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Winter 2006
We've received
several e.mails during the past few weeks
enquiring about the Strapping Jocks CD "We Love
the English". Well it's pretty much a one-off
thing the boys have put together, mainly for the
Scots who have a sense of humour. It's a very
tongue-in-cheek recording and would best be
described as a chant rather than a song.
Apparently doing well north of the border we
hear!
Whilst on the
subject of Scotland and e.mails, many thanks to
Callum in Glasgow and Bruce in Stirling who both
told us the article we printed was a feature in
the Sunday Post
The downloads page
is proving much more popular than we'd ever
imagined and consequently we'll be digging up
more and more old tracks from the archives.
These are obviously the ones in greatest demand.
The boys have even found a Christmas song to
issue this year. It's called "Christmas Party
Time" and is a rocking good song! Don't miss
this one.
A very happy 65th
birthday to Don Ker who reached this milestone
in October. "Seems only yesterday", Nigel said
to me recently, "That we thought he might be a
bit too old for Stavely Makepeace". He was 27 at
the time!!
Many thanks to
all those of you who have informed us of the
Lieutenant Pigeon videos which have appeared
on
www.youtube.com The second one, an
appearance on 'The Arrows' TV show in 1976,
featured the song "Goodbye" and ironically
marked the last time the band would play
together on British TV. Just for the
anoraks, it was recorded in Manchester on
May 25th 1976 and was transmitted on ITV in
all regions of the country on June 8th 1976.
None of the boys saw the transmission as
they were away working at the time so this 'youtube'
broadcast was very welcome and brought back
lots of memories.
Have a very happy Christmas.
Bill.
Autumn 2006
Those of you who
regularly visit the downloads page will be well
aware of the steady increase in available tracks.
Sales have exceeded all our expectations so we will
do as a lot of you have suggested, put some of the
early Stavely and Pigeon tracks on. If any of you
have queries about any of these recordings, please
do not hesitate to click the CONTACT button on the
web site and drop us a note. for those of you who
still prefer the 'hard' copy, (ie CD), we will
endeavour to provide this service for as long as
possible.
No doubt all of you will
now know of the sad demise of the BBC TV programme
Top of the Pops. Newspapers from far and wide have
been phoning the boys for their reactions. Lots has
already been said and written about the end of this
'institution', but both Rob and Nigel privately
confided in me that they're surprised the show
lasted as long as it did! Coincidentally the very
last broadcast was July 30th 2006--exactly 36 years
to the day since the show they performed on with
Stavely Makepeace was transmitted, 30/7/1970!
News soon about a
controversial new recording with a distinct Scottish
flavour from the boys very soon. Keep logging on!!
Bill.
PS... This cutting arrived at our office in August.
Can anyone throw any light on what publication it
appeared in please?
Summer 2006
It's now 5 years since the
boys released OPUS 400. Only two out of the thousands of
you who bought the CD correctly worked out that it is a
musical representation of a dream. I can now reveal that
Ted Kosys and Graeme Vine were the only ones who solved
this enigma! Congratulations to you both.
The record begins with our
'dreamer' drifting in and out of consciousness and
remembering an old dog he once owned called Grey Chops.
The mixture of nonsense thoughts and lucid memories
continue until slumber arrives and 'Hill Rain' takes
over. This is interrupted briefly when he wakes up
realising he 'Don't wanna be a wannabe'!
Soon he's deep in sleep
again and there's more 'Hill Rain'. From now on it's a
succession of short and long dreams, sometimes merging
into each other and often repeating a theme. Gradually
the night wears on and bit by bit the dreams take on a
more logical pattern, all having some link to recent
events in the dreamers life.
The longest dream is the
last of the night. Suddenly the waking hours approach
and the mind is awash with snippets of the night's
experiences in a cacophony of sonic mayhem. Now comes
the biggest clue of all to those of you who have been
left wondering for up to 5 years what it's all meant.
The alarm clock goes off.
He's awake.
The silly bit right at the
end is the mind clearing all memories of the night's
experiences in preparation for the new day. Within
seconds logical thought is back.
We still have a few copies
of OPUS 400 left should any of you who missed it want a
copy.
Other News
The 35 track double CD "THE
TRIP" (Universal Music 9832862) compilation by Jarvis
Cocker and Steve Mackey, is on sale now and apparantly
doing very well. On it is the Lieutenant Pigeon track
"The Villain". It also contains some excellent tracks
from over the years, all favourites of Jarvis and Steve.
Bill B
Bill B
May 2006
Here's a first for us! This is a
copy of the article which recently appeared in the Coventry
Evening Telegraph. The newspaper have been kind enough to allow
us to reprint it.
Click to enlarge
Music editor Pete Chambers, who
regularly writes for the newspaper, produced this fine article
about the band.
Other news, on May 7th, (ironically
Nige's birthday!), Channel 4 TV transmitted their "50 Greatest"
show which featured Lieutenant Pigeon. "Mouldy Old Dough" was
voted in at No 25 in the all time greats. Another ironic
coincidence, it was in No 25 Kingsway where all the great
Stavely and Pigeon tracks were made!
The Jarvis Cocker compilation CD is
now in the shops, and by all accounts is doing very well. It's
called 'The Trip' and features the Lt Pigeon track "The
Villain". All in all not a bad start to 2006!
Thanks to all of you who have
commented on the "Binj'd Rinkas" CD. Yes it's weird, but many of
you have recognised that it's an innovative step towards the
future of music. Next release will probably take a step back
towards a more conventional approach however.
My apologies to those of you who
have inquired about the "Download" facility, this will be
available as soon as I possibly can implement it.
More soon. Happy Spring! (albeit a
rather wet one where we are!) Bill B.
March 2006
A BRAND NEW SOUND AND A BRAND NEW NAME!
At last we can announce the
launch of the first three tracks using the boy's
revolutionary new sound!
"INDIGO AND BLACK CIGARETTE
LIGHTER" c/w "The Ghost Express" & "Big Boat Confidential",
(SMA 1701), heralds the arrival of a controversial and
spectacular new method of record production Rob and Nigel
have been experimenting with for some time.
As it represents a totally
original concept in sound recording they've decided on a
totally new name to front it, The BINJ'D RINKAS.
Don't worry, this does not spell
the end for all you diehard Lieutenant Pigeon fans. More
Pigeon tracks will be issued later in the year.
Details of how to obtain the
three new tracks on CD will appear as per usual on the sales
page, but here's another surprise. Details of how to
download these tracks direct from the web site will also be
announced soon--- well everyone else is doing it so why
don't we!
BB.
New Year 2006
Once again a very happy new year to
you all from myself, Rob & Nigel, Richard our distributor,
secretary Zoe and the entire washing up staff. Seems only 5
minutes since I was doing all this 12 months ago! Great news. The boys have put
together a brand new CD for the brand new year--and it's under a
brand new name! Keep an eye on these pages around Easter.
Talking of Easter, look out for a
Channel 4 TV programme called "50 Greatest One Hit Wonders".
Although Pigeon were not one hit wonders they have been included
in the show and Nigel has already recorded a piece for it. Let's
hope they use it now! Jarvis Cocker's compilation CD also
comes out around that time and guess what, he's been as good as
his word and included on it a Lieutenant Pigeon track. The
Villain.
Christmas saw a visit from the urbane Mr Steve Tayton who now resides in France. He's ageing like a good French wine and continues to produce fine jazz music. Visit his site at www.sibeliusmusic.com
Speak to you in the Spring.
Bill B
Bill B