Rosemary Barry writes;
Those who braved the cold were treated to an extraordinary session as Tony Currie took us on his journey from buying a record label to engaging his own orchestra and being his own record producer. That buying the Pye ‘label’ wasn’t enough, he had to haggle for the use of the actual label as well: who knew?
Tony Currie Taproot 22.01.26
Narrowing his choice of tracks down from 500 to 10 was his first task. In between describing each further stage of the enterprise, he played firstly part of the original and then the rearranged version that had made it onto the final record. From the iconic ‘Leaving Lismore’ to Petula Clark’s ‘Downtown’ his selection was eclectic and all transferred to the popular orchestra sound he had so admired as a teenager.
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It was a blast from the past to see the Pye label in the middle of the finished vinyl album. Finally, came the artwork for the sleeve and the all-important enticing cover.
A video provided a glimpse behind the scenes at the recording studio with Tony in with the sound recordists with their slidey switches. What was surprising was that the three different sections of the orchestra performed in different studios with the conductor appearing on screen. Again; who knew?
This fascinating evening was wrapped up with a question and answer session.