Alun Parry Singer Songwriter

Vote Today And Stop The Fascists

2009-06-04T08:35:00.001Z

Today is election day.

Yeah I know they're all a bag of shite with their noses in the trough. But today is about stopping the fascists accessing a quarter of a million pound to spend on their hate.

And because it's proportional representation, not only does every vote count - but every person who doesn't vote actually increases the fascists tally.

How?

Let's do some numbers.

Imagine that there's just 8 BNP voters in the whole of the North West (I wish!).

If 1,000 people vote then the BNP score just 0.8% (8 divided by 1,000).

But if only 10 people vote then they score 80% (8 divided by 10).

So not voting ups their score.

By staying away from the polling station today, you'd be upping the fascists vote.

What the fascists need

They need you to stay at home today.

Because if they get just 8% of the vote here's what they'll get:

* the poisonous NIck Griffin will be YOUR MEP
* they'll have £1/4 million of OUR money to spend on their vile divisive politics

Who to vote for

I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. That's up to you.

But get out and vote today - and vote for anyone other than the fascists.

I understand if you don't want to vote Labour - there's no way I'd vote Labour these days.

And the way Labour treats refugees is abysmal so I see them as a racist party.

But make sure you vote - because any vote against the BNP really screws them up.

Left options on the ballot

No2EUYes2Democracy is a party backed by the RMT union which essentially calls for a worker's Europe rather than a boss's Europe.

People like Roger Bannister of UNISON and Alec McFadden of the Merseyside TUC are standing for them.

Socialist Labour is the party set up by Arthur Scargill some years ago, and also have a list of candidates including my mate Kai Andersen.

There's also the Greens if you wanted a different option.

Vote Vote Vote

There's enough parties broadly on the Left to allow you to vote against the fascists without having to give your approval to the snout-in-the-trough brigade.

So vote. If you don't, you increase the fascists score.

If you stay at home or spoil your ballot paper, it increases the BNP's chance of victory.

Finally

Voting is today (June 4th). Please get out and cast your vote.

Or you could wake up tomorrow to find your MEP is a fascist with £250,000 to spend on spreading hate in your community.

Liverpool 800 Poster Girl Is 50 Today

2009-05-27T06:29:00.001Z

The little girl on the cover of my Liverpool 800 EP is celebrating her 50th birthday today.

Paula Neary was photographed at the Liverpool dockside by her father 45 years ago.

Her dad, Joe, from Kirkby, then pretty much forgot about the photograph for 43 years until the internet came along and he posted it on Flickr.

By coincidence, around that time I was looking for a suitable cover photograph for my Liverpool 800 EP, spotted it online, and loved Joe's evocative snap.

So this one is for you Paula. Have a great day on your 50th birthday.

You may be based in Kent these days, but the image of you at the waterside 45 years ago adorns the record stores of Liverpool to this day.

Happy birthday!!

Billy Bragg Special Offer

2009-05-21T09:09:00.000Z

For those who've not booked your tickets yet to see me play support to Billy Bragg, there's a special offer on.

The good folks at the WoW festival just sent me this so I'm passing it on to you.

£10 tickets now available for Billy Bragg playing at the Picket on Friday 22nd. Quote 'WoW' when contacting Philharmonic Hall Box Office (0151-709-37989).

Also on the bill are Attila The Stockbroker and David Rovics, so it promises to be a tremendous night.

See you there

BBC Northern Ireland Special on the Belfast Visteon Workers

2009-05-13T11:41:00.000Z

You may remember that I flew to Belfast three weeks ago to play a gig at the Visteon factory canteen.

I was playing for the Ford Visteon Workers who were occupying the factory.

I felt deeply honoured and proud to be there, providing music to people who had been betrayed by their bosses and decided to fight back.

They had been given 6 minutes notice that they were being made redundant by Ford. But were getting no redundancy pay and no pensions.

BBC Northern Ireland has just produced a special on their plight. Please watch it.

This is the boss's loyalty.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00kjbrc/Spotlight_Shutdown/

There's a short 20 second animated bit at the start before the programme begins.

Thanks to Dan McCallister for letting me know about the programme.

Victory to the Visteon Workers - betrayed by Ford.

Local Actors on Trail of Trade Union Hero

2009-05-13T11:13:00.001Z

I just received this exciting news in about a rerun of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists play. Read on...

6 actors from Liverpool will be travelling to Hastings to perform at a special festival celebrating the life of Robert Noonan, writer of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

Before that, the actors will be performing their dramatic adaptation of the novel at North West venues, including the Kirby Unemployed Centre.

Noonan wrote “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” in the early 1900s, under the pseudonym of Robert Tressell. The book became a big success, especially amongst Trade Unionists and became known as the “Workers’ Bible” because of its powerful condemnation of the way working people were treated.

“Our adaptation was first performed last year for the Unions 08 celebration in Liverpool organised by the Liverpool PCS union,” writer of the piece, Tom Mclennan, relates. “It was a great success and members of the Tressell Society who had journeyed up to see it asked us to take it down to their annual festival in Hastings.”

Noonan had worked in Hastings as a house-painter and sign-writer and it is obvious that the “Muggsborough” of the novel is based on that South Coast resort.

Mark Ward, manager of the Kirby Unemployed Centre, was only too glad to book the show before it went down South.

“Many of the same challenging circumstances that Noonan wrote about are facing people now,” Mark believes. “Rising unemployment, a housing crises, a boom and bust economy, an economy driven by ruthless, cutthroat competition – it’s all there in “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” as well as a vision of another way of running our lives.”

Mark is particularly keen on attracting young people to the show at the centre, so that a new generation can experience the powerful message of the book.

“Don’t forget,” he concludes, “ Noonan is buried in Walton Cemetery so there’s a local Liverpool link to the personal life of the great man.”

The performance at Kirby Unemployed centre will be on Tuesday 30th June, 7.30pm. Other North West dates are:

* Mon 29th June, 7.30pm, The Casa, Hope St, Liverpool
* Wednesday 1st July, 7.30pm, The Met, Bury
* Thursday 2nd July, 7.30pm, Salford Arts Theatre
* Sat 4th July, 7.30pm, Concordia Hall, Church Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.

Happy Birthday News From Nowhere - 10% off everything!

2009-04-30T17:11:00.001Z

Can you believe it? Liverpool's very own radical bookstore is 35 tomorrow.

And how appropriate for its birthday to fall on May 1st too!

In fact, so happy are the folks at NfN that they're slashing prices on everything for the day.

It's 10% off all books and CD's.

News for Nowhere stocks my albums too so you can get them that bit cheaper for one day only.

If you've never been to News From Nowhere pop in and celebrate. They're based at 96 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4HY

Paul Robeson To Sing In Southport!

2009-04-30T17:08:00.001Z

Well, not quite, but the closest thing you're going to get to that!

I've just heard that the tremendous Tayo Aluko is bringing his Call Mr Robeson show to the Southport Arts Centre on July 23rd.

Call Mr Robeson is the winner of the Angel Award for Artistic Excellence, and Tayo himself was named Best Male Performer at the Brighton Festival Fringe last year.

The life of Paul Robeson is fascinating from a personal and a political standpoint - and nobody does Robeson better than Tayo.

This show will definitely interest those with an interest in history, politics and music.

Beating Berlusconi 2 for 1 Special Offer

2009-04-29T22:07:00.000Z

As you know I've had some involvement on the music side this year with the Writing on the Wall festival.

So let me put a special offer your way regarding the Writing on the Wall festival.

On Thursday 7th May at 8pm, the WOW Festival are showing the play BEATING BERLUSCONI at The Contemporary Urban Centre (CUC), 45 – 51 Greenland Street Liverpool, L1 0BS

It's the hilarious true story of how a Liverpool fan ended up in the private executive box of AC Milan owner and Italian Prime Minister during Liverpool's famous victory in Istanbul.

Tickets are £10 each and you can get your tickets from The Philharmonic Box Office on 0151 709 3789.

But if you quote the reference "WOW" then you'll get 2 tickets for the price of 1. Bargain!!

To find out more about the full Writing on the Wall Festival programme this year, click here

Workers Memorial Day, 28th April

2009-04-28T08:48:00.000Z

Today is Workers Memorial Day.

Remember those who died at work.

And fight for the living.

For more information http://www.hazards.org/wmd/

To mark the day, I've uploaded a live recording of Run Patsy Run, which is particularly appropriate.

AFCL Cup Final Song Played To 44,000 At Anfield

2009-04-11T14:46:00.000Z

The buzz around the AFC Liverpool Cup Final song continues to build, with the track being played at half time today at Anfield.

44,000 people attended the game to watch Liverpool steamroll to a 4-0 win over Blackburn Rovers.

And at half time they were played the AFC Liverpool Cup Final Song by Anfield's resident DJ George Sephton.

I wrote and recorded the song this week to commemorate AFC Liverpool reaching the final of the Vodkat Trophy in our first season.

You can hear the track, download it free, grab the widget, and see the fan's video by clicking here.

Please share it around the web and let's get as many people supporting the club as possible.

Alun Parry Sings Official AFC Liverpool Cup Final Song

2009-04-10T00:10:00.000Z

It's traditional for football teams to release a cup final song in the run up to a Wembley appearance.

But how many non league teams heading for a cup final get a cup final song?

Well AFC Liverpool has.

It was something of a sudden project.

At the end of AFC Liverpool's 3-0 win over Norton United on Tuesday night, Dave Smither, one of the club's steering group members put the idea to me that we needed a cup final song and would I be up for it.

But given the final is on the 16th April we needed it quick.

I'm not normally that used to writing songs to order. I normally let them gestate and come out naturally.

But I picked up my guitar first thing on Wednesday morning and within half an hour the song was done.

Next task was to get a studio sorted. I contacted Brett to see if I could use his studio and he generously agreed - and was even able to book me in the next day!!

Thanks to Brett for contributing his engineering and percussion skills.

My normal bassist was busy (which is a shame as he's a Red too).

But Steve Reid (also a Red) of the great Liverpool band The Mono LP's answered my mercy call and so turned up this morning at the studio to add his talents.

Completing the team was our very own Shaz who joined the impromptu Kop choir.

For a project that was so quickfire I think it's come out pretty well. So thanks to all involved for giving their time and equipment freely and promptly.

Let's hope the song can build some momentum behind the team for Thursday.

To hear the song and download it FREE then simply click here

BBC Radio Merseyside Tonight - Me on Folkscene

2009-04-09T08:06:00.000Z

I'll be featured on BBC Radio Merseyside's Folkscene programme tonight (Thu) at 9pm.

The programme is repeated on Tuesdays at 9pm.

You can tune in with your radio at 95.8FM

Or you can listen live by visiting the BBC Radio Merseyside Listen Live section of their website

Or if you miss the show, you can use the Listen Again feature to hear the programme.

I'll be discussing the Roy Bailey gig, the Billy Bragg gig, the Hillsborough Anniversary song, the Working Class Music Festival, my forthcoming album, and my music.

Hope you enjoy it.

AFC Liverpool Commemorate The 96

2009-04-08T08:45:00.001Z

I was proud to be at AFC Liverpool last night, the non league football club I founded last year.

It was AFC Liverpool's time to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster and it was a very dignified and appropriate affair.

It is fair to say that AFC Liverpool have led the way on this issue.

The non league club have foregone sponsorship this year, and instead have a tribute to the 96 on the front of their shirts instead of a sponsors name.

This was the brainchild of AFC Liverpool supporter Tommy Hurst, who was himself at Hillsborough aged just 15, and who lost two friends in the disaster.

Tommy has been spearheading calls for Liverpool Football Club to follow AFC Liverpool's lead.

He has managed to get 30,000 supporters signed up to a Facebook group calling for Liverpool Football Club to put a similar tribute on their shirts for just one game - the match against Blackburn Rovers.

The plea has fallen on unresponsive ears at LFC which is very disappointing.

But back to last night.

Representatives from the three Hillsborough groups were present to receive framed AFC Liverpool shirts bearing the tribute to the 96.

AFC Liverpool Chairman Paul McCombs gave a superb address to the crowd from the centre circle.

It must have been difficult in such emotional circumstances but he represented our small club wonderfully, and set a very fitting tone to the proceedings.

A two minute silence followed which was perfectly observed, as flags honouring the 96 were displayed at the ground.

It was nice to see representatives from our landlords Prescot Cables at the Safari End holding up a Cables banner to show their solidarity. Such gestures are deeply appreciated.

Then once the referee's whistle signalled the start of the game, the AFC Liverpool supporters chanted "Justice for the 96" for six minutes without pause or interruption.

To top it all, Derek Goulding's men delivered a fine display, beating Norton United 3-0 with goals from Olsen, Coyne and Eaton.

A big thank you to all at AFC Liverpool.

For more information about AFC Liverpool visit http:///www.afcliverpool.org.uk

Trade Unionists Stand Together For The 96

2009-04-07T10:41:00.000Z

Just got this outstanding mailshot from the PCS. I won't add any more as it says it all really. Please support this fantastic commemoration

PCS trade union has over 10,000 members working in Government departments across Liverpool.

We have a proud history of standing together to fight for better working conditions and defending our rights.

We want to show this same solidarity in coming together to pay our respects to the 96 football fans that went to the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough on 15th April 1989 but never returned back to us.

They are always in our thoughts and on the 20th anniversary we want to say ‘you will never be forgotten and the fight for justice for you and your families will go on’.

You’ll Never Walk Alone!

At 3.06pm on Wednesday 15th April the Town Hall bells will ring to start a two minute silence for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

We are calling on all trade unionists to come together to hold hands forming a link going from Water Street, past the Town Hall, through Exchange Flags and up along Old Hall Street.

Please pay your respects and take part in this. Encourage friends and colleagues to do the same. Wear your team’s colours, bring scarves and flags.

LET’S STAND TOGETHER FOR THE 96.

For further details please contact Mike Jones. Tel 0151 231 6120 or mikej@pcs.org.uk

Supported by the Hillsborough Justice Campaign

Beating Berlusconi

2009-04-06T23:12:00.001Z

I've just received news of a really interesting play touring the North West which should interest all football fans, and anyone else with a sense of mischief.

It's an amazing true story of one Liverpool fan's very odd night in Istanbul.

As you'd imagine it's a comedy - no doubt made funnier by the fact that it actually happened.

It comes with Jimmy McGovern's recommendation too.

Written by Radio 4 playwright, John Graham Davies, BEATING BERLUSCONI is based on the bizarre true story of a real Liverpool fan who went to the Istanbul final in 2005, somehow got into the AC Milan Director’s box and then almost had a fight with the Mussolini loving Italian PM when the Reds equalised.

For more info see beatingberlusconi.com

Buy the Hillsborough Tribute Record

2009-03-27T20:16:00.000Z

I was honoured to attend the official launch of the Hillsborough Tribute record "Fields of Anfield Road" yesterday at The Picket.

The CD is on sale from April 6th and remembers those who died at Hillsborough 20 years ago this year.

It was good to see Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez take time out of his schedule to appear at the event.

Former Reds captain Phil Thompson gave an impassioned speech to a venue decked with Liverpool banners remembering the 96.

The premiere of the song and DVD were shown and it really is fantastic.

It features Kenny Dalglish amongst many great ex Reds singing along to the chorus, but the lead vocals are taken by John Power.

It has to be said that John is superb. I love his voice anyhow. It has that Lennon rasp to it. His delivery of this song was simply perfect.

Congratulations to all involved for a wonderful product.

It's up to us all now to buy it and put the 96 back in the forefront of everybody's minds nationwide.

Nothing would please me more than this track getting to number 1 in the charts, and we can make it happen by buying it the moment it is released.

Our friends still haven't had justice. We have not forgotten. We never will.

More Thoughts On Seth Godin

2009-03-21T09:59:00.001Z

Seth Godin spoke to musicmarketing.com of how he gave away his book free on the internet as an ebook for people to download.

He pointed out how this helped sell his REAL book, because people would want the real thing so they'd buy it.

The problem with Seth's analogy is that there is no "better" version when it comes to music.

Once you have the music you have the music. End of.

But once you have an ebook, there is a better, more convenient, easier to read option out there that is worth paying for to have.

Seth's ebooks are not giving away stuff for free, but is more an extreme example of freemium - where you give away stuff for free, but you have a better "premium" version of it that people pay for it.

I say extreme because the idea of sitting in front of a screen for 197 pages is horrific to me, when I could just buy the book for only £6.

So most who want to read it will probably just buy the thing.

Most freemium businesses aren't like that. Most offer a service that is great to use for free, but a few per cent will convert to the premium features and that's how they are able to make a living.

The analogy between authors and musicians is often made, but I think it's a poor one for the reasons I gave.

I chatted to Seth last night on twitter briefly and he accepted there was a difference in this regard.

So is there a better analogy?

As you know, I believe free is a good idea - but how do us musicians scrape a living if everything we do is free.

Google is ridiculously useful and it's free. It is able to make its money through a "side door". In Google's case, that side door is advertising.

But for musicians, where is our "side door" once we decide that we are enthusiastic about giving away our digital stuff to fans for free as I do.

I reckon that ebook analogies aren't where it's at.

A better analogy is free software.

I don't use Windows anymore. I don't believe many of us actually need to. Most of what I do is online, and the rest used Microsoft Office.

Openoffice offers a perfectly good alternative to MS Office, and online is available anywhere.

So i use Ubuntu Linux, the free operating system. The only difference I've noticed is that it works better and I'm not inundated with constant malware attacks. Bliss!

When I get a free computer program, just like when I download a free mp3, I have the final product. There is no "physical book" equivalent to jump to.

For musicians who accept that free is fine, analysing the free software sector may be a better way to examine how we can give stuff away for free yet still survive.

I'll shut up now, but I'll come back to this in another post.

Muso's and music lovers - I welcome your thoughts.

Seth Godin on the Music Business

2009-03-21T09:58:00.001Z

Ideas guy Seth Godin has given his thoughts on the music industry in a devastatingly good interview on musicmarketing.com

It's a real tonic for those of us who see music differently from the major labels, and who don't feel threatened by the download-it world.

Seth talks about how he sees traditional PR as spam. It tries to force your music into everyone's attention, even those who will never be interested.

Instead, he says musicians should be drilling down to their niche, attempting to lead their "tribe".

That way, you target people likely to be interested. You seek permission rather than spamming.

It's no longer a case of "how can I get the whole world to hear me?"

Instead it's "how do I get MY group/tribe to hear me?"

Drill down to your micro niche he says, and serve it.

It certainly sounds like it offers us a more varied and vibrant music scene than having one mass market.

People are interested, he says, in what everyone else is listening to. But back then there was simply one big "everyone else" - the mass market.

Now there's a million "everyone elses" so people are now interested in what their own "everyone else" is listening to.

Punk fans want to know what punk fans are listening to. Motown afficionados want to hear what that group are into. It's a world of niches and Seth celebrates it.

Interestingly, as an author, he says he no longer tries to find new fans.

He argues that the cost of finding new fans is much higher than just pleasing the ones you already have.

Don't try to find fans for your music, he argues. Just make music for your fans. Let your fans pass on the message if you're good enough.

For those of us who seek to make authentic, honest music without being too focused on the tides of commercialism, Seth's ideas are a welcome boost.

They also treat the music fan with the respect we deserve, instead of being chased by lawyers and corporations.

Listen in at http://www.musicmarketing.com/2009/03/seth-godin.html

Billy Bragg Comes To Liverpool, May 22nd

2009-03-21T09:57:00.000Z

As people on my friends list already know by now, I will be playing support to none other than Billy Bragg on May 22nd.

The concert is a joint night between the Liverpool Working Class Music Festival and Writing on the Wall, and will take place at The Picket.

Also playing are well known radical songsters Attila The Stockbroker and David Rovics.

More details on how to book your tickets can be found at my gigs page.

Tickets are expected to sell VERY quickly. Don't delay.

Live Music Outranks A Mere Record

2009-03-17T00:33:00.000Z

I wrote an article in Big Issue magazine some time back arguing that recording artists like me shouldn't be too fussed about people sharing our music for free.

In fact, I argued that it was a plus. It's why giving away free music has always been something I've done in some form or another.

Every member of my friends list gets not just a free song when they join up, but a free song every month.

If you're patient enough you'll get every song I've ever recorded without paying a penny.

If you want immediacy then you can still pay for it of course and get whatever you want straight away, but you don't have to.

Why am I relaxed about my recorded music being free?

Simple. Firstly it takes up none of my labour. You can download it while I sleep. If I mow your lawn or plaster your walls then I'd expect payment from you.

I don't expect payment from you for sleeping.

Secondly, when you copy my music, I still have it - a key distinction between digital and real-world 'atom' products.

Thirdly, I see my recorded music as an advertisement for my live gigs which is where it's really at.

Too many musicians get huffy about the "digital music is free" world we now live in. But that's how it is.

It doesn't matter whether we like it or not. That's irrelevant. Personally I think it's great, but even if I hated it, it's reality.

You either accept it and respond positively, or waste your time wishing for the previous century to make a comeback.

In a world where music can be copied and shared so easily, what is valuable is that which cannot be copied.

One such thing is the live performance.

Did you see me play at M19 with Claire Mooney the other week? No? Tsk too bad. It won't happen again. And for those who were there - cracking night wasn't it!

It won't be repeated. It was unique.

My next live gig will have similarities, but I'll play a different set probably. I hopefully won't screw up one of the lyrics in Woody's Song (though nobody noticed I think!).

I won't have the same banter with the crowd because it'll be a different crowd, with different people yelling out different things, and me responding in a different way.

So this is where the real magic is. The uncopiable.

But if you can copy it in the click of a mouse, it's free.

The PRS (performing rights society) chief economist Will Page has, according to the Music Ally blog, just released some data showing how live music is now earning more than recorded music.

Live music brought in £904 million. Recorded music is at £896 million and falling.

Seems that Karl Marx was a sharp cookie. The price of something is the labour we invest in it, he said.

As live music earnings overtake recorded music, it looks like he was right.

The Bothy Folk Club

2009-03-16T08:46:00.003Z

I decided to head off to the Bothy Folk Club in Southport last night.

They were holding a singer's night and I thought I'd go and join in the fun.

For those who say live authentic music is dead, you should really head to the Bothy each Sunday.

It was packed and was a thoroughly enjoyable night of entertainment.

Wonderfully hosted by the very amusing and charming Clive, an array of singers got up to do their turn for two songs, ensuring lots of variety and giving the warm feel of the best kind of family party.

I performed two songs myself. I chose The Ship Song for audience nah nah nahhing, and You Are My Addiction for the largely comic premise and lyrics.

It's great to put your guitar down and be so royally entertained by your peers too.

I particularly enjoyed Ellen who delivered two songs with real showmanship and gusto.

And Stuart on his squeezebox was a treat too.

As was Keith, who did the most extraordinary song about a boozy night in a burning pub! With much help from the audience who provided sound effects and more!

Marvellous stuff.

Was nice to bump into Pete Rimmer again too, and hear Neville Grundy sing Billy Bragg's Which Side Are You On.

It's on every Sunday and you'll get more info by clicking this link.

Featured Artist on Liverpool Acoustic

2008-05-04T12:11:00.001Z

Hi all,

I'm the featured artist on Liverpool Acoustic this month. To find out more visit Liverpool Acoustic, run by the tireless music champion Graham Holland, on www.liverpoolacoustic.co.uk

Enjoy

Al

Listen Up At The Merseyside Derby

2008-03-29T01:48:00.002Z

If you're going to the Liverpool v Everton derby match on Sunday then keep your ears open while you are there.

A dickiebird that was stood upon a grapevine tells me that The Alun Parry Band will be played at half time!!

Carling Gig: Thank You All

2008-03-21T14:43:00.002Z

Just wanted to thank everyone who came along for our first Liverpool gig of the year at the Carling Academy last night.

You lot were fantastic! What a great crowd! We had loads of fun.

Thanks to you all from The Alun Parry Band.

P.S. Great nah nah nahhhing.

These little town blues....

2008-03-14T20:59:00.002Z

A note for your internet diaries my fellow geeks and nerds of a musical persuasion: I'll be played to the good people of New York City on Saturday night as part of Rock Land World Radio's Liverpool Zone show.

Links between the Big Apple and the Pool of Life have always been strong so tune in and have a listen to New York's regular tribute to all things musically Scouse.

It's on Saturday 15 March at 7pm our time, its at www.rocklandworldradio.com and is hosted by Jann Turner - and if you miss it there's even a listen again feature so you can hear my dulcit tones across the New York airwaves at a later date.