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Dear Friends
It is with immense sadness that I have to inform you that my dearest friend
Keith Girdler died on May 15th 2007. Keith passed away peacefully after a
recent deterioration in his condition - he was diagnosed with cancer in July
2004. Keith was a truly special person and I know that many people will hold
very fond memories of their time spent in his company. Keith is survived by
his partner, his siblings and their families. We are all devastated at the
tragic loss of Keith and we will miss him enormously.
Keith was known to many as the singer in Blueboy - a brilliant band who are
still seen as influential many years since they last released a record. He
was a gifted songwriter and he had a beautiful voice. I considered Keith to
be not only my best friend but an amazingly talented person. It was a huge
privilege to know him. Despite continuing to release records with his other
groups Arabesque, Beaumont, Lovejoy and The Snowdrops, Keith's focus shifted
away from music in recent years. He enjoyed a successful career, first by
training as a qualified social worker and then developing a skilled role as
Volunteer Services Manager for Age Concern Eastbourne. He was passionate
about his work and the need to stand up for some of the most vulnerable
elderly people in our society. Keith was exteremly brave and he continued
in his work for as long as possible during his illness. I know that Keith
was very highly regarded by his colleagues and the people for whom he provided
care and support in his work. He was a selfless and gentle person who
genuinely affected everyone he knew with his warmth, kindness, humility
and humour.
Keith wanted to be remembered, to use his own words, with
'happiness and smiles' -
which for those of us fortunate enough to have known him, will come
all too easily despite our grief.
Words cannot really come close to describing the feelings we have about Keith.
However, I know that many people will want to express their sorrow at this
news and their sympathy to his family and friends. If you would like to send
a message of condolence, or share your memories of Keith, please send an email
to
.
Messages and tributes to Keith will be published online in the near future,
when a suitable web location has been established.
Richard Preece May 22 2007
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 12:52:48 +0100
To: indiepop-list
From: siesta.es
Subject: Blueboy gone Beaumont
a quickish note to confirm that the beaumont debut album "this is beaumont"
will be due for release on february 14th on deluxe digipak cd and twelve
inch vinyl LP format. it is a genuine masterpiece.
musically yours
club siesta
Subject: blueboy
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 21:57:47 +0000 (GMT)
From: Keith Girdler
To: shane
Hi,its keith here (from Blueboy). I've just read your website which looks
great. I'm very flattered that someone took the time to do this. Paul and I
have just recently completed an lp for
Siesta records under our new name
Beaumont. I doubt if there will be another Blueboy record, but if you
want anymore info or, more importantly any Beaumont information, then contact
us. Snowbound International Pop Club is an organisation that has
released a fanzine, and helped with a great new single on Matinee Records by
Lovejoy. Future projects for Snowbound include a new fanzine, putting
on some gigs, and DJing.
The future is bright. The future is Beaumont.
Thanks again, Keith.
Snowbound International Pop Club: Keith Girdler/Dick Preece.
Beaumont: Keith Girdler/Paul Stewart.
Lovejoy: Dick Preece.
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 00:54:10 -0400
To: shane
From: Mick McMick
Organization: Sandcastle Records
Hi Shane,
I'm curious as to why you haven't added the news from the new Shinkansen
newsletter? Did you not get it? I did, and here's what it had to say after
describing The Bank of England...
"OK, this is what happened. One Friday afternoon last Spring, I met singer
Keith in the foyer of the Royal Festival Hall, and discreetly-wrapped
packages were surreptitiously exchanged. When I got home, I discovered mine
was the master-tape for eleven new Blueboy songs. Which made the set of five
Field Mice finger-puppets I'd given him in return seem not just rather dull,
but wildly inappropriate.
<various details about the new album deleted>
"That's the end of the good news. The bad news is that, when he got back to
Brighton, Keith was so excited by the finger-puppets he decided to disband
Blueboy forthwith and go into the entertainment business instead. Which is
why these days you'll mostly find him down on the sea-front, waggling away at
people from inside a little canvas booth or, when one isn't available, from
behind the neighbouring bushes.
"In short, I think new Blueboy recordings are unlikely."
So, um, looks like they broke up =(
_____
From: shane
To: Matt Haynes
Subject: Blueboy...again
Date: Wednesday, May 26, 1999 03:06
Hello, Matt
Earlier this year I corresponded with you regarding my Unofficial Site
dedicated to Blueboy. I again have a few more questions that perhaps you can
help with -- if you don't mind.
I've just read some email asking me if I had received your latest Newsletter
mentioning that "new Blueboy recordings are unlikely" now that "Keith has
disbanded the band." Am I being put on, or is this true?
_____
Subject: Re: Blueboy...again
Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 15:22:55 +0100
To: shane
From: "Shinkansen" <shink@dircon.co.uk>
Organization: http://home.btconnect.com/smoke/shinkansen.htm/
Shane,
Mmm... no, it's true, pretty much... though I don't put it past them to
change their minds again. Did you spot that the last track of their last
album finished with the guitar-line from their first single? I think they
thought that rounded it all off nicely...
Matt
Shinkansen Recordings, PO BOX 14274, LONDON, SE11 6ZG, ENGLAND
September 29th, 1998 excerpt by kind permission of Shinkansen Recordings © Matt Haynes.
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Blueboy would like to announce that they have retired from live
performance.
July 13th, 1998 excerpt by kind permission of Shinkansen Recordings © Matt Haynes.
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OK, the Blueboy single and album are both now out, delayed by the usual
things that delay records, but you don't want to know about that. The
single is Marco Polo and comes in 7" or CD versions, the CD including
the two songs from their previous 7". The album is The Bank Of England,
and is CD only. There aren't any gigs, surprise surprise.
May 24th, 1998 excerpt by kind permission of Shinkansen Recordings © Matt Haynes.
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Predictably, both the single and album release dates have been shunted
back a week. But on June 8th you'll finally be able to buy Marco Polo
(SHINKANSEN 9/9CD), in a nice creamy sleeve with a photo of some friends
of Keith's on the front (I'm guessing...) -- and a picture of a radio on
the back, because Paul collects old radios. Hey, it's a hobby. There are
worse (see front of sleeve).
Trackwise, the 7" has "Marco Polo", a bright and breezy 3 minute
popsong, b/w "What Do People Do All Day?", the exact opposite. If you
buy the CD, you get those two plus "Love Yourself" and
"Melancholia" (both from their first Shinkansen 7"). And then, on
July 6th, the album, The Bank Of England (SHINKANSEN 12CD) (CD only)
is released.
Note that the album version of "Marco Polo" is slightly longer than
the single version... this isn't especially interesting, but I thought I'd
point it out in case you thought you were going mad. Also, the version
of "Love Yourself" on the album differs fractionally from the original
7" version in that the opening few notes have been re-instated, after having
been ruthlessly removed by the modern-day marvel of the digital editing
suite when the original DAT was compiled.
Both single and album introduce Blueboy's three new members: Cath
Close on vocals, Ian Gardner on drums and James Neville
on bass. They join the original duo of Keith Girdler (vocals) and
Paul Stewart (guitar) -- but I'm sure you already knew that. If
not, you won't have had a clue who I was talking about in the first
paragraph.
Those gigs I tried to prepare you for last time look highly unlikely to
happen, don't they?
April 5th, 1998 excerpt by kind permission of Shinkansen Recordings © Matt Haynes.
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I told you last time that Keith had slipped me a package at the Royal
Festival Hall and that, much to my pleasure, it had turned out to be a
master-tape for the new Blueboy album. Or album and single, to be
precise.
The band are threatening to do some gigs some time around the release of
this stuff... although, being realistic (i.e. bearing in mind
work-commitments, money, general recalcitrance and bloody-mindedness etc.),
it probably isn't that interesting if you aren't from either Reading or
London, but... we live in hope. Unlike Keith, who lives in Hove.
March 1st, 1998 excerpt by kind permission of Shinkansen Recordings © Matt Haynes.
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On Friday I met Keith from Blueboy in the foyer of the Royal Festival
Hall, and discreetly-wrapped packages were surreptitiously exchanged.
When I got home, I discovered that mine was a DAT of the new Blueboy
album, The Bank Of England, which they finally finished recording
on Wednesday. Which makes the set of five Field Mice finger-puppets I
gave him in return seem not just rather dull but wildly
inappropriate.
This Blueboy album is, of course, something else that's dragged on way
longer than it should. But, hey, if a things worth doing, it's worth
doing slowly. As I often say to myself. Over and over again. Late at
night. And, indeed, there's still a possibility that one of the tracks
will have to be remixed. So, I shall say no more about it here - we'll
make some tough decisions this coming week, hopefully, and I'll update
the
web-site again in a
couple of weeks or so once we know what we're doing; all you need to
know for now is that I have a tape of eleven new songs, I'm the only
person in the whole world who does, and you're extremely jealous. Oh,
and they all sound better than Unisex.
September 15th 1997 excerpt by kind permission of Shinkansen Recordings © Matt Haynes.
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Blueboy released their "Love Yourself"/"Melancholia" 7" last year.
It was recorded, as the sleeve photo implied, as a duo of Keith
(vocals) and Paul (guitars) - with Keris from Brighter
guesting on keyboards. Since then, they've recruited James on bass,
Ian on drums, and Cath on additional vocals. And they're
currently midway through recording a new album, entitled The Bank of
England, and hope to start playing live again soon so, if you live in
the Reading area, keep an eye out. At the moment, we have a single
pencilled in for the end of November, with the album for the start of
February -- but, since the recording still isn't finished and it's already
mid-September, this is looking increasingly optimistic. But we'll stick
with that story for now.
Something important. An earlier working title for the album was
Remember Us?, which the more quick-witted of you will spot is a
reference to the appalling "Remember Me" single that was a worldwide
mega-hit earlier this year by a band/artiste named "The Blue Boy",
though you'd never have guessed it from the original sleeve artwork, which
had the "The" a fraction of the size of the "Blue Boy" and no gap between
the "Blue" and the "Boy". Some of their publicity material also made no
effort to refer to the band as anything but "Blueboy". The
music-industry is full of lovely, charming, helpful people. Amusingly,
Melody Maker printed a picture of our Blueboy alongside a review of
"Remember Me".
I shan't bore you with all the tedious background... suffice to say, we
were a victim of our own good nature -- when the band's first release
originally came out (under the name "Blueboy"), I think they were
genuinely oblivious to the existence of our Blueboy; that certainly
wasn't the case when "Remember Me" was re-issued as a single, but
we allowed them to go ahead on condition they changed their name from
"Blueboy" to "The Blue Boy". In retrospect, we should have told them to
just go away and think of another name. Last month, an old The Blue Boy
single was re-released by another label -- please avoid these records
with every atom of your body.
In a desperate attempt to make this Blueboy stuff more interesting, I
phoned Keith to see if there was any other news and gossip. Here's a
brief summary. Paul has had a baby, called Jack. (Yes, I know
that, biologically speaking, it isn't Paul who's had the baby -- but if I
said Michelle had had a baby, you wouldn't know who I was talking
about).
Keith hasn't had a baby, by any definition, and isn't likely to
if he carries on the way he does, but he has taken up growing herbs. And it
seems he's having a bit of a problem with his thyme: the plant itself
has gone all bushy, while the flowers went white, then brown, and then
dropped off; generally, the whole thing is just wilting away. So, if any
of you have any advice, Keith would like to know.
January 11, 1996 news from Keith Girdler, as posted to the indiepop-list.
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Blueboy have not split up!! Paul Stuart and I are
carrying on as a duo. It was always our group, Harvey and
Gemma were important to us, but it's time to try something new
and different alone (..it was our tough descision to say goodbye to
Harvey and Gemma... we wish them well in the future... but their dream
was not the same as ours.)
We aim to make Blueboy less cluttered, no more britpop overtones or
p.u.n.k.y intros. Instead, just good old fashioned pop songs... acoustic
guitars, vocals... pure and simple. Expect a cross between
"Toulouse" and "Clearer"; (according to Beth Aberdeen
who's heard some new songs)
Paul and I are keen to get a new Blueboy single out as soon as
possible: Next weekend we are recording a demo -- two new Blueboy songs...
we're pleased with them as for what label will be releasing the new stuff
I cannot say at the moment.
As for more concrete plans, we shall be recording a new song "80's
Diaries" for an él (Records) tribute CD being organised in
the USA by Matthew Jacobson... I imagine this will be released
sometime around early summer.
Other plans less concrete more tentative include a soundtrack video
project, a 7" popumentary single on a French label and maybe some gigs
around the summer.
Oh and if anyone out there wants more Arabesque (our fantasy-jazz-Mike
Alway inspired pop combo) we will be recording three new songs very
soon... "Lemonade", "Dream Topping" and "Love Is..."
Well, that's all my new for the Internet. I just wanted to clarify a few
things, and if any mother ferguson out there is still spreading Blueboy
split rumours... shut up!!!
To America, our new home we send love and kisses... big hello's to Keith
D'arcy, Matthew Jacobson, Stephin Merritt and Claudia, F.M. Cornog, The
Bomb Pops, Grimsey Records, and the wonderous Beth
Aberdeen...
lets keep pop beautiful!, Keith Blueboy / January 11th 1996
January 1996 excerpt from the final Sarah Newsletter.
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Blueboy have restructured themselves: they're now back to a duo of
Keith and Paul. Because Keith reckoned that he'd reached his peak during
the Sarah 100 performance (it's a shame we weren't watching) and that to
prolong it further would just spoil it. Imagine you're making a meringue:
you whip the egg-whites up to nice stiff peaks but then if you overwhip
them they just go soft and useless; I presume that's what Keith had in
mind. Which reminds me: if you spotted the copy of US gay porn mag
Blueboy lurking on the back cover of Sarah 99, you might like to know
that the magazine was so, um, tickled by this that their March issue
includes a photo of our Keith amid a motley array of pink bottoms and
perky whatnots (sigh... I still regret not going to that party...) along
with the by-line 'Britain has a new group who named themselves after
their favourite manzine'. And if you're wondering how Blueboy (the
magazine) found out about the band, blame Beth from Aberdeen, who often
has to speak to the magazine's editor in the course of her dayjob. Two
other Blueboy items: a performance artist in Australia is currently doing
a show about River Pheonix which seems to involve much lipstick and
audience abuse to the sound of Blueboy's River, and a magician in America
wants them to compose the music to which he comes on stage and,
presumably, saws people in half. Another job for Keith's magic wand,
methinks.
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