Focus Billy Henshall
Article by Colin
Billy Henshall has had a fascinating journey in music. His early years growing up in Manchester inspired him to embark on a career that has seen him write several huge hit records, in the UK and abroad. But that doesn't begin to give you a picture of the man's creative talents. As well as having a high-profile career in comedy (under the name Buzz Hawkins), he also has a solo career in his own right.
Attic Tracks is a collection of 35 rock and roll tracks, originally penned for other artists. He has recorded new versions of them for this release. In addition to this, he was also one of the creative forces behind "Dark Opus", a score for a multi-media artwork installation. It later formed the concept for a contemporary ballet, entitled "Touch".
We7 caught up with Billy to find out more about his fascinating career.
The interview
Hi Billy, how are you today?
I'm fit and well, thank you. It must be the Pennine mountain air.
You have had a long career in music, what inspired you to begin writing at a young age?
My pal was having guitar lessons and was practising a little chord sequence over and over again (C, A minor, F and G, probably). To relieve the monotony of it, I joined in with some "wo-wo-wo's" and words about lost love (not that an eight year-old should know anything about lost love, but perhaps I'd been reading my mam's "Woman’s Own"?) Anyway, my pal's mother got very excited and arranged a little concert in their backyard for the following week, and I wrote another four songs for us to perform - probably to the same chord sequence and with "wo-wo-wo" in the chorus, but everybody clapped and I've never stopped since.
What were your experiences of working in the music industry in the 1960s and 70s?
After a public audition on our street corner, the local rock group asked me to be singer/front man - the front man bit amounted to me banging a tambourine on my thigh and wearing a Kinks-style cravat. The band had a residency twice a week at the Astoria playing the all-nighters and, because I was only fifteen years old, I had to stay backstage until our after-midnight sets (4 x 1 hour). That was the stuff dreams are made of because I got to watch the main attractions like The Kinks, Them and The Move from close up and sometimes even help their roadies run cables, or take the tops off beer bottles. There seemed to be a lot of girls hanging about backstage too, but with the stars in their eyes they never looked at a fifteen year old.
By the late 60s I'd sung in several groups and knew I had to somehow turn pro. In the early 70s I did and, against all odds, I've managed to stay pro ever since. Being professional meant playing in pubs and clubs, doing covers for money. That allowed me to play my own stuff in folk clubs and music venues for no money. There's nothing unusual about that, I know. For example in the mid-70s, whilst doing doubles and trebles for months on the north-east cabaret circuit, I had to play the last spot every night at a seedy downstairs club in Redcar where the resident band were Back Door, featuring bassist Colin Hodgkinson, and sax man Ron Asprey, two of the finest musos in the country.
So, during the 70s I wrote a lot of songs, made a few records, did a few television appearances, signed a few iffy contracts, met a lot of great musicians, and all-in-all served a very thorough and useful apprenticeship. I wouldn't swap a minute of it.
Can you tell us a little about Attic Tracks…
It's a double album containing 35 tracks of mine recorded over the years, some recently, some ages ago, some in posh studios like Basing Street and Air London, and some in not quite so posh studios - like my mate Wally's Shipwreck Studios in Glossop (which involved climbing in through an upstairs window late at night so as not to wake his mam). I was actually in my attic sorting through some boxes of analogue tapes and DAT tapes and really enjoyed listening to the tracks again. Then after playing them to several honest (BS-free) friends, I chose thirty-five that made us smile or think - or both. I trust they'll do it for you too.
You have another career as a comedian, how do you keep the two lives separate? Is there any overlap between the two?
My comedy started to assert itself when, for a living in the 1980s. I had to face stony-faced audiences in cabaret and social clubs – more to cheer myself up than them! In 1982 I began as a freelance producer at a big commercial radio station and I used the opportunity of a captive audience of late night listeners to put my own songs and stories out, lots of which were comic sketches. A series of mine called "The Bradshaws" caught the listener's imagination (I've since released 300 of the radio stories as a 25 CD Box Set) and that brought lots of requests for live appearances. So I developed a show which involves stand-up comedy, comic songs, and storytelling, and take it round the theatres every year or two.
But for a long time I couldn't make the serious writing and the comic writing work side-by-side and, at first, the success of the comedy was at the expense of the music - as much as I loved it. But now I can switch one off for the other - with a sleep in between. And I'm really enjoying being in music mode at the moment, with a new album of songs to write and record. Anyway, I honestly believe that creativity is exactly the same process whatever medium it's in. It just requires a different set of tools and skills.
What was the inspiration behind "Dark Opus"? What did you want to achieve with it?
The inspiration for "Dark Opus" came easily from a stunning set of paintings by the artist Graham Bowers. I had collaborated with Graham on several contemporary ballets for Scottish Dance, with Graham designing and me composing. And it was always challenging and exciting. So when the chance to produce a piece of music for an exhibition of his sculptures and paintings came up, I jumped at it. "Dark Opus" was the result and it also later formed part of the score for a contemporary ballet called "Touch".
The challenge for me was to create a piece which reflects that strange conflict of emotions that you might experience at the door of a darkened room, for instance. It's a kind of "I want to explore, but I'm scared of the dark" feeling. I also wanted to make it a narrative piece but without words. So, using Graham's images, I invented a storyline to guide me in the composition. It would spoil the fun if I told you what it was though!
'Dark Opus' is a very different style of music to Attic Tracks... do you think the two albums have anything in common?
From my point of view, they certainly do compositionally. Both albums are meant to tell stories, both are intended to prod emotions and, as with all of my stuff, the music makes the rules, instead of the other way round. By that I mean that once the melody or pattern turns up (and who knows from where?) then I have to play around with it like play-dough until it reveals the rest of itself. How's that for confusion? Whether or not the albums have anything in common for the listener is for them to decide and me to wonder...
You have had a few hits in your time, for some well-known artists. Which one are you most proud of?
I'm particularly proud of a song called "Drowning In Magic". For several years I was signed up on a production company contract (handcuffed more like) which wielded exclusive rights in my publishing, recordings, and performance, but nothing was happening. Then after months of phoning and letter-writing they eventually put a record company in touch with me who needed a big song to finish an album for one of their stars. When they asked me if I had anything in the Roberta Flack/Boz Scaggs style that would suit male or female of any age, I lied, and then set about writing one. Three days later they recorded it in Air London Studios with a full orchestra, and, when the album was released, "Drowning In Magic" was Radio Two's record of the week. So, who was the star? Well, she wasn't exactly huge but she was a challenge to write for: she was little Lena Zavaroni and she did me proud. Of course, I didn't receive tuppence from the company but I'm not the first and I won't be the last.
Listen to 
