Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin

Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin News January 2025

Happy New Year, greetings from the West Country! As we write the snow is falling outside, a beautiful sight and a pleasant (though chilly) way to start the New Year. 2025 marks the 44th year of the Stewart/Gaskin partnership, and we consider ourselves lucky to still be happily together, recording and performing as ever. A new album is in the pipeline and gigs are being pencilled - watch this space for dates, and if you fancy seeing us live, please add your name to our Gig Register for early bird concert alerts and offers (details below).

O u r T o p T e n
Dave says: "As we look forward to new music in 2025 it's also satisfying to reflect on our older material. A frequently asked interview question is, "What are your favourite Stewart/Gaskin songs?" With over 100 in our repertoire it's almost impossible to narrow it down, and when I asked Barb to nominate ten favourites, she replied "What about the other 95?" Nevertheless, we've given it a go.

Here are Barb's Top Ten, listed in chronological order: 'The Hamburger Song', 'I'm in a Different World', 'There Is No Reward', 'Grey Skies', 'Your Lucky Star', 'The Sweetwater Sea', 'Fear is the Thief', 'René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War' (Paul Simon), 'When the Warcry Comes' and 'Time's Arrow'. Barb explains: "The words are very important. 'The Hamburger Song' appeals to me because of Dave's surreal socio-political lyrics, and the simple arrangement and snappy structure are a nice contrast with epic, long form tracks such as 'The Sweetwater Sea'. On that long piece I enjoyed singing the bluesy coda with Peter Blegvad, and I love the floaty 'sea piano' ending which follows."

Barb continues: "Dave originally wrote 'No Reward' for Colin Blunstone - I like the song and its political message, and enjoyed singing my own version. The experimental 'Fear is the Thief' is also in there because of its scary lyrics. When it comes to cover versions, 'Different World' and 'René and Georgette Magritte' are great songs; I love the built-in ebb and flow of Different World's arrangement, and find the idea of the two lovers newly arrived in New York City very touching. I'm very pleased with my vocal on 'Your Lucky Star', and think 'Grey Skies' is one of Dave's best songs. That's how I feel today, but if you asked me next week I'd probably give you a different list!"

Dave also selected 'Your Lucky Star' and 'Grey Skies'. He explains: "Barb did a great vocal on 'Lucky Star' - it's a sad song about the tragic life of '60s record producer Joe Meek, many people have told us they find it touching. Top of my list would be 'New Jerusalem' and 'Busy Doing Nothing' - both were epic 48-track recording projects which put a huge strain on their respective studio engineers Owen Morris and Ted Hayton, but with those guys' help and great performances from the guest musicians I think they turned out brilliantly. My remaining six selections are the autobiographical 'Walnut Tree Walk' (a dreamy nocturnal wander through the streets of London), 'Henry & James' (the continuing story of two characters from Thomas Dolby's song 'Leipzig') and our ballads 'As Far As Dreams Can Go', 'The Cloths Of Heaven ' and 'Heavy Heart', on which Barb's vocals always bring a tear to my eye. Lastly, the fiery 'Deep Underground' includes one of my favourite 'red mist' keyboard solos - I played it spontaneously in one wild take, and am still trying to figure out how I did it!"

Dave adds: "I know it's cheating, but I'd also like to mention two Melting Moments from our last album which always give me a shiver up the spine. The first is Gavin Harrison's insane drum break into my keyboard solo on our cover of 'Summer in the City', one of the most exciting things I've heard him play. The second is Beren Matthews' guitar solo on 'Afraid of Clowns'. When I first played Beren the backing track he asked, "What are you going to do over the instrumental section?". "Dunno", I replied, "probably play a keyboard solo." "Can I have a go?", he enquired. "Sure, go for it." Beren then went absolutely berserk and delivered a manic, rousing red-mist solo which neither of us could improve on in a million years. Well played Gav and Beren!"

C h r i s t m a s Q u i z W i n n e r / M o r e C o p i o u s N o t e s
Our 2024 Christmas quiz posed the question, "What's the name of the London concert hall where the Stewart/Gaskin band has played twice in recent years?" The answer is Kings Place Hall One, a lovely purpose built concert hall situated in Kings Cross. All contestants correctly identified the venue and were duly added to our prize draw (which offers considerably better odds than the National Lottery). The first name to magically spring from the Sorting Hat was Les Wilson, who receives two personalised signed CDs of his choice from our Stewart / Gaskin online store. Congratulations to Les, and thanks to all those who sent us nice messages - much appreciated, your support means a lot to us.

Last month we announced the re-release of Copious Notes, out of print for 17 years and now available in a perfect bound 2024 edition. Written by Dave Stewart, Mont Campbell and their close friend Antony Vinall, this 60-page compact 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. Copies signed by Dave quickly sold out, but a new batch of signed copies will be available from our pals Burning Shed from Tuesday Jan 13th.

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 the eminently trustworthy 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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Live photos of Stewart / Gaskin band, Tokyo 2009-2023 copyright Harumi Maezawa.
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