This album is called "All's Well That Ends Well".
As usual we took a long time deciding what to call it, especially as it was to be the last Man album . . . ever. As usual there were hundreds of suggestions and, as uaual, they were greeted with 'Yes, that's quite nice' but you could tell that nobody was convinced, as usual. Then, as usual, a bolt arrived from the blue and everybody shouted 'Yeah!' This time it came from an old friend of ours, Billy Shakespeare. He said 'Hows about "All's Well That Ends Well"?' And we thought that about summed it up. Then he got a bit cocky and said, 'I've got a better one. How about "Much Ado About Nothing"?' Nobody liked that. Second hand Francis Bacon!
So this last Man album is called "All's Well That Ends Well".
O.K. There's just one more thing left to do, and this seems to be the right moment to do it. What follows is a pocket-sized history of the Manband.
From the beginning . . . . . to the end. All the line-ups and the records they made.
Micky Jones -- Clive John -- Deke Leonard -- Ray Williams -- Jeff Jones
Micky Jones -- Clive John -- Ray Williams -- Jeff Jones -- Martin Ace
Micky Jones -- Clive John -- Ray Williams -- Jeff Jones -- Martin Ace -- Deke Leonard
Micky Jones -- Clive John -- Martin Ace -- Deke Leonard -- Terry Williams
Micky Jones -- Martin Ace -- Deke Leonard -- Terry Williams
Micky Jones -- Terry Williams -- Clive John -- Phillip Ryan -- Will Youatt
Micky Jones -- Terry Williams -- Phillip Ryan -- Will Youatt
Micky Jones -- Terry Williams -- Phillip Ryan -- Will Youatt -- 'Tweke' Lewis
Micky Jones -- Terry Williams -- Deke Leonard -- Malcolm Morley -- Ken Whaley
Micky Jones -- Terry Williams -- Deke Leonard -- Ken Whaley
Micky Jones -- Terry Williams -- Deke Leonard -- Martin Ace
Micky Jones -- Terry Williams -- Deke Leonard -- Martin Ace -- John Cippolina
Micky Jones -- Terry Williams -- Deke Leonard -- Phillip Ryan -- John McKenzie
So that's it. So what's the final score. Thirteen line-ups, twelve albums, a few bits and pieces and no fatalities. We had a good time at the beginning and we had a good time at the end. If you shared any of the journey with us I hope you had a good time too. Before we finally disappear into the sunset we would like to thank everybody who helped us play our music. Whether it be setting up the equipment, driving us around, mixing our sound, engineering our albums, booking our dates, taking our photographs, bailing us out of jail, lighting our stages, designing our album covers, getting our drinks and giving us our per deums (that's Latin for daily bread) and the millions of other things we were too lazy to do ourselves. One person deserves singling out . . . . that's Barrie Marshall. He's been our manager since the first line-up. Without him bailing the boat out so regularly it could so easily have sunk.
Well, that's the soppy bit over with. It's out of our hands now. The music is there, it's yours to do with what you will. Everybody concerned will carry on playing, we haven't got the sense to stop, so with any luck our paths will cross many times in the future. If there is indeed going to be a future. I mean just because we've had a future in the past, it doesn't mean that we will have one in the future. Well, we can only keep going until it goes black, or the afterlife begins, despending on what your persuasion is.
I think the time has come for me to shut up before things turn nasty. I wouldn't like to end on a sour note because that would screw up the album title, and that would never do. So goodbye . . . .
All's well that ends well.
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