A mash up of Madonna's 'Jump' and the House of Pain's 'Jump Around'-my first mash up using Ableton Live-we used it for a school production with special needs kids. I was particularly pleased with the way the two songs come together at the end. We did a ski-snowboard influenced dance to it and the kids loved it!


Jump Around Mashup

A random mix of catchy swing loops-I found it when I was cleaning up my garageband folder.

'Horn-E-Old Baritone' Dancey Mix

Written and recorded in the mid 90s. Initially inspired by my son Jack when, as a house husband, I was looking after him-hence trying to compose with a toddler around-a wonderful distraction from getting on with it. Turned the idea into a cheesy love song-sadly everyone said the guitar reminded them of 'More Than Words' by Extreme, although I was more influenced by James Taylor at the time. 
I was particularly pleased with the key modulation in the middle of the song.

My late sister in-law Annie really loved this song-this one's in memory of her (and for Jack of course).

Wonderful Distraction

Words and music written as a project for OCA (Open College of Arts)composition task in 1997. I don't really play piano so I was quite pleased with the construction of the music (I used C Lab Notator on an Atari 1040 with a Korg M1 piano voice-not the best I acknowledge). It would be good to hear it played with expression by a real pianist on a real piano.
Jill performed the beautiful vocal. It had to match the written score so she couldn't improvise too much away from it.
I got a C in composition which was better than my ungraded woodwork CSE.


A Lullaby

Written originally in about 1983 on an Akai reel to reel (sound on sound mono) with a Roland Dr Rhythm drum machine guitar and bass. This version was done in the nineties with Atari C Lab and Fostex M80 8 track. The trombone part was played by Andrew Hiles, with vocals by Jill and myself. I think the background rhythm loop was done on a Yamaha CX5. The drum pattern was done on a Roland TR707.
The song is about child neglect/abuse, with a hint of incest-lovely!


Cindy

Had this piano riff knocking around from about 1984 and finally put it together in the nineties on an Atari 1040/C Lab/Korg M1 and M80 8 track reel to reel machine.. Entered it for a national songwriting competition but got nowhere (apart from a free trip to Thorpe Park with Tom and Jack.
Song is about 'The other woman' in a relationship. It's kind of a stalker situation really-a real 'bunny boiler'.
Vocal by Jill, Sax by Nick Gunnell.


Tea and Sympathy

Originally a 1982 song called 'He Doesn't Believe Me' sung by Mary in a nativity musical we wrote called 'The Promise'. I decided I liked the feel of it and tried to turn it into a pop song sometime in the early 90s. Vocal by Jill. The sample drum loop was taken from the intro to 'Manchild' by Neneh Cherry which came out in 1989-I think the sampler I used would only hold about 2 seconds of sample-how things have moved on!
I got a bit carried away with the multi layered guitar solo-although now you could get the same effect with a Boss FX pedal.


Raindrops

A song written in the early nineties and inspired by the atrocities in South Africa (the horrific practice of necklacing) and the ethnic cleansing in Boznia, and the fascist regimes behind them. Sadly having just watched a Channel 4 documentary about Sri Lanka, nothing much has changed in the world of human rights over the last 20 years or so.
The production is very nineties but I was pleased with the overall feel of the song (although I'd probably been listening to too much Sting-'They Dance Alone').
The guitar solo is a bit ragged but it was the first and only take and I thought most of it worked quite well as a demo, so I left it. I didn't quite get the hang of the delay bus on the vocal either, hence the rather excessive vocal swell.


Burning Black

A Song written in the early 80s inspired by a mindless shooting in America-someone had become impatient waiting to use a phone booth (remember them?) and had shot the person on the phone. Don't let it happen here-well prophetically it seems to be happening here now. 
Post Paul Hardcastle and pre-Pet Shop Boys 'West End Girls' it seems to be an amalgam of both. I liked our idea of using newsreels from Martin Luther King's inspirational speech and the asassination of Robert Kennedy, although the sound was taken from a poor quality VHS tape.
The track was recorded in a small 8 track studio in Bridge Street Worcester and engineered by Steve Bird. Musicians, myself, Jill and long time friend Steve Hamilton.
The brass sample was very crude and, like 'Raindrops', we only had 2 seconds of sample time then. 


Crazy Americans

A silly remix of 'Wired For Sound' created for our special needs students to create a dance to on a theme of 'Technology'. There's a bit of George Michael in there too.
Made with Live 8 and Audacity.


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