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the debut novella by Mark Gilroy aka Jackie Gilroy
chapbook style 64 pages
a depraved tale of a group of young, dispossessed druggy wasters stuck on the west coast of scotland in the 90's. battling poverty, bigotry and their own self delusions.
edition of 100
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Ltd Edition book with free CD
featuring short stories by Mark Gilroy, John Niven and Gil De Ray
CD is 'Kill The Rich Or Die Trying' an eclectic mixtape of sounds mixed by Gil De Ray
And I wrote your name on the wall of a derelict library,
I talked about your glory to all and sundry,
Listed you in every check of gods and greats
And gave your work to random, bewildered, strangers - for free.
I proclaimed you the genius of our generation
Quoted you in papers
Printed T-shirts with your smiling face, your slogans
And read you again and again, and again, in bed.
I needed to hear your voice once more, and again
To hear your name spoken by more than just me
So that I wouldn’t lose your urgency
And your influence wouldn’t fade.
I said that I would never cease from this
your memory would be my mission
That I would always be your champion
So that you could not ever die.
But die you did
And then fade
Then slide into legend, more myth
Only echoes and shadows remained.
But still you call from far away somewhere
In a memory of a sunny day, an outdoor coffee
Spent talking about poetry
And those who fought and died for liberty.
It’s just fleeting now, an occasional bolt
A corner of my eye, my mind
A reminder in a window
A song, on a radio in a passing car, long since forgotten.
There is no permanence, no absolute
Nothing stays the same
Save the hurt,
The missing,
And the pain.
by Jim Monaghan
This album is a collection of work written and performed by poet / writer / Mark Gilroy.
Most of the recordings were done around 2012 and sadly never seen the light of day til now.
Tragically Mark passed on to another dimension on 19th April 2019.
Like many artists he lived his life fighting to get his work seen and read.
in 1998 he set up a publishing venture with his best friend and lifelong collaborator, Jim Monaghan. Single Cell Press was an attempt to find a wider audience for his debut novella 'Thugs And Thieves' 64 pages of undiluted poetic madness. It's a deranged tale of drug addled wasters trying to navigate the bigotry and bile of West Coast Scotland. Sadly at the time it fell on deaf ears.
In 1999 his short stories adorned the inner sleeves of 'Come On Die Young' an album by Glasgow Gangster Funk. 'Polaroidage' included here was one of those stories.
Post 9/11 Mark and Jim set up a blog / website called 'Brigade Verdi, pre Green Brigade, the Celtic Ultras.
The site published a fictionalised blog entitled 'John Simpson's White Lies', and tracked the war in true gonzo fashion through the eyes of an ageing whisky-loaded Irish journalist Tadhg McAvellie. His missives rubbished the whitewashed stories being perpetuated by the mainstream media.
As the war dragged on to Iraq and beyond, the writing continued, as did the drudgery of trying to make a living as the financial crisis hit in 2008 and crushed the population with austerity.
Time split between working as a taxi driver and political activism might have slowed the creative flow but it didn't dampen his desire to write and create. Most of this work has sadly remained unpublished. A slew of poetry, a couple of novellas, a film script, co written with Jim, all sitting on hard drives. Heartbreaking.
Its hard to explain why these recordings took so long to release. I recorded these with Mark in 2012, on one of his rare trips down to London. They appear here, unmixed as they were when we did them.
There's also 2 tracks here that he done with Ross Gilchrist around the same time, that Ross has very kindly allowed to be used here.
Lastly, a pdf excerpt of the last finished work Mark sent me, The Doorals is here to download. The idea was that these short vignettes inspired by Gerard Locklin's 'Case Of The Missing Blue Volkswagen' would be accompanied by illustrations. Again for whatever reason it didnt happen. The album is free to download but any donations will go to finally publishing The Doorals, complete with illustrations. Help make it happen. Your donations will be much appreciated.
I hope you enjoy and share Mark's work. He was the biggest influence on my life. He was a beautiful soulful man that helped people as much as he could. He was a poet, in the truest sense of the word. The writing came straight from the marrow of his bones.
This is his testament. Too little too late, maybe. May his voice live forever here in this little corner of the internet.
Mark Gilroy 12/02/68 - 19/04/19 RIP Brother.
Gil xx
credits
released April 19, 2020
Words written and performed by Mark Gilroy aka The Big Truck
tracks 1-7 Music written and produced by Gil De Ray
track 8 was a radio podcast, arranged and mixed by Gil De Ray
tracks 9 -10 Music written and produced by Ross Gilchrist
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