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How Beefy inspired duo to pen cricket opus
FAMOUS songs about cricket are about as rare as an English victory in the Ashes.
10cc name-checked it in Dreadlock Holiday and then there was Rory Bremner's spoof N-N-Nineteen Not Out, but you're more likely to find a cover version than mention of a cover drive on a record.
At least until now that is. In the week where England and Australia resume their bitter rivalry over the world's most famous sporting urn, it's perhaps fitting (and presumably not by coincidence) that an album inspired by the sound of leather on willow should hit the shelves.
It's surprising that no-one's done something like this before, but what's even more surprising is it's been a couple of Irishmen who've come up with the idea.
The Irish may be to cricket what a fish is to a bicycle, to use and abuse Bono's phrase, but The Duckworth Lewis Method, aka Thomas Walsh and Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon, are no one-hit wonders.
Their maiden album is a paean to cricket in the form of 12 cleverly crafted pop songs that doff a cap to everything from the BBC's ever-popular Test Match Special, to the inclement English weather in
Rain Stops Play.
Even the band's name was inspired by the sport – the Duckworth Lewis method, devised by English statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, is the mathematical way to calculate the predicted score for a team batting second in a one-day cricket match that's been abandoned.
It all started off as a bit of a joke, says Hannon.
"We were having a brainstorming session in the pub one day trying to come up with a few ideas and one of us mentioned cricket and it went from there."
Both men are big sport fans and their love of cricket dates back to England's heroic victory in the 1981 Ashes series.
"I remember watching the matches on telly," says Walsh, who with his portly frame and whiskers could pass as a long-lost relative of WG Grace.
"I loved Bob Willis and the way he bowled and then you had Ian Botham, one of the world's greatest players. They made you want to go outside and play cricket, and that's what we did."
It may seem slightly incongruous for two Irish blokes to write about cricket, but they insist it's not as strange as it might sound.
"Since making the record we've had cricket fans coming out of the woodwork in Ireland.
"We were playing outside a music shop in Dublin and we had middle-aged men wearing cord jackets and cricket ties coming up to us saying how much they like what we're doing, which was lovely."
Making the record gave Hannon a break from working on the new Divine Comedy album and also allowed Walsh to take time out from his Dublin-based band Pugwash.
Writers and poets have long been drawn to cricket folklore and Hannon and Walsh clearly relished the opportunity for wordplay and whimsy.
Jiggery Pokery, which includes cameos from Phil Jupitus and Alexander Armstrong among others, recounts the tale of Shane Warne's legendary "Gatting Ball" in 1993 that not only claimed the flummoxed Englishman's wicket, but announced the arrival of arguably cricket's greatest spin bowler of all time.
Then there's the Trescothian angst of The Nightwatchman and the anthemic pop of Meeting Mr Miandad, in which the two protagonists imagine taking a road trip to Pakistan in a camper van to met the legendary batsman.
Musically speaking this is far better than the vast majority of sporting records, blending everything from reggae and pop, to music hall ditties and prog rock, and if you like ELO and Sgt Pepper-era Beatles, then you'll probably enjoy this.
"The Duckworth Lewis Method is an album steeped in the love of cricket and pop. It's a cacophony of leather and willow turning through a cosmos of searing melodies and all-round tunes," says Walsh.
"We wanted to do something that was fun, and it doesn't matter whether you like cricket or not," declares Hannon.
"It started off as a bit of a laugh and we thought if nothing else, we might get to meet some of our heroes, which we did.
"We were invited to a dinner at Lord's and Tim Rice was there and so was Christopher Martin-Jenkins and Mike Atherton.
"We then got to sing one of our songs in the outfield at the Oval, which must rank as one of the best moments of my life."
'QUIRKY, FUN AND INSTANTLY LOVEABLE'
The Duckworth Lewis Method: The Duckworth Lewis Method (Divine Comedy, DLM002)
A concept album so steeped in its cricket theme that you can practically taste the cucumber sandwiches and hear the thwack of leather on willow, The Duckworth Lewis Method looks virtually unlistenable on paper, but turns out to be quirky, fun, and instantly loveable, regardless of your taste for the sport.
The brainchild of Divine Comedy mainman Neil Hannon and Pugwash's Thomas Walsh, with cameos from comedy stars including Phill Jupitus, the album outmanoeuvres the novelty angle by melding its wilfully unpoetic lyrical concerns to a genuinely belting set of pop tunes, from music hall romp (Jiggery Pokery) to Kinks-aping guitary whimsy (Gentlemen and Players).
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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