TORSTEN SCHMIDT
I just remember you saying that at the beginning of the early ‘90s, “I’m just not doing any records anymore because I feel like I don’t have anything musically to add to what I’ve already said.” And it was like really mixed emotions towards it because like, some of the people said like, “Hey, that’s a really brave thing to say.”
DERRICK MAY
It’s kind of stupid, too.
TORSTEN SCHMIDT
Or coward-ish, maybe.
DERRICK MAY
It could be considered that.
TORSTEN SCHMIDT
But there’s nothing sadder than, if you look at what Paul Weller is doing to himself these days.
DERRICK MAY
What is he doing?
TORSTEN SCHMIDT
He’s just doing the kind of music that thirty years ago he wouldn’t have had the energy to hate the people who do it.
DERRICK MAY
Right, I see. You know, I don’t... Man. The reason I said that is because I had a meeting with some pretty major people about 15 years ago. It was a pretty big deal on the table. It was a major, major, major record deal. And I don’t know how many artists get the chance to have a record, to get a record deal without any demos. I did no demos. So the deal was on the table for Warner Brothers. It was a serious deal, I had no demos, it was six months into the deal negotiations. Final week before I signed the deal I sat down with Trevor Horn. It was his record company. Let me finish the story.
So I’m sitting there and Trevor, it’s this gigantic table, he’s got like this Knights of the Round Table shit in his office. And we’re sitting there at his table, he’s sitting at the other end of the table, tripping. And I’m at this other end and I feel like I’m in some really bad Federal Express commercial or something like that. And the dude says, “So tell me Derek,” as he lights up his spliff, “How do you feel about Top of the Pops?” [inhales] He’s trying to be cool. I said, “Top of the Pops?” The reason he asked me that is because I can’t stand at the time Top of the Pops. I thought it was a whack show.
TORSTEN SCHMIDT
It’s not history as well.
DERRICK MAY
It’s not history. Do you guys know what it is? What it was? OK, if you’re from the States, there was Dick Clark. That was the show, they had like the top 10 bands of the week. They’d have them perform. It was a horrible show. Soul Train was better than that, believe it or not. In this country or even England for that matter, Top of the Pops. Really crappy show where the top 10 bands of the week that had the top pop songs, they’d perform live their song. It’s a really bad show. It’s embarrassing.
So I said, “No, I don’t want to do that.” I was really fair about it, he said well, “You know, Kraftwerk did Top of the Pops.” I said, “Really?” I was very sincere about that, I said, “Really, wow.” In other words, almost like I have to think about that. But I think inside his spliff was not weed, I think it was cocaine, because that motherfucker didn’t understand a goddamn word I said. When I left the meeting, he said I was a lunatic because I didn’t want to do Top of the Pops. And the deal was off.