OMG! Number SIXTEEN in the Billboard Classical Crossover Charts. Yipes - I was a bit hasty on Wednesday and read last weeks chart by mistake ;)  Well I AM a lofty composer with a head full of candy floss and romance :) I have trouble even boiling a kettle and I had to dismiss the scullery maid and my trusty manservant  Mungo yesterday due to the current economic crisis. Mungo said he'd work for peanuts but I have a phobia that brings me out in an embarrassing rash when faced with any form of nut. As a child I wedged two  pistachios and a small hazlenut up my nostrils and  in the absence of our house doctor (he was later found in the boathouse fondling one of the temporary staff  ) …I had to extract the blighters with a rusty nail and a cunningly  twisted coat hanger  - WELL!  the pain was exquisite and to this day I feel extremely uncomfortable in the close  proximity of nuts

SO! Not only that, but I also found out that on the Overall Classical Chart, we are in the top 40! Bloody Hell – who would have believed it – I can't even read a note of music! Shhhhhhhhhh! Don't tell the purists and anyone out there who is dyslexic or can't read music please take note. You just have to Feel and believe that you have something to say. Let it come from your heart not your head and the people will eventually listen. Just don't stop believing. *Carefully steps down from pulpit J*

DID YOU KNOW that Paul McCartney and David Arnold (He does the James Bond  music) to name but a few - can't read music either?

Well! I attended my sisters (no apostrophe - they are twins) birthday bash last night. My son's band "Fat Lady Singh" were brilliant and isn't that just the funnest name? My sister's kids band "My Kid Brother" who's ages range from 11 to 13 were amazing. I got so wasted that I've  lost the art of coherent speech so It MUST be Chrismas. Have a fabulous time everybodypeeps - Next year is going to be OUR year! 

.......I say that every year don't you? 

Uncommonly Interesting News

How very appropriate! Our Oliver has been signed up to appear in the new Cameron Macintosh version of  "Oliver"  (by far the most exciting musical production in London's West End!) He's currently in rehearsals and the show should open this week at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane. And guess who he is working along side? Guess who is playing (You gotta pick a pocket or two) Fagin? ....How absolutely perfik - YAY! Its only MR BEAN!  Rowan Atkinson is absolutely ideal as the gangly gang leader - and the Tony award winning musical director and my own personal favourite choreographer is  Matthew Bourne! I don't know if you've ever seen his version of  Nut Cracker but it really is very pink, gorgeous and outrageously funny. If you think you don't like ballet.....think again! - You should also check out his all male version of "Swan Lake" Hillarious!

Earlier in the Year the BBC aired a weekly show called "I'd Do Anything" featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber and John Barrowman as judges to "Find Nancy". Out of thousands of contestants, a winner was chosen. Jody Prenger and .....Good grief! - I've just wikepedid her and apparently she  won the second series of The Biggest Loser in 2006, starting the show a size 26 and weighing 18st 2lbs. During the series, she lost over eight stone and her final weight was 9st 9lbs!!!!! WOW!

 Stop Press! .....Mr Macintosh has Adeste Fiddles in his car stereo!........During a recent after hours "lock in" at a Dickensian pub very close to the scene of rehearsals, the blatantly self promoting Mr.Lewis was seen by an insider passing a copy of "Adeste Fiddles" to the illustrious producer. Apparently the sub text "Christmas with a Twist" caught his eye :) Perfik!

Here's the link to the official website:

http://www.oliverthemusical.com/

So, Question - What goes Oh Oh Oh? - Answer - Santa walking backwards (I opened my cracker early this year :) Speeks soon x

WELL! - Doesn't Time Fly! 

Only one year late but "Adeste Fiddles" WILL Fly on November 4^th 2008

Its already available on iTunes and Emusic, but now you can actually wrap your physical fingers around it, hold it up to your lips and kiss it gently and lovingly (No tongues mind – it's a family album  ;) 

So! - A Holiday CD to pop in your stocking! – Barnes and Noble have made it Exclusive, so be prepared for your ears to be mesmerised by the overhead sound system when you pop in looking for exquisite gifts in the next few weeks.  Be prepared - to find yourself inextricably lured to the sales desk with the hypnotic pounding of "The Sugar Plum Fairy" ….to be whisked helplessly to  the magical strains of "My Favourite things" (Well! I tried to spell "Favourite" the American way and my  spell checker won't let me!!!) Be prepared to arrive home and find your bags and pockets filled with "Adeste" albums – EVERY ONE WILL WANT ONE!

I always like to buy a CD then Rip - Call me old fashioned but I like to have something to hold in my hand) Oh! - S'cuse the innuendo, but it is Pantomime season! OH YES IT IS!

Till next time - Happy Trails – You're gona love our new baby! XXX

If you haven't waded tirelessly through the reams of endless waffle I laughingly call a blog then I'll save you some time. We've had several messages asking about track 15 on Ivory Bow  "Oh, Eso es un Castillo Bonito" What does the title mean and what is the original title?..

Well….*grandiose pause for effect* ….Firstly it isn't from the brilliantly animated classic "Beauty and the Beast" – although the overture is soooooo similar – and I'm sure Disney must have been aware of this ;) The bit where the pages of the story book are slowly turning and the narrator begins to tell the story of Belle and the Beast. No - It's a little classical toon from the "Carnival of the Animals" – or "Le Carnaval des Animaux" to be really poshJ  by Camille Saint-Saens and its called Aquarium.

Our title "Oh, Eso es un Castillo Bonito". (I'm not sure if the Spanish is correct cos I made it up - but it looks pretty cool?) is a tribute to an old joke. Cast your mind back to another Disney Classic – "Fantasia" Yeah -I know I'm waffling again but do you remember the lovely Goldfish from Nutcracker section? The one with the big eyelashes? Well when I heard Aquarium for the very first time I kept thinking of that gold fish. The title means "Oh – that's a nice Castle" and apparently because a goldfish only has a 10 second memory, every time she swims around the bowl she "sees" the castle for the very first time!

WELL YOU DID ASK!

More soon – and be assured …..there will be wilful waffle!

Well! Thank you so much to all the kind words from the guys at Barnes and Noble! Check out the enthusiastic comments about Ivory Bow which is currently being played on the instore overhead sound system. Its really good to get such positive feedback in the early weeks of a new release and certainly helps to steady the nerves!

I can't believe that Ivory Bow has only been "free" for a couple of weeks and already we're talking about Christmas. I looked back over some earlier entries from almost a year ago and I quote from October 9^th …

"After six sizzling months of intense musical shananigans - the Christmas baby has been delivered. "Fly away my darling" I cried as she took flight - Over the ocean to the land of the free and peanut jelly. She didn't even glance back, but I'm sure I heard a giggle on the wind and a little voice chirrup "I'm going to make it in the states!"

Ha! - Wrong again – (It's a gift)!

Cos last year, after all the excitement  "Adeste Fiddles", - our interpretation of some of the world's most wonderful Holiday music – ( Christmas Classics with a twist ;) - ran into a bit of a legal mess and couldn't be released in physical CD format. Booooo - BUT NOW I can confidently announce that I have a Street Date YAY!!! November 4 Woohoo! And it will be a B+N Exclusive J

Now its all hands to the pump as we're finalising artwork and checking and rechecking the master recordings. So gird up your loins and prepare for more insane rambling Bulletins in the coming weeks …..It'll Soon be Christmas!!!