Rachel has let me in here, gave me her password! -
Dear Stuart, your story is touching, and you know we've all been there, all had our heroes, our bedsit wall posters; could have been Dylan in graphic frizz; Hendrix, left-handed and cartoonish; Che Guevera; Athena ruled..... but not on the airwaves. On the airwaves we got Motown and Beatles and Led Zep, The Who, The Moodies, and Jethro Tull, Blood, Sweat And Tears and Chicago and more momentous Motown, and Stax and Otis and Carla and Lee Dorsey and The Drifters; and we got record shops on the corner and managers who let us listen first. But sometimes we listened only to stay, to hang about, because we felt in touch, sort of the king bee for a few moments, there, in that place, like the artist would feel up there, at The Free Trade Hall, in his spotlight, away from the real world; away from dreams, but living them. And who could have known, so many years later, half a lifetime, we'd still be connecting: the schoolboy from Prestwich and the Timeless Flight romantic,still looking for the great song, the lyric and tune that together shatter the fabric of a room, until we simply say "enough of searching." Because when the young writer jotted down his own father's unspoken philosophy (failure is on the inside) a light came on. It has never been extinguished. Stranger comes to town. The young writer, the outsider then (red in a yellow sea), may still be the outsider, the "stranger". But, Stuart, the sky is blue across Morecambe Bay, so there is an horizon to reach out for. This writer has never lost the dream. The Timeless Flight you speak of, where the women come and go, speaking of Michelangelo (Eliot), and Papa wanted him to live in his Bull Ring life (my dad), is a bloody road I still travel on. In the new songs you might discover a man at unease with this mediocre world, but at ease with his dreams, his beliefs, and as you probably know, that might just be good enough. Your story is touching. Tell me, are there tracks from the album I should play on tour? And tell me, do you believe for one moment that you are feeling greater anticipation than that lad with the swallow mask on his chest from 1975 where the release of his new album is concerned? I live in a tight, cling-film grip of a world at the moment. Nervous? Yeh. It was written as though a Last Hurrah. And will be played on stage just that way. If you feel a sense of anticipation, spare a thought for an old songsmith, will ya Guv? Your story is touching, and I shall do my best not to let you down. Steve H.
I loved your posting Stewart: I can remember the anticipation of a new Cockney Rebel album back in the 70s when I was younger (in body, if not in heart!!). It's the same anticipation I'm feeling now...........Adults are only children, grown up!!!!!