Play Nicely and Share

The album title, Play Nicely And Share, came from something my wife Ariella says to me before I go to a recording session or go on tour. It’s the sort of thing you’d say to a child before he/she goes out to play with friends, but I think you can apply it to anything you do. Play Nicely, in other words, do the best you can do; And Share, let others benefit from what you do.

1.Let’s Get Lost

This song was originally written for a Radio 2 programme called ‘The Loss Of Lostness’ in which I was asked to talk about getting lost in music and record shops, I was also asked to come up with a song.

‘Let’s Get Lost’ is such a great and inspiring title. I wrote the music very quickly, which is usually a good sign. It took a little longer to finish the lyrics. Ironically, having extolled the virtues of getting lost, the thought of actually getting lost fills me with horror as I’ve got a lousy sense of direction!

2.Come To Mine

I met Beth Neilson Chapman and Kevin Montgomery at a songwriters retreat held at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios. When we sat down to write together Beth said how much she liked the phrase ‘Come To Mine’. That is a very un-American phrase for someone who lives in Nashville to pick up on, but that’s what songwriters do. I started playing the opening chords and the melodies came very quickly. I recorded the track and my vocals in London and Beth added her vocals and guitars in Nashville. Just because I come from Manchester doesn’t mean that I can’t be a little bit country!

3.Do You Wanna Go

I wrote this with Claudio Guidetti, someone I have known and written with for many years. He has a studio in Milan where we wrote the music and recorded most of the backing track. I wrote the lyrics back in London. They were based on the feeling I got listening to the track about travelling to new places. I’ve had a long-standing love affair with California so that is where the song is placed. I felt it had a party atmosphere so you can hear one going on underneath the guitar solo.

4.Rave On

Originally recorded for a film where the music supervisor wanted new versions of old songs. The movie never saw the light of day but I really liked this version of the song so I thought I’d use it on this album. I’ve always been a massive Buddy Holly fan and, like many of my contemporaries, he was a huge influence on me both as a songwriter and a musician.

5.Just Like Yesterday

Originally recorded by Tony Christie I used the backing track from the original demo of the song because it felt so right. I wrote it with Graeme Pleeth who also mixed this album. I’ve always used lots of minor chords because of the mood they create. I also like the Nashville sound on this track.

6.Play Nicely and Share

This was originally intended to be an instrumental but when I listened to the finished track I felt like it should have some lyrics. They start in quite an odd place but it feels right to me. I nicked George Benson’s idea of scat singing with the melody guitar. Because of the title, I thought I should extend the lyric idea to become one of universal peace and love, and there’s nothing wrong with that.