![\"Lin](\"http:\/\/insyncnet.com\/duncan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/lin.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Dig Magazine Interview
\nwith Paul Kitchen<\/p>\n
In November of 1996, a couple of months after the debut of the Duncan Browne Tribute site, I received a short little email from Lin Browne requesting a copy of anything that I might publish about her late husband, Duncan. Since then we have communicated regularly, and the idea of a short interview via email presented itself. The interview was completed in February 1997.<\/p>\n
Prior to meeting Duncan, Ms. Browne worked for a few years as an actress and a model. She later worked as Assistant to the Head of Casting at Granada Television in London. She currently lives with her Persian cat Fifi, and swears that she is kind to children. As you will hear, Ms. Browne has a lot to share about her late husband.<\/p>\n
Hi Lin. Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions about Duncan. Why don’t we start in the beginning. How did you and Duncan meet?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: We met in 1984 when Duncan was writing the theme &incidental music for the TV series “TRAVELLING MAN” for Granada Television (currently being shown here again on Satellite). Lin: I was working as Assistant to the Head of Casting at Granada TV.<\/p>\n In my mind, Duncan made his two best albums in 1978 &1979 with \u2018The Wild Places\u2019 &\u2019Streets of Fire\u2019. It was also the only time in his career that he made back to back albums. What happened to stop his momentum, and ultimately redirect his attention to film in 1984?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: In 1984 he didn\u2019t have a record deal. He\u2019d been writing music for theatre productions and was offered the “Travelling Man” TV series and from then on work for television just kept on rolling in.<\/p>\n From 1984 on, he was writing music for film and television – oh, and radio (a couple of his themes for the BBC World Service are still being transmitted every day – one is a news theme). He wanted to work on another album but he was too busy doing TV work. He continued writing songs when he had time and was planning to record a Spanish guitar album of his own compositions.<\/p>\n Is there a complete list of all of Duncan\u2019s soundtrack work available?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: I expect so … via his publisher, Eaton Music, I guess. I can let you have a CV, but there\u2019s loads of work I don\u2019t know about, when he played on other peoples\u2019 albums (before I knew him). He did some session work early in his career but never really enjoyed it, so later on he guested only on albums for friends … e.g. Nic Potter, Colin Blunstone, etc.<\/p>\n \u2018Metro\u2019, the album Duncan made with Peter Godwin &Sean Lyons in 1976 was a critical success. What prompted his departure?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: The advent of punk music. And his working relationship with Godwin, although very productive, was never totally satisfactory.<\/p>\n Did he stay in contact with Peter Godwin after the breakup? Rumour has it there was a little ill will there.<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: Not really. A bit.<\/p>\n Who were Duncan\u2019s musical cohorts during the years \u201884 till \u201893?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: Nick Magnus, Nic Potter, Colin Blunstone, Sebastian Graham-Jones, Barry Husband, Simon Philips, John Giblin, Florian Pilkington-Mikhsa (of “Curved Air”) and others I can\u2019t remember off the top of my head. Oh, and he kept in touch with Andrew Loog-Oldham &Patrick Lacey, his past managers, but not with Micky Most, who gave him his first record deal.<\/p>\n Can you tell us about Duncan\u2019s relationship with Colin Blunstone?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: They shared a flat together in the early days and kept in touch over the years. They formed a band called CAMINO around 1986 (???). The band was only at the demo-recording stage when Colin got another solo deal which he wanted to concentrate on. (Two of those demos are on SONGS OF LOVE &WAR, the ones Colin sings.)<\/p>\n Was Duncan writing and demoing songs during these years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: Yes. And playing a lot of classical stuff on his Spanish guitar. Lin: No, never. Music was his life. Lin: Probably not. SONGS OF LOVE &WAR was a tribute to Duncan from me, Magnus, Sebastian &Eaton Music, made possible by some technical wizardry by Magnus and a lot of hard work by John Boughtwood at Eaton Music.<\/p>\n Duncan had wanted to use that name for his next album so I decided we should go ahead and use it. He was writing and demoing songs towards releasing an album, but in reality few of the songs were complete when he died. He probably would not have been pleased with the finished result because he was such a perfectionist.<\/p>\n When did Duncan fall ill, and what was the nature of his illness?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: 1988. Bowel Cancer. Then cancer metastasized in his liver a few years later.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve heard that you have been involved with efforts for continuing cancer research.<\/strong><\/p>\n I recently appeared with the footballer Bobby Moore\u2019s wife on a television documentary programme about bowel cancer, to raise public awareness about the disease. I found it quite difficult to do, and it made me very sad because they played Duncan\u2019s composition of “SALVE ME”, a piece he wrote for the soprano Isobel Buchanan, throughout the programme.<\/p>\n The liner notes to \u2018Songs of Love &War\u2019 refer to Duncan\u2019s instructions. Was there a point when he realized he could no longer contribute to the album?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: He wasn\u2019t seriously working on the album because no deal was in place. He was busy writing for television up until a few weeks before he died. The album at that time was still very much a \u2018future project\u2019. Lin: After he\u2019d died, I found a piece of paper on which he\u2019d written “things to do before extermination”. I think he\u2019d managed about 2 of the items on it!!<\/p>\n You\u2019ve spoken to me about Duncan\u2019s beloved Spanish guitar, and the haunting acoustic pieces he composed. How much of Duncan\u2019s music remains unreleased?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: Bits &bobs. Classical stuff mainly, some songs.<\/p>\n Are there plans for a career spanning retrospective, hopefully with some of his unreleased material?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: Not to my knowledge. Although a special limited edition of SONGS OF LOVE &WAR is about to be re-released in Japan with an additional 2 previously unreleased songs on it. Lin: I think I have the copyright. But Duncan\u2019s publisher, Mandy Oates of Eaton Music handles everything for me – she\u2019s a good friend.<\/p>\n What do you think Duncan might think of his new-found Internet presence?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: He was terribly old-fashioned in many ways and might have hated the Internet – but who knows, he was totally unpredictable.<\/p>\n Any final thoughts you\u2019d like to share with us about Duncan, and his place in music history?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lin: He was a unique and incredibly creative person, his terms of reference were immense and diffuse. He was a complex and often difficult person, but he was never dull and never predictable. He filled my life with love and music.<\/p>\n \u00a9 2001 InSync Design &Publishing. All rights reserved. The Dig Magazine Interview with Paul Kitchen In November of 1996, a couple of months after the debut of the Duncan Browne Tribute site, I received a short little email from Lin Browne requesting a copy of anything that I might publish about her late husband, Duncan. Since then we have communicated regularly, and the … Continue reading Lin Browne: The Dig Magazine Interview<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-29","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insyncnet.com\/duncan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insyncnet.com\/duncan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insyncnet.com\/duncan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insyncnet.com\/duncan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insyncnet.com\/duncan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insyncnet.com\/duncan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76,"href":"https:\/\/www.insyncnet.com\/duncan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions\/76"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insyncnet.com\/duncan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nWhat were you doing at Granada TV at the time?<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nDid Duncan put music on the back burner once he became a father?<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nWas \u2018Songs of Love &War\u2019 the record Duncan wanted to make?<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nHow did Duncan feel about his career. Had he achieved what he wanted. If not, what were his ambitions?<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nWho owns the rights to his material. Are you in charge of CD licensing and future reissues?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nNo material may be reprinted without written permission from the publisher.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"