Imagine...all the people...

I was reminded this week of an old pastime I used to enjoy!

Back in the early 80s. when the Sony Walkman was still a pipe dream for most of us and the CD still being shown on Tomorrow's World (still playing after being smeared with raspberry jam I seem to recall) I was a young music student in Colchester, Essex doing my BA (hons) in Music composition and performance.

There was plenty of music at college of course and plenty back at my digs (as my grant became ever more swallowed up by the cash registers of Parrot Records)! The problem was getting to and from the 'Institute' - usually on my trusty bicycle. These days, of course, my sons rarely leave the house without iPod headphones and I have a 16GB microSD card in my BlackBerry that holds nearly 200 CDs...

...And thereby hangs the reason for my 'lost pastime' - the Imaginary Gig!

For I would cycle up and down the chestnut-lined 'Avenue of Remembrance' enjoying the most sublime 'one-off' music concerts in which the (already-late) John Lennon shared a stage with Brian Wilson, the whole series of live gigs by Harry Nilsson (who famously never played live concerts) - one gig per album! I put together my own 'supergroups' with eclectic mixtures of musicians like Phil Collins, Rick Wakeman, Greg Lake and Ritchie Blackmore...and, probably most often, joined Paul, George and Ringo on-stage in John's place for many, many Beatles reunions! (I even had the temerity to Imagine them adding some of my own songs to the set-list...but, I guess, that what dreams are for!)

The reminder came about because of the impending re-release of a novel called 'Glimpses' by American author Lewis Shiner. Without giving too much away a (usually) drunk sound engineer discovers he can not only 'internalise' gigs and sessions in the same way I did...but he could actually record them on tape! And, thus, the world got to hear several 'long-lost masterpieces' and the readers got to 'meet' some long-dead rock stars...a rather bizarre but very enjoyable read, especially for any who, like me, are big fans of The Beatles and Brian Wilson.

As a musician I gradually became aware that not everyone was able to share my pastime - I believe it to be linked to the same part of the psyche that enables me to play any tune I've heard without music, yet others simply cannot. One of my close friends has played with Salvation Army bands for well over 50 years; I dare not even try to imagine the number of times he has played a tune like 'Away In A Manger'? A typical carolling session (of which there are still a dozen or so each year but, in years gone by there might have easily been 30 a year) would yield at least six playings (3x2 verses). Yet Alex assures me he still could not play the tune without the music in front of him - and he is no mean musician, let me assure you!

So I was joyed somewhat when the skill of 'internalising music' became part of the National Curriculum orders for Music during my teaching career - and it was something I always tried to encourage my pupils to do - on whatever level they were able. I never discovered anyone else who could (or at least openly admitted) internalising to the extent I did until I met a friend on the Internet about 12 years ago. Jim Painton (see http://sho-sho-sho-show-offsky.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html ) could...and we spent some time exchanging emails - sending each other lists of musicians to 'imagine' playing together - so it was no surprise that Jim (who wrote the liner notes for my Christmas CD and allowed me to reciprocate for his 'Painton Place') was to the one to send me my copy of 'Glimpses' (not JUST any old copy, of course, it was a signed 1st edition).

I think I might do a bit more 'daydream gigging'...see you when I get back...