'15th Of July (Invisibles)' was a song I once wrote about a rainy July Sunday spent in East Yorkshire, an unbelievable 46 years ago. It may even have been 47 years but I'm not sure.
Many fans may already be aware of the background to that particular song, but, as today is the 15th of July and there are probably new fans who don't know the story I'll explain a little bit about the song's inspiration.
On that 15th of July in 1972 or '73, my as yet unsigned and semi-pro band, Be Bop Deluxe, (first lineup,) were booked to play at The Duke Of Cumberland pub in North Ferriby, a village near the city of Hull. The band arrived at the venue to discover that a thunderstorm and downpour had caused a power failure and it wasn't possible for us to play.
We had built up a strong following at the pub and made friends with some of the young people who came to our gigs there. I had fallen head over heels for a very beautiful and intelligent girl I'd met at the venue and we had struck up a romantic relationship. On that rainy 15th of July, as we were unable to play because of the power cut, she invited me back to her parents house in the nearby village of Kirkella. Her parents were wealthy and their house was imposing and beautiful. I was dazzled by her charm and intelligence but at that time was, (unhappily,) married to my first wife, which obviously made things difficult.
But that rainy July day inspired a very personal and deeply romantic song. The lyrics tell of the visit to the above mentioned house and the gentleness, warmth and yearning of the relationship. It is, in some ways, a quite naive and sentimental piece of writing but it came right from the heart. The song didn't get recorded for the band's first album, 'Axe Victim,' but was recorded for the very first session we did for John Peel's show and has subsequently been released as a rare track on much later compilations.
As fans know, I very rarely listen to my past work. This is because I always find fault with it but also because many of the songs contain encoded, but sometimes explicit, references to my personal life, a life which has moved on, as everyone's has. But on those rare occasions when I hear the opening lyrics of '15th Of July', "It rained all day across the world, and turned the dark trees deeper green..." I'm transported back over all the long years to that day and am grateful for the inspiration and the feelings that the song captured, A moment in time, but some moments last forever.
I guess I'm a dyed in the wool romantic...
Anyway, perhaps that's enough sentimentality for today.
Finally got the running order for 'Old Haunts' sorted. Sounding good at last after a couple of attempts to get the album flowing from start to finish. Here's the final running order/track listing:
1: 'GENTLE SPRITS PREVAIL'
2: 'ONCE UPON A RIVER.'
3: 'RAIN TOWN.'
4: 'ANTIQUE INTERIORS.'
5: 'IN A HAUNTED ARCADE.'
6: 'THERE ARE GHOSTS HERE.'
7: 'BELLS RING SWEET ACROSS THE MEADOW.'
8: 'THE PHANTOM PALACE OF THE PRINCE OF DREAMS.'
9: 'AS THE STARS BEGAN TO GLOW.'
10: 'LOST IN THE COSMOS AGAIN.'
11: 'MY NEW EROTIC GUEST.'
12: 'TO IMAGINE IS HARD.'
13: 'THIS GILDED AGE.'
14: 'WHEN ART SCHOOLS SHAPED TOMORROW.'
15: 'THE DARKNESS WILL REMAIN.'
16: 'SOFT LIGHT.'
