The Distant England cycle of songs is as much about change as about a distant view of England. This will probably be the last song in the cycle when the cycle is finished. Graeme Hobbs sings, Dick Langford pretended he could write a backing. 

As Harrison Said - Hobbs/Langford

Written by me and Richard Marris. We play guitars and his son Dan plays drums. 

llama up a ladder

A one take version of my song Stay fuelled , in part, by an end of evening brandy or two... 

Stay

From the Distant England cycle : 

Lyrics and melody : Graeme Hobbs 
Music: Dick Langford and Graeme Hobbs

Spend It! Spend It! Spend It!

Take me for a Ride  2015 Langford/Marris 

Obvious perhaps but good fun. Richard Marris and I wrote the lyrics and I did the music. 

Let me Take You for a Ride

And so, the end is near and the final piece of the Celebrity Torture jigsaw falls into place. Four years in the making and tonight is the final show. Last year's star has been discarded and is living in a house of straw and this year's hopefuls wait in the wings. 

Our host, Leery Old Dermutt, no longer simply introduces the contestants. He has been moulded into a bona fide song and dance man, and in truth he's a lot better than most of the contestants. People now tune in early just to see his opening number. 

Tonight they've pushed the boat out. A 60 piece orchestra with a dance troupe of laughing gnomes, elves and faeries. Leery will sing a song celebrating the wonder that is illusory fame. 

The contestants, having proved how well they can't sing, will tonight show how they can't dance. And off they go. A bit of faux latin jazz funk gives way to a spot of 80s euro-disco from Sir Dennis Crowther. The disco dancing stops and the dancers find a new challenge in the experimental take on Fred Astaire from MeesterJim but it's OK, we're into 70s cop show mode soon enough (nice sweater Starsky). 

But wait, what's this? Last year's hero has broken through security and is determined to have his swan song and …...... is that a bomb he's holding........ ?

Cue the tape Bob. 

Dramatis personæ

Leery Old Dermutt : Graeme Hobbs 
Last Year's Hero : Dick Langford 
Euro-pop maestro : Sir Dennis Crowther http://www.macjams.com/artist/sir+dennis+crowther
Fred Astaire's diabolical twin: MeesterJim http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=910842 
Toto: himself
Wicked Witch of the North: Margaret Thatcher 
Not here at all : Sir Timothy de Ferrars
Sheep: All of us

The Fairy Tale of Rock Rebellion / Swansong Lullaby

From our Eurovision period ;)  

Recorded in my basement in 1988 on a Tascam porta studio. 

Backing track from a Yamaha CX5M and an Alesis HR16 drum machine. 

Vocals : Graeme Hobbs
Guitar : Dick Langford 

This Time (Hobbs/Langford)

A cheerful modern folk tale based on a true story.  

Then She Bleeded - Marris/Langford

One of the social consequences of Brexit.
Words: Dick Langford and Richard Marris
Music: Dick Langford

He's a dancer not a number he's got a name. 
He's here to dance, to entertain
Now you tell him in the street, go home and take your dancing feet
we're dancing to another beat and won't need you again

His grandad flew a Spitfire in the war
Helped to keep the Nazis from the English shore
First they called him hero and then showed him the door
We've beaten our old enemy we don't need you any more 

Your fathers and grandfathers won that war
Can you remember what they were fighting for?
And now it's all unravelling you've heard the weasel lies
Who's your enemy? I think they're in disguise

llama up a ladder

Dickl