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phil bates
Musician | songwriter |producer|
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Just released a few more tracks on Bandcamp.com. and linked on my websitephil-bates.com/songs/A pretty esoteric collection 😂A couple Celtic-ish instrumentals from me, based around my wonderful daughters. A heavier song that some will know, but I wanted to show a different side to the Bates.Plus, a song from Don’t Panic that Jo and I did in the mid 1980s, having moved on from synth-pop 😜Two demos from 1993 when plans for ‘Moment of Truth’ were starting to take shape. ‘Breaking down the walls’ made it on to the album, ‘Sitting on top of the world’ did not.I was disappointed about ‘Sitting ….’ because I could hear that chorus on the radio. C’est la vie. I even offered a co-write because the lyrics are make weight, but universal indifference ensued 😂 Maybe they were right.(Co-writes were the essence of the Part 2 album, in fact, a necessity to counterbalance the ELO albums everybody worked on with Jeff Lynne)Plus, two quasi-blues tracks I did for a project that got no further than 2 tracks 😂 Or they might have been demos for a Buddy Guy album that our manager(?!?!) told me I might be working on. But then, he even told us we were getting a song on the new ‘Highlander’ film at a point when the film was already out 😂 He often perpetrated such jokes.Then, two instrumental pieces I did for a dance presentation by Worcester Arts Workshop in 1992. Technology was a bit limited in 1992, but the tracks worked well for the dance show. I enjoyed watching the rehearsals and then going home to translate what I had seen into music.Would love to have done more, but nobody ever asked again 😂Anyway, have a listen 😄❤☯🙏
phil-bates.com
Phil Bates – former lead singer of ELO Part II & The Orchestra. Experience the greatest Electric Light Orchestra hits live.
Atlantic - Hands Of FateMust be the highest I have ever sung 🫣😳Strangely, although I am not a fan of this genre at all, I am proud of the fact that I made a pretty good AOR song out of pretty bland basic track.The ‘in the bathroom’ mix, along with the loudness of the snare drum, do not thrill me at all. Thankful I never call on myself to sing this high now 😂😂❤🙏
youtu.be
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You may not recognise this young chap sitting on Primrose Hill, London having his photograph taken by Dezo Hoffman, who took a lot of the early Beatles publicity photos.The year was 1974, I was 21, and these photos were taken to publicise my first single, ‘Mr Hand Me Down’, a Gilbert O’Sullivan inspired song which, unsurprisingly, failed, although it did receive quite a few radio plays.Story behind this shoot was that I was in the middle of the tour I did playing bass for Duane Eddy, a tour which involved several nights sleeping in the van, and on some very hard London floors 😂😂The fact that I looked even vaguely human after the rigours of rough sleeping is down to my youthful resilience 😂😂The vagaries of ‘living the dream’ included playing the Lyceum in the Strand to a packed audience, with Paul McCartney allegedly in the audience to see good ol’ Duane, and then trying to find a safe side street to park and sleep in. There was not enough money for even a flea-infested B&B 😂Next day I was up on Primrose Hill trying to look human and vaguely attractive for my indifferent audience 😂The trials and tribulations of an aspiring pop star 😂😂🙏 ☯❤
my projects
solo - ACOUSTIC
Reimaginings of ELO, Beatles, Trickster, Atlantic, classic songs from the extensive pop/rock/blues songbook, and songs from some of my favourite songwriters – Stevie Wonder, Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Gerry Rafferty, Keb Mo, Ry Cooder …… plus a smattering of blues, and a soupćon of Celtic.
Plus, some talking about 56 years of my musical history ….. if anyone wants to hear an old fart talking about ‘the good old days’.
Phil Bates & Band
An exhilarating musical journey through the greatest hits of ELO, ELO II and other classics
MEET THE BAND
