More BOI

Here's another photo of the BOI reunion concert - this one taken by Adrienne, who is Rog's wife. I like this photo because the microphone hides my face.

Adrienne also took some video of the event which I'm keen to see. I think we're performing 'I've Just Seen a Face' by the Beatles here. Amazing that we didn't do any of our own songs, really since we wrote over 300. Problem was, Rog was the only one who could remember the words - he even remembered songs that Drew wrote and had forgotten all about, such as 'Summer Days and Summer Nights'.

Rog's most famous composition, of course, was 'Monkey on a Bike' inspired by seeing just that - a monkey on a bike - in Winson Green when he was on his way round to visit one Saturday morning. It was a very avante garde number, as I recall, with a touch of Frank Zappa about it. I must start a BOI website and post some of these long forgotten classics.

Things have changed a lot

Below is a video by ace musician Drew Millin singing a new arrangement of a song we wrote together back in 1972. 'Things Have Changed a Lot' was one of a crop of songs we created for an album entitled 'Asleep at the Wheel'. We recorded it in a beautiful bungalow we were sharing that overlooked Torquay. At the time, Drew was working for the local newspaper, the Herald Express, selling advertising space, and I was a film student spending the summer flogging soggy sarnies and pop to hungry grockles at the Spanish Cafe in sunny Goodrington.

When Drew posted this on YouTube he wrote, "We saw ourselves as the next Lennon and McCartney but we were more like Lenin and MacArthur." Not sure which of those was me! This remains one of my favourite songs that we wrote. Other gems from that period include 'A Way of Saying Goodbye' which featured backing vocals from two lovely nurses who just happened to be in the bungalow that day, and 'Cruising to California', our epic Crosby Stills & Nash-type song with harmonies provided by Terry Stephens, who was then manager of the Igloo Ice Cream Parlour and went on to become the Sandwich King of Torbay.

We recorded everything on two reel to reel tape recorders and used playback from one to overdub the tracks onto the other - so the quality was pretty rough compared to today's digital recording. I'm in the process of digitising the songs and trying to clean them up but it's an uphill struggle. Drew has a whole load more videos on YouTube - including some of his legendary live performances at the Hole in the Wall pub. All worth checking out.

Food for thought

I'm helping my lovely brand new wife to plan a typical Italian meal for my new in-laws this weekend. I hope they like spaghetti hoops.

The BOI back in action

My recent wedding reception saw a reunion of my old band The BOI. It’s been donkey’s years since the three founding members – Drew Millin, Roger Parker and myself - were all last together.

If I remember correctly, it was in Rog’s front room to record a number for a song-writing competition run by Watney’s brewery (maker of infamous Red Barrel). We came up with a number called ‘Get It Down You’ – about drinking beer, thinking this might give us an edge and help us to win. It didn’t work. We’re now planning another get-together later this month to see Drew deliver one of his legendary performances at the Hole in the Wall pub in Torquay.