Documentary - Beyond the Call of Dury
Everyone knows The Blockheads as the backing band for the wonderful and much missed Ian Dury, but how much do you actually know about the musicians themselves? Did you know for example that they played on that infamous Frankie Goes to Hollywood song Relax? Or that they were the “house band” for the fantastic pirate radio station Radio Caroline? No? That’s why this film needs to be made, because previous documentaries involving anything to do with the band focused more on the artists they were backing than the band itself.
Free Seed Films have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise £50,000 in order to document the true talent and extensive careers of the 4 original band members, Mick Gallagher, Chaz Jankel, Johnny Turnbull and Norman Watt-Roy, from their beginning in the 1960's to the present day.
As a company, Free Seed Films was established from a music perspective by Ben Gallagher and Steve Harcourt. Ben is a songwriter/producer who has worked with artists on Rough Trade, EMI and Island/Universal, most recently co-writing with Baxter Dury on his latest album ‘It’s a Pleasure’ and critically acclaimed 2011 album, ‘Happy Soup.’ Steve is a composer/producer/engineer (Collapsed Lung, My Second Head) who also runs a successful music venue, The Square in Harlow. They are quoted as saying the idea behind Free Seed is very much the same thinking behind a band in that they regard their films as albums and their screenings much like live shows.
£50,000 may seem a lot of money for a documentary but the music and video licenses for the vintage footage they want to include amounts to £7,000 PER MINUTE so it quickly mounts up. Add to that the fact that they have all the post production, artwork by Kosmo Vinyl and the recording and mixing of a whole soundtrack, including NEW songs by The Blockheads themselves, and you can see that the amount is really good value.
Talking of value, what do you get for your money? There are various rewards available for pledgers, from video messages and badges, through T-shirts, soundtracks and DVD’s to the big money rewards of singing on the soundtrack or being interviewed for the documentary itself! More than all that though, you get to be a part of the definitive documentary of a British Institution of a band. There are only seventeen days left on this Kickstarter and a long long way to reach the target. If they don't reach the £50,000 by Friday June 5th, they don't get anything.
So go Beyond the Call of Dury and back the Blockheads documentary here.
Images - Free Seed Films.
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