This marvelous triple C.D.
collection is a fine example of what a
nice bunch of people live here in Pattaya.
The album was the brainchild of Rick Bryant,
who, after being nominated Musical Director
of the Jesters Care 4 Kids Charity Drive,
both at the fair (this year at Diana Driving
range on North Road Sunday 16th September)
and the Pub night (this year at Shenanigans
next to the Royal Garden Plaza 2nd Road
on Saturday 22nd September), came up with
the idea of recording a C.D. live to promote
this year’s events, and hopefully raise
a bit of cash for the Jesters Charity
Drive as well.
Pattaya’s finest musicians were assembled,
a mobile recording studio engaged, the
pub stage booked, and the vision turned
into a reality.
Friday 3rd May is the official launch
party for the C.D. (or today, if you’ve
bought this newspaper, the day it officially
comes out). The same musicians have bonded
back together again to give us the same
show at Shenanigans - with a few extra
surprises thrown in.
The C.D. will be available for purchase
at the concert. What you get for your
buck is three C.D.’s of wonderful music
all clocking in at ‘over the hour’ mark
taking. You back to the glorious days
of Pub Rock in the mid-seventies, when
the talents of bands like “Dr. Feelgood”,
“Chilli Willy and the Red Hot Peppers”,
and “Ducks Deluxe” trod the boards of
London Pubs.
The first C.D. features the multi talents
of Irish singer/guitarist Declan. He plays
a superb collection of acoustic songs
including his version of “Walking Stick”,
which Declan has turned into his own,
showing off not only his strong voice,
but his unique guitar style.
C.D. two, perhaps the meat of the concert,
is where “Pops Pattaya All Stars” are
joined on stage by Musical Director and
driving force Rick Bryant. His guitar
style has been viciously ripped off by
Keith Richards and Harpic (so called as
she drives husband Rick round the bend)
on vocals. These songs wonderfully show
off Harpic’s vocal range, with the amazing
Jill Thomas on keyboards and vocals. The
song “So Young”, originally by “The Corrs”,
shows off all facets of the band with
its acoustic intro, swirling keyboards,
the intertwined lead vocals of Jill and
Harpic, Pop’s explosive guitar, and the
rhythm section creating layer upon layer
building the song to a frantic peak, only
to be taken a step further when Mott the
Dog joins in on backing vocals to push
the band to even higher peaks to drown
out the dogs howls. The double bass drum
play of Kae would be the envy of any powerhouse
drummer.
The third C.D. is left to the talents
of Pops Pattaya All Stars, who bring the
show to an exciting conclusion with a
selection of Rock & Roll standards,
where you can actually hear band and audience
having the time of their lives. When the
whole band launch into “Wild Thing”, it
is as exciting as Rock ‘n’ Roll gets.
But to give you the complete story I shall
reprint Rick’s page from the marvelous
8 page colour booklet you get with the
box set:
“A live album to raise money for the Jesters
‘Care for Kids’ Charity” I said. Just
another idea like so many, which is dreamt
up late at night over yet another bottle
of beer. However, on this occasion, rather
than falling on deaf ears, a certain Mr.
Kim Fletcher was amongst us at our table.
This man with enough enthusiasm for all
of us put together threw in a few ideas
and suddenly it all seemed possible.
And so the idea was hatched. All we needed
was a few musicians, a good PA system,
a Sound Engineer, something to record
it on, and a venue to do it.
Musicians would not be a problem, as I
knew I could ask Pop and his band to come
and help. (I.e. take them away from their
job for the evening, which feeds their
families and ask them to work for nothing.)
Once again the very generous Kim came
to our aid and not only offered the use
of ‘Shenanigans’ for the venue but also
to cover the cost of the evening.
Rather than having just the one band I
was determined to make the evening a mixed
and varied affair. So I approached Declan,
a very popular local performer, who I
knew would entertain the crowd. That was
it really. The date was set and the rest
is history as they say. The performances
were recorded and if you are reading this,
they must have made it on to C.D. However,
don’t expect a multi-million pound production
here. This is just as it was on the night
with no overdubbing and a raw live sound,
which captures the atmosphere of the occasion.
Finally it’s down to thanking so many
people for their support on the actual
night. Top of the list has to be Kim Fletcher
and all his tireless staff at Shenanigans,
the musicians Pop, Kae, A, Baem, Jill
and Declan; the sound crew Piek and Baem;
Blowfly and Jon Wilson for the great photographs
taken during the evening; Roger Brown
for his tremendous efforts to compile
the graphics and for the video; Francois,
Rian, Liesl, Pierre and Phil Mollens representing
South Africa; Pablo, Gustavo, Franco,
Gonzales, Vanessa and Maria representing
Argentina; Stefan, Dorothia, Evelyn and
Vincent representing Belgium; Ib, Kanika,
Walter, Oiy and friends from the Captains
Corner; Gethan and Marade; Pinty; Roger;
Aom and Om; Jeremy Coles; Dr. Iain and
Peter from the Pattaya Mail; Mark; Phil;
Lisa; Karen; Graham; Ung and Au, who always
make it but had to miss this one; Lewis
"Woody" Underwood and Graham
McDonald from the Jesters Care4Kids Charity
Drive 2002 committee, and last but not
least everybody too numerous to mention,
who helped to make the night so special.
That just leaves Harpic, who I would like
to thank for trusting me when I told her
8 years ago that she could sing, and hopefully
she now believes me.
Thanks for buying the C.D. and giving
your support to the ‘Care for Kids’ Charity.
A 3 C.D. set for 350 Baht
For more information about the Care 4
Kids Jesters Charity Drive please look
up their website at
http://www.care4kids.info.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
