replies to all below

not meaning to alarm anyone, but the trouble is that music is kinda my lifeline, like it's the one thing (besides little girls, of whom i have none) that actually motivates me...

unfortunately it would seem that i'm probably not good enough to actually make this work for me. perhaps it's just that i play bass and rhythm guitar, and i really can't sing, and therefore that i kinda need to be a part of something else. i'm hoping that is actually the case - i seem to be appreciated, on the infrequent occasions i get to play out in public, but it's damnably hard to get a measure on stuff like that, particularly since - thus far - my audience has always been three sheets to the wind...

on the one hand i'm supremely overconfident - i absolutely love the noises i make, and my only stage fright is that i might break a string and have to sit the next one out, but on the other i've rather too often been told that i'm far too loud, and am playing far too much...

anyway - what i'm getting at is that the possibility of actually getting to be someplace where something might actually come together for me as a musician is basically the driving force behind pretty much everything i do on GC.

therefore be warned, eh?

taffy - jeeze, i'm so jealous - if i could get across the pond you'd already be so sick of my company by now - i'd have hunted you down and attached myself like yoko. the warning is that i'm actually kinda working on that - apparently i'm eligible for a pardon, in which case i could get a passport, and... but don't let this worry you - it takes years to complete.

cirkus - yes, del shannon - i've not heard much bon jovi yet. is bed of roses worth looking out for? i first heard the chilli peppers californication karaoke style, sung by a girl of about nine, and her slightly older brother, which kinda blew my mind.

nfih - thanks - i assumed it don't mean a thing was the duke's tune, but i wasn't sure - my fave version is live with ella on vocals, adlibbing beatles lyrics and all sorts of other stuff, but i'm not sure what album it's from. thanks for correcting me on summertime - i certainly wasn't thinking of mungo jerry, although that's cool too, in it's own way.

kimmels - paper moon has gotta be one of my all time favourites - the lyric alone seems just perfect, and there's something about the melody. i've not heard natalie's or james taylor's versions (would like to) but can add the ames brothers, louis armstrong - solo and in duet with ella fitzgerald - frank sinatra, the ink spots, the mills brothers, and stephane grapelli. janis ian is someone i keep forgetting to list amongst my favourite mentors - she's probably the reason i can't sing, because she's the one i most love singing along with. as i said to taffy - be warned - if i ever manage to get across the border, i'm gonna come looking for you.

girlsinpink - thank you twice - first for the suggestion and secondly for the chords - one of our number has been sending me mp3s by email, and if i ask nicely i'm hoping i can get a copy of this, and will learn it - the rhythm parts at least.

setlist additions:

sweet child in time - deep purple
don't let me be misunderstood - the animals
for what it's worth - buffalo springfield
aqualung - jethro tull
crosseyed mary - jethro tull
pied piper - jethro tull
moths - jethro tull
no lullaby - jethro tull

and i guess i better add - in re winston's sloganizer post - i want my mtv (paedophile) - knopfler and sting.