(Soundtrack: Dexter Gordon “Our Man In Paris”, The Shortwave Set “Replica Sun Machine”)
We did our first Shirley Lee gig on Saturday. It was at an extremely pleasant pub called The Wilmington Arms by Exmouth Market and actually very close to where we recorded “A Week Away” ten years ago. Boy were we nervous before we went on! Even though it is a small venue, it is the longest we have gone without playing live, plus they were all new songs (except one), and under a new name rather than Spearmint. As with the album, the live show is kind of Shirley Lee performed by Spearmint. We were all there, and Jeff did the driving – Adam even came along too.
Thankfully it went well and was thoroughly enjoyable. To me a good gig feels “true” to the spirit of what we are trying to do. This has nothing to do with how many bum notes are not played, or the audience reaction, or the size of the venue, or the number of people there, or how good the sound is, but is an indefinable something that happens on the night… or not… the reaction of the crowd can certainly help things along though.
We had had a rotten final practise before the gig. Experience tells me that at the last rehearsal before something important, songs can distort in your head and sound bad even when they are fine, so I tried to cut us some slack, but we didn’t really know the tunes well enough. The upside of that was that a couple of them came together properly for the first time as we played them live, particularly “The Last Song” and “Restless Soul” which is a new song that will probably appear on the next single.
It is a good venue with a nice vibe, and it was a pleasure to watch The Bitter Springs play after us – they are one of those bands who really should be a lot bigger than they are – so good live, and wonderful lyrics. We may play with them again this year.
A long running Spearmint joke is that I do not actually write songs. Instead I enrolled in a Swedish Mail-Order Song-Writing Service several years ago. They send me a batch each month which I dutifully take into the band. The joke goes each time that this latest batch isn’t up to the usual standard.
Sometimes writing songs is like that – you have no recollection or idea of where the thing came from. It may as well have been sent from Sweden. I have spent today finishing two new songs for a Spearmint EP which we are planning for September. We are rehearsing them tomorrow and recording them next week. So tomorrow, I will have that pleasure of playing them to the guys for the first time – me nervous and hoping for a great reaction, but of course met by the blank faces of people more concerned with figuring out exactly what parts they are going to be playing on them
You would have to be eagle-eyed indeed to spot from the trailers for the new Woody Allen film that is a Woody Allen film. I suppose this makes sense, as the launch of a new movie from Woody is not met with the anticipation it used to be and is probably more likely to put some off going to see it. The strategy seems to be working judging by the number in the cinema at the weekend. People are a bit funny about Woody Allen these days. I know some just do not like him and that is fair enough, but there seems a general unwillingness to welcome new work from him. McCartney gets the same reception – perhaps it is the lot of the genius who has the misfortune to still be around, and working. In the 70s Lennon couldn’t get arrested here (that’s because he was getting arrested in LA and New York), but a few years after he died suddenly everyone was back onto saying how much they loved him.
I accept that McCartney’s or Woody’s recent work is not as ground-breaking as some of their previous, but there are still good bits in there, which as a fan, I am grateful for. Shouldn’t we be celebrating these people and especially the fact that they are still around? Or least have open minds about their work?
Open-mindedness seem quite hard to come by. If you don’t have it you will miss out on a lot of music. Bridie’s got it. Simon in the band has got it – his openness and encouragement have kept me from giving up on many ideas. You wouldn’t expect people working in mainstream music to be open-minded, but I have found that the so-called Indie community is just as closed. Like they would hear a record which they like the sound of, then find out it is by Phil Collins and hence reject it. Listen, if Phil Collins or Robbie Williams makes a great record tomorrow then I will buy it, even though I can’t stand either of them. Why would I miss out? As a listener, the personality of the person making the record is irrelevant to the record itself. Most great records are made by complete arses anyway, you just don’t know it unless you are unlucky enough to meet them.
Having said all that, and to completely contradict myself, those individuals who have such extreme taste and personality that they only accept music which fits their a narrow groove and reject all else, are also crucial characters to have around in order to create something with real personality. Maybe you need a combination of blinkered extremism and enthusiastic open-mindedness in order to proceed as a group?
I grew up watching Woody Allen movies after seeing “Sleeper” at a film club at school with my friend Nick. As the years passed, Nick and I would meet up and see the latest at the cinema together. I associate the different films with me in different flats and cities… Anyway, here are 10 reasons to love Woody:
1 He is the world’s greatest living film-maker 2 No nudity or violence is shown in any of his films 3 He has truly independent ethics – all the movies are true to themselves; none are aimed at making money 4 He is the best writer of women’s movie roles in the last 50 years – nobody else even comes close! 5 His incredible work ethic – he makes a film each year (a bit like Mark E Smith’s output) 6 His unerring sense of casting 7 His films are re-watchable many times – they really are made that way 8 The wonderful use of music – he guides us through brilliant 20s, 30s and 40s Jazz 9 His steadfast avoidance of any “dumbing down” – he expects us to keep up, or learn as we go 10 While filming in the Hamptons he decided it would be nice to have a home out there, so he found a property, spent a year doing it up and getting the design just right. The morning after he spent his first night there, he rang the estate agent and instructed them to put the property back on the market. He explained that he could not sleep with the sound of waves rather than sirens, and that there was nothing to do out there after dinner.
Actually, that last one just paints him as odd. Here are 10 better reasons: 1 Stardust Memories 2 Everyone Says I Love You 3 The Purple Rose Of Cairo 4 Manhattan 5 Radio Days 6 Deconstructing Harry 7 Zelig 8 Annie Hall 9 Play It Again Sam 10 Celebrity
Just my opinion, obviously.

(Soundtrack: Kent Soul Collection – “A Soldier’s Sad Story”, Nina Simone “It Is Finished”)
Rain is falling as I write this. The heavy snow which fell on Monday is now reduced to icy patches, which I suspect will be gone by the end of the day. The snowfall was a total one-off. In all the years I have lived in London I have never seen a proper fall of several inches, just the odd flurry which quickly disappears and doesn’t lay. We had a good four inches worth and the city came to a standstill. No buses were running and most of the tubes were down, so the majority of people stayed at home. It became like a public holiday, with a kind of carnival atmosphere. We got up early and walked up to Wormwood Scrubs Park; perfect virginal thick white snow everywhere (see photo). We saw about thirty bright green parrots perched huddled together at the top of some trees. Dogs out walking were dancing round looking confused and delighted – the first time they had seen snow. In fact it was the first time for many Londoners. We went to Ravenscourt Park in the afternoon and people were going a bit crazy, building crowds of snowmen and pelting each other with snowballs. With all the gloom about recession recently, it seemed like a release and a welcome break from reality. I do not think I will see snow like that again in London. Monday seems to have become known as “Snow Day”.
Last night we rehearsed for the first Shirley Lee gig, which is next week with The Bitter Springs at The Wilmington Arms in Clerkenwell. Given that this is a completely new set for us, the songs are currently still finding their place as live versions. So I am a bit nervous about the gig, as more work really needs to be done on them. On the other hand, it is probably right that they are not quite nailed yet, as that will happen during the course of doing some gigs. We are planning on playing most of the album, plus a new song and a track I have written with Andy Lewis for his forthcoming album, and a (less obvious) version of a Spearmint tune. Spirits were good and there were some lovely moments during the session. One more practise next Tuesday, then the gig on Saturday. Fingers crossed everyone can make Tuesday and we don’t get hit by snow or sickness.
Last week we went to a night called Book Slam at 12 Acklam Road in Portobello, with Bridie’s friend Natasha. This is a venue beneath the Westway motorway, which used to be called Subterranea years ago. I remember our previous band Laverne & Shirley spending a hopeless night celebrating Simon’s birthday where we met in Notting Hill, had a few drinks and then set off for Subterranea, but just could not find it. We kept being given bogus directions from passers-by, and eventually had to call it a night and go home, because we never found it, which was ridiculous. Not long after that we played a gig there – I like the place: it has that Clash / Reggae feel to it, that Notting Hill and Brixton epitomise. Anyway, the Book Slam is a monthly night where four authors read from their work, interspersed with Reggae tunes and live music. Given that it is a club, humourous writing works easier than more serious pices, and all four authors were reading funny sections from their novels. They were all really good – I was particularly taken with “Ten Storey Love Song” by Richard Milward, who read with a cardboard tower block over his head, and looked like the literary equivalent of a new Manc band. Bridie liked “The Bird Room” by Chris Killen. Skinny jeans and trainers is clearly what you wear if you are a young male British author, or at least these four were. Their publishers were there too, and I was struck by how much nicer and more positive the atmosphere seemed compared to people in the music industry. We were watching from the balcony, and while the readings were taking place there was obviously no loud music – unusual in a club setting. We gradually became aware of regular swishing sounds from the ceiling, and then realised that it was the sound of cars speeding across the Westway, just a few feet above our heads.
A couple of weeks ago the Guardian ran a series of supplements featuring their list of the 1000 books that we should all read before we die. I do love lists like this because they are a good way of getting into things that you might otherwise miss, so we collected them all. It is scary when you think about it though – try this: Take the age you expect to live until (be generous)… Subtract your current age from this… Multiply this number by 12… Multiply this figure by the number of books you read per month on average (be honest)… Subtract from this the approximate number of books which you have read before and would like to re-read at some point… The answer you get is the number of new books you are likely to read before you die, going at your current rate. In my case the answer is 718, so I am unlikely to get through those 1000. Sorry – this is the kind of silliness I start fixating on if I am lying awake at night. What I take from this is that I should read more and that I should choose well and not squander one of my 718 on some “classic” which is unreadable, nor on a lazy guilty pleasure… on the other hand, the odd comfortable crime novel is pretty appealing. I am trying to read the some classics in between modern novels. I just finished Tolstoy’s “The Death Of Ivan Ilyich”, which is a really short easy read, and inspired the film “Ivan’ XTC”. It is brilliant, and makes you consider how you are living your life. Last year I did read “Don Quixote”, having heard so much acclaim for it. It was very enjoyable and funny, and truly modern, especially Part Two, in which they are moving through a world where they are celebrities, curtesy of the success of Part One – a bit like David Brent becoming a minor celebrity in that Christmas Special. I shall use the 1000 books list to find a few more that I might enjoy.
I think that lists and reviews are a very positive thing when they encourage you to give something as try. We went to see the American comedy film “Role Models” last week. It got a 5 star review in Time Out, but as it happens it wasn’t really my cup of tea – it was quite watchable, but for me, not as great as, say, Pineapple Express. Nevertheless, it didn’t bother me that it got a rave review – I mean with any of the arts, some people are going to like it and some are not – Tom Huddleston of Time Out clearly loved it and probably turned some like-minded people onto it. In the same issue of Time out the same Tom Huddleston also reviewed “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”. He gave this film 1 star and was vicious in his condemnation of the movie. Bridie and I went to see it anyway, and we both absolutely loved it! OK, so this just confirms that people’s taste differs. What I do not understand though, is: “What was the point of the 1 star review?” What is the point of writing something really negative things about an artistic venture, getting it printed up, circulated round London and selling it? How is it supposed to help people – by putting them off something that they may have enjoyed?
I am all for the old punk fanzine approach of writing enthusiastically about the music and films that you love, and not writing about the things that you don’t love. Over the years I have been kept away from great records and movies, by letting my defenses down and believing negative reviews… then years later I have come to the album (like, say, Marvin’s “”Here My Dear”) and found that I loved it.
Maybe the critics feel they need to be negative sometimes, to give a balanced view, or they feel that purely enthusing for a living would lack bite, but they waste my time and I shall continue to take no notice of them. Where does this need to critique everything come from anyway? Maybe it is from school and having everything you do handed back to you with red ink comments. Maybe we are brought up to feel that this is the way to respond to other people’s work… maybe the critics are getting their revenge on getting so much red ink when they were younger…
Last week saw the end of our Vegan month. The things we had not been eating certainly tasted good when we have had them this week! The month of abstinence taught me that Vegans are poorly catered for in cafes (who are losing their potential business), that I missed eggs and honey more than expected, that I missed cheese and milk less than expected, and that I have no moral urge to become Vegan (whereas I firmly know that for me it would be wrong to eat meat or fish).
Wow, this CD is brilliant – “A Soldier’s Sad Story” is a collection of Deep Soul tracks, all about the Vietnam War. I highly recommend it, especially “Bring The Boys Home” by Freda Payne and “I Can’t Write Left-Handed” by Bill Withers.
We also went to see Sebastien Tellier play last week. He is French… so French!… and plays that kind of sophisticated Serge Gainsbourg Pop while effecting extreme eccentricity with long rambling monologues about chicken sausage and the like. I think in France there are government guidelines ensuring that a high percentage of radio and TV is populated with French entertainers, rather than British or American imports. It means they have a very dense, very French culture which can seem impenetrable to us Brits. It sometimes feels as though they are the island and we are on the mainland… Anyway, he was fab.

(Soundtrack: Neil Young “Rust Never Sleeps”, The Pastels “Illumination”)
On the way home just now I passed two policemen on “stake-out”. They are fully visible, about three streets away, stood on a corner, complete with huge machine guns. They have been there for at least six months. I have been passing them every day or two and wondering why they are there. Initially I thought that perhaps there had been a lot of break-ins on that street and they were increasing police presence, but then they were there too long for that. I considered if they were waiting to catch someone they expected to show up, but then surely they would not be so obvious? The only reason they would be so visible is if they are guarding someone, or providing protection. So I concluded that maybe a foreign diplomat was staying there – I started to look at the houses and found one that is larger than the rest, and set back from the road. Some days the cops have cups of coffee or soup or packets of Jaffa Cakes on the wall by them; I couldn’t help imagining local housewives bringing them sustenance. After all it has been below freezing a lot of the time over the last few weeks.
Bridie kept encouraging me to ask them why they were there, but each time I intended to, I chickened out. Then the other night we were walking home late and a bit drunk and Bridie bounded up to one of them and asked “Excuse me, but we have seen you here for a few months now, would you be able to tell us why you are here?”. He smiled, looked a bit smug and glad of the distraction: “Not at all madam – we are guarding the home of an important government official who lives nearby”. “Oh, who is it?” “I am afraid I am not at liberty to say madam.” I chipped in with “And do they live in that house over there?” He smiled, smugness levels peaking: “They might do…” I am not sure his colleague was impressed with his manner. Anyway, we thanked them and staggered off home.
So who can that be? How high up do you need to be in order to have two armed guards at all hours of the day? I am not sure I would recognise politicians anyway, I mean Gordon Brown yes, but not the rest of them.
I would like to have included a photo here of the stake-out, but I was too chicken, so instead this is one of Bridie and I reflected in a big eye in the basement of the Kelvingrove Museum on a recent trip to Glasgow.
We have finally finished the list of our top 100 films of 2008. You would be right to say that watching movies then grading them and compiling an end of year list is completely anal, but it certainly is fun! It is a joint list so there are one or two titles which are higher or lower than I would have placed them left to my own devices, but only one or two. I think it was a brilliant year for films, in fact there is a case for it being the best year ever: so many classics! I mean, what year would be better? 1939? (Wizard Of Oz, Gone With The Wind, The Women), 1950? (Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, Rashomon), 1959? (Some Like It Hot, Room At The Top, North By Northwest), 1972? (The Godfather, Cabaret, Deliverance), 1977? (Star Wars, Saturday Night Fever, Annie Hall), 1992? (Reservoir Dogs, Waynes World, The Player). It is easy to see the past as being better, but I am not so sure. Anyway, who gives a monkey’s?
There are a couple of films we have yet to see (Gomorrah, Eden Lake, Die Hard, The Kite Runner), but here is the list:
1 Milk (wonderful and memorable as explained in previous diary entry) 2 The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (a beautiful, moving, life-affirming masterpiece) 3 Mamma Mia (don’t sneer; I love musicals and this is great – it will quite simply become the most popular musical ever) 4 Man On Wire (I recommend this to anyone, there is nothing else like it) 5 No Country For Old Men (perfect) 6 My Winnipeg (the most singular vision of the year: Guy Maddin makes movies like great indie records) 7 Mister Lonely (another great, quirky indie film – I love this, it is so uplifting and heart-warming, especially Diego Luna as Michael Jackson – needs to be seen again soon) 8 Sex & The City (OK I wouldn’t have had this one quite so high, and it doesn’t equal the brilliance of the series, but it is much better than it might have been) 9 In Bruges (instant cult classic, would make a great double bill with Withnail & I) 10 The Dark Knight (a bit long and a bit noisy, but over-whelmingly good) 11 Burn After Reading (the Coens on absolutely top form) 12 Pineapple Express (it seems to me that this will grow in stature – a future classic – with a lovely performance from James Franco ) 13 Year Of The Dog (funny, moving US small town indie from that Chuck & Buck chap) 14 Sweeney Todd (nice and dark version, and Sacha Baron Cohen always adds so much to everything he is involved with) 15 PS I Love You (this would have made a prefect Sex & The City 2, a really good, soppy romantic comedy) 16 There Will Be Blood (already a classic) 17 The Orphanage (ace Spanish ghost story) 18 Iron Man (wonderful, dry turn from Robert Downey Jnr) 19 Margot At The Wedding (under-rated, this nasty, repressed role really suits Nicole Kidman) 20 Happy Go Lucky (lovely gentle Mike Leigh movie; deceptively innovative in subject matter) 21 Paris (top notch Romain Duris ensemble piece) 22 Persepolis (already a classic) 23 Lonesome Jim (perfect Steve Buscemi US small town indie flick; Casey Affleck is so winsome) 24 30 Days Of Night (under-rated I think: a classic zombie thriller) 25 I’ve Loved You So Long (wonderfully played Kristin Scott ~Thomas drama) 26 Gone Baby Gone (I have always liked Ben Affleck and this proves me right!) 27 Heartbeat Detector (original, dizzying, challenging puzzle with the ace Mathieu Amalric) 28 Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (charming and great to see Frances McDormand in a lead role) 29 Then She Found Me (this is a really good romantic drama from Helen Hunt and Colin Firth is turning into a great actor) 30 You Kill Me (charming San Fran Ben Kingsly hit-man comedy) 31 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days (uncomfortable, darkly funny, brilliantly made and acted) 32 Joshua (classy lost take on Rosemary’s Baby only saw daylight last year) 33 Be Kind Rewind (charming, light Michel Gondry comedy) 34 Stardust (a family fantasy adventure that really works) 35 In Search Of A Midnight Kiss (almost classic, like an Indie LA Woody Allen) 36 Easy Virtue (classy and sharp, Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas very good again) 37 Lars And The Real Girl (cool cult comedy with Ryan Gosling) 38 A Little Trip To Heaven (oddly lost Icelandic-made noir with Forrest Whitaker) 39 Twilight (highly enjoyable for a mainstream teen franchise) 40 Summer Hours (lovely thoughtful French ensemble piece) 41 Garbage Warrior (I totally recommend this inspiring documentary about Michael Reynolds, who builds self-sustaining homes out of garbage) 42 The Visitor (gentle, warm, uplifting) 43 Juno (entertaining and funny; Ellen Page is a star) 44 Taken (big, dumb, exciting, guilty, pleasure thriller from Luc Besson) 45 A History Of My Sexual Failures (charming, surprising, likeable documentary) 46 Smart People (under-rated follow-up to Sideways) 47 The Strangers (a good low-budget slasher horror with Liv Tyler) 48 Teeth (surprisingly witty and well made spoof horror – she has teeth “down there”) 49 In The Valley Of Elah (enjoyable, classy civilian/war drama with Tommy Lee Jones) 50 And When Did You Last See Your Father? (tender story of Blake Morrison’s relationship with his father – another great performance from Colin Firth!)
And here are the next 50: 51 Baby Mama 52 The Changeling 53 Stepbrothers 54 Indiana Jones 4 55 Kung Fu Panda 56 Flight Of the Red Balloon 57 Horton Hears A Who 58 Priceless 59 Garage 60 We Own The Night 61 Her Name Is Sabine 62 American Gangster 63 Female Agents 64 Nim’s Island 65 XXY 66 The Mist 67 Dan In Real Life 68 The Savages 69 Hallam Foe 70 Ghost Town 71 Annie Liebowitz 72 Walk Hard 73 Son Of Rambow 74 We Are Together 75 Madagascar 2 76 While She Was Out 77 Underdog 78 Tropic Thunder 79 The Air I Breathe 80 Inkheart 81 Space Chimps 82 The Lookout 83 Show Of Hands 84 Wake Up Ron Burgundy 85 P2 86 Death At A Funeral 87 The Wackness 88 The Rocker 89 Meet Dave 90 27 Dresses 91 The Fall 92 Cous Cous 93 Syndromes Of A Century 94 Honey Dripper 95 Silent Light 96 Swing Vote 97 X Files 2 98 You The Living 99 Comedy Of Power 100 Somers Town
Clearly some of these were not technically 2008, but, hey, it’s our list… Roll on 2009!