(pics of support bands  Hospital Radio and The Head Hunters)

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​Harper n Hubble music are Paul Harper and Andy Hubble. They previously worked together teaching Music Technology in Further and Higher Education at Sandwell College in the West Midlands. They met up again and now combine their ideas to produce music. Paul writes music and lyrics as well as providing lyrics for Andy’s instrumental tracks with Andy concentrating on the production. 

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Their latest (4th) release “Academic Life” includes tracks from Andy's 2016 Relax Listen album “With Friends'' which Paul heavily contributed towards. These tracks have been altered and re-recorded from their original versions or remixed or remastered, It also features 3 more tracks with lyrics written by John Dietrich.


Here are my own personal interpretations and highlights from this album:

Track 1, Academic Life - has a middle Eastern introduction and ending which gives it a nice twist. It is the opening and also the title track which cleverly gives a nod to Andy and Paul’s previous careers in education. It is very original.

Track 5. Falling for you - is a very moving song about falling for someone who is unobtainable. Paul’s heartfelt singing of the lyrics on this particular song bring a tear to the eye.

Track 7. What to do - is another highlight for me which ties in perfectly from “Falling for you”. I am not normally a fan of ballads but this does have genuinely beautiful lyrics about secretly being in love and the happy feeling being around this person creates. My only disappointment here is when the track fades out as I would like to hear more of it as it is so moving!

Track 9. Beauty Queen at 17 - is a clever song which tells a story right from the beginning of the Beauty Queens career.

Track 10. Lovers not friends and track 13, West End Hotel are an interesting contradiction to Falling for you and What to do as they are more about being involved with someone who isn’t right, especially in the case of “West End Hotel” as it is about meeting up for an affair.

My most original and enjoyable song on this album is Track 11, Yesterday's News. It is a lively, witty observational track which I feel could be about rich, shallow people judging the news as if they could do any better. It has a pleasant Beatles style feel to it musically too.

I do recommend listening to this album a few times to really appreciate the contradictions and intelligence in it.

The album Academic Life is available on download release from 24th February 2023. The songs that were original versions on the Relax Listen “With Friends” album are still available to download from iTunes and Amazon as well as other download sites. For further information head to www.harperhubble.com 

As a fan of Nigel Pivaro (mainly famous for his role of Terry Duckworth in Coronation St) I was very interested in seeing him live on stage in ‘The Commitments’ at The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.

(Having seen the film only once, I have to confess to not remembering much about the story itself, but enjoying the soundtrack). I have to say I was instantly a lot more impressed than I was expecting to be right from the start. The Irish accents, musically humorous nods to the 1986 setting, and amazing sets gave the show version an instant appeal and I knew we were in for a treat.

Nigel Pivaro didn’t disappoint and was actually playing a dual role of the character Jimmy’s Dad and a grumpy but funny caretaker at a Community Centre!

Myself and the audience warmed to the characters. A highlight for me being “Joey the Lips”, played by Stuart Reid, who instantly oozed a kind of “love to hate” charisma.

Credit must also be given to James Deegen who was the alternate for Ian McIntosh at this particular performance as Deco, who captivated us with his amazing vocals.

Just as the band in the story improves, the music gets stronger and stronger as it goes on and ends in a spectacular crescendo. My own personal favourites were “You Keep me Hangin On”, “Mustang Sally” and “Try a Little Tenderness”.

This is a proper feel good show that got us out of our seats dancing in enjoyment. I would highly recommend it to lift the spirits.

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I was very excited to be attending the School of Rock Press Night at the Wolverhampton Grand, especially as I am a rock music fan who saw and enjoyed the film way back in ‘the day’.

The evening was full of surprises. The atmosphere was electric even from the moment I walked through the Grand entrance! Everyone was genuinely uplifted to be there and appreciated it… and that’s even before the show started!

My next surprise was discovering that the book to this Andrew Lloyd Webber Touring production was written by none other than Julian Fellowes of ‘Downton Abbey’ writing fame!

As an introduction, a recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber tells us all of the instruments are played live by the children in the cast. This is absolutely amazing, especially when you hear the fantastic standard of them and find out for some it is their first time on stage!

All I could really remember of the premise of the film starring Jack Black is that he basically tricks his way into becoming a teacher, discovers musical talent amongst the children and forms a band with them. This production takes the original premise, but enhances it so much farther than I was anticipating.
There are so many hilarious lines, and the 14 extra songs work so well and have a natural warmth and relevance to them.

Jake Sharp oozes talent as Dewey Finn in a very Jack Black inspired performance. You can tell he genuinely enjoys the role and this rubs off on the atmosphere in the audience.

I also particularly rated the performance of Rebecca Lock who plays suppressed Principal Rosalie Mullins.​

It was so uplifting and heartwarming to be part of this audience and I fully recommend this fun, warm show. Catch it at the Grand until Saturday 25th September 2021

Karen Hill



www.grandtheatre.co.uk


schoolofrockthemusical.com

Due to the Covid pandemic it has been nearly two years in the making. Here is my review:


The first track ‘Breezin’ is a nice gentle start musically. Although it does give off a holiday vibe it is actually a story of someone escaping a previous life on a road trip across America trying to reach the Mexican borderlines, a very original theme.

‘Maybe we’ll be missing’ is the second track.  It is about planning to escape from a controlled life, overcoming adversity to start over but could have romantic undertones to it.

‘She’s done me wrong’ has a livelier vibe to it. It is an optimistic song about giving a failed relationship another try.

‘A glimpse of you’ is about loss and hope. It is a melancholy song about really missing somebody, which I found moving.

‘So it’s over’ is about the frustrations and pleasure and pain of a relationship that didn’t work out. I particularly noticed the raw, passionate vocals on this.

‘The good times’ is a moving song about wishing how the dying relationship could return to being good friends again. I particularly like the instrumental sounds in this.

The theme of the album then takes a different direction. I like the classical music style intro to ‘Makin’ Money (in the city). The song is about the third worlds’ misery, inequality and distribution of wealth. It is a powerful song. It flows very naturally into ‘The roads we take’ which is about war torn environments, poverty and hardship, things we take for granted in the western world and how we turn a blind eye.

‘I’ll find you’ is a love song about a man determined to find his lost love.

‘Dreamers’ is a shock to the system as at first it sounds like a nice ballad with a funky beat, but it is actually a gritty song about killing the truth.

‘Island in the city’ is a melancholy song telling of islands of poverty, oppression and corporate corruption in the middle of rich cities throughout the world.

‘The truth left unsaid’ is about what happens when things are covered up and facts distorted and how people are left to cope with the aftermath of such events. It could also be interpreted about what people have gone through during the pandemic and how we can still find some optimism.


The last two tracks ‘I remember’ and ‘One good reason’ are both about relationships. ‘I remember’ is about one that has ended with one of the partners being in denial and ‘One good reason’ is about trying to find some redemption and forgiveness after realising the pain and anguish caused to a partner and finding ways to move on.

This is an interesting album with some very original themes.

(All tracks produced by Andy Hubble and Paul Harper, with additional lyrics by John Dietrich)

Karen Hill

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