The BedRock Newsletter Archives

B E D R O C K
(The Band In The Sand)

- Disturbing The Peace Since 1994! -
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www.bedrockband.com
Bassman8655@hotmail.com
PO Box 1225 Oranjemund Namibia
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No 3 /2002 14 April 2002
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CONTENTS

1. Editorial
2. Stop Press
3. Some (More) Useless Facts About Bedrock
4. This Edition’s Recommended “Read”
5. On The Turntable
6. Our Website Tip
7. Voicebox

1. EDITORIAL

Greetings everyone and welcome to our third Newsletter which, we trust, you’ll find of interest. Since Eddie’s return from recuperation we’ve been surprisingly busy. Our first live gig since Eddie’s return was at Rumours pub in Luderitz on Easter Saturday. As luck would have it Luderitz, which doesn’t any form of live entertainment from one year to the next, ends up with two live bands for that night. A short distance up the road fellow Namibian outfit, CHICKEN, were performing for a dance at the German Club. Still, it would appear that we both managed to satisfy our clients, although CHICKEN definitely had a longer drive than we did! In the true spirit of the Brotherhood of Musicians, Pete and Eddie dropped in on CHICKEN’s soundcheck and, later that night, a few of the respective bands’ members did a bit of late night “bonding”, Luderitz style!! Last night we played our first live gig in Oranjemund this year but have a full programme of commitments taking shape ahead of us. These include potential dates in Cape Town and Johannesburg so you out-of-towners (out of Oranjemund town, that is) be reminded to watch this space and our website for confirmation of our upcoming gigs.

2. STOP PRESS

RECOVERY Has A Make-Over

The packaging for RECOVERY, Bedrock’s last CD release has had a bit of a make-over and now sports a fancy yellow splash on its front cover trumpeting the success the opening track “Rock ‘n Roll Man” has enjoyed. It was also a good opportunity to have the product bar coded and the defunct web address on the back page replaced with our new URL. Finally, a few of the typographical errors which escaped the eagle eyes of a number of proof readers were corrected. It is hoped, especially with the bar coding having been acquired, that more chain stores will be prepared to carry the CD as a stock item.

If you have yet to invest in this fine piece of original rock music pieces, just drop us a line and, for the princely sum of N$70.00 or R70.00 (or equivalent) plus postage we’ll have a copy heading your way. If price isn’t a factor, you can also order your copy of www.oneworld.co.za

BEDROCK Merchandise Available Now!

As we indicated in our last Newsletter, our most recent consignment of BEDROCK merchandise has arrived. We now have available, with prices excluding postage, the following:

BEDROCK Supporters’ ‘T’ , black with white lettering…………………..N$/R80.00

BEDROCK Baseball caps, imported curved peak with white lettering……N$/R50.00

BEDROCK Bumper stickers, red & black lettering on white background…N$/R2.00
(There is a selection of bumper stickers with the following choice of wording:
· BEDROCK (The Band In The Sand)
· BEDROCK www.bedrockband.com
· I AM OFFICIAL BEDROCK SUPPORTER
· BEDROCK (Some People Will Listen To Anything!)
· Licence disk holder with wording BEDROCK (The Band In The Sand)

Photographs of this fine merchandise will shortly be posted in THE SHOP section of our website but, if you’re to excited to wait, place an order by e-mail and we’ll get your request to you as soon as possible.

Melanie The Idol?

Those of you who have been receiving these Newsletters since their inception will recall that, in our first edition, we put in a good word for local band – albeit now defunct – ICHABOD. Interestingly enough the band’s former front female singer, Melanie Lowe, has been having a good run in the South African version of the television music competition, IDOLS. Portents are that Melanie has – or is about to be? – eliminated but, whatever, you sounded great so keep going girl!

3. SOME (MORE) USELESS FACTS ABOUT BEDROCK

· The opening song of BEDROCK’s first ever gig was Neil Young’s ‘LIKE A HURRICANE’. The song became the band’s standard opener for a couple of years with the vocals being taken over by Charlie Piggott after Pete Krog’s departure.
· For a number of years the band performed a song called ‘NELLIE THE ELEPHANT’ which called for Charles Piggott to strip of his clothes during the course of the song. Clothes? Well…shirt! Clothes sounds better. Kind you, if the song had more verses it might have led to all “clothes”! ‘NELLIE’ was usually the last song of the night, or pretty well close to that stage.

· Very few of the songs that featured in the band’s original repertoire are still being performed by the band. Those that have survived are, generally, evergreens which audiences are inclined to ask for.

4. THIS EDITION’S RECOMMENDED READ

THE ULTIMATE DOORS COMPANION by Doug Sundeling. Published by Sanctuary.

This book’s approach is an interesting one, particularly for those of us who have written just about everything written about the Doors. Owning – and being extremely familiar – with the band’s six studio albums will make the reading of this work appreciably more enjoyable. Sundeling has taken a very academic approach to his subject and carves and dissects the minutest of detail trying to piece together the “meaning” of the various songs. Predictably he concentrates primarily on Jim Morrison’s thought processes endeavours to interpret his life, emotions and perspective at particular phases of his life from the content of each of the albums. As entertaining and intriguing as Sundeling’s work is, one is not entirely convinced that his theories are accurate despite the case he builds for his submissions and conclusions. The bottom line is that the Lizard King is long gone so the best that the rest can do, no matter how well read or versed we are on the man’s life, is to speculate what was going on in that mind of his. Still, The Ultimate Doors Companion does provide some fresh ideas and perspectives to add to whatever mix you’ve created for yourself so go out and enjoy it.

5. ON THE TURNTABLE

Local Sounds

· The Best Of Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse

This fifteen track release provides an excellent musical chronicle of Sipho’s career and achievements to date. From the classy opening track, “Burn Out”, the listener is treated to a wide spectrum of different styles and tastes that Sipho has sought to satisfy during his extensive career. It is unlikely that every track will appeal to the listener but, as an illustration of Sipho’s diversity, it is an excellent product.

International Sounds

· Hatful Of Rain (The Best Of) – Del Amitri (A&M)

This album features a selection of many of the band’s best known songs and is good, old fashioned, uplifting pop music which these young Scottish bands seem to do so well. There is much about De Amitri that reminds one of their countrymen, The Proclaimers. Having said that, the track listing isn’t terribly well balanced as most of their upbeat numbers are placed in the first half of the album. The result is that the second half of the album tends to be a little slow and quiet. On the other hand, listeners might be ready for bit of gentleness after the opening salvos! The band has had numerous changes of personnel and today comprises Kris Dollimore on guitar, Mark price on drums, Iain Harvie on guitar, Andy Alston on keyboards and Justin Currie on bass with the latter being the inspirational force in much of their songwriting.

· Zoom – Electric Light Orchestra (Epic)

Finding this unheralded recent release from Mr Lynne will be a real treat for ELO adherents. In fact, since the demise of the original ELO (succeeded by the mediocre ELO Part II), many of us thought that Jeff Lynne had gone into semi-retirement, apart from collaborative efforts along the lines of the Travelling Wilburys and George Harrison’s “Cloud Nine”. Yes, and throw in a couple of solo albums for good measure. Lo and behold if the dark bespectacled and hairy Lynne doesn’t turn up with virtually a one-man ELO band. Lynne’s virtually produced this recording on his own, save for the odd guest appearance by Ringo Starr, George Harrison and celloist. There is always something incredibly familiar about Lynne’s music and so many of his tunes remind one of “something else”. It’s that quality which makes his material so “listener friendly”. So, if you’re an ELO fan get out that and ZOOM along to wherever it takes you!

5. OUR WEB SITE TIP

Five Of A Kind at:

www.fiveofakind.cjb.net

6. VOICEBOX

All quiet!

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BedRock - The Band in the Sand
http://www.bedrockband.com
mailto:bedrock@bedrockband.com
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