Phil Bates

Phil Bates

Mai 5th, 11:45 pm

A man could get a complex😂😂Three projects I was involved with, all from around the same period, i.e. the early 1990s, have decided to become active again.‘The Gladiators’ TV show, ‘Moment of Truth’ from ELO Part2, and now album number 2 from Atlantic. What do they all have in common? Let’s think …. chin scratching ….pondering …. 🤔 …..Ah yes, I have it. I am not involved in ANY of them 😂😂The most hilarious of these is the Atlantic album, which I have heard a little of, and was immediately dragged screaming back in time 30 years (yes, it has been that long) to the sometimes tortuous experience of writing lyrics and melodys (i.e. pretty much the whole song) on top of several already existing ‘backing tracks’, which were often pretty boring.Not only this, I sang the whole thing, arranged a lot of the harmonies, played some guitar, replaced several bass guitar tracks, and some keyboards, alongside co-producing, and then bringing my friend, Colin Thurston (he of HumanLeague,DuranDuran,Bowie fame) to mix the album.And yet, I read that my partner in crime, Simon Harrison, wrote the material for the ‘Power’ album seemingly alone.Still, I am not bitter, and I wish him well with his new album. But I do dislike people who tell lies and obfuscate in an attempt at self-aggrandisement.Anyone who watched ‘League of Gentlemen’ and the great Les McQueen will know what is coming next - ‘it’s a shit business’ 😂😂😂😂 ... See MoreSee Less

Phil Bates

Mai 4th, 11:51 am

I played on the ‘Thanks Jimi’ guitar festival in Wroclaw on May 1st. Played ‘Rock & Roll is King’ with the partially rehearsed stage band.It was (literally) a blast.Couldn’t stay for the climax when 7,500 guitarists played ‘Hey Joe’ together because we had an early gig at festival on the other side of town.But being a sufferer of an odd combination of claustrophobia and agrophobia, the event was tough for me with all those people ….and all those guitarists😫😂Unfortunately, they did not break their own world record, set last year, but it was still great to be asked.Our gig at the Rex, Bensheim, was fantastic. Great and very noisy audience. A nice sweaty rock and roll gig ….well, as close as we ever get to ‘rock & roll’ with ELO music😂So, anyone wanting to experience me and my band doing what we do will have to hurry.2025 will be my last year with this project.We have concerts in January, February, and a sort of ‘farewell’ tour in April 2025 but, apart from a few stray gigs during the latter part of ‘25, that will be it.Lights out, curtain closed, sanity restored 😂😂☯️🙏😄❤️ ... See MoreSee Less

Phil Bates

Mai 2nd, 11:36 pm

Just back from a trip to Germany and Poland for concerts to find news of a new release of Moment of Truth which I knew nothing about, and which seems to include an Eric Troyer solo track that I had never heard before.This seems somewhat out of place, and I wonder why others were not invited to contribute to this project or asked for opinions etc, i.e. ME as someone who contributed a lot to the original album.Not just as a songwriter and performer, but in finishing songs that were not finished when almost everyone else had gone home, and there were several loose ends left to tie up.Or perhaps I imagined it all. ... See MoreSee Less