A Life In Music: John Patrick

'And then, Bill Haley and the Comets arrived with Rock Around the Clock' and that was the end for Big Bands...'

Older (and not so old) UK readers of these notes will remember the TV show Bullseye, which was made first by ATV and then by Central TV. 

My latest Lives in Music episode features the man who dashed off the theme for that show. Twenty five years on, he still gets royalties for Bullseye - and his other TV theme compositions. The show survives on repeat on one of Sky's remoter TV channels. So repeat fees still land in John Patrick's account.

Broadcast Days

I first met John when I started work in the 70s at the first commercial radio station in Birmingham, BRMB. John was on the board. At that time, he was also the music director at ATV/Central. And he wrote the very first BRMB jingle package - The Sound Way To Spend Your Day, which you can hear in full on this launchday audio clip.  


But that's really not more than a footnote in John's career. He is now well into his ninth decade; he still plays. He's had a long career as musician, composer, Musicians Union official, broadcast exec and more. But his particular perspective is very interesting - he was making music professionally before rock and roll arrived to upset the apple cart. And his entire career has been framed by the adjustments that tastes and new technology have brought to the life of a working musician. Ironically, that led to him hanging with Frank Sinatra in Vegas. Not at all bad for a local boy. 

Lives in Music

The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories.

The theme music for this series is by Big Q Fish. 'Boksburg Jive Toon' was written by Brian Neil, and recorded at the Jam House, Birmingham, in 2017.

Don't forget to subscribe!

The Podcast

Also published in Lives In Music  

all with show notes and music links 

1 - Ruby Turner 
2 -  Steve Ajao
3 - The Men Who Make Mellotrons
4 - Mike Hatton
5 - Horace Panter
6 - Jasper Carott  
7 - Sam Slater
9 - Gordon Giltrap
10 - Jim Simpson

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A Life In Music: Sam Slater

Old head, young shoulders...

I set myself a rule when working up ideas for the Lives in Music podcast series. Nobody under 50, please, otherwise the experiences and perspectives I hoped to glean might not be juicy enough.

Then, I promptly broke my rule for Sam Slater.

Sam is the youngest person featured in this series of Lives in Music, but he's packed an awful lot into his (relatively) tender years. I've known him for ages, since he first emerged in a lovely guitar trio, Trio Gitano, one of whose members, Sophia Johnson, is now earning rave reviews playing country and bluegrass in Austin Texas.

Sam moved on into Jazz and World music to great effect. A dab hand on guitar and other stringed instruments like the Oud, Sam has a bewildering range of activities, not counting his Jazz Label Stoney Lane, which documents some of the finest players in the West Midlands region of the UK. 

John broke out both guitar and oud to illustrate a couple of points. It was a sheer delight to listen. The podcast is here, to download or stream, or you can simply head to the player at the bottom of this page. 

Links

Stoney Lane Records
TG Collective
Paco De Lucia
The Oud

Lives in Music

The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories.

The theme music for this series is by Big Q Fish. 'Boksburg Jive Toon' was written by Brian Neil, and recorded at the Jam House, Birmingham, in 2017.


Don't forget to subscribe!

The Podcast

Also published in Lives In Music  

all with show notes and music links 

1 - Ruby Turner 
2 -  Steve Ajao
3 - The Men Who Make Mellotrons
4 - Mike Hatton
5 - Horace Panter
6 - Jasper Carott 
8 - John Patrick
9 - Gordon Giltrap
10 - Jim Simpson

________________________________________________________________________

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A Life in Music: Jasper Carrott - a funny man never far away from musos

He used to walk on stage with a guitar....

If you think that all Jasper Carrott had to do with music was to wander on stage with a guitar before bringing an act on stage, think again. 

Jasper has been deeply involved in music all his life, and has some interesting views on the music business, artists' fees, the record industry, performance and audience reaction, gained from deep experience at his gigs and venues. 

I've talked several times with Jasper about his career. We do go back a bit, which is actually part of the point of the Lives in Music series. I was in radio at the old BRMB when Jasper had his hit. I wound up playing (rather badly) in charity football matches with him back in the day. But he seems to have had a very interesting ride. Music and musicians have been key, much more than you might think. He's even sharing a vocalist with Robert Plant's current band - there's a pub quiz question for you.

You can stream or download the podcast here, or if you can't wait, scroll down to the end of this post for the podcast player.

Links - music clips and artist websites

Music clips are mostly from the late 70s, John Martyn excepted.

Jasper Carrott - Magic Roundabout
Jasper Carrott - Funky Moped  (a vintage TOTP clip)
Simon and Garfunkel - The Sun Is Burning (Ian Campbell composition)
Al Stewart - Old Compton Street Blues
Johnny Coppin
Decameron - Journey's End
Harvey Andrews 
Mike Silver
Jake Thackray
Joe Brown
John Martin - Small Hours with some background details. I may have embroidered the story...

Links - present day and ancient history 

Jasper Carott's website
Jasper Carrott on wikipedia
The Boggery Folk Club
Ian Campbell on Birmingham Music Archive

The Podcast

A teaser video

Here's a 60 second YouTube trailer for the full podcast.

Lives in Music

The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories.

The theme music for this series is by Big Q Fish. 'Boksburg Jive Toon' was written by Brian Neil, and recorded at the Jam House, Birmingham, in 2017.

Don't forget to subscribe!

Other podcasts in Lives In Music  

all with show notes and music links 

1 - Ruby Turner 
2 -  Steve Ajao
3 - The Men Who Make Mellotrons
4 - Mike Hatton
5 - Horace Panter 
7 - Sam Slater 
8 - John Patrick
9 - Gordon Giltrap
10 - Jim Simpson

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A Life in Music: Horace Panter

Horace Panter and music. Where do you stop?

I really can't remember first chatting with Horace Panter, but it might well have been in 1978, when the Specials played at Birmingham University. 

They were at that fantastic phase in a new band's career, when the band has gelled, strings of gigs have knocked them into shape, and the whole point of the exercise seems to be coming together in an exciting way. I asked them if they would do a session for the old BRMB Radio that night.

If not then, it would have been at the now long-gone Outlaw Studios, when the band squeezed six songs out of that three hour session for BRMB. I went on air with those songs the next day. That probably makes me the first DJ to have played the Specials on radio, by the way. Jerry Dammers left the session in a grump once his vocals were down, but Horace was the soul of patience and courtesy. And it's been that way ever since.

Talking music with Horace is completely engrossing and serious fun. It was really, really enjoyable. And, d'oh, I learned something about basslines for Time is Tight and Rescue Me. Marvellous for my age, me. We veered off my initial Lives In Music track, and wound up gossiping about all sorts of things, as you'll hear. You can get the podcast here, or go to your favourite podcast supplier to grab it. Or skip down to the bottom of this page to stream from this blog page. 

Music Links

Needles and Pins - The Searchers
Fifth Dimension - The Byrds
All or Nothing - Small Faces
Judy in Disguise With Glasses -John Fred & his Playboy Band 
Rescue Me - Fontella Bass
Time is Tight - Booker T and the MGs
Nite Klub - The Specials
Blank Expression - The Specials
Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum
Gangsters - The Specials
Monkey Man - Toots and The Maytals
Ghost Town - The Specials
Okie From Musgokee - Merle Haggard
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band
Willin' - Little Feat
Six Days On The Road - Taj Mahal
BHS - Sleaford Mods
Wind Whispers - Pete Williams

Band Links

The Specials website and wikipedia page
Horace Panter on facebook
Horace Panter Art on facebook and website

Lives in Music 

The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories. Lives in Music is a Radio To Go production.

Don't forget to subscribe!

The Podcast

 

Also published in Lives In Music  

1 - Ruby Turner 
2 -  Steve Ajao
3 - The Men Who Make Mellotrons
4 - Mike Hatton 
6 - Jasper Carott   
7 - Sam Slater 
8 - John Patrick
9 - Gordon Giltrap
10 - Jim Simpson


The theme music for this series is by Big Q Fish. 'Boksburg Jive Toon' was written by Brian Neil, and recorded at the Jam House, Birmingham, in 2017.

________________________________________________________________________

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