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At the start of 2003, The Shorties were still in something of a Ravi hangover. The ill feeling that had spread through the band in his final months had not entirely dissipated, and moreover it was difficult to fully leave the past behind, when the 2 final projects we had undertaken with Ravi were still unfinished.Therefore, as 2003 dawned, The Shorties had 3 main goals for the year ahead. To complete our CD 'Buff My Lizard' and documentary 'Longevity' , the final Ravi-related projects, and to preparing for, and perform at, Aiden's wedding, which was to take place in Manchester, on June 14th.
We already had decided upon a provisional set for the wedding, based around rock n roll classics, Shorties originals, and crowd pleasers. The initial set including some songs later abandoned or replaced, among them 'Waterloo', 'Disco 2000' and 'Real Wild Child'.
As Liam was semi-retired from the Shorties, he was only going to be playing on half of the songs. Ex Shorty Mal Tanner kindly agreed to do the other half. On the drums, Saul would be free to do half the songs, and Chris Kiely had agreed to do the other half.
Rehearsals were scheduled to start on February 9th but before that, in January, Dan and I had already got back into the 'grind' of editing the documentary. It was beginning to feel like a grind by this stage, having started it nearly 18 months previously. We also put rough mixes of two 'Buff' songs, 'George W Bush' and 'Nazi Dog' on our website, so fans knew the album was nearing completion.
Meanwhile, Dan and I met up with ex-Shorty Mark Roberts at a pub in Camden on February 12th. Mark was visiting London and we jumped at the chance to meet him. It was a very mellow evening, enjoyed by all three of us. We even talked of venturing back up Mark's way to record some new songs, but, to date, that hasn't come to fruition.
During March, a disillusioned Dan, and I continued work on the mixing of 'Buff My Lizard'. After the March 17th mixing session Dan emailed that after 3 years working on the album he could no longer tell if the tunes were any good or not. He wrote that he was "bored of these old songs" and had "lost all perspective, frankly".
Above: Left and Right: Saul and Chris, the two Shorties drummers, during rehearsals for the wedding.
I think that we all wanted the 'monkey' that was these old projects, off our back. However we certainly wanted to release them at their very best, and that takes time. I sympathised with Dan, and hoped he would soon regain his enthusiasm.
With hindsight I think we all were suffering from the same malasie, and also, perhaps, a lack of confidence. There was no denying Ravi's had an incredible technical talent. Would we be forever in his shadow?
In early April, personal circumstances meant that Mal had to drop out of the wedding gig. Though we tried several times to regain contact, that was the very last time we heard from Mal. I felt for Mal, but was also stressed about what would happen at the wedding. I asked Liam if he could step in. Liam kindly agreed to cover as best he could, and though there were a very limited number of rehearsals he could attend, he agreed to practice at home to ensure he was up to speed. It was a long way from ideal, we would all have benefitted from practicing as a full unit, but it was a lot better than nothing.
Above, Below and Right: These shots were taken at the last wedding rehearsals, when both Saul and Chris were present. As this was rare, we took the opportunity to get a full group shot, (below), which would later be used on the inlay of 'Buff My Lizard'
The Shorties main mailing list, meanwhile, celebrating 5 years of existence, came to life in May when long-time fan Nats spotted Saul dressed in medieval garb at Norwich Cathedral as part of his role as Education Officer. For some reason this sparked a flurry of correspondence that no album or single has ever generated! Also in May, we decided to merge our 2 mailing list (Shorties Alert and SBFC) into one more active list!
It was around this time that Stuart announced he was leaving BPP and going back to Wales. His last day at BPP was May 30th. The idea was he would move to Wales in July (after my wedding), and stay for 6 months before returning to London. As of writing, March 07, he is still in Wales.
Sometime during the May and June period Liam also completed some final overdubs on 'Buff My Lizard', and if memory serves it was at this time that Dave Horn overdubbed his horn parts for Miss Friel. Then, in early June, Saul announced the wonderful news, that he and Anne were expecting a baby!. Marriages! Kids! The Shorties really were becoming all grown up!
All too soon, from a rehearsals point of view, the wedding was upon us. The morning of June 14th, saw Ushers Liam and Dan met up with groom Aiden and best man Saul, in the morning, and set up the equipment at the venue, Buile Hill Hall, Manchester. Chris Cranie, who had PA'd our 10 year anniversary, and did such a great job, set up the PA and supervised the soundcheck.
Yes, Aiden spent his wedding morning setting up guitars and amps, checking levels and practicing Shorties songs.
Stuart and Chris arrived later in the day. Stuart had had a gig the previous night and was driving up from Wales. He didn't arrive till 6pm, only just in time! We had barely enough time to get everything set up and working before the small distraction of the Aiden's actual wedding took us away.
After the wedding and the afternoon reception/meal, it was time for the gig. The gig was not the best we have ever played, as we weren't consistent enough. With hindsight it should have been obvious that to try and do so many songs with so few rehearsals was unfeasible, and perhaps doing fewer songs, more tightly would have been better. That said, on a number of songs ('Do You Wanna Dance' and 'Great Balls Of Fire', for example) we really lived up to our potential, and had the crowds dancing in great numbers. As Dan remarked, "It's always good to have an audience who've been drinking for 7 hours before the gig". Stuart even sang 'Blueberry Hill' and 'What'd I Say', but sadly neither of these was captured on video.
It was also notable for being the first Shorties gig where Aiden didn't play the whole set. As it was his wedding, his wife, Collette, insisted that he play on only half the songs so that he could also dance with her.
We also debuted a number of brand new songs: 'Consume', 'Where's My Remote Control?' 'Coffee 9am' and 'Bob Dylan'.
All Muddled Up
Set Two
What'd I Say
Wipeout
Bad Moon Rising
Johnny B Goode
Coffee 9AM
Bob Dylan
Sticks and Stones
Good Golly Miss Molly
Mean Woman Blues
I'm A Believer
Mama Don't Allow
Great Balls Of Fire
What Goes On?
These 3 photos (above right) are all taken from the gig at Aiden's wedding. We were now advertising a release date of August 31st and accepting pre-orders. We decided that those who pre-ordered would receive a bonus disc featuring live performances, rehearsals and demos of the songs we were working on with Ravi. These included 'Sofa Gofer', 'Sofa Bunny Love Fest' and 'Forecourt Loving', all of which had been performed live with the band but had not been recorded before Ravi left. The loss of 'Forecourt..' was a particular blow as it was played at one of the few gigs we didn't record and was an amazing performance, featuring an incredible djembe duel from Liam and Ravi, which had all the audience talking about the song afterwards. For Forecourt we included all that we had, a very early rehearsal when the djembe duel was first tried, and Dan's demo. Other songs which hadn't even got as far as the gigging stage were 'Roboslut', 'Freak Y'All' and 'Viv Richards'. We felt the bonus disc gave hardcore fans a taste of how the album may have sounded had it been finished as originally intended. It soon became clear that the CD was never going to be ready for August 31st. Indeed 31/8 found us working on an overdub for 'Pam' as well as further mixing. By September 29th there was still no sign of the album, but one 'release' proved to be far less delayed, as Saul's son Alfie was born. On October 18th we finally finished the mixing, mastering and artwork and the album was despatched to the pressing plants. 'Buff' was finally put to bed and it was time to start the next album! The following day, October 19th, 'we' began work on said album. However 'we' was a peculiar concept. Saul was in semi-retirement, Stuart hadn't formally left the band, but had moved to Wales and we were working with an unwieldy plan that he would do overdubs whenever he was in London, Liam was in semi-retirement. Having spoken with Chris, on the other hand, it became clear that he was interested in drumming for the Shorties on a permanent basis, so that solved one problem. Dan had always wanted to play guitar in the band but had always been stuck on bass, as Liam was the guitarist. So we moved Dan to guitar. We rang old Shorties friend and PA-er Chris Cranie and he expressed an interest in occasionally playing bass for us. That was enough progress to enable us to begin recording again, at least. Thus the recording session of October 19th featured Aiden, Chris, Dan & Chris Cranie. We recorded a basic track for Dan's 'Coffee 9am' which had made it's live debut at the wedding. Just ten days later, and having talked with two more BPP employees with a love for music, we had recruited Liam Storey (a fine percussionist) and Matthew Stevens (a bassist). Matt seemed more able to commit fully to the band than Chris Cranie could, so Chris agreed to step aside. After my doubts over how successful the wedding gig was, and feeling that with no keyboard player, and a perussion specialist, the direction to take was fairly clear, I booked us an acoustic gig at our old stomping ground, 'The Spot' for Monday March 15th 2004. Announcing and booking the gig was a major step forward as it would be our first non-wedding gig in over over two years. I hoped it was a way of pushing the band forward in a new direction, while avoiding immediate comparison with past glories. This was a very productive time for the band. On October 31st, 2 years and 6 months after we started work on the album, the finished 'Buff My Lizard' CD arrrived rolled off the presses to be released to an expectant public. However we were not resting on those laurels in any way whatsoever. Liam certainly hadn't been resting on his laurels as he and wife Yuki announced they were expecting! Not realising I had been told in confidence, I announced the news on The Shorties list, and many of Liam's best friends found out through that medium! On November 9th we recorded the basic track for 'Consume' (another tune that premiered at the wedding). As I played guitar on this one, and as Dan knew it inside out from the wedding, the basic track simply featured Chris on drums, Dan on bass and me on guitar. Shortly afterwards we received an email from Stuart. Despite having his leg in plaster from a bad fall, and being told to rest it, he was coming to London with his rock n roll combo, The Atomic Trio, to play a gig at the Half Moon Putney on November 22nd. As he was free on the 23rd, he suggested we record the basic track for 'Bob Dylan', and do his keyboard overdubs on the other tracks recorded to that point (Consume and Coffee 9am). However when Chris and I went to cheer Stuart on, at his gig on the 22nd, he was still in great pain with his leg, and had decided to go straight home after the gig rather than staying over for the recording and overdubs the following day. Thus ended the first, and last, attempt at hooking up with Stuart to overdub keyboards. Stuart's band, however, were on top form playing some incredible rock n roll. The following day, sans Stuart, Chris, Dan and I did hook up & recorded the basic track for 'Bob Dylan'. December 7th saw yet more work on the documentary, and that was it for another year of The Shorties. 2003 saw us, somewhat tentatively, begin the path back to top form. While we were not yet in full swing again, the vibe and atmosphere was positive and upbeat. The horrors of 2002 were fading daily, and there was a real belief that 2004 would see us finally bury the past and embrace the future. If only we could find someone to play keyboards! 
Once Aiden was back from his honeymoon, things started up again. In July two more songs were uploaded to allow fans a sneak preview ('Chiswick High Rd' and 'When Your Girlfriend Asks You If You're Gay'). 
With the album finished, Dan and I could also get back to the documentary, and on October 29th (the day before the gig announcement), Dan and I spent nearly five hours on the documentary. We also booked two more 5 hour sessions for November, determined to finally put the thing to bed.
Above: The Eastern Daily Press reports on Saul's Cathedral History Day
Above Right: Chris drumming at the recording session of November 23rd.
Below: Dan noodles on his guitar, at the same session 
Our renewed confidence is evidenced by the fact that we even applied to play at the prestigious 'International Pop Overthrow' festival which was coming to the UK in 2004. While we were eventually unsuccessful, the fact that we had even gone for it showed there was a real desire to build the band back up.
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