This edition of the Chatterbox Redux podcast
is brought to you in association with the Strong
Coffee Company. More from them in a bit. Chatterbox.
When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue.
Welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast
with Sue and Nick and today our special guest
is Carol Fialca This is Nick and Sue with Chatterbox
giving you all you need to know about musical
entertainment. Chatterbox, the best interviews
with Nick and Sue. Chatterbox, the best news
Now on Chatterbooks UK, we're just lucky enough
to welcome Carol Fialke. Carol, how are you?
Welcome. Hello, Carol. Hi, hi, both of you. I'm
fine, thank you. Nice to talk with you. And thanks
for coming on Chatterbox. Fantastic. Right, Carol,
I see that you had your first hit here in 1980,
but how did you actually get there? I mean, was
it a musical home? Was it at school? How did
it come about to get in the charts in the first
place? Same thing as most other people, I guess.
A bit of luck. You know, I did not come from
a musical home. I was into pop music all my life.
But pop music, when I was a kid, meant everything.
As I said, it ran the gamut from Petula Clarke
to Johnny and the Hurricanes or Little Richard,
because those were the people who were around
at the time. So you just took whatever you got.
And I picked up a lot of musical influences because
I was born abroad and lived abroad for the first
15 years of my life. both in India and Africa,
Pakistan. So, you know, all that sort of filtered
through one way or another, I guess. But curious
enough, I had my... When I finished school, I
actually... I went to film school. That's really
what I wanted to do, was to make films in London.
And when I left film school... Well, in those
days, the film industry was still high bound
by the unions. And so you couldn't get a job
in the film industry unless you had a union card.
You couldn't get a union card unless you had
a job in the film industry. One of those things,
you know. And so I was lucky enough to get a...
job doing what's called release scripting because
I can speak in a bit of French and stuff so there's
a lady called May Harris who had an office on
Wardall Street and she release scripted. In other
words when you got a foreign movie that needed
to be translated into English you did the English
translation and typed in the subtitles over the
subtitles or vice versa because obviously in
every language you know you say look In English
you say, I'm going out of the door. In another
language you say, the door I'm going out of.
So you don't want to give the gamer win. Anyway,
so that's what I was into. And then some friends
of mine started the band. And I got involved
as a lyric writer, also to be frank. As it turned
out, my lyrics were totally unnecessary because
basically they wrote great lyrics themselves
anyway. But they had an element of success and
Pete Townsend very kindly lent us his studio
workshop flat at the end of Wardle Street, top
floor. He lent it to us as a writing room so
we used to go up there and hang out and do things.
I think that came through track records if I
can remember. Oh yes, I remember, yes. Yeah,
either Chris Stamp or the other guy. I've forgotten
that. I was quite keen on my friend's band, which
was called Dreamland Express. Anyway, yeah, so
that was it really. Then there was a sort of
hiatus for a few years where I did other things
until somewhere around the mid -70s and came
back from... I came back from summer in Spain,
mostly in Ibiza. Sounds like I was having a great
time, but, you know, when you're young, things
sort of happen. Sure. And I was really a bit
of a loose end. There were two friends who quite
specifically said, look, Carl, you know, you're
so into music and you, you know, by this time,
at this stage, I was writing my own songs. And
they said, you know, you should just do your
songs, record them and, you know, try and get
some action. And so I did. One of those guys
was the original drummer for Motorhead, a guy
called Lucas Fox. And there was a guy who worked
with a friend of mine from Scotland from a long
time ago, Michael Mike Smith, who worked with
a merchandising company that sold gear at gigs
and things. So that's how that came about, really.
That's cool. I went around, I found one little
four -track studio and I recorded a version of
one of the first songs I'd written, a song called
Armband. I talked about my ideas about it and
the guy who, the engineer in the studio, I liked.
I mean, you know, frankly his ideas now, because
everything's so much more complicated and complex
and sophisticated now. In those days, if you
had a kazoo, it felt like a synthesizer almost.
That's a joke, by the way. You got a laugh. Oh
yes, you did. Did you get a slight one there?
I promise you. Yeah. Anyway, so yeah, so I followed
up on band and I wanted to record properly And
found the money to access a an eight track studio
out in somebody's garage in Hounslow and Recorded
this version of armband out there With since
because I'd gotten into since by this time I
I'd been I'd been coming back from I'd been out
in the country. I'd been working out there some
stuff and I was coming back into around Christmas
time to meet up or just after Christmas to meet
up with my girlfriend who was in London. Yeah.
And this absolutely stunning girl got onto the
train with a wonderful dog and I just had to
go and say hello and talk to them. And it turned
out that she was a lady French girl called Miquette
Giraudy who was the girlfriend of a guitarist
called Steve Hillage who played in Gone. He had
a couple of bands of his own. Curious enough,
a fellow who'd worked for me said before that
he used to rate Steve really highly. He said
for him, Steve was the most cosmic guitarist
after Hendrix. It's pretty good. Anyway, you
know, we started talking, Miquet, and Trane,
you know, asked what she did, and she said, I
played synthesizer with this band, and I said,
oh, I've seen the name synthesizer, and said,
I'd quite like to know a bit more about it. And
she said, well, tonight we are going to see,
to meet her at Ms. Midori, and why don't you
join us? So, by the way, please excuse my accent,
and Miquet, if you ever hear this. Please really
excuse my accent because you speak far more winningly
than I do with your French accent. Anyway, so
I went along and it was quite fascinating because
they could really point out to me all the things
that the synths were doing. And so this is all
about a year, 18 months before I started recording
Armband. Anyway, that's where the synth thing
really took hold with me and I got really into
it because it seemed to me like it was a huge
possibility with new sounds and things, you know.
So it was a combination of synths and also punk
was happening and punk was great because punk
was very liberating and you could do things,
felt you could do things with two or three chords.
Whereas prior to that, frankly, and I was really
into some quite sophisticated music, and also
high production values, but prior to that I was
beginning to feel that you needed a PhD in music
before you could pick up a guitar. So punk liberated
me. It just said, you know, just go and do it.
So punk and my two friends were the starting
point. So that was that, and then I did the eight
-track version of Arnband. and took that around
a few record companies as everybody does just
got rejected or as most people do just got rejected
time after time and I thought well this is you
know I think you guys are wrong because I think
the track is good and so being willful I decided
to go the self -publishing route and And press
it up myself ahead of your time then weren't
you really it's done a lot now, but you went
ahead of your time But anyway, sorry Carol carry
on that's right. Well, there's a lot of people
doing the same sort of thing, but you know press
it up under redship records and So that locally
and sent it out to a couple of radio stations
and then John Peele picked it up and played it
a couple of times and it achieves some some success
when I say something decent enough success over
in Europe and Holland and Belgium places. It's
a period in the, you know, in the top 20 of the
indie singles of the year. And then I had the
great... And this is the Ice Havage, is that
right? No, this is Arnband. Oh, carry on. Wow,
carry on. No, this is Arnband. This is a 70,
I can't remember, 78 maybe somewhere around there.
Fascinating. Wow, carry on. Anyway, yes, so I
had the great pleasure of coming back and finding
some A &R men from record companies that had
rejected the track parked outside my flat in
Redcliffe Gardens in Earl's Court and wanting
to sign me. But by this stage it was too late
because by then I'd signed up to a DJ called
Charlie Gillett. I liked Charlie's radio shows
in Radio London on Sundays a lot. It was a great
radio show and I didn't go to him looking for
any deal. I went to him looking for advice because
I figured he might be helpful. As it turned out,
that time his main thing was world music and
more specifically also Dire Straits. because
Dark Straits hadn't happened at that stage. But
by the by, Charlie decided that he'd like to
sign me to his record label. It's called Oval
Records, which had a few other people who were
quite interesting on. So I signed to Charlie,
and he financed a more sophisticated version
of Armband in a 16 -track studio. And we went
and did that, but he didn't like the... he didn't
like the sophistication of the end result of
that and so you know because Charlie was really
into at that stage. We're taking a quick break
to talk about the fuel behind today's episode.
If you're like me, coffee isn't just a morning
ritual, it's a necessity. But let's be honest,
the traditional coffee cycle usually ends up
in a mid afternoon crash. or those caffeine jitters
that actually make it harder to focus. That's
why I'm so excited to share that this show is
brought to you in association with the Strong
Coffee Company. Coffee has a long history as
a traditional medicinal tool and for centuries
it's been revered for its ability to sharpen
the mind and provide the metabolic sparks needed
to conquer the day. The Strong Coffee Company
has taken that ancient wisdom and supercharged
it for the modern professional. They offer premium
instant brands that actually taste like a high
-end barista pour but with a nutritional profile
that reads like a wellness retreat. The Black
Instant brand, this is their flagship, and it's
a robust, smooth, fair -trade roast packed with
15 grams of grass -fed protein and 5 grams of
MCTs. It's not just an energy boost, it's an
actual fuel for your muscles and brain. They've
solved the jitters problem by enriching their
coffee with 250 milligrams of adaptogens, including
ashwagyonda, and L -Thanine you get the alertness
you want with a calming focused clarity that
helps you stay productive without the edge. The
black instant blend is my thing but if latte
is your thing well the Strong Coffee Company's
latte is to die for. What I love most is that
they don't just cut corners We're talking organic
ingredients and a deep commitment to eco -friendly
sustainable practices. It's coffee you can feel
good about for your body and the planet. Whether
you're looking for a better sleep, mental clarity,
or just a more convenient way to get your protein
in, strong coffee is the healthy alternative
that doesn't sacrifice flavor. We want you to
experience this revolution in your daily routine.
So we've teamed up with a strong coffee company
to get you their highest exclusive discount.
You can get 20 % off your entire order. Yes,
20 % is guaranteed off your order. by using the
code CBUKRDUX. Just head to thestrongcoffeecompany
.com or simply go to the show notes below and
click on the link there. That's CBUKRDUX to guarantee
your 20 % discount. By buying this product, you're
not only supporting the companies that work with
us, or just supporting the channel, you're also
joining the Chatterbox community's commitment
to the environment. One percent of all commissions
are donated to the Stripe Climate Program to
help remove CO2 from the atmosphere. This is
Nick and Sue with Chatterbox, giving you all
you need to know about musical entertainment.
And I was then signed up by a label called Blueprint,
which was part of PRT, which had been Pi records
and tapes. But they were trying to break into
the viable market because Pi really... was pretty
much apart from people apart from some outstanding
bands like the kinks etc it's pretty much started
being uh middle of the road entertained by petunia
clark or literoso any of those people you know
absolutely yeah yeah so blueprint i was signed
to blueprint and uh uh the armband i went into
studio down in battle um near battle in sussex
oh we're near there Sorry, I said we're near
there. We're in Hastings. How are you? Yeah,
that's good. Yeah, that's cool. I wonder where
you were I should have asked sorry I cut that
when I'm talking over you anyway, don't worry,
but I Just sounds like it. I'm telling you stuff
carry on Thank you. So you should because you
know conversations are two -way street. Otherwise,
it's just it's just in judges Anyway, yeah, so
we were done. We went down to Parkgate studio
battle it was which I believe shortly after that
was bought by Paul McCartney as his own studio
that at that time it was still being built pretty
much being built we had you know the the live
room so has joined us etc in it which is why
I won the tracks on the album had features singing
soul because Derek The joiner said, I can play
the singing saw. And we were doing an experimental
track and said, right, Derek, you can go in there
and make your saw sing. And it's there, you know,
it's his bending saw going, ooh, rolled like
a theremin. So, yeah, we recorded that album
there. And while I was doing that, Armband got
released the 16 track, which Blueprint had inherited
from. Charlie Gillett was released, and nothing
much happened with it, but in those days also,
you needed to get quite a lot of backing from
your record company, and I don't think they committed
themselves to the backing of it. I know I started
filming what would now be called a video. I filmed
a clip to go with it, which really just involved
an e -dress and some kind of... trendy urban
gear running around a demolition site in East
London, waving a Sten gun. But I saw some of
the rushes, but I never saw a finished one of,
you know, so I don't know if it was ever finished.
Yeah, so that was that. And then the second single,
by the time we finished recording the album,
it was quite obvious that the eyes of it was
going to be the single. yeah and so that was
released in the second single and uh i have to
say that uh you know the first time i uh the
first my first hearing of that on radio i was
on radio one and i was coming in from driving
in from south london i was coming down brxton's
hill you know you know the corrugated iron citrine
vans remember the ones i do yeah i do yeah I
was in the passenger seat with my feet up on
the dashboard and then as we were coming down,
we were actually heading up towards Marble Arch
to the record company, and along came... I said,
wow, what a buzz that was. That was amazing.
Just hearing your record on national radio for
the first time, it was just very exciting. Absolutely.
you know so that was it how that went with that
and uh well you got in the charts with it as
well of course yes that's right uh i you know
i mean it's curious situation there uh i don't
know how much you want to get into this sort
of thing but type of pipe pie has been sick tie
records uh pie records or prt as it was uh was
I can't remember which one, there were two showbiz
brothers, there was Bernard Delfonta and his
brother, and I can't remember who had which one,
but one of them owned Pi Records, or PRT to be
more accurate, and that branch, and the other
one owned the film studios. The one that owned
the film studios had invested virtually all his
money in something. Call raise the Titanic which
actually sank his company Irony at its best.
Yeah But in the meantime, unfortunately my promotion
budget for the eyes of it was withdrawn and unbelievably
withdrawn On the week of doing top of the pops
which you know, frankly, you know, it's ridiculous
now people I'm sure we don't know about promotion
these days because everything's available all
over the place. Yeah through so many ways of
dissemination but in those days, you know promotion
meant that basically records were in shops and
they were taken to shops and You know, they would
hopefully be put up front so that when you went
in with your 50 pence or whatever it was pocket
money to spend on a single it was one of the
first things that would catch your eye and You
know the thing is with anything whatever it is
doesn't make any difference if it's yeah Music
muesli or politicians you can't buy what you're
not sold if it ain't in front of you. You can't
buy it So anyway, that was that was it with the
eyes of it didn't didn't really go any further
and then there was a third single with PRT which
was an abbreviated version of a sort of reggae
Reggae ish very electronic reggae track called
a file in forget and they've been so music concrete
sounding so it sounds terribly grand, but you
know just an amalgam of of office sounds which
was put into the middle as a long section that
was taken out to shorten to make the make phone
forget more punchy and that was released but
frankly that was just a formality because at
exactly that time that was being released it
was no more than within the release schedule
and as it was being released PRT was folding
as a company you know It was quite interesting
watching a record company folding from the inside,
you know? So that's that, that takes you up to
the eyes of it, or that version of the eyes of
it, which unfortunately you can't hear that anymore,
because anybody who goes to Spotify, which is
the way most people seem to hear things, they
only get the version which is done for a later
album. you know 10 years later or whatever it
was that came out that had A Matthew on it and
that was a recording in a wholly different way
and I have to say that the early eyes of it is
you know much better. Just seeing if we've got
it somewhere. Yeah, that's cool. Now one thing
I'd I have seen Carol is Hold on her you're being
like I've seen you being referred to as the street
poet of the 1980s is that an official title or
You know, is it something a record company's
made up because that's quite a nice title Street
Poet of the 1980s Well, I was... I had the temerity
to regard myself as a poet, and the record company
pretty much hung that title over me. I was pretty
good, but, you know... Street was a... Well,
I guess it still is in many levels. It's a very...
a fashionable word to give you credibility. At
that stage, poetry had no credibility. Poetry
these days has a whole lot of different cachet
which it didn't have in those days. absolutely
yeah yeah with the various people are doing anyway
yeah so that was it street street poet of 1980s
but um 30 years later i like it though i like
it we would keep that or 40 even for goodness
sake 40 caro stop adding the years on i honestly
i honestly don't know because you know i i genuinely
Genuinely don't know. I mean, you know you I
should know since today's my birthday and now
I think about it. Yes, I do know The rest of
the rest of time like everybody else and still
think that you're 18. Oh Well, yeah, I feel like
that till I get out of bed then that's the end
of that, you know, okay I ate some pains in places.
You don't know you had till then. Yeah I think
Leonard Cohen says in one of his songs, you know,
I ache in the places that I used to play. Indeed,
indeed. The good news is, Carol, we do, in the
library, got a good library here, we do have
the Ice Havit. So how about that? That's good,
isn't it? That's fantastic. Is that on Blueprint?
It is the Blueprint version. It is. So that's
quite good, really, isn't it? That's fantastic.
Honestly, I think that's wonderful. Thank you.
I'm so pleased you got that. I'll send it to
you. There you go. You got it, haven't you? No,
no, I've got it. Oh, you have a copy anyway.
Perfect. Yeah, I just mean that if anybody searches
for it online, they're just shifted to Spotify,
where they hear the one from the human animal.
album which was a you know i mean most probably
suffered a bit from being a little bit too too
brightly in the late 80s oh nick and sue we're
taking a quick break to talk about the fuel behind
today's episode if you're like me coffee isn't
just a morning ritual it's a necessity but let's
be honest the traditional coffee cycle usually
ends up in a mid -afternoon crash or those caffeine
jitters that actually make it harder to focus
That's why I'm so excited to share that this
show is brought to you in association with the
Strong Coffee Company. Coffee has a long history
as a traditional medicinal tool and for centuries
it's been revered for its ability to sharpen
the mind and provide the metabolic sparks needed
to conquer the day. The Strong Coffee Company
has taken that ancient wisdom and supercharged
it for the modern professional. They offer premium
instant brands that actually taste like a high
-end barista pour but with a nutritional profile
that reads like a wellness retreat. The Black
Instant brand, this is their flagship, and it's
a robust, smooth, fair -trade roast packed with
15 grams of grass -fed protein and 5 grams of
MCTs. It's not just an energy boost, it's an
actual fuel for your muscles and brain. They've
solved the jitters problem by enriching their
coffee with 250 milligrams of adaptogens, including
ashwagyonda, and L -Thanine you get the alertness
you want with a calming focused clarity that
helps you stay productive without the edge. The
black instant blend is my thing but if latte
is your thing well the Strong Coffee Company's
latte is to die for. What I love most is that
they don't just cut corners We're talking organic
ingredients and a deep commitment to eco -friendly
sustainable practices. It's coffee you can feel
good about for your body and the planet. Whether
you're looking for a better sleep, mental clarity,
or just a more convenient way to get your protein
in, Strong Coffee is the healthy alternative
that doesn't sacrifice flavor. We want you to
experience this revolution in your daily routine.
So we've teamed up with the Strong Coffee Company
to get you their highest exclusive discount.
You can get 20 % off your entire order. Yes,
20 % is guaranteed off your order. by using the
code CBUKRDUX. Just head to thestrongcoffeecompany
.com or simply go to the show notes below and
click on the link there. That's CBUKRDUX to guarantee
your 20 % discount. By buying this product, you're
not only supporting the companies that work with
us, or just supporting the channel, you're also
joining the Chatterbox community's commitment
to the environment. 1 % of all commissions are
donated to the Stripe Climate Program to help
remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Got a release
I can see, a single release, 1984. Eat, drink,
dance, relax. What inspired that one? I was doing
a lot of writing when my friend Dean at that
stage, an American guy, came over who curious
enough to be in a protege while he was over in
the States. a fellow called Kim Foley, who you
may or may not have heard of, but who's quite
the character on the West Coast. One of the resident
Mad Men musical gurus, a bit like Phil Spector,
but not as successful. So Dean came over because
he was madly in love with British pop. I'd met
him when he was playing with him and Tom Dolby
were the keyboard players, which got, I guess,
Leonard Lubbich in the first instance. And then
after that, Joan Armatrading. So we did a bit
of writing and we just got into the song Eat,
Drink, Dance, Relax. And to be frank with you,
I have no idea. I mean, that came out in career
records, which was sort of a... I guess, you
know, you've got his disco label, and nothing
against disco labels because I'm really into
disco, but I really can't remember how it got
to Carrera because I can only assume the Dean
must have had something to do with it, but I
have no idea how it got there. And also, 1983
I think it was. You've also got songwriting and
production credits for other people and among
them is of course Cliff Richard who you worked
with in 1983. So there's that other side to your
career as well, which I think many probably weren't
aware of. Yeah, that was another song that was
co -written with Dean. That was good. The arrangement
of that is, I think, LSO or the LPO, London Symphony
Orchestra. But the arrangement pretty much follows
our synth arrangement, which we recorded the...
demo on a four -track Porta Studio down in the
basement of Chrysalis and Colin Blunstone from
the Zombies came along and very kindly did a
demo vocal and so you know the arrangement's
pretty much there and Cliff's version as well,
it's Cliff's voice obviously and it has its own
character and does its own thing but you know
follows the melody very strongly so that was
good. Well, that's a pretty nice accolade to
add to your CV or your career, whichever we wish
to describe it. Now, obviously, 1987 comes, and
hey, Matthew. I read somewhere, hey, Matthew
was actually, it's a real story and he was your
stepson, is that right? Well, he's my stepson
as much as not, you know, he's stepson, but Matthew
is my son as far as I'm concerned, you know And
yeah, I did I wrote it I had Curious enough.
Hey Matthew was another song which rather like
armband I mean I actually had hey Matthew exactly
as it is and finished Sitting in my pocket for
about a year and a half and being being rejected
by record companies Saying it's just not good
enough something you're not right with this and
Then the suddenly out of the blue two companies
Got interested one was a guy called Derek Green
who used to run A &M and it's set up his own
A &M in Britain and set up his own label and
He was keen he was tossing up between hey Matthew
and lab you see free What was that song? Something
inside the strong. And he opted for Labby, I
guess, partly because he'd worked with Labby
before on A &M. And also frankly, because at
that time I smoked very heavily and I just chain
-smoked in his lovely flat and it probably stank.
I just don't want to work with this guy. I don't
know, but that's as good a reason as any. Anyway,
so it didn't go with A &M, but at the same time,
Miles Copeland, who'd been the police manager,
and obviously, as you know, the police were with
A &M as well, so it seemed a good A &M orientation,
saying Miles had heard the track, and he said,
hey, Carol, that's a hit. He wanted it. And basically,
at that stage, 15, 18 months down the line with
this... track burning in my pocket uh must go
with this you know it's at this stage let's not
beat around the bush let's go with the only game
in town let's go that's how i went this and that
was good you know i i you know i i'm people say
a lot of different things about miles but i mean
i actually you know i call i call it miles partly
because he created his own record company and
his tour and you know he's an enthusiast which
is a lot of people in the music business aren't
particularly enthusiasts. I get that and of course
um Hey Matthew as a song it is absolutely amazing
but when one gets played as well doesn't it we
get we get requested a lot on the 80 show and
other shows don't we um this stuff has been featured
about three times in four shows or something
it's quite good uh now with Hey Matthew Probably
soon hasn't even realized this the actual and
it sounds amazing and you've perfected it but
not so did you know so that Hey, Matthew only
had synthesizer and a drum machine on it. There's
no other instruments. Really? Yeah, isn't that
right Carol? Yeah, very few parts. Yeah, and
it sounds amazing doesn't it you hit perfect?
So you did very very very very well with that
one I'll send you a PDF of the track sheet. I
don't know if tracksheets mean an individual
see her. Oh few parts are actually on there too
to make it work That would be absolutely amazing.
Thank you as soon as before we move on Sue's
got a question or two, haven't you? What was
it like doing the video to the song because the
video is amazing? Oh, yes. Yeah It was good fun.
The idea was obviously to make it like a home
thing. That actually was Miles' house in London
at the time. Not mine, I'm sad to say. I suppose
from Matthew's point of view, the best thing
about doing the video was that, because he was
heavily into Ninja Turtles and all that at the
time, the best thing about doing the video was
that for us and for the crew, there was a never
-ending supply of pizzas. Oh yeah, turtles and
pizzas, of course! Very good. The the lady in
in the video is Jenny who's my wife and Matthew's
mother as well. So it was a real family affair
Yeah, what's Matthew doing now if we can ask
yeah, please Yeah, no, no fine. No Matt Matt's
a father she's got two great kids one is just
coming to the end of the terrible twos. It's
a boy. Coming to the four rising five. In fact,
it should be five in a couple of weeks time.
And he's turned out to be, frankly, you know,
hats off. He's an amazing father. I mean, frankly,
I wish I'd been as good a father to our children
as he's to them. He's amazing. He's just got
all the kind of patience that you really need
to have with kids. He had a change of direction
in his life and he moved from what he was doing.
He got deeply involved. He realized that what
he liked to do was to actually work with his
hands. He did a course of restoration of antique
furniture in a college up here. College is the
wrong thing. It's a school. He's now an expert
in... restoring antique furniture. Brilliant.
That's nice. Well that is a very good career
isn't it Sue? You've got another one I think.
No, it's a comment. When the children go up he
can actually show them in the video that he was
a child in that song. Absolutely, absolutely.
Have you done any of the questions? There's an
Italian man who runs a a website in the company
and plays music, sort of like DJ, and I had to
do an online interview with him, and as he said,
you know, you must tell, I'm not going to do
an accent, all right, I'm not going to do an
accent, he said you must tell Matthew, he's one
of the few people who's actually got a home video
as a chart -topping video. I was going to say
one last question before we move on and I'm intrigued
by this. When Matthew says his favourite TV shows
and what he wants to be when he grows up, did
he have input in that or was that already in
the song when he wrote it? No, 50 -50. Oh, wonderful.
That's nice. I like it. We did a lot of that
recording, you know, I mean, literally at home
in the basics of it. But just finally, because
we can get off, hey, Matthew, but, you know,
interesting, there were a couple of points. One
is that it had a very different viewpoint, perceived
differently. in Europe as opposed to Britain.
In essence, in Britain a lot of it was the A
team, the A team, and in Europe a lot of it was
I hope, I hope, which is quite interesting as
a sort of thing. Okay, okay. You know, where
different nations come to a thing from. Interesting,
wonderful. I wasn't aware of that, no. So it's
great to actually know the story behind that
because that is a classic and it's in its time.
Nick and Sue. We're taking a quick break to talk
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Shutterbox! And right, move on to... There was
a remix of Eat, Drink, Dance, Relax in 1988,
I believe, and you be the judge as well. Yeah,
that's right. Well, the remix, curious enough,
again, because I'd written a song with Dean,
him and I went down to Saunton Heath somewhere,
I think it was, a studio down in Saunton Heath
in South London to do the remix. And we booked
it for whatever day it was, and we got up to
get down there, and we met up, and traveling
down from... I think I was living in Fulham at
the time and he was living in North London and
we were traveling down in a cab and it was like
a war zone because everything was uprooted. The
night before had been the night of the hurricane
so all the trees were down as you went through
the parks and as we came to a junction somewhere
south end of Wandsworth or south end of Clapham
or something like that in our cab, somebody t
-burned us, and a car came to slap into the side
of us on the way down to the remix. Luckily enough,
you know, it was an Fx4, you know, there's really
solid black London cabs. So the car came off
worse, and we were okay, and so was our synth,
which we were taking down for a couple of bits,
overdubs and things. And we did the mix down
there. Wonderful. And now it's that. That's great,
absolutely great. Now, you've remained in the
music industry as I see and I'm just scrolling
down here. The things I saw and what else have
we got here? Yeah, October 2007, the name of
the album is Booker's Shade. Yeah, Booker's Shade.
They're a couple of Berlin DJs and they did...
Bunch of things and one and one of the tracks
that that they did a remix of oh There was a
bit of a mashup of one of my tracks called things
I saw which in fact was the b -side of hey Matthew
and Gosh, I forgot what's the name of the there's
a girl as well her and she she's very She's very
minimal and you know I've got a name here. Akiko
Kiyama. Yeah, that sounds about right to me.
That's good enough. Yeah, that's fine. Thank
you. 2009 album called Film. By the way, I like
what she does. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dismiss
her. I've listened to some other stuff and I
really like what she does. Just obviously, you
can't remember everything at the time. So sorry,
Akiko. Not at all, we like getting things in
the right order as we're jumping every note.
Absolutely perfect, not a problem. And then I've,
with interest, you released an album called Film
Noir, and guest artist, absolutely amazing, Tilda
Swinton, well there's the name to get on the
record, and also Paul Roberts' Sniffing the Tears.
So yeah, I think getting Tilda was sort of like
a... Going back to but not your film roots what
what you wanted to be and what is that how film
noir came about? No, film noir certainly goes
back to my film roots in a way as much The visual
aspects of film noir, but as it says in the in
the sleeve notes for the album You know, this
is not sort of in the sort of dramatic Netherworld
thing of film noir. This is more like the daily
grind that people go through, which is a film
noir itself, actually. Indeed, indeed. It's wonderful.
The quotidian, I think, as it says. And, I mean,
Tilda happened, actually, just because... She
and John Byrne, I think she was married to John
Byrne, the Scottish artist who also wrote Tutti
Frutti and all those other stage things. They
have a couple of children together and she was
living. She and John were renting a farmhouse
that belonged to a friend of mine just outside
of the village that I lived in up in the Highlands.
John was also showing some paintings at a local
gallery up there and we met at a barbecue just
across the road from me and down a little alley
where she and John were very kindly being the
cooks. I like a lot of what Tilda's voice does.
I asked her if she'd come along and do it and
she said sure and came by and did the thing and
the praise I remember her saying, do you like
that? Is that okay? And I said yes, great. She
said you sure? Because I can put a bit more graphite
into it. I think there's enough graphite in it.
And Paul actually goes back a long way because
actually it was the band that Paul and Michael
Nigel that I was theoretically going to be writing
lyrics for in the very beginning of things. We
were powers from the mid -60s. OK, so that was
2009. Now I know that singers, songwriters and
musicians, they never really retire. So what
have you been working on since 2009? There's
got to be a project somewhere. There's no way
you're not doing anything. I know that. Well
I've been in quite a few things I mean I suppose
the most outstanding thing I suppose that has
been readily available I got a contact online
2014 from some couple of guys who I didn't know
at all on Gozo, which is a small island next
to Malta, and asked if I'd like to come over
and do some work with them. And it suited me
pretty well, because I'd taken a year out in
2012. Jenny and I loaded up our old Hyman motorhome
and spent a year cruising Spain, Portugal, and
then Morocco. which is great. I obviously took
a laptop with me to do some music and I also
took a keyboard and a little battery operated
amp because I thought I'd do some electro busking,
quite fancy idea, whilst on road and that started
working out quite well but we stopped off in
Alicante and in the space of three weeks or two
weeks, had the camper broken into twice and just
stopped a guy doing it the third time. And the
first time it was broken into, unfortunately
I lost a load of stuff, including a load of memory
sticks which had the sequences for the stuff
I was going to be busking in, so that disappeared.
Anyway, so that was that, but then I went over
to do this thing in Gozo and I found it quite
interesting, particularly working with people
who had no idea how it was going to go. I contributed
my share of the tracks, but I felt I'd done all
I could do in the writing, playing and vocals.
The idea was that they'd mix it up and bring
it out as an EP. I can't remember my tracks.
I'd left behind four maybe. But nothing really
happened over the years, so I thought, you know...
It was still bugging me and I'd be doing a load
of work at home on other things and I thought
well, okay I'm gonna go over and finish this
album off. So we rented out our house to pay
for our time and went over to Gozo and I spent
a year there finishing off the album doing a
couple of other things which was quite interesting
meeting some other people musically and frankly
getting very getting very fit and healthy and
you know doing a lot of a lot of swimming and
exercise which is great and a lot and i have
to say i needed to do all that because it did
an awful lot of drinking as well i'm sure it
assisted with the project i have no doubt you
know i need i need to i need to burn away the
the residue very good i like that So that was
an album called Peace V War. Basically, they
were protest songs. Again, this partly came from
the fact that we didn't know each other and I
didn't want to write a selection of whatever
love songs or things and I felt that the world
was very serious. getting to a very serious place
at that time. And we certainly felt serious ass
out there because most people here are talking
about immigrants and things. What we had happening
out there, certainly in 2015 by the time I got
back there was suddenly Daesh was right there,
just across the water in Libya. And we felt very
exposed, I have to be honest with you, because
it was only a couple of hours by fast rib. And
a lot of people didn't enjoy it and rumours were
right. So anyway, this was a protest album. Cool,
okay. And what can we expect from you next, Carol?
I mean, how did you spend lockdown? Did your
creative juices flow and what can we expect from
you? I liked lockdown a lot in as much as I'd
moved from the countryside to live in the centre
of the city, so on one side that was bad because
all the things you like and you want from the
city weren't available, i .e. there were no movies,
there was no live music, there were no restaurants,
there were no pubs, but on the other hand the
city was fantastic, especially in the first months
of lockdown when it was absolutely quiet and
people were walking on the roads and none of
us knew what was happening so you actually avoided
people because you didn't want to breathe on
them or be breathed on. The downside, another
downside though, was that I couldn't work face
-to -face with anybody and people were talking
about swapping files and things, but it's not
the same thing. You know, you want to share the
energy and the vibe as you're doing things, you
know, so somebody plays or sings something, yeah
that's great and let's work on that, rather than
having to wait. particularly if you're working
with people who are on a different time scale
to you, either they're in another country or
they're working at night or during the day whilst
you're working another way around. So that part
I missed but it gave me a good chance to reassess
a lot of what I've been doing and so basically
the two things I've been doing, been focusing
on, one of them started before lockdown, before
Covid struck. I've been working on a whole thing
of reggae, the working title is Bent Reggae,
because I've listened to a lot of reggae in my
life and sort of been grooved with it. So I started
doing these tracks, some of which were brand
new, some of which were re -workings. The absolute
point is, you know, I wasn't going to adopt a
cod Jamaican accent or sing about Jah Rastafari
because that's not who I am, you know. So I'm
just a standard middle class white boy doing
reggae. But it's pretty good. I'm very pleased
with it. Some of them got to be finished because
I need to find a place that I can mix in. I don't
trust. I like my work situation now as a working
situation but for mixers I don't really trust
and I don't like to mix on headphones. I know
people listen to a lot of music on headphones
but I like to hear I like to feel I like to feel
stuff coming through the air you know. I get
that, totally, yeah, absolutely. So that's that,
and then the other thing I've been doing quite
specifically in terms of changing my mind about
what I'm doing, what I've been up to, is that
here's a birthday, which proves it. I've got
an awful lot of unfinished stuff, and I really
want to take some time, because obviously I'd
like to earn some money, but equally, Money's
never been a particular driving force in my life.
So I thought, well, if I can stick with it for
another month or so, I want to finish off, or
at least finish off as much as I'm going to finish
off, because in some cases I'll never get the
multi -track. tapes or recordings back so I'm
just going to compile and go for best versions
of demos and things I've done and just make a
compilation of all my songs so that it's there
for me to see and for my children to have as
well if they're at all interested. That's cool.
That's sort of basically where I'm at. Fantastic.
Fantastic, Carol. Yeah, absolutely. Sue, have
you got any questions for Carol? Yes, Carol.
Is there any plans for you to do an autobiography?
Yeah. Uh, I don't have the time. No, it's okay.
I really don't have the time. I'm trying to even
write out a synopsis for what I want to get from
my kids, because my kids, particularly my daughter,
says, Luke, this is terrible. We don't know that
much about you. We know you as daddy, but we
don't know so many aspects of your life. And
I suppose it's true, both myself and Jenny. I
mean, Jenny had a a really particularly interesting
life as well. So, you know, she's been good enough
to give them a synopsis, and Ed is a synopsis
of what she's done, but I've got to do my own.
But thanks, Sue. If I did write one, would you
read it? Well, we would not only read it, we'd
have you all for a chat about it as well. Oh,
thank you. There you go. And when you do complete
something, you make sure that you send me a little
message and we'll have a chat then. It's been
absolutely fantastic, Carol. Now, you've got
a website, which I shall let people know. It's
carolfialca .com. So it's K -A -R -E -L. F -I
-A -L -K -A, carrollfielke .com. And also, if
you go on there, you can also see links to Carol's
social media as well. One click away from them
as well. And Carol, it's been absolutely wonderful.
I've enjoyed it. Thank you very much. And thank
you for sharing some of your birthday with us
as well. Thank you. Thank you both for inviting
me on and I appreciate talking with you and also
by the way that website is just going to be massively
updated because it's still sitting back from.
from peace we were so that was you know it's
five five years out of dating but still thanks
for thanks for promoting it and if anybody goes
to it try going again in a couple of months time
and hopefully it'll be up and running in a in
a decent and more relevant manner not not a problem
and uh so is this full recording or not no i'm
switching off that okay You've been listening
to the Chatterbox Redux podcast with Sue and
Nick and today our special guest was Carol Fialca.
If you're interested in becoming a future guest
on the Chatterbox Redux podcast, or the radio
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we look forward to welcoming you again next time
for another Chatterbox Redux podcast. In the
meantime, take care, we thank you for your company
and we catch you then. Bye bye. This is Nick
and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need
to know about musical entertainment. Oh yeah!
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