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| Q. |
What
Nationality is Chris? |
| Q. |
When is
Chris' birthday? |
| Q. |
Is it true
that there are a number of songs that Chris has recorded
but not released? I keep hearing about "Hot Barrel
Hannah" but I can’t buy it! |
| Q. |
What about
At The War Memorial? |
| Q. |
How did
Chris get his first recording contract? |
| Q. |
How many
Hits has Chris had? |
| Q. |
Is the
song The Lady In Red written about Diane, Chris' wife? |
| Q. |
Why is it
so difficult to buy Chris' Albums in the United States? |
| Q. |
Chris
seems to tour all over the world but he avoids the US.
Why is this? |
| Q. |
In the
Song, "Rainy Night In Paris" there are some
french lyrics,
"Nous serons encore amoureux,Avec le couleurs de
printemps...".
Can anyone translate for me? |
| Q. |
I
understand that Chris quotes some Shakespeare in one of
his songs. If this is true, which song and which part of
Shakespeare is it? |
| Q. |
What about
the song the Painter - isn't that based on a poem? |
| Q. |
In the
song, The Last Time I Cried, I can hear some muffled
words, what are they saying? |
| Q. |
I love
Spanish Train but how did Chris come up with the idea for
the song "Spanish Train"? |
| Q. |
I heard
that Chris planned a follow up to Spanish Train. Did he
ever make it? |
| Q. |
At the
beginning of the song "By My Side" there is
some muffled talking. Is this actually saying something? |
| Q. |
Ok, what
about the beeping at the beginning of Ship To Shore,
surely that doesn’t mean anything? |
| Q. |
I heard
that someone had done a "cover" version of a
Chris De Burgh song? Who is it and what song did they
cover? |
| Q. |
In the
video for Don't Pay The Ferryman I'm sure I saw Tom
Baker, the actor who used to play Doctor Who in the UK
television series. Is this correct? |
| Q. |
Is the
song Sight & Touch based on the story 1984? |
| Q. |
In the
song Carry On, there's some strange language- does it
mean anything? |
| Q. |
In the
Song The Sound Of A Gun, what do the words Bella Soma
mean? |
| Q. |
On the
This Way Up album, Chris thanks everyone for their
support. What is he referring to? |
| Q. |
How Tall
Is Chris? |
Q. What Nationality is Chris?
A. Well, he was born in
Argentina but he holds British Nationality
Q. When is Chris' birthday?
A. October 15th
Q. Is it true that there are a number of songs
that Chris has recorded but not released? I keep hearing about
"Hot Barrel Hannah" but I can’t buy it!
A. Well, it's true that Chris
wrote and played a number of songs in his formative years in the
music business, but none of those have ever been recorded for
release. This includes "classics" such as "Star
Spangled See Through Tangerine Topless Trousers". Enough
said I think.
Q. What about At The War Memorial?
A. This was a song written by
Chris after the Eniskillen Remembrance Day bombing. I’ve
seen the lyrics to the song but Chris has vowed never to record
them. If you read the lyrics (published in a Getaway Gazette) and
know something about the bombing you can see why he feels this
way.
Q. How did Chris get his first recording
contract?
A. This is a long one, so bear
with me….
October 1972
Graphic Designer,
Bob Williamson, a regular guest at Bargy Castle holds a party for
Doug Flett* promising there will be a number of others present.
In fact, only Chris is present. Amazingly<g> Chr is has his
guitar with him and is able to play a few songs., one being Satin
Green Shutters. Doug likes what he hears a nd arranges for Chris
to meet with Guy Fletcher, his partner. That month, Chris is
singed to a publishing deal with Egg Productions. So , now Egg
owns Chris, and all his recordings. Any deal has to be made with
Egg, not Chris. Chris gets very little from this, in fact he has
to take part time jobs to survive and has little time to write
songs. What he does write is fairly disjointed.
February 1974
At last Chris is
writing for himself, not for others, and his demos are sounding
better. Chris had taken a sabbatical in his castle and returns to
London refreshed and saying that everything has fallen in to
place. He brings Doug & Guy up to date with the new
repertoire. They like it enough to call Dave Margereson, head of
the A&R(Artists & Repertoire) division of A&M records
at their newly opened London office. Besides, Doug & Guy knew
Dave's boss Derek Green of old.
Dave Margereson
likes the demo tape and arranges to hear Chris live. This is to
be done in the offices of Doug & Guy, but Chris wants to do
more than play a few songs, in fact he wants a full light
show......
The day of the most
important meeting in Chris' short career arrives, Dave Margereson
arrives and sits down with a drink.
Doug says
"Chris will be with you in a minute" and promptly turns
out the office lights.....
Next thing, Chris
leaps out of a cupboard in the corner of the room, guitar in
hand, singing away. Margereson is just stunned, but is laughing.
At the end of an hours playing, the deal is on its way, and
A&M are ready to be signing up with Egg to have Chris
Davison.
By February 1975
the first album is released and the rest is history...........
Interestingly,
along with Satin Green Shutters, he also did Hot Barrel Hannah,
Star Spangled Tangerine See Through Topless Trousers and Patricia
the Stripper.....and apparently he also has a great Rod Stewart
take off called "What's A Nice Guy Like You Doing In A Face
Like That?" but don't expect to ever hear some of these
songs!
*Doug Flett:Publisher &
Songwriter responsible for "Power To All Our Friends" a
British Eurovision song contest entry. He also had material
recorded by Elvis Presley.
Q. How many Hits has Chris had?
A. Chris has had one really
big number one hit with The Lady In Red, which made number one in
the UK and number two in the US. However, he's had lots of hits
in other countries, too numerous to list here.
Q. Is the song The Lady In Red written about
Diane, Chris' wife?
A. There are a lot of
different answers to this that Chris has apparently been heard to
say. However, the real answer is that this song was inspired by a
moment when Chris saw Diane across a crowded nightclub, without
at first realising it was her. As a result he realised that often
people never quite appreciate that the most important person in
their lives is taken for granted, and how after a while you fail
to notice the things that brought you together. This was the
basis of the song but it wasn't written either for or about
Diane.
Q. Why is it so difficult to buy Chris' Albums
in the United States?
A. Chris is signed to A&M
in the UK. In the US they don't really support him, therefore his
albums don't get released except via special deals with US
distributors or when Internet Ordering companies import them
direct from the UK or Germany. Check the Web Page for locations
of good suppliers of Chris' CD's in the US, including a discount
deal.
Q. Chris seems to tour all over the world but
he avoids the US. Why is this?
A. See the previous answer.
His lack of exposure makes the chance of a successful US tour
very remote. Since touring isn't guaranteed to sell more records
due to the lack of industry support for him, it doesn’t make
financial sense.
Q. In the Song, "Rainy Night In
Paris" there are some french lyrics,
"Nous serons encore amoureux,Avec le couleurs de
printemps...".
Can anyone translate for me?
A. Sure, it means roughly
"We will be still in love, with the colours of spring".
Many thanks to Mme G. Gagnon for the translation on this.
Q. I understand that Chris quotes some
Shakespeare in one of his songs. If this is true, which song and
which part of Shakespeare is it?
A. The play is "The
Tempest" and it occurs in the spoken part of the Getaway
album version of "Don't Pay The Ferryman". Many thanks
to Ruediger for the words below:
BOATSWAIN:[If I did think, sir, I were well awake,
I’d strive to tell you.] We were dead of sleep, And [-how, we know not-] all clapp’d under
hatches; Where, [but even now,] with strange and several
noises Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains, And more
diversity of sounds, all horrible, We were awak’d;
straightaway at liberty; Where we, in all her trim, freshly
beheld Our royal, good, and gallant ship[;our master Cap’ring to eye her. On a
trice, so please you, Even in a dream, were we divided from them,
And were brought moping hither]
The parts in black
and inside brackets were left out of the song.
Q. What about the song the Painter - isn't that
based on a poem?
A. Yes it is - My Last Duchess
by Robert Browning
Q. In the song, The Last Time I Cried, I can
hear some muffled words, what are they saying?
A. The voice-over is the eulogy
that is spoken on Remembrance Sunday for the dead of the two
World Wars.
It goes: "They shall not grow old as we that are left grow
old. Age will not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going
down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."
Q. I love Spanish Train but how did Chris come
up with the idea for the song "Spanish Train"?
A. Chris was travelling
through Spain -big surprise- on a train. He was also,
unsurprisingly, riding between Guedalquevir and Seville. As he
looked through the window at rough fences farmers had made on the
edges of their fields, he observed that they looked like
skeletons to him. He then started imagining some very dramatic
scenes and thought: "What if those *were* skeletons and the
train driver was a ghost!". Soon the line "There's a
Spanish Train that runs between Guedalquevir and Old
Seville" came to mind and the rest of the song was born of
it. J
Q. I heard that Chris planned a follow up to
Spanish Train. Did he ever make it?
A. Yes he did, it's called The
Devils Eye and you can find it on the Crusader album.
Q.
At the beginning of the song
"By My Side" there is some muffled talking. Is this
actually saying something?
A. Yes it is! In fact, if you
listen closely between the left and right speakers, you will find
that it’s a conversation between a pilot and the air traffic
controller. The bit easiest to make out is at the beginning when
the pilot gives his call sign "Charlie Delta Echo
Brava" or CdeB!
Q. Ok, what about the beeping at the beginning
of Ship To Shore, surely that doesn’t mean anything?
A. Oh yes it does! In fact
it’s Morse Code, and it spells out the title of the song!
Q. I heard that someone had done a
"cover" version of a Chris De Burgh song? Who is it and
what song did they cover?
A. The singer was none other
than Tom Jones, and the song is I'm Counting On You. Actually,
Gene Pitney also did a cover, this time it was Hold On but that
one isn't quite as well known.
Q. In the video for Don't Pay The Ferryman I'm
sure I saw Tom Baker, the actor who used to play Doctor Who in
the UK television series. Is this correct?
A. Sorry, no. It's just a guy
who happens to look like him.
Q. Is the song Sight & Touch based on the
story 1984?
A. No it isn't. The lyrics for
this song just kind of "came" to Chris. It was only
after the song was finished that people started noticing the
similarities.
Q. In the song Carry On, there's some strange
language - does it mean anything?
A. Ah yes. The "strange
language" is in fact English backwards. In the sleeve notes
it looks like this
Sratseht rofesruo
cates,
Nwonknu no it anitsed,
Dlroweht gnillacsi esrevinu eht,
Ecalp gnitser lanif dnatsal rehs-drawot,
But when read from
right to left with a little re-arrangement it turns into this:
Set a course for
the stars,
Destination unknown,
The universe is calling the world,
Towards her last and final resting place,
Q. In the Song The Sound Of A Gun, what do the
words Bella Soma mean?
A. Bella means Beautiful and
Soma comes from the Aldus Huxley book Brave New World. It's the
name of the drug people took to forget about the stresses of
life. So you have "Beautiful Drug" .The phrase in the
song is designed to state that if you wish to, you can just
ignore the way gunmen and terrorists try and rule the world - ie
take this drug and do nothing - but if you feel it's wrong, do
something, pressure people to stop etc. The song itself is all
about people caught up in terrorism.
Q. On the This Way Up album, Chris thanks
everyone for their support. What is he referring to?
A. He's referring to an
incident involving his wife Diane who suffered a near fatal horse
riding accident in which she broke her neck. She has thankfully
fully recovered.
Q.
How Tall Is Chris?
A. He confesses to being 5ft 6in tall in an
edition of the Getaway Gazette
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