Absolute
Green Gartside: “Stompingly fabulous kick, snare and toms. A great Gary Langan mix. An arrangement that Arif Mardin called: ‘Gangbusters from the get-go.’ We mixed at Sarm West in London. The Gents toilet there was definitely used as an additional reverb. You had to pee really quietly when mixes were going to tape. Steve Ferrone on drums, best known for being in The Average White Band and Tom Petty's Heartbreakers. Steve was great. No matter how much, ahem, carousing had been achieved the night before, he was infuriatingly bright as a button the next morning - Did you know: As a 12 year-old child, Steve was hired as a tap dancer in the Max Bygraves summer show. For the uninitiated, Max Bygraves was a British singing comedian whose most famous song was the irrefutably informative You Need Hands. Arif Mardin inserted his own ‘Gamelan' inspired section at 1 minute and 51 seconds. PS: The 'Absolute' is, of course, Kantian.”
David Gamson: “Arif had me write out all the charts, including the drum parts, for the musicians. First and only time I've ever done that! Initially, we had all the musicians playing together. Sounded terrible. We ended up doing one instrument at a time.”
Green Gartside: The mighty Paul Jackson Jnr on guitar. He worked with The Jacksons and Michael on Destiny, Triumph, Thriller and Bad, so... you know... GODDAM! I remember his slight discomfiture at my earrings and Marxism. Will Lee played bass. He was in the David Letterman band at the time. So yes, I did feel beyond terrifyingly inadequate in that company.”
Following a reissue process overseen by Green Gartside the band's acclaimed albums Cupid & Psyche 85 and Anomie & Bonhomie are out now on vinyl.
You can buy them here: scrittipolitti...
16 окт 2024
