Touring with Queen, ELO, Van Halen and recording Der Kommissar with After The Fire

Yamaha CS-80 sustain options explained...

Spotify Preview and Island Boys purchase links...

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Buy on Google Play Music

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Buy on Amazon Music

Café Musica - Island Boys EP out on 16-Aug-2019

will be available on all popular download and streaming services...

click here for the Apple iTunes pre-order offer of £2.49 for all 4 songs

with love...

My Yamaha CS-80 has come home!

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Part Two: The Yamaha CS-80 synthesiser basics explained:



Check out the original music especially composed on this very CS-80 for these videos:
Return of the CS-80
CS-80-f (inspired by 1980-f!)

My Yamaha CS80 reborn on its 40th birthday...

The Rubber Wellies - Pirate Song #TunesDay

Went to see The Rubber Wellies recently at the rather wonderful Folk at the Froize, a monthly or so event in darkest Suffolk which combines live music and delicious food, what could be better?!

I first caught the Wellies at the Greenbelt Festival, at which they will be appearing this year too, and I was hooked. Their song lyrics' apparent charm often camouflage hard hitting social justice messages and therefore their appeal is on multiple levels. The musicianship and relaxed stagecraft is impeccable and ideal for the intimate venue the Froize provides.

I strongly recommend you catch them before they become a distant spec on a massive stage!

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Sorrow in my heart - Garden of Gethsemane

Song for Nye - Health not Wealth

“It's also meant to celebrate the amazing women and men who work selflessly within it. The care they give is a beautiful thing and make our lives better in so many ways. Yes there are problems, but as the song reminds us, try falling sick in the USA and see what it costs you.” Martyn Joseph quoted here: http://eyesopenmedia.co.uk/blog/martyn-joseph-nye

We need to recapture the vision of Nye Bevan and restore the NHS to its rightful place of a fully funded public service to all rather than a creeping privatisation primarily serving shareholders. It is abundantly clear the NHS needs substantial investment and appears to be feared by some members of the current government.

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Promoted by Robbie Spence on behalf of Peter Banks, both of 124 Morant Road, Colchester CO1 2JD

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Love Letters to God - Nahko Bear...

Once seen, never forgotten... Nahko and Medicine for the People were the outstanding musical moment from last year's Greenbelt Festival, an annual pilgrimage. In fact the performance was one of the best gigs I've ever been too. And to be one of the many standing to challenge corporate oil, respect.

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After The Fire Spotify Chart (for statistics nerds)

Position	Title	Album	Label	12/09/2016
1	Der Kommissar	DK	CBS	1,003,100
2	1980-F	DK	CBS	91,113
3	One Rule For You	DK	CBS	22,792
4	Laser Love	DK	CBS	9,769
5	1984-F	AT2F	AA	8,849
6	Who's Gonna Love You?	DK	CBS	8,121
7	Joy	DK	CBS	7,247
8	Rich Boys	DK	CBS	6,486
9	Starflight	DK	CBS	6,391
10	Dancng in the Shadows	DK	CBS	4,890
11	Love will always make you cry	DK	CBS	4,627
12	Frozen Rivers	DK	CBS	4,578
13	Billy, Billy	DK	CBS	4,454
14	Sailing Ship	DK	CBS	3,411
15	Bright Lights	BBC	AA	2,218
16	Life in the City	BBC	AA	2,102
17	Dance of the Marionette	SoC	AA	1,896
18	Suspended Animation	BBC	AA	1,544
19	Cariba	AT2F	AA	1,470
20	A Little Sun, A Little Rain	BBC	AA	1,375
21	Back to the Light	SoC	AA	1,344
22	Now that I've Found	SoC	AA	1,308
23	Time to Think	BBC	AA	1,229
24	Step by Step	AT2F	AA	1,170
25	Signs of Change	SoC	AA	1,169
26	Like the Power of a Jet	BBC	AA	1,103
27	Pilgrim	SoC	AA	1,060
	ATF post 2005
28	Der Kommissar (re-recorded & remastered)	Single	AA/Cleo	362,551
29	Der Kommissar	OR	RMX	14,400
30	Sometimes	OR	RMX	2,781
31	1980-F	GB+	AA	1,942
32	One Rule For You	OR	RMX	1,710
33	Dungeon Ghyl	OR	RMX	1,497
34	High Fashion	OR	RMX	1,471
35	Laser Love	OR	RMX	1,212
36	Dancing in the Shadows	OR	RMX	1,129
37	You	OR	RMX	1,039

Label Key: CBS = CBS / Epic / Sony : AA = Angel Air Records : Cleo = Cleopatra : RMX = Roughmix

Over the weekend (10th Sept 2016) Der Kommissar went past 1 million plays - so a statistic like that gets me going! Certainly the songs that were singles do well, but there are notable absences that were popular live.

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Hallelujah, new use for abandoned power plant!

Rufus Wainwright joins a 1500 voice choir in a disused power station in Toronto give a moving rendition of Leonard Cohen's anthem 'Hallelujah'. Of course, Rufus knows the song well, one of the soundtrack highlights in Shrek... and the phrase "The Secret Chord" forms the title of Jonathan Evens and my book.

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Seeing Green...

So I was asked to stand as a candidate for the Green Party in the Colchester Borough Council election coming up on 5th May 2016... I said 'Yes'... here's a summary of 'Why Me?' thoughts:

Yes, I was born and bred an Islander, albeit on the Isle of Wight, and first visited Mersea in the 60s before moving here permanently in 2002. I feel a deep sense of belonging to the Borough, this island and am passionate about the need for greener, renewable energy, sustainable businesses and lifestyles.

In the ward of Mersea and Pyefleet we live directly in the lee of Bradwell Power Station. Currently the station is being decommissioned and dismantled with completion dates repeatedly shifting from 2015 through to 2019 and possibly even further. The issues in the process have meant that the highly radioactive reactor cores have had to be encased in-situ which means that they, along with the Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW) store, it will be on our doorstep for the next century or so. Another part of this process is dissolution of fuel element debris (FED) which results in a discharge of radioactive residue, after treatment with nitric acid, directly into the Blackwater and Tritium into the atmosphere. As the river and estuary are relatively shallow it means this radioactive effluent will travel back and forth in the Blackwater for many tides before dispersion, promoting continued local community objections. Additionally the trapping of eddies of effluent in the mud creeks and saltings strengthens and concentrates this waste for longer still.

It is now being proposed that ILW from other sites should be transferred to Bradwell, which will make the site a regional waste store OR would not only increase the amount of waste on the site but, more importantly, the amount of radioactivity.

Entrust the role of councillor to me and I will work with local agencies and protest groups to prevent this. Groups such as:

• FAB - Fight Against Bradwell (closed Facebook Group - apply to view)
• MIEA - Mersea Island Environmental Alliance
• BANNG - Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group
• Save Mersea Harbour
• Blackwater Guardians

Since entering parliament in 2010 Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has been extraordinarily diligent in her efforts to ensure public views are represented. I would do the same for Mersea. You will already know me through my involvement in HM Coastguard (to 2015), the Parish Church and other voluntary groups and activities. As one who contributes towards the creative arts I am well qualified to encourage culture and aspiration for all to enjoy the fruits of our labours.

Let’s join together and make the world a better and more joyful place for us and the generations to come can enjoy.

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Promoted by Robbie Spence on behalf of Lisa Britton, Peter Banks and Bartosz Mizgier
Colchester & District Green Party, all at 124 Morant Road, Colchester CO1 2JD

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Happy St Patrick's Day...

Try singing along to one of the greatest hymns ever (if you can keep up!!)

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Martyn Joseph nails it...!

Captivating video for one of the songs on Martyn's latest collection 'Sanctuary' released today...

Love it!

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For the love of pets and beer... 500 miles

Using the inspired version by Sleeping At Last of The Proclaimers anthem 'I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)' to make a charming, albeit sentimental, narrative style advert entitled 'Lost Dog' for Budweiser...

The full cover version of the song is here... already claimed by X-Factor (in 2014) and The Voice (2015) as their original ideas despite Sleeping At Last's 2012/13 recording.

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Keeping up with Balthazar’s Epiphany...

It was most unusual, to say the least. We so seldom agreed on anything. But this time we all felt something sinister was afoot and were of one mind. Of course, we had to go through the ‘right’ channels, Caspar always insisted we must, he’s driven us nuts with his attention to detail all along. Our journey would have taken half the time if he hadn't meticulously checked and double checked everything. But now he has come up trumps, we all agreed, we simply didn't trust Herod and there was no way we would be advising Herod’s henchmen when we found our ultimate destination.

I must mention this incredible star. It was so vivid, so extraordinarily bright and everywhere we went it appeared to be ahead of us. Believe me, Caspar had ensured our ‘forward’ motion had covered all points of the compass and yet this star was always there. I cannot emphasise how bright it was, enough to light our way and yet it also became the source of our biggest falling out. We kept arguing over and over whether it was following us or we were following it. I always thought it led the way, however, being the youngest I wasn’t considered wise yet. I do acknowledge they had a point though; why hadn't Herod’s astronomers spotted it, surely it would have been easy for them to track? Then I received a right telling off when I simply suggested that Herod’s men could have just followed us, seemed obvious to me! I should say that Melchior had been surprisingly discreet. He managed to keep quiet about the star when we were with Herod, despite making a fool of himself rabbiting on about all the evidence we had amassed to plan our expedition which Herod’s legal team then confiscated.

Anyway, we have reached our destination. Actually, the last bit of our epic journey didn’t take long at all, as you can imagine, even Caspar was keen to leave Herod’s palace as soon as we could. And now it was my turn to be proven right. Despite my earlier pleas to not expect too much they were still taken aback. But I knew what living in an occupied territory was like, my suggestions that the special one would reside in modest accommodation had been repeatedly dismissed with generous contempt.

Mr Joseph opened the door of his humble dwelling appearing completely unphased by our substantial entourage. ‘We’ve been expecting you’ was what he said, with a broad smile, welcoming us over the threshold. And Mrs Joseph, Mary, greeted us. She seemed shy, demure and yet serene. Caspar and Melchior pushed their way forward into the living room and missed seeing the energetic toddler behind Mary. He was playing with some expertly carved wooden pieces. Mr Joseph explained his work included creating scale models for approval by the Temple authorities who kept rejecting them because they were ‘such a fussy bunch’. ‘This is my firstborn’, Mr Joseph proudly added, ‘and my boy keeps finding better ways to make these!’. The shekel dropped, ‘the firstborn’, I felt my heart race.

Anyway, Mr Joseph stoops and prompted the child who then followed him to the where Caspar and Melchior, now seated, were looking both bemused and impatient. Mr Joseph then presented the special one. Now it was the the Joseph family’s turn to be bemused by my fellow travellers’ antics! Of course their gifts, Gold and Frankincense, were exquisitely and expensively wrapped and handed over with much bowing and scraping. Mine, well, yes, I was the youngest so I had the ‘awkward’ present. I turned toward the parents and they sensed my discomfort. Mary looked pensive, gently accepting my tiny phial of Myrrh. And as she turned away I heard her whisper, ‘it’s ok, I know, Blessed be the Lord’.

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But why the tears there?

Remembering Ian McLagan, great player and raconteur, looking back to his inspirational and understated Hammond organ tinkling here...

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The greatest of these is more than music...

I so wish the Sermon on the Mount included the phrase "Blessed are the Music Makers...".

All my life I have believed that art and music can change things for the better and I still endorse that thought. However after visiting the West Bank I have been challenged to consider greater callings.

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Palestine - a personal perspective...

As mentioned in a previous post I have been honoured to spend time out in the West Bank both taking part in the Bet Lahem Live Festival and visiting local families during the daytime. My head has been buzzing with all that I saw and experienced and decided to collate some of the images from some of the UK team and create this little offering. I candidly admit although there is some very literal moments to match the lyrics it will be only fully understood by those that were there at the time.

For the full story on the house demolition read Justin Butcher's blog post on the Greenbelt Festival website here.

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