Phew

I hadn't realised how wound up I'd been until I woke up this morning and didn't want to.
It was a really successful night with spot-on performances from the hilarious Amy Corcoran, who somehow managed to get the word *rsehole  into every song, a very poignant contribution from Pete Astor, and a fantastic set from Martin Stephenson and Jim-the-Fiddle that had them rolling in the aisles. The atmosphere was great and I appreciated Kalamazoo Klub promoter Guy Simpson turning up to show his support, plus Paul Eccentric and Donna, Lester Square and Jo, Dubulah and Jim, Gina Birch and Mike, Nat the Hammer, Foolish Girl (yay! but when's Him Indoors going to come along?) and a very supportive audience who listened all the way through and generally got into the scheme of things. New songs were debuted; Amy trembled before her first song, I trembled after mine. We ate chips from down the road and sausage rolls from my bag, we drank coke or wine. Jim went walkabout at Martin's behest and people tried not to lure him over to serenade them; they were just that side of cool. Niosha and Yuzrin from the University of the East did a fine job of the sound and Offsprog One did a great job on the door for us. The Boogaloo is a convivial place and people chatted with each other for a long time afterwards. Thank you for coming along everyone, and roll on the next one on April the 20th!
Phew.

Be Hare Or Be Square

It seems like ages since the last Artyfartle, which was at the Lexington- in fact it's just over a year ago. That one was on a Sunday afternoon and featured songs from Wes, Lucie, Amy and myself with a talk on pinhole photography from Joan. The one before that was even further back in the mists of time and was at the long-lamented Perseverance with Viv Albertine, Martin, Amy and myself and Gina talking about felted Birchbags that she had made.
No talk at tomorrow's event, but lots of music. Pete, Amy and me will be playing new songs (I will be airing the Two Minutes Left song Quik Fitte for the first time that I wrote and recorded for Linear Obsessional just before Christmas http://linearobsessional.bandcamp.com/album/two-minutes-left ) before Martin takes to the stage, joined by Jim the Fiddle, to make us all smile with his music and humour. The evening starts at 8.30 and finishes just before 11. It is £9.00 on the door to get in, £7.00 concessions although UEL students with a card get in for free, and it's very close to Highgate Tube which is on the Northern Line. I should be practicing my songs but I'm eating strawberries instead, or just about to. I hope to see you there!

More Writing

On my bookshelves there are two layers of books. I have mined these, but will have to delve deeper tomorrow because I can't find Roger Sabin's Punk Rock? So What. I've just acquired a really interesting book by Gareth Murphy called Cowboys and Indies, which is a history of record labels, a lightning tour. I'm halfway through the article, but I took a break and went for a long walk to clear my head before a large dose of Come Dine With Me.

A Petition

I am so concerned about what is happening to the NHS that it's giving me nightmares. Bit by bit, it's being eroded and pruned until soon there will be nothing left.
This petition is quite specific and I am posting it here because a friend in Sussex is so worried about a Mum she knows not being about for much longer for her children. If you have time, please sign it.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/73911

Back To The 1980s I Go

Back to the 1980s I go: the radio is in the kitchen set to play BBC6Radio whenever I want it and the record player is singing merrily along as Cristina's out-of-tune disco ricochets off the kitchen cabinets in a joyously trebly celebration that chases the seeping grey February fog out of the cracks in the back door, back to where it came from.
'Balme it on disco!', trills Cristina. Oh well yes I will, then!
Ping pong go the vibes, thrasha-thrasha goes the brass section, here come the key changes and the drop section... my feet don't fail me now, all the housework is getting done with the rhythm of the cowbell.
God bless vinyl and all who sail with her!

5

I must be mad. I woke at five, got up at six and was on my way to the quiet office at work by seven. I had a good couple of hours writing before I had to do the first lecture of the day but by three in the afternoon I had almost completely lost my voice and now I'm sitting like a brainless amoeba on the sofa.
Early, I had an idea about pirate radio and contacted Joly, who used to own Better Badges in Portobello Road; he responded in an instant- what time was it in New York?- with lots of details, including the fact that he had bought his first transmitter form Luke the Duke. I think Luke the Duke's station was called Radio City and it broadcast from the top of a tower block in north west London, not far from where I lived in Kilburn. It was mostly rockabilly- very fine music indeed. I used to listen every Sunday afternoon, until it just vanished off the air. That must have been when he sold the transmitter to Joly!

Girl Punk and Reggae

I got up early this morning to finish off an academic article that I started more than two years ago; the files were buried deep in my computer, hidden by a false name. For several minutes I could only find a weak skeleton of what I'd written and then finally I unearthed it.
The town where I live is being demolished and rebuilt, all of it, and it was so noisy that I gave up working at home and ventured in to work where the repetitive organ riff from the rehearsal room next to the office was a welcome relief from diggers, drills, hammers and bellowing men in fluorescent jackets and hard hats.
I thought I could get by with three books (Lloyd Bradley, Christopher Partridge and Paul Gilroy) to add to the bibliography but by the time I got home to watch telly, my brain was buzzing and there's a pile there ready to take in tomorrow: Lucy O'Brien, Sheryl Garratt and Sue Steward, Dick Hebdige, Don Letts and the academic journal Punk and Post Punk.
I have another 1000 words to write, but then I need to edit out about 500 words so that's 1500... you know how it goes: add, subtract, multiply, divide, words, words, ideas.

Gideon Coe Tonight, BBC6 Radio

Gideon Coe will be playing not only The Chefs but also The Weather Prophets tonight.
Pete Astor of the Weather Prophets will be playing some songs on Monday night at Club Artyfartle at The Boogaloo, from 8.30 p.m.
Link to Gideon's show:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0072l9v/broadcasts/upcoming
Ticket link for Club Artyfartle, headlined by Martin Stephenson of Newcastle's The Daintees and also featuring Pete and Amy Corcoran, the Bolton balladeer:
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/305483

Loverman, Filmed in Scunthorpe by Steve Askew

http://themouthmagazine.com/2015/02/06/helen-mccookerybook-video/

Offsprog One's Zine Fair in Brighton

At least Blogger doesn't autocorrect her name to Offspring One. Grrr.
Oh no! It did! Grrrrrrrr!

Academic Working Hours

Academic working hours are weird. Yesterday, there was no chance to take a lunch break until 3.45, and then I wasn't sure if what I was eating was lunch or tea.
Then this morning I got up at 6.30 and I've just, at 8.30, completed the Powerpoint for Monday's lecture.
Part of that is completing it before the very noisy building work opposite my house gets into swing. Building is happening everywhere at the moment: ring-a-ding-ding! More empty buildings to loom above us and make us feel small and insignificant!
I've got three A4 to-do lists and part of today will be spent making them into one, by doing some of the things listed on them and weeding out unnecessary parts.
I have a new item to add: edit academic article, which I shall enjoy doing. It's a bit like marking your own work, but with more scorn and a ferocious focus on following up your own critique.
I am not complaining. It is good to be busy and swimming in the river, even if you encounter the odd shark here and there.

Viva Brighton Interview About Joby And The Hooligans

http://www.vivabrighton.com/feb2015/98-99.pdf

The Cold Walk

After completing a research interview with someone in Wandsworth (a much-appreciated interview: having this amount of goodwill more than makes up for the complete lack of funding I've had), I headed for Crouch End with a fistful of posters for Club Artyfartle and a slab of chilly Blu-Tack to stick 'em up with. Some Cafes were snotty (last time I do a free gig for you, guys) but most were great, although I had to put most of them at canine-eye level because of general poster congestion.
I expect to see a lot of dogs at The Boogaloo on 16th.
I walked up the hill to Highgate to put some more up, but the hill had grown considerably since the last time I went up it in a car. Puce-faced, I put a couple up at The Boogaloo and one in the amazing vintage guitar shop on Highgate Road. By then, I was so cold that I didn't even look at the amazing vintage guitars.
This is old-fashioned local publicity for a local gig.
Here is a newfangled ticket link to click on if you'd like to come to a lovely intimate gig with Martin Stephenson, Amy Corcoran, Pete Astor (who used to be in The Loft and The Weather Prophets) and me, on Monday 16th February at The Boogaloo in Highgate:
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/305483

Theatre Royal Nottingham: Thank You

Despite the train from St Pancras being determined to hold things up, I managed to get to the Theatre Royal in time to give Mike and June a hug and do a neat sound check before the gig started.
The Theatre Royal in Nottingham is a gorgeous building, a gem in a lovely city that is full of surprises, as we discovered on The Daintees tour last year, and I had been looking forward to going back. Brass rails, thick pale green carpets, friendly staff and a warm welcome from the host, David Longford soon made me forget the journey.
I loved the gig- the sound was as clear as a bell, there was a  great atmosphere and a listening audience; I enjoyed chatting to people afterwards and it was great to meet one or two people who were familiar with The Chefs and Helen and the Horns. Now, here is a totally nerdy thing: the set list, with links where possible!

Part 1

3 Maple Men http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/three-maple-men
Unsung Heroine http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/the-song-of-the-unsung-heroine
Love on the Wind
The House on the Hill http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/the-house-on-the-hill
I Feel It http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/i-feel-it
Temptation http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/temptation
Lover When You Leave Me (not recorded yet)
Snakebite (Helen and the Horns song, without Horns)
Loverman
Heaven Avenue http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/heaven-avenue

Part 2

The Word is, Goodbye http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/the-word-is-goodbye
Gotta Have a Heart http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/gotta-have-a-heart
Mr and Mrs Songsmith
Big Brother is Watching You (not recorded yet)
London http://www.reverbnation.com/helenmccookerybook
Little England http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/little-england
Sugar Hill http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/sugar-hill
If You've Got The Blues http://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/if-youve-got-the-blues
24 Hours (Chefs song, acoustic version, not recorded yet)
Let's Make Up (Chefs song, acoustic version, not recorded yet)
Freight Train (Helen and the Horns song, without Horns)

Nottingham Theatre Royal Tonight!