So we were in a band called “Dear John” and had ‘paid to play’ in all the places you ‘paid to play’ in the late 1908’s. We had played for 15 mins. to 3000 people on a saturday night at the Hippodrome, appearing via my first and last stage that rose from the basement…there is a special name for that but I can’t remember it. We played all the venues you were able to get a gig at, and a few you really should not have bothered to play at all. We played at the Mean Fiddler where you had to pay 50 quid to play and you only got it back if hundreds of your friends came with flyers with your bands name on -usually about 3 friends would turn up! We had a demo that was recorded in the middle of the night in a recording studio as it was cheaper then, was it called dead time?( perhaps it should have been called deaf time because by that time of night   the sound engineer usually  deaf, stoned or asleep. As the vocalist I  always got to put my tracks on at the end after the drummer, the bass player any guitarists and keyboard players,  usually in the last hour of the time we had, at about 5 in the morning, once every one else had had a millions times to get their tracks right. ‘How does that sound?’ ‘oh fine’ the band would say , usually cos they were either too drunk, imbibed or tired to notice or care about  the vocals. ha ha ha….

This track, I can’t even remember where we recorded it, but it sounds like I may have got a little bit more time to record my vocal than with some of the other band/demos I did. Oh it might have been in Dagenham.(!) Mickey wrote the song, the rest of the band – well there was Steve(bass) and Grady ( which does not disguise the fact his name was Graham, drums), and the tallest keyboard player in the world  also called Graham ( blimey two Grahams in one band…very slack). Lost touch with them all when the band split (as they usually always do), though I know Graham, keyboard, is in Scarborough. Izzy styled us and Anthony took me round Chinatown with a clockwork old super 8, and Bruno Perosa edited it. It was pre  any home editing suite and I remember us spending hours going through all the shots with a tooth comb, deciding what order they would be in.

We made the video with about three pennies to rub together -so thanks to all those people. We used shopping trollies instead of trackers and demolished Mickey’s flat. We bought a load of old china to throw around and then because of all the incense and bright film lights (borrowed)  in his dark Victorian basement flat, I think some poltergeist decided to finally leave and a huge shelf full of all Mickey’s china came crashing down in the middle of the filming. I had funny false eye lashes and wierd eyebrows but hey…it was the eighties. I should probably think myself lucky to get away with not looking more of a prat…though, what can only be described as a pineapple hairdo almost swung it. I like my high twiddly vocal bits in this. Anyway…I hope you enjoy this little trip down memory lane with me.

SONG OF THE DAY– RAINING IN CHINA -written by Mickey B. Goode. performed by Dear John.