Dave Coburn

Dave is a singer-guitarist from the past,now living in Suffolk. He doesn't play any more, but still remembers the 1970-1980 Folk era in Coventry with great fondness. I've been been chatting to his son, Mark recently. Mark is very interested in acquiring a vinyl copy of our mini-album "Roll It Up and Eat It" for his dad. ( He already has a copy of our latest CD and some radio interviews). Anyone who has a spare vinyl copy-Mark's prepared to pay good money for one. Please email me if interested.

Mark and I have also had a good reminisce about Steve Adams, and his album, which both of us have. Parrot once recorded some stuff with Steve at his place near Tamworth long ago. Wonder what happened to that? Mark and I are agreed that Steve's "Please Don't Leave Me " was a great favourite of ours.

Mark's been very busy shipping BPS stuff onto U-tube. You might enjoy this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWhx251CSq4

- it's one of several video clips loaded by various Parrot-minded folk. Some good, and some not so good.

( Also doing the rounds on Facebook at present is a clip of a BPS-Borderline Crossing collaboration " Bring It On Home," which is a real collector's item, filmed at Bedworth Rugby club only a few weeks back).


Mark's dad used to be a regular at The Pitt's Head Folk Club in Far Gosford Street, which was one of Pete Willow's many folk initiatives. There's a poster featuring this somewhere on this blog and also on our website. Dave remembers sitting in on some of our songs during Black Parrot Seaside's Christmas pantomimes there, which makes him an honorary Parrot. In particular he remembers that song we used to do about dysfunctional field mice sitting under trees. Very Dadaesque, that one. Another Christmas song featured lyrics about Dave himself and Pete. Utterly defamatory, of course. Happy Days. There's a line about "wallpaper" in "Septic Monkey" that goes right back to that room upstairs at The Pitts!

Footie and Folk on a Sunday

I notice that lots of Folkies on Facebook like to add their helpful tips on performance and songwriting to their profiles. Well,I can heartily recommend warming up the tonsils before a gig by standing on the terraces with 3,400 others singing "Storer is a Nutter." As a vocal warm up exercise it's really useful. Watching my beloved Nuneaton Borough slip bravely out of the Conference play-off final at Telford yesterday afternoon was emotionally draining. By the time I'd taken to the boards with Black Parrot Seaside a few hours later, my voice had dropped an octave with all the shouting-but it was an ideal way to round off a challenging day.

Last night saw us featured at the Styvechale Folk Club in Coventry. We brought along some musical "friends" in Jackie Shipley, Brian and Marie and Malc Gurnham. Lots of other floor singers turned up, making the evening kind of...interesting. We also brought along a sizeable part of the audience. I counted 21 who had definitely come to see us, and quite a lot more familiar faces in the crowd. That might be no big deal for Bellowhead, but it made it quite exciting for us and enhanced the chorus singing! There were several Parrot Virgins (in the musical sense) there last night too. As always, it is great to look out at an audience and see the mix of emotions unfolding on their faces as our set gets into its stride. ("Did they really just sing that?" " Why is he putting on a high-visibility jacket?" " Good God No! Not a Beyonce cover?")
As a rock band, "Small Maladjusted and Mean" was often (literally) a show stopper for us. As Vance and I used to grapple over the drum kit at the Golden Cross or Warwick University,audiences were not always sure what was theatre and what was actually happening. " Bold Pirate" with it's abrupt ending is still in that genre.

For the rivet-counters amongst you, the set was:

Courting is a Pleasure*
The Odeon
Requiem for Steam*
Albert Balls
Coventry Lullaby
At The Septic Monkey
The Gravy Train
Black Jack David*
I'm only a Poor Little Rhino
Cockney Power
D.I.Y.

The usual eclectic mix allowing the boys to air their musical dexterity (!!) and yours truly to prance about like a fool. Those asterisked are to identify them as "folk songs" as someone last night incorrectly said that we don't do any. Perhaps that was tongue in cheek. If it wasn't, it's just wrong. Incidentally, "Courting" and "Requiem" are as sad as any finger-in-the ear laments about dockside farewells or the Brig Levantine sinking with all hands off a Cornish reef. (Perhaps people should listen to the words?). But you can have enough of that kind of thing, and three hours of hand-wringing, wailing and mourning can tax all but the purist. Which is why we mix it around a little, and always will do.

Next up is an appearance at "The Boat" (Newbold) in June, and hopefully a set at one of Nuneaton's many fine Real Ale pubs.

Many many thanks to those who sang, laughed and joined in with us last night. And to Rob and Karen for inviting us.