Seasonal Dodgy - Christmas shows 2012 and 1996

Hey! Anyone noticed?
(Cue Noddy Holder) ...That IT'SSSSSS CHRISTMASSSSSSSSSSSS.
And what better time for us give a blug (a plug in a blog) for our CHRISTMAS SHOW WITH DODGY in London on December 14th, with our guest @TheQuill - Mark Morris (from The Bluetones) and hopefully a few surprises. Tickets still available here:
Christmas with Dodgy - London O2 Islington Academy - TICKETS 

Oh, don't you just love that slowed down, shitty version of The Power Of Love, doesn't it just make you want to get to a John Lewis and spend - if you have anything to spend that is. Time's are tough round here, it's hard to spin a story to a twelve year old boy, that the reason he isn't going to get any presents this year is that this year Santa located his UK sleigh stable/depot in Tewkesbury, rains came, followed by floods resulting in all gifts sailing away down the Swanee confluence of the Severn and Avon - The Sweveronee, whilst the elves, reindeer and ol beardy bloke could only look inadequately on .. in horror... cheer up Tiny Tim, there's always next year, eh?
We'd like to write some witty treatise on this time of year but Charlie @charltonbrooker has already done it so brilliantly in his Guardian column so just go and read that
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/25/2012-christmas-adverts-snowmen-slave-labour

It seemed like only yesterday that Dodgy had our big Christmas show at Brixton Academy in London and it's great to be doing the O2 Academy in Islington this year.
When Dodgy hosted our Brixton show, we had already sold out the whole UK tour, with Brixton at the end and when tickets were selling well we got to achieve our aim of hosting a Brixton all-nighter. We always loved the Primal Scream all-nighters, so it was great to be able to do our own.
Being Christmas and our biggest gigs to date we wanted to do everything we could to make it special. Firstly, if you are going to do a big show, get a big stage and yes, a big stage set. After getting a blank from the record company and our management for a massive budget for set building, the drummer's brother came up with a perfect idea; he had trained at St. Martins College Of Art And Design in London and suggested we approach some of the students about the possibility of getting involved. We got a number and called the college rather speculatively enquiring "have you any student prodigies who would like to design and build a set for Dodgy on very little budget?"
Not only did they say yes but they enthusiastically gathered together most of their year group and did us proud. Game on. This is a while ago, what are you up to now boys and girls? We do know that at least one has gone on to bigger and better things, that's Pearl Bates who's now an artist as well as still working in theatre, TV design etc. but we'd love to hear from some of the others as well.

Also, at the time Dodgy were big fans of comedy and one of our favourite comedians and generally all round nice people we had met was @mrmichaelsmiley, now a top class actor who frightened us to death not so long ago in the movie Kill List. He hooked up with another up and coming comedian at the time @simonpegg, where's he now?
They did an amazing job, music and comedy, live on the same night, don't always best compliment each other but we were able to get away with it by dispensing with a snooty VIP bar upstairs and turning it into our very own comedy club - people still remember it, so it must have worked.

It also appears that we were somewhat trailblazing a way for this damn thing called t'internet at the time. Up until that point, without the help of modern social media, we used to write out a newsletter under the auspices of a made up character called George Winterbourne. We had books of postal addresses and if it hadn't been the faithful support of people like Damage and Chrissy H, the thing would never have worked but every time we put together a newsletter there would be a big envelope and stamping party - god knows how much it would cost with today's Royal Mail prices.
So, valuing the contact with our fans getting something called a website seemed to be ideal for us and slowly we were converting the mail addresses into email addresses to propel us into the modern world. Then someone suggested, what if we were to try and 'broadcast' the show onto/via the Internet - how good would that be?. Looking back on it, probably not very, as those people lucky enough to have access to the Internet did so via their phone lines. We enquired how this might be possible and were told that someone would have to install an ISDN line into Brixton Academy, we cheekily asked BT and to our surprise they said they would install one at the venue because they were testing out all this stuff too. The idea was that the system would be tested at lunchtime with us doing a live interview with Japan who were hours ahead in the day and then the big event and show broadcast would be in the evening.
We had already done a cracking show at the Academy the night before, so when we arrived on the day it was funny to see some changes in the venue. The webcast team had purloined a room at the academy and there were what looked like a motley collection of boffins and hippies (just about sums up the Internet then) looking at various computers - it was like Nasa mission control - Brixton, we're receiving you.

Apparently, the Japan connection went well - they were slightly more ahead on the Internet front and could see and hear us doing our interview from Brixton at the lunchtime. Later that night after Dodgy came off stage, we heard that the webcast itself was somewhat of a disaster, perhaps we'd overloaded the system and were probably at least five years in advance of where the technology actually was. In fact our tour manager had a portable computer (that's what they were then before laptops) and seeing Hippies vs Scientists taking an ugly turn he stepped in and at least, apparently those with suitable connections could hear audio, if not actually seeing us.

At the stage in Dodgy's career when we played the Brixton Academy Christmas show, we had a sizable live band, Richard on keyboards, a brass section and occasionally a backing singer or three. Plus a fantastic crew and some ever present friends - the stage set was impressive to say the least, so on the afternoon of the gig we got a banqueting table set up on stage and had a full Christmas dinner for everyone, with ALL the trimmings, rock and roll excess, you bet but it had to be done - it had been our hardest working year to date and everyone had contributed.
The music lineup consisted of ourselves and El Vez. El Vez is a larger than life Mexican/American rock and roll artist who we'd come to hear about through his campaigning and political edge to his songs which were funny and satirical. He had a Christmas album called Mexmas including songs such as 'Oranges for Christmas', 'Poncho Claus' and 'Brown Christmas' and put on a great show in true Christmas spirit, luckily we were able to get involved in bringing him over to do Brixton and a couple of other dates at Christmas including a memorable night at Liverpool Royal Court, anyone remember that one?
We also had a special guest lined-up, staying true to our Birmingham roots, with Roy Wood agreeing to join us on a version of 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day'

We've always been massive fans of Roy's music and can't be sure but think the only reason that he agreed to do it was that his daughter was a fan. Roy turned up with his guitar but chose to go to the front door rather than the artists stage door. He looks offstage, the way he does on, mad coloured hair and yes, he actually looks like a Wizard, the full Lord Of The Rings etc and of course had a load of trouble getting in as the bouncers were apparently unaware of who he was. Luckily one of our crew was on the look out for him and managed to get him in. As we're writing all this through faded memories, it's throwing up the question - did this really happen? And what do you know, we put it in google and this post came up on Frank Turner's forum - apparently he was asking his fans where was a good place to do a Christmas gig

"In 1996 I went to see Dodgy do an Xmas all nighter at Brixton, at one point they got Wizard on stage and played 'i wish it would be Christmas everyday' and as the song ended a load of fake snow fell from the roof. I was rather fucked on various things and the whole thing was amazing -a great memory. The gig finished at 6am and I made it to work by 9am. Half way through the day some old lady said to me 'i know what you;ve been taking' and winked at me. :wink:" Thanks to @atpmusic for that reminisce.

 Oh dear, snow - did we really have snow - actually we had met Snow ("Informer") in Jamaica earlier that year, during filming for the 'Good Enough' video but that's another story.
Hopefully a few of you who remember that Brixton night will actually be in a fit enough state to come this year for the Dodgy Christmas show at the O2 Academy in Islington on 14th December.
Remembering, that we also did special Xmas merchandising for that gig, Dodgy Christmas hats, Christmas mugs - yes you've got it, with our mugs in silly Xmas costumes and T-shirts - anyone owns one of these items perhaps get em up on Twitter to prove it wasn't all a dream
In fact anyone with any photos/memories of the Brixton christmas shows - get in touch.
See you on the 14th - for the gig goers it's an early show so you can get home if you have a fair way to travel or for those who want to party you get free entrance into the club after with majestic comedian @russell_kane on the decks - whooppee.

Great night at Northern Soul allnighter with DODGY in Wigan and new vinyl single

We wondered for moments, how wise it was to add a little diversion to promoting the new album by Dodgy, 'Stand Upright In A Cool Place' but on Saturday our Northern Soul all-nighter in Wigan hosted by Dodgy turned out to be a resounding success and suggested that in fact we aren't mad to have written and recorded our own 'northern soul' single. Thank you to everyone who came and danced...

As mentioned in the preview podcast, the idea came to us a few months ago after seeing how well our cover of  the late great Frank Wilson's 'Do I Love You (Indeed I do)'  was going down at the early Summer festivals.  So Dodgy set about writing and recording our own northern inspired single and had the idea of hosting our own northern soul all-nighter - all that was needed was an appropriate venue. Enter the ever diligent Wing Commander Berry, Dodgy's Northern attache who found The Rose Club which was formerly the Monaco Ballroom and what a find; sprung dance floor, balcony and indeed it had held a soul night in Wigan in the early 70's before the Casino opened it's doors.

It was a great to see a whole bunch of faces, old and new and good to hook up with Brian Cannon. We know Brian from our early days, he's got a bunch of Oasis artwork to his credit amongst a great portfolio and his current photographic project is called Northern Soul - A Photographic Journey , his new amazing photos and he brought his camera along on Saturday - we'll put a couple of his shots (of us ;-) up here.

We were aware from the beginning that we might produce varying reactions of the tribal variety, especially if we succeeded in pulling in some of the more devoted northern soul purists. A minority were not very keen at all,  you might even describe them as hostile but as the aim of the whole venture was to create something special and vibrant around music Dodgy love, so if a few were offended (hopefully for not too long a time) then so be it. We were front-line participants in the indie snob wars of the 1990's, so a bit of northern soul outrage wasn't going to derail us too much.

... and by the end of the night, as the talc cleared, it looked from where we were standing, that everyone was left with a smile on their face and a spring in their step with an overwhelmingly positive reaction, from the 45 Carat Soul Club and the Wigan Young Souls who agreed to host the night with us, to legendary DJ Pete Mitchell ( @petemitchelldj a regular down the Casino back in the day) who interviewed me for his Soul Time show on Absolute 60's. It should be up on his Mixcloud page here http://www.mixcloud.com/soultime/

One thing we knew was, that if Dodgy was going to release a northern soul single then in the spirit of the music, the main format we should release it on should be vinyl 7-inch. These days Dodgy don't have a record company to do all the practical work so it was an interesting adventure getting our recordings from the masters onto vinyl.
- CZECH REPUBLIC - EVESHAM - NEW YORK - WIGAN -

It seems that most vinyl now is manufactured in Czech Republic, so considering the songs were recorded in Vale Studios near Evesham in September, mastered in New York and arrived in Wigan via Eastern Europe just in time for the first date of the tour in Leicester, our little songs have had an International adventure to rival Phileas Fogg himself. No wonder they are so popular.

In fact interest in the single has been so phenomenal that in a couple of weeks it will also be available for download. Don't worry, we'll let you know when.

Quite a few years ago when I, drummer Math, was doing a series of Northern Soul shows for what was then the BBC radio station in London, GLR, called 'Where's Wigan? The Londoners Guide To Northern Soul' I had no idea that I would be part of our own Northern all-nighter... in Wigan! It was an ambitious project but there's a lot of interest in northern at the moment and a film currently in production called Northern Soul that promises to be both authentic and very good indeed. In fact as we mentioned before, the Wigan Young Souls who helped us host the night, are featured as young dancers in the film and boy, what dancing we were treated to on Saturday.
We tweeted during the night that you forget what an absolute visceral thrill it is to hear Northern Soul cranked up loud with a dance floor full of proper dancers, giving it plenty. We heard some incredible tunes that night also, some of them very rare, there were nearly tears when they played three of our fav tunes - Little Anthony and the Imperials - 'Better use Your Head', MVP - 'Turning My Heatbeat Up' and Darrell Banks - 'Open The Doors To Your Heart'. So once again, thanks to all the DJs on the night. But while we're on a thanking tip we have to heap a whole load of thanks on the Soul Queen, Vanessa Best from Ultrasound who joined us for the St Albans and Wigan date. She is simply incredible and we love playing with her. If you haven't yet checked out Ultrasound's brand new album, Play For Today then you absolutely must, it ranks as the best album this year ....next to Stand Upright In A Cool Place of course.

Now that the new single from Dodgy is launched, we need to spread the word. It was great getting a play on Radio 2 from Dermot the other Saturday, so give it a listen and if you like what you hear feel free to email / text your favourite DJ and 6Music etc. to let them know Dodgy are very much alive and well.

The tour didn't end in Wigan though. This week Dodgy are looking forward to live dates on Weds (24th Oct) near MILTON KEYNES @ The Stables, Thursday (25th Oct) BRIGHTON @ The Haunt, Friday (26th) ROCHESTER @ The Royal Function Rooms (sounds grand) finishing up on Saturday (27th) in BURY ST. EDMUNDS at the APEX. That sounds like a tour to us and expect to see at least half of you at one of these or another.

Got your tickets for the Dodgy Xmas show in London yet on December 14th yet? better hurry
www.livenation.co.uk/event/332672/dodgy-the-dodgy-xmas-party-tickets

Frank Wilson RIP - Do we love you? - Indeed we do

Frank Wilson RIP

5Th Dec 1940 - 27 Sep 2012

Want to keep things positive but we were genuinely shocked when we started hearing rumours coming through yesterday that soul singer Frank Wilson had died.

Dodgy have spent the whole summer showcasing his classic song 'Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)' and have just been in the studio to record our version as one of the tracks on a new northern flavoured single - so yes we were shocked and saddened to hear that Frank had lost his battle with cancer #anotheronebitesthedust

The best short biography we could find was here at www.frankwilson.co.uk

and in his time Frank wrote and produced hit records for Brenda Holloway, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes,The Miracles, The Four Tops, Eddie Kendricks, and more.

The story goes that his own single “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" was set for release on the Motown subsidiary label 'Soul.' Supposedly 250 demo 45s were pressed, but by that time Frank decided he would rather focus on producing (or Berry Gordy made that decision!!) and had the demos trashed. Somehow at least two known copies survived, one of which fetched over £25,000 (aprox. $37,000) in May 2009 to a mystery buyer, some say it was Frank Wilson himself.

Because of the scarcity of the original single and the high quality of the music (it was one of the most popular records in the Northern Soul movement), it has been championed as one of the rarest and most valuable records in history.

Hopefully our version is a fitting tribute you can check it the full version included in our latest podcast at pcdodgy.blogspot.co.uk or HERE

FRANK WILSON RIP

New podcast from Dodgy with Northern soul flavour including full versions of TWO NEW RECORDINGS

This post comes as a special Podcast from Dodgy drummer Math Priest for your listening pleasure, including EXCLUSIVE first full plays of two NEW TRACKS from Dodgy - get listening and feedback is always appreciated.

Math introduces the two new recordings from Dodgy, part homage to Northern soul music, to be released in October as a limited edition 7-inch single.
There are details of the launch event in Wigan (where else?) at the Monaco Soul Club on Saturday October 20th - it's going to be a party.

The podcast details Dodgy's relationship with Northern Soul music; Math who has form in the genre/presenting, with the show 'Where's Wigan?' he presented and programmed for GLR radio in London.
This summer, amongst a full festival date sheet, Dodgy included a couple of scooter rallys and as well as playing 'The Snake' by Al Wilson, recorded by Dodgy as a b-side to the single 'Melodies Haunt You', thought it would be courteous to throw in other Northern covers including 'Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Frank Wilson.
Math and Andy Miller guitarist with Dodgy, also have a side project The Soulwinners with Vanessa Best from Ultrasound (who have their own fantastic new album out soon @Ultrasoundband ) and she contributes backing vocals on these new tracks.

The podcast includes Math's brief (but by no means definitive) background to Northern Soul and points out that that the Frank Wilson version of 'Do I Love You' on Motown is one of the most sought after Northern singles.

 We also big up a new British film Northern Soul ( @nsoulthefilm ), directed by photographer Elaine Constantine currently filming in the North West and the connection with Wigan Young Souls.

The podcast includes the first play of a new song written and recorded by Dodgy influenced by Northern under the working title 'Wagon Wheel' - WARNING: That title might change but we like it for now ;-)

Listen to Math's podcast, spread the word and RSS (however that spreads) and see you in Wigan on October 20th, tickets are going fast
Podcast MP3 link
www.dodgyology.com

Dodgy Done Summer

Well folks, we made it.

A Summer diary packed as full as any Summer we've ever had. If you saw Dodgy and enjoyed us then thank you for coming down, if you didn't then I hope you get to see us soon as we're playing as well as we've ever played, and we played EVERYWHERE. (OK, not Glasgow, but we will soon). It certainly felt like we were following the Olympic torch around Britain at one point.

 We played our last festival of the summer last weekend at Off The Tracks in Donnington and then  finished things off with a storming show at one of the UK's largest scooter rallies at Mersea Island in deepest, darkest Essex. It has been a great Summer for Dodgy, and with only a short pause for breath we get back on the road to keep spreading the word about Stand Upright In A Cool Place, the new album by Dodgy with a short Scottish jaunt, a tour in October to coincide with our Northern Soul single, a Wigan all-nighter and a big Christmas bash in London to round off the year.

We are already missing that festival stage though, so if we get a call from Festival No.6 asking us to pop along and play the new album, we won't take much persuading - if they can pull that off it looks like a great event.

There was an article in The Guardian at the beginning of the summer with the headline "The great British musical festival washout" you can read it HERE

it focuses amongst other things, on how the British weather and the fact that Glastonbury didn't happen this year had caused many festivals to cancel and get poor turnouts. The weather factor is obvious but for the life of me I just don't get the Glastonbury one; other festivals complain when Glastonbury happens that they take all the ticket buyers.... and then blame them when they have a year off for not getting people in the 'festival mood'. Uh?? You know, imagine if there was a god and one day the world woke up and there was no Macdonalds - can you imagine all the other burger producers and sellers being up in arms? - "Oh no, with no Macdonalds on every street corner, how are WE going to get people into the burger mood ourselves?" The answer is make a fantastic burger with plenty of exciting fresh trimmings and make sure you market it properly and to the right audience, maybe?

Well Dodgy were certainly in the festival mood this year and we didn't need Glasto for that (we are happy to wait until next year for that). Encouraged by the great response to the release of our new album Stand Upright In A Cool Place, we made a conscious decision that summer 2012 we were going to get out on the festie circuit, cementing the fact that Dodgy are back - with all the trimmings and no chaff - rain or no rain, Olympics or no Olympics.
To add to the challenge, where ever possible, we added a smaller club gig before each festival weekend as a warm up. Of course playing so regularly we didn't really need to warm up every time but we wanted to get to a few of the UK corners we hadn't been for a while and in fact some of those nights were as memorable as the festivals themselves.

We kicked it all off way back at the start of May with a low key, acoustic performance at Dumbfest, not a massive festival as such but had a great night and pleased that the overall event raised over £4,500 for the Teenage Cancer Trust charity. Lakefest near Tewksbury next where we bumped into the band @MissingAndy for the first time this Summer (we played with them at Brentwood in July also) who went down an absolute storm plus we also encountered the mighty @ChesneyHawkes. Here's a boy that doesn't think twice about breaking all the rules. When you play a festival set, it's always a good trick to throw in the odd cover to get the crowd going but old Chesners took that idea and fucking RAN. He started with Summer of 69 and Oasis and didn't stop with the 'Best of Absolute Radio' playlist till he reached his 'one and only' hit at the end. We were impressed with the boy's shear gall. Good on him really as the crowd went bananas. And we had to follow him.

As June arrived we helped Portsmouth, ahem, celebrate the Queen's Jubilee at the Historic Dockyard which was all lovely until the heavens decided to empty ALL of Portsmouth's quota of rain for the year in one 20 minute burst. Still, we had a good time with @TheQuill AKA Mark Morriss who was on before us and we managed to get a version of Grassman in with the phenomenal Vanessa Best from @Ultrasoundband guesting on vocals. It wouldn't be the last time we had a night with these two sparkling characters this Summer.

Dodgy memory: On our very first tour with Dodgy, as no one really knew who we were, we sent the tour dates to the NME, that's it, just the dates and then invited any promoters or music fans to suggest or promote the gig on that night. It turned out to be a winner (we still have friends from those dates) and ended up playing a mod rally, a festival, a working men's club and someones garden - the variety of offers we got this summer reminded of those days.

Another highlight from June was being invited to play at Windsor Race track, it was Ladies Day. Can't say too much about that except that as we were being fed as much free wine and lasagne as we wanted, with our feet up watching the races (and the ladies) from our own box above the race track, I think we all glimpsed a little bit of what heaven might be like.

We mentioned in a previous blog, we had tickets to go and see The Stone Roses in Heaton Park on July 1st but we got an invite to play for The Eden Sessions which we couldn't refuse. Happily there were no regrets, it was a fantastic day, a highlight of the Summer in fact as we played to a capacity crowd in front of a lemon grove in the Mediterranean Biodome.

 JULY arrived and we had been slightly overwhelmed by the advance Twittering from @NibleyFestival who's hard promotion work paid off and they got an early sell-out, such a shame the rain came so heavy that weekend and we had to abandon set but Nibley still stands out as one of the best and friendliest UK festivals, please invite us back ;-)
Great to see and play alongside ASH and our old friends @mileshuntTWS and Erica at Guilfest and we ended July with the fantastic @CampBestival and @KendalCalling - two brilliantly organised, stand-out festivals for us. Kendal  Calling was especially great as we bumped into the @shedseven boys who are always up for a laugh. Dodgy had so much positive feedback from all the shows and we appreciate everyone who gave such an enthusiastic response to the new songs as well as the selection from our back catalogue. Raggedstone Hill went down especially well at Kendal, you loved it.

In August, it was nice to get our own direct connection to The 2012 Olympics, which was no surprise as we are known for our athletic physiques. The last time Dodgy played in Hyde Park it was from the back of a lorry at Speakers Corner and the band got arrested, this time we were invited to play as part of an event organised by Absolute Radio and BT. We weren't quite prepared for the size of the stage/event/audience but the sun shone and as the screen parted after showing a LIVE Gold Medal from the velodrome cycling, it was lovely to see a sea of smiling faces, about 25,000 of them, thank you all who came to that one. We had our own close up sniff of gold medals back stage as well.

A few festivals became casualties in August but we did have a great time playing out the back of a kebab van at Newquay Boardmasters festival. If you're sixteen and you wanna go somewhere to get drunk - this is place for you.

Then on to our second annual bash at the Four Crosses in Shrewsbury where we were reunited with Mark Morris, Vanessa and all the Shrewsbury nutters and what a splendid night it was. Looks like it may well turn into our own little Dodgy Fest - watch this space.
From there we travelled the half hour to Weston Park for the first of our V Festival appearances. V festival features a selection of artists across the pop spectrum and as August also marked the return of X-Factor to our TV screens, we'd like to offer a piece of evidence that perhaps the judges can spot talent when they rub shoulders with it. We give you Mathew and @officialtulisa

...and we finally got to see The Stone Roses. First we thought we would miss them as they were on the different day to us but we got to open the festival at the midlands site and then headed off to Chelmsford arriving just in time to catch them and we are so glad to say that they didn't disappoint. It was quite an emotional night as The Roses have always been such an important band to us from hearing Made of Stone on the Gary Crowley show on GLR in 1989 via the 'King Monkey' episode and playing with them at Pilton Fayre in 1995 and to finally see them in such good form with the original line up at V -so it was good 'closure' for us, as the Americans call it.

So that's the 'Dodgy Do Summer' tour over with, we're going to try to recharge the old batteries in time for our next event - Dodgy Do Shetland (and Aberdeen and Kinloss) on Sep 20/21/22.

Then it's the BIG night in Wigan where we get to launch our Northern Soul 7", believe me folks, this new song from Dodgy is an absolute belter, one of the best we've written. It goes by the working title of WagonWheel. Can't wait for you to hear it.

We have also tried an experiment and pull together a lot more first hand material on Dodgy at festivals this summer via Storify with a lot more video and photos etc. You can check out the results HERE - let us know what you think

Storify - Dodgy - A summer of festivals 2012

Take care folks and stay in touch

New DODGY Blogger + HOT NEWS

Ladies,

May I introduce Chappers, she is a great writer and will be an occasional blogger for Dodgy. She also doubles up as band security, a connoisseur of exotic liqueurs and the sharpest tongue in Crewe.

Dodgy - M.A.N

......................

Hello,

Despite internet rumours to the contrary, Math has NOT dyed his beard orange, as a tribute to Bradley Wiggins' lovely gingery mutton chops. I can confirm this, as he was limbering up earlier at Dodgy HQ, for the band's very own Olympic event.

Nigel, being fairly athletically built anyway, was on hand to demonstrate the correct way to wear the newly delivered Team GB Lycra, that the boys are required to wear at the Friday's gig at HYDE PARK!! I know!! HYDE PARK!! Andy is exempt from the Lycra though, having already burnt a hole in the front of his. Tut.

BT London Live 2012 at Hyde Park is a massive FREE London event. The band will not only be sharing the stage with the likes of Amy McDonald and Cast, but our favourite ivory-tickler and synth-botherer, Richard Payne has created a special Olympmix version of "What Became of You". Go to www.dodgyology.com and get your lugholes round his brilliant mixing skills.

Word. *complicated 'street' hand gesture*

Scunthorpe Silhouettes VERY kindly invited Dodgy to play at their scooter rally this coming Saturday. Now the lads LOVE a rally, so they're going straight from the Big Smoke and off up to North Lincolnshire. I had to Google this if I'm honest. I always thought Scunthorpe was in Yorkshire! Ah well, maybe they've moved it. Anyway, this will be a brilliant night for scooterists and music fans alike. Its one of a couple of scooter rallies we're at this year. There's something about the heady mix of two-stroke and talcum powder, that gets the lads going, so prepare for some rare sounds and a hint of Northern Soul in the set...

From sunny Scunny, we're on to Sheffield, for the brilliant Sheftival music and sports event. We'll be performing at the Don Valley Bowl on Sunday with the likes of the Lightning Seeds, Marcus Collins, Mischa B and The Crookes. A bit of something for almost everyone (except Nige who wanted Sham 69 to be there), and DODGY are due on at 7:30pm. Hurry for tickets, there's still a few available from www.sheftival.com

REALLY important bit now. Can I have a drum roll? *drum roll* Good.

There are STILL a few tickets left for the Dodgy fan event in Shrewsbury. Its at the Four Crosses Hotel on 17th August and it promises to be a truly monster night out for Dodgy fans. We know of people coming from all the UK for this, and we're hoping to hear from a few international friends too...

But, that's not all! We have also arranged for the gig to be preceded by Priesty's Pretty 'Ard Pop Quiz, giving you the opportunity to show off your musical knowledge! Good eh? Not enough? Blimey, tough crowd.

Well how about if we throw in a solo set from our beloved MARK MORRISS of the Bluetones too?!? YES, now we've got you! It's going to be brilliant, all of us here at Dodgy HQ have had this in our drinking diaries for months. Book a hotel, book a babysitter, book a hang over, just be there!! :)

For all details of Dodgy gigs and festival appearances, get yourselves to www.dodgyology.com. The ticket links are there, venue details are up, and also if you're North of the border or planning a wee trip, check out details of Dodgy's World Tour of Scotland this September. The lads will be stopping off to play in Aberdeen and Forres on the Moray coast, as well as the re-scheduled Shetland gig!

That's if for now gang. More Dodgy details next week...

Take very good care of you and yours, we'll see you down the front!!

Chappers x

New single from Dodgy 'Only A Heartbeat' all the background and bonus tracks

Hey folks,

So Dodgy have a new single out this week. You may have heard it a couple of times on Radio 2 in between JLS and Gary Barlow.

The new single from Dodgy is the song 'Only A Heartbeat'.
If you've seen us live this year or if you have the album, Stand Upright In A Cool Place (if not it's only a heartbeat/click away @ amazon.co.uk) then you'll know the song, though not this version. It has been rejigged for the radio (...ahem) for us by the Texan hero, known as Matt Pence who mixed the album for us as well as great albums by John Grant and Midlake.

You also may know the song as it accompanied the incredible short film made with Dodgy by the super talented Kris Thompson. So powerful is this film that not only has it been known to make children inconsolable for half an hour (yeah, nice one Kris!) but the homeless charity Crisis used it to promote their campaign No One Turned Away, which achieved an, up until then elusive, feature in The Sun newspaper.

Hear Dodgy talk about 'Only A Heartbeat' in the clip below - thanks again to Kris

OK, so imagine that this new single release from Dodgy was an actual 7" single, well flip the single over and lets talk about the 'B sides'.

Besides being the centre forward with Dodgy, Nigel also works with kids with special educational needs in his native Worcestershire, shows them how to express themselves through writing songs, something he finds incredibly rewarding and indeed his experiences with these kids fed into his own songwriting and made Stand Upright In A Cool Place the album it is.

In one such school he works with, Pitcheroak School in Redditch, he and the kids hit upon the idea of writing a song for the school, so they wrote the lyrics together and Nigel recorded them singing it. Dodgy then worked on adding bits a few days later at Vale Studios near Evesham and 'Pitcheroak' is the finished song.

All proceeds from this song will be channelled back into further arts projects at the school.

Hear'Pitcheroak' and see the making of the song in the clip below:

When the Dodgy entered Vale Studios back in April, we had a plan to work on a couple of brand new Dodgy songs for the B sides, a couple of belters they are as well, but they were blown off course.
Firstly when Nigel came in with the bare bones of the Pitcheroak tune, which understandably took precedence, but also with the news that Dodgy paragon, Levon Helm from The Band was gravely ill. So the boys hit upon the idea of covering a Band tune, to send some love from the UK over to New York. We decided upon Long Black Veil (not strictly a Band tune, but one they made their own) and when we emerged from the live room after finally nailing our version, we were met with the news that Levon had gone.

"It was a bit freaky" Mathew said "I mean, if we were twats we'd say that the spirit of Levon was guiding us. But we're not. Well, not this time"

You can download all three songs from iTunes - just click the iTunes logo below

Catch the the phenomenal Dodgy show live this Summer www.dodgyology.com/

Watch this space for news of two very special shows happening later this year, one with a Northern twist, one involving tinsel.

Take good care now

M.A.N.

Only A Heartbeat - new single from Dodgy and short film

DODGY – ONLY A HEARTBEAT (released June 11)

 “A second chance will never come
   Keeping on ‘til you’re done
   Don’t waste a moment of a single day...”

When it came to helping put together some words for the release of our new single - something they refer to in the industry as a Press Release (you see, we can impart some of our superior knowledge and experience and be educational here as well) we were struggling ourselves and are indebted to the journalist Terry Staunton for taking on the task and summing it up with the following, on the button, words:
----------------
The sentiments of Only A Heartbeat, the new single from Dodgy, strike a universal chord. It’s a powerfully emotional song about loss and, perhaps more importantly, healing, speaking directly to a hurt all of us have faced, or will face at some point in our lives.

Oftentimes, a blow can throw us off balance, leaving us grasping for the words to try and make sense of what’s happened. Articulacy evades us, as we struggle to process our thoughts and find a way to move forward, and Dodgy’s Nigel Clark was no different – until music guided him towards, if not total understanding, at least a kind of acceptance, a glimmer of light in the darkness.

   “In June 2008 my older brother died, totally out of the blue,” he says.
   “I felt really lost; if I was a turtle, it felt like I’d lost my shell, I’d lost my shelter.
     But I got to thinking about when my heart stops, I’ll be with him again."

   “I was walking round my studio, which I do quite a lot, just pacing, and the words kept
    coming into  my head:
   ‘Feeling, knowing, you’re only a heartbeat away.’
    It was very simple, but very cathartic.”

Already a firm favourite in the group’s live set, Dodgy have heard stories from fans of how Only A Heartbeat has helped them deal with losses of their own, the song’s reassuring lyrics and tender melody offering genuine comfort.

In common with many tracks on the critically acclaimed album Stand Upright In A Cool Place, it addresses big themes with maturity and intelligence, clear hallmarks of the older, wiser 21st century Dodgy. It’s been 16 years since the release of their previous album, back in the heady ‘90s when the band delivered a seemingly endless procession of memorable tunes we took to our hearts (Good Enough, Staying Out For The Summer, So Let Me Go Far, If You’re Thinking Of Me, Found You, Melodies Haunt You, the list goes on...).

After such a long lay-off, there was bound to be questions as to whether Dodgy could recapture the magic of old, whether the muse was still there, whether they still had the instinctive knack of crafting joyously persuasive music that made us want to dance, sing, everything. The answer to all those questions is a resounding yes.

They’re still deftly fashioning the pop thrills of yore, but the bulging scrapbook of enthusiastic thumbs-up reviews for Stand Upright... are a testament to the fact that the new songs of greater depth and substance, of richer meaning, have been embraced by all who hear them, and that Dodgy have returned to the spotlight just when we needed them the most.   

In that respect, the opening line of Only A Heartbeat isn’t entirely accurate. A second chance has come for Dodgy, and they’re determined not to waste a single note of it.
-------------------------

There, we couldn't have said it better ourselves Terry. Well, we couldn't....

The exciting, young film-maker, Kris Thompson was first brought to our attention when he took some amazing footage of the riots in Ealing (just put Ealing into You Tube, it's the first video). We decided to ask him to produce the series of short films we made about the songs on the new album.
Here's one of the interviews; for the track 'Raggedstone Hill'

At one of our live shows with Dodgy, Kris was moved by the fact that people were coming up to Nigel afterwards, asking for the lyrics to Only A Heartbeat to help them over recent loss - so much so that he wanted to make a short film to accompany the song.
Interpret the song how he sees it, as all good film makers should

The resulting film is quite remarkable. We knew he was good, but not this good.

The film was having a dramatic effect on the few people we showed it to, and we realised that it was a different creature altogether to a pop video, so that's when we started talking to homeless charity Crisis. they saw the potential and were very keen to come on board and use the message of the film to draw attention to the vital work they do and especially their No One Turned Away campaign.

Chief Executive of Crisis, Leslie Morphy, said: “Sadly, what happens in the video is all too true for an increasing number of people as rough sleeping is on the rise. We would like to thank the members of Dodgy for supporting our No One Turned Away campaign calling for a real safety net so that no one needs to face the horror of sleeping rough.”

Dodgy have worked with Crisis before so when Kris Thompson pitched this story, we felt it would work for Only A Heartbeat. Homelessness is the most visible sign that some of the most vulnerable in our society are being let down. And there seems a tendency at the moment to vilify these people, "they’ve failed, they’ve done it to themselves" – therefore it’s okay for us to ignore them or even worse despise them and hurt them.  These individuals aren’t different from us, they are us - except something’s happened, there’s been a crisis – in the case of the man in the film, a bereavement. It’s estimated at least 70% of homeless people have mental health problems, they need care and they need respect. Mainly due to the economic downturn, rough sleeping rose by 23% last year. Society is about protecting everyone within and this includes the most vulnerable. Homeless charities like Crisis and St Mungos are seeing a rise in the number of people on the streets… and that’s just not acceptable in the 21st Century"

This being the week of the Cannes film festival we saw no reason why they should have all the red carpets so we are going to have our own ONLINE PREMIERE of the Kris Thompson film to accompany 'Only A Heatbeat' this THURSDAY evening MAY 24th at 9pm, followed by a short Q&A on Twitter and the Dodgy Facebook page with the film-maker and some members of the band. Please comment on Twitter using #OnlyAHeartbeat

 www.dodgyology.com/        www.onlyaheartbeat.com      www.facebook.com/dodgyuk




CHECK OUT this trailer for the Kris Thompson film

Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people dedicated to ending homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change. The charity’s award winning education, training and employment centres offer practical and creative workshops to over 3,000 homeless people a year in an inspiring environment together with formal learning opportunities that lead to qualifications and finding work. Sign up to be a Crisis campaigner and join the fight to end homelessness http://bit.ly/LlHD02?

Finally, if you would be happy to use social media to support Crisis, it would be great if you could tweet about the No One Turned Away campaign or post something on Facebook. Feel free to write your own, but an example tweet about the campaign would be: ‘Urgent: Write to the Housing Minister to tell him no one should be forced to sleep rough #nooneturnedaway @crisis_uk http://bit.ly/JwhLen’

To contact Crisis www.crisis.org.uk/

To contact Dodgy email us @ info(at)dodgyology.com

Dodgy will be playing live this Friday May 25th at the Corn Exchange in Hertford. Come along.

Dodgy on the TV and radio, apology for gig cancellations 'Only A Heartbeat' film and Stone Roses Heaton Park tickets

FIRST OFF: Dodgy would like to apologise again for having to cancel our shows in Inverness and The Shetlands that were meant to be happening next weekend.
Dodgy hate to cancel shows, it's not something we've ever liked doing but a great friend of the band was taken away from us by cancer at a young age and his funeral is next Friday. We are in the process of re-arranging these shows and hope to be up in Shetland soon as it is an ambition of ours to play there - we've heard some great stories.

It's been a couple of months now since the new album by Dodgy 'Stand Upright In A Cool Place' was released and we continue to get plenty of messages from folk with plenty of compliments and saying how much the new album means to them, which in turn, means a lot to us. Obviously this is the kind of feedback you might hope to get after working on an album but one of the big plusses this time is that a lot of people are saying that this is the first Dodgy record they have bought
- where have they been? Nevermind, better late than never.
There, did you spot the joke? beware there may be a few more of them, you may not realise it's a joke when you read it as you probably won't laugh but that's the point, they're sort of stealth jokes.

Last Tuesday we took to the stage at The Lexington in London for the 'A Word In Your Ear' event hosted by The Word magazine, it was our first full electric band gig for a few months, in fact since Worthing in March, The Word has been really supportive of the new album and it was a privilege to be asked to headline their night this month. They were very hospitable and brought out the best in us, Boo Hewerdine & Brooks Williams were also part of the night, playing tracks from their transatlantic collaboration 'State Of The Union' - well worth checking out. There's a great review of the evening here: www.wordmagazine.co.uk
And some pics (thanks Twitterers)

and the beautiful crowd ;-)

Our day in the big smoke of London was packed with activity and stuff to do, no hanging about in the dressing room for Dodgy these days. Before we went onstage we bundled ourselves on the tube to get to Leicester Square for an interview with @gordonsmart for XFM radio. Gordon is also the editor for the Bizzarre column in The Sun newspaper and I hate to say it, but Gordon is actually a decent and upstanding chap. I know it's a bit like finding out that Tom and Jerry actually got on and it was all an act. He tells a good story as well, so I traded my Una Stubbs and Julie Goodyear stories for some hair-whitening stories about Paul Daniels and Jimmy Tarbuck and a story about Mike Tyson that will keep you awake at night. Just find me at the next gig and buy me a drink, I'm the drummer ;-)
DODGY will be part of Smart On Sunday on XFM this Sunday 6th May 12-3pm

Dodgy's time in London is a bit like a buffalo to the Native Americans - every bit of it gets used. So as soon as we'd played the last note of our set at The Lexington and said our thank yous, we were in a convoy of cars heading to the canal round the back of Kings Cross to shoot the last frames for the incredible short film that has been made for the next single from Dodgy, a revamped version of the track 'Only A Heartbeat' from the new album. The film maker, Kris Thompson, was first brought to our attention as he was the guy behind this amazing film from the riots in Ealing last Summer. Instead of using his camera phone like most people, Kris took to the streets with his HD digital camera

Kris is editing his film for 'Only A Heartbeat' in super quick time (sorry that sounds like an App!) but we hope to have a trailer available next Tuesday (May 8th) to coincide with Dodgy appearing on BBC Breakfast. Oh yeah, we forgot to mention, Dodgy have been asked to appear on BBC BREAKFAST!!! next Tuesday with Susanna and the lesser spotted Turnbill. Yes, finally the mainstream media are getting on board - where have they been? Nevermind, better late than never. There's one of them jokes I warned you about.

So besides the unfortunate cancellation of the gigs mentioned earlier, our other gigs over this next week are definitely STILL HAPPENING.
We have to give a special mention for DUMBFEST this Saturday (5th May) which takes place in Bordon in Hampshire, we are doing an acoustic set and it is an event set up in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust so well worth supporting.
Then it's off to the Lake District for a gig in Kendal at Bootleggers on Bank Holiday Monday(May 7th), sounds good to us. The next one is up to Scotland next Wednesday 9th May at Electric Circus in Edinburgh, if you live in Scotland and can get to that one will be great to see you there - for details and other gigs visit www.dodgyology.com.

And finally, due to a previous blog you are probably aware that I spent an hour on the phone securing tickets for the Sunday night performance of the Stone Roses at Heaving Park on July 1st. Which pleased me greatly at the time and caused much gloating. WELL, it looks like Dodgy have been offered a slot at The Eden Sessions in Cornwall that day and as much as I love the Stone Roses, I don't love them as much as Dodgy so I am auctioning my tickets. Contact me at info@dodgyology.com (subject- Stone Roses) with a sealed bid for 2 tickets and the proceeds will go to King Monkey World in Dorset. Or something. We will let you know who won in a couple of weeks.

Be in touch very soon, unless you want to get in touch before then.

Take good care now

Worried about your child? Worry no more.... Dodgy kids

DODGY don't often venture into the controversial world of child rearing but we have recently been sent irrefutable proof that feeding your child undiluted Dodgy when they are a baby not only calms them down and stops them crying but actually helps to turn them into creative young bucks.

See the evidence for yourself.

Here is a video of young Nathan 14 years ago, creating merry hell for his parents, but just watch and hear what the somnolent tones of Nigel's voice do to this little shouter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL6Xl6qenpk&feature=youtu.be

And look at him now. A strapping mini John Lennon of a lad, brimming with opportunity and outrageous talent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OUNEFVsmqI&feature=share

Yes, they are the very same boy, all because of D O D G Y ... Dodgy

DODGY are available in CD and download but by request in liquid in bottles, paste in tubes and occasionally in blotters from all good retailers.

Brought to you by the NHS

New single and tracks from Dodgy, Levon Helm RIP 'Only A Heatbeat'

A double dip recession? Really? And we had so much faith in those boys. Of course there is a track on the new Dodgy album 'Stand Upright In A Cool Place' where Nige sings
    "I thought we'd seen the back of you"
expect 'Back Of You' to be trotted out a few times this Summer and we expect most of you to be singing along.

WELL, how are you? I ask that, because your happiness is of interest to us, so much so that we have endeavoured to make this Summer the busiest in the history of Dodgy. There are more dates to announce but we promise* that nobody in this country will have had to have travelled more than 50 miles^ to see the Dodgy flame live this year. From Shetlands to the Scillies. Dodgy are nailing Britain.
We can make this declaration because since the album release we have purposely had a fallow period
    fal·low/ˈfalō/  :
    Adjective: Plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility .

Yes, we've stayed inside during the April showers and now, as the first signs of life are beginning to sprout, we're poking our heads out the door. As mentioned in the previous post, we have decided to release a second 'single' from the album, which will be 'Only A Heartbeat' and can exclusively reveal here the artwork. Once again a brilliant piece of work from Russell Hardman.

'Only A Heartbeat' being an emotional song ( you can still check out the short interview clip we did for it on YouTube ) we thought we would try and deliver some appropriate B-sides. Are they called 'B-sides' any more? Bonus tracks? Extra Tracks - that sounds like something Tesco might do and hey! they're not doing very well at the moment.
Anyway, last week we decamped to Vale Studios for two days; the glorious boys from The Smoke Feathers said it was a great place to record and they weren't wrong. The studio is based in a tiny village called Fladbury, near Evesham that has NOTHING....apart from a couple of pubs and a butchers that sold the best pork pies in the world. I know what you're thinking - NO jokes about the drummer and pies please! Word is obviously getting out about the studio as they had @TheUnthanks in straight after us, which when I heard gave me quite a little quiver in my stomach (no, it wasn't the pies) as I have rather a thing for those sisters. Lovely, earthy women, singing beautiful harmonies hits me somewhere deep, and apparently so for Nigel also, as we found out the next day when we watched @thestaves, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Going into the studio, we start to pick up on word on Twitter that our favourite singer and drummer from one of our favourite bands, Levon Helm from The Band, was not in good shape, so we decided to change our well made plans and record a cover of a Band song. Afficianados of Dodgy will know that we have already covered 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' - noone can remember if we ever recorded it properly (there might a bootleg somewhere) but we certainly played it live, probably on the 1996 tour. It all got spooky when we got back into the control room after we'd put down the final take of  a version of The Band's 'Long Black Veil' to find out the sad news that he'd passed away. Apparently he'd been in a lot of pain for a long time so it was probably a welcome release. Hope you like our version, Mr Miller's one take guitar is rather splendid.
The other track Dodgy recorded is 'Pitcheroak', a song that Nigel wrote with a bunch of pupils he has taught at Pitcheroak School in Redditch and the kids who took part in the writing process have a whole range of special needs from severe autism, reading and talking difficulties. They were inspirational and the most caring young people we have ever worked with. The song is written especially for the school, the kids wrote the lyrics and if you listen to the track some of them are singing on it with us, all proceeds from the song will be going to the school to help fund further arts based projects.
You should be able to download the new songs from iTunes and other usual suspects from June 11th.
'Only A Heartbeat' (new single version) / Long Back Veil / Pitcheroak

After we said our goodbyes to Vale on Saturday morning, we jumped into the Dodgymobiles and headed up to Leeds for our first gig of the day outside @JumboRecords as part of Record Store Day. We don't necessarily enjoy these daytime 'in-stores', (as they're called in the 'biz'), as shopping malls and afternoons are not conducive for rock and roll (see Spinal Tap and Artie Fuffkin) but we had a good old time here, probably spurred on by the hearty crowd that turned up and also by the promise of @thestaves performance straight after us. If you've ever heard four more beautifully blended voices since the Beach Boys then please let us know. We even made a special trip to the @poundland across the way during their set to buy a bag of Fox's Butterscotch especially to offer them after their performance.
Only one of them wanted one.
We finished the day the best way we know how, by playing a cracking little acoustic gig at the Bohemia Project in Accrington, where Long Black Veil went down as well with the crowd as the phenomenal Mexican meal did with us that the promoter and 'our Julie' made for us.

So, the batteries have been regenerated and we're all awake now and RARING to go. Keep a look out for the updates on the LIVE page on the website and please keep sending us messages and emails.

Look after each other cuz it's plainly obvious that THOSE fuckers won't

As I'm writing this @WhisperingBob OBE  is on the radio. He's opened his show appropriately, in many many ways, with Bob Dylan's 'Rainy Day Women #12 & #35' which Dodgy have also covered, a bunch of other Band and Levon Helm stuff, including 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' and what's this...? Ah.. @thestaves - perfect. Can't wait til we meet up with Bob and do the session for his show in July ;-)

A last reminder that we'll be in London on Tuesday (May 1st) doing 'A Word In Your Ear' for @TheWordMagazine at The Lexington and got to give a shout out for Dumbfest at the Phoenix Arts Centre, Bordon in Hampshire where we play next Saturday (5th May) should be a great event and all proceeds go the Teenage Cancer Trust

Dodgy

* sort of
^maybe 100

A Word In Your Ear from Dodgy - New Single and Record Store Day

OH WELL, Easter is over, chocolate eggs eaten and the lord is all risen like a well baked cake. It's been a good time for Dodgy to regroup, refresh and review the situation and consider the next phase of Dodgy 2012 - and exciting it is too.

We have already achieved much more than we expected with the release of a new Dodgy album and 'Stand Upright In A Cool Place', continues to stand it's ground. We probably have you to thank for that and word continues to spread as day by day we get an email or see a complementary tweet, so all good there.

After a lot of discussion, feedback from you and talks with our label, it seems that everyone agrees that the next step would be to release a new 'single' from the album - but how do you pull a track from it's comfortable little space that's been made for it in the album track listing?
Well the answer is, that first you dust it down, change it around a bit and make sure everyone thinks it's up to the job. As to choosing which track, we also took into consideration the feedback we have been getting and which song(s) have been going down well and getting the best response from the live shows.
Now we can reveal exclusively, that the song that's been chosen as the second single from 'Stand Upright In A Cool Place' is (insert fanfare)..... 'Only A Heartbeat'.
For the new single version we had another listen to the master tapes and sent them back over with our ideas to Matt Pence in Texas, who has revisited the track and done a sterling job - we are sure you will agree when you hear it.

We are currently finalising a May release date for the single (we'll let you know when actual release date confirmed). Now that the decision has been made there's lots to do. We'll be going into Vale Studios as soon as we can to work on a couple of new tracks to go with it, we've asked Russell (Hardman) to do the artwork and hopefully there'll be a short film/video to go with it. As these things happen we'll let you know - Hey, Dodgy have a new single coming - spread the news.
First stop for the new single will be getting it on the radio and as we speak, promo copies are making their way to all DJs, producers and radio shows now.
If you want to be one of the first people to hear the single and request your favourite DJ to play it then send us an email to info@dodgyology.com to let us know which DJ(s) you'll be contacting and we will send you a personal link to hear the new single.

IN MAY there are a whole bunch of gigs coming up with Dodgy playing live including a trip to Scotland and even the Shetland Isles. We are also hoping to pop into our favourite T-Pot Studios with Robin Evans who worked on the album with us, to do a bit of sneaky recording (might be a surprise in store when you hear the results of that one)..
As we mentioned in the previous blog, it all kicks off with a special London gig for Word Magazine, headlining their 'A Word In Your Ear' night at The Lexington on Tuesday May 1st. Just added to the line-up is Boo Hewerdine and Brooks Williams - Boo Hewerdine was the creative force behind the band The Bible and he's hooked up with American slide guitarist Brook Williams for his new album 'State Of The Union' - so should make for a very special night.
For tickets for A Word In Your Ear' with Dodgy click HERE
And don't forget RECORD STORE DAY on Saturday April 21st when it's Dodgy Live In Leeds.

This is a worldwide event to support record shops. We were hoping to release an exclusive limited edition picture disc of the album for RSD but unfortunately time and practicalities got the better of us - Russell even did the artwork and sent it through to us for approval, to say it would have been a thing of great beauty is an underestimate (gets teary) but unfortunately it won't be hitting the shelves in the foreseeable future. So, instead we are going to be playing a special live acoustic gig at Jumbo Records in Leeds, one of the best independent record shops in the country, alongside a whole bunch of cool bands including The Staves. Then after that we'll be jumping from Yorkshire to Lancashire to play another acoustic gig in the evening in Accrington at Bohemia.

This post is written from the drum seat of Dodgy and as drummer I get invited to quite a few drum related events, which I don't tend to turn up to because I don't generally like drummers, thugs, the lot of them. But I decided to go to the Zildjian Artist's day at the Hard Rock Cafe in London, mainly because it was the Easter holidays and it was somewhere exciting to take my boy as an alternative to the motorway services + I'm sure there would be free stuff (a T shirt and sticks, thank you Zildjian). Anyway, I met a very nice chap who has got perhaps the cushiest job in Drummingham - he's the drummer for Blood Brothers in the West End and has been for 21 years!!!
Oh giz a job! I could do that!
He very kindly got us some discount tickets (they don't do free tickets anymore apparently, EVEN for me). I was told about the brilliance of Blood Brothers by one of the Dodgy Dollies, Ann (her and her daughter make a pilgrimage once a year) and she wasn't wrong. Written by Willy Russell who wrote Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine and is basically a heartbreaking story about class based in his native Liverpool, which as you probably know, Dodgy have had a lifelong affinity and love for. As musicals go, it's probably one of the best and well worth a pop if you've never dipped your toe in those waters - 24 years in the West End, they must be doing something right

Finally a word up for Graham Le Saux ( @graemelesaux14 ) and his mates. Those that follow us on Twitter might have caught some of the banter between Dodgy and Graham (he likes the album apparently) and now he's about to undertake a mammoth project as he's one of the key riders on a charity bicycle ride from Athens to London on behalf of Cancer Research and Great Ormond St. It's 2800km and takes place between April 23rd and May 18th. You can donate and support Graham and the team by going to the following web page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=GraemeLeSaux

'Only A Heartbeat' x x

Jumbo news !!

Quite a lot has been happening here at Dodgy HQ, and as always when we know, so will you!!

We have more live dates including some wonderful Festival appearances added daily so keep checking www.dodgyology.com/gigs to see if we are in your area.

Latest GIG additions include an Instore Gig at JUMBO RECORDS in LEEDS on the afternoon of 21st April as part of RECORD STORE DAY where Dodgy will be celebrating the LTD EDITION HAND PRINTED Format of STAND UPRIGHT IN A COOL PLACE.

Later that evening we'll be making a special ACOUSTIC appearance at Bohemia, ACCRINGTON. https://www.facebook.com/BohemiaProjectAccrington?sk=app_200193303353101

We have also been invited to play a special show for WORD MAGAZINE called "A Word In Your Ear" on MAYDAY Tuesday May 1st at The LEXINGTON in that there LONDON - Early Bird Tickets are now on sale on dodgyology

We also have posted online "A LIVE FAN RECORDED BOOTLEG" of our Album Launch at BUSH HALL for you to share and enjoy, it features 7 live tracks from the night including New Tracks and some Dodgy live favourites. Please feel free to share with friends, visit: http://soundcloud.com/dodgyuk/sets/bushhallbootleg/

Don't forget we have NEW Russell Hardman design T-Shirts for sale online at www.dodgyology.com/shop

No doubt you have been listening to your copy of STAND UPRIGHT IN A COOL PLACE and no doubt it has become your favourite album of all time, this isn't our opinion of course we feel that may be our next one, it is the opinion of many fans and critics and they have kindly taken the trouble to let us know, which has been very humbling.

You too can take part in this love-in. There are lots of ways you can help us spread the word about the NEW album - maybe request a track on your favourite radio show; share the Video's on You Tube; read what the critics say on our press page (www.dodgyology.com/press and feel free to add you own comment; maybe post a review of your own on HMV.com, Amazon, Play.com etc OR iPhone users can download the NEW DODGY APP and get their friends to do the same.

AND FINALLY......At Christmastime we had a really successful Q&A evening online with the members of DODGY, so much so that we have decided to do another.... this Thursday, Mathew, Nigel and Andy will be on FACEBOOK & TWITTER to answer any questions and generally chew the cud with.

The event will kick off at around 9pm on www.facebook.com/dodgyuk and www.twitter.com/dodgyuk, If you want to guarantee they answer your question please submit to info@dodgyology.com anytime from now until then

To ask a question on Twitter simply send to @dodgyuk and end your question with #dodgyq&a

That's all for now folks and thank you for all messages - keep spreading the love, keep spreading the word

M,A,N...Dodgy x