Saxon Related Sighting

[nightwar]

I thought it may be a good idea to have a 'Saxon Sighting' thread.
If you see/hear/read anything cool, in recent media, related to the band, it would be nice to let all the other Forum Members know about it.

I had this idea when something surreal happened to me last night:

For some reason, I found myself watching Channel 5 (UK TV Channel). There was a documentry about how Radio One really F*cked up, during the Nineties, and lost all its listeners. It went on about the DJs that got fired and quit the station (DLT, Steve Wright, Simon Bates etc) during this time in a desperate attempt to portray a 'Hip' image. And then it went on to explain how the station then decided NOT to play music by untrendy artists because they were viewed as musical Dinosaurs. The most famous ban was for Status Quo, but other rock bands were also seriously affected.
The next thing I know it had Blaze Bailey being interviewed and saying how Maiden turned up on articulated lorries at the Radio 1 Station HQ to force promotion of their new album (I presume it was X Factor). This was all pretty cool, because I am a big fan of Maiden and Blaze, but the weirdest thing was the music being played whilst footage of this was being shown - it was 'Swing That Tail' from Nigel Glocker's and Doug Scarrat's album 'Mad Men & English Dogs'!
It was great to hear Nigel's material on TV, but I really do not know why they played that for footage relating to Maiden!

 

[MatRattz]

From Nigel Glocklers site:

05/03/2004 - Swing That Tail

"Swing That Tail" from the Mad Men album is getting extensive play on tv - apart from "99 Things To Do Before You Die" on Sky Travel, it's also being used as the closing theme for Premier League football programmes which go out three times a week to around fifty countries!! Other Mad Men tracks are getting tv usage as well on such programmes as "Dream Team", "Teachers", "Mile High", and "Eurotica", to name a few!!! Tracks Nigel has written with Roger Adams are starting to get used too, plus solo compositions.

 

[KellyM]

Seems he got a buddy somewhere.

 

[nightwar]

Thanks for that, MattRattz! There are some pretty high-profile TV shows in that list! Also, it would be interesting to find out who the mysterious Roger Adams is and what he gets up to musically!
Kelly, you're correcto-mundo - Nige is obviously a chap with loads of Buddies! This is because he's a wonderful, down-to-earth, intelligent kind of guy that has an abundance of talent and a decent sense of humour! All these traits in one human being is hard to come by!
If anyone hasn't purchased the 'Mad Men & English Dogs' album yet, I implore you to do so. Not only will you see how Nigel's writing influenced Saxon's material,whilst he was with the band (and it has remained till this day!), but also Doug's guitar technique on the Saxon you currently hear on 'LionHeart'! Nigel has remained a very good friend to the entire band and assisted with the conception of 'LionHeart'!
Visit the Glockler site to see what Nigel has to say and to make your purchase of 'Mad Men and English Dogs':

http://www.nigelglockler.com/

Finally, regarding his recent TV sound-bytes and how it all works, Nigel kindly provided the following:

Hi,
Re the Iron Maiden footage, I bet that gave you a shock to hear
"Swing....."!!!!!
I didn't know it was being used for that - my publisher keeps track of tv
usage etc.
I'm with a publishing company which deals almost exclusively with tv/film
music, and that's how the Mad Men stuff is ending up on various tv progs.
I'm going to do a link from my site so you'll be able to hear other bits and
pieces I've written - quite a lot of it is chillout/ambient. There's all
sorts to listen to.
Hope you're all keeping well.
Take care,
Nige.
http://www.nigelglockler.com

Like I said previously, what a Great Bloke, eh?

 

[mmurnau]

Nightwar, you have mentioned Nigel Glockler's CD so often, and you're obviously very enthusiastic about it, that I've put it on my "to buy" list for next month!

Maybe I have even heard some of those songs on the tv without realising it. Shame they don't use songs from the actual Saxon albums as well.....

 

[Badlad]

Well, Saxon saved my life last week, in a roundabout sort of way.

Time, nearly 6.00 pm, November 12th, me plodding along Southbound in the truck towards Gretna, and ultimately the M6. After a long hard week's work in Scotland, I was really looking forward to getting home, but in the dark, with the heater on, my concentration began to waver. Realising that I was mm from falling asleep at the wheel, I pulled into a service station, had a stretch, a Red Bull, then small doze. I awoke at the sound of the 6pm news on the radio, and sat there debating whether to tackle some more dark motorway right away. After all, I might just find myself dozing off again in no time.

Suddenly, the DJ sitting in for Johnny Walker on Radio 2 announced the next record.....SAXON!!!!!!!!
I can honestly say, I thought I was asleep and dreaming, possibly still at the wheel, so had to jump out of the cab again to make sure before I awoke to the sound of impact. Nope, it was true, I really was hearing 747, Strangers in The Night, a live version, on prime time Radio 2.
Fired up, I screeched off down the road towards home, singing along, 101% awake!!!


(And to keep it rocking along nicely, the next 2 records were "Breaking the Law" by Priest, and Maiden's "Number of the Beast". Damned good!!)

 

[nightwar]

Badlad - Cool story! Maybe you ought to have a cat nap more often if stuff like this happens! I know what you mean about how refreshed you feel when the world aknowledges something that is so close to you. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it is a fantastic surge!
It sounds like Johnny Walker stand is someone of decent taste - Saxon, Priest, Maiden! What the hell is going on - who was this guy? Rock On Radio 2 and goodbye to Johnny!
Mmurnau - I know I tend to go on about Nigel's work a little too much, but the album is so interesting to listen to. It is also great to know a musician that does work simply for the love of it. I think Nigel would be fairly content to simply make what he wants and earn a steady living from interested TV companies and such. This allows the freedom of no expectations and no specific style to stick to.
I also think that Nigel was far more than a drummer for Saxon when he was with the band and we ought to appreciate that fact. He is also very underated as a percussionist - listen to 'Sailing To America' and you know where I'm coming from.
You're right that Saxon ought to get more airplay on the TV. Maybe this is down to their agents and publisher. I also would've thought a few artists would have covered some of their classics by now!
A 'Tribute' album by other artists is long overdue - like the Priest albums. But this is why I love Saxon so much. They are an enigma that don't seem to get the recognition they so obviously deserve, and this makes me a fan even more!

 

[nightwar]

Did anyone watch a program called 'When Rock Ruled The World' on TV last night (UK BBC2)?

There were more than several sightings...

 

[CRUSADER747]

Did anyone watch a program called 'When Rock Ruled The World' on TV last night (UK BBC2)?

There were more than several sightings...

YES! I saw it (well, most of it). Steve Dawson was interviewed, because the bass player from Spinal Tap was based on him. I thought the bits about Priest, and Motorhead were quite interseting as well

 

[nightwar]

Yeah, Crusader - Steve Dawson was OK when it came to laughing at himself regarding the Spinal Tap stuff. Fair play to him.
Apparently, the entire band were used for the research, but I'm sure the end result was influenced by the entire Metal scene at the time. Although we should be proud that Saxon was a major contributing factor to the creation of one of the best comedies of all time!
Status Quo seemed adamant that it was the pure reflection of their band!
Also, did you notice that the programme's makers seemed to love that shot of Quinny spinning his guitar?
The Priest bit was really interesting, and it was good that the media/goverment decided to try and make an example out of a band that had such an intelligent frontman - Halford. He just blew the theory back in their faces with such eloquence and insight that the authorities knew the entire concept was absurd. With that case, Halford stopped what could have been a regular occurence. The guy should be bloody Knighted!