In this short film Billy Chyldish and family launch thirty-one CTMF dazzle ships into the Thames estuary. Each dazzle ship carries one green vinyl 7″ CTMF single. A reward in cash or ‘other printed matter of apparent value’ will be paid for each one recovered. Goodness only knows what this week’s storm has done to the dispersal of these ships, all named after an area of the shipping forecast. The film, soundtracked by Sibelius, is very lovely indeed.
I’ve been really enjoying watching the Tour de France this year. Those gruelling climbs in the Pyrenees and the Alps, the flat racing around the city of Tours recently, the sprint finishes, the helicopter shots of them breezing along at 35 mph through beautiful French countryside, the way that two or three riders make a break early and hang on for ages and then a few kilometres from the line the peloton appears like a swarm of brightly clad bees and just swallows them up. I especially like the lanterne rouge, the award given to the man finishing last. Given that he may be last out of 180 odd riders, the lanterne is highly sought after. After all, the rider has to finish within a percentage time of the man finishing first, so the lanterne rouge winner has cycled 3000 plus kilometres and shown huge endurance and had to compete within a set time. And in a world (our whole world, not the cycling world) where winning, being first, being top dog, being the outstanding candidate, is more and more the be all and end all, I think it’s great that the last man in gets a prize, for finishing and not dropping out. Three cheers for all those who come last and still succeed.
My favourite song about cycling is this Billy Childish classic, Medway Wheelers- a song about the cycling club his mother was a member of in the 40s and 50s. Cracking video too.
I’ve posted Medway Wheelers before so we’ll have a different Billy song for today’s mp3. Billy’s new band The Chatham Forts (or CTFM) have recently released an lp and two singles. It’s a bit of an angular, ’79 punk style thing, apparently having been inspired by finding a book of lyrics Billy wrote 36 years ago and deciding to record them as an album.
I got the new 7″ from Billy Childish’s latest group The Chatham Forts in the post while I was away. It’s very cool, sharp chords and plenty of vim, and featuring The KLF- Jimmy Cauty on bass and Bill Drummond on xylophone. Needless to say it doesn’t sound anything like The KLF. This has turned up on Youtube, not as angular as the single All Our Forts Are With You, but chugs away very well…
This was The KLF’s greatest moment, still sounding monumental 23 years later.
An recent email from Damaged Goods reveals another new Billy Childish band (The Chatham Forts) and a limited edition 7″ single in April. The new band sees Billy return to vocals and a ‘sound that is more akin to The Mighty Caesers / Headcoats with even a little of The Pop Rivets in there as well, a slightly angular, new wave approach’. So far, so good- nothing too unexpected though. The excitement and mind-boggling bit comes with the final line of the message- ‘We will have the album to follow in the summer……oh yeah, it also has Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond on it as well…that’s the KLF to you’. Billy Childish and The KLF?! I know! And yet… what will it sound like? Garage rock crossed with stadium house? Or what? This song is from Bill Drummond’s solo lp The Man- a song named after Dumfries’ football team. Queen Of The South
Bagging Area 