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New album from Fish

Started by funkster, Thu, 2007-01-11, 19:32:29

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funkster

As theres been so much discussion on album titles, Fish's album is entitle Thirteenth Star, and it fits with the Clutching at Stars Tour he has planned, full message below:

Dear FishHeads, Freaks, fans and The Company,

First of all a very happy New Year to one and all!
I just got back from Oslo yesterday after playing a TV show on Saturday in
Hammer with the SAS band. It was the Norwegian Sportsperson of the year
awards beamed out live to 5 million viewers and attended by HRH the
Princess of Norway.
It was the first time I'd played with the SAS guys and gals for over a year
so the meet up at London Heathrow on Friday was 'emotional' 
I was still lurgied up with a virus which has been hanging about since my
last shows and I was worried that this latest recurrence would be a real
problem with the gig. I nursed my way through the Friday night rehearsals
and into my bed despite the Sauron like enticement from Andreas and the
visiting Vikings at the hotel bar. I really felt the benefit for the long
sleep the next day and drew some jealous glances from the members of the
dawn patrol who had foolishly followed the flame in a country where a round
of drinks is a small mortgage.
Our spot was only 7 minutes during which time we raced through a medley of
"Kayleigh" (one verse and a full chorus before a few bars of guitar and
then...), Paul Young sang "Everytime you go away" (roughly the same length
and with a beautiful crossover from the 'K' solo into the opening riff)
before Kiki Dee sang "I got the music in me" to bring our contribution to a
quick climax! We were supposed to sing "Don't go breaking my heart" but the
TV slot was too tight.
I sang "Sweet Home Alabama" as a warm up song off camera to the 5000 or so
attendees in ball gowns and evening suits before the show went live on air.
It was quite a daunting affair and despite the lingering flu your boy did
well! 
Funniest moment was when immediately before our performance and during the
presentation of an award to the Norwegian female handball champions a
member of the team dropped the large glass "snowball" like award on the
floor! A stunned silence followed by a rolling ripple of embarrassed laughter.
Best moment was meeting HRH in the corridor outside the dressing rooms as
Paul Young and I headed for the free drinks trolley.
We were stopped by her security as she talked to some Norwegian artists and
were then taken aback when she came across to congratulate us on our
performance. She was totally charming and admitted to knowing the songs
well from the 80's talking to us for over 5 minutes about what we thought
about Norway etc. It all came to a halt when I mentioned the last Scotland
Norway World Cup qualifier in Oslo :-!  All in all I was truly impressed
with her down to earth nature and friendliness. A very cool lady!
After the TV show the VIP party was our next destination and with no more
pressure I could "relax" a bit. We all got very "relaxed" and Spike in his
position as leader had negotiated free bevvy in exchange for a couple of
songs at the bash. In Norway nothing to be sniffed at! That's more in
financial terms than most bands get for a club gig! I avoided the ensuing
enthusiastic jam come renditions of various classics until it was too late
and belted through "Alabama" again. I was just leaving the stage when Spike
decided to play "With a Little Help From My Friends". Too late, we were in
and I had forgotten all the arrangement. We sang mostly in slurred Albanian
and it was only when we reached the "scream section" that I realized that
I would have to catch a keyboard player, who had eaten more than his share
of turkey in recent weeks, in mid air as he grabbed the mike and went for
his "moment"! I saw the charge from the keyboards and held my arms in the
"allotted" position. He hit me like a bull and my knees buckled just as he
grabbed the mike and stand and slammed them off my bowed head while
bellowing in my ear.
The SM58 mike normally associated with dental damage scored my pink head
and left me with a mark which had the band calling me Mikhail Gorbachov
next day. It stung like buggery but that night I didn't feel the pain 
All in all a great weekend and a great chunk of profile in Norway.

And now!
Well Steve Vantsis arrives this weekend to begin the writing sessions on
the new album which will be called the "Thirteenth Star".
Mark Wilkinson and I already have the cover virtually worked out and I must
admit to being quite excited at the surge in activity around the project.
(You should know how I start these projects by now - album title, then the
cover, then the pressure to write the damn thing )
Dates have already been booked in September for the UK and October is
already nearly full with 9 Polish shows an indicator of where the positive
vibes have taken me from the "Return to Childhood" tour. This tour is
already named as the "Clutching at Stars" tour and with open air dates
already in the books this Summer it looks like a long one. The dates will
be announced once they are set in concrete and you can be sure of a long
promo on both the album and the tour.
The album is intended to be finished by July and released to retail around
October. Calum Malcolm is on hold to record the project here at the Studio
in May and June. The garage has been built and all the stock and
merchandise in the control room has been moved thereby clearing the space
for creative work. The old 'Helpenstill' baby grand piano we used to demo
"Vigil" back in 1989 is due for a service and tuning and is once again in
situ in the back of the room awaiting tinkling! Blown speakers are being
replaced and I am waiting on one of my crew to visit in the coming weeks to
plug in and rewire the desks and effects etc as well as go through the
buckets of cables currently shelved in the garage which is full to bursting
point.

I have had stock returning from my old label Voiceprint as well as
discovering old Roadrunner stock stashed away in cupboards I didn't even
know existed. This has resulted in a review of pricing and with Snapper
unleashing the entire back catalogue on digipaks we are trying to move the
remaining stock out to make space for the incoming new units.
These will soon become collector items as some of the old stocks will not
be repressed in those formats. For example I only have 300 "Vigils" in hard
cases left from Voiceprint pressings, 175 copies of "Suits", 125 "Exiles",
100 "old" Dick Bros "Acoustic Sets" (repackaged as the "Acoustic sessions
with other material), 75 or so of the original "Fishy Records"
'Outpatients' album and about 200 or so of the first "Dick Bros" issue of
the same album. Once sold "Outpatients" will be deleted as will "Kettle of
Fish".
I already have the Snapper digipak versions of "Vigil" available and I'll
be taking the new digipaks of "Internal Exile", "Suits" and "Sunsets" from
Snapper once I have sold off the old versions. The double live "bootleg"
series is also being reviewed and again prices have been slashed accordingly!
Elspeth and I will be conducting a full stock check in the coming weeks and
I will be able to give you an exact count of what units of what titles we
have in the older formats. As some of you have already noticed I have taken
the prices of some titles down dramatically in the last week or so to take
into account the current stock levels of some albums.
The same sales prices exist for the clothing range with "Return to
Childhood" tour Ts dropping in price in preparation for the new "Thirteenth
Star" campaign which will begin in the next few months.
Most of the DVD prices have also been greatly reduced to accord as have the
prices of "Masque". This is all part of the 'great re organisation' that
has occurred since Elspeth joined me and as the older stock clears the
overall picture will become a lot clearer as I move into the next studio album.

The next release of "new" material will be the "St Mary's acoustic set" (
no official title as yet!) in May to support the recording of "Thirteenth
Star". I don't intend to sell "13th Star" in advance and it will only be
available on mail order once it is manufactured. I do intend to go with
special packaging on the mail order sales and am considering bonus tracks
or other material as part of the offer to buy direct from the web site. Any
input is appreciated on this. It would be invaluable to hear what you want
from this (apart from a genuinely brilliant album which is high on my
priorities )

Regarding the newspaper "exclusive giveaway" of a 10 track cd, the whole
matter - as is the norm - has gone on hold and we await developments. I
have told the agency dealing with this that I intend to release the double
live acoustic CD in May and if they are on board then wonderful. If not I
am not hanging around waiting on a decision. I was disappointed with the
lack of response after the initial excitement and positive vibes but as
always the corporate machinery grinds unbelievably slowly and doesn't sail
on the same winds of enthusiasm as the artistic community.

With the announcement that downloads will be taken into account re chart
positions I am now aggressively looking for a company to handle this aspect
of my business and will be examining options in the next few weeks.

I was recently asked to join the "cross party members committee on
contemporary music" at the Scottish parliament and attended my first
meeting shortly before Xmas. This is something I think I will become more
actively involved in as the year progresses and it's importance will surely
grow as the parliament looks like taking on a far more important role in
Scottish affairs with the approach of new elections.
Another interesting door opens!

It's all looking good folks!
After a relatively quiet holidays which included Tara's 16th birthday
(needless to say I didn't see her much) we are all geared up for 2007 and I
more than anyone am looking forward to a brand new start,

Hope you had a good break and are fully prepared for what looks like being
a very eventful 2007!

until next time when I will have even more news for you 

take care and stay alive

love

Onkel Fish xx