THE MIMI AND ABINGDON SHOWS
.Just 12 days after the triumph that was the Monkees convention we had the chance to test ourselves on a less biased audience. Aiden had just finished the : "Making It In The Music Industry" course, run by Jools Holland Band member Roger Goslyn, and the Shorties were asked to headline the showcase concert. Despite appauling technical difficulties, the band rose to the occasion.
The same could not be said of the next gig, our highest earner a whopping £50, supporting Sir Bald Diddley again, at a pub in Abingdon. The reasons were simple and twofold. No Dan and no Katherine. We spent £20 hiring a replacement bassist, who turned out to be adequate at best, and who caused problems in several songs. We hadn't asked Katherine to play, and Aiden played rudimentary keys for the first and last time on I'm A Believer. So the sound was empty, the songs poorly played, and the crowd response indifferent. It was our lowest point, but we decided to pick ourselves up, by making a video!!
The Magic Formula
The Magic Formula was written by Liam and Aiden, with the idea of using the video as a promotional tool to get gigs. By the time the video was finally edited, however, this idea had long since been abandoned as the focus had shifted more to original material. So was the whole thing a waste of time? Definitely not. Liam and Aiden's script pays affectionate homage to the Monkees TV show, and the romp sequences exceeded all expectations.The film was directed by Shane O'Sullivan, was has since directed his first feature film, but at the time was simply one of thousands of aspiring directors struggling through film school. Aiden had met him in Japan where they were both teaching English, and had acted in Shane's first ever project, a short film called 'Little Buddy'. Shane had recently videoed the Monkees Convention gig, and so seemed the ideal choice to direct. He liked the script but suggested the romps be shot in Super 8 to give them an old-fashioned feel, and to make them stand out. It was a touch of inspiration.
Left: Aiden and Shane during the filming of Little Buddy.
The Monkee Recording Session, Sept 96
Upon Aiden's return from meeting the Monkees in America, we decided to make a demo of 3 Monkee tunes. We hired a local 8 track studio and engineer and decided to record, Monkees Theme, Girl I Knew Somewhere and Star Collector. Considering the time limitations the tracks stand up fairly well. We speed up slightly in Monkees theme, there are a couple of bum notes in Star Collector, and Girl I Knew Somewhere is, I feel, too slow. Also the engineer was clearly desperate to produce, and despite repeated requests, would not offer any drum sounds other than modern ones. We would have liked a more natural and raw feel to the drum sound.
On the plus side, Mike came along and played his socks off on Star Collector. The Novation Bass Station substituted brilliantly for a moog, and that song in particular has some magic moments. Saul's drumming kicks on Star Collector too.After copies were pressed, we decided against going full-time as a Monkees tribute band, and they sat waiting until we had 3 originals to go on the other side. This became the tape '2 Sides Of The Shorties', which we sold from October 1997 to November 1997 when we sold out. All told, it was a positive start.
Above: Saul, Aiden and Dan, with the engineer. Right: All 4 Shorties, Aiden almost masked by reflection.
Back To Home Page