Roll Your Activator

The John Moore Rock And Roll Trio featuring The Loose Moorelles are not big or clever. They do not drip cynicism, employ irony, or drag the listener on third class excursions to the centre of their misery. They play pure back to basics rock and roll and blues for the hell of it, for girls and boys to dance to. Lascivious, full throttle, hip swivelling invocations to the horned one delivered with maximum power, magnificent shimmer, and an evil growl...Well that's the plan at least.

A primary school is a strange place to get one's mojo back, but that's exactly what happened to John Moore. Languishing in semi-retirement, mired in despair, and just a trifle bored, he was cajoled into performing at his daughter's summer fete. Having run out of polite excuses as to why this might be rather difficult to achieve, a band of willing accomplices was hurriedly assembled to cure sugar-rushing tinies with some rocking pneumonia and a shot of rhythm and blues. A super group of sorts came together containing the DNA of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Black Box Recorder, Lush, The Soledad Brothers (Ben Swank now retired to Nashville) The Guardian Newspaper, and a Lady who'd last trodden the boards with Rod Stewart at Wembley Stadium.

The gig was a remarkable success and the band pledged to play a great deal more often.

Fourteen months later The John Moore Rock And Roll Trio featuring The Loose Moorelles were at it again, this time for a slightly taller, differently intoxicated audience, in preparation for their two-day recording blitz the following weekend. Now with Loz Colbert of JAMC and Ride on drums the line up was complete.

Two days to record thirteen songs is not much although it was twice as long as The Beatles had for their first LP; but it was free. Setting up to play live at what was once Tony Visconti's legendary Good Earth studio was exciting and nerve racking. One vocal mic, one guitar, one for bass, one above the drums, minimal sound separation, masses of spill, one overall sound balance, that's it. Press Record. Go. Stop. The tracks were mostly done in a few takes. Harmonica, whistling, one guitar line, maracas and handclaps were overdubbed.

On day two, The Loose Moorelles arrived to sing their parts. Due to uncertain PA systems, they had been rather drowned out at the gigs, and there were a few worries that not being large ladies from the deep south of America, their harmonies, when committed to tape might not sound quite as good as they themselves looked while delivering them. Being seasoned old campaigners, the Trio had actually practiced, Phil with his bass lines, Loz memorizing most of the stops - even Moore had perfected his rockabilly fingering...but from the moment The Loose Moorelles began to sing, the Trio's jaws dropped. They nailed it, and their voices soared, lifting each track magnificently. They'd worked it all out, practiced in private and sounded as fine as The Sweet Inspirations.

The mixing was a simple affair there wasn't any there couldn't be. If the vocals came up, the guitar came with it and the drums disappeared - recent obituaries of the late guitar legend Les Paul celebrated his incredible musical achievements, but perhaps one of his inventions, multi-track recording, wasn't quite all it was cracked up to be... Albums generally only take about forty minutes to listen to, so why take six months to record one?

The choice of songs on Roll Your Activator was easy favourite rock and roll covers nothing too obscure or academic, songs people might recognize and respond to.

Although this venture is not the result of a judicial community service order, there is a feeling that...hmm...here comes the OBE - certain sections of the music listening community might benefit from a reconnection with the simple, joyous excitement of pure unadulterated rock and roll...especially if they go off and form bands of their own.

There are more Bo Diddley songs here than anybody else's for the simple fact that everybody in the band loves him the most Moore's infatuation beginning at an early age and leading to several meetings with the great man, and a genuine link to the mysterious energy source of rock and roll.

Recording T Rex's I Love To Boogie in the room it was born in, and on a Saturday night, was perhaps tempting fate. That nobody was slaughtered by a spectral Metal Guru or mauled by a ghostly White Swan hopefully means that its creator liked what he heard.

Sadly, there are very few of the original wild rock and rollers left, and the great bluesmen have all but gone. The John Moore Rock And Roll Trio featuring The Loose Moorelles pledge to at least try to stay alive for some time to come, and to record and release at least one volume of rock and roll and blues songs every year. Obviously they will build up into a valuable collection that looks good in any home and will be the envy of friends and relatives, as well as being the perfect gift for a loved one or a spouse.

Finally, the album is called Roll Your Activator Moore's misheard line from Elmore James/Hound Dog Taylor's Shake Your Money Maker, because The Loose Moorelles thought it sounded rude.