A 'punk' reading of Gilbert & Sullivan, incoherent with rage

Voices - Vic/Jim; Guitar - Vic; Bass - Ron; Organ - Jim
From 'Down t'Pit', Miners

The Keele Tapes Vol.2

When the foeman bares his steel

In a student hall of residence in "the second most turned on university in Britain" (the first being Warwick, apparently), a group of friends pursue the eternal search for kicks and psychic enlightenment. The nearby golf course may offer a way forward...

This nod to Père Ubu and Hawkwind was the first purposefully created Waiters track. It has been lovingly restored by combining the original late-70s cassette version with new overdubbed digital sounds.

The original:
Composition: Ron
Voice - Brian; Bass - Ron; Guitar - Vic; Production/Synthetics - Jim
From 'There Will Be No Elections', The Dumb Waiters

Vic added extra guitars and vocals; Jim added percussion and vocals. Vic and Jim produced and mixed; Vic engineered.

Keele Tapes Vol.3

Mushroom

The early 80s depression bit hard. Being unemployed was a proposition even harder than it had been in the previous decade: indeed Unemployment was said to be being used as a tool with which to control the population.

This fictionalised version of real events draws upon the power of Black American music to find strength in social struggle and was a particular favourite of Brian, who championed the song and counts us in.

The original:
Composition: Vic
Vocals, Trombone, Slide Guitar - Vic; Acoustic guitar - Brian; Piano - Jim/Mike
From 'A Concise History', The Various Artists

Vic has extended the original and added brass and guitars; Jim has developed and sung additional lyrics and contributed percussion.

The Keele Tapes Vol.3

Unemployment Blues

Early evening at a deserted small-town railway station, dark and gloomy. The promised rain begins. Storm coming. A man wearing all black walks out onto the platform. He carries a musical instrument which he starts playing. He sounds confident, declaring that he is 'the master of his own future'. His blithe certainty will not endure.

This track is a faithful restoration of the original, working from very poor quality original sound recording.

The original:
Composition: Lyrics - Brian; Music - Brian/Jim
Guitar - Brian/Jim; Vocals -Jim
From 'Communication', The Rhesus Monkeys

Vic re-produced, mixed and engineered this track, adding guitar and bass. Jim contributed percussion.
Rain & Thunderclap samples were provided by Idomusics & DaniloSFX.

An Efficient Cog

It is dark and he is alone and he is being punished. He has lost track, though, of how long he has been kept inside the ‘cupboard'.
Blinded by the absence of light, he hears everything. But he can no longer differentiate between those sounds which are distant and those which are frighteningly close.
Will Mother ever come back? He said he’s sorry.

A rudimentary electronic experimental piece - 'A Child's Mind (Cupboard)' - that has been refreshed.

The original:
Composition:  Music - Vic; Lyrics - Jim
Electronics, keyboard & piano - Vic; Voice - Jim
From 'Living Inside', B-Dada

Jim performed extra voices, percussion and organ; Vic assembled these elements to harmonise with the original. Vic and Jim produced; Vic mixed and engineered. The track features an appearance by Jim's cat, Spider, and includes samples from B-Dada's 'The Widow's Mite (Brian's Room)', written by Brian and performed by Vic, Jim & Brian.

'Cupboard'

Beyond Time, beyond Understanding, an Old God howls into the Void: he has seen every moment of the rise of humanity and it has driven him insane. His prophet and acolytes mouth and support their Master, seeking to substantiate and legitimise his incoherence, chanting his refrain, It’s a Concise History….

This track is a reimagining of a song whose original ambition exceeded the band’s then-available recording capacity.

The original:
Composition: Vic
Lead vocals & percussion - Brian; Guitars & backing vocals - Vic; Piano, percussion and background vocals- Jim
From 'A Concise History', The Various Artists
Includes a sample from ‘Kitchen’ (from Living Inside, by B-Dada, composed &  performed by Jim, Vic & Brian).

Vic reformed and extended the original and added multiple keyboards and guitars, bass and additional vocals; he also retrieved Brian’s vocals using AI wizardry; Jim developed and sung additional lyrics and added additional background vocals and percussion.

A Concise History

New York, late 1940s, or early 1970s. A private detective has been following a few leads, and he don’t like where they’re taking him. The Kingpin’s most likely involved somehow, and events are unfolding at a frantic pace. The traffic races, shots are fired and a woman screams!

As suddenly as things began, an uneasy calm falls, and the narrator ponders the role of God.

This track combines two original songs, 4 AM and A Revelation

The original 4 AM:
Composition: Words - Brian/Music - Jim & Brian
Vocals, Guitar  & Percussion - Brian; Guitar & Percussion- Jim
From 'Voices, Texts & Material Culture', Dumbwaiters
Vic added multiple brass and guitars, and added bass, percussion and samples; Jim developed and sang additional lyrics, and contributed keyboards and percussion. 
Woman's scream - FunnyFox22

The original A Revelation:
Composition: Words - Jim; Music - Brian/Jim
Vocals - Brian; Guitar - Jim
From ‘Film Thèmes’, Dumbwaiters
Jim developed and sang additional lyrics; Vic contributed keyboards.

4am/Revelation

Beyond the city walls, War’s armies clash impatiently, ushering in Conquest’s merciless domination. The ragged poor huddle, hoping to delay Pestilence. Too soon, Death’s final word sounds.

The Various Artists - Brian (Synth), Jim (Percussion), Mike (Synth) & Vic (electric piano) -improvised the track in Keele’s music studio. Originally released on ‘A Concise History’.

The Four Horsemen

A large student house in a medium-sized Midlands city in the late 1970s. Social anxiety: you very much doubt that you will enjoy this party but you cannot bear to stay at home, not again. Inside, as expected, a succession of unsatisfactory encounters reveal themselves, clutching plastic tumblers of warm white wine. Then, your nostrils detect sweetness and smoke. The evening is saved: someone is rolling a fat one. 


This track is a substantial remix - reimagining, in fact - by Vic of
the original Changing Situation:
Composition: Words - Brian/Music - Jim & Brian
Vocals & Guitar - Brian; Guitar - Jim
From 'Voices, Texts & Material Culture', Dumbwaiters

Vic added brass, guitars, bass, recorder, thumb piano & percussion; Jim added piano and percussion, and arranged strings.

Changing Situation

Human remains have been discovered in woodland. Identification is proving difficult (perhaps male, possibly female, of uncertain age) due to the condition of the body which may have been buried for many years. Indeed, the current working theory suggests that the subject may have been the victim of a late 14th Century assault. This melancholy torch song seeks to bring the victim's life into focus.

This track contains fragments of 'One Hell of a Time'
The original:
Composition: Jim
Voice - Anna; Upright piano - Angela
From 'There Will Be No Elections', The Dumb Waiters

Jim composed and sang the words & vocal line; Vic composed and performed piano and produced the track.

The Keele Tape Vol.3

Grove By The Burnt Clearing

On the B582/M69 roundabout, having absorbed Protect & Survive, having begun his own countdown to Armageddon, a young hitchhiker raises his fists to the sky and dares the US and USSR empires to come and have a go. Tired of the constant fear and dread, he has learned to embrace the horror, and to love the bomb.

This dense, energetic, not-quite-funky tribute to the Ramones’ ‘I Don’t Care’ is built upon an improvisation captured during the first ever Waiters session.

The original - Dumb Waiter
Voice - Karin; Bass - Ron; Guitar - Vic; Production/Tape Echo - Jim
From 'There Will Be No Elections', The Dumb Waiters

Vic added bass, organ, drum machine, many extra guitars and Fibonacci vocals; Jim wrote the words, provided the vocals and some dirty keyboard. Vic and Jim produced and mixed; Vic engineered.

DvmbWajter

She awakes from a dream in which shrieking foxes tear the night, only to realise that it is a siren that has broken her sleep. She is one of the night shift team at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Launching herself from her bunk, she works frantically, but in vain, to deal with the emergency. Outside, impassive, the tsunami redoubles its efforts.

This song builds upon an original guitar improvisation, composed and performed by B-Dada - Vic (Guitar) and Jim (Bass).
From 'A Concise History', The Various Artists.
Jim wrote and sang new lyrics and played Keyboard; Vic added extra vocals. Vic & Jim produced and mixed the track; Vic engineered.

Red Alert

It is the late Bronze Age, Ancient Greece. Without warning, the King of one of the less significant Mycenaean states exits the city gates, disappearing into the wilderness beyond. Immediately, the population suffer a prolonged, crippling drought. Months pass. Perhaps the Dark Ages are coming.

This song is based upon an old, post-pub instrumental, ‘Spy for the NCB’.
Originally composed & played by Vic - Guitar, Ron - Bass, Jim - Piano.
From 'Down t'Pit', The Miners
Jim wrote & sang new lyrics and played additional, random piano. Vic programmed the drums and played piano. Vic & Jim produced; Vic mixed and engineered.
Crows provided by MJoyce

The Dog Days

Band/collective of musicians/non-musicians operating out of Keele University/London 70s/80s

The Dumb Waiters

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