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Wayne managed to get Sue, John and Keith Rycroft all on the air together for the first and last time in decades to mark the release of the Simply...Parchment CD set.
You can find the full interview, 46 minutes of talk and songs, by following the link to Wayne's blog here:
Wayne Clark blog
It is full of revelations.- The first revelation was that Keith Rycroft came from a group called Gospel Messengers, not Trinity Folk. And he is now a Quaker, he stated.
- Both John and Keith named Lovely Touching, from Hollywood Sunset, as one of their favourite songs.
- The glorious You Were on My Mind was described as "rubbish" by one of them. It never made it to an album.
- And, yes, we were correct in thinking they inspired Bono of U2. It's in his autobiography - supposedly.
- Sue McClellan sang live when they appeared on Top of the Pops.
- If you listen carefully to the end of the Light Up the Fire album you might hear the line "get your granny off the table." (I have never heard this...)
- (Click on heading for more)
Sue: There was a load of festivals. There was an upsurge of enthusiasm to be a bit more outspoken about the gospel in mainstream media.
John: There was at the time quite a creative period. There were a number of people who worked together in churches.
Sue: John's roots was more like ethnic folk but I started to listen to the likes of Joni Mitchell and liked more rocky stuff.
Keith: I saw it as part of a process. I am not today where I was then in belief terms and faith terms. It's a country to explore, spirituality and faith, and I am still doing that really.
John: I never saw myself as the artist in the way Sue and Keith were. I used to admire their talent.
Could there have been a comeback?
Sue: The last time I saw John he did not know which way to hold the mandolin!
Keith: I don't play on any regular basis.
1 comment:
Yes this was recorded in Liverpool, at BBC Radio Merseyside. I knew Keith already, who was still living in Merseyside and I heard John was coming to Liverpool. They were both delighted at the idea of a meet up to talk about the old days.
Then I tried really hard to persuade Sue to come up from London but she declined. She was actually recording with her band River on the day but spared us a short time on the phone.
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