From a Box of Cassettes

From a Box of Cassettes

I'm returning once more to the dusty corner of the world which is this blog to share something from the dusty corner of the accumulated mess of things that I have gathered over the past fifty years.

At our last rehearsal the band (The Knocking Shop) were trying to put together one of our old songs from twenty years ago with a poor live recording as the guide. When Dave, the guitar player, told me a couple of days later that he had a better recording on cassette, plus some other 'forgotten' songs I decided to go through my own pile of cassettes with a bit more rigour. And I was rewarded with a copy of what was a work in progress towards a third demo.

Live Tonight! The Re-Animation of The Knocking Shop continues.

Live Tonight! The Re-Animation of The Knocking Shop continues.

The Knocking Shop are supporting the rather wonderful Mik Artistik's Ego Trip tonight in The Grand Social in Dublin City Centre. There are worse ways of spending your Friday night and all for a measly €12!

We'll be dedicating this one to President Trump!

LIVE!! TONIGHT!!

LIVE!! TONIGHT!!

This blog and the blogosphere in general has suffered some neglect recently as all my focus has been on tonight's gig in The Grand Social in Dublin. Somewhat more activity may start taking place next week...

It will the first Dublin gig in twenty years for The Knocking Shop and at the moment my nerves are making it feel a bit like Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum but I'm sure it'll be a great night.

There's an event page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/events/1045545818885717/

and you can like the band page here - https://www.facebook.com/knockingshop/

Here's one of the songs we'll be playing, taken from our comeback gig in January in London. Hope some readers will make it along..

The Knocking Shop to hit the Dublin Stage.

The Grand Social

The Knocking Shop to hit the Dublin Stage!

The revival of The Knocking Shop hits a high point with our return to the Dublin stage at The Grand Social  on August 27th

Self-Obsessed

Self-Obsessed
I have a number of unfinished blog posts but I don't feel like returning to any of them at the moment. Rather I am wallowing in a period of self-obsession. I find these things come in patches. Sometimes it seems like the universe, or at least the little dusty corner of it that I inhabit, is speaking directly to me. Or that I am surrounded by a reverberation of echoes. Not surprising seeing as I watch and listen from my own seashell skull, tuned to the sound of my own waves.

The Knocking Shop - Back Onstage after Twenty Years

The Knocking Shop - Back Onstage after Twenty Years

Here is some evidence that The Knocking Shop did actually return to live performance last week thanks to Ian Shirley of Record Collector Magazine. Thanks also to Emma and Tony for the images.

This is an updated version of the earlier post with much improved sound..

The Return of The Knocking Shop

The Return of The Knocking Shop

Caught in rehearsal, the engine room of The Knocking Shop sparking back into life after two decades!
Catch them on Tuesday 26th January in Corsica Studios, 4/5 Elephant Road, London, SE17 1LB
http://www.corsicastudios.com/…/wild-roscoe-record-collect…/
Also playing Final Hour; Triple Blind; Blindman's Rainbow
All bands feature on the Small Town Scenery album to be released this month by Record Collector Magazine.



You can now pre-order Small Town Scenery from Rough Trade, featuring the song Half Orphan from The Knocking Shop! Or you can wait and buy it from the next issue of Record Collector Magazine - due out on January 28th. http://www.roughtrade.com/albums/100250

Ship of Fools

Ship of Fools.



Yet another of my 'videos' for The Knocking Shop, with Douglas Fairbanks starring in this nautical romp over a song which seems somehow apt for the beginning of a new year, the one in which we will once more get on deck and brave the choppy waters of live performance.

So, Happy New Year to all who read this and I hope to post some of my more usual 'literary' posts in January as I have brought some draft posts close to completion. It's been a while.

Heaven

Heaven

Please find my latest for into the field of music videos... A paean to the elevating effects of religion drugs.

Ambition, with a Taste of Honey.

Ambition

Rehearsing The Knocking Shop's alt-city™kitchen sink classic Ambition inspired me to make a video with added TASTE OF HONEY.



By the way, any London readers would be more than welcome at our long awaited comeback gig!

Resurrected

Resurrected.

For me this is proving a year of resurrections, musically at least.  The musical highlight of the year has been an album and gigs from The Drays, led by one time Star of Heaven and Revenant Stephen Ryan. I have written about that album Look Away Down Collins Avenue at some length and am still listening to it months after its release. I have only managed to see them twice but hope to do so again next week. That would be more gigs than I went to in some recent years.

Probably the gigs I have enjoyed most over the last few years have been those of the revivified Blades, who I have also written about here. They also feature Conor Brady, a mainstay of The Drays. Jesus only brought one man back from the dead!

It's Been a bit Quiet Around Here.

I seem to have briefly (I hope) lost my blogging mojo but I did make this video/slideshow for The Knocking Shop's track Half-Orphan. The song was written in memory of my mother and she 'stars' alongside me in the video. It was made as a Valentine's Day card to her memory.

I hope you enjoy it.

Hopefully it will be back to book-blogging business here soon!

Top 102 Albums. No 51. Half Orphan

Top 102 Albums. No 51. 
Half Orphan -  The Knocking Shop

I know, I know. This doesn't belong on a list of 102 Greatest Albums or 1001 or 2002 Greatest Albums but that's not what this list is about. These are 102 of MY favourite albums. and I couldn't put that list together without putting this in, my own foray into the world of making albums. I know there are other albums on this list which don't tick the box marked 'objective greatness' and if I can list those because they tick a box in my heart why not this.

Broken City People

Here's some great music from an ex-member of The Knocking Shop and some friends.

Enjoy!

Where would you have been without nostalgia?

Original Post - Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Where would you have been without nostalgia?

Luggage

The Knocking Shop/The Phantom Jets played with a number of bands in a number of forgotten venues and I thought I'd mention some and maybe  spark some memories for those who were there. I'm editing this regularly as vague memories keep returning from the mists of time. Anyone who can help fill the gaps left by senility please do.
Bands (many are still going, remarkably): Luggage (an inspiration - rumoured to exist on life support machine somewhere - The Great Lost Band see http://homepage.tinet.ie/~independentrecs/luggage/luggage.htm and Luggage - Show Me Around)*, Sack (still going strong),  Holemasters (starring Dave from http://www.roadrecs.com/), Female Hercules, Pet Lamb, Ash (while they were very young), Wormhole, Grief, Cuckoo, Striknein DC?, Saville, Bambi, Pincher Martin, The Idiots, Jam Jar Jail....