Virgin Prunes :

Swell! I saw Virgin Prunes a couple of times live in Belgium (Hof ter Lo, Futurama Festival, ...) as well as Gavin Friday in Gent at the Vooruit.
I'll be there on Oct 30th at the AB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VP were the greatest band ever!

a-ma-zing!

Happy to be there too .

they are fantastic!!!!!!!

I also saw Gavin on his life tour in 1995 in Gent Vooruit, one of the best concerts I have ever been to. I really can't mis that Matinee at AB Brussels so I will also be there. Why shouldn't we make a kind of appointment for a meating?

This is great news. And hopefully at a later time they will release A New Form Of Beauty (42 min) and ‘Virgin Prunes Live At The Hacienda” (1983 - 60 min) on DVD so we can watch this at home too !!!

Yeah, let's all meet up, I've got an idea, we all bring a little paper or little board with VIP on it (Very Important Prune), wadda ya think?

Hilde

All right Hilde, I suppose I will make a badge with indead "VIP" on it in boldcapitals and my nickname in normal type.
Since I read about the matinee I almost can't concentrate on my daily job, after all these years since I heart their first note (18 - 1986)I may be able to see them alive !!!!! I love them !!!!!

Great! I'll do the same.
Also can't concentrate, just ordered my tic online and I'm excited like a small child.
Think I'll start counting the days as of now.

Hilde

Be there 2.

Saw them back in the 80's and hope 2 see them again (be it on a videowall)

grtz

BTW, looking @ all the VP things going on @ the moment; It looks like there is a reunion coming on.

grtz

all new cd's are available in france (fnac)... :)

all new cd's are available in France (fnac shops)...

Wij komen al zeker met 6 mensen. Komt vonb zelf naar Brussel?

wie eigenlijk die mysterieuze vonb?

Am I allowed to join you? *g*

I just wonder if Gavin and Guggi are invited for a TV show in Belgium. I guess therefor that "De Laatste Show" with the famous Mark Uytterhoeven on TV1 is the place to be.
They could sing there the song they sang for the Ballymun Flats with the legendary "Laatste Show Band".
That would be "GRANDIOZO"

Mm, that would be nice, but I doubt it will happen; I think 'De Laatste Show' is a bit too mainstream..
Maybe there's a far bigger chance that G&G might appear in 'Republica' on CANVAS. They could dig up some live footage from the archives (shot at the Seaside festival in 1983 and shown only once in 'Pop Electron' at that time).
So, all you Belgian fans out there, if we all send a request to 'republica@canvas.be', this might work!

DE MAX!
I certainly hope aNAREXIA is right about the reunion... Remember Bauhaus in 1998 (Deinze - Brielpoort). That was the best gig I ever saw in my entire life...
See you in Brussels!

I have it on good authority that vonb is coming to Brussels.

LMAO!!!

I remember seeing VP in maastricht in de Kapel,back in 81,although this date is not listed. And of course there was seaside,futurama,hof ter loo..which were all magical concerts.(i still got the tickets,foto's...)Outdoor goa parties remind me of the back to basics mentality in those days:it's all a celebration of live living in the fullest way,ciao and see you in the AB,carlo

Hi, How are you -I'm Marina
De Vito. I'll came in Brussels
See you

Hi I'm still Marina to jere:

.....grandioso is correct italian.....
See you

M.D.V

Thanks for the info Marina, i'm not a great language expert.
Don't forget your badge with VIP on it, and so to all the others who are coming to Brussels.
Nog 19 te gaan!

I was at the AB yesterday for a concert. It made the VP thing feel very close. Can't wait to be there and see the nfob. Tot dan!

bert

Have fun in brussels to all who go, unfortunately, i don´t think i can make it, but if things change i will be there.
I was lucky enough to be at both hacendia gigs in 83.
The first guggi was wearing a wedding dress and constantly mumbling like a demented demon on stage, and the second gig is where they smashed a birthday cake(is this the gig/cake mention in the Dave-id interview??) and also the large laughing policeman. Great gigs.
And now a trivia question.
In 1984? Factory records released a VP live at the hacendia video, by the time i ordered a copy i was told it was not/no longer available (can´t really remeber which) did this video ever see the light of day as a release, or did it become the SFD vid? or is this it´s first showing at the AB2?
i seem to remember that there were legal disputes that froze the release of the vid. but i could be wrong.
i can also remember the vid cam being at the 2nd gig but no recollection at the 1st. I also spoke to dave-id at the 2nd gig, i´m sure he remembers me

VERY IMPORTANT
I have tried to buy a ticket, but the matinee is SOLD OUT! this is horrible; if anyone has a spare ticket or cannot go for some reason, please let me know, I'm dying to go there. email me directly.
thanx a million!

Bert

Never saw VP live. The first time I saw Gavin Friday was on 18th June 1986 in Rotterdam, just 8 days after my 16th birthday. Great concert and memories.
Me and my sister are going to the matineé in Brussels.
See you all there.

vonb, hg, please take lots of photos, i'm (sadly) not flying over for this one.

I was there in 1983 at the Hacienda me and my mate still talk about it till this day

whats happin in dublin for launch of albums

I thought: "let's start a countdown".

5

4

Let's put the missing one to make it look complete :

3

also the:

2

Lyrics of an unreleased song performed on Friday 29-10-2004 at 06.55 AM somewhere in Belgium in a shower:

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you
tomorrow, you're always a day away...
...Toooommorrow, tomorrow,
I LOVE YOU, LOVE YOU, LOVE....YOU, TOMORROW,
YOU'RE.....ALWAYS....A DAY
...AWAY...
...AWAY...
...TOMORROW

i've got a spare ticket for tonight, contact me at linda.wolles@pandora.be

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I forgot 2 check the timetable, and it has begun by now

KUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

To Gavin and Guggi:
it has been a long time since I saw such a good and interesting documentary about the art in the late 70 begin 80. The things you all did in those days reminded me of so many big artistic works that were going on. The 'statements' witch connected to the work of Joseph Buys and all the influences of music from Brian Eno to Brell. Those were indeed big times and the sky was the limit.
A + for DEZ MONA. A voice like a cathedral. And the cover was more than sublime, I thinks you will agree. As you see Belgium is a small country with a big voice :-)
I also have to apologize for the rudeness of some Belgium people, who for some reason couldn't fit in anymore. And let's admit that the interview from LUX JANSSEN, who also did a lousy DJ set, sucked.
But beside that I think it was good day and I slept well.
Buy the way, I was happy to here some Jazz in your 'DJ set'. I think some people wondered but I just can't understand why. Maybe time to grow- and wake-up and see where everything is going too. There are still some good artistic things going on (non commercial!). Seek, find and believe.
Amen

Hey Gav',

When you will have had enough of the teasing, why wouldn't you just consider gathering some "old" friends in order to climb on a stage and sing us some of your amazing VP stuff? Too much nostalgia kills the nostalgia, no?

Yours hopefully...

I came home
it was night and cold
and it was still a winter ahead
I took my brushes, paint
and went for
forms and
colours
that would take me out
far away
far back?
Over the Rainbow...
it's gonna be a long winter

It was amaazing, brilliant - Good FUN!
Cheers to all people making this happen, I had the time of my life...

By the way... I saw someone filming the atmosphere... Is there a way of sending me a copy?

Cheers in advance!

K.

The evening was amazing, all those that missed it, you don't know what you missed!
I'm still somewhere up in the white clouds above sweet home!

I hope my stuck filmroll can be saved, so that in a little while I can post some pikkies on the forum.

Happy Hilde

It was so great, I would like to ask the same as Little K. Is there a way to get a copy from someone who filmed that happening?
I don'twant to forget a piece of it.
Thanks to all of you and specially to Gavin & Guggi. Hope to see all of you in the future.

Decks

Gavin and Guggi,

Thanks for making me so happy!

Hilde

try this: http://www.gavinfriday.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=57 ;-)

ps: where were those VIP-badges?

We'll have a full report and pictures on www.virginprunes.com soon. We are currently in the process of moving the site to another server. And getting our heads together after a mad weekend in Brussels.

Hi,
I was there with little k.

What a evening...

I shall never forget the atmosphere...

Sam

btw< Hilde is that you who took the pictures of Koen and me aside of the mixing table together with Guggi and Gavin?

Thumbs up for the people who organised this event. But to be honest...I was dissapointed in Gav's and Guggi's drawings... They better sung us a song!!!

Cheers

someone put his signed ticket on eBay... a true 'fan' I suppose...

I was wearing my batch, but I put it away later on the evening because except me and Hilde I didn't saw anyone wearing one.
I'm sorry Wouter.

The matinee wasn't what I expected. Why did the music stop so early? It looked more like an elaborate signing event, so I went home a little disappointed.

I blame the prick from Liège who couldn't stand the drawing! Quite a few laughs though (never new you could wind up the Pope).

Lièèèège LOL...
I've posted our ultimate FanPic on http://www.deadpoets.tk (click through to 'PICS' -> 'MISC'

Love,

K.

"It looked more like an elaborate signing event."

I think G&G were a little too available during the DJ set - they didn't set it up as a signing event, but they were accessible and fans took the opportunity. It was hard for them to concentrate on both.

No hard feelings for G&G, the music remains great after all these years.

What was that funky jazz tune the Wonderful Mr. F. played somewhere at the end of his set? I really loved the horns!

That jazz tune was from the Charles Mingus' album 'Blues and Roots'.

i saw gary glitter back in '73 and it always make me think of todays poor quality automated stage shows. peoples standards have really lowered over the last 50 years. bring back manual labour and those old ice cream dispensers. thats what i say. the ones with the metal whips, not the plastic ones. it makes it taste so much better.

thinking about the ice cream thing reminded me of what my originally purpose in writing in the comment box was. i bumped into harry belafontes old bass player a couple of weeks ago while i was travelling through the former trading station of quelimane and he mentioned that harrys manager was interested in setting up some performances with a possible aim to recording new material with the prunes. he mentioned the possibility of a few small shows in the silken thomas, just to get the balls rolling. is this true? i haven't seen the prunes since they released greylight (my favorite by the way) and it would be a very cool thing indeed to see them again. and gav, if you can remember that far back, i wasn't supposed to wear that dress. best of luck lads. hope to see youse soon.

I don't understand people, for once they could ask questions and all I heard were silly things.
The date for the exhibition in London...
I'd rather wanted to know something about 'the person' Gavin and Guggi.
Luc (or Lux) your little quiz... boring!
I expected some more from you
Still, great evening !
Nice paintings (if i'm rich i'll buy one)
And Alexi from Liege, tu es un garçon très stupid.

just back from mosney where i was at a paul daniels magic show with ol' brucey. the influence of the virgin prunes goes far beyond anything I would have imagined. right down to the use of a pigs head which he makes disappear. very cool. read a review in the mosney press where the show was compared to both the early days of the prunes at the project in dublin and 'venus in furs' the musical which was first performed at saul church in downpatrick in the mid 80s. thumbs up to whoever had the idea of using real blood.

referring back to the icecream thing again, I remember seeing the refurbished prunes at subterrania in london back in '91. they had a very young guitarist with them called valley limberg. couldn't have been more than 14 or 15 at the time. not sure whether it was male or female but it played the loudest guitar I've ever heard after my bloody valentine. gave me the tinnitus I suffer from today. does anyone know what happened to it? I'd heard that after it left the band it got into alignment and spacing. if that's true it's such a waste, it could have gone into demolition. the support were a band called PIG (there we go with the virgin prunes influence again). blew me away. they had some great backing tracks. very tight. great night.

brucey and myself were discussing the possible purchase of his next series of 'the generation game' by RTE (aptly titled 'the next generation game') as a replacement for the 'late late show' and he happened to mention that he used to be a huge virgin prunes fan. he recalled being at a gig with max bygraves and seeing them play with the clash (the legendary gig at which gavin revealed his manhood!). max himself was a huge clash fan and was in talks with joe about the re-recording of maxs first album 'the cowpuncher's cantata' with the clash. i was surprised to discover that brucey still has all the early prunes releases that he bought back then. he was particularly into daveys material. thought he was a natural. was also very fond of the pig children. don't know what became of maxs project. maybe someone out there can shed some light.

hey everyone, sorry i couldn’t make it to the ritzy on the 20th. had to run through some dance routines with brucey. plans for ‘the next generation game’ are going ahead nicely. i did asked tony blackburn to go in my place though. did you get a chance to talk?. he was very keen. he used to be a big simon carmody fan and when he heard that johnny thunders cover that gav did with him he was always disappointed that he never got a chance to see the prunes. said he really enjoyed the night and spent quite a while after talking to some of the people that had attended. likes a good good banter, does tony. i believe he had his guitar and brought a number of people to pub with him to sing some songs. he told me he was working on acoustic versions of the ‘children are crying’ and ‘baby turns blue’ especially for the after-show. i’m sorry i didn’t get a chance to hear them. if anyone was there and happened to record them, perhaps you could contact me and we could arrange a copy. chat soon. tally-ho guys.

Switch - thank you for entertaining us, but if you intend to use this site's comment system please keep your comments relevant to the topic concerned. Not everyone is as interested in the world of 1970s/80s British light entertainment as you are.

Regards,
Stuart

stuart - i'm sorry that you don't see my comments as relevant. i would have thought that all concerned would be flattered that celebrities from somewhere as mainstream as the light entertainment industry should show such interest and loyalty to a group as influential and marginal as the virgin prunes. if i was in a position where i could comment on other areas that may have an interest i would, but the circles that i move in are mainly vaudeville, comedy and television & radio light entertainment. i can’t apologise for that. or do you think perhaps that i’m not serious? i’m afraid i can’t apologise for that either. besides, i’m sure the boys are glad of the support. an opportunity to appear on the next generation game or record with harry belafonte is not to be scoffed at. nor should it be. people like dave lee travis and steve wright are very popular and with a word or a song in the right place, who knows what could happen. people sang ‘hang the dj, hang the dj’ but think where the virgin prunes could have gone with a plug here and a plug there. they could have been another frames or aslan. i’m sure tony blackburn’s session in london got a couple of sales for the boys. and he did it for free. so i not entirely sure that i understand you. is there not enough street cred involved or do the boys feel that they have achieved enough and are happy with that. if so, fair enough. i’ll leave well enough alone. they’ve had their signing in sister ray and Q&A in brussels. not to mention the ritzy. but they could reach ever greater heights and i’d love to see that. i’d like to believe that when it happens, i had my own small part to play in its success. and i just know that bruce and tony and the like would be proud too. and who knows what other successes may lie ahead for the boys. granted, guggi’s got his painting career and gav has got his involvement with U2, but what if they were offered a path back to their roots, back to the music. back to what i really believe matters to them most. i can see them being offered a world tour as VP DJs. or a book on the virgin prunes. i think it would be madness to turn potential opportunities like these away. we’ve all had our fifteen minutes of fame at some point. wouldn’t it be great if we could stretch it to 25 minutes. or take it to up to an hour with an intermission. pink floyd had an intermission at their last gig in earls court and it really made you appreciate what you were witnessing. (that was three hours mind you). it left you in anticipation. after the first half was done, you could go for a drink and still feel that excitement knowing there was a whole other half to go. wouldn’t it be great if the boys could stretch their fame to an hour. or three. and leave people with that special anticipation. imagine how they’d feel knowing that there was another gig around the corner. or a signing for their new book. or a road show with darius or david hamilton. or a live appearance on the paul daniels show. christy had to struggle with the gear. the boys don’t have to struggle with anything, just say yes to a little support from a small amount of fans. and that includes me i’m happy to say. i’ve been a keen follower since the early days. tv club, mcgonagles, the boys club, subterrania. i’ve bought everything along the way. so i’d like to think that i’ve played my part so far in the boys success. does mary still do that roly-poly thing with his arms on stage. that was great. so i’ve said my bit. i hope the boys take it board. maybe they could just discuss it among themselves and have a think and get back to me. i’m in a position to make some very worthwhile offers. and i wouldn’t expect anything in return. maybe a mention in the thank yous. later boys