Many thanks to all who supported the Famous Groupies experiment. T'was a grand 5 years.

Cheerio from the lads!

Is it 2024 or 1974?

This screenshot taken of the current top 5 list(s) for the largest Japanese Distributor and record store chain - handing nearly every record store in Japan and its surrounding islands.
On the left is the top 5 best selling list for pre-sale albums.
On the right is the top 5 best selling list for in stock or physical albums.

You may have noted that Famous Groupies and Paul McCartney & Wings are situated right next each other, in perfect harmony. It feels pretty good to be in such great company as Joni Mitchell, Bowie, Wings, and of course The Beatles. Also, Margo Guryan is fantastic! Explore her albums when you get a chance, she was great!

Yes, we have all time travelled back to the year 1974. And I never want to leave!

In other news, the 2nd pressing of CDs for Black Apple is well under way. We should have it back in stock by early August. I will keep you posted.

KM

Our CD release date of 7/1 was a success. We are completely sold out of Black Apple  CDs (1st pressing). Thank you!
Orange Records will be placing a 2nd pressing soon (hopefully), and we hope to have CDs back in stock by August.
Meanwhile, you can still order Black Apple in digital format. Digital can be purchased at this site or by visiting Bandcamp.

The good news is that several days ago Orange Records received a large shipment of Black Apple CDs. And, they have mailed out to all the good people who pre-ordered way back when. I just received my small batch today (to pass out to the family. I couldn't be more pleased, looks totally fab!).

Who am I kidding, its all good news...

So I guess the only other news is that most of the initial CD order has been bought up by our distributors, which only leaves Orange Records with a limited supply for our July 1st CD release date. And in lieu of that news, we may have to suspend selling the Black Apple CD on our site (for awhile at least). The limited balance of Black Apple CDs will be sold directly from Orange Records/Satellites Group via the Bandcamp site.

You can also buy the digital album at the Bandcamp site, which is available for immediate download.

For those of you in Japan, you will be able to buy the CD in-store within two weeks. Everyone in Japan will be carrying Black Apple, from HMV to Tower Records and all in between.

Thanks again for supporting our music these past few years. We love you!

Kirkcaldy & Famous Groupies

As of June one, you can now purchase Black Apple in digital format. The digital album has a compressed song total of 30, when in fact there are actually 36 songs (the CD has 36 indexed songs). The simple answer for this is that the song 'Seven Rooms' is in fact 7 songs, and they are indexed as such for the CD. But, we could not index them for digital as there would be big gaps of silence between each song (or room), and that would not sound proper.

Meanwhile, Black Apple is climbing the pre-order charts quite nicely in Japan. Disk Union Records has been our #1 distributor for all 5 records and we love them dearly. Charting at #4 is not a bad place to start considering that the album was just released (digital) and people are just now hearing it for the first time. We appreciate the emails and YouTube comments from those who have heard the album and had very nice things to say about it. Thank you!

And since the record is doing well in Japan, we are nearly sold out of CDs before they even arrive to Orange Records. A 2nd pressing is eminent. Please be patient if you order after July 1st, we will have you sorted as promptly as possible.

And please do visit our YouTube page and subscribe! There will be lots of video singles, video shorts and other surprises posted along the way. Our Current single(s) is 'One Need Leads', a song that sounds like McCartney could have written in 1974 (who knows, maybe he did). Also, the song 'Soft Beds, Hard Battles' and it features the great Dave Gregory of XTC on electric guitar. His solo is absolutely brilliant and one of my very favs. Dave plays on 9 or 10 songs, three of which are rooted in that XTC sensibility. But overall, this double record leans heavy towards that of early 70s McCartney & Wings, much like our first two records.

Our next video single will be 'Cellar Door', which features brilliant horns throughout. A personal fav. Look for that on July one. And soon after another single will appear.

The band and I would like to say 'Thank You'. We appreciate all the love and support.

Cheers,
KM

As you may have already heard, Black Apple will be available for digital download on 6/1. CD will follow on 7/1. But what of vinyl?
Believe it or not, Black Apple on vinyl would need to be a 4 record set. Yes, there is THAT much music. And of course, that would cost a fortune to press and a small fortune for the customer to purchase. So, where does this leave us? It leaves us to be "creative".

Above you will find the cover for 'Slices From The Black Apple'. The band wanted to take some of the most Wings-like songs from 36 and create a vinyl album that felt like a lost McCartney & Wings record - circa 1974. This collection of songs in an entirely different experience than Black Apple, thus we had to give it its own cover and a new name. And, as with vinyl, it can hold roughly 20 minutes of music per side, which made for a challenge to be sure. We like how it turned out and we think you might too. This record should fit nicely right next to Red Rose Speedway.

The band didn't stop there. They wanted a keepsake of a different kind, so it was decided to create another condensed version of Black Apple. Below you will find pics of that record, which does feature a bit different song picks from the big album. What makes this vinyl record special is that it is a 'picture disc'. An alternate cover pic on side A, and another related pic on side B. 
Now then, this record was more so for the band and not necessarily for the public, but the band thought it would be fun to make it available for a short while to anyone who wanted it. All in good fun. The last hurrah and all.

The good news is that both vinyl albums are available right now.  Click HERE to be redirected.

Famous Groupies is delighted to announce the release date for our final album, the mysteriously entitled "Black Apple". This double album features 36 songs, all written by our late-great Grandfather, Mr. Patrick McKenzie.

Mark your calendars for June 1st, for on that day we shall release the album in digital format. And, on July 1st we shall release Black Apple in physical format (CD). Eventually, we will have vinyl pressed, but for now we offer these two formats.

Most of these songs were in fact written in the very early 1970s. And while there are a few that we could not identify writing dates for, we found that they fit perfectly for this record and we feel that they too were more than likely written at least between 1969 and 1977.

Patrick has written far more songs than the 94 songs that will have been released in all since we started this journey, and we wish we could release more as this band, but sadly it is not meant to be. For you see, this has been a family affair, my brothers and sister in law have all worked very hard recording these songs in their spare time -since early 2019. But, life moves forward as some of us get married, have kids, get new jobs and such. So we must soon say farewell; but not before we release and celebrate the new album.  We do indeed thank you for all of your support.

And most of all, we thank you for listening to Patrick's work. He would have loved that. And as we can see in the cover art above, a young Patrick McKenzie sits upon a thrown of flowers watching and waiting as the quiet King that he is.

This album will feature some very fine guest artists who truly gave us some great performances, which elevated this project all the more. And so with great sincerity, we would like to thank the following talented and kind people for their generous contributions. (In alphabetical order)

Lavinia Blackwall (with Marco Rea)
Dana Countryman
Nick Frater
Jamie Grant
Dave Gregory
Probyn Gregory
Anthony Saddic
Jamie Whelligan

*Hand claps by Nick Frater, Luke Smith, Joe Kane and Joe Montague

More discussion on the new album to follow in future posts. And be on the look out for our next single, featuring the great Dave Gregory of XTC.

For an otherwise cheery, warm album, the title track "Black Apple" has a very dark theme. After tracking vocals for this song, it was then that I really studied the lyrics intensely and tried to understand who Patrick was writing about and why. Clearly the song was written about a break-up or the dissolution of a partnership. And naturally John and Paul came to mind. I don't have a clear indicator as to the exact date for which this song was penned, but my best guess is somewhere between 1970 and 1975.

Patrick was a very joyful and happy fellow who rarely had a cross word for anything or anyone, so for him to write such a letter in the form of this angst filled song, well, that really speaks volumes.

I will share a few lyrical excerpts and try to break them down.

Black apple
twisting on the vine, waiting to be plucked
and ever ripe for intertwine

--- This intro section suggests that the "Black Apple" is in fact a  person who is about to/or has been inserted or connected to a thing or a group (probably a band). And, that he was selected (plucked) for such a thing.

Black Apple
you could have fooled them all
smaller by an inch, though some would say your still too tall

--- Well, this bit seems fairly obvious so I will let you make your own conclusion to its meaning. But I will say that there is a harsh undercurrent happening here, and these lyrics feel as if they were written by John Lennon. Very sassy.

Black Apple
suffocating in a room
swapping spit with devils, like you're on a honeymoon

---This lyrical passage has me stumped. What was Patrick trying to say here? Such dark lyrics, such disdain.  These lyrics and this song had bothered me at the time. Not so much anymore, but at first this song was very off-putting.....which is why it was decided to include it as the title track. Its a rare side of Patrick that we had never really seen, or  had come across in any other of his lyrics. But we felt that it was important to include such a bittersweet song, because it was clearly important enough for him to write. Its how he felt at the time and so it must of had important value no matter how brief he may have felt in this way.

And whomever this was directed towards, I hope he found reconciliation before he departed. Or at least peace of mind.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this song once you have heard it. It would be interesting to dissect it with others, peel the layers as it were.

Cheers,
KM

Its no secret or surprise that Famous Groupies are BIG, BIG, BIG fans of that BIG, BIG, BIG band known as XTC. I sometimes refer to them as 'the other Beatles'. I could gush for hours over Andy and Colin's brilliant songwriting, massive creativity and masterful playing, but right now I would like to gush over and give praise to the genius of the third member of said band, Mr. Dave Gregory.

Dave has been one of my very favourite guitarists since I first heard his playing on the album "Skylarking". From there I explored the XTC catalogue (Oranges and Lemons, Big Express, English Settlement, Non Such, and the rest) and I was overwhelmed by Dave's brilliant and at times unusual guitar chords and phrasings. Incredibly melodic and precise solos, always spot-on perfect, and don't get me started on those glorious guitar sounds/tones. He is clearly a wizard, head and shoulders above all other guitar players in the game.

And so, one day while reviewing the songs for Black Apple,  several songs struck me as having a sort signature that reminded me of XTC. I thought to myself, hmm, these songs would sound really, really great if Dave Gregory were to play on them. So I mustered up the courage,  rung him up and to me delight he was as nice as can be.  A true gentleman, incredibly generous of heart. I then sent him the first song, which he loved, then a second, then a third....etc. It was such a treat to work with Dave these past four months, and 9 or so songs later. Dave's guitar compositions and performances have truly elevated Black Apple to heights we could  have never reached on our own. We owe him a great debt for that. He has our gratitude and undying love.

The next single to be released will feature Dave Gregory on guitar, and its a real stunner too! Even Andy Partridge liked it! We hope you will too.  Keep an eye out for it.

Cheers to Dave!


KM and Famous Groupies

There are oranges and lemons everywhere....