ageingted
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Post by ageingted on Sept 25, 2019 3:34:28 GMT
The musician and writer Aug Stone is an enthusiastic supporter of Martin and has interviewed the Guv on several occasions. So you might think his favorite band is the Cleaners. Well, that honor actually goes to David Devant and His Spirit Wife. When I read this I thought 'I must check them out' and wow am I glad I did! DD&HSW (as fans call them) started out in Brighton in the 90s and put out three albums. They were also the house band for six episodes of the UK TV comedy series Asylum. Now the actual David Devant was not a rock musician at all but rather a famous Victorian stage magician and his spirit wife was a levitating woman in the act. The band consisted of Vessel, Foz?, the Colonel and the Professor. Remarkably, they still perform together a couple of times a year, one of which is Sep 25 in London (which is why I'm posting this mere hours in advance).
The songs are an intoxicating mix of Britpop and Glam. They had an extremely theatrical (if extremely low-budget - their spirit wife was a nightgown on a stick) stage show and the inevitable comparisons are usually to Roxy Music and Bowie. The lyrics are ultra-literate with much amusing wordplay and the feature that elevates them to Guv-like status in my opinion is that the songs get better with repeated listening.
Karma Coincidence - their first single from 1995 was on the Humbug label at the same time Martin was on the roster. In fact, thanks to Humbug, Martin can say he was on the same label as Kate Bush's brother (but that's another story).
Anyway, if you can't make the show tonight DD&HSW are incredibly well represented on YouTube by a group of rabid fans. Concert footage galore.
But a song is worth a thousand words, see what you think.
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Post by Paul on Sept 26, 2019 19:14:34 GMT
Yes they're great. I discovered them around the same time I discovered Martin.
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Post by Martin Newell on Sept 27, 2019 21:00:56 GMT
I did a gig with them at the Borderline in the mid 90s. Good geezers. Very entertaining.I must tell Aug.
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Post by dlgladwin on Sept 30, 2019 10:28:12 GMT
Big fan of Devant. Was at school with Cocky Young Un, one of their Spectral Roadies, and so attended a lot of their shows.
They should have been massive!
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ageingted
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Post by ageingted on Sept 30, 2019 13:03:14 GMT
Well this is unex-spec-ted! Not that Cleaners fans have good taste, but that Martin shared a stage with Devant. Wish I'd been there. Maybe that story is in the new book! The Spectral Roadies were important members of the show. They would famously grate carrots on someone's head for the song 'Ginger'. The big news is that the long-teased new Devant album will be released on December 11. Live versions of half a dozen songs are already available online.
Martin has his affection for Julie Andrews; Vessel evidently has something for Audrey Totter...
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ageingted
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Post by ageingted on Oct 5, 2019 21:00:33 GMT
Not that anybody asked, but the Humbug roster circa 1993 included Bushtucker, which was Paddy Bush and the very interesting Colin Lloyd Tucker (who used to put out records as The King of Luxembourg). Their sole album was Skyscraping followed by silence until last year when they released 'The Abduction and Rescue of Lord Weir's Daughter'. Very far from jangle-pop, but if you want some ethno-trance-funk you're in luck.
And speaking of trance-funk, I'm seriously considering investing in the new 13-disc Gong collection from their Virgin Records heyday of 1973-75. I know Jacky Lurton was a Gong fan in the pub.
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Post by Martin Newell on Oct 8, 2019 22:44:08 GMT
Colin (Lloyd Tucker) was NOT The King of Luxembourg. My colleague Simon Fisher Turner was the King of Luxembourg.
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ageingted
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Post by ageingted on Oct 9, 2019 18:41:35 GMT
Whoops! Of course Martin is correct - Colin is not lowlands royalty, Simon is. I get them confused because they used to collaborate, record and um, present as "Deux Filles". Details from an interview with Colin: "I heard tell that you performed live once, and that nobody realized you were two guys dressed up as two girls. How was the live set arranged? Which instruments did you play?" "We played guitars. Claudine played the Telecaster and Gemini a Watkins Rapier through a Binson echo unit. There was a real girl on the stage dancing and having a picnic, and a percussionist dressed as a Chinese man. Plus a film and a stuffed horse. This show was at The Venue in London on 2 November 1982, supporting The Monochrome Set." So can the Sisterhood of Lizards be far behind??
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Post by Chespo on Oct 9, 2019 18:53:39 GMT
So can the Sisterhood of Lizards be far behind?? The Otherhood of Izzards?
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Post by Night Heron on Dec 5, 2019 15:01:02 GMT
Aug is such a fantastic and fascinating person. He got in touch with me recently and met up with me in my town, and he talked quite a bit about his love of Devant -- this is reminding me that I need to follow up and really listen to Devant's stuff. Aug was a blast to talk to and recommended so much music that I could barely keep up.
Aug had plans to form a funky space-rock band at the time, but it looks like that plan was superseded by his burgeoning stand-up comedy career, which seems to be going really well. He's a busy guy!
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ageingted
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Post by ageingted on Apr 17, 2020 0:30:16 GMT
The pub used to be a place to note notable deaths, so here's a toast to the late Tim Brooke-Taylor. We didn't get The Goodies on telly over here, but I was an avid listener to the BBC radio program "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again" with Tim, Bill Oddie and John Cleese. US Public Radio carried it to my great delight, but for the longest time I thought 'Timbrook' was his first name!
"What has this to do with David Devant and His Spirit Wife?" you ask. Well, their very first single 'Pimlico' contained this strange couplet: Living in London's not so bad my old fruit There's Maida Vale, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Loot"
Now strip away Maida and Loot and you're left with 'Vale Tim Brooke-Taylor'. As it turns out, vale is a Latin expression of farewell to the departed! Most appropriate at the present time. (This is of course not my original observation. The Devant camp noticed it in the press coverage and found it poignant.)
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Post by diskojoe on Apr 17, 2020 13:29:37 GMT
Sad to hear the news, Ted. He died of the corona virus. The Goodies did make it here in the States, @ least in the Boston public TV channel in the late 1970s, when I saw them. He had quite the career, being part of the 1960s Oxbridge comedy brigade that included Monty Python. I have a DVD of the show that he did w/John Cleese & Marty Feldman, At Last the 1948 Show. RIP, Tim Brooke-Taylor
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