Doll by Doll

Toppermost piece presenting Doll by Doll through ten selected songs, written by a fan who often saw the band and Leven as a solo artist live (short biography at the end: lives near Brighton). He sketches the origin of the band name (E. E. Cummings), the line-up, Leven's earlier history (duo Saint Judas with Colin Soutar around 1969, album “Control” as John St Field) and his literary sources (James Wright, Blake, Rilke, Robert Bly, Anna Akhmatova). Discussed are, among others, “More Than Human” and the B-side “The Fountain Is Red, The Fountain Is White” (presumably inspired by Baudelaire) from “Remember”, “Hell Games”, “Stripshow”, “The Human Face” and “Highland Rain” from “Gypsy Blood”, “Those In Peril” and “Main Travelled Roads” from the third album, and “Lonely Kind of Show” and “So Long Kid” from “Grand Passion”. The author recalls often seeing Leven in the late 1970s with friends at the Warwick Castle pub in Maida Vale – the loudest group at the bar, occasionally brawling. He mentions a German TV recording of “Main Travelled Roads” (1981), the unreleased fifth album “The Last Flick of the Golden Wrench” (possibly identical with “The Robberies of the Rain”, which according to the author came out in 2009) and the tribute concert “Two Tiny Selves” in 2012 at The Castle pub. In Leven's memory he had a memorial bench placed in Soho Square. Tone: affectionate, very personal, a plea for an underrated band. In the comments further witnesses of the time come forward (concerts in Liverpool, Camden Lock, Farnborough, Blandford Forum) and a relative of Jo Shaw.