Woman With Terrier At Festival

 

I Don't Know What It Is

For years I've had a bowl on the side that's gradually filled up with old keys, expired cards, paperclips, safety pins, broken badges and things like that. Yesterday's project was to empty it and clear the space for... more of the same, possibly.

I tipped it all on to the kitchen worktop and started sorting through it all. Lots of it was easy to throw away or redistribute into a 'things' drawer.

I am left now with a pile of 'I don't know what it is' things. A tiny, tiny block of green stuff wrapped in cellophane that looks like it could be modelling clay, but it's rock hard; a shaped hard black plastic thing that looks like a lid, but isn't; a broken white plastic thing that looks like it was due to be used to mend something, but I can't remember what; a tiny grey plastic thing with '3' etched on to it and a brass screw embedded into it; a little plug about one centimetre long, that looks as though it was designed to hold something together; a small flat black plastic spanner that looks as though it might break soon; and a small plastic device with a brush at each end.

I'm at a loss as to whether to bin them or not. I can imagine in the future coming across something that's missing a vital part, and one of the Dontknowwhatitizzes is the vital part that it needs- but I threw it away.

This is obviously why I put them in the bowl all those years ago. I was afraid to throw them away. Today, I will be brave. At some point in the future, I may live to regret this, but it's quite interesting to be able to see the bottom of the bowl.

Lost Tiger Ears At The Tennis Court

 

Ears to the Ground in Nashville Give Three Cheers for Toytown!

https://www.wxnafm.org/spins/?id=20132666&sid=218038&xname=Show+%23161

Woman Painting Gingerbread Men On The Cake Shop Window

 

Velvet Sheep Radio

Thanks to Nick Hutchings for playing 'Three Cheers for Toytown' on his show on Saturday. He also plays my all-time favourite Cristina song, from a previous show that he asked me to contribute music to.

https://soundcloud.com/repeater-radio/velvet-sheep-with-83581217 

Gig in Rochester, Kent, April

This is such a lovely venue, and I'm really looking forward to going back!

https://wegottickets.com/event/647479/

Another Review: 'Three Cheers for Toytown'

Sent to me by The Nightingales just now. Love them!

https://outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=3384

Showtunes from the Shadows

 https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/album/showtunes-from-the-shadows

The Swan-Whisperer

It was dusk, wintry dusk, with a pinkish-grey sky. I was walking across Kensington Gardens from Bayswater station thinking things over.

To one side there was a small field of Egyptian geese, spaced out and grazing quietly. On the other, on the waters of the Serpentine, a rustling mass of swans were clustered: a mass of huge, beautiful white wing-feathers and long, smooth necks. As one they glided across the water to meet a squad of tall, dark suited and coated business people who may well have been from an east Asian country. Gathered in a formal, straight-backed group, they focused on the swans. 

Languidly, a swan lifted its graceful head above the throng. The tallest businessman reached out and caressed it in a moment of communion that was completely astonishing. The swan rested its head gently on the man's gloved hand, almost blissful in its demeanour. 

I'd thought of swans as being vicious beauties, not to be tampered with under any circumstances. 

Somehow, this man had completely charmed the swan, moments of frozen time breaking nature's rules of engagement without fanfare. 

I am so glad I saw this happen.

Reaching for Hope on Riley and Coe

Thank you to Riley and Coe for playing this last night. 

It's not about a romance: it's about what's happening now.

https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/track/reaching-for-hope

Man On Scaffolding Painting, In The Sky

 

The Drawings

Of course, many if not most of them are of men. I realised this when I started to avoid hi-vis jackets, which are fun to draw but so ubiquitous that they make my drawings samey.

Partly, this is because I spontaneously ask people if I can photograph them when I'm walking around outside. Those (often women) shop assistants that I interact with regularly are usually busy assisting people with their shopping, and I'm usually shopping and not photographing. 

Anyway, I have a joint exhibition with Gaye Black and Charlie Harper coming up at the Hotel Pelirocco in Brighton on the 27th of March. I've just sent off some drawings for the poster, so it's going to happen. Charlie and me are also going to sing some songs at the opening night, which will be the first time I've sung live for four months.

I'd quite like to include some drawings of Brighton people, so I'm planning a recce there some time soon. It doesn't matter if I don't find anyone or if everyone says 'no'; I have more than enough drawings anyway. I reached number 100 yesterday, which also means that I've listened to 100 episodes of Riley and Coe on BBC6 since last April. Lately, I've become so absorbed in drawing and listening that I've forgotten to note down what I've been listening to. Getting the balance between the two is part of the fun. I spent ages a couple of weeks ago going through my postings on Twitter to write down what I'd listened to each programme, because I was going to leave the platform. Funnily enough, there is less about Orangefaceman there than there is on BSky. The remaining Twitter users are either so rabid that I've already blocked them (including the owner), or furiously posting detoxifying woke stuff that is a joy to read. How interesting.

It's always worth remembering that life is what happens off social media, not what happens on it. 

You don't get any wellbeing from the innards of your computer. You might get 'wellness' but that's a load of tripe, isn't it!

Man With Tray Of Magnificent Cakes

 

Good Review in Maximum Volume Music

Here it is: https://maximumvolumemusic.com/review-helen-mccookerybook-showtunes-from-the-shadows-2025/

Lookalike Competition

From Clerkenwell Festival, last year

Review in 'Godisinthetvzine' by Neil Laurenson

Thanks to Neil for this review. Now I'm officially philosoph-twee!

https://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2025/01/17/helen-mccookerybook-showtunes-from-the-shadows-tiny-global-productions/

Three Cheers!

 

Album Launch Gig 5th April

Matinee gig in London at The Betsey Trotwood. More details of this and other gigs soon!

Photo by Ruth Tidmarsh

https://wegottickets.com/event/646434

Release Day!

I'll be sharing details of the launch gig on 5th April later today!

12" vinyl, CD and digital here:

https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/album/showtunes-from-the-shadows

Day Two

Day 2 of the 'Showtunes from the Shadows' Madvent Calendar.
The now renamed Ginger Line!
Now-nostalgia, the new 'thing'.
https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/track/the-ginger-line

Man With Long Parcel Bike

 

January in Paris

 

Day 3

Day three of Madvent Calendar countdown to release date of 'Showtunes from the Shadows' on Friday 17th January: https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/album/showtunes-from-the-shadows

'Reaching for Hope' has already been played by Gideon Coe on his show, straight after The Chefs track 'Records and Tea'. 

Egyptian Goose On A Branch

 

Herd

 

Day Four

Day four: never spend the night with a neurolinguistic programmer!
Out on Friday, 'Showtunes from the Shadows'
https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/album/showtunes-from-the-shadows

Day 5

Day five already! Ever heard a politician or business person wriggle out of their responsibility before?

It wasn't me!

Lester Square uses his most bagpiperly guitarring on this track. We've collaborated for years, and I think this is his best yet!

https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/.../showtunes-from-the-shadows

Day Six

And here's another one you can listen to.

Almost There, written this time last year on a very frosty day in Devon.

Where did our Dad go every week?
Is my own wanderlust an attempt to retrace his invisible steps?
Listen here: https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/track/almost-there

Day 7

Day seven of the Madvent calendar countdown to 17th January release date: first track on side two of the vinyl album Sixties Guy

Also available as a download/CD on Tiny Global Listen here: https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/track/sixties-guy

Day Eight of the Countdown

Day 8 of the Madvent calendar countdown to my album release. The track 'Puppet', a work-in-progress version of which can be listened to as a sound track to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2TJevPF774

Day Nine

Day nine of the Madvent calendar, counting down to release date 17th January on @tinyglobalmusic.bsky.social : Margaux Mix, a chillout interlude.

Album available here to pre-order: https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/album/showtunes-from-the-shadows

Shoes Airing on Upstairs Pub Windowsill in Northumberland Last Summer

 

Countdown to Release Date: Ten

 

Great review from Rocking Magpie

Big thanks to Alan Harrison for this!

https://rockingmagpie.wordpress.com/2025/01/08/helen-mccookerybook-showtunes-from-the-shadows/

Woman with Trolley and Flowers in Tufnell Park

 

Janice Long

I have just been thinking about Janice Long, and what a wonderfully tactful and gracious woman she was. Janice can take the credit for me being confident enough to record and mix my own songs. During lockdown she phoned me out of the blue, and asked me to record a session for her Radio Wales show. 

We had a long chat; her husband had brought their baby in a pram to see Helen and the Horns, apparently. And she remembered me all that time.

I couldn't say no to that, could I?

But I was at home, with only my rudimentary home recording equipment. I just sat there and worked at it until I thought it sounded OK, then sent it to Ian Button to master (he does perfect mastering for radio). Bless his cotton socks, when he sent it back to me so I could forward it to Janice, he wrote that he hadn't had to do very much: just temper some of the high end sounds.

When the tracks were done and delivered, I listened to them on the show and they sounded great. No need to record anywhere else for my own stuff any more.

Janice didn't tell me she was poorly, but I think she must have had an inkling, and must have decided to tidy up everything in her life. So I didn't know she was terminally ill, and found out she had died and the funeral was being arranged from Twitter. 

I wish I could have told her the impact that her kind-hearted offer of a session has had on me. I can feel my brain making musical decisions in a really confident way, not just for me but for other people that I work with (and for). 

I can't say 'Always thank people as you go along' because of course I did that when we were chatting and laughing. But it's interesting to realise that some gifts that people give you take a long time to embed themselves within you. So thank you again, Janice! You were one hell of a dude!

Just Arrived!

Actual vinyl albums and CDs have just arrived on the doorstep.

Here they are, the little beauties!

Get yours here: https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/album/showtunes-from-the-shadows

Countdown to Release Date: 11

Day 11 on the 'Showtunes from the Shadows' Madvent calendar: 'The Porter Rose at Dawn', a song inspired by Gina Arnold's Raymond Chandler project, with some lovely lap steel playing by Jack Hayter.

Album release date 17th January on Tiny Global Productions
Available on Bandcamp: https://helenmcc.bandcamp.com/album/showtunes-from-the-shadows