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A workshop of "Billy" took place in early October, apparently with a view to a possible regional tour / West End production.

The cast was:

Lee Mead - Billy Fisher
Denise Welch - Mrs Fisher
Tim Healey - Mr. Fisher
Stephen Matthews - Stamp
Stephen Tate - Shadrack
Sarah Lark - Rita
Georgina Rich - Liz
Kathryn Rooney - Barbara

Directed by Paul Kerryson
Produced by Kenny Wax

Don Black and the writers were apparently in attendance.

Paul Kerryson is the artistic director of the new Leicester Curve Theatre and does do musicals. Kenny Wax is a general manager/producer for a number of shows, usually in collaboration with other, bigger production companies.

If it happens, they might use Leicester as the out-of-town try-out and see how it goes down, then tour it if they think it'll work.

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Lyrics by Don Black

The outstanding lyric-writing of Don Black was celebrated on Sunday 17th August at the London Palladium. A BBC Radio 2 presentation, hosted by Sir Michael Parkinson, the star-studded cast included: David Arnold, Jonathan Ansell, Gary Barlow, Elkie Brooks, Craig David, Maria Friedman, Raza Jaffrey, Joe Longthorne, Lee Mead, Ryan Molloy (Jersey Boys) Mica Paris, Matt Rawle, Marti Webb, Hayley Westenra and Michel LeGrand. Musical director Mike Dixon, conducted the seventy-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a tribute that included: 'Born Free', 'Thunderball', 'To Sir With Love', 'Diamonds Are Forever', 'On Days Like These', 'Ben', 'Sam', 'Love Changes Everything', and many more.

There was also a special appearance by Don Black himself and a world premiere of songs from Don's new musical, written with Michel Le Grand, 'The Count Of Monte Cristo'.

Fortunately, the concert was recorded and will be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Friday 22nd August at 7.30 p.m. BST.  It's likely that the programme will be available afterwards, for 7 days, as part of BBC's "listen-again" facility. We cannot guarantee, however, that it will be available to those not living in the UK.

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Vic Flick, Guitarman (Paperback - 192 pages) by Vic Flick

The John Barry Seven only existed for about eight years, and in truth was only really successful for around half of that time.

Yet all four of the men who led the band during its relatively short existence have now written or had biographies written about them.

John Barry was the first, followed by drummer Bobby Graham, trumpeter Alan Bown and now guitarist Vic Flick becomes the fourth.

His is a fascinating book concerning the life and career of a man who always wanted to make his living through playing the guitar.

By no means a household name on either side of the Atlantic, we learn how Flick nevertheless became the leader of the incomparable John Barry Seven and eventually the man to turn to for those crucial studio recordings.

Read entire article here ...

Available now direct from
the publishers, Bearmanor Media
or from Amazon.com

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SOUND COPYRIGHT: THE EU POSES A SERIOUS THREAT TO MUSIC LOVERS

It seems that politicians always think they know better than experts. The Irish EU Commissioner, supposedly charged with guarding Europe's musical heritage, is proposing changes that could well have the opposite effect.

Despite two exhaustive studies which have come down firmly against extending the present 50 year term for sound copyright, the EU wants to raise it to 95 years.

Consider the following scenario:  a major record company issues a recording which does not sell very well, so it is deleted from the catalogue after five years.  Another record company could ask for permission to license the recording for reissue, but it would involve significant payments in fees which would force a high charge to be made for the CD, and possibly render the whole exercise uneconomic. Fifty years after the original recording was released any record company could reissue the music without having to pay a fee, thereby reducing the cost of production, although royalties would still have to be paid to the composers and lyricists. This is the current situation, and it has resulted in a number of small record companies offering the public many interesting, but previously neglected, recordings of unique material which is no longer of any interest to the major record companies.

If the EU proposals become law, the same recording, deleted five years after the original release, could remain 'lost' to music lovers for a further 90 years. Not only would this greatly diminish the wide variety of recordings currently available, it would also deprive many composers of the opportunity to earn royalties on their music.

Surely it is possible to devise a fair scheme whereby the original recording companies retain the copyright so long as they make the recordings continually available to prospective record buyers. If they fail to keep the recordings in their catalogue, then it should fall into the public domain after a few years so that anyone else could release it if they wished. This would ensure that many fine recordings from the past would be available, rather than locked up in record company vaults for longer than the lifetime of most people on earth.

The main concern must surely be to increase the availability of music, to the general advantage of everyone – especially musicians. The fear is that the EU's proposals would have the opposite effect.

Most of the major record companies are part of giant international entertainment conglomerates controlled by accountants in the USA or Japan. Are these really the right people to be charged with the future of Europe's musical heritage?

The British Government has asked for the public's opinions. Please visit the following website and make your feelings known.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/press/press-release/press-release-2008/press-release-20080718.htm

If you need further evidence of the weakness of the European Union's proposals, you need look no further than the USA, where the term of sound copyright was increased in the late 1990s. It has resulted in hardly any releases of vintage recordings. American music lovers now look to Europe for recordings of their great artists from the first half of the last century.