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In April 2006, myself and Alex watched Reading thrash Derby. At some point in the game, the idea for ‘a song for all Reading fans’ came to me. Reading had been cooking up a storm all season. The way they were going, they could do the same in the Premiership.
I had written ‘Cooking up a Storm’ in 2003. Armed with the knowledge that my wife had always felt it was a catchy song (!), I approached three long-time Reading fans and fellow parents at California FC.com to get their help with the words. Greg Tomlin, Mark and Vicky Allen and I, wrote the words one Friday evening in July 2006.
I didn’t have a band so my first idea was to give the song to a band and have them record it. It would become one of their songs and they would be able to play it live if it was requested. The summer was the wrong time of year though – bands were too busy to take on a recording commitment and it had to be out early for the first Premiership season.
Things resolved themselves in the pub. One Friday night in the Queen’s Head, Martin Dyster told me he not only played guitar but he could ‘play a bit of bass’ and he had a background in recording as well.He has worked a lot with Greymatter in the last couple of years and recorded some tracks with Chesney Hawkes a few years ago! I decided that we would have a crack at it ourselves.
After hearing a demo of the song, Paul Mumford (sax) and Mick Collopy (keys) agreed to join us.
Neil Sadler runs a studio (Nomachine studios, Reading Rd) in Wokingham and he offered to do the bass guitar part for us.
The drums on the tracks are computer-generated. Martin knew Trish Nawacki as they have played together in the past.
The song now had a band and you can hear the results for yourself if you buy a copy.
It’s a song for families to sing; a song for dads to sing with their sons; a song for the long-standing fans of Reading who have seen their dreams realised.
It’s a song for all Reading fans.
Hugh Spalding
Summer 2006
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Hugh Spalding, Greg Tomlin, Vicky Allen, Mark Allen |
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