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Album Notes:

John talks about the UKE concert:

Well, what can I say? 25 years ago and it seems as though it was just yesterday. I well remember the trepidation before the event as it was Wavestar's very first 'live' performance and I'm sure that all musicians will know how that feels!!

I find it fascinating listening to it now….the PA 'buzz (!!)…the over-driven 808 crash cymbal/bass drum which just about put paid to the PA 'limiter', ditto with Dave's modular 'Digisound' synth basses (!) our Tim doing FX with a wind-chime and bumping into the mike with it and also using a big piece of scrap titanium and a screwdriver….the total craziness of it all with the number of artistes playing in one afternoon (for us) and the evening….Stevo running and waving his hands in the air, screaming, through the venue having been stressed out totally…(I laughed, cruelly!)..but, what an absolute pleasure and experience it turned out in the end.

One of the main things I notice on this recording is the way the audience react…tentatively at first, maybe, as Wavestar were (relatively) unknown, and then progressively more enthusiastic as the gig went on; culminating in going 'wild' at the end!! What an experience that was?

One really funny thing was that before the gig, Shaun (who had played live in rock bands before) said to us "what if they ask for your autograph…they might??" I remember being totally amazed at this saying "don't be daft, it's only us etc etc" Well, after the concert, the fans chased us en-mass up to the area where the girls were selling our cassettes (!) and one guy with his girl, asked me to sign his jeans!!!!! I said "Eee don't be daft" or something similar…and Dave thumped me in the ribs and said (in my ear) "He means it, you idiot"!! So I did and away they went totally happy! I couldn't believe that anyone would want MY autograph, never mind on their jeans!! We have laughed about it ever since! Wonder if he still saved them?

Of course, without the kind invite from Jeanette and Denis Emsley, then running the 'Inkeys' cassette-based magazine and co-organisers of the UKE Festival we would not have had all the enjoyable times and laughs we had then and in the following years; always grateful, guys! Ditto the other members of the 'Sheffield Mafia' who helped us to get on-stage, Shaun, Tim, Neil, Paul, Harry(?), Big Lynne, Andy and of course Stevo and Ant who amongst others, were the technical organisers on the day, and all the crew at the venue of course.

The main thanks being always to the fans, all of whom really made it a day to remember for us all…..hope the atmosphere is as enjoyable for you here, as it was for us way back then….JD, Tarbert, Argyll, September 2009.

Thanks to Graham Getty for the layout and putting this package together!! JD

P.S. Hey, but I did the re-master, so there ;O) xxx

Track samples:

This album is no longer available in its physical CD form, however orders for the download version in MP3 and the superior FLAC format are available via MusicZeit.

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