Pete Bowman speaks to Jason Barnard about his memories of Stanley Unwin and new single ‘Life of Stanley’.
How did the idea for the ‘Life of Stanley’ single came about?
It started with Keith at Fruits de Mer bringing out a limited edition members’ club 7″ lathe-cut last Christmas – ‘An Absolute Shower’, which featured four tracks from a Bob Stanley compiled CD featuring Leslie Phillips, Terry-Thomas and Sid James with Liz Fraser. And, of course, Stanley Unwin.
I was lucky enough to be drawn out the hat to get a copy (always a brilliant lottery moment). So I emailed Keith and told him I ran a Stanley Unwin website (stanleyunwin.com – much in need of an update!) and said I’d got this interview I’d recorded with the great man. Would he be interested in hearing it?
Long story short – we came up with the idea of me editing parts of the interview down and putting a backing to it, and Keith releasing it as a special 2020 late Christmas lathe cut.
Who is in the arthur park, what have you released and the sound of your material?
It’s a project I realised I’d wanted to do for a while that’s entirely home recording/studio based. It’s not a lockdown thing, just something I hope other people would like – basically have an idea, write something and get your friends in to record it with you. When you know a few musicians, it’s a brilliant way to work.
Currently – and at any time in the future, if they’re willing – it’s Simon Shaw on vocals (who I used to be in Topos Locos with), Andy Hellaby on bass (from Comus), partner Jane Smith on saxes, mate Rob Cross on trumpet, and me on guitars, synths and whatever else. All of us live within about 500m of each other so it’s a proper villages thing. Just as an aside, we knew Andy (who lives literally round the corner) a few months before he told us his back story!
‘Life of Stanley’ is our first original release, although we’ve also covered Can’s ‘Moonshake’ for Fruits de Mer’s excellent ‘Head 2’ triple album. My previous band with Simon – Topos Locos – also had a couple of tracks on FdM’s ‘Strange Fruit And Veg CD (a cover of Big Bird & The Steam Shovel’s ‘What’s Happening At The Psychiatrist’) and the ‘Day One – 14th Dream…’ CD (our 7” single ‘Madelina Valentina’ which is still available, folks!).
The ‘arthur park sound’ has definitely been influenced by the addition of the horn section, which is now a key part. I guess the other main influences are British ‘60s and ‘70s TV theme tunes. There was some great stuff out there in those days.
What fascinates you about Stanley Unwin and when did you first see/hear him?
He was one of those people who just made me laugh. Proper laugh. He came out of that fantastic, uniquely British post war ‘ENSA’ thing that fuelled BBC comedy in the ’50s and ’60s.
His act was unique, but harked back to James Joyce and Edward Lear. ‘Unwinese’ – a strange ‘mangling’ of words and sentences that still kind of made sense – was his own invention and nobody else was doing what he did. I honestly can’t remember the first time I ever heard him, but that ‘Unwinese’ got embedded somehow. Someone back in the day said it sounded like the verbal equivalent of jazz. He loved jazz, so I’ll take that.
Where was the audio for ‘Life of Stanley’ captured and what are its highlights?
In the early days of the internet, I realised quickly after a lot of searching that there was hardly any information about him. So I thought I’d have a go at putting together a website (Microsoft FrontPage, 2000, anybody?).
I tracked down his agent and wrote them a letter (an actual proper letter!) to see whether there was any chance I could maybe give him a call. Turned out he lived about 40 minutes from me (we’d recently moved from Birmingham) so a meeting was arranged and I turned up to his house with my Sony MiniDisc and sat down with him in his kitchen.
Being an ex-BBC recording engineer, he was fascinated by the MiniDisc, pointed a finger at the speaking end and said: ‘Is that the microphobia?’
We then – giving his time so generously and with the world’s strongest cups of tea – went through his entire life story over two hours. For me, I was eager to hear his takes on ‘Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake’, ‘Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang’ and Gerry Anderson’s brilliant and utterly weird ‘The Secret Service’.
How did he find working with The Small Faces?
He loved it. They really wanted him involved because they’d just heard his advert for Gale’s Honey (‘Sunnyglow in the pureymost…’) and they realised that he’d be a perfect fit for ‘Happiness Stan’. They gave him a script and he ‘translated’ it into ‘Unwinese’ there and then off the top of his head – after they’d persuaded him to add in a few ‘stoned out’ and ‘yeah, man’ references! Ronnie Lane sent him a note not long after the recording which said: ‘Thanks very much for being such a groove’.
Stanley was often asked whether he thought ‘Ogdens’ was a bit of a comedown. He’d always put them straight saying that he regarded working with the boys as a real compliment. Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan still kept in touch with him for years after.
What was Stanley like in person?
The nicest, funniest person. Genuinely. There’s a bit in the ‘Life of Stanley’ when he says: ‘I’ve been so lucky, Pete’. He said that more than once during the interview and he absolutely meant it. He was in equal proportions surprised by the cards life dealt him but so utterly, utterly grateful.
Can you tell me about your website The World of Stanley Unwin?
It’s at www.stanleyunwin.com but as I said, it’s in real need of updating! Pretty sure that’s going to be my Christmas project. You’ll find his life history on there, along with a few audio clips and pointers to stuff he’s appeared in. I’ve got a few more bits to add in now including, of course, this single!
Further details on The Arthur Park, ‘Life Of Stanley’, one-sided lathe-cut 7″ can be found at fruitsdemerrecords.com/stanley.html
