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ACM Bass and Live Performance tutor, Pat Hughes, and member of the ACM Drums department, Windsor McGilvray, performed at an amazing BBC 6 Music live session recently with English ‘punk poet’ Dr. John Cooper Clarke and original The Stranglers frontman and guitarist, Hugh Cornwell.
The session, hosted by presenter Mark Radcliffe, was a roaring success, with Windsor commenting that it was the most focused the band has been to date: “The session was a lot of fun. I’d performed on radio before but this BBC Radio 6 show was the first time that my performance was being broadcast in real time, so I had one chance at it and I’m really pleased with the process and results. I think John, in particular, did a great job considering it’s the first time he has ever sung live with a band. He’s taken to it like a duck to water!”
Pat said he had a great time too: “It was really enjoyable… if maybe a tiny bit nerve racking. It was totally live, so we only had one shot to get it right!”
The opportunity to play with Dr. John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell came about after Windsor met Hugh while he was a student at ACM – Hugh visited the college as a guest lecturer to share some of his musical experience and songwriting tips. At the time, Hugh was looking for a drummer and one of the ACM tutors suggested Windsor for the role. He then received a call from Hugh out of the blue and he asked if he could play like Mitch Mitchell from The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Windsor was a huge Mitch Mitchell fan, so replied: “I am Mitch Mitchell” and got the job. Hugh even recalled the occasion in his autobiography ‘A Multitude of Sins’.
Windsor drummed for Hugh for five years, touring the world with him, sharing stages with bands such as Blondie, and recording with legendary producers like Tony Visconti. About a year ago, Windsor received a call from Hugh’s Manager asking if he wanted to drum in a music video with Hugh, Dr. John Cooper Clarke and Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson for a cover of the Jimmy Webb song ‘MacArthur Park‘. This led to an invitation to join Hugh and John on tour to support their new album, and once on board as part of the band, Windsor asked Pat if he’d like to be involved too, and it’s been all go for both of them ever since!
There’s plenty more exciting opportunities on the horizon for Windsor and Pat. They have some upcoming radio and TV promo dates planned with Hugh and Dr. John, before their tour starts in late November and runs through to early December… and there’s also talk of performing overseas in 2017.
To check out an audio playback of Windsor and Pat’s BBC 6 Music session, you can listen here (available until 8th November 2016): www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07xxqgs
And here’s a video of ‘Love Potion #9’ from the same performance.
If you’d like to catch Windsor and Pat in action, you can find the full list of Dr. John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell’s tour dates online at www.hughcornwell.com
We wish the boys the very best of luck in their upcoming tour and we know it’s going to be a huge success.
If you’d like to be a student at ACM and receive guidance on your music career from expert tutors like Pat and Windsor, please call our Admissions Team on 01483 500 841 or visit www.acm.ac.uk/open-days/ to book a place on an ACM Open Day today.
