The Saga of Sharlie & Jade (Zeroing in)
Over the next ca. 20 years both “Salomé” and “Lord of the Rings” remained constant companions and subjects of fascination and devotion for me. In 1980 I moved to Hamburg to study opera directing. But though I would still occasionally wonder what ‘my Salomé’ could possibly be, it wasn’t until 1996 that a turn of events occurred that would eventually lead me there. In that year I saw Tina Turner live in concert for the first time – and I met a delightful and charismatic scoundrel by the name of Andy.
Seeing Tina in her “Wild Dreams” tour was absolutely mind blowing! I was so inspired, I went back to something I hadn’t done since my late teens – I wrote a song. I called it “Woman, You Are Beautiful”, and I confess I’d be a bit embarrassed to listen to it now – it was rather the gushy adoring fan song. At this point…enter Andy David: tall, slim, dark and gorgeous with rasta locks all the way down his back, from Brooklyn, New York (we did have that in common) – a musician/music producer and a smooooth operator – well, I hardly need to go into details here {; ) – unbelievable how naïve I was, and how gullible. I ended up having to get the money I gave him, for broken promises of management and representation, through a lawyer! In the words of a favorite Tina-song of mine: “He was a undercover agent for the blues!” But, it was in fact ‘Handy Andy’ who got me my first studio session, and got me into writing/ recording my own songs, bless his scheming little heart (and in the end there were no hard feelings: he knew business was business). If it hadn’t been for him there would have been no “Jade ov Arcc” – and consequently no “Salomé”.
In 1999, after struggling to find new producers and feeling I was the Lone Crusader fighting for the right to be seen and heard at, well almost 50, I began working on a slew of songs that would lead to the recording of a entire album.
Sharlie is almost here, so stay tuned for the next episode: “Jade ov Arcc” to “Salomé”. In the meantime, listen to Tina – and be warned about those ‘undercover agents’!