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Glenn
Miller - Accordion
Joseph Porter - Vocals,
Acoustic Guitar, Percussion
Gary Miller - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin
Towards the end of 1999 Mad Dogs
and Englishmen was formed by Joseph Porter, from our own Blyth Power,
and Gary and Glenn Miller from the Whisky Priests. The idea was to put
together a collection of songs from both parties that could be played
in folk clubs and the kind of smaller venues that are not always amenable
to the full band line ups. Mistrusted by large sections of the folk scene
on account of their electric instruments and drumkits it seemed a good
opportunity to take the work of both songwriters into a new environment
with the added advantage that it would be cheap and convenient to operate.
We could nip out and back at minimal expense, we reasoned, and play without
taking the kind of financial risk involved in gathering up a whole band
and packing them into a van.
To promote this project the band went into The Old Dairy studio in York,
where an extended recording session eventually resulted in the CD Going
Down with Alice, which was released as a joint Whippet/Downwarde Spiral
effort in April 2000. Initially rushed out to take along on a Croatian
tour, which never materialized, the CD was warmly received. Featuring
five songs by Gary Miller and five by Mr Porter it received favourable
reviews in the folk press, and even some villainous punk rockers gave
it the thumbs up in underground fanzines. Mad Dogs, it seems, were ready
to roll.
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A handful of dates came together towards the end of 2001, and a tour of Holland followed in November which saw the band finally get its act together - just in time for its demise at the end of the year when the demands of time and energy proved too much for what had always been treated as a second fiddle.
This aside, Going Down with Alice remains as a well produced upbeat piece of music, which all the former members of the trio stand by unreservedly. If we could say the same about every recording we'd made and moved on from then we'd be very happy indeed. You can purchase the CD with the Blyth Power Merchandise Form.