Special Q & A with Ed Bicknell - QUESTION THREAD

[Rolo]

Ed,

Thank you for the good laughs and for the finest british humour. I felt that I was at kindergarten.
And, thanks to Dusty for the spiritual translation of some jokes.

I don't have a question (thank god)
I have two questions! 

Thanks for the laughs.


add:
I just read you answer and the Rolo Thread (LOL)

Don't need to apologize.
I didn't felt offended, I never felt.
I understand the sense of humour barrier. It's absolutely normal.
I know that you have passed thru a LOT during all this years managing and been a musician.
So, I tried to be spontaneous but with carefull to not be intrusive or, even offensive. Because of that, I (like Quizzy) tend to write a lot and it can be boring to read.

The coment about my finger was purely innoscet. I garantee.
However, my good friend Brunno Niny Nyonny turned it into a good joke.

Now I'll pick my guettar and play the newest hits from AMIT.
- The Way She Always Fart
- Golden Fart


Thanks, Ed.
You are pure gold.

[erjan]

You mentioned how Terry and Jack didn't really get an explanation on why they were not asked back and Pick became marginalized at the time which you didn't really understood, and I guess there are quite some other examples. But you were also there. You were the manager. Why didn't you speak up about this, or did you, or was it just not your role to talk about this? I can image that in a group which such pressures relationships brake done, but I'm surprise that in almost all those cases it seems, nobody managed to go out to dinner and have a conversation about it and at least have some closure. 

Edit: I'm not sure if you still want to answer questions related to DS after reading your lasts answers. As an alternative; You mentioned in the Bob Lefsetz interview that of course you are very proud of your children and how they have quite different jobs. Do you think you career has influenced them in any way in their career choice, or are they just finding their own path in life?

[Pottel]

concerning desert island discs, what would be your 10 (yes, 10)
also, pls do feedback after you went to the Gilmour show. the man is a treasure, unlike his bass playing megalomaniac former "bud"
seen him twice, experiences to treasure (hence ...)
also, do you remember a fella called "Herman Schueremans"
i heard stories bout him and you guys. great festival i used to love to go to. but only managed to see you guys there in May of 1992...not 78, ..or 79...(stuff of legends)

[TheTimeWasWrong]

Hi Ed, thanks for your time and your stories! MK has mentioned many times that if a song doesn't work out, he doesn't push or stress; he may try it later on or work on it (Speedway, Rudiger, Secondary Waltz, Do America, etc.). As there were about 20 songs for the LOG sessions, do you remember if anything was passed to the BIA record? In '82, he had already written BIA (the song), but maybe it was after the LOG sessions. Also, I wonder if that happened often during the DS days or if he started to revisit songs more later on in his career.

[wayaman]

Dear Ed, regarding my Stevie Nicks question, yes, I meant SHE (not he), I'm posting from my phone and not only the small screen but the corrector doesn't help too much, lol

The song SHE released in a record called 24 karat gold, with rare and unreleased songs, is called "She loves him still" and it's basically the MK song "Irish road" from the Cal score sounding at the background with Stevie singing his song over it:

https://youtu.be/ATYhiepD0FE?si=FxJDQ2a2gIQ5qnN1

If I'm allowed to filter another question in this post, you said you managed Paul Brady, would you tell us anything about him, his career, personality, friendship with MK and collaborations? As far as I recall MK played on "the game of love" song by Brady and many years later, during the 2000 (can't remember if you were still MK's manager then), Paul Brady did some special shows at Vicar Street in Dublin, and MK played one of those gigs with Brady, and they both shared the stage during maybe a 80% of the song, and with Bonnie Raitt for some songs

Thanks in advance.

[TJ]

I know you'll think she has no taste in music, but Golden Heart is my wife's favorite of all the DS/MK albums.

I seem to recall that you had a whole tour lined up behind the release of GH, and then Mark decided he needed to record more songs, so you had to scrap the whole tour and start over.  Did you have any input into Mark deciding he needed more material for that album?  as in, "Mark, this album as currently constructed really doesn't cut it", or similar, or was that all Mark's doing?

And I imagine the PITA it was to start all over with the tour - was the original tour going to be more extensive than the one that ultimately was done?

Did you suggest the album be titled "Blade of Love"? 

[Robson]

Dear Ed, regarding my Stevie Nicks question, yes, I meant SHE (not he), I'm posting from my phone and not only the small screen but the corrector doesn't help too much, lol

The song SHE released in a record called 24 karat gold, with rare and unreleased songs, is called "She loves him still" and it's basically the MK song "Irish road" from the Cal score sounding at the background with Stevie singing his song over it:

https://youtu.be/ATYhiepD0FE?si=FxJDQ2a2gIQ5qnN1

If I'm allowed to filter another question in this post, you said you managed Paul Brady, would you tell us anything about him, his career, personality, friendship with MK and collaborations? As far as I recall MK played on "the game of love" song by Brady and many years later, during the 2000 (can't remember if you were still MK's manager then), Paul Brady did some special shows at Vicar Street in Dublin, and MK played one of those gigs with Brady, and they both shared the stage during maybe a 80% of the song, and with Bonnie Raitt for some songs

Thanks in advance.

Yes, MK composed the music. I completely forgot about it. "Irish Road" in the background. Beautiful. Thanks wayaman:)

Chad Cromwell – drums

[Brunno Nunes]

Dear Ed, I want to thank you on behalf of my father for mentioning some shows that were memorable to you. When I saw your list, I immediately realized the historical importance of each one of them.

The show in Madison Square Garden NY, BIA tour with guests Billy Joel and David Sanborn RIP, has always been in my top 5 shows of the BIA tour. The bootleg recording reveals the incredible atmosphere of a band at their peak.🔥

Whitney Houston's question in your dressing room in 1988 was absolutely hilarious!😂🤦🏻

It's interesting that you mention the Auckland show in March 1986. Almost two years ago I came across a recording of that show made by a cameraman you had hired. His name is Avital Davidzon. According to him, you liked his work and invited him to the tour in Australia and New Zealand in 1986 to film the band for the big screens at stadium shows. For us it was a find, a time capsule that remained unreleased for almost 40 years and that reveals an incredible performance by a band at the height of its career, ending an impressive tour.🔥 I released it here at AMIT, we were all very happy with this recording. Avital also made available a very fun video of the band and the road crew playing a game of cricket, a way to relax a little, to get away from the routine during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in March 1986. I don't know if you know these recordings, but you might want to see them. I'm leaving the links here:

Footage of the show in Auckland 86, improved quality.
https://youtu.be/FLxUVCPIdzw?si=RhzlWJsB72uRvWSw

Band v's Crew part 1
https://youtu.be/WhfL6ghT-kE?si=Eh3mENW7UzQFnwFj

Band v's Crew part 2
https://youtu.be/3kb-A-ZOkhY?si=G9W1jy46njywWqvA

Regarding Mark's statement about having recorded some of the shows in Paris in 1983, the information that it was an interview on Top of the Pops may not be correct, I saw this information on an old website a while ago and it stuck in my mind, but I'm leaving the link to the interview below, a video of only 3:27, at the end, when asked about Alchemy, Mark addresses this issue.
Personally, I believe they used the Rolling Stone Mobile to record some of the 5 nights in Paris 83, a month before the Hammesmith Odeon shows.

https://youtu.be/BfjjHANqovE?si=uTcfCaR_u0nECmOP

If Portobello Belle live in June 83 was recorded by the band and is present in the MFN compilation released in 88, who knows if there are more recordings from that occasion, or even from others, 80/81, 85/86. (Just a hypothesis). Rainbow 79 was certainly recorded by the BBC for the BBC Arena, very lucky for us (the fans) that they recorded the audio of the entire show, it would be great if they had the complete footage, from a historical point of view, a record of the end of the band's first phase. Although for you it is the worst period of the band, September to December of 79 is the period that fascinates me the most musically, I love the setlist from that period, especially the versions,🔥❤️ they are incredible, but, I am just a fan looking from the outside at everything that happened, and you were the band's manager and your view is from the inside out, you saw everything happen in real time, another experience completely different from ours, which is very fascinating, very grateful for sharing.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This morning I revisited the song "Mustang" by the Shads. Not only Bruce's rhythm guitar, but the drums here also do an excellent job. Everything about this song takes me back to the Old West. I love that feeling. Listening to The Shadows has always been a luxury at any time.💎❤️🎸

If you'll allow me, I would be interested in a few more aspects related to DS (and I believe others would be too) I will return to the topic again, live releases of the band: The question of how Alchemy was planned and elaborated was already wonderfully explained by you, so I would like to know if at any point was a live release of the BIA tour 85/86 planned, given the size of the success of the album, as well as the tour? And of course, to finish, how was the planning of what became On The Night? Was it a decision of the record company, or between you and the band? By the time it was recorded in May 1992, the band had been on the road for almost a year, so Nimes and Rotterdam were chosen for this production, a very different dimension to what Alchemy was, the result of one night. Did On The Night happen as planned?

Was STP initially planned to be a DS album? Or was that "The voice and guitar of Dire Straits" thing just marketing?

The Police and Dire Straits are from the same generation. They emerged at the same time and in the same place, but with different sound proposals. In retrospect, when you look at the trajectory of both, is there any parallel in their careers? What could you consider? I am impressed by the amount of video recordings that The Police have between 77/81 (the first three albums), many of them filmed shows, Dire Straits doesn't even come close to the amount of recordings that they have, was the reason for this some internal politics of the band, or rather, of its management?

Finally, have you ever visited Brazil? Is there anything in our music that you appreciate? I imagine that you know names like Tom Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes, João Gilberto, maybe Ivan Lins, Hermeto Pasqual or Gilberto Gil.

Cheers!

[TJ]

"No. Your wife has no taste in men."

That was a given, but turned out great for me.

"I have no recollection of that at all.
No. I'm sure that’s not right either re more songs or moving the tour.
I definitely didn’t do the latter and what we did was what I planned from the outset."

This i remembered from one of Liz's last DSIS letters, which I have tracked down.Here is the relevant section :
The reason for the postponement is that Mark wants to write and record some additional tracks. Since it will take him a little time to do this (he hasn't even written the songs yet), we will not be able to deliver the finished product to the record company in time for them to meet the proposed March 1st release date. The most likely time for the album to come out will now be autumn of 1995, and the tour will be after that, possibly even as far off as 1996. We will keep all names ...

Very, very sorry about this - but there's nothing I can do about it. We had an exceptionally well routed tour set up which took months of planning and which we have now had to cancel, and a lot of people lined up to work on the tour who are now without work for next summer, so believe me, it is not a decision that was taken lightly... and we are all just as disappointed by the whole thing as you probably are (understatement of the year)!

https://neck-and-neck.hier-im-netz.de/dsis/9501/jan_95.htm

[@perryeyes]

Some of Mark's songs, including one's you won't have heard, involve shady sarcastic macho characters: Money for Nothing, Mans too strong, Cleaning My Gun, Rudiger, Boom Like That, 5:15AM. Can you see shadow aspects of Mark's personality in these characters ?

[Love Expresso]

Of course, especially in those I won't have heard. Can you, too?

LE
 

[Rolleyway Man]

Ed. Thanks for doing this. Some quite enlightening answers.

Being a big Sting/Police fan as well as an MK fan, I’ll ask this. Did you ever encounter their manager Miles Copeland III on your travels? I gather he’s quite the character. I wish Mark and Sting had performed together more often over the years.

[vape68]

Ed, Thank you for the ton of info you gave us

My Q: When you say 'dozens of unreleased DS songs' do you mean finished songs ? if so, can you reveal any title ?
and if there were some that you think should have been absolutely released?

Uncle Q: Is the rumor of about 20-25 OES concerts recorded for On The Night correct ? Who had the idea to mix
2 shows (Rotterdam + Nimes) for On the Night ? Did you agree with the decision (by MK ?) to leave out many important songs ?

Friend #1 Q: What MK's guitar sound you like most ?

Friend #2 Q: Any chance of a NHB live concert release ?

Friend #3 Q: Can you describe the relation between MK and money ?

Friend #4 Q: Any idea why MK has not released any video official live concert during the whole very long solo career ?

[shortfin]

Dear Ed, thanks for answering my wife's questions, now here's mine:
what can you tell us about DS album covers? You said that from MM onwards the record company had no say in artistic matters. Who chose the covers for the first two albums? And the others? You, M, someone else? Are there any anecdotes about the covers? Do you like them? Why is the OES cover so bad? 

[Viervalen]

Where is Liz Whatley? She was great managing DSIS