Twelfth Night and related works!!

  • I'm a huge Twelfth Night fan...8)


    Founded in 1978 in Reading, England - Disbanded in 1987. They reformed between 2007 and 2012, again in 2014.


    TWELFTH NIGHT emerged from the Andy Revell Band formed at Reading University, where in 1978 they won a talent competition. Geoff MANN was an artist friend of the band from the moment in 1977 that he knocked on Andy's door to find out what record Andy was listening to and discovered that it was just Andy playing guitar! The embryonic band consisted of Andy and Brian Devoil (drums), with Mr Rick Battersby managing the dry ice.


    After Clive Mitten joined in 1979, TWELFTH NIGHT as a band were born and got straight down to the work of recording. A live LP followed several tapes and experiments with other musicians, including one Electra Mcleod who performed vocals for one tape only. A vocalist was needed - but where to get one? Many were auditioned - including Geoff, who also performed a gig or two with the band and wrote some words for "Sequences".


    A successful series of gigs was followed by the band being booked for the Reading Festival - the first local Reading band to have achieved this in the history of the festival. After much deliberating, Geoff MANN, the backdrop painter became Geoff MANN the poet, lyricist and vocalist.


    It's important to consider the musical, social and political climate of the late 1970s - early 1980s to get a handle on what TWELFTH NIGHT were about; The roots of the music lie mainly in Andy Revell's HACKETT/HILLAGE guitar sound, but GENESIS, early PINK FLOYD and WISHBONE ASH are the most obvious influences. It has been said that there is a punk element to TN, and while there is a certain amount of aggression, that energy comes more directly from NWOBHM than punk. MANN's vocal style and lyrics may be laced with anarchism, but they run a whole lot deeper than that - Geoff was a deep thinker and poet, and later became ordained. His words attack the idle non-thinking majority in a cajoling way, they attack the governments at a grass-roots level and they attack the nonsense of war - but also support the positive aspects of life, like love.


    After MANN left (amicably) to join the church in 1983, a new era of TN started with Andy Sears as vocalist. TWELFTH NIGHT are still making music in one form or another - but it tends to be fitted around the day jobs. Sadly, Geoff died of cancer in 1993.

    The "MANN-era" music will live on in prog as being something particularly special, as it goes several steps further than even FISH-era MARILLION, with whom the band are often (mistakenly) compared.

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    C-Live Collective (Clive Mitten) - The Age of Insanity


    Brand new album from the bassist of Twelfth Night. Clive Mitten's solo album. 2 tracks re-written from the original Twelfth Night band, including Geoff Mann plus his son singing. Sadly Geoff passed away!...:(


    3 brand new tracks written by Clive Mitten. I really love this album a lot!......8)




    Backing Vocals – James Mann (7)

    Drums – Fudge Smith

    Guitar, Backing Vocals – Mark Spencer (11)

    Lyrics By – Clive Mitten (tracks: 5), Geoff Mann (tracks: 1 and 5)

    Music By, Arranged By, Producer, Keyboards, Orchestrated By, Bass, Acoustic Bass, Electric Guitar, Drum Programming, Noises, Effects – Clive Mitten

    Piano, Keyboards – Stephen Bennett

    Vocals – James Mann (7) (tracks: 5), Mark Spencer (11) (tracks: 1, 5)

    Edited once, last by Noni ().

  • Never really got into them, probably because it is quite hard to get their albums to reasonable prices. I have Voices In The Night, which is a mixed bag of tracks from different eras.


    What I really like is N.S.T.O.C. (Resistance) in the version of IQ (from the Lost Attic album).

    First we learned to walk on water.

    Then we tried something harder.

    - Red Seven -

  • Twelfth Night Fact & Fiction Definitive Edition: track list revealed; pre-orders now being taken

    Posted on April 15, 2018

    As previously reported, a new 3CD definitive edition of Twelfth Night’s classic ‘Fact & Fiction’ has been in the works and scheduled for a 2018 release.


    After what feels like a long wait, the full tracklist has now been revealed. It combines the original album and associated recordings, as per the earlier CD issue, plus a selection of rarities and a bonus disc featuring the whole album recreated by Twelfth Night’s musical family and friends.


    The full track listing and a pre-order link can be found below.



    Disc 1 – Studio: 1982

    1. We Are Sane (10:23)

    2. Human Being (7:48)

    3. This City (4:02)

    4. World Without End (1:51)

    5. Fact and Fiction (3:59)

    6. The Poet Sniffs a Flower (3:50)

    7. Creepshow (11:50)

    8. Love Song (5:41)

    9. Being Human (3:46)

    10. Paradise Locked (0:24)

    11. East of Eden (3:24)

    12. Eleanor Rigby (3:22)

    Recorded at Revolution Studios, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Summer 1982.


    Disc 2 – Live: 1983-2012

    1. We Are Sane (11.54)

    Recorded at the Marquee, London, 5 November 1983.


    2. Human Being (8.09)

    Recorded at the Marquee, 9 March 1984.


    3. This City (3.57)

    Recorded at Montgomery Hall, Wath-upon-Dearne, 28 May 2010.


    4. World Without End (1.34)

    Recorded at Rotherham Rocks, 16 May 2008.


    5. Fact and Fiction (5:34)

    Recorded at the Marquee, London, 4 November 1983.


    6. The Poet Sniffs a Flower (3.38)

    Recorded at the Marquee, London, 4 November 1983.


    7. Creepshow (12:27)

    Recorded at Summer’s End, Lydney, 29 September 2012.


    8. Love Song (7:56)

    Recorded at the Marquee, London, 5 November 1983.


    9. Fact and Fiction (4:43)

    Recorded at The Guildhall, Barbican Centre, London, 15 December 2012.


    Demos: 1982


    10. Constant (Fact and Fiction) (2:24)

    11. Fistful of Bubbles (3:18)

    12. Leader (2:41)

    13. Dancing in the Dream (2:58)

    14. Creepshow (After The Bomb Drops) (3.53)

    Recorded at Matinee Studios, Reading, March 1982.


    Disc 3 – Covers and interpretations: 1983-2018


    1. DEAN BAKER – Electro Sane (1:26)

    Recorded in Poole 2010, remixed 2018.


    2. MARK SPENCER – We Are Sane (11:07)

    Recorded at Dysfunction Studios, Letchworth and Thin Ice Studios, Virginia Water, between 2011 & 2018.


    3. PENDRAGON – Human Being (6:51)

    Recorded at Halfway Houses, Maidenhead, 1994.


    4. TIM BOWNESS – This City (4:42)

    Recorded in Poole and Bath, March 2018.


    5. COBURG – This City (5:21)

    Recorded in Poole and Rushden, March 2018.


    6. CLIVE NOLAN – World Without End (2.18)

    Recorded at Thin Ice Studios, Virginia Water, March 2018.


    7. GALAHAD – Fact and Fiction (5:01)

    Recorded at Thin Ice Studios, Virginia Water, February 2018.


    8. MARK SPENCER featuring LEE ABRAHAM – The Poet Sniffs a Flower (3:44)

    Recorded at Dysfunction Studios, Letchworth and Dockside Studios, Southampton, March 2018.


    9. TWELFTH NIGHT – Creepyshow (12:20)

    Recorded at Montgomery Hall, Wath-upon-Dearne, May 2010.


    10. ALAN REED & KIM SEVIOUR – Love Song (5:55)

    Recorded at Clanjamfrie Studios, Guildford, February 2014.


    11. AXE – Don’t Make Me Laugh (3:52)

    Recorded at John Verity’s Studio, Bradford, October 1983.


    12. EH! GEOFF MANN BAND – Fact and Fiction (4:20)

    Recorded at The Norderlight, Tilburg, Holland, May 1992.


    13. EH! GEOFF MANN BAND – Love Song (6:51)

    Recorded at The Norderlight, Tilburg, Holland, May 1992.

  • Sequences: New release from Twelfth Night will celebrate signature piece

    Posted on October 15, 2018

    The 1980s neo-progressive rock scene spawned many bands that are still loved by prog fans decades on. Twelfth Night were arguably among the most inventive and the most overlooked. One of the band’s signature pieces, ‘Sequences’, is an excellent example of the band’s gifts for experimentation and re-invention, having changed shape over the course of the band’s lifetime.


    In November, a new release ‘Sequences’ will celebrate the evolution of the twenty minute epic, and mark the centenary of the end of WWI. The new recording will the first time the vocal version of the song will have been captured in the studio environment.


    Full details can be found in the below press release.


    ***



    First ever full studio version to be released in November – 40 years after it was first written


    Twelfth Night are back in the studio, recording a new version of Sequences, their most popular track and set finale! It tells the story of a young soldier going off to fight in the First World War and returning home a changed person.


    Despite instrumental versions first being performed almost 40 years ago, to date there has been no studio version recorded with vocals.


    “The time felt right to fill this major missing piece of our musical output and commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War”, commented drummer and co-founder Brian Devoil”.


    The band have been recording the track at vocalist Mark Spencer’s Dysfunction recording studio. “I had prepared a working version several years ago to help me learn the various parts to play live, so we were able to use this as a starting point”.


    The new recording is progressing well and will largely remain faithful to the best-known live arrangement. But there will also be some surprises. “We have taken the opportunity to expand some sections, Mark has added some fantastic orchestration, and there may even be some surprise guests involved”, commented guitarist and co-founder Andy Revell


    The plan is for the track to be ready in time for Armistice Day on Nov 11th. A limited edition CD will also feature a complete instrumental mix (in a nod to its original form), and some other alternative mixes/interpretations. A significant donation will be made to the Poppy Appeal from each copy sold. It will be available direct from the band’s web-site http://www.twelfthnight.info and http://www.progrock.co.uk