It's that time, apparently.. and an apology
11.12.09 - Yes, the cicadas started shrieking their annual warning on Wednesday (nicely complementing my tinnitus) and the stench of Christmas '09 has become overpowering, so I'm just going to have to suck it in and get used to it all over again.
And, as the headline suggests, I owe some of you an apology. The Contact page has been out of action for probably some three weeks now - it took me a while to suss it out - and while I have a boffin investigating the problem, any mail sent during that time has been lost forever in cyber-space. If you feel the urge to deliver a quick metaphorical kick to my groin, try this address: [email protected]

Who said Rock was dead?

1) Hilary and Steve joined in The Trollops' shenanigans 2) A tender trap is sprung in the booth by Jen and Heather

4) Jen and Heather drag Bill into the frame and damn the torpedos 5) Robbo's happily surrounded by Lyn and Di

6) Spectrum trio and Trollops at the Last Supper (see large pic)

gig report
Manningham Club Hotel 20.12.09
Spectrum and the Last Supper at the Manningham Club Hotel
21.12.09 - Last Wednesday Daryl and I (and Craig Horne) had a meeting with the management at the Manningham to try and sort out their chronic lack of advertising, and yesterday I noticed there were large signs at both entrances declaring that 'Blues Bands' are playing in the Sports Bar on Sunday afternoons, so things are moving in the right direction. Mind you, there was virtually nobody in the room when we started playing, apart from Steve and Hilary (pic 1) and the Trollops, but the room filled quite quickly after that and we had a fun afternoon..
I'd invited Daryl to play with us this time by way of celebrating our last gig of the year, and while it's scarcely practical from the point of view of staging, (and money), it's more enjoyable playing with keyboards, (which is the original Spectrum manifesto after all), and we got to play Disco Dilemma again and experimented with But That's Alright.
After we'd loaded out, (my favourite thing to do), we retired to the Manningham's bistro and met up with Jen, Heather, Lyn and Lyn, Di and Jane (pic 6) and had a jolly time eating and drinking and wishing each other Merry Christmas before finally heading off in our several directions home. Maybe we'll see the Trollops at the Village Green on Sunday - but only if they can tear themselves away from Jimi Hocking..

Hotels, Motels declared Song of the year
16.12.09 - Amidst the growing clamour and tension that marks this time of the year, (the inscrutable slogan Mars Your Day comes to mind), it's good to remember there have been some satisfying moments over the course of the year. One was the overwhelmingly positive response to the YouTube clip of Judith Durham singing Summertime with Spectrum, an out-take from the under-appreciated TV show Wrokdown, (it's on Channel 31), and then there's the recent episode of RocKwiz with palpably ancient Mike combining sublimely with the too-young-to-be-my-daughter Jess Cornelius in an electric version of Roy Orbison's Crying, (two combinations incidentally I would never have predicted in a fit), and finally there's the unheralded and slightly more underground accolade for one of my songs in the annual Legsyboy's Big Ones 2009 review.
To briefly explain: Trevor Leedon is a piece of the Melbourne puzzle that sits temporarily in Sydney pining for a good coffee and trying to mollify the children who just want to go 'home'. Each year for the past several he's produced a lovingly written appraisal of what he's listened to over the past twelve months called Legsyboy's Big Ones, and it's vital reading for somebody like me who doesn't listen to nearly enough stuff and who values Trevor's eclecticism and fearless opinions.
Anyway, it's fair to say the two Breathing Space EPs thus far have attracted 'mixed' reviews, and given the nature of the project, I'd expect nothing less. But occasionally I reckon the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater and something of value has been overlooked. It takes a reviewer of Trevor's perspicacity to alight on a particular song and find something in it the artist absolutely intended - and, in the process, restore this writer's faith in critical mankind. Read on:
Song of the year
Sometimes you hear something and a wave of nostalgia engulfs you even though the song has nothing to do with you. Does that happen to you? I bought this EP you see and when track 2 played it literally swept me up. It HAD to be a true story ‘cos you simply couldn’t make up the storyline (and it IS!), and it made me feel like I was part of it and the sound took me back and….I can’t explain it and probably you won’t be able to either. But if you go out and get a copy of Breathing Space Too and go straight to Track 2 (it wasn’t meant to be like this, it wasn’t even the single!) you can listen to “Hotels, Motels” by Spectrum and very possibly be overcome just as I was. Subjective? Absolutely! Biased? Absolutely not! Simply outstanding Mike (and I can declare that I emailed you as soon as I heard it with these very sentiments).
He did too - elatedly. Thank you, Trevor. I look forward to the resumption of normal transmission at Choclatté in the not-too-distant..