DCJ wrote:
I tried but I could not find a way... to sit and watch this clip.
Am I too critical and quick to dismiss? Perhaps. But that's how I feel…
Cher DJC,
Mais no! A Roxologist of your calibre should say what he thinks!
Strangely,Windswept understands your point.
This is a difficult format and one can't help but think that Michael Bracewell is a little too fay to pull it off. To make this sort of thing work you need an interviewer that can draw the best out of the subject whilst adding a little humour and with a contrasting style to the subject. There was a great danger, at one point, that they were both going to finish up whispering to each other!
Without doubt, there is a great story to be told and the chapter relating to our hero's North East exploits alone is worth some real air time.
For example,the club he references in the interview,the infamous Club A'Go Go would make a book on his own. It was situated over the bus corporation canteen in Percy Street and was owned by a local gangster who had burnt down his previous place to finance it.
The interior was designed by Eric Burden (another art school protégée) and their first house band was The Animals. I remember seeing 'The Gas Board' there in '67 and they were great. A very tight soul outfit with a brass section.
The club itself boasted a huge mod scene and I often saw Ferry in there. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, he even did some DJing. He once described it himself as the greatest club ever and it was. They all played there; Hendrix, Van Morrison, The Stones - everybody and they would have all doubtless had a huge influence on the young Ferry. This is perhaps the sort of stuff that would be more interesting to music fans than photographs of Penshaw Monument (nice as it is).
All in all, Ferry has a huge story to tell. Few people have worked with so many great artists over such a protracted period of time and this is why Windswept would love to see him do his official biography but not with Bracewell.
It did interest me how animated he became when talking about Simon Puxley. It's a shame the good Doctor is no longer around. He would have been the perfect author for the official biography and would probably have been able to persuade our hero to do it.
Salutations,
Windswept
