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Ian's 2014 blog archive

January 2nd 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers, I had been slightly dreading New Year's Eve. The show before it and some rehearsals had been quite a bit less than sparkling, but it turned out to be a very good night. We played at Flixton Golf Club and the crowd were very appreciative. Thanks to everyone there. In other news, Rising Force are adding dates for 2014. Happy New Year to my solitary reader.

January 13th 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers, I am helping out a band called Freeway with a number of shows up until the end of February. I bought my house from their bassist many years ago and he is currently unwell, so needs time out from the band to recover. I did the first show in St Helens over the weekend. Here's some video and a couple of photos from that show. The whole thing was slightly flying by the seat of my pants, as there were some songs I have never played or heard before, some key changes and radically different arrangements than those I am used to on some of the songs, but I always play best with a little pressure.

Dakota / Chasing Cars

January 27th 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers, The current state of play is that I am still doing work with Freeway until the end of February. There are two different singers and so there are also slight differences in the set. Rising Force have a show on March 1st and we are going to rehearse a bit before then. The guys from Rochdale from before Christmas haven't been back in touch as they are bedding a guitarist in, before adding a new bassist. He who hesitates is lost. I have work with Kee in March and Rising Force gigs in March, April (possibly May) and June. I had an interesting offer on the table from an Oldham band who are losing their singer and bassist at the end of February and was waiting to get together with them to see how that felt, but the singer they had lined up has bottled out. Last weekend I finished two old recordings off that I am quite pleased with. I got to put a nice cello part on 'Change', which I was quite happy with.

February 9th 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers, Since my last blog entry there has been a bit going on. Freeway (who I have quite enjoyed playing with) sadly ended up cancelling their two most recent shows and their own bassist is going to be fit for next weekend, so I am now possibly free again to concentrate on my own musical efforts. Rising Force have a few dates in at present - March 1st at The King's Arms, Farnworth, April 26th at The Grapes Inn, Farnworth, June 7th at The Phoenix Club, Farnworth. There will possibly be a couple of other dates added up to June. I will be rehearsing with them on Wednesday, so I will probably know more then. I will be playing with Kee at The Queens, Accrington on March 15th and also have regular Sunday jam nights to do . I have an audition on Tuesday night with a band with a very good setlist. Fingers crossed that they live up to it.

February 13th 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers, The audition on Tuesday went very well. Myself and the singer ended up gabbing for half an hour after we had left the rehearsal room about the bands we both have in common, as far as admiration goes. We are both very much into the pub rock scene and the Stiff Records era. That chat was as much fun as the rehearsal. I am taking the bass job with them and will be making low rumbling noises in or around Lowton on March 22nd with them. That leaves me as bassist with Rising Force, The Rhythm Jets, Max's Jam Night Desperadoes (on Sundays) as well as the new band.... Don't worry, it will all work. Rising Force only play one gig a month as a rule and may only continue to June. The Rhythm Jets is just as occasional.

February 19th 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers, March looks quite busy. Two Rising Force gigs, One Rhythm Jets gig and a low-key outing with my new band. Not to mention 3 Sunday jam nights at the Jolly Nailor, Atherton.

March 1st 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers. Today I have been listening to the 1975 Kiss album 'Destroyer' for the first time in an age. I have been so affected by this experience that I have wasted 30 minutes reviewing the album. The music is actually not too different from the 1973 'Crazy Horses' album by The Osmonds. They use the word PARTY just as frequently and in just the same way, Kiss specialise in sounding as dumb as they can when they sing. The Osmonds didn't. Kiss have, by their own admission, stolen the whole Slade ethic from 'Mama weer all crazee now' and converted it into 'You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy' and put a couple of neat jingles under it, while wearing Superhero costumes. A good listen to this album without the cover in my hand makes them sound less like the superheroes they mutter on about being.....

In 'Detroit rock city', they laugh at the notion of their own impending death, stick in a sneaky snatch of 'Rock and roll all nite' and burble about how rebellious they are because 'first I drink and then I smoke' (like the good, totally abstaining jewish boys that Simmons and Stanley were) It is the most impressive track musically and set a high bar for the rest of their career, which I don't think they ever matched, except with the songs 'Lick it up' and 'Crazy crazy nights'.

'King of the night time world' tells us how awful it is to live at home with parents, away from the city and how the singer's love and how the dirty things that he does will make the secret dream of the listener come true. This song is not a cure for cancer or even insomnia. The arrangements are pure Alice Cooper, but Kiss were always his idiot bastard kids, anyway and Cooper producer Bob Ezrin was brought in and is all over this album like a rash.

'God of thunder' DOES have a superb arrangement and background vocal pitch effects stolen from The Wombles. Listen to it. The lyrics are utter piffle. He threatens to steal the virgin soul of the listener and compares himself to Superman and comically commands us all to kneel. It's atmospheric, but at the same time totally ridiculous.

'Great Expectations' is a lovely light ballad which assumes the girls in the ausdience are all mentally undressing the band and waving at them to get noticed. The famous tongue (and potential use of) gets the odd mention, along with fingers and hands getting other uses than guitar and drums. It's all classic schoolboy smut and so beautifully recorded that if Boyzone's balls had ever dropped, they'd have been able to sing over it quite comfortably.

'Flaming youth' sounds like an Alice Cooper out-take. and the band reassure the pop kids that their parents think they are crazy and hate the things they do, to get those kids on side. They assure us that they wear leather and want break out of cages. The music underneath is generally sub-Abba, with a guitarist flown in to help to cheer it up.

'Sweet pain', starts with a low Simmons growl and clean jangly Bachman Turner Overdrive style guitars and is basically all about how his love 'will drive you insane' because HE WILL HURT YOU, presumably while he is doing IT. He is bored with the way you do IT, so he's going to teach you a new way.

'Shout it out loud' is basically a Slade single as feebly recorded as if by James Last. They advise to forget the things they've been told and that everyone has to rock and roll. If you saw the lyrics in print, you'd laugh out loud. The guitar solo almost saves it, but not quite. The backing vocals are soundalikes for Bachman Turner Overdive.

On the utterly mawkish lump of goat cheese that is 'Beth', producer Bob Ezrin cheekily slips in a strings quote from the then-current Alice Cooper 'Welcome to my nightmare' album, which he had also produced. Never waste a good idea. This song certainly needeed one. It's not enough to rescue it from the lumpen mire that it is. The band grumble on the phone to their significant other about how awful it is to have to work in a recording studio til late at night. It's awful and has no place on the album. It is at best a b-side. It does not bear another listen in my lifetime.

'Do you love me' is the worst lyric offender on the album. While it DOES deal cleverly with the insecurity of the singer about whether the girl loves him or the stuff, that is all lost in the bombastic over-delivery of the song. It is interesting that a band who were about a million dollars in the hole at the time could try to charm all the little girls by singing about how they all liked the band's credit cards and private planes. It is quite telling that Kim Fowley is involved in the song. He is the biggest rock and roll myth alive.

"You really like my limousine. You like the way the wheels roll
You like my seven inch leather heels and goin' to all of the shows, but
Do you love me, do you love me. Do you love me, really love me

You like the credit cards and private planes. Money can really take you far
You like the hotels and fancy clothes and the sound of electric guitars, but
Do you love me, do you love me. Do you love me, I mean like do you Really love me

You really like rock 'n' roll. All of the fame and the masquerade
You like the concerts and studios and all the money, honey, that I make, but
Do you love me, do you love me. Do you love me, really love me

Your backstage pass and black sunglasses make you look just like a queen
Even the fans, they know your face from all of the magazines, but

Do you love me (do you love me) Do you love me (do you love me)
Do you love me (do you love me) Really love me (really love me). I wanna know"
Repeat ad nauseam

Songwriters: EZRIN, ROBERT A. / STANLEY, PAUL / FOWLEY, KIM
Do You Love Me lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

I often think that if Kiss hadn't put all that make-up on, we would never have heard of them.

March 4th 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers. Since I last blogged, I have done another show with Rising Force. Look on the video page for some footage from that show.

March 25th 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers. Since my last blog I have done another show with Rising Force. The show was at Barnstormers in Lostock, near Bolton. That now leaves just another two show to go. The next one is very close to where I live. We are playing at The Grapes, Farnworth on April 26th. I also played a show with Kee in Accrington and have run a couple of Sunday jam nights with Max.

I am doing my first show with my new band Malpractice on the 29th. Just a month after auditioning for them. It is a private party but I will try to get a few songs from the show up online. Malpractice will be recording our rehearsal on Wednesday and dependent on the results, some of that may be up on our new website at www.malpractice.org.uk soon. I am going to build the full site up shortly. I intend to devote my full attention to Malpractice and want to take little else but that band on this year.

April 9th 2014:
First of all, a very happy birthday to my lovely son Paul.Malpractice have started gigging now, so diaries are being juggled. Malpractice will be my main priority from now on. The jam night on Sundays will not be likely to interfere much with the band. Our first gig went very well, considering the amount of rehearsal we managed to put in. We are looking at four new songs this week. Some of the rehearsal recordings are going up on Youtube. Check out the new band website at www.malpractice.org.uk which is slowly but surely coming together.

April 16th 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers. Malpractice are adding shows now, so please keep an eye on the Malpractice website!
Rising Force have two shows left to do. Adrian is leaving the band after the Phoenix Club show and that will probably be it, until next year (or forever), unless Ray can fool someone into taking the job on.

April 18th 2014:
Hello Cyberstalkers. I am now off from the day job until May 6th, so lots of free time to record some songs, play with the cats and do a fair number of gigs and jam nights. One of my Trace Elliot combos is making a rather distrurbing and loud crackling noise, so I will have to take that in to get it repaired. More on the new recordings as they happen.

May 1st 2014:
Well the two weeks off have just about gone by in a bit of a blur and no recording has been done, though I have spent time learning a number of songs for Malpractice. My Trace Elliot combo is now fit as a fiddle thanks to Gee Electronics in Warrington, who serviced it fully and cured its ills in three working days.

May 24th 2014:
A busy weekend coming up. Playing at The Talbot, Burnley Sunday afternoon and the jam night on Sunday night. The biggie for me is Malpractice at The Flag, Egerton tonight.

June 4th 2014
A Public Service Announcement.
Rising Force will be playing our last show of this year at The Phoenix Club, Church Street, Farnworth on Saturday night. Also on the bill are Mia and The Blackhawks and Status Quoing who are coming all the way from Scotland to entertain us. RF are in the middle of the bill. Tickets will be £5 on the door and every penny goes to Bolton Hospice in memory of a great Status Quo fan who was a friend to RF. If you can make it, we will be very glad to see you. Please do your best to be there as we want to do our best for the Bolton Hospice. A limited number of enamel Commemorative badges will be on sale on the night. RF have a special guest getting up with us on the night. Ssssssh. Don't miss it. Thanks very much for reading this. — feeling excited.

June 14th 2014:
Absolutely gutted that, after all the work we have put into making Malpractice the type of band whose gig dates I could happily announce, our singer has quit. It can't be helped as he is having severe problems with his ears, but this sends us back in the direction of the drawing board and leaves us in a slight mess as regards the diary, but resolves some niggling dislikes over material - if we decide to continue.Rising Force are now looking at adding a new guitarist. Our show at The Phoenix Club was most enjoyable and we wave our long-time guitarist Adrian Stephens a sad farewell. Thanks to the people I knew who came along on the night. No thanks at all to those who said they were going to, but didn't. Bolton Hospice are always on the lookout for funds.

June 22nd 2014:

A splendid bit of nostalgia that I uploaded the other day...

June 23rd 2014:
Malpractice have advertised locally and are auditioning new singers. Rising Force Have found a new guitarist. His name is Tony and he sounds great. More soon. I continue to co-host the Sunday jam night at The Jolly Nailor at present. I also do sporadically awful shows with The Rhythm Jets.

July 12th 2014:
Malpractice continue to check out singers and audition them. We have had some good candidates turn up at the rehearsal room to try out for us. It remains to be seen who we will take on.

July 14th 2014:
My choice of final guitar is, appropriately enough, quite bonkers. A doubleneck guitar and bass...

August 1st:
Malpractice continue to search for a proper star to sing up at the front. It isn't at all easy finding 'the right someone' who will fit into the band and the search had better find that someone very shortly. I have been told that when I am placing all of the ads for the singers and then talking to the people who reply, so that I can book a rehearsal room and organise getting them there at the right time on the right day, that the particular special someone that I have to find apparently needs to be quite a frontman, own a PA system and to not play a guitar. We have seen quite a number of people and none of them have been right for us yet. I have had to turn some possibles away, as they either play guitar or do not own a PA system. Rising Force are struggling to get into the rehearsal room due to demands on other people's time, which has cancelled a number of rehearsals recently. I have done another gig with Stu Fielden and Vic Sheedy and that went very well and we could do a whole lot more. I continue to do an amount of work with Kee to keep the wolf from the door. That will come to an end in a few short months, so I need to start planning ahead now. I am not doubling up my bass rig just to use it at jam nights.

August 23rd 2014:
Malpractice will cease trading after drummer Dave Corlett's birthday bash in September. It's an amicable split. We just were not getting the right people applying and it obviously was not meant to be. Thanks to anyone who expressed an interest. I have managed to double up my bass rig for use at larger shows, or just to terrify the odd landlord or two.

August 31st 2014:
Rising Force have had another rehearsal and we are not far short of being ready to gig again. September looks a bit full up with other commitments, so we are looking our next show being in October. I am advertising for a full time band, though. The Jolly Nailor jam night on Sundays is now going down to a fortnightly slot, so I cannot make that a priority any longer.

September 15th 2014:
I played my 'last show' with Malpractice at the weekend and a very good one it was, too. The band may have something else lined up in December, but that is yet to be confirmed. I am sorry to be parting from them, as they are lovely bunch of guys and it was quite a happy band on the whole. The struggle we have had to replace Phil on lead vocals became too much and it has come to a halt. We remain friends and will do the odd thing, so watch this space. Rising Force continue to rehearse and we are looking at booking a couple of dates in before the end of the year. I have tickets for a number of gigs from now til December (Ian Hunter twice, The Boomtown Rats, Chas and Dave and Culture Club with Lynda), so we will be back out at some point. Our next States Gig at The Phoenix Club has been announced for the end of April next year. More about that nearer to the time. I continue to do some work with Kee. The Jolly Nailor fortnightly jam night also continues for now.

October 5th 2014:
Long time, no blog. Malpractice may be 'on ice' as it were, but there are still rumblings from the other three about doing 'further things'. What these 'things' would be is subject to negotiation, as I personally am concerned about the effect playing live will have on Phil's ears and the problem that is rumbling within the band about doing pub gigs. So that all remains to be seen. There are other issues, such as the actual content of the show, which need to be ironed out. Rising Force continue to rehearse, after our guitarist has had some holidays, ready for impending gigs at our local venues, that are waiting for us to get back to them. The new year's eve gig that was in the pipeline has gone, as we took to long to get back tot he venue that wanted us. Not my fault, I hasten to add.
The jam night is a fortnightly source of income. I continue to assault the sense when playing with The Rhythm Jets. Sorry, everyone.

October 11th 2014:
I have put in a couple of dates during November - one for Rising Force and one for Malpractice - at The Venue Bar in Bolton. This promising new venue looks like a really good bet for New Year's Eve for Rising Force, if our November 8th show goes as well as I expect it to. Malpractice are there on the 15th, but will not be playing on new year's eve as drummer Dave doesn't want to go out that night. Whether Malpractice actually continue into 2015 remains to be seen. I have reservations about it and I can't even get all four members to talk to each other through our own Facebook group.

Rising Force pleasingly look very much set to continue into next year. Our new guitarist Tony is sticking in there with all the unfamiliar new songs he has to learn. Ray has booked our next States Gig date for the end of April.

October 21st 2014:
Well, the time draws nearer for the November shows. I have set up a website for Rising Force and you can find it here. Malpractice can't rehearse yet as Alan, the guitarist, has an injured hand. Malpractice have had an offer for New Year's Eve. Originally, Dave the drummer said he wouldn't be playing that night, then the offer came in from his local pub, which is where we played an outdoor show earlier this year. So he changed his mind. Phil was up for it, as were Alan and I. Then Phil decided to book a holiday, the next day after saying he was up for it. I just despair of them.

November 15th 2014:
As I type this, I should be onstage in Bolton with Malpractice. You may very well ask me why I'm not. For those of you don't who know the sorry saga of Malpractice.... It's that we have had a rather good singer who has had problems with the noise levels put out by a rock band on stage. He has had a serious recurrence of this and is sadly unable to continue and has quit on us once again by text message on the eve of this gig. While I don't blame him at all for this, as his health is definitely the most important thing, I can't continue in this on-off manner, so Malpractice is now officially DEAD.

Rising Force continue to improve absolutely shamelessly and are at a new peak in our ability with the addition of the exceptional Tony Hinkley on guitar. It is still only going to be a 'once a month' thing, so I am casting the net for like-minded musicians to take into pubs, have a ball with our audiences and relieve landlords of lots of money while we are at it. Rising Force's gig at The Venue Bar in Bolton was a bit of a triumph.

November 26th 2014:
Today I got a phone call out of the blue from a band with an excellent setlist who have 30+ gigs booked for next year. They haven't advertised but came straight to me. Having a play with them on Sunday. Here's hoping they match expectations....

December 2nd 2014:
I will be playing with the new band, starting in January. A few little things to do with the band themselves mean that I can't put their name out yet. Quietly happy. Rising Force have no more shows this year and only two lined up for next year. The new band promises to be quite busy, so it remains to be seen what happens.

December 5th 2014:
Tonight is a trip out to Accrington, to watch the new band in action.

December 20th 2014:
On December 14th, I played at The King's Hall, Stoke On Trent with Stu Fielden and Vic Sheedy.

Ian Edmundson

On December 21st, it's the final jam night of the year at The Jolly Nailor, Atherton. On Christmas Eve, I will be playing in Macclesfield with AIM. On New Year's Eve, I will be at The Rendezvous in St Helens with Stu Fielden and Vic Sheedy. I was intending to make a couple of guest appearances with my new band WIZDOM at their shows before the end of the year, but it's their existing bassist's final run of gigs with them at the moment, so I won't be doing so at his request. However, in January I will be a full-time member of the band...

December 25th 2014:
A happy Christmas and New Year to anyone who is reading this. A new blog page starts next week. One more show to go this month at The Rendezvous, St Helens (map), then Wizdom kicks in on the 3rd of January. Dates booked for 2015 are on this page. Last night I played with Dave Littlewood, Ian Taylor and Stu Fielden in Macclesfield. Great fun.

Ian Edmundson

December 31st 2014:
Tonight sees me at The Rendezvous in St Helens with Messrs Sheedy and Fielden, in the guise of The Ron Jeremys. A happy new year to everyone reading this page. Be healthy and safe.

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