Organ Thing: “Tim Smith of Cardiacs once autographed a copy of Cardiacs’ Rude Bootleg (Live at Reading Festival, 1986) by writing 14 seconds of music in staff notation along with the message “Get someone to play this – A song especially for Jason. Love Timmy X”

Martin Keary recorded Tim’s autograph on keyboards and piano in early 2018, Keary, who has master’s degree in composition from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, also lengthened the piece in a very Tim-like way.. He created a middle section by transposing a phrase from the musical autograph using tools that Tim Smith often employed in his song writing. The result is 76 seconds of music based on Tim Smith’s autograph “For Jason” and an extrapolation in the spirit of Tim Smith’s writing — a “lost” Cardiacs song, if you will”.

And while we’re here…. Alison Mathews…. Inspired by Cardiacs’ “Everything is Easy” – music and lyrics by Tim Smith.

You can donate to Tim Smith’s healthcare fund here

And here a little more from Martin Keary on Cardiacs…

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