This is a painting of Simon & Garfunkle

In 1970 Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle released, Bridge Over Troubled Water. Paul Simon wrote the song about his wife Peggy in an attempt to lift her spirits. When writing it on his guitar he tried to imagine Aretha Franklin singing it. Aretha later covered the song, as did Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and a host of other music legends. Paul Simon has admitted he struggled to find words for the third verse of the song and thinks he should have tried harder. However, the single was featured on an album which was also called, Bridge Over Troubled Water. The single and L.P both shot to number one in the charts in both the U.K. and the U.S. This had never been achieved by a singer or group before. Many years later Paul Simon released a solo album called, Hearts and Bones which flopped in both the U.K. and the U.S. One of the tracks from the album was about the Belgian painter Rene Magritte and his wife Georgette. When, Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War was released it got positive reviews but failed to be a hit. Allmusic described it as being, "a commercial disaster." Last year, Paul Simon performed the song live in Copenhagen, he'd given the song's arrangement a bit of t.l.c. and to my ears this sounds as good as Bridge Over Troubled Water ever did. Simon and Garfunkle's relationship has had it's ups and downs over the years. I like to think of them being friends again and collaborating once more. 'This is a painting of Simon and Garfunkle' (by Harry Pye and Rowland Smith) shows the two old friends in a gallery standing next to a painting by Magritte. Walking round an exhibition with a friend and discovering what you agree and disagree on is a pleasant way to pass the time and you get reminded that there is no accounting for taste - One man's meat is another man's poison. An artist might be able to control what happens on their canvas or on their album but once it's been made public there's no telling what reception it's going to get. In the painting Garfunkle is wearing a Happy Eater badge. It's curious that when the image of the badge is added into the mix the pipe seems more Freudian. Sigmund Freud famously said, "Sometimes a pipe is just a pipe" (meaning that isn't a sexual meaning behind everything). One wonders if Paul was jealous of Art's height or if Art was jealous of Paul's ability to write lyrics. Maybe Paul was jealous when Art got to number one with Brighteyes? There is so much we'll never know. I like the fact they can't look each other in the eye. They both remain guarded and alert. This painting is kind of a companion piece to another Rowland & Harry painting. Like Simon & Garfunkle, John & Yoko were another pair of New York City lovers who made beautiful music together.

(Both paintings are 95cm wide and 65cm high)

Support for Woody Allen

Woody Allen is busier than ever. His Jazz band are currently doing a European tour, he's apparently written an autobiography and work has just begun on a new film which has been backed by a Barcelona-based company called Mediapro. Recently I've noticed more and more of Woody's friends and fans saying good things about him. These days it's news when Charlotte Rampling says her experience of making Stardust Memories was entirely positive: "we had this wonderful, platonic playfulness, constant playfulness" journalists assume she would want to distance herself from him. Likewise, much was made of Jude Law's comments about it be being "a shame" A Rainy Night in New York will be released in Europe but not America. Personally I was thrilled when I saw Woody's cheeky tribute to Diane Keaton a few year's back as it was clear there was still life in the old dog.

Scarlet Johansson was seen dining with Woody in Come Prima on Madison Avenue in May of last year. Allen directed her in 3 movies; “Scoop,” “Match Point” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” Scarlet on Woody: "“I would sew the hems of his pants if he asked me to.”

Anjelica Huston collaborated with Allen on two of his his films, “Crimes and Misdemeanors” in 1989 and “Manhattan Murder Mystery" in 1993. This week she told Variety magazine she would work with Woody again "in a second".

Posey Parker worked with Woody on Irrational Man. She told the Guardian that when she got told she'd been given the job she was so happy she burst into tears. In more recent interviews to promote her memoirs she has been quoted as saying, "Woody is a very talented, intuitive auteur and I think he knows intrinsically how to direct and how to push to the performance he wants. The roles he’s written for women are some of the best."

Kate Winslet was brilliant in Woody's 2017 flick Wonderwheel. She told the Sydney Morning Herald that she loved Woody's scripts... "I think on some level Woody is a woman. I just think he's very in touch with that side of himself. He understands the female characters he creates exceptionally well... His female characters are always so rich and large and honest in terms of how they're feeling and he just knows how to write dialogue for them to communicate all that."

Catherine Deneuve said in a recent interview with Paris Match that if Woody offered a role, she’d take it in a minute. She continued, “I would love to work with him, he is a man of immense talent,”

Miley Cyrus who worked with Allen on the series, Crisis in 6 Scenes, told Variety that she thought Allen was "an incredible person and an incredible Dad". Interestingly in the same interview she revealed that a framed photo of Woody Allen had been one of her most precious possessions for many years.

Alan Alda who has appeared in 1989’s Crimes and Misdemeanors, 1993’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, and 1996′s Everyone Says I Love You was asked about Woody in January of this year.He told reporters, “I’d work with him again if he wanted me... he’s an enormously talented guy.”

Ray Liotta was asked in June of this year which director he would drop everything to work for and straight away he answered: Woody. When pressed about the allegations made against him by the Farrow family Liotta added, "I believe what he says. I don't think he did what they accuse him of. He's too — for his particular case I don't buy it."

Alec Baldwin, who worked with Allen on Blue Jasmine and To Rome With Love and Alice has also defended the director on Twitter and in interviews. Baldwin claims the three times they've worked together were "privileges"

Javier Bardem is another actor keen to speak up for Wood: "At the time I did Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the allegations were already well known for more than 10 years, and two states in the US deemed he was not guilty. If the legal situation ever changes, then I’d change my mind. But for now I don’t agree with the public lynching that he’s been receiving, and if Woody Allen called me to work with him again I’d be there tomorrow morning. He’s a genius.”

The Wit and Wisdom of Woody Allen.

1) "As a child I attended an interfaith camp where I was sadistically beaten by boys of all races and creeds.” 2) "The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck." 3) "If my films don't show a profit, I know I'm doing something right." 4) "God is dead, Marx is dead, and I'm not feeling too good myself." 5) “I’ve never felt Truth was Beauty. Never. I’ve always felt that people can’t take too much reality. I like being in Ingmar Bergman’s world. Or in Louis Armstrong’s world. Or in the world of the New York Knicks. Because it’s not this world. You spend your whole life searching for a way out. You just get an overdose of reality, you know, and it’s a terrible thing.” 6) "I feel that life is divided into the horrible and the miserable. That's the two categories. The horrible are like, I don't know, terminal cases, you know, and blind people, crippled. I don't know how they get through life. It's amazing to me. And the miserable is everyone else. So you should be thankful that you're miserable, because that's very lucky, to be miserable." 7) "If my film makes one more person miserable, I'll feel I've done my job." 8) "There's an old joke - um... two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, ‘Boy, the food at this place is really terrible.’ The other one says, ‘Yeah, I know; and such small portions.’ Well, that's essentially how I feel about life." 9) "Those who can’t do, teach, and those who can’t tech, teach Gym." 10) "I'm not saying I didn't enjoy myself, but I didn't." 11) "The most beautiful words in the English language aren’t ‘I love you’ but ‘it's benign.’" 12) "80% of success is showing up." 13) "Between the Pope and air conditioning, I'd choose air conditioning." 14) "You know a lot of geniuses, y’know. You should meet some stupid people once in a while, y’know, you could learn something." 15) "That's why I can't say enough times, whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace, whatever works. And don't kid yourself. Because its by no means up to your own human ingenuity." 16) “I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.” ... 17) “My one regret in life is that I am not someone else.” 18) "I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it’s the government." 19) "Life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad television." 20) "“Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon.”

Beswick and Pye's Film About The Movements of Vincent Van Gogh

Team Beswick & Pye have been collaborating on art projects together for over 15 years. They have made Pop videos such as RIO by Neil Innes. Collaborative paintings by Gordon and Harry have appeared in celebrated shows at Sartorial Contemporary Art in Kings Cross and Galeria Thomas Cohn in Sao Paulo. In May 2010 Beswick & Pye were invited to take part in Tate Modern's Souls For Sale extravaganza and had their work exhibited in the Turbine Hall. In December 2010 a painting by Gordon and Harry was sold at a charity auction held at The Victoria & Albert Museum. Money raised went to the Breakthrough cancer charity. In April 2012 Team Beswick & Pye took part in "Secret 7" at the Idea Generation gallery in Shoreditch. Their design for a seven Inch single by The Cure was sold in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. In the same month a compilation of their films were screened at Tate Britain's Manton Studios as part of Late at the Tate. In October 2012 Team Beswick & Pye's painting of Martin Luther King was featured in part of Art Below's Peace Project. The painting was exhibited at Gallery Different and a poster of it was displayed in Regent's Park Tube Station. In November 2012 Beswick & Pye were featured in The Discerning Eye exhibition at the Mall Gallery. In 2013 Beswick & Pye worked with Gallery Different and Art Below again for a show about Mrs Thatcher that featured both in the BBC news and in the Evening Standard. In December 2016 a gigantic version of their painting of Chris Packham was displayed on a billboard in Southampton. They have also painted The Beatles on a gigantic egg for the Action For Children charity (see below)

Last year they exhibited a screen print of one of their paintings, 'Come On In, The Water's Lovely' at the Inside Job exhibition at Tate Modern

which you can read about here:

Harry Pye has made several paintings based on Vincent such as 'Stick To What You Don't Know' (see above) and has carried on a great deal of research about Vincent's life. Gordon Beswick and Harry Pye are currently working on a 5 minute film that retraces Vincent's steps in both London and Ramsgate.

The film's debut screening will take place in August at Tate Exchange at Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. More news soon.

Help fund the new album by Neil Innes

A few months back it was announced that music lovers from all around the the world had chipped in to raise the money needed for recording, mastering, and manufacturing of a new album of songs by Neil Innes on CD and Vinyl via Pledge Music. The target was reached but annoyingly Pledge Music failed to honour their commitments ("Ouch"). On the 6th of Feb Neil made the following announcement: "I have at last spoken to Pledge Music and our agreement is now terminated.I would like to make it clear that I have no wish to pour petrol on a fire that has broken out somewhere high up in their organization. I am frankly not interested in who or what is to blame. I believe the “good guys” in Pledge when they say they feel just as betrayed as the Artists and their loyal Supporters. Their platform is broken. They hope to regain the trust and goodwill of Artists and Fans alike – but this will take time – 30 to 90 days. But this is too long to wait for my project, recording has begun with studio and musician costs incurred. My limited resources are dwindling. Consequently, I am busy looking for alternative ways to finance the recording/manufacture/artwork and distribution of the “new album”. Pledge Music have agreed with me the only way to make the best out of a bad job is to consider the following advice: You CAN get your money back IF you paid by a Credit Card with an insurance policy against fraud – such as VISA, Master Card or even PayPal. (Also, it is worth asking your bank if they have you covered) Please forward your Pledge “acknowledgement” to yvonne@neilinnes.media so that we can know Who and Where you are – and What you wanted. (We already have details for those of you who ordered T Shirts and/or Handwritten Song Lyrics.)

IF you DO manage to get your money back, PLEASE consider donating the same amount to gofundme.com/neil-innes-the-new-album. WE intend to deliver our part of the original bargain – but need all the help we can get! We still hope to finish “The Greatest Album (of its kind) in the History of the World” with De Luxe Artwork, by this Spring – aiming for April. It will then become available from my website: neilinnes.media/shop – if you’ve had enough of “crowdfunding” for now! THANK YOU for your patience and understanding, we are all in the this TOGETHER. Let’s be positive but mindful of the words of Oscar Wilde: “That Good triumphs over Evil is the True Nature of Fiction.” Be Happy!"

So, a new fund has been set up and the goal is £25,000. Click on HERE to go to Go Fund Me page.

The Spammed support Specialized and The Teenage Cancer Trust

Specialized is a musical community that was created in 2012 to raise funds to improve the lives of teens and young adults with cancer or who are living in difficult circumstances. The Specialized Project brings together amateur and professional musicians with the shared goal of creating musical projects to raise funds for cancer research and support agencies, particularly The Teenage Cancer Trust, The National Foundation for Youth Music and Tonic Music for Mental Health. They’ve done this by the production of themed albums supported by live music events across the UK.

Specialized 7: BOSS which is available now, is a four disc CD box-set featuring reinterpretations of all ska’s hit factory Trojan Records. Tracks featured on the compilation include The Spammed's version of Jimmy Cliff's You Can Get It If You Really Want. You can buy it for £15.99 via the Specialized online shop: http://www.specializedproject.co.uk/shopping/boss-a-tribute-to-original-sounds/

Yesterday The Spammed visited South London's Perry Vale studio to record a cover of 'The Prince' (originally by Madness) which will feature on 'Specialized 8' (a tribute to 2-Tone Records) which will be released in 2019. The Spammed consist of; Kevin Eldon (Vocals), Neil Innes (Keyboard), Micko Westmoreland (Guitar), Horace Panter (Bass), and Rat Scabies (drums). The man at the mixing desk for this recording was Pat Collier, (a former member of The Vibrators) who has worked with numerous bands over the years including The House of Love,Katrina & The Waves, The Wonderstuff, and Jesus & Mary Chain.

The Prince was released on Two Tone records on the first of September, 1979 and was the band's first top twenty hit single. The track is a tribute to the Ska legend Prince Buster who gave the world such classics as Earthquake, One Step Beyond, Al Capone, 10 Commandments and Oh Carolina.

Image above: Kevin studies the nutty lyrics. Image below: The Fun Boy 3

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Opening Party at Shortwave Gallery for Funny Business exhibition

'Funny Business' is an exhibition featuring work by Jasper Joffe, Kate Lyddon, Geraldine Swayne, Harry Pye in collaboration with Rowland Smith, in collaboration with Gordon Beswick, and Harry Pye on his own. Here are the first batch of photos from the opening night. The show is on till the 27th November. More info: here

Above: Harry Pye and Gordon Beswick

Above: Bridget Swann with "Mature Lady Artist" Sadie Hennessey.

Above: Rob Wray, Reuben Powell, Peter Gordon

Above: James Lawson. Painting of Harpo & Groucho by Geraldine Swayne and Harry Pye

Above: Rachelle Allen-Sherwood with Sadie Hennessey

Above: Martin Sexton with Jasper Joffe

Above: Harry Pye and Rob Wray

Above: Cheers Paul

Above: New painting by Kate Lyddon

Above: Jasper Joffe with Chris Tosic

Above: Weird Nightmare painted by Rowland Smith and Harry Pye

Above: Mr X, James Lawson, Richard Lamy

Above: Harry the Hat

Above: Jackie Clark and friend

Above: John Hind

Above: "Here's to those who wish us well..."

Above: Rebecca Fontaine-Wolf, Rob Wray, Jackie Clark, Gregory Williams

Above: Shortwave cafe Society

Above: Max Reeves is drawn to a Smith/Pye painting of Scarlett & Sodastream

Above: Geraldine Swayne

Above: Max Reeves and Harry Pye

Above: Max Reeves and Geraldine Swayne

Above: Aidan O'Sulivan and Chris Coombes

Above: Shortwave's resident DJ takes a sneaky peak at Sadie's work.

Above: Ladies in the house

Above: The next morning <