The Freakbeat Manifesto, by Brian Neavyn

Below I present the full, unexpurgated text of The Freakbeat Manifesto, as recited by Dee Christopholus on that rainy evening in September, 2009.

Now go live it.

The “Freakbeat Manifesto” Sep 1966


Beat Music has served us well as entertainment but it is now some time since the heyday of Merseybeat , BrumBeat, Mancbeat and all other scenes.


R’n’B too has passed its highpoint in these Islands .


Beat and R’n’B must evolve , mature, grow up and change structure. Innocent boyhood is over


This is Sep 1966. Wimple Winch have recently released ‘Save my Soul’ , the second in a trilogy of 7” singles that will be seen to define a new musical genre ……called Freakbeat.


I hereby state the “Freakbeat Manifesto”


1. Freakbeat is futuristic and yet it is about the present as seen from the future.


2. Freakbeat is the liberation of the machine known as the instrument in the hands of road -hardened and newly informed musicians.


3. No longer will guitars strum along benignly behind the voice. The Freakbeat guitarist will be the main instrumentalist like John Kelman of Wimple Winch. Such is their dominance in a song that they will take equal standing with the vocalist. Such is their creativity that their composition will match for importance the vocal melody. The guitarist must invent riffs or chunky chords that paint a raw sound and will issue on occasion short biting solos. Guitars may increase their presence by the use of effects like distortion, fuzz or tremolo. This will deepen the musical picture. Second guitars will have purpose to chop alternative rhythms into the melee.


4. No longer will bass be a melodic support holding root notes to strumming guitars. The Freakbeat bassist like Barrie Ashall of Wimple Winch will be the catalyst to map out the transformation. Bass will challenge the lead guitar for prominence. It will direct an alternative path that will stand alone, will introduce hooks and riffs that will lift the song whilst agitating for its own space. Together with drums it will create a rhythm section that has a new dynamic like a powerful engine.


5. No longer will a drummer simply be a time keeper. No longer will the metronome sit at the back of the stage quietly counting and tapping out beats. The Freakbeat drummer like Larry King of Wimple Winch will control the songs, the ebb and flow, will temper the song with rhythms that shift and compliment, will drive the song towards frenzy but will drag the band back from overkill. The Freakbeat drummer will emerge as a key component of the new genre and will impose personality on the song.


6. No longer will the vocalist use the band as a backing for their vocal performance. The Freakbeat Vocalist like Dee Christopholus of Wimple Winch must establish a style that has the power to survive the maelstrom being created by the instruments. The singer must deliver the song with a level of passion that befits the lyric, at times dispassionate, at times emotional. The singer must exist as part of the freakbeat experience and not be a detached limb. Backing vocals are not limited as sweeteners of harmony but may be thrown as independent entities at the main vocal.


7. No longer will songs be structured in the limited format of recent years. Freakbeat songs like those of Wimple Winch are encouraged to abandon middle eights that are inserted for pop enhancement. They are best avoided unless they shift the dynamic to allow new tensions to emerge.


8. The recorded performances in freakbeat will not have a glossy over produced glare. We must continue to record live, to capture the moment when music machines and humans connect in a deeply spontaneous event.


9. Freakbeat will have at its core a dynamic tension created by the instruments and voice challenging each other. This tension may be enhanced by the punctuation of sudden stops or by the drama of quiet/ loud volume shifts.


10. Pure Freakbeat as described in this manifesto will never change, it is a new root, its origins are not obvious. However if it grafts with other musical styles then sub-genres may emerge with hybrids like Mod Freakbeat, Soul Freakbeat, Psychedelic Freakbeat. The new root that is Pure Freakbeat will always exist to inspire originality; adventure + ‘outside the box’ thinking.


Do not be afraid to ignore/challenge so-called rules, which restrict or dampen creativity.


* *(Written by: Brian Neavyn).


*******************************THE END****************************************


@Copywrite: Brian Neavyn + Dee Christopholus


23 September 2009

Statement of Intent

As discussed in my first post, this blog was specifically designed to function as an ever-evolving-- and long overdue---conduit between Wimple Winch, a band that broke up over 40 years ago, and its formidable cult fanbase scattered throughout the world.

It is necessary.

After all, there is no "Official Wimple Winch Website."  There is zero extant footage of the band, onstage or otherwise, and only few treasured photographs.  In the digital realm, it's next to impossible to learn anything of consequence about the band's history, apart from rudimentary, often inaccurate write-ups strewn about the net; many of which are simply copied verbatim from the serviceable AllMusic entry.
It was for precisely this reason I began the search for Dee Christopholus and the other members; a search that culminated in the piece for Shindig!.

In its original conception, this blog was created as a nexus for both the people who love the music they made and the band members themselves: a meeting place for fan and artist.   I wanted the blog to be mindful of the band's past achievements, yet firmly focused upon their present lives as well.

I wanted to create a living, breathing textual history of the first and finest of the British Freakbeat bands.

It occurred to me that it might be mutually advantageous for myself, as host, and for those who stumble upon this labour of love in their digital travels, to focus upon one specific song  this blog to reflect upon specific songs recorded by Wimple Winch/Dee Christopholus.  My reasoning is twofold: first, it's an opportunity for me to stretch out and perhaps communicate the underlying motivation for this blog's existence; and second, I wanted to reach out to anyone with a curiosity about mid-to-late '60s music in the hope of exposing them to some fantastic material.

Accordingly, I've decided to intersperse my regular posts and updates with discussions of my favourite  songs.

Stay tuned.

But I'll give you a hint of what's coming...

Rumble in Trafalgar Square

It was an extraordinary event.

On Wednesday, September 23, 2009, a tall, eminently distinguished-looking gentleman climbed atop the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in the rain.  He was among 2400 persons who took part in a 100-day continuous art project entitled One & Other.  As envisioned and created by sculptor Antony Gormley, the project quite literally provided a platform from which individuals could sing, dance, rant---do whatever they wished---with a view to establishing greater contact with those around them.

As Dee Christopholus dragged his cart, containing a single chair and two sandwich boards (one that read "Wimple Winch"; the other "Freakbeat 1966"), across the plinth, a smattering of applause was heard from below.  Dee chuckled at this and began to set up his stage. (Here is a link to the September portion of the event; look for "Deemo" at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 23rd)

Some moments later, the imposing 6'3" figure, with the stentorian urgency of a Scouse town cryer, launched into an unashamed declaration of love and pride for the music he had made some 43 years before.

He then proceeded to play his music and flip through the issue of Shindig! which contains the article I wrote about him and the band.  Occasionally he would sing along with himself.  In those moments one caught a brief glimpse into what it must have been like to see him on stage with Wimple Winch (sadly, all we can do, since there is no known extant footage of the band).
He played 'What's Been Done', 'Save My Soul,' 'Atmosphere' and the incomparable mini-opera, 'Rumble on Mersey Square South.'  All of them masterpieces of the genre.

And then he read the Freakbeat Manifesto.

To some, the idea of a man proclaiming past glories over forty years after their occurrence may seem sad.  But such was not the case here.  Far from it.

It was magnificent.

The Mighty Winch, inexplicably ignored during their existence, had been cruelly denied their moment of glory.  They never had the chance to acquire the widespread exposure they so deserved.  The legendary TV performance on Ed Sullivan, the #1 single, the myth-making performances at rock festivals like Monterey and the Isle of Wight---none of these things were to be.  They lacked that one crucial, pivotal moment atop a pedestal from which they could impart the Freakbeat Manifesto as its very embodiment.

And so what occurred on the fourth plinth that rainy evening in September 2009 could never alter the facts as they unfolded from 1966 through 1968.  But it gave a pedestal from which a man could broadcast to Trafalgar Square---and ultimately the world over, thanks to the internet---his visions and hopes for music. A small measure of redemption, perhaps, but redemption nonetheless.

Plus he got to prove to the world they got it wrong the first time around.