A Mark In Time
Mark Knopfler Discussion => Mark Knopfler Discussion Forum => Topic started by: sweetsurrender on November 21, 2008, 11:46:41 PM
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Hi everyone,
just wonder if anyone know or have come across any interviews where MK mentioned his own most favorite song from the DS period and his solo period. My guess is Romeo & juliet from DS and Baloney again from his solo.
thanks,
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well, i suppose that BIA from DS too and Done with bonaparte from solo songs :P
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Hi everyone,
just wonder if anyone know or have come across any interviews where MK mentioned his own most favorite song from the DS period and his solo period. My guess is Romeo & juliet from DS and Baloney again from his solo.
thanks,
I don't know such an interview. But in DSIS - the mailing list ( it was long ago) Liz Whatley, Ed Bicknell's secretary wrote that Romeo and Juliet is one of his most fav. So your guess could be correct. ;D
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and tunnel used to be amongst his favorites. until his father died i heard once..
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and tunnel used to be amongst his favorites. until his father died i heard once..
yes i heard it too, several times...
recently somebody asked guy if there is a possibility that mark would play in on the next tour and the answer was very clear: NO
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I guessed Romeo & juliet because he played the song during all KTGC concerts. It's my most favorite too, gives me goose bumps and tears. Baloney again, I thought I heard it somewhere,but don't recalled where.
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Actually Romeo and Juliet NEVER missed on the set-lists... even in Emmylou Tour.
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I just wonder if R&J is slightly autobiographical as he puts everything into it and I really feel for him when he sings it - it is like he is the 'Romeo' in it.
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he wrote it and two others, i believe it never rains and tunnel of love for his "flame" at that time, forgot her name, but i saw pics of here lately in which she is not "spectacular" looking, to say the least. got the pics somewhere, they were from this site mujeres de mark knopfler, but it seems offline now..
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Those three songs were said to be about his girlfriend at the time, Holly Beth Vincent, singer from Holly and the Italians. I did read somewhere, though that the third song was "Love Over Gold" not TOL.
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Hey we aren't allowed to talk about private things about Mark at MKnews, but I assume we can talk about it here? ::)
I read / heard somewhere that Holly Beth Vincent was his first wife? Can somebody confirm? ;D
I had a picture of that lady, perhaps I have it still somewhere! ;)
Fieneke
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No, she wasn't his first wife, just his girlfriend. Pottel, I hope we are not over-stepping the mark here - apologies if so. :-\
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nope
not at all.
pls continue
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yes this is really interesting to read........... ;)
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Yes,Simon, R & J is very much a reflection of Mark's love affairs with his girlfriend Holly Vincent. she broke up with him lon the phone literally minutes before Mark had to get on the stage to perform. ( I don't know for sure which concert!) so, Mark played "where do you think you are going" liked he never played before. He was just devastated by this gal! (I couldn't imagine who could break his heart!!!) :'(
Hence the song Romeo & Juliet later on. In 1979, Mark fell into depression and then wrote "Suicide Towers" The riff later appeared as "Expresso Love" (all this info is from the book DIRE STRAITS" by Michael Oldfield)
Mark married Lourdes Salamona on Nov 11,1983. She is a New Yorker. He moved to NY and spent some times there and I supposed that's where they met. I supposed she's his first wife. I don't think I ever hear or read anywhere about his second wife. Anyone with info, pls post. I know that he got married 3 times. He also wrote "So Far away" which reflected the time on tours away from his wife. Could that also be why "So Far Away" got played in the set list in many concerts.
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he was married in the 70ies to a farmer's daughter
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would die to find out the date of that concert!!
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I think Lourdes was his second wife.
I think it's interesting that Ben Knopfler lists his mother (Lourdes) and his father (MK) among his heroes. That's nice, especially in light of the divorce.
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His first wife was his high school girlfriend. Her parents had a farm near Newcastle and Mark also worked there in the holidays. They were both at university in Leeds when they married.
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would die to find out the date of that concert!!
There were rumours it was the concert well known as Arena'80. But I'm not sure if it is correct...
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In 1997, just after Mark married Kitty, The Daily Mail ran an article about Mark and the story behind R&J. It was on the Tomas Gygax site and I scanned the article, which was about 4 pages long! In the article it states that R&J was written about Kathy White (Mark's first wife) and his heartbreak when she left him to live with a teacher and also had a child, consequently Mark and Kathy were divorced.
I don't know whether to believe this story - it was written in a very Mills and Boon style, but the words of R&J do fit in more than the situation with Holly Vincent IMO. I still have the article and it makes good reading, but true.......??
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upload!!!!
always read it was about holly
i thought they broke up (kathy and mark) like long before he went to London.
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Yes, please Val...will be great to read. :) I also think that the words of R&J don't fit so much to Holly Vincent's situation.
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Hey this is very interesting. Of course we all respect Mark his private life, BUT ......I have been curious also to read about his first wife! ;D
Fieneke
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That's what I thought also that it was the Arena '80 concert. But what I gathered from reading the book again, it seemed to be during the 1979 concert in the US somewhere. I did watch the Arena '80 and when I saw Mark played "where do you think you're going " it was just incredible!!
I'm convinced that R&J was written after the break up with Holly. The line in R&J where it says "Now you just say oh Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him" referred to an interview which appeared in Melody Maker in Jan of 1980. Holly was quoted as saying "What happened was that I had a scene with Mark Knopfler and it got to the point where he couldn't handle it and we split up"
I don't know folks. We can draw our own conclusion here. This is what a thread with lots of thought provoking like this interesting. Let's keep it going !!
.
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After giving it some thought and asking Pottel's opinion, here is the article from Thomas Gygax's site.
I do think, though, that R&J was written about Holly Vincent and that the authors of this just used R&J to fit in with their story about Kathy and Mark. There seem to be some inaccuracies too!
http://rapidshare.com/files/167178877/n_n_1.jpg
http://rapidshare.com/files/167178878/n_n_2.jpg
http://rapidshare.com/files/167178879/n_n_3.jpg
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The Daily Mail is a pile of ******* ****.
Still, thanks for posting! I'm off to have a read, won't believe a word of it though!
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I once saw a danish interview where he said that his favorite song (own collection) was BIA. As it was the one song that was "not good" in his opnion but the only one that came close to a fairly good song.
(he does NOT need to be so humble...)
When asked of other artists he said that he would have loved to have written "Blue Eys Crying In The Rain" by Willie Nelson, which MK thought was a truly brilliant song.
Cheers
Peter
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If anyone can up these to somewhere more reliable than rapidshare it would be appreciated, it's not letting me download the second part.
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If anyone can up these to somewhere more reliable than rapidshare it would be appreciated, it's not letting me download the second part.
Just send me your email address, Dusty. Can you send me part one? ;-)
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If anyone can up these to somewhere more reliable than rapidshare it would be appreciated, it's not letting me download the second part.
Just send me your email address, Dusty. Can you send me part one? ;-)
Part 1 sent, thanks!
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If anyone can up these to somewhere more reliable than rapidshare it would be appreciated, it's not letting me download the second part.
Just send me your email address, Dusty. Can you send me part one? ;-)
Part 1 sent, thanks!
Part 2 sent to you, thank you!
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Did part 1 arrive? I keep getting error messages saying the file is too large. :(
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Did part 1 arrive? I keep getting error messages saying the file is too large. :(
No, it did not arrive. But I changed my IP and punked rapidshare.
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I think there was a problem with rapidshare, so try this one:
http://www.divshare.com/download/5922450-468
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Superva99.
Thanks so much for uploading that chapter in Mark's life that few of us ever heard of. Whether it is credible or not, I guess only Mark knows. Very interesting reading. I am almost convinced again that R&J could be written for both Kathy and Holly. For all those lines in the song , part of it for Kathy, part of it for Holly.
My question is : Is Sam Mark's son or is he not? Also the article never mentioned anything about Holly.
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the article clearly states he is not marks' son, only carried his name in the beginning.
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Sweetsurrender, I agree, on listening to the lyric, there is definitely the possibility it was written with a mixture of both in mind, even though it has always been attributed to Holly. It's my favourite MK/DS song and never fails to give me the goosebumps! :)
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Superval THANK YOU very much for sharing this information. I also have doubts if everything is true, but hey..........this is the first time I hear his first wife's name, at least that must be true! ;D
Fieneke
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Are there any other songs that are controversial as to what/ who the lyrics are referring to. So, we can continue to surmise.
What I can think of is the song "Are we in trouble now?" which refered to the period during his love affairs with Kitty. Anyone wants to take a shot at this?
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Surely Are We in Trouble Now doesn't refer to Kitty? It's about a couple on the brink of splitting up?
The only other controversial lyric I can think of is Lets See You - about Ed Bicknell?
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I see it as a couple, who have recently met eachother and are falling in love and realise their respective marriages are in trouble because of their meeting, hence the title, "Are We in Trouble Now". It's about the start of a relationship, not the end and I would say it's most likely to be about Mark and Kitty as are "Darling Pretty", "Golden Heart" and "A Night in Summer".
Regarding "Let's See You". Yes , it could be about Ed criticising everything that Mark was doing, perhaps and Mark obviously getting a bit fed up saying "Well, if you can do better, let's see you". Not one of Mark's better songs though imo, but I suppose I couldn't do better either! ;)
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gee, never thought of let'S see you like that...
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Thanks Val 8),
thats a great article,I knew that he was married three times but I wasn't aware of the details of the first marriage.
I'm not really into the lyrics game as I think that people read into them too much & see what they want to see as opposed to what the artist wants people to see!In saying that I'm now looking at the R & J lyrics in a different light ::) ::)
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Quote Waterline Man: "In saying that I'm now looking at the R & J lyrics in a different light "
So do I Waterline Man! I will also will try to listen more to the lyrics and to find something we can use for this thread! ;)
Fieneke
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I got the second and third part, but i couldn't get the first part! Wanna trade?
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jeezlouise, I need to sign in more often!
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would die to find out the date of that concert!!
There were rumours it was the concert well known as Arena'80. But I'm not sure if it is correct...
Sorry that I lifted this old topic up... I didn't find any better topic. ::) Nevertheless, I found a very interesting audio track from the youtube. This is propably the requested performance of "Where you think you are going?" . It sounds it's hard to sing this song for MK. Sometimes he's sobering instead singning, especially in following part in time 2.15-2.30: ("still find a reason to doubt me---care about my pride----like to be free) And the year is correct, 79. Also the ending guitar solo is extraordinary and whole ending is really agressive, like some kind of pain is coming out of him.
I forgot the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n9vcM70PD8
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Hey Finnishdude, welcome at AMIT!
I never knew this thread and find it very funny how the topic "Mark own most favorite songs" ended up with the line "... like some kind of pain is coming out of him" in your post. :lol
The version is great, so great that I must admit I thought for a second how great maybe some new music of MK would sound if he was just a little... less happy! Don't blame me for that, I know it's a riciculous thought, but some of the greatest and best blues stuff of course has come from people who weren't exactly happy! I agree with you that this could be the version and the concert Pottel was looking for.
So, thanks for bringing this up, it was a good read. Who knows how many treasures are there still to be found down in the AMIT archives...
LE
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Hey Finnishdude and welcome to the best MK forum....in the world (Jeremy Clarkson reference)! ;D
This is a mindblowing recording, it gave me goosebumps. That evening, MK was really into it. Every now and then, I tend to go back to recordings from 1978-1980 and enjoy the immense energy of these songs. Please don't get me wrong, his recent work is fantastic, but sometimes I miss that energy.
EDIT: Does anyone know the source of this very recording?
a) Soundboard: http://oneverybootleg.nl/boston.htm
b) Audience: http://oneverybootleg.nl/080979.htm
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I know what you mean. Sometimes when I feel bored or depressed I just go and play piano for one or two hours. I can feel how depressness and unhappy things "converts" into music that I never could play when Im happy. Im not sure is that video which I posted the correct one, but it sounds like MK is very depressed in it.
(Im not perfect in English, Im from Finland) ;D
EDIT: Justme, perhaps those unhappy events in MK:s private life gave him energy to play more agressive and energized.
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Thank you very much, Finnishdude for this recording. Mark certainly sounded heartbroken and I felt I was, in a way, intruding on his grief. I found it quite difficult to listen to, for that reason!
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If someone is interested to hear other songs from that Gig in Boston 1979, put "Dire Straits Boston '79" to youtube search. There's rare performance of Bernadette, performed by David Knopfler and few other songs by Mark.
fixed few typos...
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EDIT: Does anyone know the source of this very recording?
a) Soundboard: http://oneverybootleg.nl/boston.htm
b) Audience: http://oneverybootleg.nl/080979.htm
Almost all songs are in youtube, use terms: dire straits boston 79' (*) . *= put songs name in this place to help search to find it.
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Thank you very much, Finnishdude for this recording. Mark certainly sounded heartbroken and I felt I was, in a way, intruding on his grief. I found it quite difficult to listen to, for that reason!
I'm totally with you Val. Knowing what Mark had gone through during that period of his life, it's sooo painful to listen to this song. It put me in tears. It's such an amazing recording. Is there a video of this anywhere?
I have to agree with you that for some reasons when you're sad /depressed etc, the music either you play or listen to suddenly become profoundly more meaningful. Thus it explains why this song is so powerful in this recording.
I love this song sooooo veryyyy much ! It's one of Mark's best.
Thanks for sharing this !
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I just had to listen to it again. Couldn't resist !
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The personal songs will always carry some extra intensity. That's why, for me at least, his latest songs, where he basically gives a summary of a book or an article, sound very dull in comparison. They are excellently crafted and played, but they lack the nerve of the older songs. In my opinion, that has nothing to do with age and maturity. It's possible to get older and still convey that intensity.
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The personal songs will always carry some extra intensity. That's why, for me at least, his latest songs, where he basically gives a summary of a book or an article, sound very dull in comparison. They are excellently crafted and played, but they lack the nerve of the older songs. In my opinion, that has nothing to do with age and maturity. It's possible to get older and still convey that intensity.
He's said many times his songs are getting simpler and he's right. Often in the past you had to go looking for the meaning in his songs or they could have double meanings and you seldom got a bad one on any album, but now he writes some terrible songs like the ones released with the deluxe box set of Get Lucky. All of them are crap. :disbelief
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Hi dmg. Your post raises an interesting question, that has very little to do with the quality of the extra songs.
What should any keen fan do when the artist he follows disappoints him with his work? And taking into account the fact that the cunning record companies put out so many editions with extras that targeting this very fan.
In a way there is only one answer: don't buy.
A second one that might convince with logic is : the keen fan would be satisfied even with these songs, because he can find thrill in the rarity, uniqueness of the songs plus if he is willing to pay this kind of money, he surely gets his rocks off simply by the distinctive sound of his voice and guitar. And you wouldn't expect MK to put as an extra a new song that is as good as SOS or ToL. That would have to be included in the regular release.
But since I feel the way you do, I do believe that there is something fishy with the whole collectible things that have been in circulation from the late 90ies. The fans are the sure cows to milk, so the companies create such "collectibles" that the vast number of them show that are not collectibles at all. And let me tell you, that the fetish thing that creates the whole demand, is an irrational thing ("I have it you don't have it, so that proves I am a better fan" kind of thing), because what would you do with a pair of dice and some chips? Three years after and you can still find Get Lucky box in almost have the original asking price. But it is a desire to own something that proves you are a good fan. And the companies exploit this desire. The logic thing would be not to buy and force the companies to sell the real product, the music contained, at affordable prices. Unfortunately, MK is a worldwide phenomenon and such sizes are helped by big companies and their routines. Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Rammstein, Jimi Hendrix White Stripes, Stone Roses, Portishead and many others have done the same thing. Who's to blame?
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It's a free world - don't like, don't buy. And if people have personal issues because they feel they have to keep up with the Jones', I feel sorry for them.
But that Get Lucky deluxe set thing was just the funniest thing ever. How much was it, 100 euros? For a few plastic chips and dice, two (three?) very mediocre songs, and that *amazing* footage. Oh man, the execs and Mark must be ROFL all the way to the bank. Not that Mark cares about money of course.
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Where's the cat gone?
LE
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I know what you mean. Sometimes when I feel bored or depressed I just go and play piano for one or two hours. I can feel how depressness and unhappy things "converts" into music that I never could play when Im happy. Im not sure is that video which I posted the correct one, but it sounds like MK is very depressed in it.
(Im not perfect in English, Im from Finland) ;D
EDIT: Justme, perhaps those unhappy events in MK:s private life gave him energy to play more agressive and energized.
In Michael Oldfield
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Actually Romeo and Juliet NEVER missed on the set-lists... even in Emmylou Tour.
---Slavi---
During the tour, I thought that r & j was a great opportunity for a duet with Emmylou, with each taking the parts of r & J. I could then and can now hear it in my imagination. I kept hoping for it to happen.
Also, MK's first wife was a girl he knew at home, before he moved to London. I love it that he worked on her father's farm. A nice little thing that I have in common with him--bucking bales, and mucking stalls. ::)
Oldfield's book is interesting, but it is not authorized and has received some harsh words from the powers that be, so don't trust everything he says.
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Actually Romeo and Juliet NEVER missed on the set-lists... even in Emmylou Tour.
---Slavi---
During the tour, I thought that r & j was a great opportunity for a duet with Emmylou, with each taking the parts of r & J. I could then and can now hear it in my imagination. I kept hoping for it to happen.
Also, MK's first wife was a girl he knew at home, before he moved to London. I love it that he worked on her father's farm. A nice little thing that I have in common with him--bucking bales, and mucking stalls. ::)
Oldfield's book is interesting, but it is not authorized and has received some harsh words from the powers that be, so don't trust everything he says.
It's many years since I read it but I seem to recall a few glaring errors. :o
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Actually Romeo and Juliet NEVER missed on the set-lists... even in Emmylou Tour.
---Slavi---
During the tour, I thought that r & j was a great opportunity for a duet with Emmylou, with each taking the parts of r & J. I could then and can now hear it in my imagination. I kept hoping for it to happen.
Also, MK's first wife was a girl he knew at home, before he moved to London. I love it that he worked on her father's farm. A nice little thing that I have in common with him--bucking bales, and mucking stalls. ::)
Oldfield's book is interesting, but it is not authorized and has received some harsh words from the powers that be, so don't trust everything he says.
It's many years since I read it but I seem to recall a few glaring errors. :o
It's the Myles Palmer unauthorized biography that is the worst culprit for errors.
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Yes, you are right, superval. Thanks for reminding me.
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Sorry, of course it was the Palmer one I was think of. ::)
Isn't the Oldfield one authorised?