Spooky

01.05.05

London was great. I finally got to play darts in a British pub (although I learned the "proper" way to play is to finish with a double- a total impossibility after a few pints). I had a bizarre experience at the Saint Etienne New Year's Bash: As I was standing in line at the bar, this giddy British guy runs up to me saying that he works at HMV and saw me there earlier in the day. Now this would've all been fine had he not proceeded to tell me exactly which sections I visited while in the store- in the correct order! He's like, "First you went to the soul section, then to books, then back to soul, then to rock and pop and finally to the cashier." I wanted to respond with "psycho," but chose "Happy New Year" instead. Five minutes later I run into Magnus (bass player for the Swedish band Melody Club) who I first met in Tokyo. Very strange. He was in London with his adorable girlfriend Freda for the weekend.

Came home with loads of records- most exciting of all was Bessie Banks' "Go Now" on British Red Bird, which friends tell me is quite rare. Also inherited a ton of Dusty Springfield records (thanks Bob). And saw Moulin Rouge for the first time and cried my eyes out. What an emotional and beautiful tribute to love and pop music.

An hour after landing at JFK last night, I found myself on the Lower East Side toasting with my friends Utako (she's in the group Kiiiiiii who you'll read about very shortly) and David- both in town from Tokyo. David just released his debut album under the name Marxy. I wanna talk more about it, but I'll save it for the next diary.

Here's a photo from a nite out with my '60s pop pals- on the far left is Martin who runs a Jack Nitzsche website, his wife Sue (a die-hard Dean Martin fan), and the lovely Mick Patrick- girl group expert and writer. Sam Szczepanski is the woman! Her business is rock n'roll- producing all sorts of compilations and box sets. That's Motown connoisseur Eric, and peeking behind me is Malcolm Baumgart who probably has the most records in the entire world (and works with Mick in the girlpop / soul department). Phil Chapman is a legendary producer with a soft spot for girl groups.

I haven't slept in three days.

Sheila

Posted by Sheila at 03:38 PM