all, the feeble excuse to film it in Cardiff, of all places, because THE PRODUCTION TEAM IS BASED THERE was laughable. Despite numerous in-jokes to deflect its naffness ('CSI Cardiff, I'd like to see that' etc etc) it remains a deeply unsexy place to base anything, let alone a prime time Sci Fi drama. Oops there go my Welsh readers...
Which brings me on to the 'sex' aspect of Torchwood. A lot has been made of the ambiguous sexuality of the 'team'. How was this demonstrated? Well, by having the obnoxious Owen pick up both a man and a woman in a morally suspect use of alien sex pherenomes; by having the 'human interest' bore, Gwen, get some girl-on-girl action, and by constant references to Captain Jack's love of shagging anything that moves. The really clasy bit was when he snogged the alien sex fiend host/victim, giving her some of his cosmic 'juice' if you will, and then arrogantly proclaimed something like 'imagine what the rest of me's like if you get that from a kiss!'. Pillock.
This is not an 'adyult' depiction of sexuality. The whole charade had the smell of 16-year old boy's bedroom about it. In fact the whole sorry thing was like some adolescent comic fan's version of grown up land. In battlestar galactica recently we've had sex used as a bargaining tool with the enemy, as a desultory cure for the sheer mind-numbing boredom of war and as an allegory for political underhandedness. Now THAT'S entertainment...
The script, containing such gems as 'we're outside the government, outside the UN, outside the police etc etc.' veered wildly between in-jokes, dull ponderings on the gulf between cosmic shenanigans and cozy domesticity and hilariously ponderous declamations on SF gobledegook.
Which brings me on to the acting. Not ONE of the cast can do it. Seriously. Humour, timing, emoting, pathos. these are just a few of the things that Torchwood cannot ever deliver. It's bad enough that Captain Jack is (pointlessly toadying towards US conventions) a yank who looks like Gary Numan without the make up in his sub-goth trenchcoat, but Eve Myles as Gwen takes the biscuit. Here's how she describes herself: "She's a very down-to-earth girl, kind and generous, but extremely ambitious, feisty, intelligent and witty. But she's also very human - she's really the girl next door. Because I'm playing her, I put a lot of me into it and I take a lot of my own characteristics.".
Well, as far as I could tell she brought ALL her characteristics, leaving no room for a character at all. Whingey and devoid of any skills required to kick alien ass, she was crowbarred in to keep it 'real' presumably. Urgh...
As to the plotlines, I shall pass, except to say that anyone who's seen a fraction of TV or cinema from the last 30 years will have guessed the outcomes aeons before they happen.
Here's what (ex) BBC Three boss Stuart Murphy said: "Torchwood is sinister and psychological... as well as being very British and modern and real."
No, it's ill-conceived, ratings-chasing, provincial nonsense....
Meanwhile back at TV heaven we have a Battlestar Galactica which gets bleaker by the second. Cylon mind-fucks, treachery by those we hold dearest and an increasingly damaged crew make this (along with some of the best effects: stylised beyond reason and all the better for it) about the best Sci Fi you'll see this decade. How ironic that while the UK produces TV for adolescents under the guise of 'adult' entertainment, the USA sneaks grown-up TV into a show format that was originally aimed squarely at early teens. I'll be doing a proper round-up later.
As for Lusht. Well, it may quite possibly have jumped the shark, but it still looks great and hangs together far more coherently than Torchwood. Which is some going when you consider their making it up as they go along. Episode One of the new season was dripping with evil, and even Matthew Fox got my sympathy. Way to go Jack! Cry, you sad man! You're NEVER getting the wife back!!!