TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Has Ric ever sung - either live or on a recording?  I saw him mouthing to MOTL at Croydon gig last week - but that is the nearest I have ever seen him come to singing.

I am just curious now that Gerry has also taken up the mike ( Gerry sings because on the new CD he plays an old Indian harmonium and he told me it  was too fragile to bring on tour so he opted for a bit of a sing-song instead)

No and he doesn't play table tennis either. He's rubbish.

He plays violin better than you though Cocker Freeman!!

That goes without saying woman!

I'm suggesting, on very good authority, that he's rubbish at singing and playing table tennis.

Blimey!

Cocker,

You know very well that Ric, Chris and some chap calling himself McTell hold a position in the hearts of some of this place's members that makes it very dangerous indeed to pour scorn on their Table tennis playing abilities.

You are playing with fire, old chap.

Believe me, it isn't worth it! ;)

Is "playing table tennis" a euphamism for something else?  :)


I've often wondered about Ric singing. Mind you, can't be as bad as that bloody peddle.   :o

No, it means exactly what it says, Bridgwit.

You've got to stick to your principles, Mark. Call a spade a spade, tell it like it is, etc etc., no matter what the reaction is likely to be.

I'm prepared to stand or fall by my beliefs, the core premise of which is that Ric Sanders is rubbish at table tennis!

Are you thinking of pocket billiards?!

Right on cue, NickReg.  ::)

Does Ric sing? I'm really interested now. Seriously!

Never heard Ric sing...  or play table tennis...  he makes a good cup of tea though  ;)

Making a good cup of tea is very important!!!!!!  ;D

As for singing.... I think he's just shy!

and I like his peddle!!!!

You've never heard Ric play table tennis? It's a bloody awful noise.

Do you mean pedal?

That could have been because of who his opponent was Cocker....  tactics you see! a bit of psychology I reckon, 'how to win at table tennis with a few grunts and groans'
 ;D ;) ;D




Quite possibly Chris (who never makes a typo/mistake of course)  ;)

Is that called being pedantic?

Interesting question! It deserves an answer so I rang Ric.

He has sung. Once.

It's on a backing vocal for June Tabor and Martin Simpson on their album "A Cut Above".

Other than that he says, "I was classically trained as a child but as I grew up I returned to the wild."

In fact, he never sings because he just isn't confident about it. That's what he says anyway. Although he has been known to scat in a Louis Armstrong style. But not in public.

No, Nick, it's called "spelling".

Maybe so, but in this case I for one am grateful for it. I could not for the life of me figure out what she was referring to.
Actually, I still can't. Perhaps a pedal is used for special effects on stage?

Actually, pedantically spoeaking of course, I thnk the term is "pedaltic".

I thought it was called pedal  ;)

have you got my coat there NickReg, ta I'm off then.

There you are, told you the poor lamb was just shy  :) :) :)

Other than that he says, "I was classically trained as a child but as I grew up I returned to the wild."

That HAS to be a classic Ric comment.. I love it!!  ;D ;D

It was just that I saw it used by two different boardsters & wondered whether I was wrong....

Frightened to post now in case I make another faux pas with my speelling ....  :-[

Yes I meant the pedal he uses to create special affects with his violin. Is it not called a pedal these days?  It's not good (IMHO). Well, sometimes anyway. I quite like it in Waiting for the Tide to Come In.  :)

Ric doing scat! Sounds very interesting. ;D  Thanks to Mr David Hughes for obtaining that information for us - you should post more, Mr Hughes!

A top tip for Mr. Ric Sanders.

As your oppponent is about to serve, start whistling 'It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it'.
Raise the volume and starting humming the tune as you return the serve.  Your opponent will be wrong-footed and now's your chance to move towards the net.  '....and that's what gets results', you sing loudly, as you press forward with a forehanded smash.

Table Tenis and Singing - a winning combination, dear Ric.  

No thanks necessary - I am full of these top tips.

Peel

Ric does make a good (if funny) attempt at peddling though at the gigs...  but he says himself that he's no salesman!!

ROTFLOL  ;D ;D

Nice one Jen  ;D

We can't all be good at everything.  At least I'm in good company in not being confident about singing then ;)

For the record, I like the pedal (one day I'll figure out a decent overdrive for the flute that doesn't just create feedback) and the peddle.  So there.

At least you didn't spell it "fopar"  ::)

or foxes pass

Or indeed, take a leaf out of the Desmond Douglas book (a childhood hero of mine). Wiki says of him; "He was an attacking player notable for his scissor jump smash". I really feel, however, that whistling whilst performing such a manoeuvre would be rubbing it in too much, a bit like Terry Thomas saying 'Hard cheese' after each point

Don't you mean Wait for the Tide to Come In ???  ;D

Also, you can do a spell check at the bottom of the post reply screen.

I always felt that Desmond was gilding the lily a bit there, Rory, didn't you?

Wouldn't have worked for 'peddle' as it is actually a word with different meaning.

la la la la la la not listening la la la la  (adopts fingers in ears pose)    :-X

Here's another Top Tip to improve Mr. Sanders' Table Tennis:

Give over wearing horrible plastic shoes.  Get some plimsolls.  Squeaky ones.

To summarize:

Ric Sanders is a horrible plastic shoe wearing fiddler who is peddling his masterly use of pedals in the guise of a table tennis champion of the folk rock fraternity.

Nobody has really heard him sing although there is rumor of it happening and some have even seen him scat at times which in hunting terminology is poo.

So in conclusion he is either a sh*t singer or very shy.

Have a great day though and you should all be ashamed of yourselves ;D ;D

Mmmm, difficult one this, how could one over do a scissor jump smash? On the other hand you may be right, there no need to show off whilst playing ping pong, is there? Not very sporting at all, really.

I'm sure Desmond would have justified it by saying he needed the scissor jump to achieve the rotation to deliver the top spin but, even so...

Blimey, I can't believe no-one's mentioned this already...

Ric has sung in public on a few occasions, and on CD/cassette.  I have the album he made with Gordon Giltrap, and on the violin/effects showcase piece (PDC??), he distinctly sings into (the contact mic? on) his violin.  And I saw him do exactly that at Croppers - and at other gigs.

OK - no lyrics, but a definite singing voice. And in tune!

Never seen him play table-tennis though.

Sod the singing, we're talking Scissor Jump Smashes here. By it's very nature, the SJS is an exciting technique, and indeed, with the exception of the Malaysian backhand flip, I can't see any other way to achieve the necessary spin. You have to remember this was before the advent of long pimples.



Edit: Please stay on topic. This thread is close to off-topic posts being deleted. Chris

Another Top Tip.

Forget the table tennis bat.  Stand well back from the table armed with your fiddle bow.  Marvel at the reach you can achieve and the springiness of horse hair on ball.  Make like the Four Tops with those feet - yes, pirouette, dear chap - and mouth the words to one of their hits: 'Bernadette' would be my choice.  We'll come to uninhibited singing once we've got you out of those H.P.S's.  

True, Paul. Very true. DH said it wasn't a case of Ric being tone-deaf or anything. He can sing in tune but he just lacks the confidence.

He should get one of those predator bats, what d'you reckon, Rory?

You know where you are with a Cornilleau Competition 3000, the perfect weapon for an offensive game. Like singing, table tennis is all about confidence. Confidence and a good bat.

Cripes! All I wanted to know was if Ric had ever sung! I seemed to have started world war three off . Just as well I didn’t post a question about his choice of footwear or asked if he has ever published a book of his jokes!!

Ric has great taste in footwear and don't let anyone else try to tell you otherwise.. they are wrong!!

I think we've already covered his footwear in rather too much detail, Jim. We don't want to go there again, Amy, do we.

I wouldn't worry about starting world wars, Jim. Every topic ends up with Amethyst talking about shoes sooner or later. It's her thing.

Ignore him too Jim...

...now which horrible plastic shoes shall I wear to see the chaps tonight..??

I did note last night that Ric was seen within a couple of feet of the microphone during MotL, but when I questioned him after the gig he claimed he was miming...

DC

So now we have the tragedy of Ric fooling the fans and toying with their affections by "miming" how cruel can this man get.

huh?.....surely it's his choice?

I'm gutted.

If it's good enough for Madonna then it's good enough four our lad.

Come on let's be honest here, they all do it - miming that is, Mud didn't actually sing 'Tiger Feet' on Top Of The Pops, took them thirty years to close the show down as a result, and I still say that it was an over-reaction.

What colour noddy boots does Madonna favour then, or does she have a pair in every shade?

Off topic - we're talking vocals, Jen, not shoes! ;D :D ::)

I know.. I was winding up His Bobness..  ;) ;D

And I think Neil might just have been a tad ironic in his post.

Oh and Ric 'mimed' last night in Southport as well.  ;) [;-)

Don´t mention the war!  ;)

It's time to be honest:

The real problem is that Chris Leslie, not only does he fiddle a bit, he writes songs, plays oud's whistles, bouzouki's mandolins and even writes songs and to top it all off is a fine singer. Ric is obviously feeling the pressure and is being forced into the role of the Fairport mime.

Something should be done about this problem immediately, the answer is simple a table tennis competition hopefully as soon as possible so that this issue can be fully and publicly addressed. Chipping Norton would be a good venue for this or even Cropredy. Of course both players should wear sensible shoes to avoid any accidents.

Yeah, but the problem with this is that Chris would be using two bats at the same time.

Two bats Leslie will be defeated by the sure footwork of dancing days Sanders have no fear this could be the athletic event of the Fairport Year, ESPN are interested and it could be a nice earner for the band.

Ah yes, but you forget, Chris is a fair dancer too... a two batted Morris Dancer...  :)

That is a very structured form of dance we are talking free range jazz here.

I feel this thread had degenerated in to a free for all, 'it may just be ping pong to you lot, but it's more important than that' - Bill Shankly said that

Any minute there will be a mod along to remind us that this thread is supposed to be about Ric's vocals....

 ;D ;) ;D

Oh I hope not  ;)

Well, If I get de-batted on this one, there will be  consickqwenecys conseqwuenshes, I will be pissed off, OK?
COCKER! how do you spell consiqenches?

There's a bloke who knows his topspin.

This thread is supposed to be about Ric's vocals but as there do not appear to be any apart from the shocking miming happening on this tour then plastic shoes and table tennis seem perfectly reasonable to discuss.

I will move this to the arms tomorrow I guess so that it can be more fully enjoyed, well that's tomorrow for me, it's already tomorrow for most of you. ;D :D ;)