Nick Rundall – Hugh Carson Music

June 2021

THIS MONTH’S AUDIO UPLOADS:

Interlude (Anlg) – SKETCH – 1997:

To begin with, a very short instrumental. I discovered this track on a cassette of similar material that I estimate would have been written back in approximately 1997. A thoughtful number to kick off June’s ten uploads.

Always Be There (Anlg) (Nick Rundall Mix) – Sections – 1996:

One of three versions of Always Be There that Nick Rundall was directly involved in. In this instance, it’s his own remix created during the last of our University years. I always liked this version of the song, and it goes without saying that it’s always a privilege to have some of your creative endeavours recognised by way of someone else’s fine interpretation of them.

Sassy Queen (Picante Mix) – 2008:

An unused additional mix of this track, the original of which had been written for use on the landing page of a Turkish friend’s website – “Sassy Queen“. Probably only of any interest to me, but I like to compare and contrast the different versions of my tracks which tends to then tell the story of their evolution, and with a little luck, will ultimately display a little positive progress!

Worthless – 1992:

The closing track of my 1992 album, Just Enough, is yet another display of manic / hyper song writing. Lord alone knows what I was on at the time, but most of my output during those days was just a free-flow of energy. I think much of the crudeness of these tracks was down to having programmed the backing tracks on a small device (Yamaha QY10) which offered neither sustain nor reverb options, and so to cover up this fact, I just threw in as much busy (and unnecessary) instrumentation as possible. The resultant chaos would then often be overdubbed by additional synth parts (Korg M1), and a whole load of guitar. Talking of which, watch out for Jim Thomas as he summons the spirit of both Jay Graydon and Brian May for his soaring chorus descant lines. And it’s a good chorus. What can I tell you!

Family Film Scene Setter – Section – 2010:

Imagine if you will a 1980s/1990s John Hughes film. A moving overhead shot of a suburban scene in the sprawling leafy suburbs of perhaps Chicago? People are going about their daily business. The paperboy cycles along the streets throwing papers onto lawns. School kids trot merrily along pavements. A man waves at his neighbour whilst washing his car. You get the idea. And this is a sketch of the music that accompanies that opening scene.

I Just Know (Anlg) – Sections – 1993:

Following on from the manic nature of my first album of tracks, I had then clearly been on the beta-blockers or something as I slipped into a more reflective, and to be quite honest with you, self-indulgent phase of writing moody, thoughtful songs whose duration was positively prog rock-esque at times. This particular song in fact weighed in at a soul-destroying eight minutes in its original form. Mercifully, I’ve spared you from such a test of endurance on this occasion. I Just Know is another track featuring the guitar of Jim Thomas as well as some backing vocals from the same source.

Always Be There (Late Version) – Sections – 1998:

Whilst all involved were pretty happy with the original version of the song that had been recorded in the studios at University College Salford back in 1995 or so, I had personally always wanted to tighten a few things up, and to make it all a little more grandiose. And this was my attempt at that. Some things worked well, and others not so much.

Wayward Wolf Theme (Rough Cut Version) – 2012:

Another version of the track that had been intended as the main theme for my Wayward Wolf Film Review podcast. This was the podcast, of course, that never actually was. After much mming, aahing and before it even had a chance to actually commence, I abandoned that particular creative venture. Probably for the best.

Never Knew Love (Stripped Version) – 2012:

Essentially, this is just a late version mix of the song with most synths, piano and backing vocals dropped out, but I rather like the way it exposes Rebecca Saxton’s excellent vocals. The various other versions of this track can be found in August 2020’s mid-month uploads should you feel the burning desire to compare and contrast.

Early 90s Dance Backing Track (Anlg) – SKETCH – 1994:

I assume that this brief snippet that I’ve uploaded here was intended to be an upbeat song of some description, but unlike many backing tracks that I wrote and have then unearthed after many years, I am completely at a loss with this one as to what the melody might have been, let alone what it was going to be called. It sort of holds up on its own as an instrumental though – to some extent at least.

February 2021

This Month’s Audio Uploads:

Reminiscence – 2009:

A sweet and gentle theme that I wrote back in 2009 whilst living in Sweden, notable primarily for me actually playing acoustic guitar and some strange wooden flute instrument that I had in my possession. I think it may have been a gift from my sister that she had picked up whilst on her travels around South East Asia? I could be wrong.

Bubble Head (Anlg) – SKETCH – 1996:

Don’t remember much about this one. Just another idea for a track, ready to be fleshed out and completed should the right project ever have arisen.

Hello Happiness – SECTION – 2010:

Can’t remember the exact commission that this re-working of the old Drifters classic was recorded for, but I don’t think it ever came to much. I believe the brief required us to do something with a hint of ‘Noah & The Whale’ about it.

Foster Imposter (Anlg) – SKETCH – 1995:

As with a number of my noodlings from around this time, this little sketch has shades of David Foster about it. It’s just a sketch though, probably thrown together in an hour or so. One I’d be quite happy to finish at some point.

Wayward Wolf Theme (Alternative Version) – SECTION – 2010:

Another version of the Wayward Wolf Theme for you. The differences between each version are quite subtle.

We Changed – SECTION – 2004:

It’s a shame that the arrangement for this song was so cluttered and messy because it has a chorus that I’m still quite a fan of to this day. Nick Rundall provided the guitar parts on this one, whilst all vocals are courtesy of yours truly.

Upbeat Country Theme – SECTION – SKETCH – 2012:

Apple loops a plenty in this energetic little number.

Marbella (After Hours) – SECTION – 2005:

A little idea I had for a track to accompany a little travelogue video I was working on, whilst on one of a very large number of trips I’ve made to Marbella over the years. Very much my spiritual home from home.

Call Of The Wild (Anlg) – 1992:

Although the backing to this song is a little warped and very dry and crusty (technology limitations of mine at the time), there’s still something I like about this little ode to the classic Jack London novel of the same name – more specifically, an ode to Ken Annakin’s 1972 film adaptation starring Charlton Heston. The idea was based upon a theme taken from Carlo Rustichelli’s haunting score.

Daytime TV Theme – SKETCH – 1993:

I remember going through a phase of trying my hand at writing themes for TV in any number of styles I could think of, and this was my tongue-in-cheek attempt at a daytime TV theme. Think Pebble Mill At One without the budget.

January 2021

This Month’s Audio Uploads:

Up And At ‘Em – 2012:

A brief high energy snippet to get the New Year underway. Blink and you’ll miss it!

Twist It Off – 2009:

This bit of fun got me and my CGN Songs partner, Peter Godfrey, embroiled in a very frustrating waiting game. Having had this track selected – with great enthusiasm, it should be added- by our man in the U.S, for use in a cleaning products commercial, there followed endless in-house politics and company restructuring State-side, which left us with an interminable wait for the final sign-off on this project. These two minutes of dubiously-titled nonsense were great fun to work on though, and I think with regards to hitting the mark, this is probably one of the best things we ever did at CGN Songs. A particular shout out to Mr Justin Carroll for his help in ramping up the lyric-writing nonsense levels whilst we were out in Sweden. “Granny’s got the hang of it…” indeed!

River Of Illusion (Anlg) – Section – 1998:

A third take from the Carson/ Nick Rundall 1998 demo tapes. River of Illusion was by and large one of Nick’s tracks, though I had a strong hand in fleshing out some of Nick’s ideas, re-shaping melodies and lyrics, adding backing vocal ideas and so on. This is just a short section taken from the track’s early stages, and it builds considerably from this point on. Apologies for any hiss and occasional tape warping issues. The digital master copy of this song is sadly corrupted beyond salvation.

The Light (Anlg) – Section – 1992:

Owing to its desperately bad verse sections, one of the tracks that missed the cut from my first ‘album’ Just Enough, was The Light. Bad verses or not, I always rather liked the choruses and indeed the track’s later stages, including a rather poor impression of the kind of spoken monologue Vincent Price did so well in Michael Jackson’s classic, Thriller. Written and recorded during the days of my trusty yet rather limited little effect-less travel companion, the Yamaha QY10, the sounds and production in general is terrible, but thanks to some Korg synth overdubs and some phase-like reverb, the whole thing is made a little more presentable.

First Time Last Time – Sketch – 2012:

The early working stages of a little up-beat country number that I was working on. Though intended for a sassy female lead vocal, you’ll have to endure my ‘place-holding’ falsetto offering in this version. I like to think that this track has some legs though, were I ever to turn my attentions to it properly in the future.

End in Sight (Anlg) – Rough Demo – 1996:

One of the many short instrumental track demos I did in the mid-nineties. Incomplete, but some nice ideas to work with here.

Because Of You – SKETCH – 2012:

Another track in its early working stages, and another track with my vocals purely as a guide. Nothing more. Because of You is a song intended for either a female lead voice or perhaps a kind of soulful El DeBarge style vocal. You’ll note a general lack of lyrics. Just one of the many elements of this track that was never completed. It is just a sketch of an idea, after all.

Mellow Guitar Track – Full Version – 2010:

A sparsely produced, thoughtful instrumental intended for use as library music. NB: No actual guitars were used or indeed harmed in the making of this track.

Death To The Pop World (Anlg) – Section – 1992:

This song was taken from my 1992 ‘Festive E.P’ and features the guitar work of Jim Thomas. One of a number of ‘albums’ we messed about on back in the early ’90s. Not so much me wishing death on the pop world, more a lament that pop music was not now (in 1992) what it once had been. Christ, if the pop world was indeed experiencing a crisis of identity and quality back then, what the hell kind of barrel-scraped diseased entity would I be bemoaning nowadays in 2020! The mind boggles.

In Honour (Anlg) – SKETCH – 1996:

I rediscovered this orchestral number recently on an old analogue cassette. Some nice ideas scattered around in here, but I have little to no recollection of ever having written it.

December 2020

This Month’s Audio Uploads:

Red Hot – Full Version – 2010

Despite the track’s title, this is not in fact some wah pedal-infused porn soundtrack music, but rather a CGN Songs commission piece for an enthusiastic retail marketing campaign. A sort of fun, jazzy, slightly Glen Miller-esque track idea, filling your minds with one thing only – the need to shop. And begging the question: “Why don’t you give it a shot? It’s gonna be red hot!” Face it, you’re even reaching for your cheque books as you listen to it. Job done.

Hammer Funk – DEMO – 2012

A funky synth, guitar, bass and brass track. Used a few times in a library music context over the years.

Easy (Anlg) – Section – 1998

A section from Easy, a second track taken from the Carson / Rundall 1998 demo tape. And it’s more or less a carbon-copy of my assessment of November’s track, ‘Givin’ It Up‘, with singer Zubeida’s vocal proving once again to be strong yet ultimately too free / not tight enough, groove-wise, in its delivery. I ran this track by Nick Rundall again recently and he more or less echoed my sentiments. We both agreed that some elements of the production should be revisited again too. Still, Easy remains a strong, radio-friendly pop song of which we’re both fairly proud. A strong song can always be identified as such regardless of how it’s dressed up and delivered. Excuse the occasional tape flutter. It is, after all, a 22 year-old C90 cassette recording!

La Vecchia Piazza – SKETCH – 2011

I envisioned a lovely old cobbled historic Italian Piazza in my mind, and on the back of that I came up with this little ditty. Probably inspired by the sort of location used in film’s such as Cinema Paradiso. Church bells and a gentle Waltz feel.

Music for ChewTV Promotional Ident – 2010

Another commission from the late Humtoo site. Lord alone knows what ChewTV is / was / could be, but this was my bit of throw-away guff to accompany its promotional ident.

This Time (Anlg) – Full Version – DEMO – 1995

Not to be confused with my unrelentingly upbeat CGN Songs track of the same name, this altogether more sombre affair is a melancholic song full of anguish. Not the greatest of lead vocal takes, admittedly, but another strong song, I feel. This demo was recorded entirely using a Yamaha SY85 Workstation, a Tascam 644 midistudio, and an effects unit – can’t recall which though.

Contemporary Latin Track – Full Version – 2010

As a frequent visitor to the Andalucian town of Marbella (Casco Antiguo area, not Puerto Banus) over the years since 1998, I have promised myself for the longest time that I would put together a video in tribute of said area. The HD video footage was shot many years ago and was always just waiting for a suitable soundtrack to accompany it. Hopefully this little contemporary latin number of mine can be just that. The Marbella project is one to be tackled in the future, and given my feelings for that particular part of the world, it will almost certainly be something of a labour of love. Watch this space…

Walking Tall (Anlg) – Full Version – 1995

If memory serves me correctly, Walking Tall was a track I wrote that was inspired in equal measures by 1980’s classic Brat-pack movie, The Breakfast Club, and by the 1980s soundtrack music of David Foster. The track is meant to depict some sort of triumph over adversity. Hold your head up and high. A positive message in a sea of negativity. Or something.

Motific (Anlg) – Full Version – 1994

An instrumental written as an assessment piece during my University College Salford days. The task? To write a piece that was ‘motific’, hence the track title. Excuse the audio quality. It’s a little fuzzy given that it was taken from an old cassette that had been festering in a box in a loft for more than two-and-a-half decades!

This Time (Anlg) – (Early Ideas) – SKETCH – 1995

A shortened sketch version of the This Time track featured earlier in this set of December audio uploads. Essentially this is a sort of early working version experimenting with a few ideas. And it’s another old cassette recording that I was blissfully unaware even existed until this year. Always interesting (for me at least!) to hear a track in progress.

November 2020

This Month’s Audio Uploads:

Life Is An Open Door – 2009

Not to be mistaken for the popular song from the movie, Frozen – namely: “Love Is An Open Door” – LIFE Is An Open Door was written a couple of years prior to the aforementioned Disney ‘classic’ for a CGN Songs media commission.

This Memory – 1996

This was an instrumental written as one of my University projects back in 1996. Although a little clumsy in places, production-wise, I like to think that this piece has lasted the test of time rather nicely. Recently rescued from an old DCC tape, it’s nice to have this one back in the fold once again.

Grand Brand – Section – 2010

Grand Brand was a grandiose theme I wrote for a hypothetical high-end car advert.

Fuggers (Opening Credits) – 2010

Ten years ago, my CGN Songs partner, Peter Godfrey, and I, attended the London Premiere of the pilot episode of a sitcom for which we’d written the theme tune. Fuggers was its name, the brainchild of actress, author and ‘creative bohemian’, Vanessa Leah Stevenson. Sadly, it never got properly off the ground, but it was fun putting the quirky music together at the time.

Givin’ It Up (Anlg) – Section – 1998

Back in 1998, my old mate, Nick Rundall, and I, worked on some tracks for a short four track demo with a view to getting these heard via one of Nick’s relatives, who was an influential music industry contact. I forget the singer’s name. She had a nice tone to her voice, but I remember it being quite the battle to adapt her Jazz and Musicals singing style to the more straight forward, tight-groove pop style that we needed. I recall Goldie, Roni Size, and Drum and Bass in general being quite a big influence at the time, and we tried to infuse a flavour of this into our demo, along with some of the mainstream pop sounds of the time, like The Brand New Heavies, Olive and the like. Listening back, there’s plenty I’d have done differently, but the song is pretty strong, radio friendly and has lasted well, I like to think.

Muchly Crutchley (Revisited) – 2013

A fun reggae-influenced theme. Could be used for anything, and was named after my good friend and fellow Friday night footballer, Rob Crutchley. Rob is a bit of a reggae aficionado, so hopefully my lending his name to this piece of light-hearted nonsense is not too offensive to the man’s highly evolved, cultured reggae tastes!

Flexible Films Incidental Theme 1 (Cello Mix) – 2012

A sort of dream-like soundscape of a theme, written to be used for any projects really, but with the kind of background incidental vibe required of some of the Flexible Films projects that I’d been involved with.

Coast Guard (Anlg) – 1996

Acquiring an Akai S2000 sampler in the early-mid 1990s was a game changer in many ways for me, and Coast Guard was a track of which I was rather proud, incorporating as it did sampled string lines, gull sounds, brass stabs and vocal wailing, in conjunction with my trusty Yamaha SY85 library that tended to comprise the bulk of my core sound at that time. It’s taken from an old cassette (Anlg – Analogue) recording which thankfully, twenty-four years later, remains relatively unscathed. I have the original DCC master tape of the track still, but it refuses to play. Rubbish ‘modern’ digital technology.

Benn Gone Barmy (Anlg) – 1993

On listening back to this track in 2020, it dawned on me that I was probably subliminally inspired by a section of incidental music taken from the children’s classic television programme, Mr Benn. (Scroll to 2:33 in the video for the brief theme in question). Granted, it’s only a tenuous likeness, and my track is altogether more deranged, but given that I was a huge fan of the programme as a kid, and can still sing you each and every piece of theme music from it to this day, there’s definitely a strong liklihood that my hunch of subliminal influence is completely accurate.

Fuggers (Closing Credits) – 2010

A slight alteration to the words here for an otherwise identical piece to that recorded for the opening credits.

September 2020:

This Month’s Audio Uploads:

FORGIVE ME – FULL VERSION – 1997:

Forgive Me - SONG - Lyrics

A song that laments the end of one of my long-term relationships. I forget who laid down the guitar parts. Possibly Nick Rundall? It’s a song that I’ve occasionally revisited over the years, and thankfully one that continues to please despite its various mix frailties. All vocals are courtesy of me. A brief summary of Forgive Me can be found in the A-Z section of the site.

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HERE COMES THE RETRO HAMMER – FULL VERSION – 2010:

A full-length, upbeat ‘swirling’ instrumental.

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HOME – SONG SAMPLE & OUTRO – DEMO – 2011:

Michael Bublé’s silky tones on his smash hit, Home, are a seriously tough act to follow when it comes to cover versions. And although my own version limps along somewhat feebly some way back in the distance, there are still some elements of it that were pleasing, including a new outro section that I devised and tagged onto the song’s end.

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BROKEN – SKETCH – 1994:

A moody theme entirely composed and realised via the Yamaha SY85 Workstation‘s own internal sequencer.

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SPEAK TO ME – FULL VERSION – 1995:

A ‘chilled-out’ instrumental from the mid-90s sessions, featuring a brief sneaky Toto sample, taken from their Tambu album.

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NEWSBEAT – SKETCH – 1990:

Another Yamaha SY85 Workstation sketch. This was a sort of current-affairs TV programme theme that I cobbled together back in my late teen years. Probably inspired by any number of news programmes over the years. Maybe even John Craven’s Newsround, or some other such kids’ show from my childhood.

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PAINT ME A PICTURE – FULL VERSION – 2010:

©CGNSongs

This was a second, strange CGN Songs pitch for a light-hearted scene in a U.S TV show. It was shelved in favour of my CGN Songs partner, Peter Godfrey‘s offering. Sadly, neither was ultimately used, if memory serves correctly.

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GLACIAL – SECTIONS – 2009:

Sections taken from an instrumental that was loosely inspired by the majestic, ever-so-slow-moving Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. I recall staying in a tiny neighbouring town whose bars were all packed full of locals staring at TV coverage of the glacier, waiting for a section of it to crumble away and fall into the water below. Riveting stuff down that way, apparently.

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TELL ME MORE – SKETCH – 2010:

A brief snippet from a mid-tempo library track from the Wayward Wolf years.

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THREE TIME THEME – SECTION – 2005:

A theme with percussive and jazz elements to it.

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