Trevor Howard

Discography/Tapeography

From the moment I picked up a guitar, I decided upon making albums in order to remember stages of my songwriting. As you may expect, the quality of playijng, singing, writing and recording started off pretty dire, but has improved along the way.

There were many albums in the early days: "Count On Us", "Second Count", "Countdown To Doom", "Recounting","Giving Account", "Visions And Countervisions", "Encounters" - all with the word "count" embedded in them, as befitting the title "Abacus".

These links go to the early highlights..

Encounters | Dee Ploma And The Training Managers | Have You Seen The Light

Here are the commercially available albums...

These point to the classic live shows...

Out For The Count | Howard's Broome Cupboard | PRAT (Phil, Rupert And Trevor) | PRAT - Farewell

And here is the full list...

"Count On Us" was my first attempt in 1982. This was less of an album than a set of songs put onto a tape in the order I wrote/sang them. At the ime, I was writing songs with a lad called Andreas. He gave me the original words to "Darius The Mede", which is on here, as is the original "Back To The Cross". Other highlights include my re-wording of "Blowin' In The Wind" and some lyrics which I had written back in school days - "Game Of Chess".Other originals on this album were "One-Way Street" and "Confusion". The tape is all of 90 minutes long - I don't think I've ever listened to the lot in one go!

"Second Count" (1983) was more of the same. This included a larger number of original songs than "Count On Us", including the title track, "Commuter Man"and "Action Over Pay", all of which were later performed b PRAT, as was "Arts Student Blues", which I had written at University, but not recorded on the first album. Christian songs included "Castle", which challenges our material lifestyle, and "True Spirit Of Christmas".

"Rock'n'Roll Pirates" (1985) was just me picking up the guitar again after not recording for a while. I ran through some old songs (including "Carzy Little Thing Called Love", which we performad as "Howard's Broome Cupboard"). The only original-ish song on here was "Darius The Mede".

"Crosswords And Tea EP" (Christmas 1985). Once my work colleagues knew that I had a guitar, I was asked to sing for them. Eventually, I conceded and wrote a set of songs about work. I performed these live at work, then put them on tape for my own benefit. The title came to me after I was asked about my first impressions of my workplace (at an appraisal - I don't think I ever escaped the label I picked up then). The EP includes one of my legendary Blues songs and something called "Big John", in honour of our Manager.

"Ken's Passing/ (Glory Glory) Tony's Going" (1986). After the success of Crosswords & Tea, I threatened to write a song about anybody who left our Section at work. Ken and Tony took me p on the offer, so this commemorates these events.

"I Don't Want To Work" EP (Christmas 1986). More of the same for another Christmas recital.

"Greatest Guy In Park Street" (1987). A re-vamped version of a song from "I Don't Want To Work", commemorating me leaving the building. Park Street was the name of our building, and the song started "Nobody considered him ..." in case you thought I was bragging!

"The Sherwood Times" EP (1988). After singing a few songs for the Youth Club at Trinity Church, Harrow, I put one of them on tape, together with some oldies - "Protest Song", "Arts Student Blues" and "Blowin' In The Wind". These later became my stage set (see "Out For The Count").

"Countback" EP (1988). This was an attempt to re-learn some old songs, "Second Count", "One Way Street" and "Darius The Mede".

"Recounting" (1988). This was a companion to "Countback" - a sort of "Greatest Hits". I guess I didn't have a tape long enough for all of the songs together. This includes re-recordings f "Back To The Cross" and "Castle", together with a new song "Friar Took A Prisoner".

"Countdown To Doom" (1988). I had written some lyrics in 1979, whilst still at school. The tunes wer in my head at the time. This was an attempt to get them all onto tape. "Chess Game Of Life" had appeared earlier, and "Time Trap" was destined to appear again later, albeit with a new tune for the verse.

"It's All You Need" EP (1988). I remember recording this in a hotel room. I started to travel a lot with my new job. Nights away in hotels allowed me to write and resord. In this case, it was to get the famous "JCL Blues" on tape, together with a new song "Ultra Sonic Boom" and a few covers (including "Good Personality).

"Out For The Count" (198x). This is a live recording of "Blowin'...", "Art's Student..." and "Protest Song", from the first occasion when I supported "The Exhibition" (a band formed by Phil Broome and some of his fiends).

"Howard's Broome Cupboard" (1989) is the live recording of the concert I did with Phil at Easter. See the Archive page for a recording of "Back To The Cross" from this concert. The complete set list was: "Protest Song", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Blowin' In The Wind", "Arts Student Blues", "Back To The Cross", "Broome Cupboard Blues", "All Day And All Of The Night", "Broome Cupboard Blues (reprise)". My recollection is that this was part of a sleepover for the Youth Group (which means that it was a private performance - so no copyright problems!).

"PRAT" (1989). Howard's Broome Cupboard were strengthened with the addition of Rupert Davis (hence, Phil, Rupert And Trevor). This was our first concert, again at Trinity Church, Harrow. The set list was: "Protest Song", "Greatest Guy In Harrow", "Second Count", "Action Over Pay", "Commuter Man", "Take It Or Leave It", "Broome Cupboard Blues", "Old Harrow Hill", "Darius The Mede", "All Day And All Of The Night"

"Giving Account" appeared in 1989. This was more of a proper album, as I wrote and rehearsed songs before picking a running order and recording. This was a major achievement, as I'd just been pottering about with odd songs and re-recording older stuff for several years. All of the songs are as original as they come. 3 were later performed by PRAT - "My Baby Left Me (I'm Gonna Jump Out The Window)", "Another Bomb On Another Street" and "What Do You Want With My Loving". The latter has since been re-written as "Jesus Is Lord Of Creation". The title track is an 8 minute epic which may well get re-recorded on a t'Revorlution album, as I reckon it could be quite good. The writing, practice, selection and recording were all done in hotel rooms. At the time, I considered this to be my best work.

"Old Bricket Wood" (Christmas 1989) - I managed to revive my musical Christmas tradition in my new job. This was a song about our wonderful site. It was pinched from "Old Streatham Hill" (from "Count On Us"), and "Old Harrow Hill" which sound a bit like "Mull Of Kintyre".

"PRAT - Farewell" (1990) was the second and final PRAT concert. With the advent of "Giving Account" and new material from Phil and Rupert, we had much more to choose from this time raound, and a better understanding of playing together (although once a year was not really enough to become a tight unit. Set list was: If The Truth Were Known, Protest Song, Good Persoonality, Clutching At Straws, One-Sided Love, Arts Student Blues, Little Blue Girl, What Do You Want With My Loving, What Do You Want, Broome Cupboard Blues, My Baby Left Me..., Darius The Mede, Another Bomb On Another Street, All Day And All Of The Night, Farewell.

"Visions & Countervisions" (1990) was a planned double album. Half of it is the original version of "Visions Of Daniel", which expanded "Darius The Mede" into a more complete rock opera detailing the book of Daniel. This material was written on a train journey from London to Crewe, then recorded over a couple of nights at a hotel near Knutsford. The other half was an odd collection, including an interpretation of a poem about Samuel Jackson, the song "Farewell" as used at the final PRAT concert and "The Ballad Of PRAT", which told the history of the band.

"Countenance, Decadencs, Innocence, All At Once" (1991) was a mini-album of material recorded in a hotel room - this was really all about getting back into writing and recording after a house move and several months of inactivity.

"Count Them All Back Home" (Nov'92 - Mar '94). This was a mixture ofold songs never recorded and a few new ideas. It includes original versions of some "Dee Ploma" songs from 1993 and some new ideas for "Visions Of Daniel" ('94).

"Visions Of Daniel" (1994-7). There are many tapes of this music stemming from this period. The original concept of a musical or rock opera based on the book of Daniel was worked out on "Visions & Countervisions", although the song "Darius The Mede" goes back further. Chris Medway and myself met once a week to share, develop and record ideas, as we moved towards the greatest story never recorded. There was an almost definitive 90 minute tape about half way through the project and I did a lot of work in transferring material onto CD. One day I'll distill all this down into the really definitive package.

"Power, Discounted Power" (1994/5) was essentially a rehursal tape for new ideas. There are a few vits from "Visions Of Daniel" and the original of "Whom Shall I Send", which reappeared on "Encounters".

"Encounters" (1995). This pulled together some older material with a handful of brand new songs. "Saruman" (1980) was inspired by the character in The Lord Of The Rings; "Inspector Browseover" was a song written in 1982, with the idea of turning my comedy serial into a musical. "One Man And His Idol" became "Idol Song", which later appeared in Visions Of Daniel (although it wasn't in the 1989 original). Most importantly, "Jesus Is Lord And King" became "Clap And Sing", which has been used in Sunday School to this day.

Counterpoint (Oct/Nov 1995) is another mish-mash of songs as they were written. The most notable part of it is the original version of "The Dream Sequence" from "Visions Of Daniel".

"Dee Ploma And The Training Managers" (1996). These songs were written on my Diploma course in 1993, but it took a while before they were properly recorded. This was done with Chris Medway on keyboards. This was an attempt at something that looked like and sounded like a real album, with a full, reasonable quality sound and printed sleeve & lyrics. The album sees the return of "Time Slip", and there is a blues on there!

"Mixed & Counting" (1996/7). So called because many of the songs have more tha one instrument on them. I borrowed a keyboard to add some backing to some of these songs. The "In The Last Days " Last Rhythm Mix became the blueprint for the track as it later appeared on "Hold The Light". Some of the other songs had been around for a while... whlst "Stand Or Fall", "Lord Of The Future And The Past", "Power & Authority" and "My People, My Son" come from this period. Some of these are due for a re-record in 200x.

"1997 Varieties / 1997 Praise Sessions" (strangely enough, 1997). This is a tape of two halves. The first half is mainly a set of new songs, including "My People, My Son", "Praise God For Ever", "Praise The Lord Of The Law", "Jeses, ..., Praise You", "Old Man Moses", "Jesus, I'm Unhappy". The second half is some sessions with Chris Medway, with fuller versions of songs, including "Power & Authority", and "Lord Of The Future And The Past". These songs stem from my Bible Class days, when the young people asked for song 162 in the book. There were only 161 - so I wrote an extra one... the next week they asked for 163...

"Praise Sessions Volume 2" (April 1997 onwards) - More of the same, including "Praise Him, Praise Him", "On Day One", new versions of "Lord Of The Future..." among others and several of Chris' songs.

"Have You Seen The Light" (1997). The nativity based on Luke's Gospel. These songs were written one night in September, then recorded over the next 3 months. The Children started practising from late October, and all was ready for 14th December, when the Sunday School presented this to the Church. We then repeated it, with additions, in 2001. More about this on the "Have You Seen The Light" page.

"One You Can Count On" (1998/9) covers the real transition into Children's and Family worship. Here we have "Good Soil", "United", "At The Cross", "Jesus Has The Power", "Sing, Sing, Sing", all of which appeared on the first commercially available albums. There are many other songs here as well: "Babylon's Falling", "Prodigal Son", "The Day For Building" to name but three.

"Living In Extra Time" HOWCD 001(2000) was the first commercially available album. Several months off work gave me the opportunity to sit at the computer for short periods and learn some recording techniques. Over a month or so, I added full backing to 6 of my songs and re-recorded the lyrics on some of the "Have You Seen The Light" material. See the "Living In Extra Time" page for more details.

"Hold The Light" HOWCD 002(2001). The second commercially available album, with improvements in every department from the first. The links between songs are designed to make this a complete listening package. See the "Hold The Light" page.

"Danger, God At Work" EP HOWCD 003(2001) contains songs for the 2001 Holiday Club. See the "Danger..." page.

"Stonking 2001 Christmas Mix" HOWCD 004(2001) is some songs from the 2 recent albums linked with a Christmas and a 2001 feel. I have added some out-takes to make the disc a bit fuller. See the "Stonking..." page for more details.

"Car Park Music" HOWCD 005(2002) The third album - again with improvements in every department. Loads of new recording techniques here. See the "Car Park Music" page for more details

"Join" HOWCD 006 (2003) - Frst attempt at a "Best Of", which ended up not being released. Songswesing kind of revived the idea.

"Jingle Jangle Jungle" EP - HOWCD 008(2003) When Holiday Club arrived, the new album was not finished, so this EP acted as a stopgap. It was only available at the holiday club.

"Future Worship" HOWCD 009(2003) The fourth album took it's time coming. The whole album constitutes a mythical service from 20 years in the future, mixing styles and words from the past and the present.

"Up Up Up" EP HOWCD 010(2004) - For Holiday Club 2004. The lead song was the unofficial theme tune to the week.

"Songswesing" HOWCD 007(2004) - All the stuff we sing regularly at Brun' - but all I did with this was make up a couple of copies to give to newcomers. Maybe this will get revised one day.

"Hear The Voice" HOWCD 011(2005) - The 5th album. A return to the simpler songs of "Hold The Light" days. This was the first album released to coincide with Holiday Club and is currently the best seller. Could be because "Solid Rock" is on it.

"King of Rock" HOWCD 012 (2006) - As with the previous album, this was released to coincide with Holiday Club. 3 of the songs were specially written for the event; another 4 had already been sung by the Brun' kids.

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