Annecdotal Evidence

The Ramblings of a Selective Memory
BENNY HILL'S WARDROBE

(picture by Simon Gray that wasn't used for the back cover of benny hill's wardrobe cd ...and now hangs on my wall)
Which brings me to my 1st piece of A.E.
The song Benny Hill's Wardrobe was inspired by seeing an old M.F.I wardrobe for sale in a Teddington
second hand shop (pre Charity shop boom)
The Sticker on the wardrobe read ...'Benny hills old wardrobe' ..genuine

FROM THE PARISH OF ARTHRITIS

( CD of Parish Of Arthritis picture taken from an old childrens book from the 50's)
Entered the lyrics for Radio Active Scuba Diver in a London poetry competition ...didn't win
Did a live radio radio session for a young John Kennedy
when he was working for Thamesmead Radio on the famous estate
where Clockwork Orange was filmed ... A very strange place ...
did a couple of sessions for him when he moved to the lofty heights of XFM

BARBARA EP

(front cover 1 of a set of 4 postcards found in svendborg Denmark)
The song Barbara, along with others from the 5 Die Lp, was often played by Bob Geldof on his XFM early
evening show, not sure whether it was Bob's championing of the Springs as ''Great songwriters''
or his continual swearing that cut short his career as a DJ
The melody for Barbara was pinched wholesale from Spangle a Wedding Present song (sorry Dave)
BEST BAKERS ON THE ISLAND

(cover art by Alex Abajian)
Simon got the title from this album from an idyllic holiday we had c1996 on the
tiny Greek Island of Halki - many a day was spent debating which of the 2 bakers on
the island was best? (John's or Dimitri's).....a decision was never reached (Kim)
FIVE DIE FILMING THIS LAZY LARK

(Three unknown butchers from Kim's Nan's old photo's)
I asked Jan Griffiths to sing a duet with me on flashing my whip
after hearing her singing old war time songs in her kitchen
while delivering her mail ...very pleased I did ...she was great
A GOOD PROVIDER

(Split 7inch single with Esposito Dan Goodwins post Kitchens of Distinction band)
Got a Phone call in the afternoon
GLR  were going to review the single on a roundtable style record review program
I said great go ahead ... slaughter it
And one guest on the show a certain Ms Ronnie Spector did just that
''Very Amateur'' I heard her say as 
I submerged my embarrassed head under my bath water
.. Yes I was having a bath at the time

FIRM FAMILY FAVOURITES EP

(Bored waiting for chips ..photo by Gary Chatfield of his daughter used for the Firm Family cover)
For The Taming of the Dogs ..Song 4 on this EP
I wondered if I could make a totally different song by using  the drum track from another
I'd heard this type of thing done with reggae and northern soul
and while mixing Attempted Life from That Sentimental Slush it all came clear
I'd had an idea for a song about bad dog owners for a while
so I decided to put the two together
I wonder if anyone noticed?
THAT SENTIMENTAL SLUSH

(One of my crude attempts at a cover for the Slush LP)
Was going to call every song on this album after a film
'Music ... It's A Young Mans Game'
would have been called Carry on Camping
because of the references to Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw.
The only song that ended up keeping a film title was
T'he King And I'
which was really meant to be called 'The Man Who Would Be King'
which, as you all know, is a far superior film 
but The Libertines got to the title before us