S*T*U*F*F* Reloaded

I got an email from Foy Vance today that just said “FOX CAKE (which is our pet way of saying “for f**k’s sake”) POST WILL YE” plus three hundred exclamation marks. After hosing myself, I decided to respond - with a great and unexpected riposte - by, eh, posting.

Yes it has been a long time. I meant to post the night Rolf Harris danced and sang for Luka in our local Italian restaurant but entirely forgot to do that.

I’m in San Francisco with Air. Its been a cool couple of days - we’ve been in LA recording in the Village Recorder, where all the old Steely Dan records were tracked, as well as countless other classics. LA is a weird old place… the night before we travelled over there, I went with Leo Abrahams to see Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys). He performed an evocative piece all about the beaches and “heartbeat of L.A.” which set the mood perfectly for the next day’s travel. Unfortunately that was shattered horribly by the reality of a grey London gridlock morning. I seriously thought I was going to miss the flight despite leaving more than two and a half hours to get to Heathrow. Amazing what one crash in Wandsworth can do to the whole city.

I’m such a sucker for the street names in LA. Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills… they just sound so beautiful and exotic, the glamour of the movies drifting around your head. The truth, of course, is that they are just big ugly roads with dodgy shops, for the most part. Even so, there’s some kind of sorcery afoot - when you’re walking down those streets looking up to the Hollywood hills, it still feels a bit trippy, a bit surreal and two dimensional, and strangely enjoyable. Quoth Sheryl Crow - “All I wanna do is have some fun until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard.” Hear, hear, Miss Crow.

We were in the Village Recorder all day yesterday - great fun, and quite a trip to record in the studio that was the home to some of my favourite records of all time. I mean, it was the home of THE DAN!!! Steely Dan recorded most of their stuff there. Amazing. While we were there, Robbie Robertson popped in to say hello, which was rather surreal. Then that guy who produces the Rolling Stones whose name I can’t remember. Robbie was very friendly.

And so to the amazing little club, Bimbo’s 365, in San Francisco - another amazing city, which really is straight from the movies. I love it here. This club is fantastic - its been here since prohibition times in the 1930s and has hidden rooms and a great ambience. I think it might be the nicest club I’ve ever played in, except for the horrific electrical buzz that is driving me completely nuts.

Its quite a short tour - I’ll be home this time next week with more funky Adidas trainers for Luka.