Newsletter December 2007

Seasons Greetings

I love this time of year.

As I am winding up and tying up loose ends I have been reflecting on what a great year it has been. One of the biggest successes has been the introduction of brand new Sandie Shaw tracks available for download. I was recently asked by a lady calling herself Rainham Bird (obviously an Essex girl) what was the rationale behind all this. I will try to explain.

Firstly I wanted to find out what all the fuss was about in the music industry regarding download. I wanted to know whether or not it was another one of the ‘mysteries’ the industry creates in order to protect itself from other people earning income from ventures. I had met a couple of members of Radiohead at Buckingham Palace at the end of last year and the possibilities of using the internet to put out my material intrigued me.

I decided to experiment during my birthday year to see if it were possible to run an independent download facility on the Sandie Shaw site. I had quite a few recent home demos that I had mostly written, produced and sang so there was no problem with ownership. I realised that this would be a great opportunity to share them while they were still work in progress. These tracks added a certain exclusivity that was unavailable elsewhere as only final product is ever put out on the market.

We kicked off with the reworking of Puppet’s Got a Brand New String and the response was such that I immediately knew we were on to a winner. So we scheduled for a new song to be released online each month. From the sales which were carefully monitored we could see which tracks were the most popular. I quickly realised this was a great low key R and D exercise for an album, a unique pre-production method that was in tune with the listeners requirements. Good Game I thought.

As well as Puppet the titles available to download from The Store in the Fans Lounge on the site are:

Dandelion

She Networks

Indigo Blue

Grievous Spiritual Harm

Coconut Groove                                        

Still In Love

Diary of a Modern Housewife

Blue Robes

Lay Lady Lay II

And on January 1st - No Man’s Land

There are lots more of these home demos so I might put another one up to finish off my 60th year in February 08.

So it seems that to make an album all I would need now is a producer to help me finish them all off and a generous publisher to assist. Firstly though I have to give it all some reflection over the holiday break and make a decision whether to do it or not. In terms of pleasure and interest the experiment has already served its purpose – but it seems I have also inadvertently demonstrated that a record company can be easily replaced. So anything extra is an unexpected bonus. The record companies are really going to have to find new ways of attracting and working with artists in the future. Over to you Mr Wadsworth!

On a much, much lighter note:

I was amused by a newspaper article this week to read how much certain celebrities spend a year on those ridiculous huge designer handbags that are currently fashionable. What DO they fill them up with? A year’s supply of botox? Spare implants? A microwave? Apparently these bag collections cost up to 23K per year. Just think what valuable things one could do with that amount of money. Of course if I was a Freudian, I would be making the obvious interpretations about large personal containers full of secret, intimate treasures. I wonder if their gynaecologist bills are as high.

Oh and Mr Richard Kay, if you must print stuff from my newsletters please print this photo to which I was referring (it is available from Camera Press - click to enlarge). I have been inundated with emails from people telling me I look great for 60. Alright. OK. I give in. Thank you very much. I am deeply flattered that you all care for me so much. Big kisses, and a special one to you Mr. Richard Kay, for bringing it to everybody’s attention. I have never had so many compliments. Have a great Xmas and New Year holiday.