Players Please Dave Western-Londoner and Artist-Artist and Londoner.

PlayArn Player #2

Players Please.

Second edition of my wayward podcast. Available only at Mixcloud.

This time its artist Dave Western. An artist and a Londoner. A Londoner and an artist.

Here is a link to Daves' website.

We talk about 80s London, musical London and eternal London.

Dave worked on this book on THE HEATHWALL a secret river below Battersea. 

There was also this beautifully illustrated book on Londons lost river, THE EFFRA.

And this book on a bike ride from gallows site to gallows site in South London, Death On the Brighton Road.

Dave did record sleeves for us in the vinyl era. When we first started up Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes around 1987 or so and put out two 12"eps and two albums with Fire Records.

 

 

 

We also touch on a night in 1984 at the FRIDGE in Brixton when the Moodists played but their opening act was Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds playing their first ever show.

 

 

Dave Western supplied all these images of his artwork.  Please respect his work and if youre going to share them, credit him.

 

From WORKSHY ... "

One night we got a call that there was studio time the next day at a place in Waterloo called Alaska. We rang around everybody in the band, some being out on the turps at a gig, and got to the studio in some sort of shape the next day. Despite its name, Alaska was a hideously hot and airless underground bunker. It was a bit of a shock to us after our last experience at the much more spacious Livingston Studios in Wood Green. We made show and put down three tracks. Mick Harvey came in to play some piano. The heat played havoc with the tuning so it had an authentic saloon-bar wonkiness to it...."

 

 and...."  Like Malcolm Ross, Chris Carr had been brought up in East Africa. Chris is still working in London. In that vast combine of industry, money and real estate. In the digital era, he meets people face to face and talks with them and brings things to his own tempo. We had met Chris through the Birthday Party and he had been connected, by marriage , to Chris Bailey from the Saints. He still works with Chris Bailey. Yes, old school.

We also had a great ally in an artist called Dave Western, who we met through Chris. A wonderful, modern-day William Blake figure who knows London like an intense palimpsest image and has arcane pre-digital skills in art, photography and illustration. Also a rock’n’roll cultured geezer who operates far from any sort of academy. We’d sit with people like this, blowing off smoke and alcohol fumes in a Soho pub, also joined by a record producer called Phil Vinall. We’d work with Phil on our first two albums and Dave would provide the artwork..."

 

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 We touch upon these characters in the conversation.

Players Please - a podcast for those who know

I had the idea to do a podcast, though I don't know much about that world. I only ever listen to one regularly and that is Tony Martin's SIZZLETOWN. I do like some of them when I hear them but mostly I have just never gotten into the habit. Its the nature of time for me. I never feel I have enough and podcasts seem to be for people who have extra time up their sleeves to catch up on stuff. I must be doing it wrong. 

I don't really want to take over the world with my version of the form. I am not bothered if its on itunes or spotify so for the moment I am just putting it onto Mixcloud. Its just for those in the know. Players. Its called PLAYERS PLEASE and the first talk I had was with old friend and long time inspiration Peter Milton Walsh aka THE APARTMENTS.

This is how I wrote about Milton Walsh in WORKSHY.

"Someone who helped us negotiate this period of disintegration and regeneration – well, helped me, as much as anything – was Peter Milton Walsh, the gold-toothed enigma from Brisbane whom we had first met in Sydney in his band Out of Nowhere and then in Melbourne, when he’d been playing in the Laughing Clowns. He had revived a late-70s band name he had operated under called the Apartments and had released an album on Rough Trade.

Peter was a great signal or anchor point for me. I learned poise and attitude from him. He encouraged me in areas where he’d seen I’d said or suggested something in a casual way that stayed with him. It can be powerful when somebody you respect and admire cheers you on or points out a quality in your work or general shape in the world that you weren’t aware of. They give you the direction to accentuate some sort of limp or speech impediment if it’s working for you. You take heed of advice from players you rate.

Peter had this rare pop sensibility amongst a bunch of people obsessed with post-punk self-righteousness and striving for authenticity. He had his own brew he’d cooked up himself. Like Kim Salmon and James Baker, an original gangster. The French tuned into his work from the get-go and have continued to sustain him. He was always reaching for notes and epic feels that were hard to get. He got it more often than not.

Peter’s lyrics were hard-boiled and his choruses were epic. He found it hard to hold a band together but kept operating under a band name. He would disappear for years and then come back into view with his story darker and deeper. He’d left the Brisbane scene for New York and then left that for Sydney and then London. Paris took him in and eventually he headed back to Sydney. He took risks by just walking away.

He taught me a major seventh chord one day that I ran with perhaps way too much and wrote a hundred songs around. It had an open voicing that made it hypnotic to return my hands to and easy to sing against. E was my note – I made it so. The open strings. You could whomp it. He was either showing me one of his songs or a Walker Brothers tune. He played guitar with us at a couple of Moodists gigs. No bass, just Peter, me, Clare Moore and Steve Miller."

The Apartments have a new album out at the moment  called IN AND OUT OF THE LIGHT and you can access that and all their (his) other work via their homepage. 

Clare Moore contributed some vibes to this song from the new Apartments album. 

We have some Stage It shows coming up. Melbourne is easing restrictions but I am still shy of shows out in the world and who knowswhen they will be up and running. We will continue our Thursday night 8pm AEST shows each week and our Saturday night (Northern Hemisphere) - Sunday morning shows every forrtnight.

Our next show is Thursday November 26th.

Then its Thursday December 3rd. (Our 50th Stage It gig)

And Saturday night Dec 5th/Sunday morning Dec 6th.

Stay well and safe everybody!

Top Three Towns Podcast and Stage It Shows continuing.

 I did a podcast with Philby J and Nick Vulture on "top three regional towns". I presumed it meant Australian towns and so thats what I talked about. We all had three to talk about.

Melbourne is coming out of a three month lockdown. We couldn't go further than 5k's from our houses or be outside for more than an hour to exercize each day and masks are still mandatory. Clare and I haven't been far from our house since the beginning of March so it wasn't that much of a strain. We also were already wearing masks if we went to the shop and will continue to do so for a while. 

It went from a peak of 725 or so in July/August to twelve straight days in a  row to today with zero infections. The state government did it all, with the Feds, the media and the opposition all hanging off of them trying to drag them down all the way.

I've been reading books I've bought over the years and could continue that for a while though I do miss rummaging about in secondhand bookshops.

I've been trying to read a bit more French language texts and also got into the collected letters of Paul Bowles.

 Every Tuesday I've been presenting a radio show on Triple R from 12-2pm. Its called BLB and I've been doing it via Skype with Andrew Delaney working the panel in the studio. I used to drag in  a lot of vinyl to play but I've become obsessed with music released in 2020. I have been endeavouring to use Bandcamp as opposed to Spotify. Bandcamp is the "antispotify".

 You can listen back to a recent show here.

  We have also continued to do our Stage It shows. We also did a private zoom party for some people in Myanmar. Getting used to different platforms for streaming has been an education

For our Stage It shows we first discovered you need Broadband and then an external camera and the an external audiointerface. We have had our NBN BRoadband serviced at the node after a dropout and feel its all pretty smooth now. Though the area is full of variables. Peoples browsers and the internet traffic - which has been heavy with everybody being at home.

Our next show is Thursday November 26th at 8pm AEDT and here is a link.  

Then Thursday Dec 3rd  8pm AEDT .

Then there is Sunday December 6th (Australian time ) when Clare Moore and I play a live streaming set at 8am AEDT which is Saturday December 5th 1pm in Los Angeles, 3 pm in Chicago, 4pm in New York and 9pm in the UK. Tickets link here. (We do a set every second weekend for our mates in the Northern hemisphere).

 People all over the world are booking live shows in 2021 and beyond but I am not so sure yet. This is going to be it for a good while and I have been really enjoying it. 

Here is a rough list of the 115 or so songs of mine we have played. 

 

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (2000)

Song Of Life (2019)

Where Did All the Freaks Go? (2019)

Be Sad For Me (2017)

Anchors Aweigh (2001)

Everybody Loves A Mass Killer (1997)

The Devil Drives (1997)

Drugs Are Wasted On The Young (2000)

Tuning Up (2020)

Mt Gambier Night (2012)

Answering Machine (2019)

The Brother Who Lived (2003)

Twilight Of A Villain (2003)

The Stuff That Night Is Made Of (2000)

Vengeance Is On It's Way (2000)

Night Of The Wolverine (1993)

I Need Some Scratch (2000)

A Woman Skinnies A Man Up (2014)

Midnight To Dawn (2003)

Chads Car (1981)

All Our Friends Were Stars (2003)

Everybodys Gone (2005)

A Man On The Make (1997)

Comrade Of Pop (2019)

My Schtick Weighs A Ton (2005)

Where's My Buzz? (2019)

Apollo 69 (1995)

The Birds And The Goats (1995)

Lifes a Dream (2012)

Bodysnatcher Blues (2009)

Baby I Wish I'd Been A Better Pop Star (2019)

Hell Is You, Babe (2019)

You've Been In My Mind (2019)

I Wanna Get Lost Again (2005)

Sometimes You can See Yourself (2005)

I Will Always Hate You (2001)

I Will Have Always Been Here Before (2001)

Ruperts Pets Grave (2017)

Are You Out Of Your Mind? (2017)

Your Masters Must Be Pleased With You (1999)

Lets Live Properly (2005)

We Don't Belong To Anybody (2011)

You Need To Suffer (1993)

We Need A Champion (2012)

You're All Wrong (2019)

Saturday Night Bath (2005)

Everything Was Legendary With Robert (2014)

Have You Heard About The Melbourne Mafia? (2000)

You Put A Spell On Me (2000)

Finally I Come Clean (2019)

Blues Negative (2012)

They Wanted To Be Players (1999)

I'm A Comander (1999)

Lt Colonel Cavalry (1999)

Only The Stoned (2005)

Am I Wearing Something Of Yours? (1999)

That's Frankies Negative (1984)

Ultrakeef (2019)

The Stars, Baby, The Stars (1994)

Eye O' The Vibe (2001)

Where The Trees Walk Downhill (1980)

Clinging To the Coast (2001)

You Need A Kleek, Klook (2017)

I Ain't Hi Vis (2017)

Are We Goin' Too Fast For Love? (2001)

Playin' Chicken (2012)

I Need To Be Hot (2017)

Matey, From On High (2017)

I'm Not Just Any Nobody (2019)

Flash In The Pantz (2012)

This Is the Deadest Place I've Ever Died In (2017)

You Can't Have Your Boogie (2019

I Don't Know Anything (2001)

Runaway (1983)
2068 Babe (2009
Dylan the Indie fake (2009)

I Need My Guitar (2009)
Country Roads, Unwinding (2014)

Je est Un Autre (2014)

I Dig The Pioneers (1997)
the Greatest Show In Town (1988)

Biker In Business Class (1997)
Son Of Maggie Mae (2001)
Where's My Buzz (2019)
Flower Of The Earth (2014)
I Like To Be Haunted (2009)
You Had To Be Drunk (2009)
The Sheriff Of Hell (two different versions) (1997-9)
Pianola Roll (1997)
I Know You Can't See Me (2014)

Land Of The Giants (1997)
Field Record Me (1997)
Midnights Cats (2012)
I'm In The Future Now (2007)
The Pre Revolutionary Scene (1995)
Imagine If What You Did On Your Weekend Was Your Life (1994)
Oakleigh Bowie Blues (2010)
Mr Bad Luck (2005)
King Of The Dudes (2012)
Mogambo (1993)
Rock n Roll Is Where I Hide (1995)
The Birds And The Goats (1995)
I’m Not Afraid To Be Heavy (1995)
I’m Gonna Live In My Own Big World (1995)
You Wanna Be Loved (1994)
I'm The Stranger In Town (2014)
I Been Trendy (2017)
I Don't Wanna Go Bush (2011)
Ther He Goes With His Eye Out (2005)
Old Friends (2019)

New instrumental pieces..

Beckett And Joyce
Diaghelev and Nijinsky
Teardrop Weirdo

 

And we have done these 35 songs by other artists...

 

My Foolish Heart (Bill Evans - John McGlaughlin - Billy Eckstine and many others)

Theme From Midnight Cowboy (John Barry)

Everybody's talkin' (Fred Neil)

Time Waits For No One (Rolling Stones)

High Coin (Van Dyke Parks - Charlatans- Jackie De Shannon)

We May Never Love Like This Again (Maureen McGovern)

Clang Of The Yankee Reaper (Van Dyke Parks)

Diamonds Fur Coat Champagne (Suicide)

Lowdown (Boz Scaggs)

Hyacinth House (Doors)

So You Wanna Be A Rock N Roll Star (Byrds)

Baby I'm A Want You (Bread)

Walkin' On The Water (John Fogerty- Richard Hell)

Walk On Water (Kevin Ayers)

Alabama Bound (Charlatans)

In A Misty Morning (Gene Clark)

1-2-3 (The Len Barry Combo)

Midnight Rider (Allman Brothers)

Taboo (Arthur Lyman - Martin Denny)

Black Stick (The Cruel Sea)

You're Gonna Miss Me (Thirteenth Floor Elevators)

The Dolphins (Fred Neil - Tim Buckley)

Sweet Surrender (Tim Buckley)
Parchman Farm (Mose Allison)
Ex Lion Tamer (Wire)
Arnold Layne (Pink Floyd)

Codine (Buffy Saint Marie)
Showbusiness (AC/DC)
Alone Again Or (Love)
Live and let Live (Love)
Dropout (Urge Overkill)
Empty Shell (Subway Sect)
Bless the Weather (John Martyn)
Dive For Your Memory ( Go Betweens)
Who Of Us two? (M)

 We are slowly putting down some new material , beginning with our instrumentals, and should have that stuff coming out in 2021.

In the meantime we are almost finished Dave Graney and the mistLY LYVE AT BYRDS which we recorded at  a jazz club in Melbourne in late 2019. Its a real rock'n'roll set.

What am I looking forward to? I would love to go for a drive in the country and also need some white  turtle neck jumpers or skivvies . Maybe a leisure suit as well.