Proggier Than Thou...

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From today's Guardian. The Top 5 of Steve "Interesting" Davis, former World Snooker champion and famed as the "most boring man in sport":

1. Magma - Mekanik Destructiw Kommandoh
2. Hatfield and the North - s/t
3. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink
4. Art Zoyd - Nosferatu
5. Patricia Dallio - Processon

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Did he not 'engineer' a Magma reunion, back in the day?

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Steve Davis is a fascinating man. Boring reputation unfair, i would say.

― Robbie Lumsden (Wallace Stevens HQ), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:13 (twenty-two years ago)

of course the true put-it-all-in-the-correct-box type would say that none of the artists are actually "prog" at all - caravan and the hatfields are "canterbury music", magma are "zeuhl" (sp?) etc.

Steve Davis did pay for a Magma gig in London IIRC at the tail end of the '80's, yes. I didn't go.

My guitarist friend went to nearfest last year (nearfest = dadaismus hell) and among the bands playing was magma. He said they were awesome for the first 2 hrs, thereafter a bit much. Apparently they played for sonething like 4hrs straight, which would be a bit much for me, I ph34r.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Who or what is Patricia Dallio?

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I have no idea.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:24 (twenty-two years ago)

She was in Art Zoyd on the old Joanna.

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:25 (twenty-two years ago)

(i thought i posted this once already but it's disappeared)

Davis was also in 'Swiss Toni' on BBC3 last night, dressed as Swiss Toni. Bizarre, but quite amusing (unlike the rest of the show, esp. Tom Baker - altho' there was a bit where his character talked about being a has been who'd not worked for 20 years, which I thought was a bit cruel of the writers)

― zebedee (zebedee), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Steve Davis' musical tastes are indeed interesting, thru Prog (or Zeuhl or whateva), he got into jazz rock then jazz funk and then soul/R&B (or was it in the opposite direction?) So he's a bit of an authority on 60s soul AND Magma.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:26 (twenty-two years ago)

More Stevo right here.

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:27 (twenty-two years ago)

aha, a member of art zoyd, it appears, who IIRC are also classed as "zeuhl" by thoise who care about such things. Ha, obviously you do not read "audion" magazine dada! (that said, I do, and I've never heard of her either) the first english language hit on google was 3 pages in fwiw.

argh x-post

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:27 (twenty-two years ago)

That Guardian link is ace. TI'm tickled by the idea of a couple of Magma "coming down to the snooker club to smash a few balls around". WOuldn't those silly big medallions they wear get in the way?

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember him championing the dreaded Shakatak back in the 80s, he's certainly a man of singular taste. Wonder what he makes of the music of the last 20 years, if indeed he's heard any.

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:35 (twenty-two years ago)

i think he'd find it interesting

― zebedee (zebedee), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:36 (twenty-two years ago)

That Patricia Dallio album is pretty dull from what I remember. Every time I've seem Magma in London Steve Davis has been there with his mates. I was hoping for a few of the 80's "snooker loopy" crew but I guess Magma didn't catch on with them. He's something to do with getting the "Ork Alarm" magazine up online I think too - http://www.simplesoul.co.uk/ork_alarm/

― udu wudu (udu wudu), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Aha, Captain Sensible sang the theme song to "Big Break" (the crap snooker quiz) and he too has confessed to an adolescence of afghan coats and following Soft Machine from gig to gig. And of course "Big Break" was presented by Jim Davidson, the world's biggest ELP fan!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember reading this interview w/capt sensible back in the eighties, where he went on about this. He said he actually took it far enough w/soft machine that he used to dress and wear his hair like mike ratledge as well. He recalled (probably he made this up, but still) him and three mates, who also sported the mike ratledge look, driiving home after a softs gig, and pulling up next to a car at traffic lights - they look at the car, and driving it is - mike ratledge himself!! ratledge looks back at them, sees four clones of himself grinning back at him, and floors it!!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Ahh, dear old Snooker Loopy. Given Steve's prog-love though, it's sort of disappointing that the Romford Rap turned out like it did.

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:49 (twenty-two years ago)

A friend of a friend of a friend is best mates with Mike Ratledge, in fact Mike Ratledge was best man at this wedding - not sure if they got him to play the Wedding March on a Lowery organ thru a fuzz box however.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:50 (twenty-two years ago)

That last post was an x-post

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 19 April 2004 10:50 (twenty-two years ago)

What a thread!

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Monday, 19 April 2004 11:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Steve Davis is a fascinating man. Boring reputation unfair, i would say.

So it would seem!

http://www.cuesnviews.co.uk/Snooker/graphics/bookhowtobereallyinteresting_sm.JPG

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 19 April 2004 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

They didn't play for 4 hours that night...more like 2, if that. I WISH it were for 4 hours. ;)

― Joe (Joe), Friday, 7 May 2004 22:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Also:

http://www.patriciadallio.com/

― Joe (Joe), Friday, 7 May 2004 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

a member of art zoyd, it appears, who IIRC are also classed as "zeuhl" by thoise who care about such things.

Art Zoyd are really closer to a contemporary classical ensemble than a rock band, though I think they started out as a rock band in the 60s. Their music actually isn't very 'Zeuhl'-ish (no operatic/choral vocals, no Fender Rhodes churning out hypnotic-repetitive chords, no up-front fuzz bass, etc); more like Univers Zero without any rhythm section and way artsier. They do share with Magma (and UZ, too) a dark/portentous quality in their music and also drawing from Eastern European classical influences.

― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 8 May 2004 01:53 (twenty-two years ago)

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