Rough Terrain: Frog

Lyrics by M. Drower, caused by P. Rippin Music by G. Davies/S. Miller/M. Greatorex Recorded at The Riverside Nightclub and 32 Howell Road, Exeter by P. Bateman and G. Davies during July and August 1987 Remastered at Wud Records Studios 2010 Performers: Andy Richardson – vocals George Davies – guitars, vocals Jerry Peirce – bass, vocals, water bucket Danny Bouget – drums, vocals FROG Mmm, thanks! Words by Mark Drower. Copyright (p) Explicit Music 1982, (c) Wud Records 2010. Originally this was a Now number. It was composed on 8th November 1982. George wrote the chords and took the tune to a Now rehearsal where Simon composed the lead guitar parts. The “Mmmm, thanks!” came about at a rehearsal at the King’s Grammar School, Ottery St Mary, when Pete Rippin, Now’s roadie and main man, handed Mark Drower, Now’s singer and main songwriter, a self-rolled cigarette at the precise moment there was a pause in the guitar thrashings. Everybody laughed upon the interjection on the cassette and the moment was thus preserved forevermore in future versions of the number. Each ‘verse’ is different and the 'chorus' is G-C-Bb-D. To make the frog noises at the beginning, everybody made strange grunting noises and Jerry sloshed some water contained in champaign bucket at The Riverside. Rough Terrain made four separate tracks of this on the four-track. The idea for the frog noises came from Marc Greatorex, Now’s drummer. Exactly why this piece is called Frog is no longer known. The lead guitar part was recorded at Howell Road on somebody’s Washburn guitar that had been left there. It was a beautiful instrument, natural wood finish with gorgeous grain, and the strings on it were probably 8 gauge as they were thinner than George’s 9s. Whoever owned the Washburn must have taken it away soon after the recording as it was never seem again by the band. The rhythm guitar is played by George on the Ice Maiden. Normally in a live gig situation Andy would play the rhythm part on Nicodemus. See also: http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/rough-terrain/howell-road-demo https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/exit-stage-deaf http://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/rough-terrain/howell-road-demo/frog https://twitter.com/WudRecords