i met edward ball last night.

[che]

i scared him.

[che]

+ alan mcgee too. we chatted for 3 minutes. although, after the first 3 seconds it was already clear that he was a twat.

[gillworm]

I can vouch for both of the above statements, he scared the shit out of both of them. And neither appear to respond to statements of adoration such as 'you've written one of the most beautiful songs ever' or 'when I was 12 I wanted to be you'...

Edward Ball played the favourites - Controversial Girlfriend, Love is Blue, Mill Hill Self Hate Club - plus a very amusing version of I Helped Patrick Magoohan Escape where he did the gravelly voice excerpt from the Prisoner himself! he also played what he said was a new song, so I guess there's new material in the pipeline.

seemed like a really modest guy, just him and his guitar and loads of thanks. shame about the lighting, he had skulls projected all over him (it was Death Disco night), which sort of clashed with the rather sweet nature of what he was singing. good gig. but if you ever go to the Notting Hill Arts Club, avoid the food, it's terrible!

[Melz]

From an interview with Ed Ball on the Creation website:

YOU TOURED WITH THE BOO RADLEYS AFTER THEY RELEASED GIANT STEPS. WAS THAT A GOOD EXPERIENCE?

Touring with those Northern souls was a beautiful experience. I owe Martin no small debt for inviting me to join his concert party, as I probably wouldn't have made it through the next three or four years. When they first visited the offices in '93 I liked them straight away, enjoying Martin's humour and the dynamic within the group. These were difficult days for me, having come out of an extremely intense relationship, being three stone overweight and fighting an escalating obsession with acid and amphetamine.

The Boos had had a fairly rotten time of it too, nailed in a shoegazing coffin. But Martin had come up with 'Lazarus' and the boys made 'Giant Steps' which set them up for a spot of real contender stuff and a See the World touring-type scenario. Only they needed a keyboard player. Dick Green, suggested me. Martin called, but I initially turned him down due to a lack of live practise, a massive lack of confidence and good old fashioned drug paranoia. We compromised, agreeing that I would go up to Liverpool to make up the numbers for an audition.

I remember that day well. Arriving at the rehearsal studios, I sauntered in, expecting to see all sorts of geezers and hairys with black and white notes on their lapels like Morgan Fisher. But there's only the Boo Boys, two against two on a bar football game. I ask Martin have I got the day wrong. Through a cloud of cigarette smoke he informs me to stop arsing about cos he's busy right now, that the keyboard's in the other room and would I be a good chap and learn the songs in time for tomorrow night's show in Glasgow. But not quite as nice as that. And that was the nice bit.

Later that night, after beers at the Crack, they jump me armed with garden shears and a blunt pair of crocodile scissors, surgically removing my leather cap and hair, such as it was. One moment I was Joe Orton, the next, Colonel Kurtz! The horrors!!

It was around this time also that Oasis signed to Creation (I'd still been an office wallah when they'd first visited Hackney) and they supported us on a few shows, the first of which was the Tramshed, Glasgow. Still bearing the scars from the previous night's scalping, I reacquainted myself with the chaps. Noel, once he realised who I was, as before and ever since, was friendly and polite. But Liam! He was something else!! It felt like an automatic bond. As if we'd been friends since knee high. And he's never changed.

Things took on an extra-surreal quality when the Boo's next single went Top Ten and the album "Wake Up!" went number one nationally. Particularly surreal as I started trading in false particulars, pulling chicks as the "lead singer", despite being a foot taller and a decade older than the lovely and ever-faithful Sice (as indeed all the band were). Feeling on the verge of another metamorphosis, I started writing with a degree of reality that I hadn't achieved for more than a decade. And with just these new songs, I requested - and was granted a 20 minute solo spot before the Boos every night.

I remember soundchecking 'The Mill Hill Self Hate Club' on a stage somewhere on the planet for the first time, Martin striding out of the dressing room arriving nose-to-nose, engulfing me in the obligatory plume of smoke, asking, nay demanding "Where the fuck did you get that? That's brilliant!!" Aah, music to my ears . . .
_________________
"It's too beautiful to stay inside..."

[discoRdance]

talk about topical bumping.


did I read that right... Oasis supported the Boos?