P a r t   2 :   M   i s   f o r   M i c h a e l   &   M a r i l y n   g o   t o   M a r s . . .

5th April 2022: One day later, Dimitris shamed us with one single sentence;

"I have already started working on my 'M' track. Let me know when you 're back to send you some rough edits..."

Not deliberately, of course, how could he have even guessed how long this was all going to take!? Skit and meself, on the other hand, only had to wait about three weeks to get his finished contribution to the album.

"Hi there... 'Michael & Marilyn' is the working title... or not (imagine smiley emoji here) Let me hear what you think of... is a plagiarhythm noizy drone thing from melophobia!"

On went the headphones and begun our inspirational twenty-seven minute and forty-five second journey, the very idea of which fitted perfectly with a concept album (don't judge us, we went through our teens in the 70's) theme we were playing around with at the time; Mission To Mars. So, we could provide tracks to serve as  an opening theme, one to cover a stage one launch to a moonbase, another for the main launch from the moon to the red planet, designate  'Michael & Marilyn' as the onboard computers that looked after the astronauts in stasis capsules for the long journey, then create pieces for the arrival and landing, followed by a closing theme to represent some kind of Outer Limits plot twist at the end. Do not attempt to adjust your music playing device! We could get Kev Trundley, who did the covers for the Communitas series, to do the artwork for us, Magic and Cosmos looking out the front window of the spaceship! So what did he think?

27/04/2022, 10:53
Olympus
I am more than OK with that. Move forward and create the story!

All systems go! Well, you kinda know that wasn't quite the case. So, end of May, I nearly blew the whole thing with a classic piece of Asperger's-R-us miscommunication, creating the false impression that Dimitris and us had juxtaposed notions of what working together on a project would mean. We survived that and realised we were actually all on the same page after all, but it threw me for a while. For the benefit of those who aren't aware, Asperger's Syndrome is an A.S.D. (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), one that I personally happen to be blessed with. And when things don't go in reality as they do when you do the countless 'rehearsals' in your head, it does rather pull the rug out from under your feet. It can sometimes take months to recover from things you regard as a setback, even when the perceived 'problem' was quite easily dealt with. In that confused state, I should never have taken on as much as I did at the time, but after so many silent years, the enthusiasm of being creative again just kind of took over. Nevertheless, a seven month silence followed.

19/11/2022, 13:24
Magic
I feel like I owe you a huge apology. I mean, it's been more than 6 months since you sent the track that inspired us and made me seriously want to do this collaborative project... and we haven't recorded a single note as yet. Hand on heart, I've been an idiot and took on way too much this year, and simply haven't been able to deliver on all of it. I just wanted to write and assure you that this project is the ONLY thing on our calendar for January and we will be politely declining ANYTHING else!!! Really looking forward to it. Meanwhile, the festive season is nearly upon us... All the best, Mick

20/11/2022, 18:19
Olympus
hello Mick, thank you for letting me know, actually to be honest I have deleted this from my memory, so it might be a surprise some time in the future... try not to burn out man... stay healthy and create not for the sake of it... all the best from Greece, Dimitris

   Dr. Magic's Audio Lab - "Intermission" (58:00)

Dimitris Tsironis, aka Olympus Cosmos, and this is the photo he sent us for the artwork...

Kev Trundley's first rough of the two of us looking out the somewhat familiar window at the front of the Mars bound spaceship...

You'll have to wait for the album to hear 'Michael & Marilyn' in all its glory, but there was a 24:13 radio edit included in the 'Intermission' edition of the radioshow...

TO BE CONTINUED...

ON TO PART III