When Gert's away the gnu will play! Bath/Jane Austen, 30 Odd Years CD & Tour, '79 Now update, Sun Ra, The Olympia Tapes, vids/ pics (inc 4 versions of Blackpool!), quite a bit of Creeping Bent, reviews, recommendations

Pulteney Bridge and Weir, Bath. Why is the weir that shape? Find out HERE: http://www.bath-heritage.co.uk/pulteney_weir.html

Just back from a couple of  Vic/gnu days in Bath and surrounding area and I have to say I wasn't overly impressed. In Bath's mitigation caught it on a bad day - Easter, raining, sewage repairs and road closures, traffic/parking nightmarish and it's sooo expensive - £13.50 to see the Roman Baths, £27 for a Thermae Bath Spa session and The Pump Rooms are a restaurant, I'm sure it all used to be free (then again it used to cost 1p to get into Kew Gardens and it's now £13.50..... and no, not eons ago). Also not a Jane Austen fan, had to study her books at school and have reread a couple since but I have never understood where the feminism angle comes in, vaguely waspish social comment on the  middle classes and in-breds certainly but not exactly groundbreaking. The Austen* heroines come across as unremittingly feeble and let the side down, in my humble opinion, particularly irritating is Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey, which is set in Bath. (I suddenly just had a flashback to university and essays with the word 'polemic' scrawled across them!) http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50398.Northanger_Abbey

Was impressed by Bath Abbey, particularly the stained glass windows and ceilings but do wonder at the cheek of Church properties that lay it on thick about donations for the upkeep, hello, not a museum/art gallery or state owned and I thought the church were meant to be encouraging people through the doors, not guilting them in to paying for the dubious privilege? Also a tad cynical that the only way out is through the gift shop.

We did find a couple of interesting free art galleries/museums to mooch around whilst sheltering from the rain - The Victoria Art Gallery, very small, only took about 15-20 minutes to wander around but a couple of interesting finds - http://www.victoriagal.org.uk/default.aspx  and The Holbourne Museum, a gem and fortuitously was showing an exhibition of one of Vic's favourite artists Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797), it finishes on 5th May - http://holburne.org/joseph-wright/  Also showing - the 'Stereoscopic Photographs of Picasso' by Robert Mouzillat (I'm a bit of a Picasso fan) as well as some fascinating permanent exhibitions. My Tip: Look in the drawers, I did and found out what Plumbago was! (I knew it was a species of flowering plant in the family Plumbaginaceae, also known as leadwort but it is also graphite and used in  miniatures on paper) http://holburne.org/stereoscopic-photographs-of-picasso/

A Philosopher Giving That Lecture on the Orrery in Which a Lamp Is Put in Place of the Sun

 'The Widow Of An Indian Chief.'

I found the pictures at this  very informative and useful BBC site that I came across - I was particularly drawn to the painting on the right which is in the exhibition.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/joseph-of-derby-wright/paintings/slideshow#/48

 We stayed in a lovely hotel set in over 20 acres, best designed and laid out hotel room I've  stayed in, well thought out little touches like a light in the wardrobe and a blue light in the loo and fresh milk!! It is one for a special treat as it is generally very expensive but Vic found a deal in the Mirror. Friendly, helpful and very, very attentive staff (ie just that bit too attentive), good menu, preferred the Table D'hote menu to A La Carte, puddings were absolutely scrummy as was afternoon tea. 
http://www.bailbrookhouse.co.uk/dining/restaurants/cloisters-restaurant  http://www.bailbrookhouse.co.uk/dining/menus/afternoon-tea

Ephemera No1- bag left outside No 10, drugs, global media company, the police - sounds like the makings of a great story......you couldn't keep anything like that quiet could you?? 
 
I find myself in an unusual and almost unsettlingly surreal and calm state of mind this year. Primarily due to a moment of clarity leading to a minor revelation that Vic and I shared a few months ago that has led to this strange lightness of being -  We like the way we do things at gnu inc central but not everyone is suited to it. Bit of a shocking revelation but once accepted the way to clear the path to harmony was straightforward.

Subway Sect Photograph by Helen Lonsdale Robinson 28/03/2014

Of course 30 Odd Years reception has put a rosy glow on the year, some fantastic reviews, I do like Neil Cooper's, full of interesting information (some of which we didn't know!) and more an article than a review-  http://www.list.co.uk/article/59200-vic-godard-thirty-odd-years/  All the wonderful 30 Odd Years reviews can be found here: www.vicgodard.co.uk 

PLUS 1979 Now is DONE!!! Masterful achievement by all concerned. Our web site and design guru Andrew Shaw is now working on the covers, vinyl and CD. (Picture left isn't it! It's my mock up using one of Andrew's images.) I have to say the whole LP is sounding FAB!!  Out in September on Aed Records.               

 

AND if that wasn't enough to warm the cockles of your hearts (and mine) Aed are re-releasing End Of The Surrey People including the tracks off the CD single, probably August.

In the studio by the gnu 27/03/2014

A warm welcome awaited everyone at 6 Music for the Marc Riley session and a very enjoyable time was had by all in Salford.  I thought The Quays area bleak and almost brutally beautiful, and eerily so late at night when there is no one around........at all. Unfortunately the session isn't available at the moment, but they sounded great, below are a few clips from the sound check. (Which don't give you any idea at all how good they sounded!)
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03ywwk9

 Marc Riley's selfie in the middle modelling one of the new t shirts, exclusively available at gigs, except in exceptional circumstances. We stayed at Holiday Inn Express Salford Quays and weren't disappointed, they are very consistent and do what it says on the tin. It pays to join their rewards scheme.  Helpful staff, clean and comfy rooms and this one extraordinarily quiet as the Quays are empty at night (OK, I forgot about the  geese!) I don't get the 'hot' breakfast items- scrambled eggs, sausage and beans....YUCH. They obviously did market research and then somehow extrapolated this peculiar choice from the results. Walking distance to BBC studio and parking but would probably go for Holiday Inn next time as even closer and car parking nearby. http://www.expressmanchester.co.uk/

Then the start of the 30 Odd Years Tour with a new set reflecting the release and with Ian Holford, a Sexual Object and Nectarine No9er*** joining the Sect on drums, Mark Braby back on bass, Yusuf B'Layachi on guitar,  Kevin Younger on keyboards/guitar and Vic on guitar on some songs. First up a return to the New Continental for They Eat Culture and it didn't disappoint. Can't remember enjoying gigs so much since Gary Ainge was in the line up.Vic's even taken up dancing on stage!

 You need to watch this video of Music of a Werewolf courtesy of Chris Dutton to fully appreciate Vic's choreography- never mind Moves like Jagger, Moves Like Godard!!

 Lovely to meet up again with Andrew Wilson, Helen Lonsdale Robinson, who took the photographs above and lots more, and the Kill Pretty crew, one of my top live groups and definite soft spot for them all round. This is Rob A Bank, one of my videos.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kill-Pretty/149453171812706?fref=ts
http://www.newcontinental.net/

https://www.facebook.com/theyeat.culture?fref=ts

We stayed at a guesthouse for the first time in a while, mostly chosen because it was within walking distance of the Continental. Very welcoming, very quiet room as requested, clean, decent breakfast, bit of a labyrinth and the most uncomfortable bed I have not slept in for ages. Huge depression in the middle of the mattress which the biggest one rolled into, leaving the other on the incline on the edge of the precipice. Shame as otherwise would have recommended and returned.

Onwards to Birmingham and The Seventh Wave gig at The Loft Moseley with The June Brides and Yeah Yeah Noh, stonker of a night, good to see Lee and Tracey, Jane and Deirdre, Shelley and Phil, Roger, Andrew W's brother and met lots of other lovely people including Mr and Mrs Dave Wave looking forward to going back again later in the year. 'Blackpool' video courtesy of Colin Walker, Vic told the group to do the backing vocals like football hooligans.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yeah-Yeah-Noh/179922345453384?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-June-Brides/31430764461?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1421350938094173/?fref=ts




Digressing a bit -  This is a link to a cover of Blackpool from Tony Penultimate's new release Adventures in Gibberish - Vic love's it, I don't think it's a patch on Sect/Springs/Mates Mates versions http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tonypenultimate/Blackpool#.U1qoHNzn4Qc.facebook
Here they are the other two to compare - Blackpool with The Bitter Springs 2010 filmed by Tracey Holloway 

And Blackpool with Mates Mates, Barcelona, August 2013 filmed by me at the sound check.

Back on track-  This is a great version of We'll Keep Our Chains filmed by Tracey Holloway at The Loft 29/03/2014-


We stayed at The Lodge, Hall Green which is part of the greyhound stadium, stay includes free entry to the dog racing. Friendly staff and guests (stayed up til 4.30am drinking with Sect and other guests in the bar, haven't done that in an age), comfy bed, decent breakfast and smoking rooms, will definitely stay again. http://www.thelodgeathallgreen.co.uk/


Up and onwards, rather westwards to The Thunderbolt Bristol after a gap of a couple of years and what a night of delights organised by 'Jane Barnes and Deirdre Tonks' with Dave and featuring Martin Bramah's Blue Orchids, a revelation, not what I was expecting and Vic loved their set plus the added bonus of his old friends, and another great live group, The Short Stories. People came from near, far and wide, a bit like in Birmingham. Enjoyed chats with  Kevin and Sally (Vic met Kevin at the Brixton Jam benefit a couple of years ago) and  Masakazu Kudara from Cardiff amongst others.
http://www.thethunderbolt.net/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Orchids/421040661291884?ref=ts&fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Short-Stories-Bristol-UK/189107677806787?fref=ts
This is Common Thief at The Thunderbolt, and quite a few more and various videos filmed by Tracey Holloway and Lee McFadden, this one by Lee. (Also videos of Blue Orchids and The Short Stories on their channel) Photos to follow.



Most of the videos I did at The Thunderbolt have distorted sound, but I decided to just 'record' a few numbers right at the back, round the corner from the stage at the merch table and they sound surprisingly ok - no visuals mind! These are the last two songs of the night Ambition and Chain Smokin'-

Getting a bit boring but we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Bristol City Centre, just down the road from The Thunderbolt. Parking in secure car park limited to 20 so if you are back late you park in the non-secure one just next to it, no real problem but would be useful to know if the secure section is full before entering and driving round the car park for nothing. http://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/bristol/brsct/hoteldetail

Ephemera No3? Trying to get Vic to concentrate when Chelsea match mentioned on TV not possible now the lbuild-up to the Chelsea V Athletico Madrid match has started. Who'd have thought Chelsea would draw in the first leg, then beat Liverpool............apart from Vic and other diehards (actually he didn't think Chelsea would hold Athletico to a draw in the first round but who'd have thought Real would give Bayern a drubbing? Do I like Robben, NO I do not!  Ephemera bit now- Do you know what a Chelsea FC Dissenter is?  I am  one, I googled for a definition but no explanation comes up. A clue - I became a Dissenter when Abramovich bought the club and nothing to do with him being an oligarch. 
Post Scriptum: So it wasn't to be and Chelsea got a drubbing. Painful to watch.

BITS & PIECES:
Vic sang a couple of VU songs with Piper's Son the other night at Bar & Co. I didn't go so glad that Lee McFadden filmed Rock'nRoll (from the floor!).

Close - the acclaimed film short directed by Geoffrey Taylor, featuring Birth and Death and Empty Shell was also on the 'bill' and will be screened again at Vic's gig at The Star & Shadow Cinema Newcastle in September. Congratulations are in order - Close has been selected for the prestigious Krakow Film Festival short film competition. It will tug at your heartstrings but not in a yucky way, new trailer here: http://vimeo.com/92653263
http://www.krakowfilmfestival.pl/en/news/432

Forgot about this: The Bitter Springs doing Johnny Thunders with the Wiz on lead vocal, filmed by Tracey Holloway 2013-

And talking of Johnny Thunders Danny Garcia's film Looking For Johnny is on a promotional tour that is landing in London in June. Full details here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=816403631706534&set=a.538471356166431.140430.499350926745141&type=1&theater

I made a rare foray up west (Soho to be exact) a couple of weeks ago on a PPL mission and with huge thanks and gratitude to Mr Tom H..........mission accomplished. We went for a sherbet at a pub over the road after (can't remember the name but will find out), a proper pub known for its beer. Now, I've never liked beer (or lager, but will drink bottled occasionally and I used to imbibe the odd Newcastle Brown) but they had a featured cask beer with a citrusy tang and it was very pleasant. Shame I can't remember its name either!

Recommendations
Lenten Rose - The unfolding of a watercolour painting in a North London Garden, March 2014 by John Pearce, accompanied by Yusuf B'layachi and Gerard Cousins playing Erik Satie's Gnossiene No 1 -  http://vimeo.com/93173297

Asbo Derek Book Launch 10th May -  'Terry Scott of the Antarctic - An Asbo Derek Compendium', you'll want a copy, you know you will! https://www.facebook.com/events/599000066853347/?fref=ts

Pre-Punk by Douglas MacIntyre - First in a new feature series with Creeping Bent commander Douglas MacIntyre taking a look back at some of his pre-punk musical obsessions.  http://racketracket.co.uk/music/pre-punk-1/

'Simply Thrilled - The Preposterous Story Of Postcards Records' by Simon Goddard, review by Pete Paphides in Caught By The River- http://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2014/04 /simply-thrilled/
More on Postcard - http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/music/the-old-stamping-ground.23880513

POST - Too late if you missed their Marc Riley session on 21st April so to compensate here's Monument To A Lost Cause from their album Cavalcade (you may have better luck embedding it than I did!) - http://post-music.bandcamp.com/track/monument-to-a-lost-cause-2
AND if you wonder who did the painting for the cover....... G. Wann, Paintshifter! http://cargocollective.com/gwann_paintshifter
I rather like this one -

***Sat 7th June 2014 - Nectarine No9 playing Saint Jack and Casual Sex - What a treat! Come to London!

Rutherglen Town Hall, Glasgow.-
The Nectarine No9 albums, A Sea With Three Stars and Saint Jack, both released on Postcard and unavailable........ until now - digitally available via We Can Still Picnic. 
 http://www.list.co.uk/article/33038-label-of-love-we-can-still-picnic/ 
http://www.creepingbent.net/randomnotes.htm
             Rocket No9 by Nectarine No9 

Now for something completely different - Sun Ra - Rocket Number Nine Take Off For The Planet Venus 

Balkan Arts & Beyond - an appraisal by Professor Kate Grandjouan of our friend Leka Mladenovic's 2012 exhibition "Punk and Hybrid Print" featuring Subway Sect images amongst others. Leka also created the covers for our Live & Rare cds and he and Vic are just starting on another collaboration. 
http://balkanartsandbeyond.wordpress.com/

http://www.vicgodard.co.uk/LiveandRare_vol1.html

The Olympia Tapes 1978 - Vic and a motley crew, Colin Scott, Nick Brown, Alan Birke and Steve Spartan, do Chuck Berry and Eddy Cochran numbers, digitalised by Doctor of Music Mike Coe - https://soundcloud.com/gertie-grocott/sets/the-olympia-tapes-1978  


Ephemera No 3 - What are the trousers made of (from Let It Rock) that David Johansen is wearing on the cover of The New York Doll's Too Much Too Soon LP? I don't think it's spandex,  that's all I'm saying.

I've just bought Vic's birthday present! Free T shirt to the first person who can guess what 'gig' I have bought him tickets for. The only clue is it is happening over the summer. PLEASE only answer in comments here on the blog and not on facebook as I want it to be a surprise.



 Disco Memories - I went to see Chic and Sister Sledge at Hammersmith Odeon,almost certainly 1978. We were made to stay in our seats by security until Mr Rodgers decreed otherwise and we were freed to bop to our hearts' content. Le Freak always reminds me of many nights out in the many and several new US US themed restaurants and cocktail bars that were cropping up all over Covent Garden at the time - Rumours, Joe Allen's, Peppermint Park, Coconut Grove...........




* Re: Jane Austen's heroines being wimps - prior to reading any Jane Austen my first literary heroine was discovered in Enid Blyton (The Famous Five and my namesake) when very young and then around 11 or 12 I came across more in the Bronte's, Daphne Du Maurier (Jamaica Inn, The King's General, etc), Anne Golon (Angelique) and Jacqueline Susann (Valley Of The Dolls, etc), perhaps derided by some as chick-lit of varying quality, a general term I detest ( I've never heard the term bloke lit) but then there is also Chaucer (The Wife of Bath), Hardy (Bathsheba), Shakespeare (Cleopatra for one),Théophile Gautier (Mademoiselle de Maupin), etc.All the women in these books/plays appeared vital and adventurous to me so when I came across the likes of Catherine Morland et al, I was appalled at their insipid natures, vacuity and  and seemingly wanton stupidity.
http://www.jannaludlow.co.uk/Angelique/Book_6.html
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50833.Valley_of_the_Dolls
This trailer for the 1967 VOTD film is brilliant - in a crass sexist kind of way-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-TXJMKVa_g


It's coming up to the second anniversary of my dear Pa's death (eyes welling up as I write) and I still miss him like a part of my very being has gone and think of him every day but it is slightly more bearable now.(I can't remember who the woman on the right is, one of Pa's patients)

This was one of his favourite songs 'Fly Me To The Moon' -

30 Odd Years Takes Off, Reviews, '79 Now Taxiing, Gigs, Petula Clark, Wilfred Owen, William Wordsworth, Crimea .........

First Things First - Pretty overwhelmed at Gnu Inc Central with the responses to 30 ODD YEARS - Gratitude, Thanks and Appreciation To: everyone who contributed to getting 30 OYS  off the ground, in particular Andrew Paul Shaw (Art work and Design Guru at http://www.vicgodard.co.uk/ ) and Mike Coe (Doctor of Music Guru) without whom 30 OYs would not be as supercalifragilisticexpialidocious as it is.
Thanks to everyone from All Over The World who has bought the CDs and a big welcome to people we've not had the pleasure of selling to before (I think we boosted the local Post Office business significantly over the last couple of weeks, the Postmaster remarked he hopes we start exporting in quantities to the US!) and to everyone who has done/is doing reviews, they are all on the main website here - http://www.vicgodard.co.uk/30_odd_reviews.html
From Gnu to You -                                            

Stop Press.......30 Odd Years spotted in shops......... in Glasgow, Brighton, Liverpool & W London........... 
http://www.monorailmusic.com/
http://www.resident-music.com/
http://www.roughtrade.com/pages/about
http://www.probe-records.com/Contact/contact.htm 

A couple of brain draining days spent sorting travel for first leg of the '30 Odd Years Tour' - Salford, Preston, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent and Leek, full details at either  http://www.vicgodard.co.uk/vic_godard_live.html or https://www.facebook.com/vic.godard.3
Plane tickets x 2, Train tickets x 9 & Hotels x 6 ( bit of a sporting theme with a couple of them following on from our stay at Headingley). Also booked hotel for Blackpool as all but the grim going fast if you want parking, proximity to venues and the chance of some sleep.

Followed by the the unbridled joy of a probably fruitless day spent on MCPS/PRS website - (Vic thought this was their logo - I can understand why)

Laptop Blues by TuBeLuv 2014

Talking of gigs.....the gnu said she's looking forward to what looks like a bonzer year of shows,   a new '30 Odd Years' set and each gig booked so far looks like it is going to be pretty special, with some fab groups lining up with the Sect -

Kill Pretty http://killprettyuk.wordpress.com/ , Pellethead https://www.facebook.com/Pelletheadband?fref=ts , June Brides http://www.junebridesmusic.com/ , Yeah Yeah Noh https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yeah-Yeah-Noh/179922345453384?ref=ts&fref=ts , Teen Canteen http://www.teencanteen.co.uk/ , Blue Orchids https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Orchids/421040661291884 and The Short Stories http://www.breakingdownrecordings.com/the-short-stories to name just a few. One of Particulat favourites of the gnu are Kill Pretty, thinks Eon Morse a positively mesmerising live performer, and Chris, Josh and Mike aren't half bad either -
 
Other News - There's been a spate of the Goddards lately, I don't know what set it off but it's contagious and definitely seems to be irking the gnu, noticed the middle one amongst the new T's.                                                                       

 

CUE FANFARE............   

Vic has been back in the studio and all that is left to record on 1979 Now is some more backing vocals on a couple of tracks and then it's all done!!! (Barring the mixing/mastering)

And.......wait for it...........release on Aed scheduled for September!!!

In August a DVDCD of Vic's gig at the Town & Country Club 1992 is due for release, with Edwyn C, Paul C, Segs and Martin Duffy accompanying.

Incidental News - Vic was asked if the Sect might be up for supporting The Sonics on their European tour this spring but there was only one date that was possible, quite a few of the others clashed with 30 Odd Years gigs so a non starter, probably for the best. 

Veering off in a somewhat different direction now - and I appreciate it's a vast over-simplification of events -
                                        
The Crimean War 1853-1856 devastated the economic and social foundations of the peninsula, the repercussions impacted globally and fundamentally changed the balance of power in Europe and set the stage for The Great War 1914-18, which fundamentally changed the balance of power in the World and set the stage for World War ll 1939-45, which fundamentally changed the balance of power in Europe and the World and set the stage for.................

Relief of the Light Brigade by Richard Caton Woodville 1897

Extraordinary early Crimean War Photographs here by Roger Fenton, March-June 1855 - 
http://www.allworldwars.com/Crimean-War-Photographs-by-Roger-Fenton-1855.html
So are we on the very precarious edge of a cusp of a new era of People Power.........or as Private Fraser (Dad's Army - http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/) often says " We're Doomed ".
It's a tempting thought but I can't actually see the UK clipping the financial wings of the likes of the pro putin oligarchs, etc, who reside on our shores, funnelling their huge gains from workers elsewhere through our economies without it seems to the lay person like me, much in place to check their progress and which, depending on your viewpoint, has some of us seeing it as a  form of asset stripping. 

A sad and bitter irony that we are commemorating the start of the First World War this year: http://www.warpoets.org/poets/

'The Old Lie' -  DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI - " IT IS SWEET AND GLORIOUS TO DIE FOR ONE'S COUNTRY "


DULCE ET DECORUM EST by WILFRED OWEN

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! — An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. —
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.


 If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs
Bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, —
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

                                       This is a beautiful and touching reading by Sam West.

 

   
        " Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"
 Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr -   http://www.19thcenturyphotos.com/Alphonse-Karr-124333.htm


Before you decide you may as well end it all now, Spring has Sprung -

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

 I wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.


The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: -
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company!
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.

Bye for now.

PS Nearly forgot, set up a sound cloud thingy -https://soundcloud.com/gertie-grocott/vic-godard-end-of-the-surrey

Gnu Getting to Grips - 30 ODD YEARS, Random Thoughts, War Poets, What's In Store, A Quick Look Back & More

New Year's Greetings from Gert, the gnu and everyone at Gnu Inc/Sect Central. Slow out of the stalls but making up the ground and coming up fast on the rails with the finishing line in sight. 

'30 ODD YEARS'  Double CD Compilation 1978-2012 

        

No more racing metaphors, promise but I will be metaphorically leaping about all over the place as things come to mind so please bear with me. Been holding back because of the release of 30 ODD YEARS and not wanting to put another hoodoo on it - Gnu Inc already made the mistake of being over optimistic and announced that 30 OYs would be out mid December 2013, that mice and men thing again, underestimating timescales and not factoring in the possible impact of seasonal ailments/weather,etc on schedules. We were also going to have a release party at the end of January/beginning of February, but avoiding the hoodoo effect by not booking a venue before having a delivery date means there's no time to organise now so we're going to have a 30 Odd Years celebratory gig (or 2!) later in the year. HOWEVER it is definitely worth the short delay - 2 CDs, 43 Tracks spanning songs written from 1976 (recorded from 1978) to 2012, compiling the songs, mostly from fans' suggestions was a real trip down Memory Lane  and they have all been brilliantly remastered for 30 OYs by Mike Coe. Gnu's discovered how to make videos without film, Hey, What's Your Name is one of her favourite songs from 30 OYs - (ignore the picture, it's not Stamp of a Vamp, that was one of the first attempts and not wholly successful - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMJW6u6rPdM

 We have our web guru and ace designer Andrew Paul Shaw to thank for the eye catching art work together with Andréa Cerqueira's evocative photograph taken in Lyons in early 2012. There's an 8pp booklet with notes by Tracey Holloway & Lee McFadden, Marc Riley, Michael White, Philip King & Kevin Pearce. Additional in depth track by track notes and Vic's random ruminations on 30 OYs will be available to download on 3rd February from the website: www.vicgodard.co.uk 
E.g -Disc 1 Track 10-Stop That Girl + The Black Arabs with horns on loan from Dexy’s and a local Turkish accordion player-

 A rare occasion when disparate elements came together to make a unique record - Stop That Girl was first recorded by Vic Keary at Chalk Farm Studios London in 1979 for a single, released on Oddball/Rough Trade RT068 in 1981. Other outings for the song-Vic Godard: The Retrospective (1976-81) LP Rough Trade 1985 (also released on CD in 1996 as We Oppose All Rock and Roll Overground Records); el Records 12” 1985 ; 20 Odd Years (1999) & Singles Anthology (2005), Motion Records; T.R.O.U.B.L.E. Rough Trade 1996 and In T.R.O.U.B.L.E Again Tugboat 001 1998.Stop That Girl with Mark Laff Manchester 2007 filmed by Andrew Shaw - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra4eRGZkflA

And a taster of Vic's bon mots - '' My songs developed in 1978 after I started to play guitar in the group and I wrote for lead and rhythm guitar on Different Story, Double Negative, Vertical Integration and Empty Shell and together with Stool Pigeon, Why Did You Shoot Me?, Derail Your Senses, Not Watching The Devil and Imbalance, the songs from the ‘lost’ LP that I rerecorded for 1978 Now in 2006/7, all featured in our set on The Great Unknowns Tour with the Lou’s. The blue print for the sound I wanted on 1978 Now was an old cassette of a rehearsal for The Great Unknown’s Tour which I thought was the best sound we’d achieved with that line up.''

Also done a press release which you can download here (I think):

https://word.office.live.com/wv/WordView.aspx?FBsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fdownload%2Ffile_preview.php%3Fid%3D277256322426510%26time%3D1389969176%26metadata&access_token=100000722014529%3AAVLDUob5Gavn6F333UcKaVlW0ykhvaqH4rsclo2NEX0Gzg&title=30+Odd+years+Press+Release.doc 
Hoodoo be damned -  Vic Godard 30 ODD YEARS Available to order NOW at: www.vicgodard.co.uk

A First for Gert- just done first upload to soundcloud - Subway Sect Live at Harlesden Coliseum 1977 - https://soundcloud.com/gertie-grocott/tracks 

The '30 Odd Years Tour' launches in 2014 in style  with a Marc Riley session on 27th March http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c72y1 
Followed by - 

28th March New Continental Preston (very happy to be paying another visit to Preston - see below) https://www.facebook.com/events/669518639737467/ 

http://newcontinental.net/whats-on/event/vic-godard-subway-sect-plus-special-guests-0 

29th March The Seventh Wave Presents @ The Cross Birmingham + The June Brides + Yeah Yeah Noh (Haven't been to Birmingham for a while, looking forward to it.)   http://www.junebridesmusic.com/

http://thecrossmoseley.com/venue/  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yeah-Yeah-Noh/179922345453384?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/events/524322600996208/    
 19th April The Thunderbolt Bristol + The Blue Orchids + The Short Stories (Another Goodie) https://www.facebook.com/groups/128792067300972/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Short-Stories-Bristol-UK/189107677806787 https://www.facebook.com/events/177600405777735/

 
3rd May The Situation Presents @ Rigger Rock Venue Stoke              (Vic's pleased as he's been wanting to play in Stoke) https://www.facebook.com/riggerlive 

https://www.facebook.com/events/588120044605685/ 

In fact both Vic and the gnu are particularly looking forward to the whole weekend as the Sect are heading just up the road on Sunday 4th May, headlining The Situation's 3rd Birthday Bash. A massive 1-day festival set within the grounds of The Foxlowe Arts Centre in Leek http://www.foxloweartscentre.org.uk/the-situation-presents/ with 3 stages, 21 acts and an absolute bargain at £6 adv or £7 on the door (there were some early bird tickets for £5) and it's part of the esteemed Leek Arts Festival which features a cornucopia of events. It's a bank holiday so why not make a weekend of it? http://www.leekartsfestival.org/

In August (some time between 7-10th, don't have a day yet) we're packing our buckets and spades and taking the charabanc to  'Good Old Fun Packed Blackpool', final destination  Bizarre Bazaar @ Rebellion Festival. 

http://www.rebellionfestivals.com/bizarre-bazaar/ 

(The photo on the left was one of the alternatives for the cover of the Blackpool epcd)   

19th September - back to another popular venue The Star & Shadow Newcastle  http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/ details to follow - Perhaps with another film, maybe Lluis Huedo's Vic to Vic film, Martyn Smith's film and/or Geoffrey Taylor's poignant short film Close, shown at The London Short Film Festival this month. Birth and Death and Empty Shell are part of the soundtrack.
https://www.facebook.com/closefilm?fref=ts  
http://shortfilms.org.uk/events/2014-01-16-new-shorts-22-father 

20th September Rock Garden Revisited (more old friends) @ TBC (possibly Middlesbrough) 
Delighted that Pellethead are on board again. http://www.rockgardenrevisited.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/Pelletheadband?fref=ts
More dates to be confirmed and announced. 

I was going to do a full review of 2013 and in fact I did start one but  inadvertently deleted it so instead these photos are a precis, hopefully showing in a nutshell  the diversity of Godard/Gnu Inc activity in 2013 including 9 Subway Sect gigs with seven different ups! Did things pan out as tentatively hoped/planned last January? No, of course not.(see February 2013) One seemingly small and yet telling change in the gnu's frame of mind is she hasn't put off the dreaded tax return until last knockings and didn't introduce any sadomasochism in to the process this year by asking Vic to help. 'Tales of the Sect' (Feb. blog) hasn't progressed any further and it looks like Trigger's contribution is going to be the one and only.  

 'Vic Obscure Facts' (October blog) was another idea that didn't quite take off, forgetting to add them and the first one was obviously just too obscure, realistically only the people there would have known - thanks Lee McFadden for at least having a stab at: What was Vic's connection to Brian Davison?  Let me tell you a story - Sometime In 1978 (Vic says it was after the Buzzcocks Love Bites Tour) due to one of life's many vagaries Brian Davison of The Nice ended up temporarily living at Rehearsal Rehearsal Camden (it's a conundrum why so many pitched up there) and in exchange for his lodgings Micky Foote asked him to rehearse with Subway Sect, drummerless since Bob Ward's departure for Dexy's.  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/brian-davison-drummer-with-the-nice-813354.html

 It is quite extraordinary the number of people whose musical careers took off from those rooms in Camden. Could it have happened without Micky Foote, working for management aka Mr Rhodes he was photographer, producer, engineer, live sound man and he literally built the studio.  Some of those on the Rehearsal Rehearsal  roll call -  Dexy's, Bow Wow Wow, Boy George, The Special's, Black Arabs, The Clash, The Joboxers........And what did Micky get in return for his blood, sweat and tears, production, photography, etc? (Rhetorical question.) After he and Bernard parted company it was another Michael who took over at the desk who later went on to work with Andrew Roachford.
 The gnu can remember opening a door once at the studio to find herself staring in to what looked like a dusty, drafty black emptiness leading who knew where but in fact it was a 'portal'  into a Victorian labyrinth of tunnels and passageways, some with narrow gauge rail tracks and leading all over the place, one tunnel to The Roundhouse. Vic and the gnu decided to find out a bit more and it's fascinating, this amongst much more -
'The surviving elements of Camden Goods Yard, along with the Roundhouse, stationary winding engine house, Primrose Hill Tunnel Eastern Portals (also listed at Grade II*) and Regent’s Canal represent a particularly important concentration of C19 transport and industrial buildings illustrating the development of canal and rail goods shipment.'
http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1258100
and then Baker sent a link to his blog about the tunnels and some brilliantly evocative photos:
http://thebaker77.wordpress.com/2014/01/29/the-subways-and-tunnels-of-camden-town/

Just a couple of the gnu's highlights of 2013 -
The gig at The New Continental Preston in May, one of our favourite venues and great food, very good vibe. (Also where we first met Andrew Wilson- see below) http://newcontinental.net/whats-on/event/vic-godard-subway-sect-plus-special-guests-0 . We stayed opposite Preston Bus Garage (review in earlier blog, probably June) and are very pleased that it's profile has been raised and it is now listed thanks to a lot of local and national campaigning http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/architecture/love-hate-and-concrete-the-battle-for-preston-bus-station-9035713.html?origin=internalSearch and playing its part Paul Adams' and writer Andrew Wilson's film 56,000 - A Short Film about Preston Bus Station, you can watch it here http://prestonbusstation.co.uk/56000/film.html

Courtesy of  Andrew Wilson

There is method in my madness at this point and a connection as I leap forward  to the two gigs in Hamburg in November at Astra Stube http://www.astra-stube.de/ which were hugely enjoyable thanks to the very warm welcome from Markus, Marijana, Martin, Bruno, everyone else at Astra Stube and everyone who came - it was sold out both nights. Really felt at home in Hamburg and looking forward to going back, adding to general bonhomie it was a happy coincidence that Andrew Wilson happened to be on a trip to Hamburg with his oldest friend Dave and his brother Rog at the same time we were and they came to both gigs at Astra Stube. Born To Be A Rebel video sound check 08/09/2013

 

 Vic and the gnu's trip to Vic and Barcelona in August was like a holiday with friends, all the details in last September's blog. Vic really enjoys spending time writing with Mates Mates and sang with them live for the first time at La Festa Major de Gràcia Barcelona. Video below is  'Whip Rules', one of the tracks on the Vic to Vic 7" released last February on famèlic Barcelona. Active desire to return.

Happy Birthday to  Creeping Bent, 20 this year, kicked off their celebrations on 18th January in Glasgow as part of Celtic Connections with The Pop Group & The Sexual Objects - Great Review in The Independent:on 22nd and on line here:  http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/the-pop-group-gig-review-a-lurid-form-of-bedsit-discopunk-9071442.html
 http://www.celticconnections.com/Pages/default.aspx     http://www.thepopgroup.net/
https://www.facebook.com/bentpage    http://www.creepingbent.net/index.htm
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sexual-Objects/268349712699?fref=ts

It was a chilled out trip in June for the Glasgow Jazz Festival and Neu Reekie in Edinburgh. Vic opened for The Jazzateers in Glasgow, singing jazz standards with The Jazz Independents  with the added bonus of James Kirk joining them for 'Felicity' again. If anyone did any videos of Vic singing the jazz songs I'd love to see them.   https://www.facebook.com/Jazzateers
https://www.facebook.com/neureekie

Vic & Sexual Objects CCA Glasgow 23/11/2013

The next two videos are from the sound check at Sounds in the Suburbs Presents Vic Godard & The Sexual Objects at the CCA Glasgow in November 2013. As well as doing the whole of What's The Matter Boy they were also going to do a few Lou Reid/ VU numbers as a tribute but didn't have time so lucky gnu filmed them at the sound check. She's My Best Friend and I'm Set Free. https://www.facebook.com/soundsin.thesuburbs?fref=ts

Low points, musically speaking? The gnu reports they are generally speaking mercifully few and that over the years the number of beings who have seriously got the gnu's goat and who she would happily see abducted by aliens is only two, one in the 1980's and one a few years ago, musically speaking.  An unfeasibly low number you may mutter if you've heard the gnu having a moan but I'm not saying that other people haven't tested the gnu's tolerance levels over the years, an early example was Mr Rhodes, whose outpourings would test the patience of a saint let alone a gnu (she always thought he rehearsed because you couldn't interrupt and break the flow) but mostly they left her bemused and occasionally nonplussed, no lasting rancour though. (Gnu first met Bernard at Club Left at the Wag. He sent someone over to fetch her to his table for a chat, she can't remember who it was. The chat consisted of Mr Rhodes saying "I hope you are not planning to lead Vic up the garden path, I've got plans for him."
and the gnu, nonplussed, saying " Uh, No." End of conversation. If only they had all been that brief!

New T Design + Deliberate Mistake

So you may ask who has recently been a pain in the rear end................it's slipped my mind at the moment but I'm sure it will come back to me!
Another new T Shirt on the way-

Gnu fears the outings to 'Filth' and 'Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense' were anomalous and future similar events are likely to be few and far between so not a panto to report on.
Currently reading Ngaio Marsh's Roderick Alleyn stories so can recommend if you enjoy well written, murderous plots, a good yarn and darker than you might imagine. My reading happens to be coinciding with Alibi showing the entertaining 1990's TV series with the very talented Patrick Malahide. Although I really enjoy the series it doesn't do the books justice, there is a lot more meat to them. Mr Malahide was also in one of my top ten TV programmes, Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective.    
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?an=Ngaio+Marsh&bi=0&bx=off&ds=50&kn=%22Roderick+Alleyn%22&sortby=17
http://www.cathoderaytube.co.uk/2009/05/singing-detective-dennis-potter.html
http://alibi.uktv.co.uk/shows/inspector-alleyn-mysteries/
Or if you fancy your murder mysteries period, murkier, stranger and dare I say it a tad self indulgent, there's John Banville's Booker shortlisted 'The Book Of Evidence' . First in a trilogy.....haven't felt compelled to rush to read next two yet.  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3659.The_Book_of_Evidence

 

Lest We Forget-It being the 100 year anniversary this year of the start of the First World War I recommend the War Poets ( www.warpoetry.co.uk) particularly Rupert Brooke http://www.rupertbrooke.com/poems/1914/v_the_soldier/ and Sigfried Sassoon (left), there's an audio clip of him here - http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=1561
and  Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy, heartbreaking and visceral.
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780141030937,00.html?strSrchSql=Pat+Barker/Regeneration_Pat_Barker

                                          

“The rank stench of those bodies haunts me still” 

 The rank stench of those bodies haunts me still
And I remember things I'd best forget.
For now we've marched to a green, trenchless land
Twelve miles from battering guns: along the grass
Brown lines of tents are hives for snoring men;
Wide, radiant water sways the floating sky
Below dark, shivering trees. And living-clean
Comes back with thoughts of home and hours of sleep.
To-night I smell the battle; miles away
Gun-thunder leaps and thuds along the ridge;
The spouting shells dig pits in fields of death,
And wounded men, are moaning in the woods.
If any friend be there whom I have loved,
God speed him safe to England with a gash.
It's sundown in the camp; some youngster laughs,
Lifting his mug and drinking health to all
Who come unscathed from that unpitying waste:
(Terror and ruin lurk behind his gaze.)
Another sits with tranquil, musing face,
Puffing bis pipe and dreaming of the girl
Whose last scrawled letter lies upon his knee.
The sunlight falls, low-ruddy from the west,
Upon their heads. Last week they might have died
And now they stretch their limbs in tired content.
One says 'The bloody Bosche has got the knock;
'And soon they'll crumple up and chuck their games.
'We've got the beggars on the run at last!'
Then I remembered someone that I'd seen
Dead in a squalid, miserable ditch,
Heedless of toiling feet that trod him down.
He was a Prussian with a decent face,
Young, fresh, and pleasant, so 1 dare to say.
No doubt he loathed the war and longed for peace,
And cursed our souls because we'd killed bis friends.
One night he yawned along a haIf-dug trench
Midnight; and then the British guns began
With heavy shrapnel bursting low, and 'hows'
Whistling to cut the wire with blinding din.
He didn't move; the digging still went on;
Men stooped and shovelled; someone gave a grunt,
And moaned and died with agony in the sludge.
Then the long hiss of shells lifted and stopped.
He stared into the gloom; a rocket curved,
And rifles rattled angrily on the left
Down by the wood, and there was noise of bombs.
Then the damned English loomed in scrambling haste
Out of the dark and struggled through the wire,
And there were shouts and eurses; someone screamed
And men began to blunder down the trench
Without their rifles. It was time to go:
He grabbed his coat; stood up, gulping some bread;
Then clutched his head and fell.
I found him there
In the gray morning when the place was held.
His face was in the mud; one arm flung out
As when he crumpled up; his sturdy legs
Were bent beneath bis trunk; heels to the skye.        Siegfried Sassoon

We didn't learn anything from all that death and destruction, except how to do it more efficeiently. Babi Yar by A. Anatoli (Kuznetsov) is an almost unbearable read about a boy who was 12 when the Germans invaded Kiev in 1941-  http://voices.yahoo.com/babi-yar-anatoli-kuznetsov-3191753.html

Green and Pleasant Land

Not wanting to sign off on such a gloomy note I'll leave you with Born To Be A Rebel by the 7 piece Sect at The Water Rats Christmas Special 14/12/2013, filmed by Lee McFadden and edited by Tracey Holloway.

And an even better sign off is with the wonderful Asbo Derek's Can I Get A Latte filmed by Lee at the Spinning Chilli Christmas Special at The Green Door Store Brighton.
http://www.spinningchilli.co.uk/presents/