Click on the above link to go to the "Lesley Duncan's Corner".
The Lesley Duncan web board has been closed due to circumstances
beyond our control. The web site has adopted the web board at the "Lesley
Duncan Club" as the official web site Web Board.
Click on the above link to go to the "Lesley Duncan's Corner".
Below I have taken some of the messages from the old web board for all to see.
Posted by david pearson on March 21, 2001 at 08:08:46
Lesley I've been a great fan of yours since first hearing your "Lullaby" single in 1968. I have all the albums from the 70s and it's great to find "Sing Children Sing" available on CD. I still have a letter you wrote me in response to a letter of mine. It's tucked away inside the inner sleeve of that first album. All my best wishes David Pearson
Posted by Will Shaver on March 21, 2001 at 08:17:07
Hello My name is Will Shaver--I am an 28 year old American living in Michigan!!:):)-- This is a GREAT page of Lesley Duncan that you have here!!:):) I consider myself quite a fan of Ms.Duncan!!:)--I have here LPS: Earth Mother ;Moonbathing Mabye It's Lost--with the LP Everything Changes soon to be here and I have ordered the CD--Sing Childern Sing!!:):) Though How I discovered Lesley was quite strange--as one would have it!!:):)--I first heard Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon on thea radio then went out and bought the CD--I have to admit I was somewhat encahntd by the background vocals of the women on their and wanted to find out who they were and what they recorded. I found one the names to be Lesley Duncan. Then I saw that Alan Parsons' prouduced the album and low behold I found information about him being part of the Alan Parsons Project--and that they were the guys who did "Eye in the Sky" and "Time" so I investigated that group and found out that Lesley Duncan recorded for that grop too--"If I could Change Your Mind" in 1979 off the album EVE-which I have on CD---Lesley's vocals on that song is awesome--a perfect song for her voice and style too!!:):)-So then I had to find more recordings by her--I went to an old vinyl shop here in Michigan and found two of Lesley's last recorded lps--Moonbathing and Maybe it's Lost--both great LPS--(how I wish they would be on CD!!!) I am now getting some of her earlier recordings on LP-Earth Mother and Everything cahnges...and Soon--Sing Children Sing on CD!!!!:):) Lesley is very talented singer/songwriter too I love her voice and wish more of her stuff would be here in the US and availible on CD too!!:):) I wish I could one day be able to write her a letter to just to say that she has a special gift for writing songs and singing too--for her songs are uplifting thoughtful and a joy to listen too as well!!:):) I hope that she may be able to see this site as well and know that there are fans of her out heere who wish for her to make a comeback me inculded in this fan base!!:):)--I would love to hear more songs from here--even new songs would be great too!!!:):) I sure do hope Lesley would comeback and sing again right now the music industry needs to see more and better musicians to comeback and make the music scene better again as it was before!! I Just wanted to say what a great site this is and let you know that I really liked it and to let you know that there is another fan out here who really loves the music of Lesley Duncan!! Very_Sincerely Will Shaver
P.S.--I didn't know Lesley ahd that many singles out I'll have to make a listing of that!!! I also check GEMM for her music too--they are quite good at having alot of great stuff to buy!!!
Posted by David V Barrett on March 21, 2001 at 08:28:52
Hi again
Apparently the Reading Festival 1973 album (originally on GM)has been rereleased on CD by See For Miles: SEECD343. Unfortunately the Seeformiles website seems to be permanently unavailable. Virgin Megabore on London's Oxford Street seemed highly affronted that I should want a CD of a 1973 festival rather than the oh-so-appalling 199something one they actually had in stock...
Lesley Duncan sings with Nirvana shock horror! True but of course it was the UK Nirvana who were playing before some other band had stopped wetting their nappies (diapers for our US friend): Alex Spyropoulos & Patrick Campbell-Lyons. She sings the track "Love Suite" on their "Black Flower" album (rereleased on CD by Edsel ((aren't they nice guys!)) on EDCD378. And she does it beautifully of course.
Does LD know about this site yet? If so Lesley first: thank you for your wonderful music which I discovered when at college in 1972 (I bought "Earth Mother" on the strength of a review loved it and went back for SCS then bought the next three as they were released.) Second would you be willing to answer any questions your previously unsuspected continuing fans might ask on this site? And third (almost as important as the Thank You) are the next four coming out on CD soon? Preferably with bonus tracks? (I'd like to hear your early material and I'd love to hear what you do with "Masters of War"! And I MUST get hold of the Reading Festival CD to hear your live "Earth Mother".)
Oh and four if enough of us ask you very very nicely is there any chance at all of any new recording? Or even (though I know you always hated them) a gig?
Happy Xmas/Yule/season of your choice to everyone. And may the New Millennium (okay I'm a pedant) begin as we hope it will continue.
David V Barrett
Posted by Tom Wallace on March 21, 2001 at 08:39:24
What a thrill to type "Lesley Duncan" into Yahoo today and be led to this site only to discover the bigger thrill that "Sing Children Sing" is on CD. I naturally ordered it immediately and eagerly await its arrival. Then on top of that I discovered the message board!
I've been a huge LD fan since I heard her on Elton's "Tumbleweed" album back in 1975. It took me years to finally get all her LPs--"Earth Mother" was the final find; I paid $30 in 1988 for a very noisy piece of vinyl but it was worth every penny.
Back in the 70s a "soft rock" station in Boston used to play multiple cuts from the "Moon Bathing" album and I think it sold a few copies in that area of the country. Hearing those songs on the radio led me to get the album and it's probably still my favorite receiving regular spins at home and in the car. What a tremendous record; it's a crime that more people didn't hear it though those of us who did certainly appreciate it!
I could go on but I'll save my thoughts for another post to the board. This site is a great find. I hope we can spur someone to consider releasing LD's other LPs on CD ASAP (enough with the initials!). Hearing "Earth Mother" in a pristine state would be a thrill.
Posted by Tom Wallace on March 21, 2001 at 08:48:29
OK let's try the old desert island discs ploy to get some discussion going.
You're shipping off to a desert island and can bring one tape with 10 Lesley Duncan songs. Which 10 would you choose?
I'd pick these in order of release:
Lullaby
Rainbow Games
Times
Love Will Never Lose You
Sorry Living
Heaven Knows
Rescue Me
Fine Friends
Rocking Chair
Falling Like a Leaf
It hurts leaving out anything from "Everything Changes " but oh well...I could pick only 10 after all.
Anyone else up to the LD DID challenge? No sneaking in an 11th!
Tom
Posted by webmaster on March 21, 2001 at 08:51:06
In Reply to: Lesley on a Desert Island-Thursday 18-Ja posted by Tom Wallace on March 21, 2001 at 08:48:29:
I'm game:
The Surf
Another Light Goes Out
Paper Highway ('b' side of Magic's Fine)
Rainbow Games
Earth Mother
Fortieth Floor
Thunder
Don't Worry Bout It
Jump Right In The River
My Soul
I could list more but I guess we have to keep to 10
Posted by David V Barrett on March 21, 2001 at 08:55:01
In Reply to: Re: Lesley on a Desert Island-Thursday 18-Ja posted by webmaster on March 21, 2001 at 08:52:25:
"If you were wondering where the plague of frogs came from... I don’t think the plague of boils quite got started and I managed to stop most of the locusts but it was a close thing. You set an impossible task. After listening to all five albums several times each I managed to get my shortlist down to 23 songs. It was while I was reducing the 23 to 10 that the locusts escaped in your direction.
There isn’t a single one of the 54 songs I’ve listened to repeatedly for the last week or so which I dislike – astonishing for five albums by any artist. The interesting thing was the order of the albums: I hadn’t realised previously just how much I loved Everything Changes very closely followed by Earth Mother then (with perhaps a whisker between them) Moon Bathing and Sing Children Sing. Maybe It’s Lost always did come last – but only because the other four are so excellent. I was also struck reading her lyrics how close some of them are in feel to Sandy Denny’s.
One of the things I love about Lesley Duncan’s albums is the contrast between the heavy powerful songs and the much softer love songs whether they’re gentle or bitter-sweet. How could I leave “Love Song” off my list with all its memory-associations? – or Alan Hull’s “Walk In the Sea” which I recall singing to myself as I walked in the icy winter rain on a stony beach at the very north-west corner of England as a relationship broke up messily back in early 1981. But they had to go simply because other songs couldn’t. So that group of songs is represented solely by “If It’s All the Same to You” which with its acceptance of pain and emptiness (“I who exist once lived”) must be one of the most chilling and awfully real ex-love songs ever written. (And that one I sang at a folk club as another relationship was ending; and the woman in question came in just as I was beginning and left immediately after I finished…)
If I’d written out this list of my 10 favourite LD songs yesterday or tomorrow it would have been a different selection. Even on my final listen through all the albums today even while writing this I was tempted to jump some of those which hadn’t made the shortlist of 23 into the final 10. So watch out for those boils – and sorry but the locusts have escaped again en masse…
These are in album order; there is NO way I’m going to try to put them in order of preference. Don’t even think about suggesting it…
Rainbow Games
Times
If It’s All the Same to You
Earth Mother
My Soul
The Serf
Watch the Tears
I Can See Where I’m Going
Heaven Knows
Rocking Chair
DVB
Posted by Duncan Billingham on May 15, 2001 at 07:53:45
What a pleasant surprise to finally find not just a reference to Lesley Duncan on the web, but a site specially devoted to her. I have been browsing the web, occasionally, for some years in the hope that I might find something - this is great. Coincidentally, I only found out 10 days ago that SCS had been released on CD, after 10+ years of making occasional enquiries. Persistence has finally paid off.
I became enlightened somewhere back in the mid 1970s. The BBC used to transmit a rather tacky, low budget, programme called 'They Sold a Million'. For some reason, no doubt more in hope than anticipation, I was watching one week when Lesley (sorry, I can't use LD, it just seems too disrespectful) appeared singing Love Song (presumably having 'sold a million' as a result of Tumbleweed Connection?) - I was hooked. At that point in my life I hadn't heard anything so beautifully crafted and performed before. At the first opportunity I was into town to track this gem down. No longer in the racks, I ordered the album from 2 stores - both failed to deliver, telling me it was no longer available and was deleted from the back catalogue. However, a third store - SPINADISC of Northampton, to whom I am eternally grateful - obtained a copy of SCS within a week. Incidentally SPINADISC, an independent, are still going strong 25+ years later - shows what excellent customer service can do for your business. Also in their racks was a copy of Everything Changes - it didn't stay there long . . . . and the rest is history.
I have the 5 main albums and 4 of her singles. I guess that few of us have many of her singles, so perhaps we could colaborate and send tapes to one another? Anyone interested?
She remains my favourite female artist and her albums still regularly occupy the turntable. Although not drawn to hero(ine) worship, I would always have liked to have met and talked with Lesley. Maybe through this site this may still become a possibility.
I will regularly revisit this site and make any contribution I can. In the meantime I will go back to trawling record fairs and 2nd hand shops now I know what I am missing from the collection (thanks for the discography).
I hope to chat again with you fellows of impeccable taste another day. May this web site grow into something much greater in the future and become a catalyst for the enlightenment of others.
Bye Bye,
Duncan.
Posted by Alan on June 13, 2001 at 09:02:41
Congratulations on the site. Pity that the web board is about to go.
However, before it does, I thought I'd add a few random thoughts as
like others who have appeared here I have a real fondness for Lesley
Duncan's music, having started with Everything Changes (certainly her
best collection)as a 15 year old. The album's mood resonated with the
melancholic preoccupations of my own late adolescence amd she became
very much a fixture. She provided a very good soundscape for the singular
confessional that was often my teenage lot - spiritual & maternal!
I remember reading the odd music press article and listening to a
long interview with her on Radio Clyde sometime in the mid Seventies.
I also remember when Maybe It's Lost came out. From these strands
of information I thought I gained some insight into her own self-
perception, which could be helpful when seeking to appraise her music.
She was, and I think understood herself as an essentially middle
of the road artist, who wrote some lovely songs as well as some that
were a good deal less memorable. She also understood her place in the
scheme of things, acknowledging the impact of punk musically and perhaps
socially. Believe it or not, 'Maybe It's Lost' could be her own
'punk' statement!
When all is said and done, I think what she offered wasn't great
songwriting talent but a beautiful and distinctive voice which
communicated what she was about. No more, no less. Hyperbole
and close critical analysis serve her ill.
She remains, however, a personal favourite to me and many
others and I think that's as much a tribute as any
overloaded accolade.
Best wishes
Alan
