Strangely looking forward to the drive up, or at least the part where I leave the congestion of the South and head towards the tranquility of the Lake District…the scenery always changes so dramatically and there becomes noticeably fewer cars on the road at this point. Expecting to feel those few degrees change in temperature when I get across the border but hopefully not the driving rain and flooding that greeted me on my last trip. Have some good music to listen to on the way up…all that’s needed, at the first Motorway service station, will be a caffeine hit! …It will be good to be home again – will keep in touch…
A breezy Autumn walk in the Cotswolds followed by a warming cup of coffee in Bath. The City was bustling today, alive with the vibrant sounds of music and street theatre in the Cathedral square… warm coats and scarves were definitely required – a sea change from the beautiful ‘summer’ weather of last weekend.
Off to Scotland on Thursday – a chance to catch up with Stuart and Gordon at the studio. Driving again this time – here’s hoping no major delays like my last trip…
A beautifully warm, sunny day here in the South West. Supposedly the last true day of summer…it reminded me of the heat in Hong Kong only a couple of weeks ago. Somehow it seems longer than two weeks ago I was there, preparing for our gig at the Lyric Theatre.
It was so good to meet so many of you face to face after the show…everyone was so kind. Hopefully we can do it again before too long.
Looking forward to coming out to Hong Kong again in the next few weeks – really excited about the concert. This time I’ll be bringing out with me, some great musicians from Scotland – Fraser Fifield (sax, pipes,whistles) Graeme Stephen (guitar/keys), Mario Caribe (bass) and Chris Wallace (drums). The guys are all excellent musicians and, like me, are all really looking forward to playing for you.
Fraser Fifield – bagpipes, saxophone, whistles – an outstanding product of the Scottish jazz-folk scene who has performed with a great many of Scotland’s best known artists in both folk and jazz circles on numerous albums and tours the world over and released his own critically acclaimed albums.
Graeme Stephen – guitar – 2011 Scottish Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year, an exceptionally talented guitarist and composer. Now living in Edinburgh he leads and writes for his own award-winning groups from trio through to octet
Chris Wallace – drums & percussion – born in Canada. He toured and recorded extensively in the rock and pop field in Canada, the US and Europe through the 90s. Since arriving in Scotland in 2002, he has worked with many of the country’s top musicians in a wide range of genres.
Mario Caribe – double bass – came from Brazil to Scotland in the 90’s and became one of the most sought after bassists in the country, having played a myriad of styles with artists from all over the world, as well as being a respected band leader, composer and educator.
Traveled up to Kent to spend a couple of days in London and the surrounding countryside. Once again stuck in a traffic jam – this time on the M25 – the London Orbital Motorway which is regularly more akin to a car park. Friday evening was no exception, and this time I managed to out do my personal best record of 4Hrs 30 mins (achieved on the M6 a few weeks back when traveling to the studio in Scotland) by adding another 2 Hrs 15 mins to that time…
Listening to traffic reports, it transpired that a serious accident had occurred up ahead involving both sides of the carriageway… I sat in the car and waited like everyone else, hoping that no one had been badly injured. Six plus hours later (11.30pm), as I drove past the crash scene, it was apparent that this was indeed a very serious accident. Wreckage was strewn all over the carriageway and there didn’t look like there was much left of a couple of the cars. Strangely it’s the little things you notice at a glance…the belongings piled up at the side of the road – the contents of a car which evidently had children in it – evidence of a family summer holiday. ..I felt a little sick to my stomach at the thought of what may have happened to anyone in these vehicles.
As I drove on, it brought back memories of a serious car crash I’d had a few years back when I’d inadvertently decided to see if my car could ‘fly’ at Hammersmith in London…A truck had decided to pull across the carriageway to find a gap in the central reservation in order to u turn, except that he decided to do it just as I was approaching down the outside lane. He came out of nowhere and although I tried to brake, I knew that I wasn’t going to make it in time. Almost at the very same moment that whole surreal slow motion thing kicked in. It was really strange and I can still remember it now. Some people say that it’s because the brain is working on overdrive to assess the situation and find a solution to the imminent danger…I’m not so sure… but it is very strange, as anyone who’s experienced it will tell you. A few years later whilst working in the studio with Gary Numan, he told me that the same thing had happened to him when he had crashed whilst flying his own light aircraft. He said that he could remember, perfectly clearly, individual blades of grass go by as the plane skidded to a halt in a field.
In my case I can remember the face of a young child, sitting in her baby seat in the car next to me, smiling at me as I took my foot off the brake, realizing that it was useless to attempt to stop, as collision was imminent and any attempt to slow at that point was only going to involve the car next to me, as my brakes were locking up.
In those fleeting milliseconds I somehow managed to asses, with complete calm and clarity, that If I hit the truck head on I’d be killed outright…the only option, as there was no passenger in the seat next to me, was to turn the steering wheel at the final moment and allow the side of the car to take the brunt of the impact, perhaps then, there would be a chance. All of these thoughts must have happened in a split second and yet strangely, it felt like all the time in the world due to the dreamy slow motion event happening around me…
What I hadn’t factored in however, was that my action of turning the steering wheel was to have the effect of flipping my car into the air and turning it over to the other side of the road. Oddly at the point of impact the whole slow motion thing for me stopped, and everything became faster than ever…the horrendous noise of metal crunching all around me, the car feeling like it was never going to come to a standstill… and me, completely disoriented, wondering if the next second would be my last. I remember screaming No! the whole way through it, until It came to an abrupt halt as my head smashed against the windscreen… everything then went black for a few moments.
It took a long time after my accident before I could bring myself to get in a car, let alone drive one. My father kept on at me that the best thing was to get right back to it, as to leave it too long would only make matters worse. The thing that haunted me the most though, in the weeks following the accident, wasn’t the thought of the crash itself, but the noise of the metal twisting and crushing all around me… I kept hearing it all the time.
It’s strange to think we get in a car and feel safe, protected and somehow immortal in this strong metal box and yet if you’ve had a bad crash you’ll know just how fragile that ‘strong box’ actually is…it’s terrifying.
…The next day news reports suggested that a couple of people had been badly injured in the crash the evening before, but thankfully, no mention of any fatalities.
Sat 6th Aug
In London…a beautiful sunny day and the streets are buzzing with tourists. Little did anyone know what chaos was about to reign down on the Capital a few hours later, as the first of many riots was gearing up to take place.
Ended up at Canary Wharf (pictured) for something to eat before returning to my car which I’d parked at nearby Docklands. Canary Wharf is one of two main financial districts, along with the traditional City of London, and is home to some of the tallest buildings in the U.K. Usually busy with people in pin striped suits during the week, it takes on an altogether more breezy feel at the weekend – the many bars and restaurants gently buzzing with the delicate chatter of conversation.
Woke up today to in-depth news coverage of the shockingly tragic events which took place in Norway yesterday. Following the bomb blast in Oslo and the subsequent shootings on the Island of Utoya, eyewitness reports made for harrowing listening, as yet another country lost its ‘innocence’ to a senseless act of violence and destruction.
My thoughts are with all of those directly and indirectly involved in this horrific incident, especially the young people who found themselves caught up in the midst of a massacre on Utoya Island and who may have lost many friends as a result. I hope they receive all the counseling and support that they will require in order to slowly, over the coming weeks and months, begin to repair the psychological damage done and find the inner strength to re-build their lives.
Up In the attic going through some bags of ‘words’ that I’d written over the years…came across one that I’d written quite a long time ago. It’s called ‘Gather Me Up In Bright Buttons’… fairly innocent but quite sweet… thought you might like to read it. Will post it in the usual ‘Words’ section of the website…please don’t judge too harshly…
Spent today in town, ending up at The Amercian Museum and ‘The Marilyn Monroe Exhibition’. The beautiful surroundings of Claverton Manor are currently playing host to the largest private collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia owned by David Gainsborough Roberts.
Upon arrival I was greeted with the sultry vocal tones of M singing ‘Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend’, while those arched brows and that iconic smile gazed down from giant posters adorning the walls. Inside, a large TV sceen ran footage from all the famous movies, while bright spotlights dramatically brought to life each of M’s iconic gowns.
It was incredible to see all those stunning dresses…The fabulous red sequined one from ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’, the black lace cocktail dress from ‘Some LIke It Hot’ and a very pretty demure full-length ivory dress from ‘The Prince And the Showgirl’ amongst others…Amazingly also was the size of these dresses, as unless in some way altered – which I very much doubted – they were petite to the point of being ‘dainty’. I had always assumed Marilyn had a much fuller figure than this. Apparently she was 5ft 5″” (the same height as me)… but as a UK size 8/10 in most dresses, I would have only just about fitted into any of these clothes…the waistlines were tiny and the hips very much in proportion. Apparently it wasn’t until the late fifties that Marilyn’s figure filled out a little to that which we associate with her today. But it was probably all the intimate belongings that really touched me the most… the postcards, the letters, the mementoes from her honeymoon in Japan with Joe DiMaggio and the little ballerina figurine she’d kept with her from her childhood days in foster care… all the real things that made up part of her life – a life that always seemed complicated somehow, defined by childhood experiences and compounded by the attention her fame commanded. Strangely she seemed both strong and in control whilst almost simultaneously intensely vulnerable and fragile. Perhaps, like the rest of us, Marilyn just wanted to feel loved and ‘aprroved of’ in her life…perhaps she needed this more than most given her upbringing. Maybe she found it in some way in her career and marriages…we’ll never truly know.
Marilyn Monroe may well have passed away in physical form on the 5th August 1962 (aged 36) but she also passed into legend – never to die…her Iconic status secured forever and her dreams of ‘being wonderful’ complete.
Upon her death Marilyn was $400,000 in debt and only saved from a pauper’s grave by ex-husband Joe DiMaggio, who had hoped for a reconciliation before her death and who subsequently banned her ‘Hollywood friends’ from attending her funeral service. Joe would also continue to send six red roses, three times a week for the following twenty years to Marilyn’s crypt.
As I headed off I took a final look back at the vast M. M. posters billowing in the breeze on the building outside…Marilyn seemed happy enough – still wowing the crowds and ‘being wonderful’.
Stayed with my sister last night as today is her birthday. After a rousing dawn chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ we shared an early breakfast as she was off to have a birthday lunch with family and friends in Glasgow (all my family are from Glasgow except me – my family moved East before I was born) and I was off to the studio to catch up with the guys.
Arrived at the studio at 10.15am. It was eerily quiet as I entered the building (a former police station and cells in a previous incarnation, dating back a couple of hundred years). Gordon wasn’t around this time as he was currently touring around France with his family, but Stuart had arranged to meet me there and run through a few of the things I had in mind. After a quick catch up over a very much appreciated cup of tea, we set to work… On the website at the moment we have created a section of ‘words’ – some bits and pieces I’d written over the years, and I thought it might be an idea if I put my voice to some of the files currently on there. It seemed strange to me that although people may be aware of the sound of my singing voice, they wouldn’t necessarily be aware of the sound of my speaking voice and what these ‘words’ sounded like to me at the time I created them in my head. So we decided to voice a few of these as a kind of experiment and also to put a vocal melody, which had been running around in my mind, to another one called ‘whisper’.
Later in the day Fraser, who works on the audio -visual side of things at the studio, arrived camera in hand. So while Stuart and I worked on, Fraser moved around us filming various bits and pieces, which I’m sure will turn up on the internet sometime soon. I have to admit that having a camera pointed at me is not something I’ve ever been completely comfortable with if I’m honest, and is probably why, after some pretty excruciating photographic sessions in the past, I decided to start taking my own album cover shots…’The Heart Within’ being one such example. It’s ok with guys like Fraser and photographers I know and feel comfortable around and It can be an incredibly creative time, but I’ve really got to know someone well enough to allow myself to open up to the situation.
Later that afternoon we once again experienced some dramatic changes in the weather as we watched, spellbound, the most dramatic thunder and lightning storm… The sky turned completely black and ominous and then that fantastically powerful sound of thunder…
At 6 pm with the rain still sweeping across the streets, we left the studio and headed for home. It had been good to catch up with the guys again…It’s always like coming home.
