Above is the first recorded sighting of me morris dancing (that's me on the right laughing like a fool whilst clumsily trying to execute a 6 man right hand star).
I'm relieved to have got it on the net before Kev Hopper, who I believe is offering money to the first person to provide photographic evidence.
Anyway, its a photo taken by Ruth at the final stage of the Blackheath Morris Men's Boxing Day Tour.
1st January 2005
Happy New Year!
2005 looks like being as busy, if unprofitable, as 2004. I will continue to dance with Blackheath Morris Men and I'll continue to try join in with the sessions at The Cricketers on Tuesday. In another musical world the experimental rock group "Lost Robot" (Andy Coules- Bass/ Clive Pearman- Guitar, Keyboard/ Mark Braby- Vocals, Drums, Guitar/ and me) continue to rehearse, heading for a live debut in Spring. In February Resonance FM will broadcast a programme made by Lindesay Irvine and myself which centres around a lengthy interview with Green Gartside discussing his early experimental Scritti Politti singles.
....and of course Scaledown continues.....
2nd November
I have a new release out- it's "I Shall Become a Bat" on Qbico Records one side of a duo LP with Steve Beresford on streaky black and red vinyl. You can buy it from them, or, if you're quick, you can buy a copy off me for £10 (inc postage). The Qbico website also includes a short MP3 excerpt and pictures of the splattery vinyl. Which gets a great review from David Keenan here (I have to admit to changing my opinion about D.Keenan's writing- with recent writing about Derek Bailey and John Butcher he's ...er...matured. The fact he likes my new record is nice too!
I'm also selling off the last few copies of the Tick Tick ep- a record I made with friends in 1980- it's a 12" ep with 6 tracks and to my ears now it sounds like a mixture between The Fall and The Young Marble Giants. I haven't come accross any other copies of these EPs for at least 20 years which is why I'm selling off the last few copies (less than 20) for £10 each (plus 2 quid postage).
If you're interested in either
write to me here.
And yes, we're still waiting for the
Ticklish EP to come out sometime. We're hoping to see it before Christmas!
9th October
Another part of the approaching winter is starting to ebay again. To see what I'm selling- go here
18th September
It's been a long and exhausting summer (and the weather's been nowhere near as horrible as the pessimists have made out). Ruth and I spent 8 days in a tent in Sidmouth catching the brilliant Sidmouth International Festival. Amongst the highlights were Martin Carthy, The Watersons, The Copper Family and the Spiers & Boden big band BELLOWhead, featuring my old chum Pete Flood on percussion.
Then, in desperate need of a soft bed, we flew to New York for a week's holiday (arriving in an incredibly dramatic thunderstorm) where we rushed around doing culture [tip- don't bother with Gugenheim- dusty, labels fallen off and generally uncared for, go to MOMA instead, a treat]
We met up with Curtis Eller & Thomas Truax who showed us true New York hospitality and generousity- thanks fellas. You should be able to catch Curtis in fantastic banjo/moustache action at Scaledown in November.
Now the weather's spiralling down into winter and I'm slipping into a familiar (but comfortable) routine of Cricketer's Arms on Tuesday to watch the folk session with Kev, and Morris Dancing on Thursdays.
Just heard from Elliott Sharp that he can't do Scaledown now, as he's been booked for the forthcoming LMC festival. Curiously we may find he's replaced by British folk legend Davey Graham (the result of an extraordinary chance meeting at the King & Queen). I got the impression that with Davey, nothing is ever confirmed, so watch this space.
Those of you who have taken a wry interest in my growing involvement in the Morris scene will be interested to know that I'm likely to be "dancing out" soon (ie dancing in public for the first time). Am I going to tell you where and when? No.
27th August
My radio show for Resonance, "Sanderson's Alcove" is now closed. I hope to be back within a couple of months with "Sanderson's Compartment". Purely in gestation period at the moment, but the show will be very different- basically a kind of weekly diary/collage. er...watch this space.
"I shall become a bat" is out now on Qbico records. The title track is 30 minute duo performance by Steve Beresford and myself recorded in 2000. I'm very proud of it. It's an LP in splattery black and red vinyl with a sleeve by Marcel Duchamp. The other side is 4 tracks by Steve Beresford and John Butcher, and is fantastic.
It also appears that the last performance by Ticklish with me as a member is going to come out on CD. I shall keep you informed.
Coming up at Scaledown- New York avant legend Elliott Sharp, The Bohman Brothers, Thomas Kumlehn and Hella von Ploetz, Viv Corringham and Peter Cusack. Check Scaledown pages for details...
24th July
Mark Braby and I now have 2 successful "Scaledown" events under our belts- both well attended by respectful and lovely audiences. This is so easy to do, I think we'll just go on forever now!
The next one's on Friday the 20th August and includes John Butcher and Stars In Battledress and a short talk by Fortean Scott Wood. Full details on the "Scaledown" pages.
Regular vistors to this site will know that I tried to set this site up as www.richardsanderson.co.uk and get rid of all the adverts and pop-ups. I regret that has been unsuccessful- for some reason Lycos won't accept my Switch card (seems to be no problem for eBay etc) so I'm afraid we're stuck with them until another solution is found. Of course if there are any website whizzkids who'd like to offer their services...let me know, at the address on the homepage.
The Radio Show is taking a four week break for most of August whilst I go to The Sidmouth International Festival and New York for rest, recuperation and culture. I've requested a few "greatest hits" from The Alcove to be broadcast in my absence- but this of course, is at the descretion of Resonance FM.
Finally something to look out for-
Mark Braby my co-conspiritor on Scaledown is putting on his most ambitious concert yet at the Spitz on Wednesday 18th August featuring Ted Milton's mighty BLURT and a song set from improv genius Alex Ward amonsgt other stuff.Unmissable! Full details at www.theorchestrapit.com.
28th June
Who's in the Alcove in July?-
1st July- A solo show. "Unrequited Love Special"
8th July- The James Randi Live Remix
14th June
Further to the guff below, I went to a talk that I think RS (hey! same initials as me! weird!) would have found interesting last night. The excellent Scott Wood's SELFS at The Mitre in Greenwich presented a talk by Chris French on "The Psychology of Alien Abduction Experiences". I won't go into details, but it pretty much convinced me that we're not being scooped up by flying saucers on a daily basis. Chris got a slightly rougher ride than perhaps he would at the Skeptics in the Pub meetings, while treating the believers with a little more respect than I would. There was still one of those terrible "what is reality?/what is real" circular arguments though, that can waste a lot of time and, by their very nature never get anywhere. On the whole though, a great evening (in the open air too, due to the glorious weather), led by a charming and efficient host. Recommended.
13th June 2004
I'm astonished to discover I'm getting hits from a link on Rob Simone's site. Rob presents a show on Resonance 104.4 fm that in almost every conceivable way is at odds with what I believe (he's a spiritual chap who believes in alien visitations, pyramidology etc). The link is headed "The Headroom In The News"- "The News" being a somewhat flattering discription of this site, basically a pretty rudimentary music/skepticism website! However, in the spirit of fair play, here's a link to Rob's site- Extremely Unlikely Misinformation. Future guests on Rob's show include the mediocre magician Uri Geller and former sports presenter turned Lizard Conspiracy Theorist David Icke. I propose a faceoff between Rob's show and my own- we could each bring forth our champions...I'll have James Randi and AC Grayling (both previous guests of mine).
Up for it Rob?
31st May 2004
Who's in the alcove in June-
3rd- Justin Woodman, anthropologist (on "Chaos Magic")
My Eyes...My Eyes
If anybody enjoyed the discussion with My Eyes...My Eyes spokesperson Clive Shaw and is interested in contributing to their next guerilla cinema event in South East London, then please contact Clive at myeyes@dircon.co.uk .It'll be a blast!
21st June 2004
Mark Braby (The Orchestra Pit) and I have decided to start a new club. We both decided we'd like to run a club that would result in the minimum amount of hastle for us. It's called "SCALEDOWN" for this reason, it's acoustic (only a tiny PA) and it's FREE. To get in you need to be a MEMBER. For full details see the "Scaledown" page in the index (left).
