Dr Socrates release time travelling new album

Jul 1 2009 by David Whetstone, The Journal

Time travelling is not the preserve of Doctor Who. David Whetstone explains how Doctor Socrates also got in on the act

Archie and Them, written last year, tells of a “loser in the new Newcastle”, one of the former employees of shipyards and factories who occupy areas “now considered past their sell-by date”.

In The Ballad of Johnny Armstrong, written in 2007, Phil tells of a young North East squaddie caught up in the conflict in Iraq. Johnny’s predicament, he suggests, isn’t so very different from that of Harry Nixon, the frightened conscript recalled in the song about the Battle of Newburn.

A number of special guests feature on Time Travelling – Pete Challenor of The New Rope String Band, vocalists Wendy Saint and Lynn Dowsett, Phil’s son Rob on drums and rapper Kenny Masters, who contributes to the last song on the album, a musical spin on a Louis MacNiece poem, Bagpipe Music.

Phil met Kenny in Byker when he plucked up courage to enter the Tanners pub during a rapping night frequented by swaggering young lads with baseball caps turned back to front.

It struck him that Doctor Socrates and the rappers had something in common. “They were all singing about the same kind of things we sing about, but in a very different way.

“They seemed to be interested in what we were doing, which surprised me because you tend to think young people are not interested in the past. But Kenny was there and he wanted to do some stuff with us.”

Time Travelling is to be launched at that Live Theatre gig on July 11 at 8pm. The band will be backed by screen visuals and Phil promises that pretty much anything could happen. “I do like dressing up,” he warns.

For tickets call (0191) 232-1232. www.doctorsocrates.co.uk