…to quote another famous song!

The full EP ‘Blue Dansette‘ is out today on London Songwriters Recordings!

The EP tells a musical story from 60s pop (Blue Dansette) through to 80s Rock (Whiskey A-Go-Go) via 70s New Wave Punk (Summer’s Day!) with a Beatles pastiche in there too (Tell Me It’s You).

All accompanied by an ongoing Autoblography.

Bandcamp Friday is a good day to support independent artists!

music.murraywebstersongs.com

In my previous blog Something In The Air I spoke about walking to school across Blackheath in London and listening to songs on the radio in 1969.

Another song I remember vividly is In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry which was actually released in 1970 but my song Blue Dansette didn’t make it clear in its draft version.

In one of my last music world networking engagements before the 2020 Covid lockdown I was talking to DJ and Quiz Host Larry Foster about the song. He immediately corrected the year, so I knew I had to change it. Eventually, the line became ‘A new decade arrived In The Summertime glare’ which was tricky to fit into the melody but it worked fine in the end (Verses can be more forgiving than Choruses when fitting in rhythmic Lyric variations).

I met Ray Dorset from Mungo Jerry in 2015 in the now defunkt Alleycat venue in Denmark St. I was able to thank him personally for the pleasure his song gave me in my formative years and that goes for countless others too.

I’ll blog more about the 60s but the next single from the EP is the punky 1970s Summer’s Day (Radio Edit) which is available as a free download on Bandcamp. There is an extended version on the EP too.

The song Blue Dansette and this blog entry are dedicated to Larry Foster, universally known as one of the nicest guys you could wish to meet. He sadly succumbed to Covid in the Spring of 2020 and is sorely missed.

Do Wah Diddy by Manfred Mann was released in July 1964 and was No. 1 for 2 weeks in the UK. It was one of the first LPs I was ever given, Mann Made Hits. 

With only two LPs in my possession initially it got an awful lot of plays and embedded a melodic pop sensibility inside my head from a very early age.

Sometimes these influences come out subconsciously many many years later.

The single Blue Dansette is released on Bandcamp tomorrow 30th July 2021!

In 1964 when Beatlemania was at its absolute height my mum figured she should see what all the fuss was about in a live concert setting. She applied for tickets, thinking there was no chance, but to her surprise received 6 of them. So, I got to see The Beatles live!

Apart from my mum, my best friend Peter’s older sister Barbara went too and screamed with the best of them. Sadly Peter was at home with the measles.

The band were due to play at The Hammersmith Odeon for a second annual series of Christmas shows from 24th December through to the 16th January 1965.

‘The guest performers including Freddie And The Dreamers, Sounds Incorporated, Elkie Brooks, The Yardbirds, Michael Haslam, The Mike Cotton Sound and Ray Fell.

The Beatles appeared in sketches, one with Freddie Garrity of Freddie And The Dreamers. They closed the shows with an 11-song set: Twist And Shout, I’m A Loser, Baby’s In Black, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Honey Don’t, I Feel Fine, She’s A Woman, A Hard Day’s Night, Rock And Roll Music and Long Tall Sally.’

I’d like to say I remember them vividly but the teenage girls standing up and screaming meant that I ‘couldn’t see or hear for all the screaming beehives’ as my song Blue Dansette says. Likewise for most who ever saw the Beatles it seems and they couldn’t hear themselves play either. I have always had a more vivid recollection of Freddie and The Dreamers!

PS At least two musician mates attended the same series of concerts, namely Dzal Martin and David Stark of the tribute band The Trembling Wilburys – David has written a great book about his Beatles encounters over the years called It’s All Too Much