dream attack
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Okay!!!Okay. I've posted here a few times, however, I have never formally introduced myself. I'm Murray de Schot (in Dutch) aka Murray the Scot (in English).
I'm 42 year old Scots-born former music journalist/manager and bass player who saw the sense and relocated 9+ years ago from Aberdeen to Amsterdam.
My music tastes seem wide and varied, as exhibited last weekend when I cruised (REALLY BAD wording!) into Amsterdam's premier 1930's art-deco cinema, the Tuschinski, and watched the re-mastered 1977 film, Abba - The Movie - this in the midst of Amsterdam's Gay Pride Weekend, and surrounded by Freddie Mercury, Jimmy Somerville and Village People-clones! Mind you, I DID bolster my masculinity by listening to Rammstein “Live Aus Berlin” on the tram going there!  . But as my Top Ten Desert Island Discs thread shows, I’m mainly stuck in the 80’s and early-90’s.
The first album I bought was “Separate Ways” by Elvis Presley in 1975(Old Shep is a GENUINE tear-jerker), then I moved onto Abba (still a tremendous band from ALL dynamics, I believe – superb pop songs), then it started to go a wee bitty ‘weird’ as I went through a Blondie, Lene Lovich and The Tourists-phase, before Altered Images, The Armoury Show, Simple Minds and New Order came to the fore.
I was quite lucky, in some respects, that working in the Scottish music scene I met most of my musical ‘hero’s’. After all, Scotland is a sparsely populated country of 5 million folk with a quite incestious music-scene. The only one I came across in a way that I’d describe as up-his-own-arse … Richard Jobson during his Armoury Show stint. As for the rest, GREAT 'normal' folk; we spoke of English 'Rule', who Celtic had signed recently (bear in mind, Holyrood RC School in Glasgow was the hot bed of the Scottish Catholic Music Mafia, after all!), etc. Rarely did conversations turn to music-related issues. More often than or not it was the predicted result of the forthcoming Lloyd Cole and The Commotion’s 5-a-side match against the Henry Afrika’s bouncers!
My inspirational bass players are, obviously, Derek Forbes. Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call, Celebration, New Gold Dream are all inspirational albums. Prior to that it was a wee bit too generic of the era, and drew too many outside influences, i.e. Peter Gabriel, Roxy Music, etc. After that it was class. Up to the Sparkle In The Rain album, which, despite having great artwork, for me, at least, was the swansong of the REAL Minds ‘feel’. I saw the Minds about 4 years ago in Hellendoorn in Holland, supported by Gruppo Sportivo, The Stranglers (the band I REALLY wanted to see!) and Level 42. The Stranglers were sh!t REALLY untight and unrehearsed. Level 42 were technically excellent, but their music remains in the 80’s and hadn’t appeared to age too well. But, despite only going to see the Minds as a concession to my ex-Dutch girlfriend, I was BLOWN AWAY!!! They WERE great, as they embarked upon a Greatest Hits set.! As an aside, Derek inspired me to buy a 4-string Vigier Passion bass in Aberdeen (R&B Music) around 1989, followed by a 4-string Vigier Passion fretless bass (The Bass Centre, London) about a year-or-so later. John McElhone, ex-Altered Images/Hipsway/currently-Texas was also a BIG influence. John’s not the greatest bass player to have walked the glens, but by fvck, can he write a succesful pop song! Peter Hook (ex-New Order, Monaco, Revenge, Joy Division, Warsaw, Caroline Ahern/Mrs Merton! ) is also a huge influence in my ‘style’. Aside from my two “Passions”, I also play a Kubicki X-Factor 4-string Active Fretted, (Metallic Candy Apple Red Body) a Warwick Alien 4-string Acoustic Fretted, a Status 4-string Active Fretted (Raw Carbon Fibre with LED Fret-markings), a Tobias 4-string Active Fretted , through an Ashdown Klystron Combo Bass Amplifier
Well, aside from music, my life in Amsterdam OBVIOUSLY involves smoking crack cocaine pipes on an hourly-basis, interfering with well-hung donkeys on a daily-basis and delivering cute and cuddly, stuffed teddy-bears to a friend-of-a-friend in Bangkok once-weekly! Errrr… whilst that may sound the ‘ideal’ of an Amsterdam ‘existance’, my REAL life involves watching (normal!) movies, eating out, following the Formula One circus (as I have since 1977!), relaxing, socialising (doesn’t that mean – quote D.Forbes on Youtube – “How’s Yer Faither”?) and my MAIN interest, spending time with the ‘kids’ – My two Alaskan Malamute-crossed-Grey Wolf ‘hybrids”, Atka and Bear.
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dforbes
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What a lovely wee story there. I wish everyone would do a wee precis of their lives for us, thety would be NIIICCCCEE.
 Borat 
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dream attack
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| dforbes wrote: | What a lovely wee story there. I wish everyone would do a wee precis of their lives for us, thety would be NIIICCCCEE.
Borat |
Aye! Errr ... cheers, Derek. No too sure if that's said with a degree of sarcasm or not.
Anyhow, by the way, I'd still love to know what your bass collection comprises of. You still an Ampeg man?
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dforbes
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No sarcasm involved my friend. Yes. Always Ampeg.
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dream attack
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| dforbes wrote: | No sarcasm involved my friend. Yes. Always Ampeg.
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Aye, doesn't an SVT rig predate the Strolling Bones ot Grateful Fred ... Or Ludwig van Earwig? Like a veteran Bentley or Rolls Royce, impeccable style, build and class!
In my early bass-playing days, Trace Elliot WAS the bees-knees, Ampeg was a mythical quantity. I knew one person that owned an Ampeg stack, he was a wealthy lawyer who owned a double-necked Ashley Pangbourne Custom fretted/fretless bass ... he COULDN'T play for peanuts, but we all admired his gear! Nowadays, I play with, as an amateur, Ashdown gear, after excursions with Dynacord and SWR.
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ALI BIN TABNAB
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Nice insight Murray.
Do you have any memories of the excellent LOVE AND MONEY - James Grant et al.
Tabnab
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dream attack
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| ALI BIN TABNAB wrote: | Nice insight Murray.
Do you have any memories of the excellent LOVE AND MONEY - James Grant et al.
Tabnab |
Yes, of course I have. Love and Money were part of the 'downstairs' at the Rock Garden/Henry Afrika's 'scene' around 1984. It was always the "Images', The Commotions, The Bluebells, White Savages (later along with John McElhone (Altered Images), the founding members of Hipsway - I was at their first gig, where the A&R high-heid-yins from London out numbered the audience!) Kissing Bandits, John Gordon Sinclair, David Band, ANYONE who was recording/working at Parklane Studios, frequented the GFT or bought clothing from FLIP, across from the Rock Garden, etc. that hung around the 'scene' in those days. That said, I was never a great Friends Again fan, but in L&M, Candybar Express was/is a GREAT song!
I have one anecdotal story though ... I was in Dundee years ago (1989?) on the evening of a Love and Money gig, although I never attended the gig, as I had a meeting with friends, and parked my car in a lane near Bar Chevrolet. When I came back a few hours later I found my car's driver's window smashed in, stereo ripped out and ALL my cassettes (it WAS years ago!) stolen, aside from the Love and Money one!!! Obviously the thieving bastard was less than impressed by the gig that night!!!
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ALI BIN TABNAB
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Nice one Murray. So they weren't everyones cuppa tea eh.
They were supposed to play a free gig down here in Sunderland next to the Vaux Brewery site, in 1989/90 (can't remember exactly). Anyway, it was pissing down with rain but the gig went ahead. The rain must have been too much for 'Love And Money' as they never bothered to show up. The promoters were going apeshit as LAM were headlining.
CandyBar is a good tune, but my faves are Halleluiah Man and Strange Kind Of Love, amongst others. Brings back fond memories of the delicious young missy I was p*rking at the time.
Oh well, memory lane trip over...
Cheers, Tabnab 
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dream attack
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| ALI BIN TABNAB wrote: |
Nice one Murray. So they weren't everyones cuppa tea eh.
They were supposed to play a free gig down here in Sunderland next to the Vaux Brewery site, in 1989/90 (can't remember exactly). Anyway, it was pissing down with rain but the gig went ahead. The rain must have been too much for 'Love And Money' as they never bothered to show up. The promoters were going apeshit as LAM were headlining.
CandyBar is a good tune, but my faves are Halleluiah Man and Strange Kind Of Love, amongst others. Brings back fond memories of the delicious young missy I was p*rking at the time.
Oh well, memory lane trip over...
Cheers, Tabnab |
Tabnab, memories are made all the sweeter when involving delicious young things and 'pork' cuts!
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ally carr
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welcome to the forum Murray
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alison
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dream attack
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| ally carr wrote: | welcome to the forum Murray
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alison |
Thank you, Alison. 
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ally carr
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your welcome murray!
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alison
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