Landslide

ARTISTS ONLY by Vinny Peculiar
CD, Vinyl, Download, Streaming

Release Date – 10.01.22

1 A Bigger Splash
2 Rothko
3 Pathetic Lament
4 Heavy Metal
5 Jack the Dripper

6 Francis Bacon
7 Man and his Shadow
8 Grayson
9 Fifteen Minutes
10 Perfect Song

Worcester based singer songwriter Alan Wilkes aka Vinny Peculiar has been putting albums out for the past twenty years to considered critical acclaim. ARTISTS ONLY is his fourteenth studio release.  

Most of the songs on ARTISTS ONLY take their inspiration from the ART WORLD, from Pollock to Perry, Hockney to Rothko, Warhol to Bacon. There’s also the neo classism of Pathetic Lament, teenage tales of Heavy Metal heartbreak, the quest for the Perfect Song and lockdown ballad A Man and his Shadow. 

ARTISTS ONLY is an eclectic collection - elements of hard rock, blue eyed funk and pastoral chamber pop may well resonate with fans of PULP, DENIM, BOWIE, RAY DAVIES, LUKE HAINES and MARTIN NEWELL. 

The first single is ‘A Bigger Splash’, release date 25.10.21 A driving surf style hard twanging affair inspired by a couples shared love of that most iconic image with the tell-tale refrain… ‘David Hockney in 67 says he died he died and went to heaven, all his paintings live on forever, but this was the one keeping us together’

ARTISTS ONLY adds further weight to the critically acclaimed recording career of the man formerly described as a ‘warm hearted morrisey’ [Q MAGAZINE] an ‘unsung national treasure’ [UNCUT MAGAZINE], and ‘the missing link between Jarvis Cocker and Roger McGough’ [IRISH TIMES]. 

Past Vinny Peculiar collaborations include Bonehead from OASIS with whom he wrote recorded and toured as PARLOUR FLAMES. The SMITHS rhythm section Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce were his former backing band. He’s also worked with Bill Drummond and compered the Glastonbury Acoustic Stage.
www.vinnypeculiar.com

01 A Bigger Splash

'Death of the Counterculture' is taken from the forthcoming Vinny Peculiar album 'How I Learned to Love the Freaks'

The song celebrates and reflects on our ever diminishing countercultural aspiration, of lost hopes and faded dreams, of alternative peacemakers, free thinkers and new age visionaries. 
We said goodbye and we’re gonna miss you, at the Death of the Counterculture. 

Death of the Counterculture 

Say goodbye to the summer of love
Its goodbye Paris, San Francisco & goodbye London
Goodbye kool-aid Acid Test
Goodbye Ken, goodbye Allen and goodbye to all the rest

Goodbye Bob and Richard too
Goodbye Jack, goodbye Joni we’re all gonna miss you
At the death of the counter culture 


Beautiful people holding hands peace n love n rock n roll bands
Ban the bomb stop the war it’s what we’re all fighting for

Not the death of the counterculture

In unison we sang such a sweet refrain
Of stick it to man in the hard rain
But the establishment plays a long game…
Tomorrow never knows it can never be the same

It’s the death of the counter culture

There’s a revolution in the head 
She said she said she said she said
Kick out the jams break down the door
The death of the counterculture

And it’s a goodbye David
Goodbye Jimi
Goodbye Helen
Goodbye Jenny
Goodbye Chrissy
Goodbye anarchy 
Goodbye honey, honey goodbye..

Bobby was a Ted 
Tammy was a rocker
Judy was playgirl a real show stopper
Peter was hippie a protest singer
Jordan was a punk…and a visionary

It’s the death of the counterculture
It’s the death of the counterculture…

Death Of The Counterculture

Headshop stars an eclectic mix of hippy paraphernalia and jangling guitars, a sanctuary of young love amongst the windchimes.

Headshop

We hang out at the head shop
Just opposite the bus stop
Its psychedelic lift off
And its gonna blow your mind

Tarot cards and a hooker pipes
Dream catchers wind chimes
Herbal tea scented candles 
And multi coloured plastic sandals

Glow sticks and lava lamps
Peace patches and tie dye pants
Man pouch in soft leather
Vaping sticks go on pick any flavour 

We’ve got them all

I knew the owner Geraldine
We had a thing when we were 17
Sometimes I wonder what might have been
If you know what I mean
It was a really cool scene man

A Game of thrones jig saw
Joss sticks all the way from Jaipur 
Natty threads and rag rugs
Naturally high say no to drugs 

Essential aroma therapy 
And books about magikal energy  
Victorian bottles African carvings 
Lord of the Rings the trilogy’s meanings so many meanings

I used to come here after school
And they let you hang out it was really cool
Once the girl who worked there made me coffee
And we talked about music said her brother was a hippy 
Hippy yeah she was pretty 

Come on meet me at the Head Shop
It’s just opposite the bus stop
For a psychedelic lift off
That’s gonna blow your mind

Meet me at the head shop
Just opposite the bus stop
We don’t need to go to Woodstock
This one’s gonna to blow your mind

Headshop

On a yoga retreat in southern India a womans life is transformed by a charismatic yogi full of eastern promise, lives will never be the same again...

 Ashram Curtains

Behind the eastern drapes a silent yogi meditates

And women listen to their breathing
Reflect on this experience a book of calm omnipotence
Classes end and students leaving 
The body temple and the perfect health
Get in touch with your inner self well-being is believing 

Is it you behind the ashram 
You, behind the ashram
You, behind the ashram

She booked the flights to India on a tour bus out of Deli
Checked the time at home and what was on the telly
Next morning bright n breezy on the patio stretching for the sky
That’s when she first caught his eye
Then came the late-night invitations she left the door ajar
He bought the nuts and the caviar

Is it true behind the ashram? 
You behind the ashram
You behind the ashram curtains

You can tell me what happened and I promise not to judge
I know you’ve been unhappy I know because because
I can feel it in the distance a sadness beyond despair
But I forgive you everything whatever’s broken we can repair…yeah

She came home later in the year at first I didn’t recognise her
Then she told me all her plans
She gathered up a few things photos of the kids her favourite earrings
So many changes to her feelings…

Behind the ashram 
You, behind the ashram
You, behind the ashram 
You, behind the ashram curtains

And should you change your mind
I’ll be waiting right here

Ashram Curtains

A young couple journey from Texas to the Haight its August 1967, at the height of the Summer of Love, the establishment is under fire and change is gonna come...

Going to San Francisco

There were voices calling inside everybody’s head
I bought velvet loon-pants and book about Tibet
Hitch hiked out of Texas due north
I heard a song on the radio for what it’s worth
And my father he disowned me, and my mother made a fuss
Later that night I caught a greyhound bus

Met my girlfriend at the station there were other pilgrims there
Smoked a refer on the sidewalk met a kid with purple hair
Someone gave me a poncho David Crosby style
But I left it on the bus and it made my girlfriend smile
And then came the acid and it took me by surprise
My watch it started melting there we rainbow’s in my eyes  

The closer we got the more the numbers grew
We spent the night in a gallery listening to
A sombre protest singer out to make a million bucks
From writing pop music yeah we all thought he was nuts
As the bus rolled into town and we headed for the Haight
The people they waved us on, and we saw the Golden Gate

There was a stall on the entry, and it said FREE FOOD
And a man in Jesus sandals serving lentils in the nude
I finally called home a week after we arrived
From a call box on the Haight it felt good to be alive
My father wouldn’t speak to me he handed Mom the phone 
She said now just be careful this will always be your home

There were trams and bums and dive bars hippies everywhere
We slept out in the park with revolution in the air
We had to travel out of town to find a place to crash
In a commune up country in the woods outside Fairfax
When the war came to an end, we were working on the land
And we made love to strangers then it all got out of hand…


















It all got out of hand man…

Going To San Francisco

Peter is disillusioned, he leaves the commune, moves away to LA becomes a writer, he sells out but he makes a lot of money, meanwhile the hippie dream is unravelling...



Peter and the Rainbow

Peter and the rainbow
Peter and the rainbow
Peter and the rainbow
Peter and the rainbow

We came in peace we should have known 
We came together we came alone
To understand a better way
Came to explore we came to stay

We came so near we came so far
A sleeping bag and an acoustic guitar
Hitch hiked across the USA
Nothing could stop us or get in our way

Peter and the rainbow
Peter and the rain
Peter and the rainbow
Peter and the rain

Out of the darkness and into the light
We taught our children we taught them right
We came of age Aquariusly  
We came in peace we came in harmony we came to be to be free

Peter and the rainbow
Peter and the rainbow

And we closed in on mother earth
And we gave thanks for all we were worth
But the very best of our intentions
Never suited those high faluting conventions

The poets spoke in tongues of fire
We were the new age guns for hire
So many people gathered around
Cause you have to get lost before you get found
You have to get lost

Peter and the rainbow

When things were good they were very very good
But when we looked away it was over
And when we were good we were very very good
But when we messed up they said told ya so
I told ya I told ya

Peter and the rainbow…
Peter and the rain

It’s not the ending you might have expected
Peter left the camp he defected
Wrote show made a lot of money
Now he’s living in LA with playboy bunny
View of the hills the canyon and the ocean
It’s a very cold place devoid of all emotion
It’s a very cold place devoid of all emotion

Peter and the rainbow
Peter and the rainbow
It’s a very cold place
Peter and the rainbow
It’s a very cold place
It’s a very cold place



Peter and the rainbow

Peter And The Rainbow

Guilt and redemption drive this story of a troubled teenagers flirtation with gang violence, and fear of the unknown...

How I Learned to Love the Freaks

There were a couple freaks in the village
When I was growing up they used to walk past our house
Long hair bangles and cheese cloth shirts
They were older than us but not by much

They carried record bags they were mysterious 
And my dad was not impressed 
But my Mum said she knew them from the college where she worked
Said they were nice lads we said yeah 

To me they seemed strange aloof and remote and completely indifferent
They didn’t play football they rarely spoke to anyone
We didn’t know their names or where they were from…

One day we were messing around outside the paper shop 
With some of the hard lads from Cobnall Road
And the freaks walked past minding their own business 
And then out of the blue someone shouted ‘what are you looking at’

And before we knew it, we were chasing them across the fields to the waste ground behind the new estate
We caught up with the freaks of course we did and they were sadly resigned to their fate


There’s an ugly feeling when you join the mob
And it’s brutal cruel and infectious 
We all piled in there was kicking and screaming and
We set about the freaks and then we set about leaving

When the ambulance arrived, we were already gone
Hiding in Ronnie Spuds’ caravan 
It was covered in page three pictures from the sun
With a girl for every persuasion 

Thank god those freaks were ok bruises and cuts a little shaken up
My mother asked me was I involved at all
I lied I said no what would I do something like that for ?

And the Freaks were never seen again 
They never pressed charges I was grateful to them
Off to university end of the year
To study for something no one had heard of before

Freaks
And how I learned to love them
This one’s for the Freaks
Freaks…

How I Learned To Love The Freaks

Grew his hair and bought a chillum pipe
Found himself in another life
In a peace camp outside of Monmouth
The Welsh Connection just sign on for the dole cheque

Self-sufficient love of the land
Playing guitar in a local band
Fell in love with a yoga teacher
And he’d do anything anything to please her

I mean anything, anything

Went to London on a demo 
Lit a six-foot papier Mache joint in Soho
Got arrested by the fuzz
Old Bailey trial three months in the scrubs

Went to war against the state
Read Albert Camus and William Blake
Started teaching at the college
Radical visions alternative knowledge

And all property is theft

Moved up north into the lazy city
Showpiece of the nitty gritty
Where he failed to impress
Took it all to heart and it left him in a mess

Left him in a right bloody mess

When the carnival was over
He returned to Worcestershire
And when I asked him why he said
There’s nothing going on down there

And all property is theft

All Property Is Theft

My latest completed piece of work. Created from a field recording of my acoustic kit, then push , pulled and kneaded into this battle ready rhythm.
The track image has been kindly supplied by Alexander Jansson who created album artwork for my prog rock band of the early noughties. 
Please go check out his beautiful captivating, colourful but mysterious and sometimes errie creations here :

https://shop.alexanderjansson.com/
https://www.instagram.com/alexander_jansson.art/

Spectre cool

Out of line

New album How I Learned to Love the Freaks 15/09/2023

‘An under-sung national treasure’ UNCUT MAGAZINE 
‘The missing link between Jarvis Cocker and poet Roger McGough and some of the wittiest lyrics this side of Wreckless Eric’ IRISH TIMES 

Crashing poppily through Vinnys world of nostalgia and insight every song stuffed to the gills with melody and eccentricity, clever, funny and wonderfully weird’ R2 magazine 

‘Autobiographical fragments brightened by adoration of Bowie, punk and ‘Alice Cooper on TOTP’ Classic Rock 

A master at work with his clever engaging lyrics that seem to come effortlessly to him, I do not want to live in a music world without Vinny Peculiar in it’. Subba Cutcha

‘ Songs as English as warm beer and Marmite’ Whisperin & Hollerin 

‘Lugubriously delivered, quintessentially English quirk-pop’  Record Collector

'like a warm hearted Morrissey' UNCUT

Death Of The Counterculture

Vinny Peculiar

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