-------------KISSING SPELL :----------------------------------------------------
------------------------------THE MOTHS-----------------------------------------
Info provided by Dunn, John (ANG, Norwich) john.dunn@hmce.gsi.gov.uk:

Here’s some information on my old University band THE MOTHS 

I have a 12” LP of the unreleased album we recorded on 23 June 1970. The Kissing 
Spell label must have got hold of one of the other copies- I think we had about 
a dozen done- and run off KSCD 9470-f ‘Heron’s Daughter’ from it, very shoddily 
as there is an uncorrected record-needle jump on the first track. The CD is 
dated 1994 and says MCPS, which is the body which collects and distributes 
royalties! I’ll take a cheque, thanks very much!

I was the bass guitarist of The Moths. I was a second-year undergraduate at Hull 
University at the time, and I think all of the others were too. We didn’t do 
very many gigs, but unexpectedly were offered some recording time in the studio 
at the University’s theatre building.
 
John Ellis - vocals & guitar
Mike Jones - vocals & guitar
John Dunn - vocals & bass 
Neil Cawley - flute
John Beazer - bongos

The album was recorded in the Gulbenkian Centre, Hull University, England, 23 
June 1970 and transferred to disc by Deroy Sound Service of Carnforth, 
Lancashire. We recorded two of John Ellis’s songs, plus others by Bert Jansch, 
Dylan, Tim Buckley, David Ackles and Clive Palmer from the original Incredible 
String Band.

I Am Lonely (Jansch) - vocal, JE (with MJ)
The Heron (Ellis) - JE.
Travelling Song (Jansch) - MJ (with JE)
I Shall Be Released (Dylan) - JD (with MJ)
Phantasmagoria In Two (Buckley) - MJ
Empty Pocket Blues (Clive Palmer) - JE
Running From Home (Jansch) - MJ and JE
A Stupid Song (Ellis) - JE
Dreams Of Love (Jansch) - MJ and JE
Be My Friend (David Ackles) - MJ

That‘s my hesitant singing on ‘I Shall Be Released’, plus my bass guitar on all 
the tracks except “Running From Home”. I enjoyed the gigs, but the recording was 
not pleasant. I banged my head as I went in, and did the recording in a state of 
mild concussion. On listening to the album, I realised that my bottom E bass 
string was flat, which makes listening to my solo on “Be My Friend” a rather 
embarrassing experience. The only one of us with any recording experience was 
Neil, who had played flute (pseudonymously) on a couple of early Ralph McTell 
tracks. John Beazer was the contact with Deroy’s Sound Service and had an 
impressive collection of LP’s he’d played on - all pressed by Deroy’s. I’m sure 
I’ve got a practice tape of ‘The Heron’ (recorded in Hull University kitchen) 
but I’ll have to search for it. I haven’t seen or heard any of the other members 
since I graduated in 1971. I put the word out on the Hull alumni website and 
magazine, to try to contact them, but with no success. An American guy from a 
mail order company says he’ll finance another CD if I can find some other 
members. I’m tempted to use some of my fellow Norwich hacks instead ! Most of 
them are still living in 1970 anyway. I’ve done a lot of things since then 
(including singing a Gregorian chant with my wife and 2 daughters on TV’s “Time 
Team”) but I still remember fondly my time with the Moths.

Best wishes John Dunn