Leyland Accordion Club - 10th November 1999
Our November club night was our second birthday and we had a great time, we made an excellent start with Dugald Mcallum playing Java Of The Aces, Fordham Two Step and The Express Polka, I think anyone looking to learn good technique cannot go far wrong if they watch Dugald. I followed Dugald with Whispering Hope and Can't Help Falling In Love, if you want to learn good playing techniques you cannot go far wrong watch…. No forget that bit. I then brought Basil on to the floor and told him that I had played really slow tunes so he will sound fast. Basil then speeded things up by playing S'wunderful, Dancing In The Dark and September In The Rain. I forgot to credit Basil with playing anything last month, he did play but when I wrote the newsletter I seemed to miss him out, sorry Basil. It was time for our guest artist Steve Roxton to play. Steve started with Under Paris Skies and then, after introducing himself, continued with Whistling Rufus and Fields Of Athenry which is the title track of his forthcoming CD. He then continued with Plaisance Fox which the Scots know as Happy Hours, that accordion standard Luci E Ombre, After All These Years and then for Len Hall he played a Mantovani Medley (consisting of Moulin Rouge, Fascination, & Charmaine). This was then followed by a Scottish Medley of Scotland the Brave, No Awa Tae Bide Awa, Stop Yer Ticklin' Jock, I Love a Lassie, Bluebell Polka and Reprise. Then it was old time Medley time with Who Were You With Last Night (I looked to see who stopped singing and started looking sheepish at this point!), Margie, Yes Sir That's My Baby and Swannee. Steve then played a Johnny Cash Medley consisting of I Walk the Line, San Quentin and Ring of Fire. .
Steve Roxton
It was time for the last medley before the break, this consisted of French pieces such as Un Gamin A Paris (which Steve also recorded for our 1999 club tape released this Wednesday), Le Denicheur and Reine de Musette finishing his first set with Under The Double Eagle We then had the break and I admired the cake brought by Harold Bleasdale. I did not believe him that he had made it himself and I found out it was his wife and youngest daughter who had kindly made it for us. Thanks to both of you for such a nice cake, it even had a dot on the C button on the bass, now that's attention to detail. After the break we started the second half with Tom Bennett playing Whiter Shade Of Pale, those of you with good memories will remember that when he first played this tune he made apologies in advance for any mistakes because he was playing from a faded photocopy of the music, well he must have been practising since then because he played it well. Ian Fralick was our next player playing a great selection of tunes including Only A Beautiful Picture, Wild Colonial Boy, Black Velvet Band, Come Back To Erin and Danubes Waves. Ian recently entertained his workmates by taking his accordion to work and playing for them, he was pleased with the response from people not familiar with the accordion, well done Ian, keep up the good work promoting our instrument. It was time for Steve to start his second spot with an Irish medley consisting of Macnamaras Band, If You're Irish, With My Shillelagh Under My Arm, Irish Washerwoman and Danny Boy. This was followed by the accordion favourites Bel Viso and Retour Des Hirondelles. Then Steve brought George Hicks/Ricardo on to the floor to play a medley with him, George plugged his internal microphones in to Steve's amplifier and then the two of them played a great non stop medley of Bless Em All, Que Sera Sera, California Here I Come, If You Knew Georgie, Ma She's Making Eyes At Me, Deep In The Heart Of Texas, It Takes A Worried Man, Freight Train, Sweet 16 and Keep Right On To The End Of The Road. There were great rounds of applause for George who played a mean accordion. Well done George. Steve then got the audience warmed up and swaying side to side with a German Bierkeller Medley consisting of Breudeline Drinking Song, In Munchen Steht and Roll Out The Barrel. The entertainment continued with The Entertainer, Fleur De Paris and then slowing down with Dark Island before speeding up again with Irish Rover. The next medley Love Letters In The Sand, A Certain Smile and Crazy was brilliantly sung by Steve and was well received. I then gave him the signal that we only had about ten minutes left to go, he then unplugged his accordion and strolled around the audience playing Bourrasque. After plugging his amplifier back in he continued with Monti's Czardas followed by a Round Britain Medley with instructions for people from each country to stand and salute their country when he got to playing a tune for it, when Irish Eyes was played George Ricardo stood and saluted to a round of applause this continued with We'll Keep A Welcome In The Hillside for Wales, Land Of Hope And Glory and Auld Lang Syne. The final music of the night was You'll Never Walk Alone and finally finishing with Goodbye (from the White Horse Inn). We had enjoyed a brilliant night and Steve had really played well, many people were asking him when they could buy his CD but it will not be ready until Christmas. There were many people wanting to talk to him as the club was emptying and we finally got out of there at midnight. The cake was cut up and wrapped and handed out at the door as people left. I had really enjoyed myself with a diverse range of well played music and entertainment, and to reassure those of you who asked me when he is coming back I have rebooked Steve to play for us again in 15 months time (March 2001). I look forward to this Wednesday when us amateurs can all have our ten minutes of fame and we can see each other for the last time before Christmas unless you are one of those who attend the practice nights. Players don't forget your accordion and make sure you write your name on the players list as you come in the door. See you there on Wednesday for once again another brilliant night of entertainment and a lot socialising.
David Batty
Our Internet Website
Our Internet website has had 18883 visitors as at 8th December 1999, that's 865 visitors since last month. Today we received this email "I have been a regular visitor to your site for sometime now and have never been disappointed. I met some people from Blackpool whilst they were over here in Brisbane on holiday and we became good friends. (we emigrated out here 30 years ago from Manchester). We found we had a lot in common when they knew I played the accordion. They said a friend of theirs played the accordion and they would ask him for some music to send to me, which they did. Imagine my surprise when their friends turned out to be your Jay and Jeff. Thank you, your guests and all your artists for the pleasure your site has given to me. Best wishes to everyone for Christmas Chris Lawler & family, Queensland, Australia." Then I received this one from another accordionist and I fell about laughing "Hello David, I don't know if this will reach you or not. This machine of mine appears to have a mind of it's own. If it doesn't reach you give me a ring and I'll see if I can sort it out. I am still having problems with the gizmology." I don't know how I was supposed to know to ring him if it had not arrived! These words of wisdom came from our own Tom Bennett!. Steve Roxton now has his own site on the Internet at www.roxton.demon.co.uk the site is under development at the moment but is working. Steve will be selling his new CD's from the site shortly, I recorded 24 tracks for him here and made two CD's before he left on his way back to Jersey, and even though I say so myself the quality of the recordings is excellent. Some of you asked about copies of his CD's, I will have some sent to the club when they are ready for those looking to purchase a copy of either CD.
Membership Fees Due
Thanks to those of you who have paid your membership fees in November or sent them through the post recently, your label on this newsletter envelope will reflect this with xxx - 2000 where xxx is your membership number and 2000 is the year your membership covers, anyone with - 1999 or Non Member on their envelope still has this month and January to renew their membership and continue receiving the newsletter. If we can get half the memberships sorted out in December it will ease congestion on the door in January. I am writing a new piece of software which I should have running for January. This keeps track of all memberships and the sending of newsletters automatically. I will only need to write the newsletter, it will know who has paid and will also issue reminder letters etc. automatically. I am using something at the moment I wrote in Microsoft Access to do this but this new program will fully automate the process in a stand alone custom made program. This will save me about two hours each month having to update club records manually before the Access database takes over. If you notice weird letters or codes on your label do not worry, these will be codes the program uses to let me know postcode groupings and newsletter batches etc when I am stuffing things in envelopes. Your "xxx - 2000" bit will still be there to show your membership number & year paid for.
Millennium Bug
As I write this NASA are on the news waiting to hear from their Mars probe which should have touched down on the surface today (Friday), did you hear that they lost another one in September? The Mars Climate Orbiter burnt up in the atmosphere after a two year journey, it was not widely publicised but the reason was that when an engineer at NASA programmed vital information for putting the craft in orbit around Mars, the information was in Inches, Feet and Pounds instead of centimetres and kilogrammes. Nasa's official response was "People sometimes make errors"! Something else that gave me a laugh was that the computer systems in the Millennium Dome of all places were found to be not Year 2000 compliant and are currently being replaced! Their website was also found to be using faulty hardware and is being corrected so it does not fall apart on 1.1.2000. In another computer fiasco the Conservative party named and shamed the West Bromwich West Conservative Association for only having three members. William Hague used the figure to highlight the need for a membership drive, they then found out that the correct figure was 800 members and "computer incompatibilities" were blamed for the error. Was any of this in the Y2K leaflet you got recently? In my job I hear lots of these kinds of things that organisations usually keep quiet and I find they always give me a good laugh. I am looking forward to the year 2000 when we will hopefully have a lull in people telling us it's their last sale this century or last something this century until later in the year when it will all start again. It will be interesting to see what all these people or organisations do when they realise we are still in the 20th Century until the end of the year 2000 when the 21st Century and the Second Millennium really starts. It will be the start of all this Millennium hype and all those last of the Century adverts again next year L
Accordions For Sale.
Two accordions for sale, both with internal microphones, volume control and socket for Amplifier jack. The first a Casli has 37 piano keys, 3 voices, 5 couplers. This is an 80 bass 4 voice with 2 couplers and is offered at £250 without a case. The second accordion is a Sonola which is double octave tuned (the same type of tuning as my scandalli) 41 piano keys, 4 voices, 10 couplers. The bass side has 5 voices and 3 registers and is £500 complete with case. If anyone wants both accordions then the price is £675. Also on offer to the buyer of both accordions is NEW still in box nobels Steetman 10 portable power amplifier, mains or battery operated for £45 rrp=£70 Telephone Douglas on 0151 342 6817.
Player Wanted for Women Morris Dancers.
Newburgh Womens Morris Dancers want an accordionist to play with them, they meet at Wrightington Hospital Social Club at Wrightington on Tuesday Nights 7.30-9.00pm. If anyone would like to play simple tunes for a group of women dancers then contact Margaret Cartmel on 01257 462347
Agnes to Visit Perth Accordion Club In Australia
Agnes Mclaren made it to Perth Accordion Club in Western Australia and below is a photograph to prove it, Agnes spent the afternoon at the club, chatting to many people and then she borrowed an accordion and played a selection of tunes for them. Well done Agnes for comleting this pilgrimage, their email is on the club notice board on Wednesday. In the photograph it looks like she is having fun, and look she has legs, no excuse for jeans in future Agnes we can see you have legs. I am sure she will have lots to tell us on her return to the club this Wednesday. I am looking forward to interrogating talking to her about what the club in Perth is like and what she learned from her trip. I am also looking to seeing her photographs. This one came to me over the Internet from Perth Club itself and Agnes will only know of it's existence when she reads this newsletter! Hi Agnes.
Jeff Ward in hospital
Jeff Ward is now recovering well, he says he feels fine and he is looking forward to meeting everyone this Wednesday when he will be at the club showing you can't keep a good accordionist down. Well done Jeff.
Jacobs Join This Month
As last December we will be having a 'jacobs Join' this Wednesday, if anyone wants to bring any pies, sandwiches, sausage rolls or anything to add to Elaine's Buffet then please do, if we get the restaurant to put this on we would have to charge about £7 per person admission, this way we supply what food we can make, and if asked, we say everyone brought their own! .
Leyland Accordion Club Tape 2 Released
Wednesday sees the release of our second club tape which is a compilation of recordings made by our players to follow on from Volume 1 released last year. This tape consists of 26 tracks of high quality recordings from a number of our players who donated their time and effort to make this tape. It is ideal as a reference for players who will find something at their level to take inspiration from, it is also an ideal gift for anyone who likes real accordion music without multitracking or playing right hand only with an over loud drum machine like you find on many commercial tapes. I use these tapes to place adverts to publicise the club in the accordion magazines that are self funding because we sell some tapes at the same time. The tape costs £7 including postage or £5 if picked up from the club. Copies are being produced at the moment and will be ready on Wednesday in time for Christmas stocking fillers. We found Dorothy Holt last year when someone bought her a tape and a club membership as a gift, now she even attends practice nights, lets hope we find some more Dorothy's with this one.