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The prototype for Just One Second was this remix i did in 2007 of a track called Niji (Rainbow) by the Japanese band Nirgilis. After this was released in Japan, Elsa Esmeralda hit me up on Myspace and on the spur of the moment I asked her to write an original vocal over the instrumental of the remix, and she wrote the Just One Second chorus and verses. I then rewrote the music and Just One Second was born.
IZIT - ‘Stingray’ live at The George Robey, 1987.
My second band was called IZIT and initially i was the front man. This recording of us covering the theme tune from Gerry Anderson’s Stingray animation is from one of the many ancient VHS recordings i recently had archived, hence the scratchy tape quality and jumps. I would have been 26 years old at the time, and we were at the ‘pay to play’ stage of our career - ie the band had to pay the venue to be allowed to play. Not sure if that practice still goes on but it was everywhere in London at that time. The band members in this video are: Andrew Missingham on drums, Peter Spencer on keyboards, Sam Craft on Bass, Peter and Catherine Shrubshall on wind
Hospital classics in polyphonic midi ringtone format!
At the dawn of time before phones could play mp3s the only way you could get your favourite tune on your nokia was to buy a polyphonic ringtone, usually from a ringtone shark who never paid any of the artists or writers involved (nothing changes huh). We got one of our work experience crew to do some of our classics for us in 2003 and these are the results. timeless preset renditions that now sound achingly hip. enjoy!
Pretty decent video of Mr Darrison and me giving it 110% in Moscow recently at the WODNB event. Always a good idea to play a bit of Paul McCartney and Wings at a rave.
London Elek ‘Rewind’ Japanese 1996 version.
We had this video made in 96 for the Sony Japan release of Rewind, which was a totally different mix of the tune we released in the UK. We lost touch with the company that made the video, and a VHS copy was the only archive we had, hence the grainy nature of the video. Chris Goss and I appear briefly in the video that was shot in Old St, Hoxton, Mr Bongo and a swimming pool.
hospital medical kit memorabilia
14 years ago, one year after Hospital Records was born, we signed a deal with Sony Japan who had a d&b sub division called Office 1. They released our first ever album ‘Ultrasound’ and to promote it they created a bespoke promotional medical kit to give to journalists and taste makers around Japan.
The Hospital office in 2011 is currently compiling an archive of everything visual to celebrate our 15 years AND our upcoming 200th release. This was in my studio and it’s untouched and intact - check out the plasters inside!
Addition: I just posted the link to this post on twitter and Toru Nihongi hit me up - he was our key man at Office 1 and one of the nicest blokes i’ve ever met. big up Toru!
My grandpa used to cut dubplates.
I’m getting ready to move house and this always involves shedding some vinyl that i know i will never ever play. While going through my shelves I came across two acetates (aka dubplates) well they may be shellac or some early form of acetate but in essence these are custom pressed records and they contain music recorded by, and in one case composed by my grandfather, Dr Summers. It’s nice to know that i’m carrying on the tradition!
This Priestley’s pressing is, i believe, a clarinet concerto composed by grandpa. it’s unplayable as the surface is coming apart.
brown paper bag :)
the Queensway pressing is, i think, grandpa playing Brahms clarinet quintet. Fantastic artwork on both of these plates.
Grandpa died in 1973 when i was twelve. A few years ago I inherited his piano - you can see me playing it on the videos page in an acoustic version of Elektricity Will Keep Me Warm. I wonder what he’d make of the music I make. He was a classical hobby musician of high standard, and he even had a lounge jazz trio that used to practice in his sitting room. I clearly remember the cool electric organ he bought a couple of years before his death.
After he died, I was allowed to take whatever i wanted from his dispensary - can you imagine letting a 12 year old do that? I was mad about chemistry and my parents figured it would be a good way for me to add to my bedroom laboratory, which it certainly was. I went mental in the dispensary - it was a dark small room full of bottles of pills and powders and liquids and capsules and it smelled divine to me. I took:
a bottle of hydrochloric acid.
a huge jar of Potassium Nitrate.
A blue bottle of coper sulphate.
a small bottle of concentrated sulphuric acid
a tin of amyl nitrate ampules (yes poppers)
a massive sack of flowers of sulphur
a bottle of glycerine
a rather large bottle with a wicked glass stopper of nitric acid
loads of retorts, test tubes and a lovely bunsen burner.
If you know your chemistry you’ll know that what i actually took were the ingredients to make nitroglycerine and gunpowder. And some poppers. Luckily i never blew myself up, but i had a whole lot of fun with my grandpa’s chemicals.
Camel rider wearing a Hospital shirt
this is Add Senior who says he will be at the front row of Hospitality in Leeds on Friday. I hope you don’t forget your camel mate.
Danny Byrd’s voicebox. Danny premiered his live show in London last week’s Hospitality. I was onstage preparing for my set and caught Danny’s voicebox solo with my phone. I love the voicebox and I used to play one rigged up to my guitar amp. What is it? it’s a tube, like hosepipe, that goes from a loudspeaker box into the back of your throat. you shape your mouth and the sound from the speaker comes out of your mouth into your vocal mic with added vowel sounds courtesy of you! it’s great fun but it makes you wretch if you put it in too deep. ugh. Danny will be playing only ONE more live show before next summer at Hospitality in Leeds on Oct 14th so now you know what to expect!
a little tour around my ‘traditional’ Bavarian hotel I stayed in when I played Wurzburg last weekend with MC Wrec
