This is now...That was then...This is now...
Here I am sharing a great part of my youth with you, the world, having found a box of my old cassettes from way back in the 90s!
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I'm in my 50s now (with much less hair)!. Happily married and a father of three fantastic grown-up children...and one little dog.
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As the 90s rolled on, we struggled through marriages and divorces and kids and second marriages and more kids, and Stef left, and Marky Boy and I recruited Bob on bass and Ben on lead guitar to add more oomph to our ideas.
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Tape-after-tape-after-tape of practice sessions were recorded. Our disparate songs on dozens of cassettes.
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I always dreamed of being a rock star ever since I can remember. And in the 90s, in my energetic yet turbulent twenties, whilst most of my friends were out drinking and partying, I was trying to fulfil my dream. Not easy when you're forced to work full-time and move out of home to discover that life will kick you and judge you and sap the very life out of you most of the time. Society, eh?
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Anyway, I hooked up with one of my oldest friends, Marky Boy, and we bought a guitar and a bass and a couple of amps and we started to piece together some tunes. We hooked up with Stuart the drummer (can't remember how we met him to this very day) and Stef on keyboards and we'd pop down the local tobacco-stained, half-broken, sweaty rehearsal rooms, hook up our tiny one-mic-input tape recorder and...
Regrettably, I never had the self-belief to take the next step. So, on into the early 2000s, we brought in Garreth on vocals and guitars and I moved into managing this 'new' band. Gigs were booked. One show was attended by Supergrass and a journo from the NME. We were invited onto an ITV late night band showcase TV show (I think it was called The Basement?). But it never quite happened for the band.
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Over the past couple of decades, each of us has gone our own way. I still keep in touch with Marky Boy, and Bob's my brother-in-law. And I did see drummer Stuart doing up someone's kitchen a few years ago. But time and tide does what it does...
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Fantastic times. Fantastic memories. And a collection of some OK practice tunes.
Yes, I'm hoping to raise a bit of money to to donate to charities who are helping music artists & venues and those with mental health struggling in these times. And, maybe share some with the collaborators of my youth. 16 tracks for less than $2 seems a winner...and a few free downloads. And if it helps people then even better.
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Please listen with an open mind and enjoy!
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