ORC 007 7" Vinyl  Kimberley Rew "Flower Superpower b/w Bloody Old England"

Kimberley Rew is well known as guitarist/singer/songwriter with bands like the Soft Boys and Katrina & the Waves.
In recent years he’s been writing and recording magnificent, very English solo albums and we are delighted to announce a 7” 45 on Shagrat limited to just 250 copies. It comes in a plain white bag and with beautiful labels designed by the great John Hurford.

Here’s what Kim has to say about the record:
Shagrat Records boss Nigel Cross (whom I've known since the days of Robyn Hitchcock's Soft Boys in the 1970s) first heard these two songs at a Kim and Lee gig at the Constitution, Camden, London, England in February 2014. Kim and Lee is a semi regular band comprising drummer Tony Hill, bass player and singer Lee Cave Berry and her husband (that's me) guitarist and singer Kimberley Rew, from Cambridge- in fact the Constitution is our only London gig (at the time of writing!) The band plays a mixture of covers, mostly the classics, and originals- preferably the ones that appeal instantly to the generally passing trade that comprises the pub audience (not the discerning Constitution crowd!)

‘Flower Superpower’ and ‘Bloody Old England’ are taken from the Rew albums The Next Big Adventure and Healing Broadway (I've been pursuing a cottage industry recording career for the last few years).

As you might expect of a man of my age my musical roots are in the 1960s. Flower and Superpower are both buzzwords from the time and I can't think why no one's previously combined them. It's been considered to sound like Jimi Hendrix - a great compliment, though I thought I was copying Curtis Mayfield. The story is about a man who embarks on a major new adventure rather late in life and tries to be philosophical about what it brings!

The phrase Bloody Old England is a quote from John Betjeman (the pioneering aerial archaeologist OGS Crawford also wrote a book called Bloody Old Britain). It's a love hate (mostly love) tribute to our home country. Ray Davies and the Kinks were of course the masters of pointing up genuinely English foibles in an English style, though the Beatles and the Rolling Stones both had a go too.

A word about the studio band: Lee Cave Berry on bass is my constant support and partner in working up new songs and testing them on long suffering audiences, and probably cares about what happens to them more than anyone else has in history. Alex Cooper on drums is there from the Katrina and the Waves days and our musical relationship hasn't changed. Ian Gibbons on keyboards we met when we were opening for the Kinks and is the perfect compliment for us as for them. Happy listening!

Limited run: 250 copies
£4.50
+ Shipping: UK:£4.50, Europe:£8.25, USA & Rest of World :£16.25