KEN: Bowie's albums Low and Heroes plus his production of Iggy Pop's Lust for Life were large influences during those days. The latter being one of the best all time rock albums! From a songwriting perspective, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds provided the model for several songs on the album ('lonely boy', 'original sin'), whereas PIL provided some influence over the musically constraining elements used over tracks like 'pointy shoes', 'memorie(62)' and 'wish'. Personally I don't think the production by Dennis MacKay (a 10+ year Trident Studios vet) was Bowie or Eno like at all.
ADAM: I've talked to a lot of musicians, especially those that lean toward the perfectionist side, who have a hard time listening to their older material because they always want to go back and tinker, usually with things that the average listener would never notice anyway. Did you grapple with that during the assembly of Revisited?
KEN: Generally not. I had not listened to these tracks for several years, so coming back to listen to them carefully again for Revisited was a welcome surprise. It is all very subjective. I do hear all the little inconsistencies, the human touches in playing, and mainly, enjoy them. Like a snapshot in time, it is what it is.
ADAM: What's your favorite memory of Cowboys International? Or, failing that, what about the band's output do you find most satisfactory?
KEN: Touring and playing in England; the closeness of the group; playing to full houses and winning the crowds; the crowd riot after our show at Bunuel University; living in Streatham and recording in the west end of London.
ADAM: OK, here are the two questions we ask every month and lately people have been taking them far too seriously and dodging them. I'm hoping you can get us back on track. Here we go: the world ends tomorrow and the Ticketmaster Upstairs puts you in charge of recruiting the band that will be playing in Heaven. Who gets the call?
KEN: Well, as booker, I'd make this an all day event to include Blind Faith, The Clash, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, Frank Zappa + The Mothers of Invention, Cream, Mingus/Gillespie, T-Rex, Nick Drake, Iggy Pop, Bob Marley and the Wailers, U2, Kraftwerk, Prince, Coltrane, Howlin wolf, XTC, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, and Jacques Brel.
