BC: Well, just a few months ago, when G was on Rockline, TB announced that he would release a solo CD in North America sometime in the spring. Well, that time has come. _Still_, the fourth and brand-new solo CD from Tony, is his most approachable and cohesive to date. And let's head to 101 KLOL in Houston, Texas to welcome Mr. TB - Tony, good evening and welcome!
TB: Good evening to you! Thanks very much!
BC: Thanks, and on the CD, congratulations on it. I find it really enjoyable; I think it's your best of the four you've done so far. How do you feel about it?
TB: Well, I feel very strongly about it as well - I like it a lot. Whether it's the best, only time will tell, but I certainly like it a lot now.
BC: Why are you in Houston - why don't you inform our audience what you're doing there?
TB: That's a very good question. We're rehearsing here with G at the moment; we've found a place that's big enough to kind of hold our whole show, because we're doing a stadium tour, as you know. And we're using a blimp hangar, {BC laughs} which is the only place we could find that was big enough to hold it. It's actually a great place! We can get everything in there, we're able to kind of rehearse lights and things during the daytime. That was the idea of it.
BC: That's great. When you're in a blimp hangar to rehearse a show, you're talking a big production. Is it an extra challenge to do a stadium show? I mean, what can you give the guy in the last row when you're doing a stadium show?
TB: Well, that's what we're trying to do, really. The whole idea is to make the thing as large as possible, in a way - not just in sheer size, but in the way that it comes across. The problem with these kind of shows... in the past, what we tended to do is adapt an arena show and do it in a stadium. We're actually only doing a stadium tour this year, so this show is completely constructed for it. We're using the brightest screens we can get, which are these Jumbotrons, and I think the whole thing's going to be very impressive, actually.
BC: Well, the stadium tour begins at Texas stadium, in Dallas, on May 8th, and then to the Astrodome there in Houston, where Tony is located, on May 9th. Then there's some time off - what do you do when you have this time to fill in on a stadium tour? What do you like to do in between shows when you have a couple of days off?
TB: We don't normally get time in between... Originally, the plan was {that} we were going to rehearse in Texas, and then we were going to take some time off and then start the tour. But then the idea, obviously, manager's decision, was that we should do a gig at the end of the rehearsal period, and then the idea of doing Dallas and Houston seemed logical, obviously, to do them at this point, rather than later, because we were here already. So, really, that's the end of the rehearsal period. Then we go - I'm actually going home for about three or four days, and then coming back and starting the tour again - restarting, if you like - in Miami.
BC: Joe Robbie stadium on May 16th, as a matter of fact. Let's talk about your new CD, _Still_ - new in North America, anyway. It was released in Europe last year, I believe. There are actually *five* vocalists on this CD, aren't there?
TB: There are indeed. Well, if you can call me a vocalist, 'cause I'm one of them...
BC: Well, yes indeed, I do!
TB: The main reason for having the other vocalists, obviously, is because my own voice, I feel, is fairly limited, though I do enjoy doing a bit of singing. And also, I use a girl singer on the record, which is obviously something I can't do myself. And then the other three singers were just singers that I liked. One of them, Nik Kershaw, is someone some people may have heard of - I think he's always been more popular in England than over here. But he's a singer I've liked for a long time. The other singer, Fish, is another singer I worked with a few years ago, in fact. He worked with a group called Marillion until quite recently - some people may know of them. And I like his voice very much. It was a chance for me just to work with a few different people, a few different voices, and try and get voices to match the different kinds of styles of the songs.
BC: We're going to start off with "Angel Face", and this is a song that you wrote the lyrics and the music for. When you wrote this song, did you have Fish in mind to sing it when you wrote it?
TB: Well, I knew I was going to work with Fish, but this particular track, I didn't know who was going to sing it at the time. I wrote it originally for my own voice, but not with the intention of singing it myself. We've got one other song we were going to do together on the record, and with this one, I just felt his kind of soulful approach, if you like, would just suit the lyric very well, and I really like the way it's turned out.
BC: Yeah, me too. Let's listen to it right now on Rockline - we're with TB, of G... This is "Angel Face" on the Global Satellite Network.
(Angel Face)
BC: Welcome back to Rockline - it's an evening with TB, solo artist and member of G. We'd like to rewelcome a station tonight - I say rewelcome because they were part of Rockline for many, many years. It is great to welcome back 94 WISP in Philadelphia - we are pleased to have you on again, and we'd love to hear from you tonight, as well. First call for Tony tonight is from Barry, in West Lafayette, IN, listening to Q95 in Indianapolis, and Barry, you're on with Tony on the Rockline. Barry, are you there? Barry?
Caller 1: {Barry Miller! A Paperlater!!} In a previous interview, you stated that _Still_ would be your final solo album. What brought on this tragic decision?
BC: And is that true?
TB: Well, I didn't really put it like that. What I said was that maybe, depending a little bit on how things go with this one, maybe it was the last time I'd go for an album in this particular kind of approach, i.e. trying to do something which is perhaps a sort of pop album, if you like, doing a series of songs and all the rest of it. I mean, there are lots of other approaches I could take to music - one would be, obviously, to go more instrumental. Another would be to concentrate more heavily on things like film writing, and possibly TV writing, things like that, all of which {are} things that I would enjoy. It's just that I've tried this approach for sort of like the past two or three albums, and sometimes it's hard. You finish a record, you come out of it very enthusiastic, and when you don't get quite the response you want - I'm not saying that's happened with this one, but with, to say, the previous one - it's a difficult thing to take each time, and you wonder how much longer you're going to go on doing it, because that's not such a good feeling. But it really depends a bit on how things go.
BC: Well, I hope this takes takes off because there's some outstanding songs on here. You ought to get a copy of it - _Still_, by TB. Barry, thanks for starting us off. Chris is on the line in Calgary, Alberta, a listener of Kick 107 FM - Chris, you're on the show with TB.
Caller 2: Heeey, Tony, how's it going? {TB: Very good. Hello, Chris.} I was wondering here, is it a difficult transition, going between G and your solo career?
TB: I don't have any problems, actually, because the approach we take is kind of different, I suppose. All the G music that you've heard on the last three records, at least, and quite a bit of the stuff before, has been written by the three of us together going into a room with nothing prepared and just improvising, and what you hear on the albums is a result of that improvisation. Whereas, what I do on my own is stuff that I write on my own, so that accumulates over the years a bit, and I've got masses and masses of stuff - I could fill about ten albums with stuff that has never seen the light of day. So when you get to doing a record you have a lot of choice - it's a matter then of working out what I want to do and how I want to do it. It's great fun to be able to follow an idea right through from the beginning to end, you know, with no kind of compromise with other people. Sometimes that is very pleasurable. And I love working with G, and everything, but obviously everything you do ends up being a combination effort, if you like, and there's some things, there's a great feeling when you've done something totally on your own.
BC: There you go, Chris, thanks for being on the Rockline with us. We move on now to Gwelth (?), Ontario, a listener of Q107 in Toronto - his name is Scott, and Scott, here's Tony for ya'.
Caller 3: Tony, how are you? {TB: I'm very well.} It's a real honor to speak to you, Tony - I'm a keyboard player myself, and I've got to admit, you're probably my biggest influence. {TB: Well, thank you very much, Scott.} Before I get to my question, I have to complement you on your songwriting - you've written so many good tunes for G, "Firth of Fifth", "One for the Vine", "Undertow", the list goes on and on. You've just written so many great tunes. {TB: Thank you very much!} I have two questions for you, Tony, if it's possible, if I can get 'em both on. First, now I know that you and Peter Gabriel go way back to the Charterhouse days and you two pretty well started G. Why then hasn't he appeared on any of your solo stuff, or can you explain why you haven't played on any of his, and do you guys still keep in touch at all?
TB: We keep in touch. Well, in terms of us never having played on each other's stuff, I think there's always room for that in the future, to be honest. I think the reason why we've kind of avoided it a bit is it's just nice to be working with different people, I suppose is half the thing, and I spent a long time, about ten years of my musical life, working with Peter, and it was just nice to move on to other people. But in many ways I think we did do some quite special stuff together, and I would like to do some things with him again, probably sometime in the future, but it's something I don't really think can be hurried.
BC: There you go, Scott. There's the answer for you, and you mentioned "Firth of Fifth", and that takes me back to "The Cinema Show" and songs like that and that era of G - if you like that style, there's a song on this CD called "Still It Takes Me By Surprise" where Tony stretches out a little bit with a long keyboard solo, and it's reminiscent of those days. Hopefully we can play that - maybe not. People want to talk with Tony tonight, we'll do what we can. Right now we'll play from _We Can't Dance_, "I Can't Dance" - Genesis, with TB, on Rockline...
(I Can't Dance)
BC: "I Can't Dance", too busy playing in the band, there. That's G from _We Can't Dance_ on Rockline. TB, our guest for the entire program tonight. Some more of the stadium tour dates for ya' right now - Tampa Stadium on the 17th in Tampa, RFK in Washington DC on the 19th of May, 21st at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Ohio State University in Columbus on the 22nd, then into the Silver Dome in Pontiac on the 24th of May. And those of you listening in Cleveland will see G at the cavernous Cleveland Stadium on the 25th. We have a call from Barry, he's in Akron, OH, listening to 100.7 the Buzzard in Cleveland, and you're on the show with TB, Barry.
Caller 4: Hi Tony, I'm a big fan of yours and G - I'd like to know, can you talk about your formal musical training a little bit and also how that might influence your writing and playing?
TB: Well, I was taught at school, you know, like a lot of people are - just I learned it up to certain standards. To be honest I never really got very good at it, and I almost, at one point, gave up playing the piano. But then I found playing by ear when I was about twelve or thirteen, and I found that it's so much easier to do, that I could actually listen to a track and then I just could play it once I'd heard it. And it was far more entertaining for me, and stuff, and I'm a bit lazy, really, and learning classical pieces I found a bit boring, only just doing that. And when you're doing grades and stuff in England, that was kind of all it was, and I found by doing the music by ear as well meant you could play a thing almost instantly, and that got my interest in it, and from there I got back into classical music again as well. I think, in the early days of G, introducing some classical style into rock music was kind of an original thing to do, and it was one of the things that we kind of started doing back in 1970, and for that reason it was useful, just to provide something different. Certainly, it's great to have that classical knowledge behind you, and the technique it involves.
BC: He's got both here, Barry - he's been well-trained, and he can play by ear. We're going to move on now and let David have his chance - he's in North Providence, RI, and a listener of 94 HJY, and David, you're on the Rockline.
Caller 5: Hi Tony, how are you? {TB: I'm very well, David.} First of all, I'm like to say I'm a really big fan of yours and of G, it's a real pleasure. {TB: Thanks a lot.} I'd like to ask something about the upcoming tour? {TB: Yup.} And I was wondering, you mentioned something a few months ago about doing a section of older songs, and I was wondering if you're going to be doing anything from the song "Supper's Ready", because that's one of my favorites.
TB: {Inhales deeply.} Well. I should just answer "Yes" to all these questions so then you come to the show, you know, and all the people who wanna hear that will hear it. {BC: laughs} But the problem with "Supper's Ready" is one of those songs, it's a very long song, you know - it's 26 minutes long, and, as I'm sure you know, we've got so many songs over the years, we're trying to fit them all into the show. So we're doing a section of old music that is almost as long as that, but it doesn't involve any "Supper's Ready", not on this tour. Maybe next tour, I don't know. It's just, you can't do everything is the honest answer, I'm afraid.
BC: And "Supper's Ready" has been done on previous tours, {TB: Oh!} and not all that long ago, either.
TB: That's true, we did do it, and we also did the end section to "Supper's Ready" a few times on it's own, as well. You know, it's a lovely song, but the problem is, when you're playing to a lot of people who perhaps have come from slightly more recent albums, to play them a 26 minute song which is from a previous era, particularly if you're doing a stadium tour and it's got lots of quiet bits - you know, maybe if we were doing it indoors, then maybe it's easier to do, but outdoors, I think you would tend to lose people.
BC: Hey, still head to Cleveland Stadium, David, {OOPS! He's in Rhode Island! :^) } and enjoy "Supper's Ready" on the CD, how's that for you. We have Catherine on the line now in Sherwood Forest, MD - there is a Sherwood Forest in America, and she's listening to 98 Rock in Baltimore. Catherine, you're on.
Caller 6: Hi! Tony, on most of your albums you use vocals other than yourself, do you write words with a certain voice type or vocalist in mind?
TB: Well, sometimes - it really depends a bit. Some lyrics obviously I write before I know who's going to sing it, and other lyrics I write knowing who's going to sing it. I mean, on this record there's a couple of song that I used a girl singer, called Jaynie Klimek, who's an unknown singer. But I wrote with her voice in mind, because I'd worked with her before, and one of the songs I did with Nik Kershaw I did with his voice in mind. I often write with my own {voice} - I just sing it myself, that's the first thing I do, and then I see how that sounds. And if it doesn't sound too good, which is normally the case, I think with whom it would sound better, and just look around. When I had a choice of five singers on this record, and obviously it was easy to get the right person for each song.
BC: The vocalist who's not been mentioned is Andy Taylor, and he is not the Andy Taylor of Duran Duran fame, correct?
TB: No, not unless by saying that, people go out and buy the record, 'cus they're Duran Duran fans, you know. {BC: Wait, it could be him!! I could be mistaken!!} Yeah, you're absolutely right. No, it's not him. This is yet another English unknown singer - I was looking for a particular kind of voice, and I just loved his voice and thought it would be very appropriate for the ballad, the song you mentioned before, "Still It Takes Me By Surprise", the one that you'd like to play but can't - you know, that one. His voice just sounded lovely on it, really - I wanted someone who had a kind of bluesy voice to do the ballad, rather than do it in a straight manner, and I think the effect is very good.
BC: This Andy Taylor was in a band called The Jazz Devils. We'll take a time out - we'll come back with a song that features Nik Kershaw on the lead vocal, off of the brand new CD by TB. _Still_ is the name of the CD, it's an evening with TB on Rockline...
(Red Day on Blue Street)
BC: That is the song that actually opens the new CD by TB, and of course it's called "Red Day on Blue Street". Tony is at 101 KLOL in Houston tonight - I'm in the Hollywood Rockline studio. Tony will be with G on May 26th at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, then Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Massachussetts on the 28th, and 29th, Olympic Stadium in Montreal, and Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia - two shows for you guys, hey, May 31st and also June 1st there in Philadelphia. We have Don on the line, he's listening in Claymont, DE, our new affiliate, 94 WYSP in Philadelphia, the city that's going to get two shows with G, and Don, you're on the air.
Caller 7: Tony, first of all I'd like to say I'm a very avid fan of both you and G, and I'd like to know if you prefer the old G, where a lot of the songs appear to be stories, such as "Dance on a Volcano", "One for the Vine", "Eleventh Earl of Mar", things like that - do you prefer to do those types, or do you prefer to make songs from personal experiences?
TB: Well, I think it took me a while to get to the stage where I could sort of write things in a slightly more personal way. The stories are a way of hiding, it's a certain way of writing, and I think it's fun to write in fantasy, you know, which is what a lot of the early G was. It's slightly more difficult to kind of more realistic lyrics. I like both aspects, really, I think it's good. We tend to deal slightly more in real issues nowadays - that's just the way we feel. It gets more difficult - you know, you can't start writing about hobgoblins, it doesn't seem right now, whereas back in 1971 it seemed quite appropriate, so times have changed and you feel differently about things, and that's the nature of rock music is it does change over time. But I think both things have to have that role - you know, maybe in five years' time we'll be back there, and there'll be trolls, and giants, and ... I don't think so, but it is possible, it's always possible, you know?
BC: Don, that's a really good question - it's great to have Philadelphia back on the air again. We have John on the line in Tampa, Florida, now on Rockline, a listener of 95 YNF - here's TB for ya, John.
Caller 8: {John Chitalia - another Paperlater!} Hi. Tony, I think you're the greatest keyboardist. I was just wondering, about _Still_ and you can also talk about G at the same time, but how is your album going to be promoted? Is your company going to promote it, like try to get it on top 40 AOR, where there'll be a video? How about an Unplugged performance, you know, maybe an MTV Unplugged? Because, to be honest, I haven't heard much about _Still_ even in Rolling Stone or Review - the only way I found out is through our G mailing list over the computer network. {TB: Yeah.} I was just wondering, how much publicity and promotion?
TB: All I can say is that this album is out on Giant Records, and they're certainly doing as much as they can. You can only do so much, you use what you can, really. The problem is, if Madonna's got an album out, it's obviously much more newsworthy than if TB has got an album out, and you have to sort of accept that, really, you just have to do what you can. Yes, there are, I've made a couple of videos for this album, and hopefully they will get shown, but obviously the music we're trying to put across is perhaps not quite so straight-ahead as some other music, and that is always a slight problem, I think. It's always easier to sell certain kinds of things than certain other kinds of things, and I suppose one would have to say that this album is not as easy as some others, but I hope, for people who certainly have liked G over the years, and some people say they prefer stuff in the past, and everything, I think it's always worth checking out what I do, anyway, because if it's those chord changes and slightly longer songs and everything that you like, then there's certainly some of that there, as well as some other stuff that's perhaps a little more straight ahead.
BC: There you go, John, and you've got to admit, it's nice to hear it on Rockline tonight, isn't it, huh? Tell ya' what, we're going to head to Albany, NY, and talk with Deb - she's a listener of Pix 106. And speaking of New York, two dates at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, coming up on June 2nd and 3rd, and then Syracuse, too, at Carrier Dome on June 5th, and then into Toronto at the Skydome on June 6th. And we'd like to welcome Deb to the show now - Deb, you're on the air with us.
Caller 9: Hi there. Hello, Tony. {TB: Hi.} How are you? {TB: I'm very well, thank you.} I actually have two quick questions for you, but before I get to them, I just want to say something in response to the previous caller, in that I'm really glad to see you finally getting some exposure on the radio, because I've always felt that you are a tremendous musician, and that you always deserved a bit more of the limelight than you might have been getting. Anyway, just wanted to give credit where credit is due, there. {BC: All right...} {TB: Well, thank you very much, I would never disagree. But thank you.} My first question is kind of in relation to something that someone else brought up about your female vocalists - I know that you've worked with Toyah, and Jaynie Klimek, and I was wondering if you'd ever considered working with Kate Bush?
TB: Well, yes, I love Kate Bush's voice actually. The thing is, it's always a problem with all this incestuous stuff, you know, because Peter obviously did a song with Kate Bush, beautiful song, "Don't Give Up", which is sort of one of my favorite song's that Pete's ever done actually, and she's gotten quite associated with Peter, and for that reason I've never approached her on this sort of subject. But she's a singer I like very much, and I like what she does on her own as well, so certainly she's never someone I would rule out - but I've never actually asked her.
BC: I'm going to go from a different angle here - have you ever thought of doing a whole album with Fish?
TB: Well, uh, I, uh... {quivering lip noise}... I can't say I haven't thought about it, you know. I don't think, from his point of view - he's got his own kind of career, really. The thing is, probably for both us, I think we'd both find it a bit limiting, really, because there's certain ways I want to drag him, and there's certain things that he wants to do, you know? And I think, he wants to do kind of, he does, I don't know how to describe them, he does these things that are kind of like heavy metal Scottish jigs he likes to do sometimes, which I'm not sure I could get into them, you know? And on the other hand, some of the things I try and make him do. I mean, it took a long time to do the "Angel Face" vocal with him, because he finds it quite difficult to sing a written melody - he likes melodies, it's much better for him if he can improvise them himself a bit, which is more what we did on "Another Murder of a Day", was kind of his natural improvisations, which is a nice way to work it, actually. But I don't know about doing a whole album of it, really, but I mean, never rule anything out.
BC: Deb, while we have Tony on the line for you, anything else?
Caller 9: Well, yeah, this kind of more of a request than a question. I've seen G five times, and I'm shooting for times number 6 and 7 in Foxboro and Syracuse, {TB: Great!} and seeing as how my chances of ever getting a backstage pass for an autograph are rather slim, I was wondering if Tony could see his way clear to possibly send me an autograph.
TB: Well, I'm sure I could, yes, um...
BC: I tell you what, if you can do something there in the KLOL 101 Houston studio, and they will forward it to Rockline, and we will write down your name and address, and we will mail it to you. Tony, you'll do that, won't you?
TB: Oh, yes, I'll definitely do that! I'll do it, yeah.
BC: Deb, consider it done. Anything we can do for you, just give us a call at 1-800-344-ROCK. Let's play a G song - this is "Home by the Sea" by G on Rockline.
(Home by the Sea)
BC: And welcome back to Rockline. I'm Bob Coburn; we're with TB this evening. Some more G concert dates, the stadium tour: June 7th, the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, June 9th at Camp Randall Stadium - that's in Madison, WI - also, the 10th at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, then you'll find the band at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, followed by BC Place in Vancouver, BC, on June 14th. And we have Dick in College Station ready to talk with TB right now, who's located in Houston. In fact, Dick is listening to 101 KLOL in Houston. We welcome him to the program - Dick, you're on.
Caller 10: {Dick O'Leary!} Hi. Hi, Tony. {TB: Hi Dick.} Welcome to the great state of Texas - we'll be making a weekend of seeing you on the 8th and 9th in Dallas and Houston. {TB: Oh, great. Thanks very much.} I've got a couple quick questions - you've done some tremendous instrumentals in the past, like "Charm" and "Thirty-Threes", "From the Undertow" - will you be integrating these more into your future rock- oriented albums? And, secondly, if I can get a quick one in, somebody mentioned the G computer mailing list, and one of the dying questions on this list is, "Who is Gabble Ratchet", from "Apocalypse in 9/8" from "Supper's Ready"?
TB: Well, the last question is easy to answer - fictitious, I'm afraid. It would be nice to give some sort of different answer to that, but that's the way it goes. In terms of what I do, well, in the future, as I said, whatever I do, I'll be doing something - you know what I mean - if I'm allowed to, at least. I like the instrumental stuff on my records - I always have, really - instrumentals tend to get kind of overlooked a bit, I suppose. But it's an area that, obviously, being an instrumentalist, it's something I do a lot of. And I've done a lot of work with films in the past, and it's something I want to do more of. "From the Undertow", that you mentioned there, was actually used as the theme music to a film called "The Shout" back in sort of the early 70's. That sort of area is something I like to do very much and I'd like to do more of it.
BC: Now, Dick, you're in College Station which is where Texas A&M is - that's north of Houston - you're going to both shows, Dallas and Houston?
Caller 10: Well, I missed the last tour because I was in Africa, where world tours don't seem to go {BC laughs heartily}, and we're making up for it by seeing them twice this time.
BC: There you go! There's a die-hard fan there for you there, Tony - Dick, thanks for the call. {DO'L: Thanks, Tony.} Alright, enjoy both shows. Steve is on the line in Jacksonville, FL, Rock 105's our station. Steve, here's Tony!
Caller 11: Good evening, Tony - good to speak with you! {TB: Thank you very much, Steve.} First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on a new album - so far, from what I've heard, it sounds really good, and I'm definitely going to buy it. {TB: Great.} My question was, on the new album, the extended jams on "Fading Lights" and "Living Forever" - are those getting easier for you all to put out, or do they take a lot of practice and work?
TB: Well, no, really, it's a matter with those kind of things of trying to trying to condense it down to something that is of reasonable length. "Fading Light", you know, we had improvisations of about 3 or 4 hours on that one riff, you know, which was sort of fun to do. We have no problem with coming up with those kinds of things - I think the problem is... The great thing about the CD, you've got 70 minutes of music on the WCD album, and therefore you feel you can stretch out a bit more. I think we felt with _Invisible Touch_ we had our hands tied a little bit more, and we didn't want to put on too much of that kind of thing. This time a lot of good instrumental music was coming up, so we decided we would get them on the record, and I think in many ways, "Fading Lights", the way it works it's a very strong piece of music, because of that instrumental section in the middle. And as I said, it's a great thing about CD - you've got the more time to play with.
BC: There you go, Steve, thank you very much for calling. We're going to talk with Yvonne right now, in St. Catherine, Ontario - she's a listener of Q107 in Toronto. We'll be up in that part of the world with Rush in a couple of weeks on Rockline, as a matter of fact. Right now, it's with TB, and Yvonne, here he is for you!
Caller 12: Hello, Tony? {TB: Hi, Yvonne.} First of all, I'd like to say that I think you're the greatest keyboardist there is. {TB: Thank you very much.} Okay, and my question is, what is the difference between the music industry in England and Europe as opposed to America, and which do you prefer?
TB: Well, the main difference is you don't get Garth Brooks anywhere near the top of the charts in Europe, actually - it's a fascinating thing. Country music is very much an American thing - it just means nothing outside America, which is extraordinary, really. But, I think - it's a difficult one for me to say this, because I don't really pay enough attention to what ends up being sort of hit music. You know, my own favorite record around the moment is a Crowded House album. I think it's doing very well in England, I don't think it's doing so well over here. But they keep releasing the wrong singles, so that's their own fault. It's just got such great tracks on it, and they keep putting out the worst tracks. Who's to say? I love Randy Newman, he's American - so it's a matter of different things. I wouldn't say I'm part of the mainstream here at all - I'm not particularly excited by a lot of the things that end up being a big success on either side of the Atlantic, to be honest. I think over in America - there's always slightly more chance in America, 'cause of the way radio is, 'cause you've got so many radio stations, that somebody can bubble up from one area and become sort of a national success. Whereas in England, you've really only got the one station that counts, and if you don't get played on that you haven't got a chance.
BC: Okay, you mentioned country music in England - how do you explain Slim Whitman? Come on, Tony!
TB: Well... we have our problems in England... No, no... (laughing) Slim Whitman, it's an amazing thing actually. When we put _And Then There Were Three_ out, which was, at the time obviously our most successful record, but there were two records which sold more than us that year. One of them was _Saturday Night Fever_, and the other one was _Slim Whitman's Greatest Hits_. I mean, as you say, it's an amazing thing! But for some reason Garth Brooks hasn't made it over there yet - I don't know the reason for that. Perhaps somebody else does...
BC: We're going to play a song right now. This is from _Still_, by TB, with Andy Taylor on the vocal on this - it's called "The Gift", on Rockline.
(The Gift)
BC: That was "The Gift", from _Still_, by TB on Rockline - I'm Bob Coburn. Some more stadium dates, we'll wrap up what is scheduled for the stadium tour for G. 15th and 16th, two dates at TacomaDome, also Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on June 18th - they don't let many people play there, that's a rare treat. Oakland Coliseum, the 20th of June, then June 23rd, Cyclone stadium in Ames, Iowa, and the 24th and 24th, the World Music Theater in the city of Chicago. We have Kevin on the line in Indianapolis, a listener of Q95 - we'd like to introduce you to TB, Kevin!
Caller 13: Tony, Hi. Great to talk to you. {TB: Hi, Kevin.} I would first like to say to anybody out there that hasn't bought a TB album, do yourself the favor. I've been a fan since "The Fugitive" - everything is just wonderful and fantastic, and I can't wait to get my copy of "Still." {TB: Well, I'll take your advice.} Yeah, oh, you don't have a copy yet, Tony? {All laugh} But, actually, my question is a two part kind of related question. I saw on the "Duke" credits... I'm one of those divided guitar-player/keyboard player types {TB: Right} and every time I listen to something you do, and I go, "Man, I should really play keyboards instead." {TB: Thanks.} I saw in "Duke" that you played 12-string guitar as well as a "duck." And I was really wondering, what is the "duck" that all you guys played in "Duke"??
TB: Well, it's only Phil and I played the "duck" together. Uhm, It was this kind of, it was an attempt .. it was a way of triggering... this was back in the early days, you know, before technology could sort of give you all the things you wanted. It was a way of triggering the, I think it was a Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer. We triggered it using Phil's voice. But he used it, instead of --- this was trying to get a sort of brass sound on a couple of tracks, particularly "Behind The Lines" --- and the way of doing it was using a duck-call. You know, one of those duck-call-things you can get. We used that into the microphone, and it got just the right kind of sound, so that we put it down that we played a "duck". We hoped a few people would ask a question about it --- you're the first person I think {BC: the first one!} since the album was released who's asked us about that! So there you go.
BC: And the deepest secrets are revealed here on Rockline, ladies and gentlemen! What else tonight for you, Kevin?
Caller 13: Other than that -- Tony, when did you start playing guitar? Do you enjoy it as much a keyboards? Or are you pretty much just a wonderful synthesist?
TB: I always enjoyed playing guitar. I played guitar when I was at school, really. And on the early G albums, I played a lot. And I wrote a lot of things on guitar, back in those days, I mean, the opening part of "Supper's Ready" was a guitar part of mine. I like guitar, because, particularly in those days, I didn't know what I was playing half the time. Whereas on a keyboard, I tend to always know what I'm about to do, you know. On a guitar, because I wasn't so, sort of, good at it, you could sort of move your hands around, and you'd make noises that sounded good, and you weren't quite sure what it was you were playing. And it's the nature of the guitar -- it's just different chord shapes tend to come out than would do on a piano and so I like guitar a lot, but I've never got, I would call myself a kind of rather, a sort of a background/ rhythm guitarist. I did try doing a little bit of lead guitar on one of my solo albums, on the first one, _A Curious Feeling_ where I played all the guitar, and bass as well in fact, with a bit of a lead guitar on that - but the only way I could do t was by taping up half the strings and putting foam rubber under the other ones {BC laughs} to stop all the strings resonating all the time, so I don't think I'm, I'm not a budding Eric Clapton anyway.
BC: Kevin, there you go, and good luck with your music. Okay, there is an epic on _Still_, by TB, called "Another Murder of a Day." Is this one where you let Fish meander a little bit with the lyrics and play around a little as you recorded this?
TB: Well, that's right. I let him write the lyrics for this because, if I'm long-winded, he's even more long-winded than I am. And the great thing about this, particularly on the first part of it, I left him to kind of improvise melodies, and then we went through all the improvisations and we sort of tied him down a bit, and selected a few things and tried to get a few different notes in. So it's sort of a quite of spontaneous piece of singing in that sense, and I think he gets sort of the best out of his voice, if you like, rather than try and tie him down too much like I perhaps tried on the other song.
BC: Hey, stay tuned - that's coming next on Rockline with TB, on the GSN. Our number's toll-free - 1-800-344-ROCK - we're talking rock'n'roll on the Global Satellite Network...
(Another Murder of a Day)
BC: That is a quality piece of music. "Another Murder of a Day" - that is from _Still_, by TB, with Fish as the vocalist on that track. Michael has waited patiently to talk to TB - he's in Madison, Wisconsin, a listener of 101.5 WIBA Fm. Michael, you are on!
Caller 14: {Michael Lee - another Paperlater!!} Hi, Tony, and I'd also like to say hi to all my friends on the G computer list that a couple people have already mentioned. And my question is about "Another Murder of a Day", and it's very much like a song that you'd almost expect for a Fish plus TB, like, something that would be, like, for G 20 years ago, like the other two songs you've done with him, and was that the idea, Tony?
TB: Well, I did think that, if I wanted to do a song of that kind, doing a song with Fish - the idea of doing a long song with him seems an obvious idea, I suppose. I mean, I think yes, it does recall earlier G certainly, but I think other aspects to it as well. The combination of the two of us together produces something slightly different from perhaps what you got out of an early G track. I just think it's a nice piece of music - what can I say, I like the way it ends up sounding. So if it reminds some people of some earlier stuff, that's great. It's something that felt good at the time.
BC: There you go Michael, thank you. We'll take a brief time-out. We'll return with TB in just a moment...
BC: All right - last segment with TB on Rockline tonight, let's hit the ground running. We have Tim on the line in Buffalo, New York - they've been in the news lately, 97 Rock our station. Tim, you're on the Rockline!
Caller 15: Tony, how you doin' tonight? {TB: I'm very well, thanks.} Tony, I have a couple of quick questions - will there be a live album and a video after the next tour?
TB: Umm, there's a strong possibility we might do a live album. We haven't done one for a very long time, and most of the things we're doing in this show will be kind of different from what was on the last live album, I think. It would be a good time to do one, I think. And it would be nice to do it, I think - it's starting to sound very good and I think it would be a good moment to do one.
BC: We'd like it - what else, Tim?
Caller 15: One other question - one of my favorite songs you wrote, "Me and Sara Jane" - could you explain the meaning behind that song?
TB: {laughs} Well, it was like kind of sort of a bit of a dream, really. You know, you start off with an idea - there's no real meaning to it. It really was done, like when you're trying to go to sleep and sort of ideas keep buzzing around your head, and I wrote just a sort of thought process thing like that, and this name, Sara Jane, that kind of got into my head, just sort of got involved in the song, and I thought, well, why not? It just fitted so well with the music that I'd make the thing based on that. But it doesn't really have a particular meaning - it's really like a continuity kind of song, where you start with one idea and it leads to another and leads to another, and that was the idea of the lyric to that song...
BC: Tim, thank you very much. TB is enjoying some of that Texas hospitality at 101 KLOL in Houston. {TB: Is it so obvious? {Giggles}} Hopefully they're taking good care of you there - it sounds like they are! Anyway, the next caller is listening to that radio station in Spring, Texas, and his name is Randy. Hey, Randy, you're on.
Caller 16: Uhhh, yeah - I was going to ask, are you guys practicing in the blimp base, or are you just setting up the two stages there?
TB: No, we're practicing there. We are actually doing at least one rehearsal every day of the whole show, and then we're also going through - we've got video stuff and light stuff and everything. You know, we're working there every day. But the real reason we're in that place - 'cus we did 3 or 4 weeks of rehearsal back in England before we came out here, so the music is fairly well-rehearsed, in fact - the main thing we're out there for is to get the lights and the other video effects and things together, which is quite elaborate, so there's quite a lot of work to be done there.
BC: Randy, thank you very much. And Tony, I think you're having much too much of a good time back there... (???) I'd like to thank everybody for listening and calling... {Comments about future Rocklines.} Some special thank-you's tonight go to Tony Smith, also Cheryl Martinelli and Mel Craggs of Hit and Run, to John Siegler and Mark Niederhouser of Giant Records, also Ted Edwardson, Richard Cabrerra, John Allen, Jeanette Andrews and all the staff there at KLOL in Houston for obviously good care of Tony there tonight - we appreciate it. I wish I was down there with ya' having some fun with you there, Tony! Also to TB of G, and Tony, after all these years and all these albums without your picture on them, you give us an album with your picture on it and your eyes are closed. Why, Tony?
TB: Well, you know, that's the thing, isn't it? It was much against my better judgement that a picture of me appeared on the front of the cover at all. I don't know - the guy who was involved with designing the cover, he came across this picture and said, well, it says "Still" to him, you know? And then he showed it to the record company, and they said, well, you've got to have it, so grudgingly I said yes.
BC: There you go. Look for G on tour - they're touring stadiums in North America, and they'll be coming your way soon. Tony, thank you very much for being here, and enjoy the tour, and good luck with G, and I hope this record takes off for you here too, as well.
TB: Thanks very much!