GiNGER’s BIRTHDAY PRESSIES
How it all began and ended (and what happened in between).

In honour of Ginger's 37th birthday a group of fans got together to record a tribute song; a stunning reworking of the Wildhearts classic 29x The Pain and for the first time anywhere you can now read the whole story and download the track right here!

All those involved chipped in to cover the cost of the various projects and the remaining dosh at the end was donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. If you decide to download the track we ask that you kindly take a look at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust homepage and consider making a small donation to the cause. Any donation is greatly appreciated and can be made online. Many thanks!

THE TUNES

1. 37x The Pain - The Listees
   [Download]

2. Geordie In Wonderland - The Listees
   [Download]

THE CD ARTWORK

iNTRODUCTiON

It was a cold, winter’s day (22nd November, to be precise) when the first rumours of the Ginger solo gigs surfaced. Confirmation followed soon after from the tireless individuals at www.silverginger.co.uk.

The news warmed even the coldest of ‘hearts, and caused much excitement. For some, this excitement manifested itself as fevered rantings in the middle of the night, for others the symptoms were much worse. As the days passed, this excitement culminated in more than a few individuals ‘sitting in a rapidly growing puddle of their own urine’ (© Darren Stockford 2001) come the day of the gig at The Garage.

However, this was not just a normal gig. For a small bunch, this was something much, more – a chance to give something back, something unique for a very unique person.

And it all began on the 27th November, when one learned Listee, going by the name of Toby,  posted….

“It may have occurred to you that the Ginger gig at the Garage is only 2 days after Ginger’s birthday!
I have a cunning plan
LETS GET HIM A B’DAY PRESSiE!”

The opportunity was there, and the Listees were eager to take it. And so it began.

iN THE BEGiNNiNG…

Toby quietly rallied together an elite group of 10 or so Listees, all done in the background, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the Gingery one. It was understood the list, a regular haunt of Ginger’s, was not the place for our discussions.

This founding group decided to set up a new list, where we were free to share our knowledge, ideas and wisdom. The ‘Gingerspressy’ list was duly born.

Some good ideas were bandied around amongst the first few members, some of which would continue to be explored. But before we’d had time to chew over some of these, out of nowhere somebody came forward with an idea that would form the centre of this project – something that would give us the truly unique and special present we needed. On the 29th November at 3:25pm GMT, somebody had a moment of genius. No one was surprised that it came from Darren Stockford…..

“We could, I dunno, rewrite the lyrics to '29 x The Pain' or something. Call it '37 x The Pain', with Wildhearts and Ginger references throughout instead of Cheap Trick, etc. We could burn a CD, make a cover...”

ESTABLiSHiNG THE LYRiCS

It all seems kind off hazy now, but Darren’s initial idea sparked off a brain storming frenzy amongst some clearly talented and creative individuals. This is a summary of what occurred over the next few hours….

Thursday 29th November, 2001:

After 5 hours of collective song writing, the majority of the final lyrics had been established and recording had also been organised. Something very exciting had well and truly begun. 

PREPARATiON FOR THE RECORDiNG SESSiON

Over the next week, the finer details were organised. The names of those able to participate were established, and the need for a kazoo section became apparent (Mark Stephens, Nov 30th). From the early stages the professionalism and seriousness with which the whole project was being approached were set out:

“I'm sure Ginger will see it for what it is... a bunch of musically inept people coming together out of a love for his music. I'm sure he'll love it!” 
Rob Bates, 30th November

“And, er, when I say "I can sing", I really mean "I'm willing to give it a whirl, but I'll bring some ear plugs for y'all, just in case."”
Darren Stockford, 30th November

“While we're on the subject, when I don't say I'll make the tea I'll gladly do so if required but its for your own good as my tea's widely regarded as being a bit shite.”
Mark Stephens, 30th November

ARTWORK & TiTLE

While the finer points of recording were being finalised, attention turned to adorning this sonic masterpiece with a suitably jazzy cover. Ideas were tossed around amongst the more active (read: lazy at work, so on the net all day…and yes, that included me) listees.

Darren Stockford made available another quality illustration from Dave Heulun, which eventually formed part of the cover (and also coincidentally featured on the t-shirt available at the gigs). Mark Stephens and Rob Bates also contributed ideas for the cover.

Once again, when something was needed, the right person stepped up at the right time. In this instance, it was Velvet Presley. Over the next few days Velv came up with a number of potential covers, before finally settling on the Ginger head/candle design. In another spark of inspiration, the actual CD label featured a smoking candle, cake crumbs, and a lone eye. Nice!

In working on the cover design, Velv also brought about the title for this lovely piece of work, and henceforth it was known as ‘The Birthday EP’.

Another idea of Velv’s inspired other listees, and the design for the rear of the CD was decided. An appeal from Velv for everyone to send a picture for the inside sleeve added a personal touch from all the contributors.

Once Velv had finalised the design, it was sent to Sue Carter for printing on some swanky printing device.

THE COMiC

Whilst all the other plans were taking shape, Percy came up with a corker (3rd December). He had remembered a post from Ginger to the list on the 22nd November:

"If anyone can get hold of the first three issues of Action comic for me (a British comic book from the '70's featuring Hookjaw The Shark), I'd be so grateful that I'd stick a bunch of shit in the mail or something!"

Now, clearly Percy is a very observant individual and found an online auction for Issue 1! A second pressie was lined up – all we had to do was bid successfully for it.

Bidding was due to end at 17:30 on the 6th December. It was a very tense 15 minutes for those listees that followed the bidding at the time – because there was somebody else that really wanted this comic. Bid history is as follows:-

At the start of the day (6th December), the winning bid was held by a bidder called “GH”. The bid was for £5, but this person had a proxy vote of undisclosed limit…

At that point, Tim had to go off-line to go home. Rob Bates took over by putting in a proxy bid of £45 – the limit was not visible to anyone else. Only 40 minutes to go, and the auction would be over (unless there was activity at the close of bidding, whereby it would be extended).

Thankfully, GH gives up and Ginger had another Birthday present!

However, at that point the Listees appeared to forget their motivation for buying presents, and seemed to feel it entitled them to some payback. This is illustrated clearly in the following post:

“Tell you what, I'll put a post-it note on the front saying "this cost us £36, so play Sky Babies ya sod!"”
Rob Bates, 6th December

THE RECORDiNG SESSiON

The day arrived without delay, and it was much anticipated. This was our chance to give our bit back. When Sue Carter and myself arrived at longhair’s the house was resonating with the sound of the guitar for 29x – and it was a good feeling. Unfortunately, due to the degree of resonance going on, it took several minutes to get anyone to find out we were outside – and it was bloody cold.

So, more nervous listee meeting moments, but before long we all seemed relaxed. First arrival was Joe, followed by Sue and myself. Mark Stephens arrived next, followed by Pat Olver, then Darren and Tara Stockford. Trace turned up a little later.

Longhair, clearly a seasoned pro, made everyone aware of certain rituals that needed to be followed. One of which was the ‘red bulb attached to a standard lamp’ routine. Throughout the remainder of the day, those assembled took turns to operate the light to indicate when we were actually recording. This was a very important part of proceedings, and added to the authenticity. Incidentally, our search for a green bulb was only partially successful – we found one, but it didn’t work. Happily, it didn’t turn out to be a bad omen.

Whilst Joe laid down some guitar (that lad can play), the lyrics were finalised by Pat, Tara, Darren and Trudi. Longhair kindly let me have a go at putting down some guitar. Without being self-effacing I can say that it was less than good, but what the hell - I enjoy making an incoherent racket (no “Endless, Nameless” jokes, please). Then longhair did the bass, in one take apparently. Any imperfections on the guitar work would be sorted in the mix.

We all sat round in a circle and half sang/spoke through the final version, nerves quite apparent. Well you would be wouldn’t you? Singing with a bunch of people you don’t know very well (at least from my perspective). So, first up were the ladies. They put in a credible first take – mostly word perfect, but maybe lacking a little in gusto (Trace hadn’t arrived yet). But mostly they were damn good. When Trace did arrive, the improvisation on the duck song was great! To anyone down South, calling your rock God a “twat” would be considered derogatory – but apparently it’s a term of endearment up North! It was a good laugh in any case, and can be heard in all its splendour on the finished product.

The lads had a go, and were not bad from where I was stood. I was expecting everyone to clam up, but to our credit we all went for it. We seemed to struggle more with the timing and lyrics, and I have memories of Darren looking frustrated quite a lot! (note: this is not because he was the sole source of these cock-ups, but because he’s a perfectionist - and that’s why we love ‘im!). But, in the end we didn’t do too bad. Nerves went very quickly and we would have happily done take after take (wouldn’t we?). We decided to call it a day on the male vocals – any imperfections would be fixed during mixing (!). 

To enhance our version, and stay true to the original, we found time to add harmonies. Tara, Sue, Pat and Trudi did the female harmonies to perfection, and on first playback over the existing vocals sounded very good. We just needed some low harmonies – up stood longhair to do the honours. 

Now, longhair deserves much credit for his help in this project – it was his house, his equipment and his expertise that pulled the whole project together. The song would not have happened without this guy (and, of course, Trudi). However, longhair’s harmonies were the cause of considerable merriment and hilarity – in fact, there was not a dry eye in the house (and my I venture, a change of underwear was perhaps required by more than a few). It wasn’t so much longhair’s voice, it was more the fact that he could hear the backing track through his headphone but we couldn’t. Also, the ladies had carefully worked out what they were going to sing, and when they were going to sing it. Longhair did it a little more loosely than that (ie, stuck the headphones on, and starting grunting and crooning). It’s a moment I will never forget, and it touched me deep inside…! 

By the time the harmonies were done, we were a few hours in with only a couple left before everyone had to go. Time enough to get in some acapella kazoo from Joe and Mark This seemed to go pretty well, but any bum notes would easily be corrected at the mixing stage (bit of a theme going on here? – ed). 

There was enough time left for some chips (thank you, whoever that was), and some jamming by Joe and longhair (with occasional bum notes from me). But all too soon it was over, but at least we’d done what we needed to do. And had a good time into the bargain – without the use of alcohol, to everyone’s surprise (I was driving, so at least I’ve got an excuse). 

MiXiNG

This section will follow soon - Longhair/Sue/Trudi to complete!

Until it's here and to cut a long story short: Longhair, Sue and Trudi made the recording sound good with lots of technical gubbins you and I wouldn't understand anyway :o) - ed

THE CARD

And what Birthday greeting would be complete without a card? On the 3rd December, Toby suggested a twist to this traditional greeting, by using a camera with instant/sticky film. This would allow other listees/gig goers to contribute a message and a photo to identify themselves. 

Tim Mortlock duly took the reigns for this the day after, taking it with him to one of The Chasers’ gigs and getting contributions from some of those unfortunate enough unable to attend the gig at The Garage. 

On the night of the gig, Tim presided over the card ensuring it was all done in an orderly fashion – and a fine job he did too. As a small aside, if Ginger wants to know who to blame for the Anti-Product stickers on the envelope, then he needn’t look too far from this paragraph if you know what I’m saying (this will probably result in a kickin’ for Tim from Ginger, but also a place in the APRA roll of honour so everyone’s happy!).

Anyway – good job Tim!

GETTiNG THE PRESSiES TO GiNGER

So, at that point the CD was recorded, mixed and packaged. The comic was duly wrapped, and the card completed and ready to go. These items needed to reach the recipient. But how? Multiple plans were duly submitted by the ever creative listees. These ranged from tunnelling under the stage, throwing the gifts at Ginger mid set, throwing ourselves at Ginger mid set (whilst holding gifts with our teeth), or, craziest of all, getting a third party involved to present them properly.

Various plans fell by the wayside and it fell to someone to take things under control. Up stepped Sue to accost one of the staff and explain the situation. He kindly agreed to aid and abet and instructed Sue to be at the stage door at the end of the set before the encore. Sorted.

What ensued is one of the best gigs there will ever be; past, present or no present(??). Alas, no gig review here, but suffice to say it was good beyond belief. At the end of the gig, matey boy dutifully appeared at the door. No sign of Sue. Panic ensued between a few people in the know. Seconds, nay minutes, nay days go by and still no Sue (she actually turned up less than a minute after the last song, but we were tense y’know!).

After a good couple of minutes of “Don’t Worry ’bout me”, Ginger and cohorts returned to the stage. Ginger said something about somebody that’s worked hard behind the scenes, but I didn’t hear it. All I could see was Sue stood next to him bearing our fine gifts, but Ginger didn’t seem to notice her straight away.

Then he did. Everything went eerily quiet, and I felt flippin’ nervous. It was like one of those dramatic moments in a film where all you can hear is a heartbeat (no word of a lie, I feel a bit nervous just writing about it). She spoke to him out of earshot of the mic, while he stood on looking a bit surprised - so I guess that part of the plan worked.

The crowd sang a spontaneous chorus of ‘Happy Birthday Ginger’ (or as Trace would put it “Happy Borthda Ginja!”), whilst he opened the card. Ginger then said some things about us being the best fans in the world, but it’s all sort of blurry now (and I wasn’t even drinking…again). But he looked really pleased with the card and laughed when he opened the comic. 

Then the soundman put on ‘The Birthday EP’. I’m not sure if most of the crowd knew it wasn’t just 29x The Pain, but as people began to hear the lyrics they realised it was different. Stidi and Random Jon Poole were dancing around like a couple of loons, and Ginger was trying to listen to the lyrics. I know I saw him smile when the “thanks Ginge!” line came up. 

So, mission accomplished. Ginger seemed really taken aback with the gifts, and maybe when he’s read/heard the lyrics he’ll have a good chuckle. 

We were then treated to a live version of “29x The Pain” which sounded superb, and was the best “Thank You” we could have asked for. 

Right, what we gonna do next year??

Surmised and distorted for personal glory by Rob Bates
20th December 2001