Of the many –
some might say too many – projects me and Glyn have set up, the one I’m
proudest of is 'Glad All Over!: A Sixties Celebration’.
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| (c) Tim Parker |
The show came
into being in a pub; the Spice of Life in Soho, in fact. We met with our friend
Rob Maskell to discuss the idea of putting together a show to raise money for
one of our Edinburgh Festival runs. Me and Rob had gigged together a lot in the
past, and often expressed an interest in setting up our own actor / muso show,
in an attempt to put right a lot of the self-perceived wrongs of the various
shows we’d worked on previously.
Suddenly we had an excuse to do it. We booked a date at The Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin that Summer and put together a band. The premise was simple; the show would be a two-hour gig built around a four-piece band who were all singers and multi-instrumentalists, plus three additional female singers. We wanted to cover as broad a selection of Sixties music as possible, rather than shy away from the ambitious or left-field. Most of all, we wanted the band to be authentic, energized and of a similar age to original artists.
Suddenly we had an excuse to do it. We booked a date at The Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin that Summer and put together a band. The premise was simple; the show would be a two-hour gig built around a four-piece band who were all singers and multi-instrumentalists, plus three additional female singers. We wanted to cover as broad a selection of Sixties music as possible, rather than shy away from the ambitious or left-field. Most of all, we wanted the band to be authentic, energized and of a similar age to original artists.
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| GAO Artwork. Ooh. Authentic. |
Once we’d settled on a set with a natural build that would sit well with the cast’s musical ability, we started to work out our arrangements. It was fun piecing it together. I’ve always loved working Rob. We know how to get the best out of each other musically, and laugh a lot while doing it.
Amazingly, our cast all agreed to do the first show for expenses, as they knew we trying to raise money for mine and Glyn’s Edinburgh show, while also attempting to put together a side-project that would bring more work and money for everyone in the future.
We only had a week to rehearse a show that was quite musically ambitious. Everyone stepped up to the plate. It was a joyous and creatively satisfying week. We had a shit-hot band who had great attention to detail and wanted to get everything just right.
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| Me, Glad All Overing. (c) Tim Parker. |
That first show
felt like a real achievement. We played to a sold out crowd who were soon up on
their feet. We carried on booking dates in a number of venues over the next few
years (around mine and Glyn’s then-ridiculous workload); finally being able to
pay the rest of the cast properly, though sadly we were seldom able to pay
ourselves. Such is a producer’s life.
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| Sold out show at Gorleston Pavilion. |
The highlight had to be playing a private function in front of Dave Clark of The Dave Clark Five (the band who wrote and recorded the song our show was named after, no less) and Noddy Holder from Slade. It’s not often you get to sing a song in front of its original artist, plus one of the most distinctive rock voices of all time. Thankfully, they loved it and said some really nice things. Me belting out The Small Faces’ Sha La La La Lee while Noddy Holder danced and sang along in front of us was one of the most surreal – and exciting - moments of my life.
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| The GAO cast, with Dave Clark and Noddy Holder. |