Comments on: Welcome

By: paul fowle

paul fowle — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:41:57 +0000

going through trunks of pop memorabilia which I’m cataloguing to sell off, I’ve come across half a dozen of Duncans acetates, promotion packages and several very large photos still on their photographic studio envelope plus early E.M.I. biog and 12 inch stretched dolby pressing master tape for the not quite final version of “Resurection Joe” (still in box and never played or used for pressing).Please feel free to contact me as soon as possible otherwise these things’ll have to be offered for auction along with everything else. My e-mail address is ‘paul.fowle@club-internet.fr’

By: Dirk Hermans

Dirk Hermans — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:41:35 +0000

Hey,

I remembered the song ‘Wild Places’ from Duncan Browne in a far away memory when seeing the recording of Toppop on tele last summer.

You can wach the video on: http://www.toppop.nl/yeah/node/232

Dirk, from Belgium

By: Elaine Rauhoeft

Elaine Rauhoeft — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:54:50 +0000

I remember when Duncan died in 1993 we were driving to Scotland from Stuttgart and as we arrived on British soil I dived towards the newspapers to catch up on the news,being starved of British news in pre internet days, and was shocked to read an obituary to Duncan Browne in the Guardian.
I couldnt believe it.
Since those accoustic days of Journey I had been fascinated by his voice and his talent.Every friend of ours in the early 80s had Wild Places bought for them ,by us ,as Christmas and birthday presents.
If there are any tribute events going on (in Europe) I for one am interested.He was a great musician with a haunting voice and a skilled guitarist.Its nice to see others have felt this way about him and they are now getting together to celebrate his too short life.

By: John Dennison

John Dennison — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:24:40 +0000

In 1979, I broadcast a very wide variety of music on a small non-commercial station in Burlington Vermont, USA three times a week. The town may have been small but the crowd highly educated and receptive to all forms of music.

I happened to be working in a record store at the time, so had the great fortune of being among a ravenous bunch of music enthusiasts. One day, my manager put “Wild Places” on the in-store turntable. Being a guitarist of certain respect, I was easily under Duncan’s spell. Naturally, the LP made it on the air, as well as the Metro effort, especially Criminal World and Black Lace Shoulder. During my late night shifts, I played two copies of Camino Real, just slightly out of phase, which created a sweeping effect, augmenting an already majestic composition.

You can imagine my joy when my manager, grin on his face, handed me the promo-copy of Streets of Fire some months later. We were both fans of Duncan and he knew I’d be the only one in the region who would bring his new music to the airwaves. I bought another copy, and on my next show, played the whole thing, mixing each cut carefully together. Weeks after, I pulled off my out-of-phase trick with “Streets of Fire”, being respectful to parts of the song that would become over-burdened by the additional treatment. Since it would alter too much Duncan’s original vision, I was very careful, using my ears, my head and my heart to guide me. I usually played all his songs as they were intended to sound, but in playing two copies at once, it provided the listener with a “bigger” sound, a grander rendition, in the hope that I could get more people to buy it. My loyal audience eventually knew I was behind the mic when they heard “Fauvette”, or “American Heartbeat”, and soon began requesting his songs on a regular basis.

One day years later, I called Sire records in New York and asked when the new Duncan Browne record was coming out, but a snotty, gum-chewing female said he’d been dropped. It was the last I would hear of Duncan until recently, when I found this website. I sat, transfixed, reading Lin’s interview. I relished each of Mr. Magnus’s moves while compiling “Songs of Love and War” (I have spent a little time behind a mixing board myself). Most of all, I am elated that people from all over the world have posted their thoughts and praise of a talent I felt HAD to be heard, no matter what it took.

Twenty five years later, I still do a weekly radio show, and I still play Duncan’s music. Occasionally I get a call asking who it is, and I’ll say “How much time do you have to chat?”

By: Paul E. Fowle

Paul E. Fowle — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:27:21 +0000

After writing the above I turned to the biog and am very,very sad to learn that Duncan is no longer with us; We worked very closely together in the 60s and 70s and my mind now fills with thoughts of “Neil” and the wild excitement we enjoyed as duncan launched himself into the throb of the music industry and I was sailing at the helm of my work with emi and later at carlin where duncan set up fugal songs.
Recorded or not I don’t know but I give you, from ‘Jesus Wept’ The leopard and the lion with the wolf upholding dog-watch on the city!

Such fond memories.

By: Paul E. Fowle

Paul E. Fowle — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:56:47 +0000

worked closely with Duncan and David B via. emi and carlin in 60s. I would dearly like to hear from same or anyone who knows his where-abouts.
My ref. Alan Freeman / Andrew Oldham era.

By: George Fazakas

George Fazakas — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 07:26:45 +0000

I have every possible recording by Duncan on cd, however find it bad that there is no videofootage except for the bad one on www.youtube com of “Wild Places”. Can someone not compile a video archive to Duncan’s memory. Did Metro never shoot any video’s?
Top of the Pops don’t seem to reply to e mail queries.
I would love to get emails from other Duncan Brownwe fans.
Greetings from South Africa.
George Fazakas

By: Huw George

Huw George — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:33:50 +0000

“Duncan Browne” was the first album I ever bought back in the 1970’s-I had to borrow next door’s Dansette too play it and play it I did!!!
Now in my late forties, with my vinyl long gone, I have managed to acquire another copy but on CD. It’s a much cherished album and it’s good to have Duncan Browne back!

By: Liam Ryan

Liam Ryan — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:37:20 +0000

I’ve been a fan since I first heard “Journey” back in the 80’s. It was featured on one of those freebie compilation CD’s enclosed in a daily newspaper and was loaned to me by a work colleague. I must say that when I first heard this track I was totally smitten and must have replayed it half a dozen times before moving on to the next (I cannot even remember another track on that CD but they were fairly popular at the time). He was a breath of fresh air in the then as now stagnant atmosphere of modern music. Classical but yet progressive. It was the only song I had heard from him and I couldn’t believe there was so little information about him on the web at the time. It’s only now (today) that I have been able to buy some of his CD’s from Amazon and greatly look forward to being amazed by his singing and playing in the next week or so. Has anyone ever written a book about him that I could buy ?.

By: Hans Peters

Hans Peters — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 01:24:49 +0000

Big fan and collector from Duncan in Holland. Nice to hear from other fans.
Very good site, nice lay-out, clear and hard work.
Would be pleased if one would write out Duncan’s music so I can try to play some of his songs.
I also would love to know which songs are covered by which artists.

Thanks for setting up this site and the will to share his music.

All the best and regards
Hans Peters
H.Peters@home.nl