Singer-songwriter, and legendary cult figure, Robyn Hitchcock is turning 60 on March 3rd, and to celebrate, is releasing a new album on YepRoc called "Love From London," granting interviews all over the internet, and going on tour with Peter Buck (formerly with R.E.M.).
In addition, Hitchcock gave a retrospective concert last night at the Village Underground in London, playing songs sampled from all of his studios albums, performed in reverse chronological order.
Hitchcock fan Matt Sewell posted the following report on Facebook late last night:
Just got home from this. Wow, what a night! Groovy venue, fantastic band. My favorite songs were the ones for which Morris (Windsor, Soft Boys/Egyptians) was on the drums ... The Village Underground is a cavernous Victorian red brick building with fine arches and two underground trains on the roof. The gig went slowly back in time from the now (or the then as it is now) to c.1976 in two halves. Fine guitar dueling between yer man and Kimberley Rew, Terry Edwards on lots of instruments, Jenny Adejayan abounding on cello. Lots of others, among them Nick Lowe, formerly-noted Morris on drums, percussion and vox, sometimes at the same time, and Tim Keegan, looking like a dashing lieutenant from the First World War. A setlist just too long and great to go into here. Oh, and quality shirtage!
Here is the song list, as posted by Windsor. Apparently, Paul is Paul Noble, who produced and engineered Hitchcock's new album, Stephen is Stephen Irvine, and Lucy is Lucy Parnell:
"Side 1": Jenny, Paul & Stephen on all tracks unless otherwise stated:
BE STILL Jen & Lucy – vocals + a few others?
OLD MAN WEATHER Jen & Lucy - vocals
ORDINARY MILLIONAIRE as above + Terry - horn
GOODNIGHT OSLO as above + Kimberley - guitar
MUSEUM OF SEX as above + Terry - other horn
SOMETIMES A BLONDE
AMERICA Jenny, Paul, Stephen, + Terry on trumpet
NO I DON'T REMEMBER GUILDFORD Jenny, Paul, Stephen, Kim + Tim on guitar + Jen & Lucy - vocals
BEAUTIFUL QUEEN as above
WRECK OF THE ARTHUR LEE as above minus Kim & Tim
SO YOU THINK YOU'RE IN LOVE Nick Lowe – acoustic, harmonies, Morris - harmonies & percussion, RH - acoustic
CLEAN STEVE as above + Mark Ellen acoustic, harmonies (Note: Mark Ellen is mentioned in the lyrics - H.L.)
"Side 2": Kim, Morris & Paul on all tracks unless otherwise indicated:
FREEZE
UNSETTLED
AIRSCAPE
MR. KENNEDY
HEAVEN - Morris & Green harmonies, RH acoustic
FURRY GREEN ATOM BOWL - Green, Jen, Lucy, Terry, Tim, RH + Adam Buxton vocals
BRENDA'S IRON SLEDGE - Kim, Morris, Paul + Jen & Lucy
KINGDOM OF LOVE - Kim, Morris & Paul
THE PIGWORKER - as above
WHERE ARE THE PRAWNS - as above
GIVE IT TO THE SOFT BOYS - as above + Jen & Lucy vocals + Jenny, Tim, Terry
Encore:
VICTORIAN SQUID - RH solo
THE END OF TIME - Jenny, Paul, Stephen + cast
Hitchcock is also releasing a vinyl-only compilation of his "Phantom 45" series, with two additional tracks, for Record Store Day on April 20, and helped Yoko Ono celebrate her 80th birthday concert in Germany last month by joining in for the "Give Peace A Chance" finale.
Did I leave anything out?
Robyn Hitchcock in his 60s ... sounds about right. Happy birthday!
On a side note, Robert Lamb, who played with Hitchcock in the pre-Soft Boys combo Dennis and the Experts, also has a new album called "The Colonel's Journals." You can check it out on his website.
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