OLIVER! With a TWIST

I took my mum to see “Oliver” in the West End a couple of months back (tickets kindly supplied by the Maestro). Sod’s law being the way it is, he was conspicuous by his absence! Mr Lewis was taking a break from the show, touring with Jeff Wayne’s“War of the Worlds” which is another story to finish next week!

The show was incredible – performances, sets, music, in fact you can virtually sing along all the way thru, the songs are so memorable. After the gig, with two daft grins on our faces, we nipped out of the theatre and began trying desperately to flag down a cab to take us to the station. This turned out to be pretty near impossible with all the crowds streaming out of the theatres. I looked anxiously around and much to my mum’s horror, spotted and started to haggle with one of those crazy rickshaw guys. Well, how funny! We jumped aboard and the driver careered out confidently into the busy street, pedalling and weaving breathtakingly through the traffic. He negotiated the roundabout at the top of Park Lane magnificently, crossing lanes as if he were the only vehicle in town and although it was pretty dark, mum’s white knuckles shone out against the London skyline helping to light our way.  My mum has never forgiven me by the way, but my sisters both mentioned in confidence that she boasts about our little trip at the slightest opportunity.

Click on the link below to see a wonderful preview of the show. And YES!! That is the REAL Oliver, our very own OLIVER LEWIS playing violin on top of the table! Sing along now.... "Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah! That's how it goes....."

Adeste and Ivory Bow still not up on iTunes, they were uploaded October 4^th!! - Booo! Still waiting to hear from Tunecore – fingers crossed.

NEXT WEEK Stuff I postponed LAST WEEK!

“That Towel!!

Recording with Sephira

Reinventing “Ye Olde G stringe” Joke (AGAIN!)

AND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*ATTENTION ALL THUNDERHEADS*

Keith gets busted trying to smuggle Booze into Glastonbury.

Keith builds a ramp to prevent Joyce and Ruth rolling on top of me during the night at Glastonbury - Doh!

Keith Harkin from Celtic Thunder recording in my Studio!

Just Like Starting Over

A couple of weeks ago we reconnected with Daniel Glatman who managed and helped to send the seriously successful boy band “Blue” into the stratosphere. He contacted us about a year after Ollie and I had begun our “Inspirational Coupling” (not my words I hasten to add ;) way back in the “Rocked on Klassix” days. I remember him setting up a meeting with EMI, but I think we were a little unsure of our direction at the time and we weren’t quite as pretty as Bond!

Time passed and I started experimenting with Soft Synthesizers, resulting in the jaw dropping sonic backdrops we now embrace.

So since having just parted company with the US Record label, we decided to give Daniel a call last week. He’s a really “Up” kind of guy – extremely spontaneous, and within a couple of hours had set up a meeting with DECCA Records. Pretty impressive I thought, except he’s just had to postpone till later next week - Doh! ……..After three?

”There’s No Business like Show Business –

There’s No Business I know……….and so on infinitum…..watch this space!

I MEET JEFF WAYNE – back stage after War of the Worlds (clothed only in a towel!)

Ollie had taken a short break from “OLIVER” in the West End which currently stars Omid Jilalliwhatshisface (the Iranian stand-up comedian / actor – The Mummy – Gladiator – Sky Captain etc. Our man with finely tuned G string (More of these low calibre jokes later) was leading the orchestra for the “War of the Worlds” tour. When the tour dates were released I noticed that the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham was on the list. Well it would seem rude not to attend  So off I toddled to the afternoon sound check, armed only with a stick of Wriggley’s chewing gum and a Manbag stuffed full of Deviations Project albums.

It’s quite a show, with an impressive array of session players including Chris Spedding on guitar and Herby Flowers on Bass. The “Rock Band” stage right and a full orchestra stage left. Justin Heywood strides manfully down the centre catwalk singing the main theme “The chances of anything coming from Mars” etc and Jennifer Ellison (Phantom of the Opera the movie - and spoof horror “The Cottage”) very prettily plays the Preacher’s wife. Richard Burton the narrator is represented by a huge digitally enhanced Hologram to the left of the stage and Ollie leading the orchestra just next to Jeff Wayne conducting.

The star of the show however, surely must be the colossal lazer blasting Tripod which lowers dramatically down from the ceiling and I have been reliably informed that on a good night apparently all three legs come down ; )

After the rehearsal I met Ollie for luke warm coffee and a strange selection of unidentifiable confections best described as unidentifiable. And while gnawing my way through something reminiscent of a diamond tipped rock cake, Mr Lewis casually informed me that he’d arranged a meet with Jeff after the show and to get the CDs ready!...........to be continued.

Postponed till Next WEEK (Bloody Hell, Now I’m doing it!)

“That Towel!!

Recording with Sephira

Reinventing “Ye Olde G stringe” Joke (AGAIN!)

Mr Bean’s old Oxbridge mate, funny man Griff Reece Jones taking over the role of Fagin mid December.

AND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*ATTENTION ALL THUNDERHEADS*

Keith Harkin from Celtic Thunder recording in my Studio!

The following Blog has been Rated 12+ for the Following:

Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco or reference to these

Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humour

Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes

Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes

Well that just about sums me up! How did they know?

This disclaimer came from the fabulous peeps at Apple, with my Dave Williams Music Application – I think they must have gotten hold of a copy of my horoscope!

So, cutting to the chase - Because of the financial collapse of the universe as we know it, Ollie and I decided to terminate our record contract and promote Deviations Project ourselves. To be fair, most of the success we achieved was in the United States through the “Barnes and Noble” stores, so we were never promoted much in the UK.

But Now…………We got BAR CODES -YAY!

After months of phone calls, emails, inquiries, letters, forms, forms and more forms…..we managed to drag our three precious babies, kicking and screaming, back into the digital world. We now have our debut album “Deviations Project” available on iTunes. “Adeste Fiddles” - our Christmas baby (not the Messiah, but a very naughty boy ;) and “Ivory Bow” should be up soon. All three albums are downloadable from iTunes, E*Music, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster and LaLa.

In the mean time, here is preview to whet your Deviations appetites.

*FREE GIFT* for Christmas!!

We’re going to be giving away a free download for Christmas – (Yeah we’re just wild crazy guys!) A Wantonly Wistful Olde English Carol called” In the Bleak Mid Winter” – Check out Myspace / Facebook / Website for details.

It was originally intended for the “Adeste Fiddles” album but I ran out of time trying to meet the deadline. So beautiful it was, that I kept bursting into tears mixing down, my desk in danger of blowing a fuse as the hot tears streamed from the end of my nose onto the board ; )

Next week:

I MEET JEFF WAYNE – back stage after War of the Worlds (clothed only in a towel!)

OLIVER with a TWIST

Uncommonly Interesting News

How very appropriate! Our Oliver has been signed up to appear in the new Cameron Macintosh version of  "Oliver"  (by far the most exciting musical production in London's West End!) He's currently in rehearsals and the show should open this week at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane. And guess who he is working along side? Guess who is playing (You gotta pick a pocket or two) Fagin? ....How absolutely perfik - YAY! Its only MR BEAN!  Rowan Atkinson is absolutely ideal as the gangly gang leader - and the Tony award winning musical director and my own personal favourite choreographer is  Matthew Bourne! I don't know if you've ever seen his version of  Nut Cracker but it really is very pink, gorgeous and outrageously funny. If you think you don't like ballet.....think again! - You should also check out his all male version of "Swan Lake" Hillarious!

Earlier in the Year the BBC aired a weekly show called "I'd Do Anything" featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber and John Barrowman as judges to "Find Nancy". Out of thousands of contestants, a winner was chosen. Jody Prenger and .....Good grief! - I've just wikepedid her and apparently she  won the second series of The Biggest Loser in 2006, starting the show a size 26 and weighing 18st 2lbs. During the series, she lost over eight stone and her final weight was 9st 9lbs!!!!! WOW!

 Stop Press! .....Mr Macintosh has Adeste Fiddles in his car stereo!........During a recent after hours "lock in" at a Dickensian pub very close to the scene of rehearsals, the blatantly self promoting Mr.Lewis was seen by an insider passing a copy of "Adeste Fiddles" to the illustrious producer. Apparently the sub text "Christmas with a Twist" caught his eye :) Perfik!

Here's the link to the official website:

http://www.oliverthemusical.com

 

So, Question - What goes Oh Oh Oh? - Answer - Santa walking backwards (I opened my cracker early this year :) Speeks soon x

It’s all going rather well!!

Only three weeks to go till Santa slides sveltely down the chimney (Even Santa has a personal trainer these days). He says he has big bones but Mrs Claus will beg to differ - She asked me to pass on a special message from her and the little helpers.

“Please don’t leave mince pies and sherry this Christmas Eve. If you want to help us and all the children of the future, place a nice crispy leaf of lettuce, some sliced onion, tomato and drizzle with some low cal dust ( you can eat as much dust as you like – its virtually calorie free and relatively inexpensive!)  All washed down with a bottle of yummy still water! “With your help we can keep the blighter going for a few more years.

Talking of funny foodstuffs – I heard on the radio this morning that when the Tombs of Egypt were being excavated (raided and plundered if you like ;) Shopkeepers in London would import a Mummy and place it in their shop window - to give the impression of being well travelled and successful. One of the off shoots was a dubious delicacy called “Mummy Dust” – (See it's all linked – I’m not just rambling) Powdered Mummy - Eeeeeeew! You’d take a pinch and sprinkle sparingly into a good stiff shot of port for a bit of a lift towards the late afternoon.  

You couldn’t make this up could you!

 

Anyway…….Number 19 in the Billboard Classical Crossover charts WOOHOOOO! I received an email from the Associate Chart Production Manager, asking who Deviations Project was, as we’d just popped in to their chart!! Well I had to have a quiet word with Matron, who very kindly reminded me ;) 

We’re both ecstatic and I’ll be filling you in on the results of a very important meeting on Wednesday the 10^th next week!

Toodles!

 

WELL! - Doesn’t Time Fly! Only one year late but “Adeste Fiddles” WILL Fly on November 4^th 2008.

Its already available on iTunes and Emusic, but now you can actually wrap your physical fingers around it, hold it up to your lips and kiss it gently and lovingly (No tongues mind – it’s a family album  ;) 

 

So! - A Holiday CD to pop in your stocking! – Barnes and Noble have made it Exclusive, so be prepared for your ears to be mesmerised by the overhead sound system when you pop in looking for exquisite gifts in the next few weeks.  Be prepared - to find yourself inextricably lured to the sales desk with the hypnotic pounding of “The Sugar Plum Fairy” ….to be whisked helplessly to  the magical strains of “My Favourite things” (Well! I tried to spell “Favourite” the American way and my  spell checker won’t let me!!!) Be prepared to arrive home and find your bags and pockets filled with “Adeste” albums – EVERY ONE WILL WANT ONE!  I always like to buy a CD then Rip - Call me old fashioned but I like to have something to hold in my hand)

 

Oh! - S'cuse the innuendo, but it is Pantomime season! OH YES IT IS!  Till next time - Happy Trails!

You’re gona love our new baby! XXX

Dave Reveals Track 15 Mystery!!

If you haven’t waded tirelessly through the reams of endless waffle I laughingly call a blog then I’ll save you some time. We’ve had several messages asking about track 15 on Ivory Bow  “Oh, Eso es un Castillo Bonito” What does the title mean and what is the original title?

Well….*grandiose pause for effect* ….Firstly it isn’t from the brilliantly animated classic “Beauty and the Beast” – although the overture is soooooo similar – and I’m sure Disney must have been aware of this ;) The bit where the pages of the story book are slowly turning and the narrator begins to tell the story of Belle and the Beast. No - It’s a little classical toon from the “Carnival of the Animals” – or “Le Carnaval des Animaux” to be really poshJ  by Camille Saint-Saens and its called Aquarium.

Our title “Oh, Eso es un Castillo Bonito”. (I’m not sure if the Spanish is correct cos I made it up - but it looks pretty cool?) is a tribute to an old joke. Cast your mind back to another Disney Classic – “Fantasia” Yeah -I know I’m waffling again but do you remember the lovely Goldfish from Nutcracker section? The one with the big eyelashes? Well when I heard Aquarium for the very first time I kept thinking of that gold fish. The title means “Oh – that’s a nice Castle” and apparently because a goldfish only has a 10 second memory, every time she swims around the bowl she “sees” the castle for the very first time!

WELL YOU DID ASK!

 

More soon – and be assured …..there will be wilful waffle!