3 - London mid 1970s
WHAT WE WERE DOING BEFORE PUNK CAME ALONG

The Advision studio was just off Great Portland Street in London’s West End. Jean-Marc had been intrigued by the call from his friend Martin, and the summons to come quickly to the studio with his guitar had not been explained.

The timing was not ideal: Jean-Marc had worked in the cinema all the previous day, a Sunday. They had programmed Louis Malle’s PHANTOM INDIA film, 7 hours long, and they had organised Indian snacks for each intermission, it had been a huge success. But after that he had played a gig with his band at some pub in Wandsworth, it had been a long day and a late night. So the early morning wake-up call from Martin was not welcome. However there was some kind of bond with Martin which made it difficult to refuse, sometimes you don’t choose your friends.

J-MS in the studio mid 70's

The studio was smokey and cramped, Martin was sitting at the keyboard. “You remember that song we rehearsed last month? I think the time’s come, we should record it.”

“What about the words?” retorted Jean-Marc.

“Fuck that, let’s just do the backing track” and Martin made a sign to the control room, “Start the drum machine, John” and the rhythm and bass track started playing out through the speakers.

“Actually I wrote something” shouted Jean-Marc as he unfolded a scrumpled piece of paper and laid it onto a music stand. Indeed he was rather proud of these words which he had been rehearsing at home for some time. It was a song which directly addressed his friend and a whole generation warning them about the excesses of which they were all victims.

Jean-Marc plugged in his guitar, a rather battered Heyman, probably over 15 years old. They both donned headphones. From the top.......

extract No-Go day

A song is like a recipe, you take some ingredients, mix them together, present them in an attractive way.

A GOOD song is like a successful dinner party where the food and the company and the conversation amount to more than the sum of the parts: a communion leaving a lasting memory on all present. Those memorable summer Sunday lunches under the oak tree with the laughs and tears, the salads (chicken and apricot, potato and tuna, tomatoes and basil from the garden) and the roasts (chickens from the village that actually taste of something, the legs of tender venison roasted in the wood stove).

On this day at Advision studios, Jean-Marc and Martin played together as they had never done before. The hairs stood up on his neck, Martin looked over at his friend, they smiled. They knew instinctively that this was a GOOD song which transcended the simple notes on the page.

One rehearsal and the first take was the right one. “I never knew you could play guitar like that” said Martin “Pity about your crappy singing voice but I think I know just the right person to record it for us”. “Your keyboards at the end were pretty good too but I think we need a new drum machine.” replied Jean-Marc, with a big smile but inside not really knowing whether to cry or laugh.

Denis smiled too, helping his future and past brethren had become a little more than a simple pastime.



No-Go Day (mp3) - watch out for download time - full song lasts 10 mins