Charity begins at The Bank of England …

I have just written, arranged and recorded some songs on “economics futures” for our 2015 Charity campaign with Dr Andrew Sentance, former MPC member at The Bank of England, Haydn Jones, Managing Director at Fujitsu, alongside a band of musicians featuring Rick Benbow, a session musician and member of Brit Floyd, who recently scored Status Quo’s “Aquostic” album. The triple A side EP “Rockonomics” was engineered by Ozzy Osbourne and Ian Gillan’s former guitarist Bernie Tormé.

The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street is ravished

The songs tell tales of eM‘en’eM (Macro-economic Mayhem (Yes, I know there are not so many hits written about such things!!):

“New Normal” predicts a flatter economic forecast and was a term coined by Andrew Sentance in his first book. The song is set in a Neil Young / R.E.M inspired rebel rant.

“The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street” (formerly “Forward Guidance” after Governor of The Bank of England, Mark Carney’s catchphrase) is a Blackmore’s Night and Led Zeppelinesque inspired 16th century folk rock anthem that calls bankers, brokers and bosses to rethink the fundamentals on which capitalism rests.

Plus the bonus track “Fiscal Cliff” which I wrote for a BBC programme. Almost as soon as I’d finished it, the BBC were instructed by the Government to stop talking the economy down, so I lost my money and it never made the programme.  That’s the media for you! 😦

We are selling the songs with the option to donate a significant amount to a basket of charities. We are also available for live performances supported by keynote talks in the Square Mile or indeed anywhere around the world. Click the picture to donate by buying the songs plus a bonus track now:

By far the best option for purchase is Bandcamp, as the vast majority of the money reaches the chosen charities with Bandcamp only taking a modest commission. Buy the triple A side EP at TRIPLE A SIDE. Or individual tracks via SINGLES.  The songs will be available on iTunes / Amazon etc. shortly if you just want the tracks without a charitable donation. Meet the band:

Dr Andrew Sentance – Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals, Economics
Zee Fincham – Lead Vocals
Rick Benbow – Keyboards
Pete Stephens – Drums, percussion
Haydn Jones – Bass guitar, vocals
Peter Cook – Lead guitars, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, musical direction

Rock in the City L-R : Moi, Haydn Jones, Pete Stephens, Zee Fincham, Rick Benbow and Dr Andrew Sentance

The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street – inspired by Stairway to Heaven – Robert Plant looks bemused – Photograph by my good friend, the lovely Christina Jansen http://www.cjansenphotography.com

Here’s the video for the bonus track: “Fiscal Cliff” – a hard rock song for hard times – the forerunner to the Rock In The City sessions:

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Pre-order our new book for Bloomsbury at Leading Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise.  Groundbreaking thought leadership on leading and managing Brain Based Enterprises where thinking and doing are aligned in perfect harmony.

HARD ROCK, BLACK HEART

I have just received a copy of Bernie Tormé’s new album BLACKHEART – I’m mightily impressed. Bernie goes on tour at the end of October – get your tickets NOW:

Thu 22nd Oct Keighley, Yorkshire The Octagon 01274 562252

Fri 23rd Oct Troon, Ayrshire, South Beach Hotel 01292 312033

Sat 24th Oct Edinburgh, Bannermans 0131 556 3254 

Wed 28th Oct Frome, Dorset Cheese and Grain 01373 455420 

Fri 30th Oct Birmingham, Institute, The Temple 01865 798797

Sat 31st Oct London, Borderline 020 7734 5547 – I’m treating this as a social evening as I’m playing on one of the numbers with Bernie and the band – how cool is that? – get your ticket for the party!

Sat 7th Nov Oxford, The Wheatsheaf 01865 721 156

Wed 11th Nov Newcastle, The Cluny 0191 230 4474

Thu 12th Nov Liverpool Liverpool Arts Club 0151 559 3773

Sat 14th Nov Brighton, The Prince Albert 01273 730499

An original power trio – Christian Hellmann, Bernie Torme and Ian Harris – in Church searching for their souls

What strikes most people about Bernie’s work is most often the guitar playing which is extraordinary. What also struck me about the album was the songwriting and lyrical content as much as the great musicianship. There are three sorts of songs on the album – straightforward hard rawk and roll, hard rock ballads and some rather nice folk music.

In the hard rawk and roll category we have songs like 1985, Golden Pig and On Fire. Bernie moans “I’m a slave to the rhythm, the keeper of the flame” – so true. Every time I visit his studio there always seems to be some kind of fire …

Keeper of the rawk and roll flame …. Mr Tormé

I love the ballads, “Flow”, “Into the Sun” and “Party’s Over” – these feature a choir made up of Bernie’s fans who sang into their phones and sent the individual recordings over for mixing into the final cut – an ingenious idea from Bernie’s crowdfunding project. “Party’s Over” is simply not long enough and features a Dylanesque harmonica and a guitar solo to die for, slightly reminiscent of something Mott The Hoople might have done. After all Ian Hunter was Dylan speeded up 🙂 “Flow” features a haunting motif that eventually moves into a Zeppelinesque grind with a guitar sound and performance that is truly imaginative for a classic three piece.

And we have some traditional folk songs, perhaps inspired by Bernie’s Irish homeland. “Miles to Babylon” and “Steady Roller Blues” which has a haunting mystical quality. In both cases the songs break out into rock after their acoustic beginnings from the old country (Kent).

The production is also great – crystal clear, loud and with everything louder than everything else! We had direct experience of this when we pledged towards the project with a mini album of Be-Bop Deluxe songs and just recently when I brought Dr Andrew Sentance’s band Rock In The City to Bernie’s studio to record two songs about Macroeconomics in a day. More on that later.

So, get yourself a copy of the album and book into the tour. I’ll be in London on 31 October for some beer and rawk n roll. Listen to Bernie live on Salford City FM on Wed 16th September at 11 am in conversation with Tom Hughes.

Here’s our interview with Bernie from last year for his previous album release:

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For our work combining music and business contact us via The Academy of Rock. Order our new book “Leading Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise” via Bloomsbury.