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Lets hear it for Tony Franklin's incredible hair


toneknob

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9 minutes ago, Bagman said:

“I looked an  Australian car mechanic in the midst of some kind of mental breakdown “. 

 

Still an an upgrade on what Nick Beggs was styling

 

Tony Franklin's hair was a bit half-hearted compared to Nick Beggs' more extravagant effort! 

 

Edited by peteb
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1 hour ago, peteb said:

But could you really? 

 

Could you have put together an arrangement at a brief rehearsal and then played it the next day at a big one-off charity event, in front of a large crowd and TV / video cameras? Its one thing to say that, 'of course, I could have done it better than Tony Franklin, Dave Gilmour et al', its another thing for that claim to be credible. 

 

Given the circumstances that my band worked in at the time - practicing in the living room of my flat it would have taken us two to three days to put together something - after all the hard work of writing and arranging the song has already been done. Given the facilities that Gilmour et al would have had available, no problem. Also unless Kate Bush was a very last minute addition, I'm sure that they would have had more than a day to work something out.

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1 hour ago, peteb said:

 

But could you really? 

 

Could you have put together an arrangement at a brief rehearsal and then played it the next day at a big one-off charity event, in front of a large crowd and TV / video cameras? Its one thing to say that, 'of course, I could have done it better than Tony Franklin, Dave Gilmour et al', its another thing for that claim to be credible. 

 

 

I think that everything you mention makes it easier. All the musicians have to do is learn the song and turn up and play it. They don't have to worry about bringing a PA and getting a decent FOH sound, they don't have to worry about promoting the event and/or selling tickets, and they will have nothing to do with setting up and operating the TV cameras.

 

As for the song itself, we're hardly talking Stanley Clarke levels of virtuosity, any half decent bass/guitar/keys/drums player should be able to nail it.

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The biggest improvement they could have made to the version in the OP would have been to bin the guitar part and play it on a synth like on the recording, after the vocals it's the most important thing in the arrangement. It's hardly a difficult part and even Mr Gilmour should have been able to manage it.

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20 hours ago, peteb said:

 

Do you seriously think that in 30 years time people won't be laughing at pictures of young guys with tattoos on their necks and full, bushy beards? 

 

Oh heck...🙈

Edited by bagsieblue
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20 hours ago, peteb said:

 

Franklin's rather extravagant haircut was merely a product of the time. in fact, I sported something quite similar around that period. Do you seriously think that in 30 years time people won't be laughing at pictures of young guys with tattoos on their necks and full, bushy beards? 

 

Of course not, the hipster beard is the fashion trend that will stand the test of time.  A style for the ages.  If not, we just need to wait for it to come around again.  Like the mullets that are suddenly everywhere...

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1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

Given the circumstances that my band worked in at the time - practicing in the living room of my flat it would have taken us two to three days to put together something - after all the hard work of writing and arranging the song has already been done. Given the facilities that Gilmour et al would have had available, no problem. Also unless Kate Bush was a very last minute addition, I'm sure that they would have had more than a day to work something out.

 

50 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

 

I think that everything you mention makes it easier. All the musicians have to do is learn the song and turn up and play it. They don't have to worry about bringing a PA and getting a decent FOH sound, they don't have to worry about promoting the event and/or selling tickets, and they will have nothing to do with setting up and operating the TV cameras.

 

As for the song itself, we're hardly talking Stanley Clarke levels of virtuosity, any half decent bass/guitar/keys/drums player should be able to nail it.

 

43 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

The biggest improvement they could have made to the version in the OP would have been to bin the guitar part and play it on a synth like on the recording, after the vocals it's the most important thing in the arrangement. It's hardly a difficult part and even Mr Gilmour should have been able to manage it.

 

You have to remember that Bush and Gilmour would have been asked to participate in an event that they supported (The Secret Policeman's Ball) and put together one song. KB may have sung a duet with someone else (not sure if she did on this one or not). They would have thrown together a bunch of musos that they had been working / drinking with, to perform one song.

 

Remember, this isn't a bunch of kids in a bedsit - it's a bunch of top players, some of whom are very well known. Time is money at this level and, more to the point, everyone is very busy. This is a cause they support, but it isn't vital to their careers and the point is to show their face They would have done one rehearsal, worked out what they were going to play and then, probably gone to the pub. 

 

They were never going to not feature DG playing guitar, as he was arguably the best known person worldwide on the stage (certainly the most successful). It was a throwaway, one off performance - a chance to play with friends and support a good cause. I thought that it was fine for what it was, although of course, it was never going to hit the artistic heights of BRX and his chums in their bedsit. 

 

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19 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

 

 

 I thought that it was fine for what it was, although of course, it was never going to hit the artistic heights of BRX and his chums in their bedsit. 

 

 

But it so easily could have done, and that's the point.

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It’s a reasonable song (I’m not a Kate Bush fan) played at a one-off event. For whatever reason the original arrangement wasn’t copied, possibly to accommodate David Gilmour, but to my ears it sounds OK. And it is done and dusted a very long time ago (and in the late 80s for chrissakes). I’d really, really love to hear some of the people on here nail the performance on the day with their bedroom bands… dream on!

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2 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

It’s a reasonable song (I’m not a Kate Bush fan) played at a one-off event. For whatever reason the original arrangement wasn’t copied, possibly to accommodate David Gilmour, but to my ears it sounds OK. And it is done and dusted a very long time ago (and in the late 80s for chrissakes). I’d really, really love to hear some of the people on here nail the performance on the day with their bedroom bands… dream on!

 

"some of the people on here" are regularly gigging musicians who often learn a song and nail the performance.

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1 minute ago, MacDaddy said:

 

"some of the people on here" are regularly gigging musicians who often learn a song and nail the performance.

 

But there are differently levels of musicians and what constitutes 'nailing a performance'. I'm guessing that I probably play at a higher level than a lot of 'the people on here', but I'm no Tony f**kin Franklin...! 

 

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36 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

But there are differently levels of musicians and what constitutes 'nailing a performance'. I'm guessing that I probably play at a higher level than a lot of 'the people on here', but I'm no Tony f**kin Franklin...! 

 

 

You don't have to be Tony Franklin to play 'Running up that hill', and play it well.

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1 hour ago, MacDaddy said:

 

You don't have to be Tony Franklin to play 'Running up that hill', and play it well.

 

That's true, but there are different levels to what is considered to be playing it well. I might claim to be on a higher level than a lot of guys that who play on the pub circuit and I have played a national circuit with people who have toured with household names, etc but there are guys who who will obviously get gigs way ahead of me to play on proper tours. The likes of Tony Franklin will be at least a couple of levels above that. There's another level of musicians who can turn it on in a recording studio on demand (I'm not saying that Franklin isn't one of those guys). 

 

There's playing it well and there's playing it well... 

 

Edited by peteb
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My old ‘80s band covered RUTH and based cover on the OP version, although we used synth rather guitar for the motif. It appealed to me because of the fretless (our lead singer knew how to get me one side quickly 😆). I remembered it being easy musically, it was the harmony vocals that took the time (as ever). It made the set list, but didn’t seem to go over the way we thought it would, so we dropped it. It’d be a different story today I imagine. 

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I thought that was great.

 

Gilmour was a bit squeally, but lots of guitarists were in the 80s. Nothing offended me at all. Not even Tony Franklin's "tribute to Nik Kershaw" hairdo. It was live and rawer than the original, studio recording, but to get to the level of pernicketty perfection of "The Hounds of Love" would have taken a long time. Like, a really long time.

 

I'd take that version over Ms Bush singing over a backing track any date of the week/month/year.

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