THE MAKING OF... SAD TO SEE IT'S MORNING.

Click on the ANT LOGO or the SHOCKED BOY to return to THE MAKING OF PAGE.

Wistfully simple, full of charm - PLAYLOUDER.COM

Utterly gorgeous & completely heartbreaking - SOUNDSXP.

Magical stuff - NOYZ.CO.UK

SONGS: 01. WHERE HAPPINESS BEGINS. 02. YOUR HEART GOT BORED. 03. I HOPE YOU'LL ALWAYS BE THERE. 04. THE QUEUE TO YOUR HEART. 05. I ALWAYS HURT THE ONE THAT I LOVE (THE MACHINES REMIX). 06. BREATHE MY NAME. 07. THE TRICK. 08. EASY. 09. NOT SLEEPING THE SAME WAY. 10. THAT SHINING SMILE. 11. MOUNTAINS. 12. PATHWAY. 13. YOU'VE LOST YOUR APPEAL (LIVE).

RECORDED: Songs 1,2,3,4,8 & 9 recorded and mixed by Suzanne Rhatigan at Cushy Productions (on a reel to reel 8 track, 1/4" tape, mixed to DAT) between  1997 & 1999. Songs 5,6,7,10,11 & 12 recorded by Antony Harding at home on a Roland VS840 digital 8 track, mixed to DAT, between 1999 & 2003. Song 13 recorded live off the sound desk at ROTA at the Notting Hill Arts Club, London by Alessandro assisted by David Moore on 21/12/02. Song 5 remixed by The Machines, aka John Morrison & Rob Lord in 2003.

RELEASE DATE: Compiled in 2003 and released on 4th October 2004.

LABEL: Fortune and Glory Records, Moseley, England  www.fortuneandglory.co.uk

MASTERING: By Richard Dowling at Transfermation, London in December 2003.

THE MUSICIANS: Johnny 'viola' Greswell - Violin & viola. Antony Harding - Voice, acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards, harmonica, drum machine, snare drum & shakers. John Morrison - Bass guitar. Suzanne Rhatigan - Voice, Wurlitzer piano, keyboards & drums. Mary Richards - Cello.

THE MAKING OF:

WHERE HAPPINESS BEGINS. (My second single, a song about the early stages of a  blossoming new relationship).

Recorded in March 1998 by Suzanne at Cushy, with me on nylon acoustic guitar while Suzanne played the drums. Suzanne then added various keyboards and a nice backing vocal. Then we left it for nearly a year and forgot about it! In April 1999 we returned to it and John added his bass part and we finally mixed it in May 1999. I'm not sure why it took so long!

YOUR HEART GOT BORED. (One of the B-sides to my second single. A song about the jealous end of a relationship).

Recorded at Cushy with Suzanne in July 1997. I played Suzanne's squeaky black steel acoustic guitar. I added a lead acoustic guitar part and Suzanne sang a great layered backing vocal on the middle eight and played some wurlitzer piano.

I HOPE YOU'LL ALWAYS BE THERE. (My debut single! A song about that point in a relationship when you start to really hope it'll last the distance this time).

Written expressly to be the A-side of my first single. I wanted something more upbeat, catchy and a little disco-ish. So this is what I came up with. It was recorded at Cushy by Suzanne in December 1998. I used my old keyboard with the onboard drum pattern, an egg shaker and an electric guitar. I double tracked the vocal. John came up with a great repetitive funky bass line and Suzanne sang a cool sexy backing vocal at the end.

THE QUEUE TO YOUR HEART. (The other B-side to my second single. About the realisation that you aren't the only one who has fallen for the girl).

Recorded at Cushy by myself in March 1998 with just acoustic guitar and voice. Johnny Viola came over the following day with his viola and added the strings. Suzanne and I reworked it in April as it became apparent that I hadn't recorded it too well. I redid the voice and backing vocal and both guitars and Suzanne added some wurlitzer piano.

I ALWAYS HURT THE ONE THAT I LOVE (THE MACHINES REMIX). (The original version appears on the album A LONG WAY TO BLOW A KISS. This is an exclusive remix by The Machines,aka John Morrison & Rob Lord).

I had long since recorded over the original master of this song so I was forced to re-record it as close to the original as I could. It turned out to be easy and in fact I think I sung it better the second time. (It originally featured drum machine, acoustic guitar, electric keyboard and bass by John). I then bounced each track seperately onto DAT and posted it off to John in London who, along with his collaborator Rob, were going to transform it with a remix. What happened next, I have no idea! But I received the finished remix on a CDR a couple of months later. And I loved it. They seemed to capture the pop sensibilities of the song much better than I did.

BREATHE MY NAME. (The B-side to my third single. A song about the delight of being able to put a smile on the face of your lover, oh and about kissing).

Recorded at home in Malmö. Originally recorded at Cushy back in  October 1997 but I was unhappy with my vocal.  So I changed a few words and re-recorded it in May 2003, using the acoustic guitar and some pretty electric piano overdubs.

THE TRICK. (This is the same version that originally appeared on the A Long Way To Blow A Kiss album and later on the Gojonnygogogogo compilation CD).

EASY. (Written in 1997, it's a song about how difficult one can make the ending of a relationship. It originally appeared on the C188 comp CD with the Papercuts fanzine).

Recorded by Suzanne at Cushy in April 1997. I sang with my acoustic guitar and Suzanne played wurlitzer piano and sang some wonderfully complex backing vocals. Then  over two days in July 1999 we got big Johnny Viola with his viola and violin and little Mary Richards with her cello, to come over and add the strings.

NOT SLEEPING THE SAME WAY. (The double A-side of my first single. It also appeared on the Acuarela Discos compilation CD Brummario. It's a song about wanting the night to last forever).

Recorded at Suzanne's in February 1998 with stiches on my hand from a nasty cut whilst daydreaming in the kitchen at my day job. I played Suzannes' steel acoustic, harmonica and snare drum and Suzanne played wurlitzer and John played bass. The following week we replaced the wurlitzer with my old keyboard. Which seemed to fill the space better.

THAT SHINING SMILE. (Appeared on the Heavenly Pop Hits compilation Hit Music Only. It's a song about making your lover smile, or frown).

Recorded at home in the kitchen at Stratford in London in September 2001. Using just the electric keyboard and  the acoustic guitars.

MOUNTAINS. (My third single. An old song written way back in December 1997 about the relationship I was in at the time. It had previously been  demoed on my four track, the song not the relationship!)

Re-recorded at home in Malmö in August 2003. I wanted a very immediate, scruffy pop feel to it, so I spent no time on it at all!  Put down the two nylon acoustic parts fairly quickly and then overdubbed the vocal and the two harmony vocals. Job done. Next...

PATHWAY. (An out take from the A Long Way To Blow A Kiss sessions. A song about always seeming to take a different path to that of your lover).

Recorded at home in Bermondsey London in May 1999. A very simple and sad track recorded with just acoustic guitar, organ and harmonica, It didn't make the album, as I thought it was a little too sad, so I kept the recording to use for something else at a later date. The compilation album seemed like the perfect place. The lyric is a little clumsy but I like the overall feel of the song.

YOU'VE LOST YOUR APPEAL (LIVE). (The original version appears on Cures For Broken Hearts. This is an exclusive live version).

Recorded by Alessandro at the sound desk, keenly assisted by David Moore, at Rota, the Notting HIll Arts Club in London on the afternoon of Saturday 21/12/02. David comes to all my London gigs and very kindly records them on his mini disc, or if he can, persuades the soundman to record it straight from the desk. Alessandro was the sound guy at ROTA on at least 4 occasions that I played there. Thanks to them both.