2014

jurassictone    News    

Paul Cooper

Paul Cooper

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Paul Cooper, a founder member of Jurassic Rock who was our singer until 2009

Paul was a truly rounded individual, the grammar school boy from Swaffham who grew up to be a man of the world. He did well at school and had an outstandingly successful career, initially with Ford and Ford Credit for whom he was CEO in Italy, (where he became fluent in Italian), Australia and then the US. He returned to England in 1993, taking early retirement in 1998, but shortly after moved to The Institute of Customer Services for whom he became Executive Director. A natural and relaxed speaker, Paul represented the Institute in many of their seminars and presentations, as well as on TV and radio shows. As an authority in the field of customer services, he received a number of awards for his work. However, Paul did not bury himself in work, as he had many interests and pursuits.

Hamond Grammar School boys 1966

Being outspoken and not afraid to air his opinions, Paul was a committed atheist who held the view that the underlying beliefs in all religions were rooted in man’s early attempts to answer the fundamental questions and that these should have been consigned to history as they were supplanted by ever increasing scientific knowledge, which provided far more satisfactory answers, i.e. he found the answers in facts rather than in faith. Paul went further in his condemnation of religions, believing that the customs and fervor they generated have been, and continue to be, the cause of many of our problems. Paul did not arrive at these conclusions before he had carried out extensive research and, as a consequence, he was one of the few people outside the scientific community who has some understanding of the great theories, including General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.

Cleggy!

He was hard working and deep thinking, but there was far more to Paul. His gregariousness was legendary and his group of friends extensive. Although not always easy and rarely prepared to listen to the opinions of others when discussing a subject on which he had strong views, a dinner party would not be complete without his booming voice dominating proceedings and yet he was the first to provide help when it was needed. There was always the offer of a glass of wine no matter what time of day you visited him (not necessarily a good thing). He and Kate were famous for their entertaining and, as the local experts, they wrote a regular eating out column for the local magazine. They also enjoyed travelling, particularly to Italy, and it has been said that Paul was known personally by every restauranteur in Rome.

Performng

Paul read widely from the classics to modern fiction. He was also a fan of the cinema and had an extensive DVD collection. The word eclectic is usually misused when it comes to music, often describing people who like Spandau Ballet as well as Duran Duran, but it could be applied to Paul in all its glory as he revelled in every type of music from opera to rock ‘n’ roll. He was moved to tears by both Mozart and Elvis and his music collection, which was enormous by any standards, reflected the full spectrum. His love of music wasn’t restricted to simply listening and although he made a number of fruitless attempts to learn to play an instrument (only ever managing to master the tambourine), he was always an accomplished singer. In 1995 he became an integral part of Jurassic Rock and, for something completely different, he also sang with Selion Jazz, which only went to demonstrate his versatility.

Alex, Kate & Paul

Paul was known for his determination and none more so than his wooing of Kate. Legend has it he was repeatedly rebuffed, but was undeterred by unrequited love and persisted for as long as it took to win her round. Once she had turned, Kate’s love was unequivocal and they were devoted to one another for the whole of their married life. They had one child, Alex, to whom Paul was very close and of whom he was extremely proud. As Paul would have expected, Alex has been a great support and comfort to his mum.

Paul was uncompromising in many things, including in his lifestyle. Although he enjoyed skiing, he didn’t “do walking” and said that a healthy lifestyle was “a load of b.ll..ks”! His favourite word was hedonism and he lived life to the full, enjoying the good things, especially food and drink. His ebullient personality and enjoyment of excess made him larger than life in at least two ways.

Paul had been unwell, but he died unexpectedly and suddenly from a massive heart attack. His death was a shock, but was not a surprise to those of us who knew him. We loved him for who and what he was, but are angry with him for not taking care of himself and leaving us too soon. He was a good man and a big man with a big personality. Accordingly, he leaves a big hole in our lives.

Paul may have left Jurassic Rock five years ago, but his influence remains. I can still hear him saying that the chorus to Brown Eyed Girl is not “Tra-la-la”, it’s “Sha-la-la”. Goodbye, Paul, and thank you.

Here’s to you!

A synopsis of Paul’s journey to and through Jurassic Rock in mostly his own words can be found here.

New Venues

After a good number of years playing at various types of function, we had started to miss the intimacy and immediacy of playing in pubs and clubs. We have no intention on turning our backs on weddings and parties, etc. and we remember that such audiences are notoriously fickle, but we have, nevertheless, made the move to increase our gigs in these venues.

New Theme

In doing this, we felt there was a need to move away from our totally free approach to set lists in which we plan only the first song and then decide what to play thereafter entirely on the basis of what seems appropriate at the time. This works extremely well at dances where there is a need to match the song to the mood, but is not necessarily appropriate for what is fundamentally a club environment where the audience has to be engaged in a way that is not almost entirely dependent on the sort of dance they want to do.

This idea was developed into having a play list in the form of a theme and we decided that one that was not only appropriate for us, but would also appeal to a significant audience is “Sounds of the Sixties”.  We have put together a playlist of songs that starts with the changes that took place in the 1950’s that paved the way for the music revolution of the 1960’s. There follows a selection of songs and instrumentals illustrating the developments through that decade and finishes with how this influenced subsequent eras.  We have a printed programme that we give to the audience showing the songs with brief points of interest for each one.  This programme supplements the snippets of information provided during the performance. This had proven popular and is developing and evolving with each performance.

Our Version
Jamie Cullum caught our interest when he recorded  Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, a song has been part of our repertoire for many years.  We have rocked it up significantly and so it is quite different to The Animals  bouncy, poppy version and Jamie’s jazzy rendition.  We recorded it and sent a copy to Jamie in the hope he might include it on his radio show.  We have yet to hear, but keep listening and watch this space …..

Happy New Year!

Finally, we are playing for the fourth year running at the Royal Burnham Yacht Club’s New Year’s Eve dinner/dance.  This is now a regular gig – long may it continue!

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