Happy Birthday to "The Grown Ups": Hoxton Song (Reprise)

As a way of celebrating the first birthday of my debut album, The Grown Ups, I thought I would write a little "behind the scenes" feature about each of the songs on the LP. You can listen, download or buy the album over at www.mickterry.co.uk

HOXTON SONG (REPRISE)

Not long after the recording sessions for The Grown Ups began in late 2009, I set a date for the album’s release. I planned to unveil it to the world on 21^st October 2010 and felt sure that this would leave me with ample time to record, mix, master and manufacture the CD’s. The artwork process hadn’t really entered my head at this stage and, apart from knowing that I wanted liner notes and lyrics, (what can I say? I’m a geek) I didn’t really think it would take up too much space in the overall timeline of the project. As the album release date loomed ever closer, it was clear that not only was I short on songs, I was also sailing very close to wind with regards to getting the CD’s manufactured in time for the album release party. With this in mind, I had moved the release date back to the 30^th October, but, because I already confirmed the release show date with my pal, Jim Boggia, the date to deliver was now set in stone.

Enlisting the help of my good friend and general sounding board, Fin, we began a journey into the wonderful world of artwork. Our nights were filled with discussions concerning graphics, Photoshop and Cooper black font. We would constantly work until the early hours of the morning, on a PC so slow it would have made Mother Teresa use the “C” word…repeatedly. The creative input required to produce the album’s artwork was a mirror of the recording process for the songs themselves. How I could ever have believed otherwise is quite beyond me now. We delivered the artwork to the CD manufacturer with minutes left on the clock and even a lost cheque couldn’t stop the arrival of my perfect, little Pop baby. The Grown Ups was born at 8pm on 30^th October 2010, surrounded by friends, family and well wishers and its birth remains one of my proudest moments as a parent.

Hoxton Song was originally 4:23 in length and the last verse was intended as a slightly melancholic, coda to the rest of the song. The original version also faded out to the sounds of a children’s playground; full of laughter, screams and the rumble of passing traffic. As the recording sessions drew to a close, I knew that we only had eight songs in the can (if it wasn’t for Jim Boggia’s injury time vocals on “Tinseltown” ,it would have only been seven) and, out of sheer desperation, I turned to the holy fathers; John, Paul, George & Ringo, for divine inspiration. During the making of Sgt. Pepper, the fab four’s road manager, Neil Aspinall, had suggested that as the album had a “welcome” song, it should also have a “goodbye” song and, so, the idea for the reprise was born. I thought that if it was possible to separate the last verse and somehow fade into it, then we could create a reprise too. This would also mean that Hoxton Song effectively, book-ended the LP. My friend and trusty producer, Mick Wilson, leapt through the editing equivalent of rings of fire to make this happen and, using Jim Boggia’s beautiful, stacked harmonies, he created his very own hello and goodbye versions of the song. The entire album clocks in at a shade under 30 minutes in length, but, as I have now come to realise, it’s not about the minutes, it’s what you say and do in the seconds that make up those minutes that really counts.