buy new Tot Taylor recordings from Rough Trade in the Exclusives section at this link: www.roughtrade.com
TOT TAYLOR
NEW SINGLE
Tot Taylor – London 2020
ORDER from: ROUGH TRADE (Click logo to view)
TOT TAYLOR
NEW SINGLE
TTot Taylor’s third vinyl single of his ‘new trilogy’ is the record industry’s first known ‘ANTI-TRUMP’ anthem.
The song imagines the scenario following DONALD TRUMP’S
much-documented pre-election threat to ‘take down the Internet’.
Recorded over one whole week, with full ‘macrobiotic’ symphony orchestra at RAK Studios, London, this deluxe protest song is in the style of a tender 1970’s love ballad makes for ‘eerie’ rather than ‘easy’-listening.
A seven-minute epic for our era.
The ‘B’ side has a ‘sing-a-long’ karaoke track so everyone can make their own version of it
P.T.O. for the full story of the song:
CONTACT: David Camp @ TheCampus 07794 629 188
‘BABY, I MISS THE INTERNET’
I used to go to the old East-West Center in Old St (before it became Clearspring). I was with a macrobiotic teacher there – Jon Sandifer – and I really got into it and followed the doctrine, eating very sparsely, though very specifically, miso, wakame, kombu, rice, a lot of seaweed and umeboshi, kukicha etc, and talking to goats every morning as Jon had suggested (two grey and white ones were tethered to a pole near the ex-cricket pitch in Crouch End).
There were several music people at the Center; Eno I remember, having problems coming off coffee, and U2 Bono as well. There were classical people mainly, for various kinds of therapy including eating disorders. I’d go and see them rehearse at the Byatt Unit, a big old hall down the road and we formed a sort of ad hoc orchestra. It was pretty good and they played on an Italian soundtrack I did at the time – ‘Shatterer’ d.Tonino Valeri (1987) – Toshiro Mifune’s final film. That job was stressful – working in Italy, (at Cinecitta) everyone speaking in Japanese – which I was also learning at the time.
A few months ago I called as many of the members as I could find and we formed the orchestra up again. They were all very anti-Trump of course and several still macrobiotic, and ‘believers’, like myself.
When the orchestra heard the song they smiled in all the right places and asked me why it was in all these different keys? (it’s not really). After a couple of rehearsals we got together in the big studio at RAK and put the thing down. I had a vision of it as a kind of love letter/love ballad/hate mail.
I hope that Barry Manilow might somehow hear the song, be in sympathy with it – he is a very long-term Democratic fundraiser – and might decide to record it himself.
I was a big fan of his ‘big voice/big orchestra’ ballads when I was a kid and I’m kind of in a phase now of replaying a lot of the singles I used to play then. Several of which are his.
I also thought that this in itself was such a brilliant idea that if he ever did in fact record the song, it in may in fact be able to also ‘bring Barryback’ at the same time. In a legitimate way, I mean. Bring him back into focus, as one of the top balladeers of our times. If you know Barry, or have any connection with him please send the song to him.
Anyway…
Tot Taylor – London 2020
ORDER from: ROUGH TRADE (Click logo to view)
TOT TAYLOR
NEW SINGLE
Says TOT TAYLOR “I wrote the song FEATURETTE at fourteen years old when I was at school. I finally got around to recording it late last year at RAK STUDIOS, London. It’s the second of three new songs, to be released as singles via ROUGH TRADE – each in the form of a letter. The first is a love-letter – to my favourite Beatle – Yoko Ono. The second is FEATURETTE – a letter, perhaps sick note, to my teenage self. The third is a letter of intent, to Donald Trump. More of that later.
FEATURETTE will be released on 23 MARCH, in two vinyl ltd editions of 500, on David Camp’s new TheCampus label. There is an animated on YouTube to mark the occasion d. Chris Gavin.
ORDER from: ROUGH TRADE (Click logo to view)
TOT TAYLOR
SINGLE
This autumn I’ll be releasing some new music. Three new songs, each in the form of a letter. The first is a love-letter – to my favourite Beatle – Yoko Ono. The second is a letter, perhaps sick note, to my teenage self. The third is a letter of intent, to Donald Trump. More of that later. Here’s a bit about the Yoko song:
‘YOKO, OH’
I was listening to the radio one day and the DJ mentioned ‘answer records’. He played ‘Oh, Carol’, Neil Sedaka’s big hit about Carole King which went to #1 on the Billboard Top One Hundred (1961).
I was at school when I first heard John Lennon’s ‘Oh, Yoko’ from
* there is another connection: in 1975, Sedaka had a hit in the US with ‘The Immigrant’, dedicated to John Lennon and his ongoing battle to be allowed to remain in the US.
We are grateful to our sponsors.
ORDER from: ROUGH TRADE (Click logo to view)