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Prime586  
#51 Posted : 03 December 2020 14:59:00(UTC)
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My signed copy arrived this morning (ordered from RT) by Royal Mail 48. I was notified on the 27th that it was being dispatched 2nd class.

About a third of the way through (up to PC&L era), enjoying it as much as the first so far.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Fotz  
#52 Posted : 04 December 2020 08:22:02(UTC)
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Copy arrived. First flick through and some great pics, even though one or two I think I’d already seen on one or two of the listening party things. Looking forward to getting stuck into.

Finished reading John Cooper Clarke’s auto bio just last night so its worked out timed nicely. One chapter in Cooper Clarke’s book covers his support of New Order in NZ and/or Oz in 1982. Interestingly he felt he was on New Order’s bandwagon on that tour whereas the band felt they were on his. Apparently Australians weren’t that enamoured with New Order because at that time the Aussies still liked to see a band work for their money with intricate guitar playing and all that. Not enough work ethic .They didn’t like the fact NO’s music mostly played itself on computers. Had always thought NO had been popular in Oz but maybe that came in time later on.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Prime586  
#53 Posted : 09 December 2020 01:26:14(UTC)
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Anyone else finished this yet? The post-Technique part of the book in particular does not make pleasant reading, with Steve and Gillian getting shit on by everybody it seems (the revelations about the recording of the drums on Republic and the ultimatum he was given about the 2002 NZ/Aus tour shocked me) and 2001 seems to have an absolute nightmare for them in particular (having lost my father to rapid onset dementia the parts about his dad's illness were hard to read). It's amazing that he's managed to keep his sense of perspective and humour about it all.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Fotz  
#54 Posted : 09 December 2020 06:32:04(UTC)
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Not got to Technique part yet. About quarter through. Laughed out load numerous times so far.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Fotz  
#55 Posted : 09 December 2020 13:29:34(UTC)
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Ah , so they’d planned to do a Perfect Kiss/Blue Monday segue/mega mix at the BBC Rock Around The Clock thing in August 1984, spent a day at the hotel in Cornwall programming it all but when it came to time of live broadcast the sequencer wouldn’t play ball. Wow, always wondered what the original set list was. What a shame, would of been ace.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Prime586  
#56 Posted : 09 December 2020 13:54:39(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Fotz Go to Quoted Post
Ah , so they’d planned to do a Perfect Kiss/Blue Monday segue/mega mix at the BBC Rock Around The Clock thing in August 1984, spent a day at the hotel in Cornwall programming it all but when it came to time of live broadcast the sequencer wouldn’t play ball. Wow, always wondered what the original set list was. What a shame, would of been ace.

Yes, and it finally spelt doom for the Sequential Poly Sequencers with them buying the Yamaha QX1s to replace them. That also meant the end of their CV/Gate-equipped analogue gear that couldn't be updated to MIDI.

Having suffered from exactly the same problems using tapes between computers with the ZX81, Spectrum and C64, I can imagine the problem with trying to use the micro cassette recorded on the spare Poly Sequencer in the primary that had been set up in Maida Vale was to do with the tape head azimuth being different between them. A jeweller's screwdriver to adjust the azimuth was an essential tool for using tapes with home computers (they even started making cassette recorders specifically for computers that had a small knob to adjust the azimuth and level meter to show where the highest signal level was).

Edited by user 09 December 2020 14:08:13(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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Fotz  
#57 Posted : 11 December 2020 11:37:37(UTC)
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Steve is one of the voices on the b side mix of World In Motion? Never knew that.

All that taxman stuff sounded grim. Balances out though with what seems Steve liked necking a few E in Ibiza at the clubs though, ha. He liked a bit of LSD fairly often too.

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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
prog99  
#58 Posted : 11 December 2020 12:38:52(UTC)
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Pretty difficult reading at times post technique. Definitely another side to the whole New Order story.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Cranelane  
#59 Posted : 11 December 2020 12:56:08(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Fotz Go to Quoted Post
Ah , so they’d planned to do a Perfect Kiss/Blue Monday segue/mega mix at the BBC Rock Around The Clock thing in August 1984, spent a day at the hotel in Cornwall programming it all but when it came to time of live broadcast the sequencer wouldn’t play ball. Wow, always wondered what the original set list was. What a shame, would of been ace.



That might explain why Bernard seemed so angry during the broadcast, there seems to be a real tension in the studio during the broadcast, it's very enjoyable nonetheless.

I'm so looking forward to buying this book now judging by the comments so far, I hope to pick it up tomorrow in an actual bookshop.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Fotz  
#60 Posted : 11 December 2020 13:09:15(UTC)
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Steve writes that on Blue Monday 88 , Bernard “ improved the drum sounds”. Really? , um, ok. Revisited it and Beach Buggy and apart from a few interesting sounds it is still the utter dogs dinner it was the last time I listened to it back in... oooh, 1988? All those sucking on Milkshake on a straw sounds .... jeez. I once put Beach Buggy on a jukebox in a pub in 1988 and the derision from various punters was, well, interesting.Listening again , I’d forgotten they sampled the “1234” from Hurt and also Confusion 87 on Beach Buggy.

Just discovered after three quarters way through that at the back of the book is Steve’s recommended Spotify playlist for listening while reading . Maybe a better idea would have been to put that at start of book.Or a short note at start of of the book that there’s a recommended playlist at the back of book.Oh hang on , there is - in the chapter list at start. Doh, my bad.I’ll stick it on though for the last 100 or so pages I have to go.

Edited by user 11 December 2020 13:58:55(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Fotz  
#61 Posted : 12 December 2020 08:09:10(UTC)
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Finished the book today.Another great read and of course Steve is brilliant as ever throughout.At times he's been through a lot of shit (haven't we all) what with family illnesses, deaths, fallouts,health issues , taxmen and all the rest.He kind of sums up towards the end though, if the fun outweighs the bad then it's worth doing.

Lots of and LOTS of technical gadgetry stuff, great anecdotes and some compelling reflections on life itself.Always a bummer to get to the end of a book, if you get what i mean.You want to carry on reading.Well, i could always read it again i suppose.

Had Steve's Spotify playlist on today and got through a lot, though not all, of it and discovered some good little gems and some stuff i hadn't heard for years but was surprisingly great again to hear again. Of all things , All Of My Heart by ABC was a real standout rediscovery. Sounded amazing.Wasn't expecting that.

The tale about the fan not recognising when asking Steve for a pen so he could get Hooky's autograph and then shouting at him because he didn't have one to hand.....FFS.A recurring theme , like the bouncers at The Hac not recognising him either.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Prime586  
#62 Posted : 12 December 2020 12:47:45(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Cranelane Go to Quoted Post

That might explain why Bernard seemed so angry during the broadcast, there seems to be a real tension in the studio during the broadcast, it's very enjoyable nonetheless.

It was - being tired and emotional after a long journey through bank holiday traffic jams, arriving at Maida Vale with minutes to spare only to find the tracks they spent a day preparing had to be written off due to temperamental gear and having to come up with a new setlist at the drop of a hat. Bernard went ballistic, and you can see the aftermath of it in the broadcast.

As I mentioned earlier, he was pissed off enough about it to consign the Sequential Poly Sequencers to the bin and go out and buy the Yamaha QX1 MIDI sequencers to replace them. which led to them getting the RX11 drum machines and DX5 and TX816 synths

Edited by user 12 December 2020 12:49:42(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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Fotz  
#63 Posted : 12 December 2020 13:03:40(UTC)
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Thing that got me about what Steve said about programming stuff for the Rock Around The Clock thing was that him,Bernard and Gillian set their gear up in the lounge of the hotel in St. Austell, the Friday before the live tv gig on the Saturday. Programming sequencers in front of bemused mums with their kids.Mummy, why’s that man making that horrible noise?Laugh

Edited by user 12 December 2020 13:43:43(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
perspexorange  
#64 Posted : 13 December 2020 04:47:34(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Prime586 Go to Quoted Post

It was - being tired and emotional after a long journey through bank holiday traffic jams, arriving at Maida Vale with minutes to spare only to find the tracks they spent a day preparing had to be written off due to temperamental gear and having to come up with a new setlist at the drop of a hat. Bernard went ballistic, and you can see the aftermath of it in the broadcast.

As I mentioned earlier, he was pissed off enough about it to consign the Sequential Poly Sequencers to the bin and go out and buy the Yamaha QX1 MIDI sequencers to replace them. which led to them getting the RX11 drum machines and DX5 and TX816 synths


This is interesting. Thanks for the info.

I love that performance. It's a bit of a car crash, but still very enjoyable. Love Bernard telling Steve to speed up In A Lonely Place and him taking out his aggression on his mike's pop shield.
Interestingly, the Radio 1 broadcast has a clip of Hooky playing the intro to 'My Girl', which didn't make it onto the BBC2 broadcast.

Sincerely hoping that the TV performance gets included in the Low Life box set.

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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Fotz  
#65 Posted : 13 December 2020 05:12:04(UTC)
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^ Yep, the radio broadcast went on for a few minutes longer than the tv. A kind of reprise of Temptation carried on on the radio after the tv ended. But, wasn’t it Barney playing the first few notes of My Girl right at the end? Always thought it was Barney on his guitar , rather than Hooky on his bass.

Wasn’t it mentioned on here ages ago that the original BBC tape of the tv session no longer exists? Or can’t be found. It’d have to be from someone’s old VHS copy, though I guess it could be cleaned up or something? Or ripped from YouTube and cleaned up.Maybe not even cleaned up , I mean, some of Steve’s video recordings of gigs have made it into the Movement and PCL boxes and they’re even worse video quality than what’s out there of the BBC 1984 video. For that reason I can’t see why it wouldn’t be included on the Low Life box. Though I guess maybe the BBC might not allow it under copyright reasons , like the only version allowed would be the original BBC tape, which would be difficult as it is now either extinct or lost.

Edited by user 13 December 2020 05:18:49(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
perspexorange  
#66 Posted : 13 December 2020 06:23:19(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Fotz Go to Quoted Post
But, wasn’t it Barney playing the first few notes of My Girl right at the end? Always thought it was Barney on his guitar , rather than Hooky on his bass.


Well, I've always thought it was Hooky. But you could be right.


Originally Posted by: Fotz Go to Quoted Post
Wasn’t it mentioned on here ages ago that the original BBC tape of the tv session no longer exists? Or can’t be found.


Hmm. I either didn't know that or had forgotten. Damn.

I thought that this performance and the OGWT appearances were the two that would definitely make it onto the Low Life set. I know that Johnny James had mentioned that it was relatively easy to get BBC footage, due to licensing deals between them and Warners, so kind of expected these to be included.

The BBC did show a clip of it on that 'Synth And Beyond With Stephen Morris & Gillian Gilbert', back in 2018. so at least part of it must exist in their archive (the quality didn't look great though).
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Fotz  
#67 Posted : 13 December 2020 06:43:38(UTC)
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^ Yes I think it was around the time of that Synth & Beyond thing when it emerged the original tape no longer exists. Think when Steve & Gillian are shown watching and talking about the Rock Around The Clock appearance it wasn’t actually the original BBC tape they were viewing.

Edited by user 13 December 2020 06:44:24(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Cranelane  
#68 Posted : 13 December 2020 06:52:06(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: perspexorange Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: Prime586 Go to Quoted Post

It was - being tired and emotional after a long journey through bank holiday traffic jams, arriving at Maida Vale with minutes to spare only to find the tracks they spent a day preparing had to be written off due to temperamental gear and having to come up with a new setlist at the drop of a hat. Bernard went ballistic, and you can see the aftermath of it in the broadcast.

As I mentioned earlier, he was pissed off enough about it to consign the Sequential Poly Sequencers to the bin and go out and buy the Yamaha QX1 MIDI sequencers to replace them. which led to them getting the RX11 drum machines and DX5 and TX816 synths


This is interesting. Thanks for the info.

I love that performance. It's a bit of a car crash, but still very enjoyable. Love Bernard telling Steve to speed up In A Lonely Place and him taking out his aggression on his mike's pop shield.
Interestingly, the Radio 1 broadcast has a clip of Hooky playing the intro to 'My Girl', which didn't make it onto the BBC2 broadcast.

Sincerely hoping that the TV performance gets included in the Low Life box set.



Bernard introduces Temptation as "an atmospheric song in an unatmospheric place", he did a bit of swearing on Blue Monday too, I get the impression he did not enjoy the experience.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
perspexorange  
#69 Posted : 13 December 2020 08:15:13(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Fotz Go to Quoted Post
^ Yes I think it was around the time of that Synth & Beyond thing when it emerged the original tape no longer exists.


Yep - you are correct, sir. From another thread:

Originally Posted by: Johnny James Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: Fotzepolitic Go to Quoted Post


The Age Of Consent clip from Rock Around The Clock is still awkward/incredible/cringeing/fantastic/uncomfortable/life affirming to watch.Looks like they lifted the footage from YouTube though.Interesting to hear Steve & Gillian's opinion of it.



The BBC have lost the master. I think this was mentioned on another showing of it.




Not sure how I managed to forget this. It's old age, me thinks.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Fotz  
#70 Posted : 13 December 2020 08:37:23(UTC)
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^ See, i always assumed the "an atmospheric song in an unatmospheric place" was Barney referring to the song they'd just played, In A Lonely Place, and not the song coming up, Temptation.Thought that immediately at the time and stand by that.It was only years later when i noticed a few fans saying he was referring to the next song coming up.Opinions as always will differ but it makes more sense to me that he was talking about IALP as that is indeed an atmospheric song.I'd never describe Temptation as such but that's just me.

If i watch the session now it doesn't actually seem as much of car crash as it did live at the time.Barney fluffs the guitar at the start of AoC and hits a couple of bum vocal notes elsewhere yes but that's about it as far as fuck ups go.Yep, he definitely was angry but the songs on the whole are played without too many fuck ups.

I watched it live at the time after a workmate tipped me off saying oh that New Order band you're into are on the telly on Saturday.I was ecstatic at learning of this and come the Saturday afternoon carefully checked the family video player was working ok and got a VHS cassette ready and also a TDK cassette for the radio broadcast.


First song i was , wheh hey ! a new one, haven't heard this one before.So it was a good start.Things started becoming apparent in next song Age Of Consent though that Barney wasn't happy.That guitar fuck up was painfully cringeworthy and then he ripped the pop shield off the mic.At that point i thought, good one Barney, now your vocals are going to sound hissy and distorted.The synths though on AoC sounded marvellous - this was becoming quite a rollercoaster ride! I think i was actually disappointed when Blue Monday kicked in as i would have preferred another new one at that point that i hadn't heard before.But the version of BM was a big improvement on the only other live version of the song i had at the time , the one on the Kilkenny broadcast on Radio 1 the previous christmas.The rollercoaster ride took another dip though when Barney went wildly out of tune at one or even two points.

Thought the synths on In A Lonely Place sounded fantastic but at that point i was expecting yet another fuck up and it was getting quite uncomfortable and awkward viewing! Weirdly at the same time it was fantastic, like watching tv history being made.At one point i noticed people out in the street outside the house walking down the hill and i thought why on earth are those people not at home watching this??!!


Temptation started up and it was glorious but it was now abundantly clear Barney was totally fed up and had passed caring "Oh it's the last time, oh it's the last time, it fucking is!" Eventually it all came crashing to a magnificent end.Or so i thought, i realised it was still going on on the radio broadcast, they had kind of started up Temptation again and carried for another few minutes.That too eventually wound up and the parting sound was Barney (or Hooky?) playing a few notes of My Girl.

Obviously the first thing i checked was to see if the video recorder had recorded it all ok and if the TDK had captured the radio.Everything had worked perfectly.I was no the proud owner of the recording of television history.

Yeah, it had been cringeworthy and awkward at times and quite the rollercoaster ride but at the same time it was exhilarating and it filled my thoughts for months afterwards. I wondered what what my mate at work was going to say about it.I think it turned out out he hadn't bothered!

Oh, just remembered, i created this GIF in a bored moment a few years backBig Grin

UserPostedImage








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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
perspexorange  
#71 Posted : 13 December 2020 09:21:02(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Fotz Go to Quoted Post
^ See, i always assumed the "an atmospheric song in an unatmospheric place" was Barney referring to the song they'd just played, In A Lonely Place, and not the song coming up, Temptation.Thought that immediately at the time and stand by that.




Yep. Me too.

I think it doesn't help when the individual songs get cut up and uploaded separately onto YouTube etc. I've certainly seen 'Temptation' uploaded with that clip at the beginning, making it look like Bernard was introducing it as 'atmospheric'.

When you play the whole performance, I think it seems more obvious that Bernard is talking about 'In A Lonely Place', which they'd just played.



Originally Posted by: Fotz Go to Quoted Post

UserPostedImage



Nice GIF! Big Grin
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Fotz  
#72 Posted : 13 December 2020 10:11:06(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Prime586 Go to Quoted Post
Anyone else finished this yet? The post-Technique part of the book in particular does not make pleasant reading, with Steve and Gillian getting shit on by everybody it seems (the revelations about the recording of the drums on Republic and the ultimatum he was given about the 2002 NZ/Aus tour shocked me) and 2001 seems to have an absolute nightmare for them in particular (having lost my father to rapid onset dementia the parts about his dad's illness were hard to read). It's amazing that he's managed to keep his sense of perspective and humour about it all.



Yeah was quite saddening to read that bit about another drummer would be considered for the Big Day Out gig in Oz in early 2002 if Steve didn’t want to go. Steve was made to feel bad for wanting to stay home and care for his sick daughter. Jeez, FFS.

Like you say, Steve has done well to keep his great sense of humour. Thinking now when seeing video clips from late 90s and early 2000s he did look a bit fed up at times and sustaining a hernia during the Manc Apollo gig in Nov 2005 and being in pain for 18 months after would have compounded everything. I was astonished to learn he’d suffered a hernia yet carried on doing the gigs through the year or so after. Seems like he’s in a good happy place these days though . Great to see.
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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
Fotz  
#73 Posted : 17 December 2020 09:51:18(UTC)
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Steve covers in the section about the recording of WFTSC that they tried working with Brian Higgins/Xenomania who did all or a lot of the Girls Aloud stuff. I remember reading about this somewhere in about summer 2004 and thinking WTF? But it’s not as crazy as it sounds when you listen to something like Call The Shots by Girls Aloud. It has a driving bass and club sound. Or is it just me? Anyway, as Steve reports, the thing didn’t work out in the end although there was some mutual respect.

Edited by user 17 December 2020 09:52:36(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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ROCKET MICK on 18/12/2020(UTC)
perspexorange  
#74 Posted : 24 December 2020 05:05:38(UTC)
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Just finished the book.
A great read and (obviously) highly recommended.


The whole 1992-2007 period was a painful (but interesting) read though. It must have been a pretty horrible time for him, going from one upsetting moment to the next.

I was impressed that, although he was critical of other band members to a certain degree, he was very much measured in his assessments. There were a few 'yeah, he pissed me off at times', but was countered with things like 'I reckon I must have been pretty annoying myself'. Steve also points out that, to be working that closely with individuals for so long, you're bound to find things that annoy you about them. It's only natural.

I'm just glad (and not at all surprised) that he resisted the temptation to lay into one particular member. In fact, he was generally understanding of that person's problems with the band dynamic. Although he admits that he rarely took sides, and tried to see both sides to arguments.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but Steve did seem to be a little critical of the band's management, Andy Robinson particularly. There are a few incidents where it appears that he felt that Andy wasn't very supportive.

There were a couple of really disheartening band decisions that shocked and slightly upset me.

Firstly, as Fotz mentions above, that 'Big Day Out' incident is really uncomfortable reading.
Rather than go along with Steve's wishes to not travel that far away from home (which, given his daughter's serious illness, seemed reasonable), Bernard and Hooky pretty callously suggested "no problem, we'll just get another drummer". Management agreed ("Problem solved").

Steve said that this incident made him feel 'easily replaceable' and must have made him feel like he wasn't really part of the band (they'd replaced Gillian; they could just as easily replace him). Pretty horrible really. And not the way to treat a founder member.

Secondly, during 'Republic', Stephen Hague had got a session drummer in to play the 'real drums' on the LP. This was a revelation and, again, is pretty shoddy treatment. Steve went along with it, rather than upset anyone.
Not only is this bad behaviour (this time from Hague, rather than Bernard & Hooky), it's almost unbelievable.
They got a session drummer in to replace arguably one of the finest drummers in rock music?! Madness.

Again, Bernard and Hooky probably should've been more supportive of Steve.

It's been said many times before but, had Rob been around, I'm sure that a lot of the problems could've been avoided.
thanks 1 user thanked perspexorange for this useful post.
ROCKET MICK on 29/12/2020(UTC)
Michael Monkhouse  
#75 Posted : 24 December 2020 07:23:02(UTC)
Michael Monkhouse

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Yeah, it's shocking. It's shocking that the brains behind Tasty Fish can be considered one of the world's greatest drummers. Utter crud.
thanks 1 user thanked Michael Monkhouse for this useful post.
ROCKET MICK on 29/12/2020(UTC)
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