RIP Martin Duffy

just been looking at the Old Woollen Mill website. It’s the partner venue of the Constitutional. I went there to see Chris Difford a few years ago and ended up sitting right in front of him, as in I could lean forward and touch him whilst he was performing, not that either of us particularly wanted me to lean forward and touch him! Great show though, although I wish he’d done a bit more of his solo stuff, which I think is brill. I asked him if he had plans to record any more solo albums, but he said he was going to be concentrating on Squeeze for the foreseeable.

Looks like the trains from New Pudsey to Leeds are pretty regular, so Lawrence should be doable.

 

It wasn't me. You re-introduced them to me. I knew Frazier Chorus and I even knew their Anarchy in the UK cover. But I hadn't listened to them since... forever. Now I listen to them a lot because you wrote this:

Frazier Chorus are one of my favourite bands. They only did three albums, and even then their third is a mini-album that sneaked out a few years after the others with no fanfare. Tim Freeman (brother of Martin and the inspiration for his Tim character in The Office) pretty much retired after that, although it was good to see him pop up when Martin was the subject of Who Do You Think You Are?

Their first album, Sue, is great and includes the songs people are most likely to know - Typical, Dream Kitchen and Sloppy Heart. Actually, you should hear their version of Anarchy In The UK that was on the B side of Sloppy Heart. But their second album, Ray, is their masterpiece. It’s insanely good. Best track is All The Air, which lent its lyrics to the title of one of the best American music blogs.

Their third album, Wide Awake, is also a cracker, although it’s a bit of a slow burner. But once you’ve heard it a few times the songs stick with you. There are a few demos that appeared on the internet for a proposed fourth album, but the songs aren’t really finished and don’t lend much to their meagre catalogue. Along with The The, they didn’t anticipate the internet and search engines when the demos leaked out though, as they went by the name Monkey Spunk. Trust me, searching for rare demos from one of your favourite bands under that title brings up things you’d rather not want to see!

I may have recommended some stuff myself, but Frazier Chorus is all your fault!!!

(Apologies, I never delete or throw away anything anyone ever writes to me, whether on paper or by email. They are the most valuable things I will ever be custodian of. As the above proves.)

 

No, I was saying that you introduced me to Explosions in the Sky!

 

Aha, Sarah Records.

Big fan.

Especially Field Mice.

I'm attempting to collect the 100, but its proving difficult.

 

I don't know about difficult, but it's ridiculously expensive

 

The expense was the difficult bit.