From Robyn on Patreon in 2024
I recently found a good-quality copy of my first studio recordings, made in London in 1974 with my old school friend, Martz. They were on a basic 4-track machine, but it was still amazing to be able to overdub one instrument on top of another and then plunge our voices into reverb.
"Standing By The Public Conveniences" is one of my earliest completed songs from 1972. It celebrates waiting for my girlfriend outside the public restrooms in downtown Winchester, Hampshire, not far from the cathedral. These toilets weren’t quite as mediaeval as the cathedral, but their walls were (and still are) made of local flint, stones, and brickwork. Damp? It goes without saying in Britain: damp is our heritage, our national characteristic, even.
It’s a jolly ragtime song, part George Formby and part Syd Barrett. I don’t think my girlfriend ever heard it, or any of the many songs I penned about her after we broke up. But this song is all about me, really, and the futility of my quest. Don’t seek Holy Grails without the requisite armour is the life lesson here, I guess.
Martz strengthens the melody and makes the whole thing a nicer listening experience. We’re still so young here that our voices sound interchangeable, like the Beatles at the BBC only with somewhat less of a global impact. But here it is, at last, for your delectation…