nick mccabe, for sale

[The Dr]

Former Verve guitarist Nick McCabe is selling off various guitars, amps and pieces of musical equipment via his Facebook page.

McCabe announced the sale on May 18 and has been regularly updating the items on sale. Among the sought-after pieces are a 1972 Telecaster Deluxe seen on the 'Love Is Noise' video, and pedals used on 2008 Verve album 'Forth'.

In a May 18 post, McCabe concedes that "The past two years have been hard on my bank balance" but later writes that he's finding the clear-out rewarding. "I'm actually extracting a lot of joy from selling all this stuff off, who'd have thought," he wrote. He's also been posting pictures of himself packing and signing items bought by fans.

http://www.nme.com/news/the-verve/77484

[TheWarmth]

I think the cancellation of the tour with Echo & The Bunnymen screwed them pretty well financially. What a bummer. He had a beautiful Matamp for sale.

[James T]

He did comment that the cost of that non-tour was hard to take.

[mojo filters]

I remember a quote from an article around one of the times he left the band, either after A Northern Soul or Urban Hymns where it was said that Nick McCabe wasn't good with money and probably didn't realise he never needed to work again if he so wished. Guess that wasn't as accurate a piece of journalism as it seemed, though I clearly recall it as I thought it a bit surprising, especially given their lack of US penetration (which I think was mentioned in the same piece).

Can anyone else remember the article I'm thinking of?

That original 72 Tele Deluxe is a thing of beauty (apart from the oversized 70s headstock - I never understood why Fender gave that Tele a different one to the classic slim pretty design) ... if I had the money it would sit nicely next to my modern not-so-accurate reissue

[TheWarmth]

I like the oversized headstock on the Tele Deluxe. As for McCabe not having to work after Urban Hymns, that just seems ridiculous. They were big at that point, but all of the money from B.S.S. was stripped away from them and McCabe received writing credits on only Catching The Butterfly, Rolling People, Neon Wilderness and Come On, none of which were singles.

[heisenberg]

I like the oversized headstock on the Tele Deluxe. As for McCabe not having to work after Urban Hymns, that just seems ridiculous. They were big at that point, but all of the money from B.S.S. was stripped away from them and McCabe received writing credits on only Catching The Butterfly, Rolling People, Neon Wilderness and Come On, none of which were singles.

Performance royalties from Drugs Don't Work, Lucky Man, Sonnet, an album that's sold about 8 million and that homecoming gig with about 30,000 fans. Plus the accompanying resurgence of the back catalogue. He must've made just enough to retire on.

[James T]

One hit album and tour doesn't make you enough money to retire on, so it would seems. Also, we don't know what kind of advance they had to work back for that album, what the points were like, and how much the label and publishers etc... want. Promoters make more off shows than band members, when it comes to shows of that scale, surely.

[heisenberg]

True. But then again, he didn't work for about 8 years after UH, and came back in a band (that was not apparently in any debt to a label or promoters) to make an album that was probably recorded relatively cheaply and quickly (by Parlophone standards), a single that was a huge European hit, headlining Glastonbury, Coachella, and sold-out gigs in Europe and USA. Surely that's a fair bit of money to be made? Nest egg for sure? If not, someone has ripped it right out of them.

[mojo filters]

I guess no one else so far can also recall the article / interview I referenced?

I don't remember if the source for the "never work again" quote was named, or just an anonymous associate of the band - if the latter it sounds suspiciously like a hanger-on exaggerating to get the attention of a journalist and their ill-considered opinion in print.

Anyhows whilst I seem to have inadvertently started this discussion, it seems slightly vulgar to be analysing the finances of another person in public, although I guess by publicizing the sale of his gear on Facebook - it could be argued that Nick himself has prompted the discussion.

Is considering the discussion of other peoples money vulgar just a quaintly old-fashioned English trait, or does it resonate beyond the shores of this green and occasionally pleasant land?

[heisenberg]

I think it's unfair to directly discuss someone's finances. But are we really doing that? Think we're just highlighting how even the biggest selling music artists with headlining slots can get shafted by the music industry. As you say, he brought it up himself and was vague in details. It's not like we are putting actual numbers on it, either.

I get the impression McCabe has a slight dark and deadpan sense of humour, and this might have been misinterpreted (much like Spaceman's Space Project quotes in nme) as being that he is in rough financial peril, which I doubt. Likely he just wants to clear his house of some gear and to make a bit of money and recoup some dough from the making of his album and the Bunnymen fiasco.

I think it speaks more about the current music industry where no matter if you've been in a big band before, you still might find yourself losing a massive amount of money simply making the album you want on your own terms, and playing a few low key gigs to support it with your new band. I think that's quite depressing.

I hope Black Submarine finds it's feet. I think it's a great album, they look like they kick ass live (xfm session was great). I'm a huge fan of Nick McCabe and admire him for not compromising his art in any way, even when it leaves him out of pocket.

[James T]

Yeah, he did say that the "last few years had been hard on bank balance" but that doesn't mean he's run out of what he had. Likely that the black submarine stuff has taken a lot of time and money and he'd like to get some of that money back incase there is no return. He seems a nice lad and a good laugh from his facebook postings! I don't think this discussion is unfair, it's not like we're saying he's spunked his money on this or lost it doing that etc... etc.. Besides, this is the kind of place people would like to know and be interested in the stuff he is selling, the NME article is just a load of bollocks for the sake of "news".

[mojo filters]

Apologies if folks thought I was implying there was something wrong with this discussion - that certainly was not my intention. If it had been I'd be a bit of a hypocrite.

I agree with the above regarding Nick McCabe's slightly dark sense of humour; his Facebook page is endearing and engaging. In various respects he is a refreshingly different character to many regular musicians - and obviously his contrasts with the likes of Ashcroft are well documented.

Also I agree that things have changed a lot in the music business over the last 20+ years, and in lots of ways for the worse. To use a pertinent example: I can't see the current record industry climate accommodating a band like Spacemen 3 these days. I would expect the lack of success of Sound of Confusion would most likely end record company support for a band in that situation.

However there are some positives about the current situation - the proliferation of cheap professional recording equipment and likewise inexpensive methods of distribution (ie the net, and specifically sites like Soundcloud) mean many more artists can produce and promote their product far more easily and effectively. Of course the signal/noise ratio has increased massively, leaving the consumer in a position where you have to work harder to sort the wheat from the chaff, though in some ways it makes finding good music an ultimately more rewarding experience in many cases - when you are able to unearth some unknown gem, it can be a hugely gratifying experience.

Unfortunately I don't think the live scene has benefited so much. These days the money for smaller bands playing the small-room local circuit has gone down in real terms. Whilst the biggest bands are taking the lion's share of the money as touring revenue - needed to finance records made in expensive old-fashioned studios. Almost a reversal of the paradigm that previously saw touring (by all but the biggest bands) as primarily a promotional tool to sell records.

[angelsighs]

I remember reading fairly recently (again, I wish I could remember where) that the success of Urban Hymns far from set up the band for life. basically it allowed them to pay back their advance. it would have been the next album that would have seen them profiting.
I assume the Forth era saw them do okay, but considering the amount of time it's taken to get Black Sub together that nest egg must have dried up to some extent.
whereas Richard has probably been okay due to writing royalties from the big hits as well as a fairly successful solo career (say what you like about the quality, up until the United Nations of Sound fiasco he was relatively speaking pretty commercially successful).

the cancellation of the Bunnymen tour must have been a right kick in the balls.

[mojo filters]

I'm just guessing, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out Richard Ashcroft has sold substantially more solo albums than the sales of all Verve albums combined, including Forth.

[angelsighs]

I'm just guessing, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out Richard Ashcroft has sold substantially more solo albums than the sales of all Verve albums combined, including Forth.

I would agree with that if it wasn't for Urban Hymns. it was massive, especially in the UK.

[spacemanrich]

No, I don't think Ashcroft's solo albums outsold ALL of the Verve albums. Doesn't seem right, the Urban Hymns album mentioned by AngelSigh was very popular and far more commercial of their previous albums. Did Echo&the Bunnymen cancel the support for the Black Subs ? I heard that their new album isn't that good ...