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NEWS UPDATES 2009... 1 July
"Chris arrived at Rock Paradise around 1:30pm with his friend Lenny [pictured]. We went out for lunch in a small Italian restaurant around 1:50pm and upon returning, 60 people were present at the shop for Chris's showcase including our friends Marc Zermati, Frank Margerin, the people of XRoads Magazine and many others. "Chris did two sets of about 45 minutes each, including of course all the songs from the album Second Life as well as some Groovies songs such as Shake Some Action. Everybody was happy, Chris was enjoying himself and didn't want to stop playing and singing. "We are now only waiting for a proper show in a big Parisian venue, and for the new album, which is magnificent, to sell well and for the next one to be released early 2010, once again on Rock Paradise Records, to be a success. "A big thank you to Chris – we love you and once again... bravo!" 25 June
Coverage of the album has really taken off in France – a three-page feature in X Roads, along with a highly positive four star review, and a whole page in Politis, which is equally as complimentary. And there’s more to come… Thanks to Rock Paradise, and especially Patrick, for doing such an excellent job. 21 June
There’s a set of eight limited edition Chris Wilson postcards – six of the photos were taken by the talented Anne Streng and one’s from way back in 1966 featuring Chris in his first band. Just 20 sets are available and at $10 a set, including postage to anywhere in the world, it’s probably best to move quick. For more details visit: www.myspace.com/rocknrollpostcards 7 June
The album, Second Life, gets a French release on Rock Paradise on 15 June. There’s a 12-inch vinyl version, with one bonus track, and a CD with two additional songs. There’ll be plenty of publicity surrounding the release – Chris has completed five interviews with French magazines – so hopes are high that it’ll do well. And work on the next album has started. Anthony and Greg [pictured above] went onto the studio last weekend and recorded seven songs, including what will probably be a single, again to be released on the Rock Paradise label sometime in November in advance of the album, which we expect to see early in 2010. 11 May
Well, last night’s gig at La Mecanique Ondulatoire in Paris was something a little special… James Ferrell just happened to be in town on holiday, proof that this is a very small world indeed. And as befitted the occasion James got up on stage with Chris for blistering versions of Shake Some Action and Slow Death. Footage can be found on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/jacquesb13 Chris’ set included All the Action, Cold Cold Night [an old Groovies tune that the band never recorded but which Chris did with The Fortunate Sons], Tell Me again and Starry Eyes by The Records – a great tune by a great band. For those of us that missed it – including me, sadly – we’ll have to make do with the YouTube footage for now, although a recording of the event was made so I’ll hopefully be able to post a track or two pretty soon.
24 April Second Life is getting a special release in France in June thanks to Rock Paradise Records. The CD versions will feature two additional tracks - a demo of Not For Real and a different take of Second Life - while the 12" vinyl version will feature a demo of Blaze Away. Both versions of the album have new sleeve designs. And tomorrow Chris is back in the studio recording a vocal for a charity album in support of the Terrance Higgins Trust. The sessions are a star-studded affair with a host of famous names. More news on that soon...
16 February We've added an alt mix of Blaze Away from the recent Second Life album to the Dowloads and Links page. Enjoy...
24 January Plans for the next album have taken another step forward and what’s really exciting is that we’ve almost certainly secured the services of a musician from Chris’s past to contribute to a song or two. It’ll have to be done remotely but the flexibility of digital recording makes this sort of thing ever so easy. We’ll reveal the name when plans are a little further advanced but we’re all sure that it will get people excited when he’s revealed. 2008... 24 December
30 November A couple of items of news: First, the January issue of Shindig will feature the Groovies on the front cover, along with a lengthy feature about the band inside. This draws heavily on an interview Chris did a few weeks ago. And second, Groovies bass player George Alexander has been in contact with Chris - the first time they's spoken since 1981! He tracked him down via this website... 2 November Second Life, Chris's new album, is now available on iTunes. To find it just search for 'Chris Wilson' and click on the entry categorised as 'Pop'. 20 October Second Life is now available at CDBaby [cdbaby.com/cd/chriswilson] for just $12.97. The site allows people to log in and review the album so if anyone’s got a little spare time and fancies adding a few positive words then please feel free. Karmic credit will be awarded for all contributions. The other good news is that it looks like we’re about to finalise some international distribution. If all goes well we’ll be on Amazon and in music shops around the world, including some of the bigger chains such as HMV. As far as digital distribution is concerned, Second Life will be available through iTunes and a whole host of other download sites. The album is being processed at the moment but these things take time – weeks apparently. The other bit of great news is that Shindig magazine, here in the UK, has just done an interview with Chris – covering both the Groovies and the new album. We’re currently negotiating having an outtake from Second Life on its cover-mount CD, which would be cool, and maybe have something else for download directly from its site. Much of this has happened because of fan activity so it’s a big thanks to everyone who has helped circulate the word. 13 September If everything goes according to plan there will be a limited edition version of the album, available from Kool Kat Musik, that will include some alternative versions of a couple of songs and maybe a demo or two. 8 May Chris has a new MySpace page that features, amongst other things, some great photos. Go check it out: www.myspace.com/chriswilsonflamingroovy 24 February Here's a video from the Marquee gig - a fine version of Shake Some Action. Enjoy...
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"The Groovies only ever had one run-in with the police. We'd just
come back from France - the middle of November 1972 - and we were in this big Ford
Transit. We were going to see Flaming Star, the Elvis movie at a cinema on the Kings Road,
so we pulled up this little side street and started spinning up a couple of joints when
this copper comes walking up. Johnny, our tour manager, spotted him and yelled back 'Stash
it!'.
"Earlier in the day we'd been to Granny Takes a Trip
and Cyril had got a load of clothes which were all stashed in a bag along with a bloody
great flick knife which he'd brought back from France. It was about ten inches long! |
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Patrick Renassia at Rock Paradise Records has written a few words
for the site about Chris’s showcase gig at the Rock Paradise shop last weekend.
There’s lots go on and there’ll be more news very soon
– everything’s taken off at once, which is very exciting.
