Well, it appears I’ve been remiss in my self-hype duties and haven’t reported our exploits since 2016. “The only thing worse than being talked about is NOT being talked about.” And the only thing worse than THAT is not talking about yourself, at least in this day and age. Anyway…

So the Good Ship French TV has cranked out a couple of cds in the last 2 years “Ambassadors of Good Health and Clean Living” (2016) and “Operation: Mockingbird” (2017), both of which can be ordered through the “ORDERING” page elsewhere on this site, or through our page on BandCamp. We’re currently (Nov 2018) mixing the last 2 tunes for FTV#13, working title “Stories Without Fingerprints”. Same line-up as the last album: Katsumi Yoneda-guitars; Patrick Strawser-keys; Mark L. Perry on drums; and yours truly, Mr. Showbiz on bass, loops, and samples. Also includes my pal violinist Ludo Fabre from the French band Mentat Routage on 1 track, and long-suffering FTV drummer Jeff Gard on a cover track. I’d say what it is, but I’m thinking about maybe doing a contest involving its identity, as it’s fairly obscure and unexpected. Should be out early 2019, depending on a) whether it includes a recent studio session in which we recorded our live set that we were doing for the 2018 Progtoberfest in Chicago (more on that later); and b) how long I put off designing the graphics for the cd-a thankless job that does not fill me with joy.

I’ve also re-mixed long-out-of-print French TV #6 “The Violence Of Amateurs”, and plan to re-release it as a 2-cd package which will also include French TV #7 “The Case Against Art” (also long-OOP). Still toying with re-mixing FTV7, but have to say it still sounds pretty good to my ears. We’ll see…

Also considering remixing a compilation blu-ray of tracks from FTV 6-13 in 5.1 surround sound. If this appeals to you audiophile FTV fans, please talk me into it!

Patrick Strawser also has a recent cd up on BandCamp entitled “fifty-two“. Get it! It’s a fine listen. There’s also a great interview with Pat, along with an album review at mwe3.com.

Katsumi’s excellent progressive fusion band TEE has 3 cds out, all available at CDBaby. I guaranTEE you won’t be disappointed!

As for that special Chicago gig, it included Katsumi (who came all the way from Tokyo to do the show), Patrick, and Jeff. Spending the week with these guys was so much fun–had the gig been cancelled, I wouldn’t have been TOO broken-hearted; we had such a great time. The gig went really well; better than it should have actually, as we had only a few day’s rehearsal. Went down well with the crowd, made some new friends [including the fellows from FM–nice bunch of guys! But then, they’re Canadian], sold a decent amount of cds. Hope to play there again next year.