Category Archives: Music

Review – K T Tunstall, Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 6th November 2013

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We booked tickets to this concert on the strength of two songs that we both know and enjoy – “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and of course “Suddenly I See”. We had no idea about the rest of her back catalogue or current music, so we didn’t have any particular expectation of how the evening would develop, and you could say our attendance was a leap of faith. I’m pleased to say it turned out to be a very worthwhile leap indeed.

There was a slightly odd feel to the structure of the evening; for instance, at the bar. We arrived and did our usual trick of ordering a couple of Chenin Blancs to take into the show and another couple for the interval – but we were told they were not accepting interval orders that night because they weren’t sure how long it would be and whether they would have time to get drinks ready for it. As it happened, the interval came at 8.40, and there would have been bags of time to prepare the drinks. As a result I had to queue again at the bar for the interval, and, as I was wearing my Invisible Suit, I had to wait a long time to get served, which meant the queue to buy the CD of the support act (read on below…) was immense and so we ended up not joining it. Humph.

Then there was the audience itself. I checked the R&D website earlier in the day and the whole theatre was pretty much a sell-out. But as we took our seats about five minutes before the show was due to start, whole banks of seats were still empty. “Must be because there is a support act, and people will arrive late”, we assumed. Still, how did they know there would be a support act? It didn’t say so on the tickets…. Anyway, the start time of 8pm came and went. Then 8.05pm. At about 8.08pm a “roadie” (how hip am I?) came on, twiddled a few knobs with the machines and instruments, and wandered off. At this stage I remarked to Mrs Chrisparkle that the whole presentation was giving an impression of an amateur, rather cheap affair – it wasn’t giving me much hope for a top class professional show.

Then this scruffy young chap ambled on, picked up a guitar, looked at us in surprise as if he didn’t expect an audience to be there, and quietly said “hi I’m Billy Lockett” and started to play us a song. At this point the man sat in front of Mrs C went into a frenzy of excitement. To every guitar chord that Mr Lockett played, he head-banged rhythmically and repeatedly, feeling his way into his groove. He disco-danced in his seat (not really appropriate to the style of music being played to be honest), and, in the words of Kool and the Gang, basically “got down on it”. Frankly, he looked a bit of a pillock. “He must have his fans in” said Mrs C. And sure enough, shortly afterwards Mr Lockett revealed that he was Northampton born and bred and would be playing a local gig in a few weeks’ time. He’d brought some CDs with him that he would sell and sign in the interval. And, do you know what? He was really, really good. No wonder the queue to buy his CD was so long. I’d describe his style as comfortable folk rock; he has a warm, rich voice and, cliché though it may be, he really made his guitar sing. No criticism intended, but he was the kind of artist Alan Partridge would adore. We were incredibly impressed; and today I’ve downloaded all his songs from iTunes.

But of course, K T Tunstall was the main attraction. I was surprised that she didn’t have a backing band – but she’s just there, herself, alone, decked out in glitzy trousers, with a few guitars, a keyboard and a tambourine. And a clever, hidden computer that layers a backing track for each song in front of your eyes (or ears). First she gets the drumbeat going by knocking out a basic rhythm on the body of the guitar (record, wait for it to carry on without her), then maybe a tambourine shake or two (record, comes back at you with the already established drumbeat), then a double click of the fingers a few times (record, that sounds like extra percussion), finally add maybe a little vocal humming or “woo-hoo”-ing (record, now you’ve got backing singers) and the whole cumulative effect is as haunting as it is technically fascinating.

She did – naturally – perform Black Horse and Cherry Tree (about halfway through the show) and Suddenly I See (as part of the encore). The other songs were all new to us, but I have to say, they blew us away with their beauty, their fun, and their style. You know that rather wonderful (and rare) feeling when you buy a new album and every single new track is a delight – well that’s rather what that evening felt like. She was on stage for the best part of an hour and a half, during which time she had very friendly and entertaining banter with us too. Despite being on the big Derngate stage and with a full audience, the whole thing had the intimate feel of a cabaret. The sound quality was sensational – and the light show atmospheric and beautiful; congratulations to whoever did the lighting design. That backing track computer really came into its own for the encore. Not only did KT get us all to sing the words “suddenly I see” which she locked into the computer so that our singing came back out at us as backing singers, but for the last song, Chimes, she set her own voice and instrumentation on repeat on the computer so that it carried on once she had said goodbye and left the stage, and even as we were leaving the auditorium. It was like a very slow lingering fond farewell to a great evening. And today, I’m downloading all her songs from iTunes too.

So the scores on the doors for the evening are: two acts we have never seen before, plus loads of great songs, multiplied by superbly entertaining performances, equals two new fans for each. An idyllic evening of great music – I highly recommend it. You can see the dates for the rest of the tour here and if you’re local and want to support Billy Lockett on his “hometown headline show” (alas we’re already committed elsewhere that night) the details are here.

PS Despite the ushers telling everyone as they came in that photography was not allowed, the entire auditorium was constantly being littered with little flashes of flash camera, inevitably followed up by an usher tracking down the guilty party and asking them to stop. There were a few visually stunning scenes where KT was doing beautiful big numbers under a smoky funnel of whirling light that were unfortunately marred by these irritating flash interruptions. On our way out Mrs C personally thanked one of the ushers for attempting to stop what she described as one of her pet irritations. Let’s hear it for the ushers!

Review – An Evening with Petula Clark, Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 10th October 2013

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It was over a year ago, whilst we were on holiday in Malta, that the Royal and Derngate announced that they would be hosting An Evening with Petula Clark. I’ve never been what you would call a massive fan, but I am fond of many of her 1960s hits, and she is indeed “A Big Name”, and one that I would never thought I would get the chance to see in person. I guessed the show would sell out rapidly, so I asked a kind soul back in the UK to get some tickets for me; and I’m very pleased I did.

Before we saw the show, I read a review from earlier in the tour which implied that her voice had declined disappointingly, so I was expecting the worst. There are few things more cringey than someone who used to “have it”, still trying to trot it out despite the fact they lost it ages ago. Well, have no fear. Whatever “it” is, Petula Clark still has it in droves.

Backed by a terrific five piece band, Miss Clark gives us two and a quarter hours of old hits, new songs and some brilliant covers. She starts off with a couple of songs I’d not heard before – from the new album I guess, but early on she treats us to great renditions of “Don’t sleep in the subway” and “Colour my world”, before going on to some enjoyable recollections of appearing in Finian’s Rainbow with Fred Astaire. She then said she would do a song from that show, and I was half-delighted and half-alarmed at the prospect, as “How are things in Glocca Morra” inevitably brings a lump to my throat, for it brings back happy/sad childhood memories and I can be a soft old thing on occasions. Anyway, thank goodness it was “Look to the rainbow”, which she sang in her quaint Hollywood Irish accent to an updated rhythm and was excellent. Then, blow me, she only went and did “Glocca Morra” too. Well yes, my eyes did well up, but it was worth it, because again she re-invented that sentimental old song in really quite a funky way. Other great numbers in the first half were a very beautiful version of John Lennon’s “Imagine”, a multi-lingual “This is my song”, a Nashville style “My love” (which again really made you appreciate an old favourite in a new way) and a bright and breezy “You’re the one”. Those last two songs being my favourites, I went into the interval well pleased. The interval was actually a good opportunity to reflect with Mrs Chrisparkle just how much more we were enjoying the evening than we had expected.

In the second half, other early highlights were a new (to me at any rate) song about Memphis, a stunning cover, accompanying herself on the piano, of Elvis’ Love Me Tender (together with a very amusing anecdote about her meeting Elvis) and a thumping “I Know a Place”. I didn’t know that she had played Norma Desmond in Sunset (Goddam) Boulevard for two years, and she sang “With one look” from that show, which made me think she was probably sensational in the role. She did a pastiche 60s recollection number which evolved into “The Other Man’s Grass” which I amused myself by singing along to, as I remember my parents always hated it. There was a lovely change of mood with “Someone to watch over me” from the Gershwin Brothers’ Oh Kay (the Gertrude Lawrence recording was another one I remember from when I was dandled on my mother’s knee), again with Miss Clark on the piano. She has a great new song, “Cut copy me” which she performed and I was really impressed with both the song and the band’s arrangement – well worth downloading, I’d say. She got the audience to join in with her 1961 hit “Sailor” – that gives you an insight into the general demographic attending last night; then there was a rousing “I couldn’t live without your love”, a hugely crowd-pleasing “Downtown”, and finally a charming song about a rainbow of which I didn’t get the title; but if you’re a fan, you probably know it.

We came out of the show, feeling elated and privileged to have seen a great performer. There’s only a few more dates left in this tour, but absolutely well worth catching if you can.

Review – Madness, Northamptonshire County Cricket Ground, 22nd September 2013

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Mrs Chrisparkle and I were feeling rather sorry for the residents of Abington Avenue. Our walk up from the town centre had been uneventful; the Kettering Road was quiet, just a few people outside the Picturedrome as we turned left towards the Cricket Ground. A few more people started emerging, heading towards the ground, but even then it was remarkably relaxed – a typical Sunday evening I guess. Once we’d got past Lea Road, it was a different matter. “Is that a riot going on ahead?” asked Mrs C nervously as we continued walking towards a thronging mass of people. “Unlikely” I thought, although doubtless we both remembered that bizarre Christmas Eve in 1986 when we just avoided getting caught up in the “Shire Wars” riot in Aylesbury town centre. ‘Eee it were tuff in Buckinghamshire in them days.

Treading carefully over broken glass and weaving our way past the drunks outside the pub just before the cricket ground, we kind of wondered what the hell we had got ourselves into. Still, once we entered the ground, you felt an increased level of safety, secure in the knowledge that you were in the company of people out for a good night’s entertainment rather than those who simply wanted to get rat-arsed. Nevertheless, the lure of a spot of alcohol called, and, having been very good and not brought into the ground any “food/drink/alcohol/illegal substances” as it warned on the ticket, we headed towards the bar. Then we saw the queue. “How much do you need a drink?” asked Mrs C. “Not that much”, was my reply. So we pressed on, into the crowd, to see how near we could get to the stage without having to get too intimate with other onlookers.

We did rather well really, as we managed to get a spot that was more or less centre in front of the stage and only about – what – 50 rows or so from the front? Very difficult to estimate with so many people there, but it was a good location. As we arrived the final warm up band was performing their swansong, and we thought they were pretty good. Then we had an announcement from the producer, Liz Hobbs, who beefed us up with the news that they would be putting plenty more concerts on at the cricket ground in the future. I can just imagine the residents of Abington Avenue hanging out the bunting. With only a few minutes before Suggs and the Nutty Boys were due to come on, there was an influx of lads to our area of the pitch, all high on “emotion” and not afraid to express it. Why oh why did they sell Madness hats there? I understand the need for “merch”, but really? Encouraging people to wear something that makes them six inches taller standing right in front of you? Is that what you want when you want to see a stage? Thus our prime spot became slightly less than prime; still I am sure it’s a problem that everyone had, unless you arrived with hours and hours to spare, hurled yourself in a mad rush as soon as the gates opened and decamped in the front row. I’m afraid our time is more valuable than to spend it just hanging around for a concert to start.

I’m sounding like a right grump, aren’t I? Actually, the concert was really good. You can never tell if a group you liked 30 to 35 years ago will still cut the mustard, but Madness sure do. Suggs is a born showman, and his sub-robotic silly dance routines still amuse and entertain; and his voice is still as clear as a bell and full of knowing wit. Musically, they’re great, and their brass arrangements resonate across the crowd as raucously as ever. I was a bit concerned that they would just play (those dreaded words) stuff “from our latest album”, and whilst there was a bit of that, for the most part they simply wallowed in nostalgia, playing all their oldies and goldies. The only song of theirs that I like and they didn’t play, was “Driving in my car”. Apart from that, it was a set geared to please.

How could it fail to entrance the crowd when it opened with “One Step Beyond”, played with all the silliness and bravado the band could muster? “Embarrassment”, and the superb “My Girl” followed shortly after – and it’s great at such an event when simply everyone knows the words. They played for a good hour and a half, with just a brief break whilst one of the guys performed (if that’s the right word) “New York, New York” in his own, inimitable fashion. But when you end up with “House of Fun”, “Baggy Trousers”, “Our House”, and “It Must Be Love”, you realise quite what a contribution the group has made to the world of high octane fun pop music. Their encore was “Madness” (which personally I could have done without) and “Night Boat to Cairo” (a must).

At the end, everyone seemed to disperse in an extremely orderly way and the whole thing was clearly well organised and stewarded. I hope they continue to bring more top acts to Northampton – there’s definitely an audience for it. Terribly glad I don’t live near the cricket ground though.

Review – Paul Weller, Alive at Delapre, Northampton, 19th July 2013

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A real live music festival on our doorstep! That was the prospect we awaited with the new Alive at Delapre Festival in Northampton that took place over the weekend of 19th –21st July. Paul Weller on the Friday, The Wanted and Lawson on the Saturday, James Morrison and Bo Bruce on the Sunday. You spoil us, Mr Ambassador. Actually, owing to other commitments, the Paul Weller concert was the only date we could make, but I was there amongst the keenest of festival fans queuing at the Royal and Derngate box office to buy our tickets the moment they came on sale. Even the local paper was there to report the ticket queue. Queuers were interviewed, would you believe. “Are you a die-hard Paul Weller fan?” they were asked. “Ah yeah man, he’s really great”. I desperately hoped no one would interview me, because I didn’t want to have to answer that, actually, I prefer theatre, Eurovision and contemporary dance. Fortunately they missed me out, phew.

To be fair, I used to love The Jam in the 70s. They were savage enough to be meaningful but tuneful enough to be commercial. I quite liked The Style Council years too, but after that only the die-hard fans would know anything he did; although I do recollect a single, “It’s Written in the Stars” from 2002 that I bought. Anyway, I would always try to support any new entertainment venture in Northampton, so there was no question that Mrs Chrisparkle and I would be up for attending the concert.

Fortunately I had read all the rules of engagement before setting off, which said you could take picnics (hoorah!) but no glass or tins, and all crockery and cutlery had to be plastic. So, like the law-abiding citizens we are, I swapped out our picnic set metal knives and forks for plastics, and decanted two bottles of wine into empty San Pellegrino bottles, saved specifically for the purpose. Middle class, don’t speak of it, savoir faire, we reek of it. Our starter was a big bag of Sweet Chilli Kettle Chips; our main course was two big helpings from the Morrisons’ Salad counter; our dessert two small helpings from their fruit section. Like Billie Jo Spears, we put our blanket on the ground, not too far from the stage, spread out in the beautiful evening sunshine, kicked off our shoes, and relaxed. It was great.

The last concert like this I attended was way back in 1982. Yes, honestly. It was Genesis, the last tour that featured Peter Gabriel, at the Milton Keynes Bowl, on a day when it bucketed it down. I went with some friends from university and we all got totally drenched. The car got bogged down in mud; such happy days. The support act that day was Talk Talk. Not that rather iffy communications company, who leave you in the lurch when your phone won’t work, but the terrific little band that sang wonderful numbers like “Today” and the eponymous “Talk Talk”. I loved them. Everyone else in the Milton Keynes Bowl hated them, because they were soaked to the skin, just wanted Genesis to come on and sing some songs, then we could all rush for cover. Talk Talk did their thirty-minute set to boos and slow-hand-claps. When they had finished all their contractually obliged numbers, the lead singer just said “thank you for your patience” and they all slunk off. Fortunately nothing like that happened this time. There was a support band, Toy, of whom I know nothing, apart from the fact they are from London and their lead singer has a somewhat terse attitude to audience communication. “This is a new one”. “Fanks”. “This is an old one”. “Ta”. You get the picture. They were fine; but they were no Talk Talk.

After a short break, Paul Weller and his backing band took to the stage, and sang some songs I didn’t know. It didn’t matter, because they were very enjoyable. Mr Weller is still in excellent voice, his band was rocking, the sound quality as projected to the gathered crowds was top notch and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. Something I remember about Paul Weller – his songs have always tended to be quite short. This is A Good Thing – because if you don’t like this one, another one will be along in a minute. As it turned out, I only knew five songs that he performed all evening, and even then I only knew “Wishing On A Star” because of Rose Royce; I didn’t know he’d covered it. He only did one Style Council number, “My Ever Changing Moods”, which is a great tune, and got everyone really bopping. My favourite of the ones I knew was “That’s Entertainment”, a superbly bitter-sweet indictment of societal woes in 1980 and no less relevant today. He did it brilliantly.

That was followed by another crowd-pleaser, “Start!” which is grammatically incorrect if you exclude the exclamation mark. I’d forgotten all about that one, but it was fun to hear it again. The only other song I recognised was the final number of the encore, “A Town Called Malice”, which is still a rip-roaring, hugely entertaining, piece of post-Punk protest poetry. I’d been hoping he’d play “Going Underground” and “Eton Rifles”, but alas they have to be filed under “Sins of Omission”. Massive appreciation to the Powers That Be for creating this festival, and I hope it is considered to be sufficiently successful for them to bring it back next year. 6,500 people (apparently) attended this concert and from what I could see it seemed to pass off without incident. The stewards were friendly and polite too, which is a bonus. The only slight criticism I would have of the overall management of the event is that when it was all over, there was insufficient light to find your way easily out of the venue and on to the path home – people were colliding with trees and barriers, and fumbling around in the dark which was a bit frustrating. But all in all it was fantastic, and we look forward to next year!

Review – Adam Ant at the Roadmender, Northampton, 20th July 2012

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In those halcyon days of third year at university, my mate Mike and I had rooms in a house belonging to a divorced lady and her two children. The boy must have been about ten years old and one of my overriding memories of that year was his continously playing his, apparently only, two records. Loudly. Repetitively. Ad Nauseam in excelsis. One was Bucks Fizz “Making Your Mind Up” and how this didn’t put me off Eurovision for life is beyond me. The other was Adam Ant’s “Kings of the Wild Frontier” and that did indeed put me off Mr Ant and his silly bunch of supporting insects for a long time. “Prince Charming” and “Stand and Deliver” came and went and I found them tediously entertaining in a purely background sort of way. Then along came “Goody Two Shoes” and I loved it; I rediscovered and relished “Antmusic”, I was amused by the re-released “Young Parisians” and finally bopped till I dropped to “Apollo 9”. So there were the six songs I hoped Mr Ant would perform on this leg of what seems to me to be a pretty intensive summer tour.

Before the gig though, came the angst of worrying about being the middle-aged theatregoers slap bang in the middle of hundreds of scruffy unwashed yoof ravers. We’ve not been to the Roadmender before and thought it was high time we experienced for ourselves the insides of this rather ominous looking building. Promoted as the largest music venue between London and Birmingham, we wondered what would it be like. Would we be gawped at as the Oldies on the young peoples’ patch? Patronised by the door staff? Ignored at the bar? Sometimes when one has to attend a new venue one’s capacity for worrying in advance can be surprisingly fertile. But we needn’t have worried. The Roadmender is a friendly, clean, well run venue, with good air-conditioning, a reasonably priced bar (pint of lager and glass of wine £6.80), a decent little cloakroom, and clean toilets (according to Mrs Chrisparkle). My only slight reservation about the place is that the email I sent them through their website, four days before the gig, asking a couple of questions about the venue, remains unanswered.

We arrived as Mr Ant’s warm-up act was nearing the end of his set – the disarmingly named Mr Johnny Normal. I was sorry we missed the earlier part as he sounded pretty good. Mrs C and I were both impressed at the look of the stage and the general sound quality from the performance. Mr Normal hoped people would buy his CDs later on – I expect he did rather well.

Then there was a half hour break before the arrival of, to give them their full name, Adam Ant and the Good, the Bad and the Lovely Posse. Not sure who was the Bad; the guitarists were certainly good and the female drummer and the sexy dancer in the nurse’s outfit were quite lovely. Then nice and prompt at 8.30pm precisely on strode Mr Ant, thirty years on from how I remember him; still wearing his trademark black and gold jacket, dandy highwayman hat and – a new development – preppy glasses, which lightly added to the suggestion of his growing old disgracefully, an ambition to which I thoroughly subscribe.

In case you were in any doubt, I can safely say he’s still in excellent voice and is still very much the showman. He doesn’t have a lot to say to the audience – I think it was about five songs in before we got a “Good evening” and another three or four before a “Thank you”. But this didn’t come over as being rude – just that he was intent on performing and wanted to concentrate all his efforts on that. We were amused that, after he’d done about ten songs (I was struck how short most of his songs are) the biggest cheer of the night so far came when he did a provocative silent stare to the audience, totally unconnected with anything musical. I also realised that he has done a lot – and I mean a lot of tracks that I have never heard; and I was beginning to get desperate to hear my favourite six songs that he would probably play at the end, wouldn’t he. Surely.

About a third of the way through he struck up Antmusic, and it was great – and very popular in the hall. About two thirds of the way through he sang Stand and Deliver, which also worked well. Near the end they did Goody Two Shoes which got by far the most rousing reception of the evening; and at the end, before the “false ending”, we got Prince Charming, which for me was a bit over-amplified and came across rather muddy and distorted. And there was sadly no Diana Dors. His encore was made up of songs I’ve never heard, and crowd-pleasing cover versions. No room for Young Parisians or Apollo 9 then. Tsk. Sigh.

He did however give excellent value for money – almost a full two hours of performance, no shirking, great quality, and supported by a fine backing group. If you’re an Antfan, this tour will be heaven for you.

Review – The Osmonds, Derngate, Northampton, 27th April 2012

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I couldn’t call myself an Osmond fan, you understand, that would be so not right. But when such an iconic group books in at your local theatre, it would be churlish not to follow up and actually see them perform live. Plus I don’t think Mrs Chrisparkle and the Lady Duncansby would have forgiven me. And I did hope they would play my three favourite Osmonds songs – Crazy Horses, Goin’ Home and I Can’t Stop.

So we all trooped in, a full house, a variety of ages, mainly aged 40 plus I would estimate, and about 95% female. Curtain up at 7.30pm and the joint was buzzing. And then – lo and behold, a slideshow screen appears on the stage with some “Did You Know?” questions. OK, I thought, an amusing way to start the show. Which type of music did the Osmonds first sing? A Bubblegum, B Barbershop, C Light Opera, D Rock n Roll. Let’s go with – B. Correct! Moving on. How many individual acts have formed out of the Osmond family…. And then another…Which group member made a rude sign to the Queen of England (I bet that question went down well in Glasgow)….and then another….after a while I was expecting “Which blood group predominates in the Osmond family? A – A; B – B; C – AB; D – O. “How many Osmonds have nine toes? A – 3; B – 5; C – 7; D – they all do. Then you start to worry. 7.30 became 7.40 – more questions. 7.40 unbelievably became 7.50 – still more questions. Mrs Chrisparkle had to rush home from work to watch this garbage. She could have had an extra 20 minutes to let her dinner go down. At 7.50 I texted Lady Duncansby sitting in the cheap seats: “for ****sake, when’s it going to start?” (Ours is a very informal relationship).

At 7.55pm, the lights changed and some musicians walked on stage. The Osmonds? No. The Dropouts. Who? They advised us that the Osmonds had asked them if they would come on a sing us a few 70s songs, and obviously they must be obliging lads as that’s exactly what they did. Four songs, in fact. I’m a child of the 70s but only recognised two of them. They were, in fact, quite good – and certainly heaps better than watching a sequence of questions about obscure TV reality shows the Osmonds had appeared in (that weren’t even shown in the UK so how in the name of all that’s decent were we meant to get those right?) At 8.05pm the Dropouts appropriately dropped off the stage and it was time for the interval. We met Lady Duncansby in the bar and her language included the words “con” and “swizz”.

At 8.25pm we were encouraged to return to our seats for the second half of the performance by the Osmonds. People snorted that there hadn’t been a first half yet. Anyway, lured by the prospect of Little Jimmy et al, we went back. And they did come on – and they were great. The promotional material had depicted four Osmonds but unfortunately at the last minute Wayne was not well enough to travel, so we were left with Jay, Merrill and Jimmy. But they are consummate performers, they still sing extremely well, and they do spread more than a little magic to their devoted fans.

In just under 90 minutes we got lots of old songs, a few new ones, a little cheesy dancing, a spectacular drum solo from Jay, some schmaltzy “family” reminiscences, an unexpected vision of Christ as a backdrop, some chat, some heavy advertising from Tesco (you almost expected to see the Osmonds logo with blue and white stripes running through it), and lots of handshakes with the front rows. They did indeed sing Crazy Horses – it was their first number, and also a reprise right at the end; and they did sing Goin’ Home, (Jimmy got the words wrong) just before they went off in that pretend tradition that it’s all over when it isn’t. They didn’t however sing I Can’t Stop.

As an audience we acapella’d Paper Roses (with the compulsory use of a “W” instead of an “R”) and we made Jimmy sing Long Haired Lover from Liverpool. Even though he wasn’t on the same continent, every time a picture of Donny flashed up, a thousand or so ex-teenyboppers screamed. It was a little bizarre.

Don’t get me wrong – it was really enjoyable and I am thoroughly pleased to have seen them perform in the flesh, so to speak. It could have been so much more rewarding as a whole if they just ditched that stupid introductory slideshow. Why not have the support group do a few more numbers early on? Then it would have been a much more balanced evening. This is to be the group’s final UK tour, apparently, so if you miss them here now, thatsyerlot. I doubt whether there will be any tickets left now for the remaining dates anyway.

Mrs C and Lady D are still fantasising about how manly-gorgeous Merrill looks. This could carry on for some time.

The Real Chrisparkle meets Nicki French!

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In the first of an occasional series of interviews, I recently had the pleasure to interview the one and only Miss Nicki French (Total Eclipse of the Heart, Eurovision, Annie, and much more) for the Home Composed Song Contest website and I hope you enjoy our chat.

RealChrisSparkle: It gives me great pleasure to introduce to the visitors to the Home Composed Song Contest website the one and only Miss Nicki French! Hi Nicki, how are you doing? Is this your first contact with the Home Composed Song Contest?

Nicki French: Hi Chris – lovely to be here, and thanks for asking me! Yes, this is ‘virgin territory’ for me, so please be kind….

RCS: Of course I will be kind! I guess, as a singer, you hold the skill of song writing in high esteem?

NF: Oh definitely!! I try to write songs, and have done a few that have gone out to the public, but I’m in awe of those who find it so easy! I’m better at co-writing I think – but it’s a great feeling when something works.

RCS: I bet it is – I certainly couldn’t do it! So when you’ve co-written songs in the past do you tend to do the lyrics or the music, or doesn’t it work that way?

NF: A bit of both – the rhyming tends to get a little beyond me from time to time!! But generally I think of a few phrases – of both words and music together – for a song, then work from that.

RCS: Do you have a favourite song that you wrote or co-wrote?

NF: Ooooh that’s difficult! There are a few on the ‘French Revolution’ album that I’m pretty proud of – but I wasn’t the main writer on those really. I don’t know – they all tend to be quite different I think – but hey, perhaps the best one is yet to come…. watch this space, as they say!

RCS: That sounds very promising! How closely do you work with songwriters in general? And have you worked with any Famous Names?

NF: Well Katrina and I did write a song together some years ago, which we entered for Eurovision! That was back in the days when anyone could submit a song to BASCA. It didn’t get past the first round though unfortunately! I’ve worked with Hussein Ramadan quite a bit in past years (I often use his studio to record vocals), and we’ve discussed recently the prospect of writing together. Hopefully that will happen quite soon.

RCS: Fingers crossed! Did you get to meet or work alongside Jim Steinman at the time of Total Eclipse of the Heart?

NF: Not then, no – although he DID send a message via the record company (Love This Records), saying he loved our version, and wished me continued success, which was amazing! A few years later though, just before Eurovision 2000, HE approached ME to record a couple of tracks for his new company, Ravenous Records. There then followed quite a surreal experience – I was recording the vocals in London, he was then listening to them over in the States via a ‘down the line’ type setup, making comments and suggestions, and we did two songs that way – ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad’ and ‘Lovers Again’! It was strange having the executive producer commenting by remote – but it seemed to work! Sadly he couldn’t commit to working with me for at least another two years, so nothing really came of it. A great experience though. As my ex-husband said to me at the time, ‘You’ve always dreamed of being a backing vocalist for Meat Loaf – now you’re singing LEAD vocals for the man who MADE Meat Loaf’!!!

RCS: How fantastic to have that endorsement from such a major figure in modern music! It’s a shame nothing further came of it but it’s still a real honour. Maybe we have the new Jim Steinman lurking undiscovered in this year’s Home Composed Song Contest! Some previous contestants have gone on to extend their careers in song writing, maybe within the framework of the Eurovision Song Contest. Have you got any advice for aspiring songwriters?

NF: All I can really suggest is that they should never give up trying. We all know of so many people who have been writing songs all their lives, with limited success, then that one break comes – and everyone wants them to write for THEM! Also, accept that what may be the perfect song for one person or act won’t be right for another. That’s not to say you should write specifically for one style or act – but be careful you choose who you think it suits best. Then again, I’ve had times before where I’ve been given – or have written – a song that I think makes a great ballad, then someone else will take it on and it becomes a dance-floor filler, so I guess it’s always good to have someone else’s opinion too!!!

RCS: Total Eclipse is a good example of that – Bonnie Tyler’s version was always regarded as a classic, and then you came along and recreated it in a totally different style and showed how it can be done! Thinking back to the “older” songs – it’s now twelve years since you graced the stage in Stockholm and sang “Don’t Play That Song Again”. Do you still enjoy performing that song?

NF: Oh, always! I’m frequently surprised at what a great reaction it still gets – and I love singing it to an enthusiastic Eurovision audience particularly!

RCS: Don’t be surprised – it’s such a feelgood song! I think everyone knows you are a great supporter of the Eurovision Song Contest. How did you enjoy this year’s show? What did you think of the songs? Any favourite songs or performers from this year?

NF: I really did enjoy this year’s Contest, not least because I was there the night before the Final (performing on the Euroboat)! I thought it was all SO well put together this year, and the standard was pretty high too. I have to say, I absolutely loved Romania’s entry (‘Change’) – Hotel FM performed at the UK’s Preview Party in London, which I co-hosted with Paddy O’Connell, and I decided then and there that it was my favourite! There were some really good performances all the way through – I even have to hold my hands up and say I enjoyed Jedward!

RCS: I think Jedward surprised many! I did too, although I really didn’t think I would. Those preview parties are fun, aren’t they! Would you like to have another stab at performing in Eurovision yourself?

NF: Oh absolutely, definitely – just tell me where!!! I would dearly love to be a part of the whole Eurovision experience again. I hated being officially ‘the lowest ever placing’ for the UK until (thankfully) Jemini came along, and would love the chance to do better. I would LOVE a nice big ballad to get my teeth into….!

RCS: Well let’s get those writers out there onto it! So whilst anticipating your next Eurovision entry, what else have you been doing in recent years?

NF: Well, I’ve been trying to move more into the theatre world, as well as keeping up with the live singing gigs. I was part of the UK tour of ‘Annie’ the musical for nine months, which was great fun – playing seven different roles, most of which required me to wear varying degrees of hideous wigs! In previous years I have taken part in a couple of pantomimes in the UK, and this year am set to play the character of ‘Dandini’ in Cinderella at Kettering, Northamptonshire.Hopefully I will be off to do a short tour of shows over in Brazil towards the end of October – I always love going there, as I get to work with a live band, and Nicki French is quite a big name over in Brazil, which is rather nice! Apart from that I’ve just been working on my house – it’s never-ending of course! Oh, and I suppose I SHOULD really say ‘and taking time to sit and focus on writing songs at the piano….’!!!

RCS: That’s a very varied output! Don’t worry about the house – as soon as you’ve finished DIY it all starts over again, like painting the Forth Bridge. Theatre is one of my main interests – how do you find the change from “straightforward singing” (if I can call it that) to performing in musical theatre?

NF: I absolutely loved singing in ‘Annie’ because it was I was required to do a more ‘classical’ style of singing. I was using my soprano voice, and could do that with a cold, fever – anything! As Nicki French the singing artist, I’m known as more of a ‘belter’ – but I enjoy both. I tend to warm up my voice in a more classical sort of style, but then – anything goes (ooh, cue for another show)!!!

RCS: Ah yes – I’m sure you’d be excellent in a Cole Porter show! So do you have any new songs out at the moment? Any records we can buy? (he says, showing his age!)

NF: Ha ha! Me too!!! Well there are two quite recent tracks that are available – ‘Love to Call My Own’ and ‘In the Heat of the Night’. The first is quite a solid, club-type number, and the second has quite a Latin-American, salsa-type feel. They’re quite different – but have both been pretty popular I believe. Both these, and I think all my previous releases, are available from Amazon/itunes etc. I’m hoping to go into the studio and record a few more tracks very soon – although with the trip to Brazil looming, then panto, I’m not quite sure when we’ll get the chance to sort it! By the way, thanks for the compliment – a stint in the role of Liz Imbrie in High Society would do me VERY nicely, thank you! Someone else mentioned about the possibility of putting on a production of ‘Gypsy’ recently – and wanted me to play Mama Rose – imagine that!!! WOW!

RCS: That would be great! And yes, I can definitely see you in High Society – or how about Kiss me Kate?! And as for Gypsy… that could lead to great things! Good luck for fitting all that in – I’m sure a tour of Rio will prepare you well for the audiences in Kettering! Finally have you got any message for the composers and indeed the voters in this year’s Home Composed Song Contest?

NF: Well, first I’d like to thank them for reading this interview all the way through! Thank you as well Chris – you’ve been very patient!!! To the composers I would say I wish you all the very best of luck – and keep persevering! If you don’t win, it’s not the end of the world, and that lucky break IS just around the corner! To the voters – I recommend listening to a song at least three times. Some of the best songs I’ve sung and/or listened to have not grabbed me on the first, or even second, hearing – and many times my opinion has changed dramatically by the third listen. Don’t ignore your initial instincts, however give things a CHANCE!!! Good luck to everyone!!

RCS: Thanks very much Nicki for giving up your time to talk to us and we look forward to seeing you in panto and hopefully some new shows soon! And best of luck for Brazil too!

NF: Thank you so much!

Review – Glen Campbell, Derngate, Northampton, 24th October 2011

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When we heard that Glen Campbell was doing a few dates in the UK, and that, extraordinarily, the Derngate in Northampton was one of them, we leapt at the chance to catch him.

You may have read that he is now diagnosed with the dreaded Alzheimer’s. I believe there was some criticism that his family were making him go on this tour almost as a last attempt to wring some cash out of the old chap’s reputation. Well, having seen the show I would entirely refute that claim. Yes, he clearly isn’t as mentally strong as he used to be, but there’s nothing but pleasure in this evening of celebration of his showmanship and his wonderful songs.

I’m showing my ignorance, but I had no idea he was such a great guitarist. I remember those stirring guitar solos on Wichita Lineman and Galveston, but I always assumed they were some backing musician, and that Glen was purely on vocals. Not a bit of it, and I tell you last Monday night he really made that guitar sing.

I’d forgotten how cynical By The Time I Get To Phoenix is, and he gave it a great performance. But why pick out one song? He was all masterful all evening. His classic hits still send shivers down your spine and the packed audience was mightily appreciative.

His backing group, Instant People, includes three of his children who subtly keep him on the correct course for the whole show, ensuring his guitar is in the right key, and that he has clear view of his monitors for reassurance. Musically they are great, and their half hour introductory set certainly put you in the mood for some good old country rock.

It was an honour and a privilege to be there, and the great man clearly enjoyed himself too. Well done the Derngate on getting such a great booking!