The local paper said it all. In the arts pages our local music correspondent tells us that "There is no original music in Swindon for saturday night". So what's new?

Back in the days when I was working in local bands original music was as difficult to sell as today. In Swindon, it seemed as if no-one wanted to hear anything other than the same old chart hits they knew and loved. We had a cover-band called Locomotion (who are still going, I think) that cleaned up nicely from playing covers. There was another band called Whatever You Want who specialised in rising to the challenge of audiences requests for popular songs.

These days cover-bands have mutated into tribute-bands, that perform the music of particular artists and even emulate behaviour and appearance as opposed to simply playing a mix of songs audiences might like. Imitation is supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery. In music, it's the only form of survival of the talentless.

I remember how hard it was to get an audience to appreciate something different. Red Jasper in its early days tried several times to make an impression in Swindon and failed miserably on each occaision. The same happened when I played for Planet Earth, a band formed by a singer-songwriter friend. Even Bardiche, a melodic heavy rock band I was part of in the eighties, who played songs pretty much of a similar form to the succesful bands of the day, made no lasting impression beyond a few metal-starved teenagers. Originality counted for nothing. Unless something in the music latched onto Swindons need for something familiar, you were going to get nowhere.

The local agents didn't help. They were of course plugging bands who brought in cash, so it stands to reason the succesful cover-bands got the gigs, while bands playiong unfamiliar original compositions struggled to persuiade venue owners to let them play - I once got grilled by a pub landlord who was most put out that I had approached him to book a gig. Why didn't he just say no, like everyone else? Or perhaps he'd just gotten fed up of saying that?

Blast From The Past

I don't buy a lot of music to be homnest. Partly that's for financial reasons of course, but also because the majority of acts really don't interest me now. I kind of feel sometimes that I've heard it all before. Every new band seems to be following well worn paths no matter how original the media claim they might be.

So I wandered into the local HMV store with a few quid in my pocket and idly browsed through the endless ranks of anonymous CDs. Hang on... What's that? Rock The Nation by Montrose?

Woohoo! I've wanted a copy of that release for literally a long time. It remains one of my favourite albums. Bad Motor Scooter revealing just how cretinous and ghastly Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf really was. And of course, how could I possibly live without the thumping soundtrack of Rock Candy? I first heard that track on a Friday Rock Show way back in 1980 or thereabouts and I still enjoy listening to it. Not bad for a seventies band.

New Is Not All Bad

How many of you remember Soft Cell and their tooting Tainted Love? Most of you I suspect. The popularity of that song is typical of what we see in Swindon. Play that and you're guaranteed of an audience response. But isn't that a little fraudulent? After all, if the song is getting applause because you copied it rather than wrote it, who is the better performing artist?

So instead lets look at Muse. Don't get me wrong, I hate them, utterly. Those quasi-operatic vocals meander randomly in some sort of contest with a pack of wolves recently released in Scotland. But - and I am serious about this - When they recorded Undiclosed Desires they seriously did put Soft Cell in their place. I almost forgive them for being an awful band. At least they are doing something original. And sometimes, just sometimes, they get it right.

Cue applause from Caldrail.