The Last Ever Performance of Kartoon World

Hello friends! 

Way back in 2021 we released Kartoon World. When we were writing it - through Covid lockdown and beyond - we knew we had something special. Of course that in itself doesn't guarantee a favourable reception at the Box Office! 

Fortunately the general public agreed and took to it like an old favourite. On our return to live gigs in November 2021 we decided to do two gigs where we would play the album in it's entirety. That was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, but we thought we had better mix it up a bit more. 

That is what we have been doing in the year and a half that followed, and also including the related album Kool Hits, Kuriosities & Kollaborations, which included new versions of the classic Korgis songs, plus a few things that preceded and followed Kartoon World. 

Now we are a long way through the writing process of a new album (or albums!) and we decided to change up the live band a bit. However we have had such a blast with the current lineup and they fit the material so well, that we thought we would give Kartoon World one last fling in it's complete form. 

So on Feb 18th at Chapel Arts in our home town of Bath we will be performing the whole damn thing - plus all the favourites of course. We would LOVE you to come and join us, and please say hello if you do! 

Tickets HERE!

 

After that it is a brand new adventure!... stay tuned. 

 

The Korgis ❤️

This Easter some members of The Korgis have missed out on Easter eggs as they were in remote corners of the world. We felt so sorry for Al in Africa and John in the Maldives that we thought we should have an Easter sale to raise money for some Easter Eggs for them! 

This could be the PERFECT opportunity for those who bought the CD but really wish they had the Vinyl (with those BIG A2 Posters) as well... those that had the download and then saw that magnificent album artwork and wished they had something to hold. There could even be still some people who don’t own Kartoon World at all!... hard to believe I know! 

T-shirts come in 2 designs and both are an ideal alternative for pillow fights. They can be worn as well! 

It is not just Kartoon World merch that is reduced!... The Korgis Collection, the ‘Always a Sunny Day’ download and even Al Steele’s solo album ‘Coming Up From Down Under’ (Al claims it is a ‘must have’ item!) is included. 

Whatever you preference we are here and ready to take your money... Its all in a good cause! 

At checkout make sure you add the code – The Korgis Big Easter Giveaway! – this gives you 10% off everything! 

A belated Happy Easter one and all and hope you can make one of our gigs soon! 

The Korgis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You guessed it!... we are finally 'gettn down wiv da kidz'!

Happy 2022 to you all, and let's hope it's a little more like 'normal'... not the 'new normal'... just 'normal'!

We had a couple of great gigs in December performing 'Kartoon World' in it's entirety and big thanks to all who came. 
It was so great to play the whole album. Although we would love to carry on in that vein, it would perhaps be unfair to any that don't have the new album to inflict an hour's worth of music they don't know. So the next shows will be a real mix of old and new possibly called 'Back in the Eighties'

 

 

Our next gig is our return to the 100 Club in London on Feb 11th. There is so much uncertainty about all gigs but we REALLY hope this one goes ahead. Unfortunately our gig at The Platform in Morecambe is postponed. We only managed to get the ticket link quite late so feel we couldn't give it a fair crack of the whip.

 

Thank you as always to our mighty band.

 

 

Not only are they the greatest musicians and singers, but they ALWAYS keep us smiling. Anyone making one of our gigs will be testament to that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So to 2022 and The Korgis Kartoon World Livestream!

We had an idea that seemed like it would be a lot of fun. Centred in the control room of Shabbey Road Studios we will be doing a Livestream on Youtube every Thursday evening at 18.00 GMT. The first one is scheduled for Jan 13th, so put the date(s) in your diary and just click on the link to join in the fun!  The Korgis Kartoon World Livestream

Each week we will centre on one song and talk about how or why we wrote it, and the process of recording - plus perhaps a chat about the video. There will be competitions with some AMAZING giveaways. Things perhaps you would never get anywhere else. This will generally be hosted by Al Steele, but he will be joined by other members and perhaps some 3rd parties who have something interesting to say. We are not sure if we can twist Chris Hopkins (Exhibit-1) arm to come down from Liverpool, but we reckon we could get our chum Peter Karrie (longest serving Phantom of the Opera) - who performed the rant in the middle of 'This is the Life' - to pop in and talk about his character, and what else he has been up to!

This little promo will give you an idea... Al talks about the upcoming Livestreams

The Korgis Kartoon World Livestream - Episode One        13/01/22

The first episode we will be looking at Bringing Back the Spirit of Love.

This was an important song for us as it kind of summed up where we were going with the whole album.

Al will be joined by James Warren for this episode.
You will be able to ask questions, or just say hi!.. and we hope you will find

our whole convoluted process quite interesting.  

We will be showing you our secret documents that we use to work out ideas - some of which may never happen - some that have not YET happened. Tell us if you like an idea, as it may just tip the balance. We might even show you the video message that Al sent to James and John just after writing the chorus, where he is looking quite haggard!

Hope 2022 is great for you and of course hope to see you on a gig or just speak to you on Social Media or here. Sign up here if you wish - it may make you first in the know or first in the queue for something great!

The Korgis

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

The long wait for vinyl is finally over, and I am telling you that it feels REALLY solid. We were hoping the sleeve would feel really substantial, but we needn't have worried. The vinyl itself is quite heavy as well. I remember the old days when the pressing plants were economising and the records got thinner and thinner. The big A2 posters mean that it is possible to actually read the lyrics - and the 2nd poster tells the story of how we made the album and who contributed.

Most importantly for us, it brings us back to the days when a release meant something, and you could get out the paper parts and have a good long peruse through them. We all used to go around to our mates house and play the new album we had just bought. Let's bring those days back!

The arrival of vinyl (possible song title there!) means that the Box Set is finally complete. Anyone hanging on for this moment - well now's your chance. If you want to know what is included in the Box Set (and it is easier to list what is NOT included!) then have a little look at my QVC audition piece as I lovingly unpack each element.

Al unpacks the Box Set

If you want to grab one - or any other product - get it here. Box Sets, Vinyl, Posters, CD's T-shirts

THE WORLD PREMIERE of KARTOON WORLD

Yes we have a world premier coming up and we have chosen the village of Abbotskerswell as the optimum spot for the event!

To explain, Mike Webb - the man who is usually behind our Merch stand - has a meaningful birthday coming up and as he has been badgering us to do his gig for some time, we figured that this could be the present he has long had coming!

We will be performing Kartoon World in it's entirety - as it was intended - but hope to share some of the inspiration behind the songs as we do. WILL WE BE WEARING THE SUITS?!!! Come along and find out. We will of course also be playing a load of other fav's so no-one will be left wanting.

It is rumoured that I will also be doing a short set full of surprises. 

All in all a rip-roaring night will be had, and can't wait to see all our good friends there. This is history in the making.

AFTER THE WORLD PREMIERE!

There can only be one World Premier of Kartoon World, but there can be many other performances!!
Upcoming gigs...

Dec 3rd   - Abbotskerswell Village  Hall, Nr Newton Abbot
Dec 4th   - The Rondo, Bath
Dec 16th - Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool
Dec 17th - Victoria Hall, Settle
Feb 11th - 100 Club, London
Feb 25th - The Platform Morecombe    (tickets soon!)
April 2nd - Concorde Club, Nr Southampton

...that should do for now!

A FRIEND POPPED IN!

Lovely to see Paul Griffon who was in the area. We had a cuppa and talked of many things!.. including the Shabbey Road Mainframe Computer, who is credited with the computer voice on 'This is a New Low'.

That's all the gen for now - but there are a few hush hush exciting things in the pipeline.
Ssh -mum's the word!

Love always, Al / The Korgis

GIGS!

It really is great to be back out gigging again - and boy have we had some good ones!
Great to see our Yorkshire mates up at Black Dyke Mills and many thanks to all the staff and crew who made us feel so welcome.

Rather lovely to meet up the next morning as well for our Brunch get together. Some of these guys even followed us across to the legendary Cavern later in the day.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

The Cavern of course was as amazing as we thought it would be.
What a great atmosphere, and the crew were SO on the ball - nothing too much trouble.   

Our last gig of the trio - and the end of our 40 Years of The Korgis Tour - was quite fittingly, where we left off about 18 months ago, at Chapel Arts in Bath.

We reckon everyone in the band was feeling like the new numbers were really settling in and we had gone into a real 'let's have fun' mode.

VINYL!

The long wait is nearly over. We had test pressings about 3 weeks ago, so looks like the Kartoon World vinyl will finally arrive by the end of the month. We just can't wait to hold that big sleeve in our hands and fold out those big posters! We might need to pour ourselves something nice before we sit back and drop the needle on the decks!

NEW PROJECTS

While we are not quite ready to delve into another intense period of writing, there have been several collaborative projects we have been working on.

We are not quite ready to spill the beans on our Brazilian collaboration, but let's just say that the remake of 'Don't Look Back' is going to be AMAZING!

There is perhaps a collaboration with some Japanese artists - of course we would love to do some dates there as well.

 

 

The collaboration that is properly underway, and we are very excited about is with Aussie rocker Joe Matara. This will be a brand new song and a true organic project. We are still not sure how it will turn out in terms of style - but you can probably guess we will make sure it is damn good! Here is the Press Release about to go live.

 

 

 

Our guitarist Al Steele of course is Australian by birth - and by accent(!) so he is particularly excited by the prospect of some dates 'down under'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF 'KARTOON WORLD'!

To say we are excited about premiering the whole of Kartoon World live would be like saying Fawlty Towers was 'quite funny'!
So far we have two gigs in December but we are adding more all the time, so keep checking the gigs list.

Our good friend Mike Webb has been trying to arrange a Korgis gig in his hometown for some time now!... so we decided he should have the WORLD PREMIERE!

Please come along and join us. We promise it will be unpredictable, visually spectacular and damn good fun! Tickets from the gigs page on the website      Grab One Here!!   You can also grab them from Mike. The number and email is on the poster.

Thank you for supporting us, and we will look forward to seeing you somewhere. If you want to know anything (because we know everything!) then drop us a line on the Ask Us Something tab    Ask Us Something

Much love  - James, Al and John

 

WOW!

Fantastic response to our Pre-sales. Thank you so much.

After the shut-down in this industry, there has been lot's of doom and gloom, saying things will not come back for another year etc... let's hope your enthusiasm is a sign that we are ready now!
As you know we have a bunch of dates lined up and can't wait to get out there and play you some of our new stuff!

BAD NEWS - unbeknown to us - this year has been a vinyl disaster year! We have been given as many reasons why as there are duplicating companies, but the long and short of it is, that turnaround times are 4 months more than normal. We have managed to find a company that is KIND OF giving us a mid-October date. We will update you as we know more.

SO - all you vinyl freaks - please accept our sincere apologies as we wanted to release the vinyl first - but there will be a delay. Those that have bought the Box Sets (and a MASSIVE thank you for that!) we will still send the Box Sets and then vinyl as soon as it arrives. Anyone who has ordered vinyl alone will get the download on the day of release. We are going to make this the full CD2 version, which includes the 3 tracks we couldn't fit on the vinyl (because no-one wants a rubbish sounding LP!) and all the extra mixes that James has  been working on in his loft!

Do email us if you have any queries - it has been brilliant to have the feedback of some of our recently estranged EU cousins as to how best to avoid unnecessary extra charges. Any way we can help we will. We don't have a third party dealing with these sales, so any emails come through to James John or Al, and hopefully we know what is going on!

We have an extra VIP to add to our fold. In secret Nigel Voyle has been slaving away behind the scenes - making all of those amazing pics, and posting away on our Social Media - and generally helping us to gain world domination! Nigel is our new manager and we would like say a BIG THANK YOU for moving us out of the dark ages. You might see Nig on gigs taking pics and saying 'no comment' when asked awkward questions. Don't pester him - he is doing a great job!

Anyone who bought pre-sales (and you still can!) is also eligible for a postage free top up of merch. We meant to have the T-Shirts and standalone poster options there as we went live, but 'The best laid plans of mice and men...' Again email if you fall into this category.

Just for clarification, if you order any of the larger size products then all extras are free postage. For those that don't know, the CD versions of course include the two posters, but they are a smaller size than we can fit in the Vinyl's or Box Sets. The LARGE posters are in the Pre-sale Store as extras at £3 each. WHAT?!!!... are we barmy?! Most people that know us are already aware of the answer!

Sorry again for the vinyl holdup - but if we were in charge this would never happen! KORGIS FOR GOVERNMENT NOW!

Love from James John and Al

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi guys - Al Steele here. 

The big news is that Kartoon World is available on Pre-release NOW! We are personally signing the first 50 of each product type as an early bird thank you... there are a few still on offer.

The Pre-sale link is here PRE-SALES - Kartoon World
If you are planning to buy, then it really helps with duplication amounts etc if you do pre-order. There is pretty much a product for each preference including Vinyl, CD and Download and there is also a good explanation for what each package contains. 

So to Kartoon World itself... 

Until recently this album seemed like it was still a way off... I mean what fools attempt a 13-track concept album during a pandemic? Well you know now that The Korgis do!! 

To say we are proud of this album is an understatement. It has been a real group effort with James, myself and John writing all new material. We wrote the songs initially completely remotely and then I did initial demos where I spend most of my life - at 'Shabbey Road Studios'. 

 

James was the first to brave the outdoors and we both worked at completing all the songs including backing vocal ideas. John Baker was next in and put the leads down on the songs he had co-written, backing vocals plus some hefty amounts of guitar on all the tracks. Then it was a process of each of the band coming in to replace the guides... some replacing the demo parts but also adding new parts as we went along.

James and myself then began the task of mastering - but this turned out to be just as creative. We would mix at the studio, but James would then take all the strands of each song and see how to make them even better. Finally he would bounce them back to me and we would both suggest final changes. Next we had to decide how they would join, as this album really goes straight from one song into the next, or sometimes using a musical passage to link from one to the next. 

We wanted the vinyl mixes to sound much more dynamic in a retro way, so special attention was paid to them. We can't quite fit the same amount on an LP so the joins and track list are also different. Personally I LOVE the way these mixes sound. For this reason, we decided to make these available to non-vinyl converts so these mixes are available on the Double Deluxe CD along with some other curiosities and extras. 

We had planned to release Vinyl first, then Deluxe CD and Box Set, then finally the Standard CD... however the production of Vinyl is running way behind demand at the moment so we are currently figuring out if we need to juggle the order. Please bear with us if this is the case as it is completely out of our control. Rest assured if you ordered multiple versions then we will send those separately if necessary. 

We hope you are as excited by the news of our impending masterpiece as we are(!) and look forward to hearing what you think of it. 

Hope to see you before too long at one of our gigs. Kicking off in Sep with Black Dyke Mills. The Cavern, Southampton and Bath. We will be playing some songs from Kartoon World on these gigs, but the whole album will be performed  on Dec 3rd/4th. Firstly down with Mike Webb in Abbotskerswell and then at The Rondo in Bath. Links for all these shows is here Gigs
We will of course be adding some classics and favs in addition to the album, and of course more gigs when we get them! 

Thank you for sticking with us through this seemingly never ending hibernation. Fingers crossed we are over the worst and life can return to it's 'Kartoon' version of normal! 

 

 

Much love, Al and the guys