Interview with Danny White, October 2006
Gloria Cunningham
This interview contains questions originally intended for the Radio Hey Now interviews of October 2005. Fans submitted so many questions though that these had to wait for a later date. Thankfully, Gloria was able to sit down with Danny after Peter White's fall 2006 shows at Pizza in the Park to finally get the answers.
Q1 - Where was Mark the day of that Radio Hey Now interview?
DW - We'd been rehearsing all week and that was our only day off.
GC - He had other things to do.
DW Well, because it was a Polish station he thought it was probably more to do with Basia so...
Q2 - Would you and Mark have continued with the Matt's Mood project if you hadn't been able to get Basia involved?
DW - (Long pause) We always hoped that we would get Basia involved but I was so eager to get back to working on something we probably would have continued... although the plan always was to have Basia on board.
Q3 - Is Kito [Poncioni, bassist who left Matt Bianco early on] still in the music business and do you still keep in touch?
DW - He's... Kito is dead.
GC - My God! What happened to him?
DW - He got Hepatitis B I think... he was ill for a while. He died about five or six years ago. I'm still in contact with his wife. In fact I met her. They lived in Brazil and I met her when she came to London. She doesn't speak much English and she had to go to a solicitor to sort out royalties etc. He co-wrote "Half A Minute." So I went with her and it's all sorted out now. I'm still in contact with her and their two daughters.
GC - That's tragic news. I'm surprised it never came up before.
DW - Well it's not the sort of thing you'd shout about.
Q4 - "Me and Mr Sanchez" is on a couple of compilations, but will the two Blue Rondo a la Turk albums be released on CD?
DW- I didn't have a lot to do with the band, I only played piano. The masters are gone now but recently Mark Reilly met Chris Sullivan and they were talking about it. Mark transferred the albums from vinyl onto his computer, so it may happen in the future.
GC - That'd be great. There'd be a big interest in them.
DW - Not a big interest, some interest maybe...
Q5 - Where were the Whose Side Are You On photos taken?
DW - The cover shot is in Greenwich Tunnel. The other photo is on the steps down to the Cutty Sark.
Q6 - In the song "Matt's Mood 2," what are the exact words Basia and Mark are singing?
DW - Oh I don't know. They're not lyrics as such... just da da da or something.
Q7 - Did Rachel take him back, or was it someone else at Rachel's wedding?
DW - They're two different Rachels! The first is a forner girlfriend of a boyfriend of Basia's. She's saying take him back because he still loves Rachel. The second is Rachel who used to work for us.
GC - Rachel Garvey.
DW - Yes. She did get married.
Q8 - In the 'Yearning" video, who are the two girls in the sand with Basia?
DW - Her two nieces.
Q9 - Will the remixes from Matt's Mood be released on CD?
GC - We know they weren't now.
DW - No and I'm glad they weren't. Some remixes are awful.
GC - I know what you mean. Like in "Third Time Lucky," I was waiting to hear the extended piano solo! Are you even on it?
DW - You've got that? On vinyl? They just bring out these things and you can do nothing about it.
GC - The '40oz of Love Dub' of "Drunk on Love" is like someone stacking crates. Still, it might bring your songs to an audience who otherwise would never hear them.
Q10 - Any TV appearances coming up?
GC - After The Sweetest Illusion you did Des O'Connor and Gloria Hunniford's Pebble Mill. I had wondered if there would be any appearances supporting Matt's Mood.
DW -Des O' Connor? Are you sure we did Des O' Connor?
GC - Yes, I have it on video. You did "Drunk on Love."
DW - I don't remember that..Des O'Connor..?
Q11 - Years ago you and Basia were part of a Doctor Who benefit single ["Doctor in Distress," proceeds benefitting cancer charities, featured a rogue's gallery of Who actors and 80s band members. --LO]. Are you fans of the TV series?
DW - No. It was around the time of Live Aid and we were asked to be part of it so we agreed. In fact we changed our minds when we got to the studio and tried to sneak out. We were on our way down the stairs to leave when the producer saw us and we had to go back!
Q12 - Is there any sign of The Best of Matt Bianco or A New Day being released on DVD?
GC - We've since heard A New Day is on DVD in Japan.
DW - Yes. Leslie wrote that on BasiaWeb. That's up to the record companies but there's no plan that I know of.
Q13 - What did Mark Fisher [second keyboardist/composer of Matt Bianco] think of the reunion?
DW - Well, when Mark Reilly and I started to work on Matt's Mood they had parted, with the intention of it being permanent, so he probably didn't care. Maybe he would have if it had been very successful but it wasn't so. Artistically it was, but not commercially.
GC - Mark and Mark are working together again now.
DW - Yes they are.
Q14 - When is Kevin Robinson [trumpeter, key Basia band member] making a solo album?
DW - I don't know. He does intend to make one but he's often away touring which he loves doing, or recording with others, so he hasn't got around to it yet.
GC - He really sholud do it. I hope he'll get to it soon.
Q15 - What did you think of the Matt's Mood review that was in Jazzwise magazine?
DW - That was the bad one wasn't it? I didn't like it! Actually the best review of that album was the one Leslie wrote. Obviously she's a fan but she listened to it and wrote a very fair and honest comment.
Q16 - Are you or Basia going to appear or any more Peter White albums?
GC - It's no accident that Caravan of Dreams is Peter's best selling album. It's because Basia is on it.
DW - These thngs take a lot of time. It takes Basia a long time to record her vocals so with the different countries involved and everything, no. No plans to do anything at the moment.
Q17 - There's a PO Box address on a couple of your albums. Is it no longer valid?
DW - It was only on Time and Tide..
GC - And Basia on Broadway.
DW - Was it?
GC - Yes, it said for merchandise. I sent Basia some cards there over the years. But the last time I wrote a few years ago, it was returned unopened. A couple of people on the mailing list said the same.
DW - Yes, we gave it up. At first we used to get huge amounts of letters. Basia wanted to reply to everyone but it became physically impossible. She didn't want Rachel (who worked for us) just to send a photo because it was too impersonal-- but it became so impossible to keep up with, we decided to stop it.
Q18 - I heard that at the same time as you began to record Matt's Mood, an apartment block began to be built near the studio. Is it true that the apartments were finished before the album?
DW - Yes! Who told you that?
GC - Peter.. I thought he was joking!
DW - Mark had a small studio we used to go to. It's gone now. There was a bigger and better studio nearby which we did eventually get to use.They started to build apartments across the road at the same time and they were finished before we finished the album!
Q19 - In the "Whose Side Are You On" video, Basia is reading a book that has the lyrics of the song printed on the page. Explain...
DW - No idea. the record company do all that. Did you know the little boy in that video is Basia's son?
GC - No I didn't.
DW -Yes, that's Nicholas.
(We're looking at both UK and US Matt's Mood CD booklets)
DW - Which cover and artwork do you prefer?
GC - Probably the UK one because it was the long awaited original but I like the other one too.
DW - The US cover has three different photos put together.
GC - Three different photos?
DW - Yes. The photo shoots we did turned out terribly. They were a disaster. There wasn't one photograph that the three of us looked good enough in. That cover shot is each of us cut from different photos put together as one.
GC - (looking at a bigger version on a press kit) It's excellent. You can't see the joins.
DW - Yes, Grainne [Danny's wife] did that.
GC - I said to Peter that he should record this show with you in it, for a live album. He said there'd have to be more microphones.
DW - Yes, but I wouldn't be happy with my performance. It's not good enough for a live album.
GC - You're wrong. It is.
DW - I'm right. It's not.
GC - Well to the audience you sound fantastic.
DW - Maybe it sounds OK to the audience but I do a lot of unrehearsed, improvised solos that I don't feel are good enough to put on a live album.
GC - The Broadway album sounds great.
DW - Ah yes-- but I do hardly any improvising on that. This show is full of improvisation so I personally wouldn't be happy with it going on a live album.
And finally, a bit of trivia:
DW - Years ago, "Miles Away" was used in a travel commercial on Capital Radio. We were in the studio one day and Basia was outside at the desk trying to come up with lyrics. I said something to her but she didn't hear me. She said "I'm sorry darling I was miles away.." then she said "Ah, that could be a good line for a song." and so "Miles Away" came about.