Potorama

Origins - I cant remember the exact date but it was around the time when "The Word" was on, me & some friends formed a band, i think we were about 15. When i say band i dont mean we were up to the standards of The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin or Chas & Dave but we were certainly better than, Take That, 911, N-SYNC & Nirvana.

Lineup*
Tim - Vox
Mark - Electric guitar
Al Sithee - Keyboard
Lee - Vox, African drum**

*The band members would swap instruments on all 3 albums.
** Second album

Styles & influences - The music was varied in style, from thrash to rock to rap & back again. This was because the band members had varied musical tastes, Tim was into rap & indie, Mark was a part time goth & Al was (& still is) a prog-rocker & metalhead. Even though the influences were poles apart the arrangement & structure of the songs was such that each member was able to express himself. This didn't happen on each & every song but there was no controlling element in the band, we were very much a democracy. When looked at as a whole the collection of Potorama material showed the varied styles coming through at some point, this was amazing as none of us could really get enthusiastic about the others musical preferences. Tim was chiefly the lyric writer & easily the most creative member of the band, Al fixed the arrangement & Mark had a knack of laying down guitar parts to fit the song perfectly every time.

The band name - The band was initially called Madges psychedelic swimming pool until Tim came up with Potorama. The original name was a "hat-tip" to an episode of australian soap opera Neighbours where young flat-topped scallywag Todd Landers added some sort of chemical to Madge Ramseys swimming pool causing the water to turn purple. Potorama was a tribute to a person who will remain nameless, it has no reference to pot as in snooker or recreational drugs.

The first album - The first album was a collection of infantile, juvenile, off the cuff songs. The hi-light is Alan which was performed in i think one take perfectly. The song requires a degree of skill & timing to play as it requires a full stop on all instruments at the same time to really make the song work. The other songs were in similar vein & generally verbal comic attacks on various people in our lives. The recordings were the hardest & heaviest Potorama ever recorded.

The second album - The second album still had the hallmarks of Potorama but set out in a new direction. Some songs were recorded with the addition of a large african drum that Marks parents owned which gave a new sound. On reflection this second album was not as creative as the first, i think its fair to say the band were resting on their laurels somewhat. This led to the band "selling out" & doing cover versions of "Only fools and horses", "The flumps" & the theme from the old milky way advert. It still had excellent songs in "Bovver boy" & "Family strife" which were based on Marks personal life. Marks vocal contributions to these songs was excellent & if you know Mark fairly out of character, making them doubly good.

The third album - The 3rd & final outing was a return to form with Tims lyrics & song themes developing into storytelling whilst still keeping the Potorama trait of poking fun at those around us. Im particularly proud of the arrangements on this album, easily our best to date. I'd been doing some solo stuff at the time & i used a keyboard solo to a song taken from a piece i'd been working on called "Lights across the sky." Mark was on top form again, his playing had become much subtler but still perfectly in keeping with the songs.

The split - Potorama didnt so much split, it just hapenned that we never made any more music together. I think we'd become too good on our instruments & despite never playing a gig, word was spreading about the band. Rumours that we never spoke to each after a hotly contested game of Cluedo cannot be confirmed or denied. We all went our seperate ways & since then I see Tim a bit (who since confessed his shame on the offense our songs may have caused their subjects should they have heard them) but i've rarely seen Mark. A reunion was discussed with Mark but it never got further than that, i dont think it would be something i'd consider, but you never know. I dont know what Mark is up to now but the last time i saw him (7 or 8 years ago) he had finally seen the light & become a Led Zep fan.

Funky Troop and Analog Kid
Following the demise of Potorama the inevitible solo careers were attempted. Tim made songs under the name Funky Troop with keyboard virtuoso Neil who also collaborated with Al Sithees alter ego The Analog Kid. Since Potorama Tim had become more political in his approach to songwriting & what he did with Neil impressed me, even though it wasn't my sort of thing. It seemed Tim had a lot more up sleeve than he ever showed to Potorama, he had found a purpose to his lyrics & songwriting which seemed to happen overnight, although im sure he'd had this on the backburner for some time. What Funky Troop did was good & had a lot to say. Meanwhile Al Sithee had retreated into his prog-rock roots & recorded a cover of "Return of the Prince" by Canadas premier rock trio Rush as well as revamped versions of songs from his previous band "Sid & the Electricity Pylons". These solo outings eventually led to a "one-off" gig with Analog Kid supporting Funky Troop on Hoji's back garden.

What hapenned to the recordings - I have a tape copy of all 3 albums, i dont know if there are any more copies. I have a copy of the early Sid & the Electricity Pylons stuff along with the
Analog Kid and Funky Troop stuff but as i am luddite of the highest order i have no idea how to get this "webbed up".

Best songs
Alan - Vox/Keys, Al Sithee. Acoustic guitar, Tim. Electric guitar, Mark.
Flowers rap - Vox, Mark. Keys, Al Sithee.
Bum rap - Vox, Al Sithee/Tim. Keys, Al Sithee.
Bovver Boy - Vox, Lee/Mark. Keys, Al Sithee, African drum, Lee.
Family strife - Vox, Tim/Mark, Keys, Al Sithee, African drum, Lee.
B*** aka lights across the sky - Vox, Tim. Keys, Al Sithee. Electric guitar, Mark.
Bowel rupture - Vox, Tim. Keys, Al Sithee. Electric guitar, Mark.
My brothers a twat - Vox, Tim. Keys, Al Sithee. Electric guitar, Mark.

Influences
Rush
The Happy Mondays
Public Enemy
The Mission
Status Quo
Stevie Wonder
Lawnmower Deth

A very hot afternoon

I was 11 when i wrote this.

The blazing hot sun beats down onto the grass. It is very hot inside the classroom my clothes stick to me and i wish i had a long cold drink. It is very hot outside like a furnace burning old rubbish.

The sun is a circlet of yellow flame which silently sits in the skylike a wildcat ready to pounce.
The everlasting fire burns and burns.

The sun sits on the horizon making no sound.

The great fire starts to slowly move down below the horizon.

As the evening comes the weather changes dramatically and it begins to rain.

Quite a change from the very hot afternoon.

Every six seconds

Capt Sanchez - "Is the shuttle prepped and ready?"

JC - "We're good to go and ready to launch sir."

Capt Sanchez - "Ok JC, commence countdown."

JC - "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5....

Capt Sanchez - "JC?"

JC - "......."

Capt Sanchez - "Dammit, JC!"

JC - "......."

Capt Sanchez - "Goddammit JC!!!!!!!"

JC - "Big slippery knockers"

Pigeons

Have you ever seen a baby pigeon?

I bet you havent.

There are millions of pigeons all over the world, scavenging with their evil piercing eyes. It is impossible to circumnavigate one without it knowing exactly where you are, near or far.

But where do they live, and where do their babies grow, well my theory is this:

The pigeons we see in the course of our daily lives are in fact the babies and they are born by massive adult-sized parent pigeons and it is these that we never see. They are grouping their armies and waiting until the time is right to attack and in the meantime we are distracted by by throwing morsels of food at their babies.

We are lookin at the finger and not the moon.

The hedgehog and the lawnmower

Spiky, prickly, squeeling for breath
The hedgehog is being lawnmowered, lawnmowered to death
It lay on the ground bits of flesh strewn around
The hedgehog lay dying on the ground

Its head is severed the bloodline is cut
The frame and the body were cracked like a nut
It can no longer move it can no longer see
A message to all hedgehogs

Dont mess around with me!

Heavens edge

We'd had a great day out at the coastal town of Heavens Edge, me and her and the kids. What fun we had, all of us, i dont think any of us stopped smiling the whole day. The sun had his hat on!

I must admit i'd had some doubts before this and was going to leave you, but deep down i didnt want to, i'd made up my mind and invested my heart and future in this. I'm not going anywhere, I was living instead of existing.

Anyway all good things come to an end and we began the drive home, we were all laughing and talking and smiling but even then i began to detect a change in her, she went quiet. This was of great concern to me and when the sun went in and the cold an the clouds came i knew what was coming.

She stopped the car and said it was time for me to get out, i asked why and got numerous, unrelated paper thin reasons, none of which were consistent or in keeping with the mood of the day. I could see that the die was cast and after what seemed an age got out of the car. The car drove away and i was left at the side of the road, there were trees on both sides of the empty grey road. Now it was just me, the trees, the cold, the clouds, the road and a roadsign. I walked to the sign and read it.

It said:

You have now left Heavens Edge.