Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin

Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin News December 2024
W a i t i n g I n T h e W i n g s

We conclude our YouTube Classic Tracks series with 'Waiting in the Wings', the first song written by Dave for the Stewart/Gaskin partnership in the summer of 1981. Dave recounts: "With the release of 'It's My Party' imminent, we needed a 'B'-side in a hurry. I had nothing prepared, so showed up at London's Matrix Studios one afternoon with a view to writing and recording a song on the spot. A risky venture, given that I have a tendency to agonise over details - Stiff Records' Dave Robinson once jokingly said I took all day just to record the hi-hat - but on this occasion there was no time for indecision: the song had to be written there and then, and although Barb's vocal could be added later, the music needed to be entirely recorded by the end of the session."

"I had two ideas: the first was based on simple descending major chords of B, Bb and A played over an A bass, the second was a repeated chord sequence of D, Bb, Bm and G. That would have to do - the bit in A could be the verse, and the D sequence the chorus. I composed the music in less than an hour, recorded a click track and the piano part, then overdubbed my Prophet-5 and Minimoog synths, vocoder and Simmons SDSV electronic drums. Apart from the click track, everything was played live. We wrapped up the session in time for a celibratory pint and I took home a cassette of the track so I could write the lyrics and vocal melody (a far more time-consuming process). Once that was done, Barb came down to Matrix Studios and recorded her lead vocal and a double track in a few takes, and our sound engineer Nick Bradford mixed the song. Job done."

'Waiting in the Wings' is included on our album Broken Records - The Singles (Special Edition). The keyboard parts and arrangement details are deconstructed in Dave's ebook Inside The Music Vol. 1, available from our online store.

C h r i s t m a s Q u i z / C o p i o u s N o t e s
Anyone fancy a Christmas quiz? OK here goes - the prize is two personalised signed CDs of your choice from our Stewart / Gaskin online store. The question is: what's the name of the London concert hall where the Stewart/Gaskin band has played twice in recent years? Email your answers to [email protected] with the subject line COMPETITION. The winner will be announced on Friday January 10th 2025.

Some of you have asked about the availability of Copious Notes. Written by Dave Stewart, Mont Campbell and their close friend Antony Vinall, this compact 26,000-word booklet tells the inside story of Dave's early bands Uriel, Egg, Arzachel and the Ottawa Company from the formation of Uriel in early 1968 to the making of Egg's final album The Civil Surface in 1974. The text is crammed full of personal memoirs, anecdotes, short stories, random recollections, social observation, period details, musical analysis and song lyrics, as well as a priceless collection of archive photos taken by Terry Yetton and the musicians. An essential read for Canterbury and prog fans, UK music historians and collectors. Out of print for 17 years, the 2024 edition is now available as a perfect bound booklet from our pals Burning Shed.

If you'd like to receive early notification of our concert dates, please feel free to add your name to our Stewart-Gaskin Gig Register and we'll message you directly. Simply email us at [email protected] with the subject line 'Gig Register', tell us your name, country of residence (important) and how many tickets you're likely to need. You'll then be on our priority list for advance info, preferred seating and other perks associated with our performances. Rest assured we won't share your contact details or overburden you with emails. Thanks for reading!

S t a r C l o c k s
Some listener comments on our latest album. Thanks to the kind folks who sent them!

"Utterly, utterly beautiful. A great and sublime creation. There's so much depth to this album... both of you show development and even greater maturity since the last album. I love 'Everything Sings' in particular. It's anthemic. But all the tracks are faultless in both production and performance."

"Awesome, just awesome. Dave's lyrics and music are fantastic and so is Barbara's immaculate voice - still to my mind one of the best female voices of her generation... 'Everything Sings' is about as perfect as perfection can get. Amazing poetry, composition and performance."

"My copy of Star Clocks arrived today and I am very happy. It's beautiful and on repeat. The subtlety and poignancy of the music still grows and progresses."

"Thank you for your music!! It's golden, classic pop that keeps on giving. Barbara's singing is just lovely, it's sweet and true."

"Their mellow songs continue to be among the most gorgeous anywhere."

"The pure definition of intelligent pop music. I treasure every release!"

"STAR CLOCKS IS BEAUTIFUL."

"Totally in love with the wonderful new album. Brings me to tears."

"A great album by two artists still at the top of their game. Overall the whole album just sounds great!"

"I received yesterday your Star Clocks CD and I'm already at the third listen. What I can say? As always it's a GEM!!!"

"Barbara is sounding better than ever. Like good wine, your voice gets better with time. Thank you for your wonderful music!"

"I put on Star Clocks as soon as I received it and love the new songs & lyrics! VERY inspiring! Excellent mix & recording (as always)... love the great keyboard patches (and performances) and Barbara sounds better than ever! Gavin Harrison is fantastic (as always) and the guitar parts fit right in and are very complimentary as well. Congratulations on another musical success! 'The magic remains'."

"The house is shaking with the thunderous sounds of Star Clocks. How does Dave manage to create such sounds from just a handful of keyboards? Why is Barbara not lauded far and wide as one of the UK's great vocalists? A resounding musical success... again. Play on repeat."

"'Everything Sings' and 'Time's Arrow' feel like the emotional essence of Star Clocks. More sedate and introspective, they are suffused with a languid melancholy. Gaskin's gloriously multitracked voice articulates the wonder of being alive in the former and one's inevitable mortality in the latter. Incredibly poignant, Stewart's meticulous orchestration on these deeply affecting melodies is equal to his best work. Magical and moving, they are quietly devastating."
About Us
Dave Stewart (keyboards) and Barbara Gaskin (vocals) are English musicians who began their respective careers as band members in the early '70s. During this time Dave won a reputation as a leading keyboard player and composer, while Barbara's pure, unaffected vocals wowed the listeners of the day. In 1981 the two joined forces and enjoyed immediate success with 'It's My Party', a worldwide hit which reached no. 1 in the UK and Germany. Since then the Stewart-Gaskin partnership has evolved into one of the UK's most respected, innovative and intelligent Pop acts, characterised by Barbara's heavenly vocals and Dave's complex, musically adventurous arrangements. The duo have released seven albums to date and continue to create new music.

Dave & Barbara release their music on their own Broken Records label (distributed by Burning Shed) and perform live as a trio or quartet. Having enlisted guitarist Beren Matthews, the Stewart / Gaskin band performed successful Autumn 2018 headlining concerts in Tokyo and London, the latter also featuring master drummer Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, The Pineapple Thief). Dave, Barbara and Beren returned to Tokyo in November 2019 and emerged from lockdown with a memorable 40-year anniversary concert at London's Kings Place on Saturday July 9th 2022. Having performed three further Tokyo concerts in April 2023, the trio made a triumphant return to Kings Place Hall One on August 5th 2023.

This site focuses on the work of Stewart / Gaskin, which can best be described as intelligent pop music. Our CDs, signed vinyl singles and Dave's Inside The Music ebooks are available from our Stewart / Gaskin online store, operated by our musician colleagues Burning Shed. All sales revenue goes directly to the musicians with no record company involvement.

Our email newsletters (operated by our trustworthy colleagues Burning Shed) are a reliable way of staying informed of our album release and concert news, so please feel free to subscribe and share our newsletter subscription link with any friends who might be interested. You're also welcome to join us on Facebook and Instagram.

Links

Online Store CD Releases Live Concerts Inside The Music eBooks
A brief history of Broken Records The Vinyl Archive Discography Barbara Gaskin bio Dave Stewart bio
Music books The Eric McWhirter Home Page Visitors Book FAQ & links

Recordings

Star Clocks Green and Blue Hour Moon EP The TLG Collection Spin The Big Idea
As Far As Dreams Can Go Broken Records - The Singles 7" Vinyl Singles

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All text, images and audio files on this website copyright of Broken Records, UK.
Live photos of Stewart / Gaskin band, Tokyo 2009-2023 copyright Harumi Maezawa.
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