21st December 2008

Picnic Reviews: Phew! I have completed my review of the Norwich show of Picnic at Hanging Rock. It has taken me nearly two months to write and I hope it was worth the wait. This can be read by clicking on the following link or by clicking on "Picnic at Hanging Rock" in the navigation area to the left. SpenceMusic Review of Norwich. I'm just glad I don't write for a newspaper as I think I would have been sacked nearly two months ago. I have also added a number of local reviews or previews of the Norwich shows. These can be found through the Articles section.

Redesign and Excuse: Part of the time was taken up redesigning the Picnic pages so that both Chichester and Norwich have equal billing. This, in turn, lead to redesigning how all of the pages of SpenceMusic hang together. This was something that I have been wanting to do for some time but did not get around to it. If successful you should see no changes, if unsuccessful there will be broken links. If you find any broken links please let me know, however, I don't think you will.

Christmas Time: Here in the UK it is Christmas and everything is shutting down - including Woolworths who are shutting down for good. Whatever your beliefs take care of yourselves and I will see you in the new year.

23rd November 2008

Picnic Reviews: I am hoping to be able to (eventually) write up my own review of the Picnic at Hanging Rock show from Norwich soon. I have started (honest) and like Douglas Adams (writer of Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) I'm not comfortable unless I can hear the sound of a deadline whooshing past. Unfortunately, I have no deadline, hence the delay. However, come back soon and see when it appears.

The Wish on iTunes: Yes, that's right. You can now download Postcards, by The Wish, from iTunes. In addition, the album, which has some really great tracks, also has a brand new cover featuring the band themselves plus dandelions. My preferred cover was the original dandelion themed one, but an isolated beach scene was then used. This cover brings back the dandelion and the idea that you can wish for anything.

Danny on iTunes: In addition to The Wish being on iTunes, so is Danny Litchfield, Brian's sometimes writing partner. His album "Flying On My Own" from February 2008 on the Last Record Company label includes the Spence and Litchfield "River to Heaven" which Brian and Danny submitted to Search for a Song, an attempt to find a decent UK song for the Eurovision Song Contest.

4th September 2008

Old Track Come Back to Haunt?: Between the break up of Chisholm and Spence partnership and Brian going solo he honed is writing and performing skills. It was during this time that Brian wrote a track called "I Don't Want Your Love Now" which was released by a group called The Mood. I have found this track and place a very short sample of it in the Downloads section. Tee hee.

31st August 2008

Don't Panic. Picnic!: It would appear that Brian's Picnic at Hanging Rock musical is starting to gain interest. According to the Picnic at Hanging Rock Musical website, there are, not one new production of the show but, three.

The Norfolk Youth Music Theatre will be performing the show between 29th October and 1st November at the Maddermarket Theatre, in Norwich. The Maddermarket sits in St John's Alley, next to St John Maddermarket Church, in the very heart of Norwich. Tickets cost £10, with concessions being £6. The box office can be contacted on 01603 620917 or by writing to the following address. www.maddermarket.co.uk
The Maddermarket Theatre
St. John’s Alley
NORWICH
NR2 1DR

Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College, Warwickshire - will also be performing it in November 2008. Although, when I did a search on the Internet I could not find any details. So if anyone can provide me with more info please let me know.

Royal Berkshire Academy, Bracknell will be staging it in July 2009

Thanks to Ritchie, my colleague at BilboMusic, for sending me this information.

30th July 2008

Video Update: I have been quiet for some time, but it is time to tell you about a new page that has been created bringing together all of Brian's videos. To find this page click on Videos on the naviagation section to the left or here Videos. To celebrate this I have also incuded a new filmed with Brian in where he is acting (he's the bleach-blond guy wearing the kilt). The video features Regina Saidasheva's first video featuring Paul Jackson and Ashley in advance or her up and coming thriller.

 

25th March 2008

More Videos: More of Brian's videos have appeared on YouTube, this time under the name of DrumbraeSouth (who is also Brian). As a teazer I have placed a link here, however, I plan to include all of the Spence videos in this site.

 

YouTube Hack: Whilst playing on YouTube I came across a hack which improves the visual quality of the videos. The above link has the additional text already included.

Add "&fmt=18" to the URL so that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTSX4H0drp0

becomes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTSX4H0drp0&fmt=18

Obviously, there is only so much that the hack can do but please give it a go on any video, not just Brian Spence ones, and let me know what you think.

6th March 2008

Spence Videos: Brian has informed me that he has uploaded 3 videos to YouTube under the name Cheeky Buffalo (one of Brian's old bands). You will be able to watch Picnic at Hanging Rock - The Musical, Debbie singing Sunlight (from The Wish) and Holiday (the Madonna song) sung by Debbie and The Whizz Kid. Brian is hoping to upload his own videos in due course, depending on if his other projects allow him time. http://www.youtube.com/user/CheekyBuffalo

Irving Update: Stewart Irving, Brian's partner in The Wish with Debbie McKenna has hooked up with Cindy Alter of Clout fame (they had a huge single called "Substitute" in 1978) in South Africa. Despite the distance Brian is hoping to be able to work with Stewart again.

7th February 2008

Birthday Wishes: Today is Brian's birthday. I hope you will join with me in wishing him a happy birthday.

Old News: I have archived the news from 2007. Should you wish to read it, and why wouldn't you, either click on the link at the bottom of this page or find it in the navigation bar to the left.

So what happened in 2007?

• At the beginning of the year Brian, along with Bob Thomson, let loose and musical based on Picnic at Hanging Rock. It was well received by all that saw it.
• A play, directed by Bob Thomson, called The Last Laugh used Brian's music. The play starred Martin Freeman and Roger Lloyd-Pack.
• April saw the launch of BilboMusic, a website about Bilbo Baggins - which Brian was a member of in his early music career. The website is enjoyed by not just the fans but also the band members, who also provided some pictures from their own collections.
• Colin Chisholm, vocalist of Bilbo Baggins and one of Brian's best mates, sung on stage for the first time in a long while stoking rumours that Bilbo may get back together for a one off gig.

Page Last Updated: 4th March 2010

© Morley Enterprises 2001-2011. This site, SpenceMusic, is a personal site and is not affiliate with Brian Spence, Bilbo, Bilbo Baggins, Cheeky Bufalloes, Chisholm & Spence, The Wish or anyone else for that matter. Any copyright infringement is accidental. The pictures and music on this site are there for information only. They are not there for any commercial purpose. Therefore, if anyone representing the artist(s) or record company(ies) want me to remove these items please mail me and I will remove them immediately! This site, SpenceMusic, and Morley Enterprises are not responsible for the content of any other websites that are linked from here. So there.