Listen.com
April, 2001
Give It To The Soft Boys -- Again!
by Linda R.
When The Soft Boys got together in 1976, they had it all: headstrong Pop songs, a wickedly English sense of humor, a charismatic frontman, and a strong desire to turn the music world upside down. The only thing they didn't have was an audience. And although their recorded output comprises only two albums and a few EPs (with another handful of recorded works released posthumously), the Cambridge, England quartet inspired a thousand other bands, possessing that certain something that continues to attract new fans some 25 years later.
Yes, you read correctly. 2001 is The Soft Boys' twenty-fifth anniversary, and to mark the occasion, enigmatic singer Robyn Hitchcock and his cast of characters -- drummer Morris Windsor, guitarist Kimberley Rew, and bassist Matthew Seligman -- will tour America for the very first time. To celebrate, Matador Records will reissue the band's seminal album Underwater Moonlight with even more bonus tracks and a new title: Underwater Moonlight ...And How It Got There.
Hitchcock spoke with Listen.com about the upcoming tour, and a whole lot more.
The first -- and most obvious -- question is: why the reunion tour?
Well, Kimberley and I have been working/playing together a lot recently. Morris always plays when we have a party at the house, and Matthew is ready to pick up the bass again after nine years in the legal trade. And as it happened, Underwater Moonlight was out of print again and Matador was interested in releasing it with some bonus tracks -- it gets longer every time. We auditioned ourselves ourselves last July and found that we could still play together. So we booked the U.S. tour we never played back in 1981. The Soft Boys missed Reagan, but we're back in time for Bush II.
Have there been any Van Halen-like incidents during rehearsals?
Not yet. But one of the main reasons we split up was because there didn't seem to be a future for us. We couldn't flourish in the musical climate of the early-'80s. We've also moved on a bit: Kim's been in a Top-20 group [Katrina And The Waves] and I've become a cult figure. So we've realized our personal ambitions. We appreciate each other now.
How does it feel playing together in 2001 as opposed to the first time around?
The feel is very different when we plug in. It's less spikey and more good-natured.
Why do you think The Soft Boys have not only endured over the years, but shine more brightly now than they did back in the late-'70s/early-'80s?
We were and are a really great band -- the missing link between The Beatles and Oasis. Liam Gallagher ripped off my eyebrows. Sounds painful. Back then was when I first started writing good songs. I've never written anything better than "Insanely Jealous".
Wow! That's quite a statement. But aren't you a little nervous? I mean, wouldn't it be better to pull a James Dean or Marilyn Monroe and let the legend die young and pretty?
Although it's sweet of you to mention us in the same breath as Monroe and James Dean, you're dead right. We got where we are today by being defunct. Everybody loves you when you're off the map. You can only play the reunion card once. After that, you're back on Earth with the rest of the mortals. But we're really good! The rehearsals have been great.
Your music has influenced bands such as R.E.M., The dB's, The Replacements, and countless others. You paint, you write stories. You're seen as a bit of a Renaissance man. How do you see yourself?
I see myself as a young person encased in layer after layer of time. I'm probably as grown-up as I'll ever be. Music is the heart of it all -- nothing beats playing and singing. It makes sense of a crooked world. Writing and painting are secondary muscles I flex from time to time -- who knows when they'll have to earn my living?
I hear you're writing a novel.
I've been working on this novel intermittently for the past seven years. It was a short story that ignored the red light and became a novel. It's fiction, though it's essentially quite autobiographical -- first novels are inclined to be that way, they say. The idea is that, by the end of the book, the beginning couldn't have happened. So it's obviously very hard to finish properly.
And you've started a label. Will the label be just for your work, or will you be signing artists to release?
Actually, the label Editions PAF! is for my own projects. A Star For Bram (PAF! 1) is the outtakes from my last Warner Bros. album, Jewels For Sophia. There will be forthcoming PAF! discs soon of live archive recordings. Check the Museum of Me at robynhitchcock.com. It's great to be a website.
The amount of comedian friends you have is amazing. When can we expect to see you on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. And can you get us Tony Slattery's phone number?
Sadly, I don't have access to Tony Slattery's number. But if I ever meet him I will give him yours. In the U.S. my peers are musicians, in the UK they're comedians. Grant-Lee Phillips, however, is both. We like to think of ourselves as Metropolitan Entertainers(tm).
To say that Robyn Hitchcock, Metropolitan Entertainer(tm) has led a charmed life isn't much of a stretch. After all, how many artists can you name that have found success with two different bands -- The Soft Boys and The Egyptians -- while also maintaining a thriving solo career?
If you can't see Hitchcock on tour with The Soft Boys this spring, don't fret. Rumor has it that one or two of the shows are being recorded for a live album. And you can always check out his websites at robynhitchcock.com or Fegmania.
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