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Somewhere in France

by Hugh Hopper & Richard Sinclair

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1.
Long Lingers Autumn Time 05:00
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Long lingers Autumn time Late the leaves are turning I wear a threadbare cloak Nought shall ease my yearning I hear undiscerning far away Winter's wanton white horse neigh There's no way to unbe What I was and whence I came Long lingers autumn time Late the leaves are dying There's no way to unbe What I was and whence I came Long lingers Autumn time Late the leaves are falling I wear a threadbare cloak None shall heed my calling I hear appalling far away Winter's wanton white horse neigh There's no way to unbe What I was and whence I came (Lyrics by Dave C. Seager)
2.
Potted History 03:02
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Out along the Kentish coast the Wilde Flowers bloomed It was a time of new beginnings, open skies Of fledglings tottering into flight and ... When we were young, when we were young There was nothing we wouldn't try When we were young Nothing could abort plans of Soft Machine and Caravans Planting Hope for Happiness We were young, when we were young Pataphysically obsessed When we were young Flagging down the Nova Express Camping out on Dada's trail Grabbing Desire by the Tail We were young, we were very young Never sleeping all the way When we were young, when we were young From Herne Bay down to San Tropez A Certain Kind of pattern set In Memories that haunt us yet When we were young, when we were young Out along the Kentish coast the Wilde Flowers bloomed It was a time of... (Lyrics by Stirling Bennett)
3.
Keep On Caring 06:03
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All week struggle to earn those green vouchers That pay for the beer and somewhere to sleep it all off Safely away from the workaday wakeups I lie in my warm woolly wintery what's it all about? Trains of thought, images, fantasies passing As night enters day lone stars they twinkle inkle think I'll Stay in my dreams, out to lunch, memories merging Yesterday's thinks thingybobs bobbling 'bout my brains Brains I have seen, and the places I have been Such a simple dream - simply dream Keep on dreaming now Have you ever stumbled through your dreams Found there's someone listening - waiting for your call Stopping you, falling falling - waking from your dreams? Have you ever studied stars twinkling in the southern twilight? Contemplating constellations makes you feel all right Well it's good to know If you take care for stars, stars take care for you So let's take care for stars, therefore care Keep on caring now If I exist outside of me - will I meet me somewhere on my astral projection? Somewhere up on the truth-tops, outside space and time Should I biorhythmically pick out individual readings Stick to palmistry, prophecy of destiny is such a mystery Think I'll stick to tea And remain amongst my dreams, 'cause that's where me meets me Me meets me Safely in my dreams (Lyrics by Richard Sinclair)
4.
Cruising the Eastern Sky 04:25
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Flying east today on a wonderful cruise Got a ticket from the President, I'm such a lucky guy Seeing Russia from the sky, me oh my Strapped me in my seat, then mentioned something 'bout a fuse? Lots of places, lots of people I'm gonna see And I'll bet they'll wave their hands as I go flying overhead so high (It's so nice when you are cruising) Hallo friends, hallo Russia Got a little button here, don't know what it does Bound to be something Good enough for Leningrad, Kharkov, Kiev - can't be bad What a smashing time Minsk and Omsk and Vladivostok Sevastopol and good old Rostov Won't it just be fine Cruising the Eastern sky Lots of folks and lots of country I'm gonna see And I'll bet as I go cruising past They'll wave fast and smile so sweet at me (It's so nice when you are cruising) Hi there friends, hi there Moscow Got a gift from Uncle Sam, dunno know what it does Bound to be something Hot enough for old Murmansk, good old Semipalatinsk Love to light your fire Tallin, Riga and Odessa Krasnoyarsk I must confess Ya fill me with desire Cruising the Eastern sky Lots of fun and lots of parties I'm gonna to see And I bet in every town there'll be a welcome Waiting just for me (It's so nice when you are cruising) Hallo friends, hallo comrades Little present here, dunno what it does They told me to share it around Today's the day I'll be high up in the sky Got a ticket from the President, I'm such a lucky guy Gonna see the world on a cruise, me oh my Thanks to Uncle Sam, Mister President and all those nice men down there Wonder why they're running quite so fast towards that concrete shelter Nevermind, think of balalaikas and that nice Mr. Andropov (Lyrics by Hugh Hopper)
5.
Oldest Story Ever Told 02:19
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Handcuffed to the telephone It's not easy to get free Only thing that's learned Is nothing's learned from history She came to fetch her things With the better man Like a re-run B-film Death on the installment plan Time to take your medicine Let's consecrate this bottle Here's to her and here's to him Here's to tomorrow... You can't go on but you'll go on Waiting for the next To cauterize your open wound You prisoner of love and sex (Lyrics by Stirling Bennett)
6.
Video Shows 05:19
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Watch the screen, watch the screen... We want to show you all certain colourful scenes that are rather special We have penetrated everywhere - never miss a trick Well I tell you it's good - put yourselves in our hands and you'll see... We are the strangest couple of coves who ever lived Set up the video, Matey and we'll show them a thing or two 'fore they run away (Rip out the telephone) You'll see some ramifications that'll make your hair curl like a pompadour, like a genuine Teasy Things that no-one ever saw before... Here is a candid shot on a certain ferry, with a pair of sailors at half mast What a scene, what a picture on our video It's a scream when you're shooting it and nobody knows What's obscene, what is naughty in your libido What a team, me and Matey, with our video shows Look at that feller there - who would guess he's a knight and a famous surgeon? Watch his hands shake as he probes that naval orifice Well I said it was good and there's more where that came from, oh yes We are the strangest couple of blokes who ever lived Set up the video camera and we'll shoot any private passion or hidden shame There's no colour bar You'll see a chief from the Congo and a pair of corgis on a royal tour And a lady in Scotland Things the like of which we must explore Here is a lovely scene, got it from underneath them just after certain people lost a war What a dream, what a nightmare on our video It's a scream when you're shooting them from way down below What a scene, what a caper, what a picture show We're a scream, me and Matey with our video shows Take 'Madame Clutterbuck' - her real name if I told you would raise your eyebrows She appears in public every day rather differently Well I told you it's good, and there's more where that come from, oh yes We are the strangest couple of chavs who ever lived Set up the video pictures and you keen people-watchers drool over hot delights We have no prejudice You'll see a dowager princess and a keen young footman and a bombardier And a banker of merit Things like that you know you can't ignore We want to show all, pikkies of rather smaller but very sporty people, rich and poor What a scene, what a picture on our video What a scream when you're shooting it and nobody knows What's obscene, what is naughty in your libido What a team, me and Matey, with our video shows What a dream, what a nightmare on our video Elton Dean's sax is straighter than some people we know What a scene, what a caper, what a picture show ... (Lyrics by Hugh Hopper)
7.
Solidarity 03:33
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Solidarity! Solidarity! Solidarity! Solidarity! Walking - getting from one place to another (simple as A, B and C) Walking - placing one foot before the other (one step or two but not three) Strolling - sticking to the rules and not running (jumping) Hopping (skipping), trotting but Keeping one foot on the ground or the other (dogs must be kept on a lead) Nice to goosestep together We'll all help you keep time Walk in your sleep (don't try to run) Talk in your sleep (before you can walk) Talking - noises that are made between persons (made from the ears to the mouth) Talking - harmless if it's just conversation (not east to west - north and south) Speaking - anything you say may be noted (reported, distorted) Taken (listed, twisted), locked in safe Keeping - lips are better sealed - no dissension (keep a civil tongue in your head) Nice to duckspeak together We'll all help you keep mum Talk in your sleep (don't try to talk) Think in your sleep (with your mouth full Thinking - forming an idea about something (but keep your thoughts to yourself) Thinking - holding a belief or opinion (just eat your words - walls have ears) Dreaming - even when you're sleeping we're watching (spying) Listening (trying), trust us to Know - know what is best in the long run (too tired and tonguetied to talk) Nice to have you here with us Nowhere else you can go Think in your sleep (don't think you'll be missed) Think in your sleep (we'll soon change your tune) Think in your sleep Think in your sleep ... (Lyrics by Angus McLewin)
8.
Only The Brave 01:21
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Only the brave watch when Pye demonstrates the Mole Mountains can fall when he inserts it in the hole It goes so far, it goes so fast, where it ends up no-one knows But Daevid down in Melbourne thinks he did see one of those Down in the Bay old Dave is doing rather well Wife and a nipper from a certain strange hotel He's got a job right up his street, or say his "Avenue" He's tinkling ivories all day long, he always wanted to Then there's a Coughlan whose attempts to drink us dry Having abandoned finally his bid to fly He only made a pair of flaps before he crashed upon the beach It's rumoured that his flippers failed to open at three feet (Lyrics by Hugh Hopper)
9.
Colin-A-Dell 03:44
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Colin-a-Dell? Yes, I've known him well Since the day he was born with his shock all shorn He shot from the womb like a corpse from a tomb Gave a hideous yell as if casting a spell A peculiar chap - they made him a cap Of leather and lead to squat square on his head Fain did his brain run like rain down a drain Perhaps 'twas queer cap made him querulous, poor chap At school he was quick, much like wax from the wick Dissected a lizard, was elected a wizard His college he scandalized with the knowledge he'd vandalized His trick with a stick nicked the Dean's knickers thick When pretty well growed he befriended a toad City roads would they roam until late wending home Under endings of moon, soon they'd send up a croon About what no-one knowed, all rendered in code Bad went to worse, he fashioned a hearse From a farmer's wagon, tethered to a dragon Feathered his bed with the fleece of the dead And with cursings terse nursed his bursting purse An improbable tale, no nearer the pale Then a kettle of fish in a teacup, I wish 'Twere not wholly true, just an unwholesome brew Over some gruesome ale, but it's true as a nail ... (Lyrics by Dave C. Seager)

about

Richard and I had been threatening to do it for ages...

Of course we first played together in 1964, as founder members of the Wilde Flowers (LEGEND ALERT! LEGEND ALERT!) - he knew all the chords to all the Beatles songs and played rhythm guitar like a well oiled sewing machine and occasionally sang (so did I, believe it or not). I forgot now exactly why he left the band - did he leave or was he pushed? The people have a right to know. He reckons now it was his roll-necked sweaters.

Anyway, (wavy lines, harp music, time passing), the rest is history - he went on to form Caravan and then Hatfield and the North, and after I left Soft Machine (LEGEND ALERT!), I was knocked out hearing him play bass with the Hatfields and occasionally singing. Invited him down to my houseboat residing on the grey mud of the Thames estuary to get A Project Together, Man, and ...did nothing about it for another ten years. Then in 1983 (wavy lines, harp, etc.), although I wasn't playing live with any bands, I was tinking away at the piano, writing a lot of songs - writing some of the lyrics myself and also collaborating with journalist Stirling Bennett and a couple of old friends, Dave Seager and Angus McLewin.
www.linkedin.com/in/angus-mclewin-88884826/?originalSubdomain=uk

And Richard was living just around the corner. Now, he is also an expert woodworker, so while he was repairing a window frame for me and couldn't get away, I hit him with The Project again and like a fool he agreed, little realizing it would entail driving hundreds of miles down through France to record in a picturesque but frankly bloody freezing gaffe where I had played with Elton Dean and Alan Gowen: the inimitable Jacky Barbier's inimitable club/studio in the country south of Chalon. (WINE COUNTRY ALERTS!)
www.discogs.com/artist/821771-Jacky-Barbier

Well, we did a couple of rehearsals. (One and a half, actually). Richard came up with the excellent "Keep On Caring" and some tunes that he didn't yet have words for. I enjoyed writing suitably eccentric words for them - "Video Shows," "Cruising the Eastern Sky," "Only The Brave." The Jean-Pierre Weiller said he'd like to bring the record out on his Europa label, gave us an advance, and we blasted off through the night from the Dover ferry and arrived somewhat wasted at Jacky's many hours later.

Jacky does not speak English. Richard does not speak French. Must have been a bizarre experience for them both, now that I think about it, but Richard tucked in to the excellent food and wine, and shoved a fan heater up his sweater in the vocals booth when the November cold got too much to bear. He recorded the haunting church bell on the end of "Long Lingers Autumn Time" one evening before supper by the high-tech method of strolling down the village street with a Sony Walkman tucked under his arm. Jacky's ex and current partners, Pascale and Helene, were persuaded to add some girlie backing vocals, and even I contributed some shoop-shoo-wahs after lubrication of throat with cognac.

But enough of this trivial chat about music. After a week or so of recording we drove over to Mercurey and filled up the dozen demi johns we'd brought from England with local red wine at 70p a litre and staggered back to Blighty. This is what The Project was really about....
-Hugh Hopper 1993

Though recorded in 1983, this album was not released until thirteen years later.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhTe5A6Tp6o
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFVLjPddzps&list=OLAK5uy_nln9vTAPw92KPhhLWVUwaj816of07yp34

credits

released November 15, 1983

Richard Sinclair - voice, fretless bass, guitar, bongos
Hugh Hopper - keyboards, fuzz bass
Serge Bringolf - drums (tracks 3, 4 & 6)
Helene - girlie voice (tracks 4 & 7)
Pascale - girlie voice (tracks 4 & 7)
Jacky - extra vocals (track 7)

Artwork by Heather Kinnear

Music by Hugh Hopper (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 9) or Richard Sinclair (the rest)
Lyrics tracks 1 & 9: Dave Seager
Lyrics tracks 2 & 5: Stirling Bennett
Lyrics track 3: Richard Sinclair
Lyrics tracks 4, 6 & 8: Hugh Hopper
Lyrics track 7: Angus McLewin

Recorded by Jacky Barbier at Bresse-sur-Grosne, France November 1983
Original project by Jean-Pierre Weiller, Europa Records
Photos: Patrick Hugon

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Richard Sinclair Martina Franca, Italy

The leading voice of the Canterbury Scene. Beginning with the Wilde Flowers, on to Caravan, Hatfield & the North, Camel and all his recent group efforts, Richard Sinclair's singing and bass playing have been a constant source of delight for lovers of Canterbury music. A deep, low voice, a talent for memorable melodies few can match, plus an imaginative and fluid technique on the bass and guitar. ... more

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