Dave Jarvis Chats with Graham Gouldman
DJ...Did you enjoy the recent tour?
GG...Yes we all thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice to play some songs we have not played for a long, long time like Donna and The Dean and I, which we did in Manchester for the very first time. Kind of ironic really being in Manchester when we did it for the first time, it was kind of special really because my mum was at the show along with various family members and friends so Manchester was a bit special, but nearly every date was brilliant. The rest of the lads played superbly and having Mick Wilson on vocals adds another string to our bow so to speak. One or two venues did not really suit us but overall we were very happy with the venues. Hopefully the advertising of the shows is now sorted. We did take a bit of flak regarding the adverts but the promoters are now hopefully more tuned in to the situation.
DJ...You did some work on the film "Mike Bassett : England Manager"
GG...That's right yes but you may have problems finding it because it was just an instrumental piece I wrote and to my knowledge it was in the film but not on the soundtrack. But it's in there somewhere, it was just a piece of incidental music really, no credits I'm afraid.
DJ...Anybody else you have been writing with lately?
GG...I have written some songs with Phil Thornalley (Ex-Wax Producer) and with the band BB MAK. I do not know if anything will be recorded. They are up for consideration but if they are released you will be the first to know. I also worked with Cerys Matthews, she's planning a sort of Pop album which I hope to be involved with. There is still no update of the Demo I did with Andrew for a major artists. These things drag on forever sometimes so it's hard to keep track sometimes of whether they have been recorded and released.
I also did a TV Special with Kirsty MacColl before she was tragically killed in that boating accident. It was in Belfast and her guitarist could not make it so they asked me (because I co-wrote the song I suppose). It was a TV Show called "The John Daly Show" and we did "Treachery" and that was wonderful to do because Kirsty was a wonderful person and will be sadly missed by everyone.
DJ...I believe you have moved house again.
GG...Yes that's correct, a long way this time (5 doors away) but it has still taken up a lot of my time. Even though it's only a few doors away, it's still amazing the amount of upheaval it all causes and they do say it's one of the most stressful things people do.
DJ...Any more gigs in the future?
GG...Yes definitely but not this year because Rick is off to Australia for quite a while but he will be coming back for gig's and such things. I think he's staying out there for 18 months or so. As a matter of fact I recently did a gig with Rick and his little band of merry men (The Theramones) for the charity "Children with Leukaemia". It was a charity dinner fund raiser and I was a special guest of Rick's and we did 5 numbers and then Rick carried on for the rest of the evening. We were supposed to have Paul Burgess on drums but he could not make it so we got Gary Wallis. You will remember him from the 1993 Alive Tour and it was an excellent evening.
DJ...In the Tour Brochure for the 2002 Tour it said you had wrote the soundtrack for the Paul Hills film "Raving Beauties" can you tell us about that.
GG...Arrgghh......that's a mistake, not a deliberate mistake but a mistake non of the less. As with a lot of projects that I get involved with, a lot of them do not materialise and this film is one of them. The film has not even been made and we got to the stage where we were talking about what kind of styles and production they wanted for the songs. I was all geared up for the project and basically it just did not happen through nobody's fault. You get used to these kind of things. That's why I don't talk much about current projects or projects in the pipeline because some happen and some don't and unfortunately this was one that just didn't happen.
DJ...You recorded some nights from the 2002 UK Tour.
GG...Yes that's correct. We actually recorded the shows direct from the board without any audience and we were all very pleased with them all. And we also, well, the BBC recorded a special show at St David's Hall in Cardiff and they broadcast it on Radio Wales only for some reason. But that was a very good show. Hopefully it will be broadcast nation-wide in the future but that's up to the Beeb isn't it.
DJ...Any chance of a future Live Album?
GG...Well if there is a demand for one then yes. It is a definite possibility because even though we don't have the shows on Multi-Track we have them already mixed. Basically the idea of recording the shows was just for us to refer to and to hear how we sounded on stage and change some things or add a few things. But it's all down to the demand for a live album release and if there was, then yes, we would definitely consider doing it.
DJ...The tour billing caused a few problems.
GG...You can say that again. For future dates we may go back to the old Ronnie Scott's billing (10cc's Graham Gouldman and Friends). Hopefully now that is all sorted out once and for all.
DJ...Wheel Spins raised a few eyebrows
GG...It certainly did. I had absolutely no idea what it was and when you gave me the CD in Manchester from Akihiro (Thank You Akihiro) I was astounded and when I got home and played it I still did not recognise it. But when the vocal started it all came back to me and it was nice to have the sheet music for it. I recorded it sometime in the sixties, 1967 or 1968 I think it was, but it was just a Demo. It was never released as a single and to the best of my knowledge it was never done by anybody else. It always amazes me how these things turn up some 30 odd years after they were done. It's the same with Virgin Soldiers and Hot Sun which were credited on the acetate to me but they were actually Kev and Lol, even though I am convinced that Hot Sun was one of the first things that Eric and I ever did and I think it went on to become Hot Sun Rock. Some other acetates turned up that you sent to me if you remember. Cry all Night and Over and Above my Head and One and One Make Love. The last two did feature me on them but they were Kev and Lol again. I think we recorded them in my front room because I had a special recorder at the time or something like that but like I said it's amazing that these things keep turning up. As a matter of fact since moving house I found a lot of things that I had forgotten about on tape and CD. One little gem I found on tape was the first mix of Dreadlock Holiday which is amazing so I'll keep hold of that for my retirement.
DJ...Any more (Star) Trekking planned?
GG...(Star Trekking I like it... laughs....) Yes I am off on another trek in November. I really do enjoy these treks. They take your mind off everyday problems and you can just bury yourself into these treks which are very interesting and great fun as well. As a matter of fact I need a spare passport photo for this trek in November and whilst I was looking for that I found some photos I will send you for the web site. There's a very old Polaroid picture of the Mockingbirds, one of 10cc from 1975 and a nice one from 1983 from the Feel The Love video set with Lol and Kevin. That's a good one, it's black and white but still a nice photo of the four of us
DJ...Well, thank you, Graham, for sparing us the time for this chat.
GG...You are very welcome and please send my best wishes to all 10cc Fans out there and keep up the good work on the Official Web site.
Graham has invited me down to his Studios in early December to spend time with him at the studio and photograph many more GG obscurities for inclusion on the Official 10cc web site and maybe have a cup of char with him! So watch this space sometime in December for more on the man himself
... Graham Gouldman.David Jarvis October 2002
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