RKmusic

Last night at the Oaks in West Hyde, I was priviliged to accompany Ed on guitar for the duration of his second set.

The gig was originally intended as a Fast Buck gig but Richard ( Dick Dastardly ) is currently out of action with a rib injury – Ooops ! – I’m starting to sound like one of those sports writers now !  Richard is therefore unable to perform keyboard duties at present, so when Ed asked me if I’d like to do a guest spot with him as a sort of Christmastime special, my enthusiasm levels, if measured in VU meter terms, lurched into the red !

Armed with my black Fender Stratocaster, matching Ed’s black Fender Stratocaster, ( perhaps we should have called ourselves The Black Strats … OK, maybe not … ) we kicked off the second set launching into one of my more familiar favourites, Bad Company’s ‘Can’t Get Enough’.  I soon found myself in less familiar territory with some of the subsequent numbers, having to concentrate hard in trying to follow what Ed was playing. I hope I didn’t put him off too many times with my errant chord changes – I don’t think I did too badly though overall.

Thanks to all the crowd for their support, particularly Tony and Richard ( affectionately known as The Buck-ettes ) who, from where I was standing, were more audible than I was !  Thanks to Les for bailing me out with his mic stand ( it must be catching ). Thanks to Mooooose for driving and helping me carry that weight ( a long time ) and for allowing me and Ed to shout “Moooooose” down our mics.

And of course thanks to Ed for his invitation to join him on stage. Hope to get the chance to play with him again sometime.

BFN,  Rob.

Those of you who attended the Jam Nights at The Rayners before it closed down may remember Bojan, a Hungarian bass player who was a regular at around that time. Well, Bojan made a permanent move back to his native Hungary on November 8th, so I’d like to wish him all the best for the future, as I ‘m sure will everyone who had the pleasure to meet him and play music with him. Good Luck Bojan.

Yes, what a night it was last night – mid November back in ’08 – Hmmm, doesn’t quite work really does it ? ! Thanks to everyone who came to see my perfomance at The Black Horse in Greenford last night. I hope you all enjoyed the set, even if I didn’t play any Franki Valli – don’t have any of his numbers in my repertoire – sorry ! !

Anyway, eventually me and Rosie arrived home at 1.30ish leaving everything in the car till tomorrow – “leave it till tomorrow to unpack my case” – so to speak. So, this morning, woke up, looked at the clock : “12.10” – WHAT ? ! ? ! – it’s not this morning, it’s this afternoon ! !  Got up PDQ and unloaded the car, leaving it all in a bit of a heap in the front room due to now being behind with my list of things to do, not least of which, going to visit Mumsie, who’s in hospital at the moment – sadly, not too well but recovering !

In between times, a new Riff Raff gig has been confirmed, despite reservations on the cash versus time and effort equation insofar as it relates to New Year’s Eve entertainment and all that !  Well, this is rip-off Britain I suppose !  The gig’s at The George in Kingsbury on New Year’s Eve. Details are on the ‘Gigs’ page.

I decided this week, on further developments to the up-grading of this website. Early next year I’ll be arranging an upgrading to the website and changing my now unusable Cubase system. Joel is currently very kindly investigating possibilities. Upgrading the cubase system will mean I’ll be able to do some more backing tracks ( maybe some Queen, perhaps some Tom Petty or even … Franki Valli ?? ) The website will be easier for me to manage. At the moment, Joel does most of it as and when time allows, especially when it comes to adding new photos and video clips. After the up-grade I’ll be able to manage more of the site myself. This should result in quicker and more frequent service for the benefit of all users. I’m starting to sound a bit like ‘Transport For London’ now or ‘Network South East’ ( used to be ‘London Transport’ and ‘British Rail’ in my day – you knew where you were then – mind you they were still crap ! ), so I think it’s now time to sign off.

Until next time,   BFN,   Rob.

So, another week whizzes by … and here are some highlights !

Last Sunday’s visit to the Shepherds Bush Empire to see a triple bill gig was indeed memorable.  First on stage were The Groundhogs.  Very loud and very samey. In short, I wasn’t that impressed !

Wishbone Ash were next and thoroughly ‘blew away’ the Groundhogs. This incarnation of the band is billed as Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash, and even though Martin Turner was the only original Wishbone on show, it didn’t detract from the quality of this band’s line-up. The two guitarists’ twin guitars were excellent and had the authentic Wishbone Ash feel, matched by their harmony vocals which backed Martin Turner’s front vocals – very tight and very good – incorporating four or five numbers from ‘Argus’ among their 45 minute set.

Then came Focus, surely one of the most unique bands ever to have graced a stage anywhere in the world. Thijs Van Leer (Keyboards, flute, vocals) and Pierre Van der Linden (Drums) remain from the band’s seventies heyday. The whole band was excellent and the sight of Thijs van Leer playing his trusty old hammond organ with one hand while holding and playing his flute with the other, was truly remarkable.

I hope I get a chance to see Wishbone Ash and Focus again one day and I’d recommend anyone who is remotely into this kind of music to go and see them too. Sorry, but The Groundhogs didn’t quite do it for me !

Hot off the press this week – ‘Riff Raff Live At Robfest 2008’ CD & DVD set. Its release ( to the Riff Raff boys at least ) is imminent, pending final packaging and quality control. So it’ll be available next week from me personally and from this website ( not in the shops – what do they know about retailing anyway ? ) so click on ‘contact’ and ask away.

Thursday was Jam Night at The Middlesex Arms. More people in attendance this week with one or two more musos, and even more music lovers and pop pickers enjoying the music too.

Last night ( Friday ) I did a repeat gig at the Oaks in West Hyde and despite it being a fairly quiet evening punter-wise, the few that were in attendance seemed to enjoy my offerings.  Thanks to Roger and friends for coming down too.

So that’s last week’s ‘RK Highlights Of The Week’ – a sort of a ‘TV Burp’ if you like – what’s in store next ? …. Who knows !

BFN,  Rob.

It’s been a fairly eventful past week one way or another, as I sit here reflecting and typing away, with the rain lashing down against the windows, on what is weather-wise, a rather miserable Saturday afternoon.

Last Monday I was confined to quarters with a cold so no work and no 5-a-side for me.

Tuesday saw the unusual occurrence for this time of year, of snow in October. I was out in it watching QPR beat Birmingham 1-0 with a DiCarmine wonder goal, struck from about 30 yards out.

On Wednesday Riff Raff were due to get together to rehearse but John was unfortunately struck down with a migrane, so our practice session was cancelled. Hope you’ve now recovered John.

By Thursday I had recovered sufficiently from my cold to enable me to play 5-a-side for two hours. And then of course, it was on to Jam Night at The Middlesex Arms ( click on ‘Jam Nights’ for details).

Friday night was ‘Fast Buck’ night at The Oaks and as per usual, Ed and Richard served up another entertaining evening. As you can see from my previous news item, I also picked up another gig – so bung it in your diaries and come down ( click on ‘Gigs’ for details).

Saturday – A day / night off from doing very much which is just as well with the aforementioned weather as it is – it’s really chucking it down as I type !

Sunday ( tomorrow ) – Going to Shepherds Bush Empire to see two of my old favourites, Focus and Wishbone Ash who are on with The Groundhogs, a band I’m not that familiar with.

So that’s it for now. Hope to see you soon !

Cheers,   Rob.

Here’s a message to all my loyal fans out there.

Unlike some other parties, I will be continuing to accept fan mail, with or without love and peace, for the forseeable future. Well, that’s if anyone does actually send me any in the first place of course. But just to reassure anyone who is considering sending me an e-mail, there’s no deadline of the Nth of October or November or whenever, and I will read them all, despite the massive quantities I may receive. Technical difficulties aside, I undertake reply to all e-mails in due course.

Seriously though, I am genuinely worried about Ringo. As a Beatles fan I wish him well, as I fear his recent outburst may be some manifestation of impending ill-health. I do hope I’m wrong.

Last night saw a strange evening at The Barley Mow in Shepperton. Me and Rosie went to see Fast Buck. They were on form as usual and as I sat sipping my half pint ( good beers at the Barley Mow ),  I was accossted by a lady, one of the locals / regulars presumably, unable to accept that I was out for a quiet drink and a listen to my favourite local act. Did she want my autograph or something ? … Which sort of brings me back to my opening point. Maybe Ringo’s right after all !

Thanks to everyone who came down to The Oaks in West Hyde on Friday night for my solo gig. Thanks also to Ed for his efforts in getting the gig. Members of Riff Raff made up part of the audience including John who is also currently persuing his own solo project, gigging last night ( Saturday ) which, despite a bit of pre-gig nervousness, went well.  Meanwhile, me and Rosie were at the Brighton Centre to see the Moody Blues – superb !

Riff Raff will be back rehearsing together very soon and I’ll be at Jam Night on Thursday. Hope to see you soon.

BFN,    Rob.

Hello ! It’s been while since I last wrote – as you can see from the date of the previous article below !

Well, there have been a few things going on one way or another. Jam Nights are still going well, although numbers are down a little as expected, due to people having the audacity to go off on their holidays.

Meanwhile, what about ‘Riff Raff’ then, eh !?!  Yes, it’s been a bit like when the Fab Four made Sgt. Pepper – low profile with not much happening – seemingly – and then WHOOOOOSH … or if you prefer … BANG – let ’em have it ! !  Unlike the Beatles though , who unleashed their new project on the world, Riff Raff exploded back onto the scene within earshot of the back gardens in a quiet corner of Ashford, and then in Wealdstone High Street. The locals didn’t know what had hit them !

This was illustrated when my amp blew up towards the end of the Wealdstone gig.  Friday night at The Shanakee saw some old friends from past Jam Nights and it was good to do a full ‘electric’ gig with my Riff Raff chums again. Everything seemed to be going pretty well until ten minutes from the end. My now infamous solo in ‘Hey Joe’  went from volume 15 to zero in 0.00000001of a second – I was left in absolute silence – just the plink plink of my pick thrashing against the strings in desperation and disbelief !

So there you have it  – Riff Raff, the band that blow up their amps !  Not really true though is it ?  I was the only one that blew his amp up – all the other Riff Raffs don’t blow theirs up like me – damn lightweights (except Derek of course  as he’s on drums … Hang on !  He uses a monitor !  He’s a lightweight too !) Perhaps Ian can be exempted from the ‘lightweight’ tag as he spent the following afternoon at the hospital with his bleeding swollen ears – bet you never thought you’d see the day when the keyboard player turned up to 15 as well. It goes to show that technology has marched on since ‘Spinal Tap’ – they thought 11 was loud – Huh ! We laugh at 11 in ‘Riff Raff’.

All this of course was preceded a week or so before by the 2008 ‘Robfest’, as mentioned earlier. The success of the annual Robfests continued with the ’08 edition, enjoyed by all present, as in previous years. ‘Riff Raff’ were the main minstrels with their usual blend of pop/rock, played acoustic style specially for Robfest -don’t want to annoy the neighbours with the ‘blow the amps up’ stuff.  Wait a mo – the neighbours weren’t at home – they were all at ‘Robfest’ !  Just goes to show doesn’t it, that all these bands around that people won’t cross the road for … with Riff Raff they do !

Eagle-eyed observers would have noticed that the stage area or gazebo was being filmed throughout. You’ll be pleased to hear that it has been anounced that there will be a DVD and CD out in due course. The forthcoming package looks like being most impressive. Even the press have already described it as “most impressive !”  To this end I’ve been assisting Joel, the project’s official media consultant, recording engineer, cameraman, media editor, webmaster  and publisher etc. in the production of this exclusive memoribilia package. When’s it available in the shops ? – I’ts not available in the shops !  It’s far too good for that. It should be ready for release on … watch this space.

On the subject of websites and Riff Raff, apologies if you’ve been trying to watch Riff Raff playing ‘Oh Pretty Woman’ on YouTube ( via the website or otherwise). Basically, the B@*~#@*S at YouTube have decided that there’s some sort of infringement of some copyright or other, even though there isn’t, so they’ve pulled the plug on it – damned cheek ! ! Don’t they realise they’re risking incurring the wrath of the mighty Riff Raff – not a good idea !  But don’t worry. As someone once said, “I’ll be back !”  And it will !!

The website itself is still in ‘compromise’ mode until Joel carries out some more changes to it. When is this likely to happen ? … not telling you that yet either – not to be cryptic or anything, just haven’t got a clue when Joel can fit it in or how long the process will take.

Oh well, I think that just about covers the recent musical mayhem. Don’t forget to check out ‘Gigs’ and ‘Jam Nights’.

See you soon.   BFN,    Rob.

Hello – we’re back from the IOW.  Yes, me and Rosie are back from our week’s holiday in the Isle of Wight. Our holiday has come to an end for another year so here I am back home bashing away on my computer once again.

The weather was generally pretty good – sunshine for pretty much all of the week but tempered by a cold blustery wind. The food was good too with the highlight being ‘Curry Night’ at The White Lion in Arreton on Wednesday evening.

On a purely musical note, last Saturday we visited The Chine Inn in Shanklin where we saw Lewis Berry, excellent guitarist / singer  playing rock stuff.  Thursday night – we were entertained by cabaret artiste Glen Carrol at the Deck Inn Sandown.  Friday night it was down to The Old Comical in Sandown to see our old favourites ‘Skybus’ playing their blend of contemporary and classics.

Tracking down the sites of the original Isle Of Wight Pop Festivals of 1968, 69 and 70 have been something of a mild obsession in recent years and on this visit we managed to track down the site of the 1968 festival, something which has proved elusive up until now.  There will be more on the Isle Of Wight 68, 69 & 70 appearing on this website at a later date.

It’s a shame we’ve had to pack our bags and leave our base in Sandown, but It is good to be back from the IOW and home again.

BFN,                   Rob.

With the holiday season fast approaching, my long awaited week in the Isle of Wight is nearly here. I’ll be on the ferry tomorrow, with Rosie, us both looking out of the ferry windows at the rain chucking it down. – Of course not -rain indeed -it doesn’t rain in the Isle of Wight ! Suffice it to say, I won’t be at jam night next week, so Gavin is hastily arranging a guest performer for your enjoyment !

Last night’s jam night threw up one or two highlights, not least of which, the unique drum/percussion solo at the end of ‘You Really Got Me’. With me doing the vocals, Ted on Bass and Baz and Lenny on guitars, Jerome’s percussion found itself at the mercy of Jerome, Drew and Steve all at the same time, with Janif behind them, adding to the ‘funky’ rhythms on drums. ‘Banging on the bongos like chimpanzees ! (That keeps cropping up all over the place on this website !)  What a sound though ! Even Gavin thought it was “marvellous”.

It was good to see Alan taking time out from running the Woodman to play some bass, sing a couple of classics and of course play his trademark mandolin. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love the sound – nice colour too !

Talking of colours, the eagle eyed among you, like Lenny, would have noticed me playing my ‘brick red’ strat.  A rarity that, as I don’t take it out much. Having said that, now that I’ve had it set up again fairly recently, you might see it making a few more appearances in the future. It’s a bit of a rare animal in it’s own right, with it’s heavy duty Floyd Rose style trem, HH pick-up configuration and edge mounted jack socket. Can’t say I’ve seen too many guitars finished in this particular shade either – the odd Datsun Sunny here or there or the occasional Nissan Micra perhaps but not a Fender Stratocaster !

Anyway, enough of all this – I’m off to pack for my holiday !  Enjoy Jam Night without me and don’t forget … every Thursday at the Middlesex Arms, South Ruislip … and, yes, you guessed … it’s ‘marvellous !’

BFN,                     Rob.