A while ago I was on Janice Forsyth's show on BBC Radio Scotland to talk about my album "Music For String Quartet, Piano & Celeste". Janice gave one of the tracks a spin and as it ended - and before she could come in with any complimentary remarks - I leant into my microphone and pretended to snore. Janice didn't miss a beat, "Oh, stop being so Scottish."
I don't think you have to be Scottish in order to be well-versed in the art of self-deprecation. But it helps. (In my case being brought up by a practical Don't-Get-Above-Your-Raisin' mother from the Western Isles might have had a bearing too.) Many of us try to do good work or create something with some kind of integrity, only to bat away any subsequent compliments, daring not to look chuffed.
Yonks ago I released "Sauchiehall And Hope (A Pop Opera)" a song cycle (released on my label Shoeshine) that was picked up for release on wee independent labels (remember them?) in Japan, Spain - and Brazil.
Did I really stand onstage in 2003 with an acoustic guitar singing "She's A Monkey" to a room full of Cariocas (first language Portuguese) while sporting a cowboy shirt fashioned from an old curtain? Oh look, I did:
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(I'm told this photo is from Sao Paulo, not Rio - d'oh!...)
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And if I didn't have the photos (obrigado, Eugenio) to remind me, a certain Pedro Montenegro could oblige.
I loved that trip to Brazil. I ate Brazilian pastels, said "hello" to Caipirinhas for the first time, and sampled a uniquely delicious bread with sausages served in this one Italian restaurant in Sao Paulo whose name I can't remember. I was taken there on another trip and they'd run out. Aww.
For one show I had to open, solo acoustic, for Los Hermanos in a big sold-out 800 capacity hall in the outskirts of Londrina. How to break the ice? How many of these folk are going to understand my Glaswegian English?
I started singing Louis Armstrong's James Bond song, once covered by BMX Bandits:
"I see trees of green, red roses too,
I see them bloom for me and you,
And I think to myself..."
And 800 Londrinians belted out:
"WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD!"
(Update: We Have All The Time In The World was the Louis Armstrong James Bond song. The shame! etc.)
Quite a few yonks later I dipped into a Spotify compilation by Tracyanne Campbell (I think our dear Carey Lander had shared it) and one song jumped out: "Listen" by Paul Bryan (real name Sérgio Sá). I ordered the album "Listen Of", re-released on Sonar Kollektiv. You should too.
Back in Brazil, this time with Teenage Fanclub, Pedro Montenegro got in touch. He was interested in more of my Shoeshine pop. He also told me about some Brazilian music I should check out. The one Brazilian album I was able to turn him onto was "Listen Of".
Pedro now hosts BarKino - a Brazilian music show on Soho Radio. 3 weeks ago (and years since we had last corresponded) he dropped me a line to ask if I would choose a song to cover from "Listen Of" for his radio show. I nearly declined. But Scottish self-deprecation made way to another train of Scottish philosophical thought; "F**k It - Why Not?" .
Last night, as I type, Pedro played my version, along with a few other projects with which I have been involved (Speedboat, Nice Man, Harry Pye).
Here's the link - https://www.mixcloud.com/sohoradio/barkino-14092020/
The whole show is worth a listen but at around 1hour50seconds you'll hear my stab at "Listen", and at around 1hour6mins12 seconds Pedro gives his take on me and my trip to Brazil. His pronunciation of 'Sauchiehall' alone is worth the price of admission.
Some memories feel like a tree falling in the middle of a forest. How gratifying when someone pops up 17 years later to say, "Oh, I heard it too."
Me: Oh! And then there was that time...
Blog reader: zzz....
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