Monday, 24/08/2026 19:36 PM
Track notes:
Quite a few of these [2 - More Pieces of Eight] tracks never got regularly played, or perhaps were never fully developed. Our band, assembled from school friends from Bishop Fox Secondary School in West Molesey, rehearsed at the time at the family home in Molesey, but we didn't do many gigs, unfortunately. Just a couple actually. I'll elaborate on that in subsequent posts, if time and interest permits. Anyway, here are some of these, for the first time in 46 years since they were written.
I have added a brief narrative to each song (in italics, below) to provide some context for what's going on behind the scenes and between the tracks. Here we now have "Ginny" Robinson and Lenny Lyons, two virtual (AI Generated) actors to demonstrate what that looks like.
1. Help Me Help Myself (1980): We rehearsed this one a few times with John singing. I believe this was the first blues song I ever wrote. Some of the lyrics were a bit cringeworthy, so I have now finally changed them. Suno gave me a nice version with a female vocalist.
"Ginny" Robinson enters the frame for this rendition. Is she singing from experience? You be the judge.
2. Pedantic Romanticist (1980): A Reggae number featuring Reggie B. Side and The Cavaliers, (an AI Band) about a break up. I added the chorus which is rather catchy in my view. This rocks, and made Reggie a regular in the AI band space.
Lenny and Ginny have had an argument and she has left him.
3. Heart Of Stone (1981): Blues treatment for a dodgy relationship with a manipulative person with a Heart Of Stone. This got quite a bit more added to it in 2026, including the chorus with the Heart Of Stone line.
Lenny gets to vent about how heartless Ginny has been.
4. Don't Love (1980): A Buzzcocks inspired punk song. About a break up with a girl. It was entirely fictitious.
Lenny continues to vent about the break up, claiming that he is over it.
5. Instant Carve Up (1980): A speed freak recounts his adventures racing other people. A ZZ Top inspired style was used.
Lenny challenges someone to a race on The Sunset Strip. He reckons he's unbeatable. Is He?
6. Over and Over (1980): This is a bit on the punky side, and I added a few bits in 2026 about my social circle at the time. I was trying to fit in with a culture that I found a bit too boring and predictable to be honest. Spending money in the pub. Driving too fast. Like the guy in Instant Carve Up. Bah! The two don't mix either. And staying sober while you drive drunks around on New Year's Eve ain't much fun either, as I found out.
Lenny has now fallen out with his mates. They are a bit over all his bragging, and he's fed up with them too at this point.
7. The Loser (1980): This song originated from family members treating me like a loser. When I presented it I was told by the same people it was too negative. It took me a while to figure out I was in a zero sum game I was always meant to lose. The song makes it about someone else (Lenny) who doesn't ever really get over his lack of self worth, repeatedly impressed upon him by his parental figures and siblings. It's a shame really, but I have known a few people who have gone down the same route and did not survive.
Lenny leaves town and drifts from place to place, He reflects on the hurts of recent times and is not coping well. He finds some solace in the bottle, but it's not doing him any favours.
8. Passing The Time (1981): This treatment is reminiscent of a Robert Cray track. About a guy in solitary confinement. And how he copes with a dire situation, trying to save his mind, and not knowing how he ended up there.
Lenny sobers up enough to finds himself incarcerated. He's in a tricky situation that he doesn't know how to get out of. Is this the end for Lenny?
Neil Paddock, 24/08/2026, 19:53 PM
Note: I have changed the original track order on "More Pieces Of Eight" for a richer, more coherent narrative.
See the Music page to have a listen.
