VAN MAN STAN ROCKS CHARTS AT 66
Doncaster-based Songsmith aims to go Platinum
ADELE has wowed her fans with her latest release 30, named after her age at a pivotal time in her life. The acclaimed album sees the pop diva bare her soul, with tracks addressing the subjects of separation, motherhood and the price of fame in a naked and honest way. And by fantastic coincidence, the album hit shop shelves just a few weeks before South Yorkshire delivery driver Stan Merridew plans to release his own similarly raw and emotional body of work entitled 66.
Throughout lockdown, Doncaster resident Stan has been laying down tracks to address the issues facing him as he prepares for his retirement, and he hopes that the half dozen raw, uncompromising, and deeply personal songs on his album will resonate with listeners.
“You don’t get to my age without a back story of love, loss and happiness,” he told The Scaftworth and Scrooby Inquisitor. “All these emotions were inside me, churning around like a bad curry, and I had to have an outlet for them.”
POETRY
Merridew initially tried to document the important themes in his life through poetry, but found that words on their own could not convey the depth and complexity of his emotional turmoil. “I started doing poems, but I must admit, I weren’t that good at it, especially the rhyming bit,” he explained.
Then the thrice-divorced father of six remembered he had a keyboard in the attic and decided that music could better convey the raw emotion of his experiences. Not only that, the preset rhythms available on the instrument meant that he could produce an album with a truly eclectic playlist. “It’s got Latin, Swing, Bossanova, the lot,” he said. “There’s even Rock ‘n’ Roll on Preset 6.”
“I’d do some of that K-Pop so it would appeal to the youngsters, only there’s no button for it on my Bontempi,” he added.
FICTION
The 6 self-penned tracks on the album form Merridew’s brutally honest autobiography, with each song more personal than the last. Family estrangement, crippling alimony payments, involuntary flatulence while bending and wrongful conviction for indecent exposure are just a few of the contemporary issues that Stan explores through his eclectic oeuvre.
REFERENCE
Taking no chances, Merridew brought in top local music producer Keith Conningsby to make sure that 66 is the best that it can be. Known to many as the proprietor of Keith’s Krazy Karpet Warehouse on Aldwarke Lane, Conningsby has huge experience, having self-recorded many jingles in his acoustically reverberant linoleum storeroom.
“Keith was the obvious choice as producer,” said Merridew. “His jingles have aired on Radio Rotherham Gold 88.3 for years, reaching literally thousands of ears in the area. He’s also my ex-but-one brother-in-law, so there’s also that connection.”
“There are plenty of young pretenders out there who would kill for Keith’s high production values and technical knowhow,” he continued. “Having him at the mixing desk is sure to give me an advantage when I’m competing for air-time against the likes of Areola Grande and Jay Zed.”
COOKERY
Rather than a CD, vinyl or digital download, Merridew decided to go ‘old school’ and only release 66 ina cassette tape format. And in what must be a blow for Jeff Bezos, the album will not be available to buy on Amazon.
“You can only get it from the British Legion where I drink, and from Keith’s Krazy Karpet Warehouse near the Minteq works,” he said.
Stan hopes that sales of 66 will be astronomical, but admits that it could be a ‘slow burner’ due to technical limitations in the production process.
“It takes about half an hour to make a tape because we’ve only got two cassette recorders,” he said.
“I also had a setback at the start because I didn’t know about ‘master tapes’ and I was recording the next tape from the last one I made. So by the 50th or 60th tape it were just a hissing noise and my breathing, and I had to start again.”
“That were a bit of a balls up.”
DICTIONARIES
Stan hopes to make around £1million from sales of the album, but says that the money won’t be spent on living the Rock ‘n’ Roll lifestyle.
“I’d use about £250 of it to buy half a dozen cassette recorders from eBay so I could speed up production of 67, the follow-up album I’m planning for next year, ” he explained.
“I’d have to get them bought quick, though, because I’ve got a few debts and if certain people hear I’m in the money, they’ll be round my flat quicker than shit off a shovel,” he added.