On my www.PeteDaviesart.com website I wrote: 

‘My paintings are a mirror of myself, a visual representation in colour of my experiences and how I see the world. I hope that you will be able to find in them something that resonates and reflects a memory in your own life’s journey.

My paintings are valuable to me but they are also transient just as my life is. I don’t expect my work to outlive me, but I would like people to enjoy it while I am here’. 

Did Anne of Green Gables actually exist?

Reading it now it sounds a bit pretentious and it probably is but I was trying to say what I believed at the time. Little did I know then that we were about to enter a new age of digitalisation where images of ourselves would be preserved forever. Imagine if we had the same facility now, what would it be like to hear Henry VIII singing Green Sleeves? Or to see if Henry's lesser known wives, such as Anne of Green Gables actually existed. Wouldn't it be comforting to have these answers?

During my life I have had periods when I thought my art, be it paintings or music, or my risotto, (that's not a term for my arty creations, I mean my real risotto, the one with the mushrooms) had no real value at all, and that it was the height of arrogance to think that anyone would be interested in any of my creative doodlings. During these times I have usually taken boxes of master tapes, recordings, paintings and so on, and thrown them into the local tip. And that’s what I’d done with I’m a Computer and the Goo-Q,  they were gone. Dead and buried, as they should be, or so I thought, just like life’s other foibles.

Irony, eh? Our old chum irony

It happened last year and then again this year, when both Cherry Red Records and Night School Records asked to lease my song, ‘I’m a Computer,’ 

I wrote and recorded I’m a Computer in 1980 using the name I saw in a dream, Goo-Q. The Moog synthesiser was recorded and played by John Lewis at Electrophon Studios in Covent Garden, he also played the Moog on Pop Musik. The drums were played by Pete Thomas  of Elvis Costello fame and mixed at R G Jones Studios, London.

Robin Scott’s (M, PopMusik) brother Julian was playing the bass for me, but when Pop Musik became a big hit he scarpered!  Funny thing was that when Julian left, he introduced me to some chancer drummer who dabbled a bit on bass, Julian thought he might be 'OK' for, I'm a Computer. His name was Mark King. Whatever happened to him?  I ask myself …

Abbey Road

As I was saying,  when Cherry Red Records contacted me, I knew I’d thrown the master tape away. I stalled them by saying, yes, of course, I’ll send a copy over, while frantically looking everywhere and finally finding just one vinyl copy. What to do? I booked myself into Abbey Road Studios who I’d heard could recreate songs from old tracks, removing all the scratches and so on. However, my scratchy 45 was beyond repair. they couldn’t do it. 

Then I remembered that it had once been released by another company back in the 80s. I know this sounds incredibly blasé but nothing had come of it and it really had slipped my mind. So I did have a digital copy. 

I was recounting this story in the car to my daughter when she asked: ‘is it on YouTube?’

Here's a tip

 ‘How can, I'm a Computer be on YouTube?’ I scoffed. ‘Nobody owns a copy, not unless they’ve been digging at the tip. Besides, It’s a swamp down there’. 

She didn’t answer. 

My brow furrowed, it does that. ‘Surely you’re not suggesting we go there? Tonight? In the dark? What about zombies? 

She Googled, I'm a Computer, on her phone. 'It's here.'

And there it was, in fact it was in a number of places including vintage record shops, last.fm … and it also stated that if I wanted, I could even buy it back on Ebay.

'What else have you released?' She asked.

I thought for a moment. 'There's a 12" dance single I wrote in the 90's called Passionate Feelings, by Doreen Edwards'.

'Yep, it's here,' she replied. 'You can buy that back too, if you want.'

Hazmat, Hardy

So what’s the moral here? Keep everything? I could just picture nervous teams in hazmat suits entering my house on my demise, ‘Oh God! Look at this! Hundreds of old records, stacks of ‘em! All in pristine condition! Unused! Poor sod!’

Maybe a healthy purge is a good idea, rather than a visit from Attila the Hun with a splitting headache. 

And today I was trying to think of a name to front my new song, This is What the Fuss is All About, and I came up with Goo-Q. The name that came to me in a dream, 42 years ago. It seemed appropriate to give it new life after all this time. Rising out of the ground from the dead and all that.

As I said at the beginning: I don’t expect my work to outlive me, but I would like people to enjoy it while I am here. The same applies to my music. I hope you enjoy my new song! This is What the Fuss is All About, is going to be released soon.

Going Down a Storm in Miceland, I blame Bjork

Post Script. After writing this I was smitten with pangs of nostalgia. I decide to go and hunt out my one and only copy of I’m a Computer. Can it get any worse?