MUSIC BOOK etc

Hi everyone

After several years of hiatus, it is time to mention what's been happening here.

In many ways.. not a lot in terms of music.

But, although most recording and music activity has now ceased, I have been busying myself with my musical history book and the multiple CD entries in the final Canon 4 series. 

The book is taking a lonnnnng time as I'm trying to include all relevant entries that I can think of. I'm hoping to complete it by this time next year, though that might be a bit hopeful. I trust my old laptop holds up (it's been adapted to use a new monitor supplied and fitted by dear friend Shane, so it stands a better chance now - the existing one as good as collapsed on me!).

Further to this, I've been trying to archive most things I've been involved with over the past 65 or so years.

So... that's more or less where I've been headwise these past couple of years.

More soon, hopefully.

Steve, 11 June 2025

LAST FEW COPIES OF THE CDs

Final ATMPA box clearing today, and I found copies of artwork for five more copies of the CDs!

ALSO.. I found a further two green ribboned copies! I think that they were held back for participants on the project, but they never came forward to buy them.

If anybody would like one of these, the UK prices (including postage) is £10 for the normal copies, or, to be fair to all, £12 for the much vaunted green ribboned copies. Please send an email to me at stevestringbender@yahoo.co.uk for all info on how to pay (and for overseas costs). All profits will go towards the final pot for the Material World Charitable Foundation.

I am currently out stock of the actual CDs for these copies of artwork, so will need to order them in (I can order a minimum of ten sets at a time). These might take a few days to arrive. When sold, these will be the last copies (I really didn't know that I had these still!).

Also, a few memory sticks are still available. These are £8 inc UK postage; overseas, again please email to ask.

Please grab these as soon as possible as I don't expect them to hang around for very long.

Steve, 11 Feb '21

ATMPA - AND THE FUTURE

ATMPA - AND THE FUTURE

An important update on all things "All things" and beyond.

ORDERS:
There are only a few days to get orders in before Christmas. To get a copy sent in 2020, please send orders in before 8 December.

COST REMINDER:
£10 UK, £15 all other locations.
Please pay heed to Paypal requirements (I won't be reiterating them again).

END TO THIS PROJECT:
At some stage in early 2021, as with all of my charitable projects, orders will be brought to an end. I do not keep them open ended, as I will want any raised money to reach the area that we are collecting for in a timely manner.

MY FUTURE:
This is now 100% my final public project. I have produced quite a few of these charitable projects over the years and, thanks to your immense generosity, I have raised a considerable amount of money for some extremely worthwhile causes. Take a bow everyone, you have been incredible 👍❤.

There have always been knocks along the way, and this project hasn't escaped in that respect. A recent issue has proven that I really don't want to take on more, so I am going to be moving on. I shall be returning my music to mere private domain after we see this project through (with any future music limited to simple sharing as in the past). This project will be the last from me asking for your donations.

I will think on exactly how to proceed at a later date, there are far more pressing and important personal things to deal with at the present. If I never do music again, I'll still feel personally proud of this project and what was achieved with my limited equipment and know-how. I would like to think that I did more than okay.  Sadly, not everyone will agree, but.. to that I just say "tough". 🖕😎

In the meantime.. there's still the radio interview this Tuesday (1st Dec) on Vectis Radio between 10am and 1pm (GMT).

But for now - please keep the orders coming in.

Thank you everyone for all your incredible continued support.

Steve, 28 November 2020

PRE-CHRISTMAS ORDERS

PLEASE get any pre Christmas orders in for ATMPA as soon as possible (and by Tues 8th Dec at the very latest) as we are going to be inundated by hospital visits again in the run-up so will be otherwise busy and won't be able to send them out in time. 

Any orders received after 8th Dec will be dealt with after the Christmas rush (to help stop them being lost in transit).

 

Thank you all.

Steve,  20 November 2020

ATMPA - SIMPLIFIED PRICING!

For all new purchasers, especially those who might be confused (like I often am!), here is a more straightforward breakdown of costings and how to pay.

• DOUBLE CD :

UK purchase - £10 (inc post & packing)       

Rest of the world - £15 (inc post & packing).

(NB - some areas of the world have necessitated me to increase the cost from £14 to £15 to ensure that I am not paying out more against the cost of the CD, sorry). 

If purchasing more than one copy, please contact me at the paypal email address, as I should be able to offer a reduction in p&p costs.

 

• MP3 (320kbps) DOWNLOAD :

£5 worldwide. A download link should normally be sent to the email address used for Paypal payment within 24 hours.

--------------------------------------

PAYMENT

Payment accepted by Paypal ONLY, in £sterling, using the following email address for paying monies:-   stevestringbender@yahoo.co.uk

IMPORTANT PAYPAL NOTICE - Please ensure that all fees are pre-paid for any payment as I shall be asking for any shortfall if I do not receive the full amount (nb paying as "Friend or Family" may alleviate this happening).

All profits from this project will be given to George's own "Material World Foundation".

If you have any questions, please feel free to write and ask me at the email address given for Paypal payment.

 

Thank you all.

Steve, 19 November '20

ATMPA REVIEWS

Here is a selection of reviews received so far:

Oh my gosh Steve it’s divine!!! Got through the first half on the way to work this morning, looking forward to the drive home! It really is a beautiful piece of art. You and your amazing friends are so incredibly talented. If you haven’t done so already, do get hold of local media and suchlike and ask them to do a piece on it to get the word out there. Well done. Really, it’s wonderful. A complete credit to your dedication.

Steve...this project is simply wonderful! Job VERY well done. You know what stands out? It’s a loving gesture of honour to George. I hear the dedication...the sacrifice... and attention to detail.
Quite impressed.  I bet Larry (Norman) would have loved it as well. Great work Steve.

Fabulous presentation and album Steve, you should be well proud. I've played CD one so far then my laptop battery ran out and I don't have a player on this one. Hope you are getting great feedback from the collective.

Yes sounds great, played it through a few times. All things, Apple Scruffs, Isn’t It A Pity, My Sweet Lord, Let It Roll, Awaiting On You All, I Dig Love are some of my faves, sounds great played loud.

I love love love the album Steve, there's so much to it, it's going to take a while to take it all in. It all sounds wonderful, it could have been produced at Abbey Road!! ... the artwork is amazing, and I like the green ribbon!

I had a lot of driving to do the other day so put phone on silent and took the time to listen. I love it. I'm so impressed. There should be concerts and merchandise!! There's a lovely tone to it, the vocals are beautiful and instruments superb.
Congratulations again the album is fantastic.

All great music. You did a great job. Really special and you should be proud. I give it 5 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I shouldn’t be surprised – but the professionalism of the production is superb! Also, how all the contributors go together so well…..quite a feat coordinating them!

We're in awe of the cd.....absolutely fantastic. Well done everyone involved but especially to you. It's on at the moment.....in fact the neighbours knocked on the wall earlier so had to turn it down a tad! I'm so pee'd off with the ******* next door I've turned it up again!

Love it. It is a wonderful looking and sounding product.

Just played it. Absolutely fantastic, mate. I could have had the man himself here with me. Huge congratulations to you and the team.

I am really enjoying the CD.  I am not really familiar with George's work other than the well known ones.  But I am seriously enjoying listening to it, particularly all of the different elements of the music.  It's to an amazingly high standard as I would expect.  I'll give you another update when I've had the chance to become more familiar with all the tracks.  You are one very talented person Steve.

Steve totally blown away.. Totally nailed it.. Drums on Wah Wah immense.. Bass player really good on Isn't It A Pity.. Love the Hey Jude reference, works really well... Well done sir.. Beware Of Darkness is one of my favourite ever songs and you have a great timbre to your vocals too.. Hear Me Lord beautiful harmonies ya voices really suit.. 👌👏✌️ Well done sir..

The album is fantastic and just needs the right platform. You know what people are like these days - they need someone else to tell them what to listen to. I'm a little biased, because you're a mate - but I think it's more polished than the original!

It looks and sounds very professional - congratulations to you and your colleagues. I really like "My Sweet Lord" which sounds as good as the original!

I love it!  Just finished listening for the second time through. Man that is some achievement - the sheer amount of work that has gone into that production is staggering. I salute you sir – that is exceptional.

I don’t know what else to say.

 _______

Thank you EVERYONE for your incredibly kind words, it means a lot to everyone involved.

News soon on how the fund raising is looking!!

STEVE, 17 NOV '20

ATMPA DAY TWO UPDATE

ALL THINGS MUST PASS AGAIN - Live day 2

MONEY RAISED....

Well, what news does today bring? To start with - a few more sales, which is extremely heartening (these will be sent on early in the coming week). DO please keep these orders coming in.

Yesterday I promised to give an indication of where we were at as far as getting into the black and thus able to give money to George's Material World Foundation. So, here goes...

All of the outgoings (including all of the materials, CD production, licensing etc) was kept to the absolute bare minimum; this all said and done was still in excess of £650 (this was based on production of some elements up to 100 units, others slightly less). Any sales above this, I have an agreement to manage this on a smaller and more manageable set of limits so that further additional outlay is kept to amounts where monies for the charity is still kept as high as possible.

Right, so now we can look at money IN. Thanks to the CD fund raising activities held before we even got to ATMPA, I managed to get in a very useful £273, thanks to many charitable people helping the cause. Even still, this meant that there was still a shortfall of some £375 before we could get to the vaunted black line.

I am absolutely delighted to say that we have already DONE IT! Not only have we reached that black line, we are currently in credit by <drum rolls> ....£135! This may not sound a huge amount, but considering that we are a cottage industry project with extremely limited means, I think it is remarkable. In actual fact.. I kept it quiet, but we were in the black A FULL WEEK BEFORE 6th NOVEMBER!!

But.. we now push on. It would be truly incredible to raise this amount to as high as we possibly can, to help raise both the funds AND awareness in George's wonderful original album, and (let's big ourselves up here..) our more than decent recreation of it!

So, well done everyone. This was far easier than I could ever hope for. I feel extremely proud...but let's do this project PROUDER!!

Steve, 7 November 2020

ALL THINGS MUST PASS AGAIN - issue day is finally here!

 

ALL THINGS MUST PASS AGAIN
-  The All Things Collective  -

At long last, our little nod in appreciation to George Harrison's immense original "All Things Must Pass" album, is finally issued after approaching ten years in the making!! 

This is a very limited double CD edition, so if you are interested in getting hold of a copy, please get one quick! (for details how, please see below)

Pre sales have been incredibly good; the idea was to initially get funds back into the black (we had a lot of money to recoup to pay for its production and licensing), with any profits made after that to be given to George's very own "Material World Foundation". I will be publicising news to that end within the next few days, but I am excited to say that it is looking very promising!

The first batch of CDs had a special green ribbon lanyard; these are now all gone, but further copies still come in a very nice slipcase!

This is an exciting day that I never believed that we could achieve. SO many people have assisted and given their encouragement, time and efforts to the cause, and I am eternally grateful for everyone's help in getting this finished!

It was important for me to get this out in November 2020 - the month when the original album reaches its 50th anniversary!

And finally - I would like to think that George is looking down on us with a glint in his eyes, and hopefully with the belief that we have done a decent job; I shall never accept that we have managed a fully perfect product, but it is most certainly an honest nod to George's All Things Must Pass, often created using meagre home based recording equipment (and in some cases, vocals using iPhones!). 

It was created by many fans of George, his album, and all of his music. 

God bless you dear George, and I thank you on behalf of ALL of us for this magnificent music.

Copies of the CD are available for £10 for UK or £15 for Worldwide outside the UK (both including postage and packing). 

Simplified details on payment can be found on the new dedicated thread on this blog at https://gesturesongs.blogspot.com/2020/11/atmpa-simplified-pricing.html

Steve Good

6 November 2020 ("All Things Must Pass Again" Day!)

ALL THINGS MUST PASS AGAIN - issue day 6 November 2020

  

ALL THINGS MUST PASS AGAIN

- PRE ISSUE DETAILS

 

At last, this project is finally going to be issued on FRIDAY 6th NOVEMBER 2020.

I am now in a position to accept pre-orders for this album, with a maximum limit of 250 units across all formats.

Please see below information about the different formats that are available:-

PLEASE NOTE.. the pricing details shown below here have been amended since this post was written - please see newer posting for November 2020 costings etc (https://gesturesongs.blogspot.com/2020/11/atmpa-simplified-pricing.html?m=1)

 

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL NOTES:

 

PAYPAL :

If paying by Paypal, please ensure that your current / delivery address travels with the payment. Please ensure that you read all of the payment option details shown above. PLEASE PRE-PAY PAYPAL FEES.. or send in a way to ensure that I receive the actual amount; I have trimmed the costs to the bare minimum. I will be asking for the additional if it is short (sorry, but this is a necessity to ensure that I get into the black to enable monies to be given to the Material World Foundation).

Also, please indicate what items you are paying for (ie "CDs, Memory Stick, MP3 download").

   

DESPATCH OF ITEMS:

CDs and memory sticks will hopefully be sent out ahead of the issue date. The caveat to this is the fact that I need to be in London with my wife for her latest operation a few nights early in the week before release (the date for which ironically arrived with us just TWO DAYS after I set the issue date), but I am still hopeful that I will get home in time to send them off to you that week. If not, I shall update you all. MP3 downloads with have email links sent on or soon after the 6th November release date (or as soon as I am back home, should I still be in London). 

  

PRODUCT LIMIT NUMBERS:

It has been necessary to limit the numbers of album copies to 250 units across all formats; the limited production license to cover all sides of our efforts holds a limit at 250. Of course, should we achieve a huge success with this little project, then this could change. But we shall see!

If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact me directly (at stevestringbender@yahoo.co.uk).

   

AND FINALLY...

After nearly ten years, it is now time to allow this baby to fly the nest. I feel - I hope rightly - proud of what we have achieved using our limited means. No huge studios with racks of effects, just two 24 track digital recorders, editing software, and copious guitars (4, 6, 10 and 12 stringed varieties) other musical oddities - and of course lots of incredibly talented friends from across the globe (take a bow, each and every one of you).

However, we couldn't have got anywhere without George's incredible original material. God bless and rest you dear man.

 

Steve, 23 October 2020

Release date for "ALL THINGS MUST PASS AGAIN" announced

Dear all

After a hiatus of some FIVE YEARS, welcome back to the hallowed pages of Gesture Songs At Twilight.

An issue date of 6 November 2020 has been agreed for the long awaited "ALL THINGS MUST PASS AGAIN" double CD. Some ten years in the making, lockdown finally gave me the impetus to push it to the final line.

Details on costing will be posted up in due course, but I intend to take a bit of a punt, in the hope that we can sell enough copies to break even, and then acquire a profit for George's own "Material World Foundation". That is my ultimate aim.

Anyway, welcome back to these pages everyone.

Steve

24 September 2020

Mixcloud account deleted is Soundcloud's gain...

Dear all

A belated new year to you all. Hope everyone is keeping well.

Apologies for the extended silence but I have finally managed to move house and we are looking to extend to help with the production of future music. That's the plan though, things don't always happen that way (not in this family anyway). All things hopeful, we should be able to breathe a bit more in the next few months when it all gets done. We will see.

MIXCLOUD vs SOUNDCLOUD
I have now shut down the Mixcloud site as they were putting pressure on me for populating it with "real music" and not rubbish podcasts which they told me was it's sole use. Well, it's their loss, as I am now starting to populate Soundcloud (BUT no cover versions will be allowed there, which is a shame). If you have any requests for songs etc to be loaded up, do please contact me and I will do whatever I can.

What I am most upset by is that I have lost the connection that I had grown with people over on the old Mixcloud site, and have to seemingly start all over again. It's so galling and just another of the industry's knock at any attempts I make. Let's see if we can regain any of this in the near future. I am close to giving it all up though, I hate most of the new muzak that I hear, yet get knock-downs like this. It's quite depressing.

That all said, I have some projects that I would like to see through at the very least; one is the 40 (or even 50) year retrospective set of a selection of all the things I have produced over the years. Add to this the Krisp double CD set that was mastered by me some three years ago that is still needing "finishing". I need to find all the art that is needed for its cover, it will include some rarities from rehearsals as well as the last ever Krisp gig at Chiswick House near Hammersmith.

So.. this one makes it THREE : the final recordings big project that has never got fully started. I have had several faltering attempts at it over recent years; whether I revisit those recordings to be included needs to be thought about hard. There are a couple of brand new items that I would like to use, it would be sad to put them in the bin to be totally discarded (especially having written new pieces of music the first time in decades), but it needs some heart and soul searching first. There are some further re-recordings of old material waiting to be revisited too.

So, all in all, a new year of some variation. Things ahead should be interesting, if I don't allow the knocks of the Mixcloud issue to effect me too badly.

DO please visit and folllow what occurs over at https://soundcloud.com/steve-good-7 if you can.

All the very best for a fabulous 2015.

Steve
Even Newer-Port
25 Jan 2015

In the charts on Mixcloud!

Hi all

Just a quick message to say that an old cover version of mine (Don't Cry For Me Argentina) is currently riding high in the Mixcloud Instrumental charts. A link to it is here:

http://www.mixcloud.com/upload/stevegood121/dont-cry-for-me-argentina-a-lloyd-webber/edit/

Sadly this cannot stay up there for too much longer, I will need to withdraw it in the next few days, so DO try and listen in and make it go higher if you can!

Steve, 1 Aug 2014

Hopefully ... a new retrospective

There are plans afoot to put together a "career long" multiple CD set covering the forty years that I've been making my own projects at home - and indeed FIFTY years at the music game itself. This is ahead of the huge big last project that is still on the chocks but slow in getting off the ground - hopefully more will occur if and when the studio gets its final "relocation" (and hopefully there'll be more on that too soon).
AND more on this retrospective project soon too. If anyone's interested in knowing more, let me know (else maybe I'll just forget about it....but it would be a "nice icing on the career long effort cake" if it happened and made some more money for local charities).

Steve, 2 July 2014

Belated Happy New Year all

Hi all

It's been a terrible start to the new year here, with lots of personal issues and stuff that's taken its toll on things I'm afraid. Needless to say all work on the new project has stopped even before it got past the planning stage. Bear with me on this and I hope to try and get into a position to work on it as soon as things settle, whenever that might be.

In the meantime, I have a few "burns" left for the old "Lest We Forget" CD (ie in the legal contract that I am allowed to produce for the project), these have to be done by the end of April, so if anyone would still like a copy please let me know and I'll get on the case. As a little "thank you" for the project I am contemplating adding a few out-take and pre-mix versions to these extra CDs, so they'll be ever so slightly more collectible.

Also, I am thinking of remastering the previously well received "One More Gesture" album, so again let me know if you'd like a copy.

As ever, all profits will go to charity.

Hope you're all having a good start to 2014... or at least a better one than the one currently occurring here.

Very best wishes for a great spring and summer ahead.

Steve, 10 March 2014

Quiet Time .. until the next project

It has been a bit of "down time" here after the furore of finishing the CD project, and I believe we had quite a little success with what we all achieved, thank you all so VERY much for your commitment to the cause.  

We suffered a little trauma here at home during the late summer (a burst water main pipe under the house) which resulted in much of the contents of the old house being moved about quite a lot, and much of the music gear (and CDs, DVDs etc) being all boxed up... but they will stay that way until we finally move in 2014 (it will happen next year, we have promised ourselves... so put us in your prayers please to make certain that it does... if you're able).

All that said, the offshoot of all the boxing up of stuff here is that I have made a space inbetween all of the boxes to eventually house the digital recorder, and it WILL come out before too long and work will tentatively start on the next (and final) big project! 

In the meantime I have just compiled a little CD of tracks that I found lingering on some old DCC tapes; they are mostly sequence mixes and ISM synch tracks and other non-final mixes of material that I recorded and sequenced back in 1995 - if anyone wants a copy, just let me know (some of it is interesting, if only to see where I was heading when I finished some earlier pieces!).

Anyway, that's enough for now. Hope this late November day sees you all keeping well. Keep the faith all.

Steve
28 November 2013

Final figure now in...

The final cheques and cash have now landed, so the definitive figure can now be published.

Taking into account all outlays, we managed between us to raise an incredible £317 clear, to go towards the two charities (DEC and Cancer Research UK). I intend to put £155 to each, and the extra £7 to another similar charity when I find a good collection box when I next visit town.

Thank you SO very much everyone, you are all heroes in my book.

Here's to the next project (in a couple of years time).

Steve, 4 Oct 2013

Job done!

Thank you to everyone who donated to the charity CD EP project.  The final batch has been despatched so I hope you've all got your copy by now and like it. It is a true rarity as it will not be made available in physical form again. That said, I am contemplating auctioning a final copy that will have a few bonus tracks and will be signed and dedicated, but that is maybe something for a couple of weeks ahead.

The amounts raised will be posted here when I have gathered in the monies from various locations. Thank you SO very much for your kind donations. 

Steve, 4 Sept

Final few days of CD burning

Into the last four days of burning of the charity CDs. All orders received since Friday will go in post today. PLEASE get your orders in and money sent by Saturday as no orders will be accepted past the end of the month. All profits are going to DEC and Cancer Research UK in September.

Thanks as always to everyone who has responded, it's been an incredible response, and I've made lots of new friends through this project.

The amounts raised for the two charities will be posted here in due course.

Thank you ALL so very much for your donations and kind support along the way.

Steve, 27 August

http://www.mixcloud.com/stevegood121/

Final push to end of burning date

There are just over two weeks left before we reach the end of CD burning for the charity project, so please get your copy ordered as soon as possible if you haven't already.

I intend to wrap up the monies for the two charities as early as possible in September, and will publish here what we have managed to raise between us.

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone kind enough to donate. There are a few people who have requested a copy but not followed through by paying, so please do so asap, as I don't want the charities to suffer or lose out.

Thanks so much again for everyone's efforts. 

Steve, 13 August

Progress update and a new CD

As we've now reached August, it is time to take stock of where we are with the project.

Sales of the charity CD EP have been steady and a nice little amount has been raised for both of the two charities. As highlighted before, it has not been a cheap project to get "out there", there are a number of necessities for projects like this, not least the expense of the license to be able to use the songs in the first place. As a guy on a pension, it is monetarily hard to take these projects on, but it's been my baby for a few years so I'm glad it's finally reached fruition and I'm very pleased with the response so far. Thank you everyone. 

I have been spreading the cost of the license over the first batch of CDs, and we are still a little short of that being paid...in other words we can make so much more profit when it reaches that trigger point, so please keep the word about the project out there. Every single penny of profit goes towards DEC and Cancer  Research UK. Burning will finally end on 31st August.

I have been adding a few songs and musicscapes onto my Mixcloud page and have received a few nice comments about them. I am contemplating producing a CD with some of these and more, just to help raise a bit more money for the charities. Details will be posted here if we get that far. You can hear some of these songs over at http://www.mixcloud.com/stevegood121/

Steve, 3 August