News Archive

SPOTTISWOODE INVADES FRANCE!
November 2009

Paris, France Once again the French have surrendered!

We have received the following message from Guillaume Cotillard, a former orrespondent of ours in the City of Lights:

“I have directed a play called Le Jour De La Marmotte. It is running at the Theatre du Marais on 37 Rue Volta until December 16th. It features two songs by Spottiswoode & His Enemies: Drunk and I Get Blue.”

If you are in Paris and you see the play, please send us a review.

SUMMER STUFF
August 2009

New York, NY – Young Spott has been hard at work on a solo recording, mostly of piano songs. He has been testing the patience of Kenny Siegal at Old Soul Studios in the Catskills.

Mr. Siegal is only indulging the romantic Englishman because he wants to make another CD with the full band in the fall.

Yes, that’s another 2 CDs Spottiswoode has up his sleeve.

How the hell’s he gonna pay for it?

Well, want us to play your party? Yes, it’s possible! Go to the Missives page and read Spottiswoode’s most recent Epistle to the Bohemians.
Or would you prefer to watch someone else sing a Spottiswoode song? In that case, go to the On Film page and check out Trevor Exter’s beautiful version of “Love Her Again.”
Any questions, requests? Drop us a line at the Contacts page.

Young Spott continues to sing, write, record and plot how to take his musical to Broadway, his film to Cannes, and his mum to Mexico.

What else could you possibly need to know?

TRIANGLE TOUR
November, 2008

New York, NY – Before accepting a cabinet position in the next administration (somewhere between the cups and saucers), Young Spottiswoode will be taking a post-election swing through the blue and purple states.

Foregoing the standard Vice Presidential pick, he has decided to rewrite the constitution and rule as a triumvirate. His fellow frontmen are none other than Kenny White and Amy Correia. Together, they will bring peace and harmony to the NorthEast.

Yes, the tour begins immediately after the election. Check the appearances page for details.

WNYC SOUNDCHECK
August, 2008

New York, NY – On Thursday, August 21st at 2pm (or a little after) Spott & several of his Enemies performed live and chatted with John Schaefer, New York’s legendary music host.

Listen Here.

SPOTTISWOODE RETURNS FROM ZORGON
July, 2008

New York, NY He’s back on the planet with a few new songs.

“I miss Zorgon!” is all he has said since his return.

SPOTTISWOODE VISITS THE PLANET ZORGON
May 1st 08

From The SpottMobile Somewhere Beyond The Solar System

Spottiswoode has not only abandoned the United States of America. He has clearly escaped from the entire stratosphere!

We catch up with him on his eco-friendly SpottMobile as he travels through some of the uncharted and exotic nooks and crannies of our unfathomable universe.

Read the EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW… (or read one of his missives)

Examiner: Why are you traveling to the Planet Zorgon?

Spottiswoode: To find the Ring of Zorg.

E: What is the Ring of Zorg???

S: I can’t tell you till I find it.

E: Why are you looking for it?

S: Because it’s the Ring of Zorg.

E: Should we have heard of this ring?

S: Did you hear that?

E: What?

S: A sputtering sound on the starboard side?

E: Oh my God!!!!

Alas, we experienced technical transmission problems at this point. We promise to furnish the rest of this exclusive dialogue when our reporter reestablishes contact.

TEXAS AND BACK

March 27th 08

New York, NY
The Enemies have returned righteously from the SXSW Festival in Texas, even more awesome than ever. They blazed a trail from Austin through Houston, Birmingham, Atlanta (see Paste Magazine’s rave review of that show on the Dossier page), Charlotte, DC, all the way back to New York.

The Tenth anniversary blowout show at Joe’s Pub was a major metropolitan event, touted in The New Yorker as THE music happening of the week, and extremely sold out. Apologies to our fans who couldn’t get in.

S&M: BEST DIY RECORD OF 2007!

-January 08_

New York, NY – Yes indeed!

The powers that be at Performing Songwriter Magazine (probably the most respected of all the songwriting/music magazines) have determined that Spottiswoode & McMahon’s “S&M” was THE BEST DIY RELEASE OF 2007.

Yes, that’s Number 1.

If you have any doubts, we suggest you go to CDBaby and buy it.

Producer extraordinaire, Riley McMahon, has been unavailable for comment.

CHRISTMAS IN THE NORTH-EAST

December 16th 07

New York, NY – The Enemies navigated ice storms, drove thousands of miles, subdued Eastern, Midwestern & Southern audiences with their patented numbing potion, and remain on surprisingly good terms.

Highlights of their Christmas tour included a magical evening in Claverack NY, ecstatic performances in Northampton and Cleveland, furious family support in Chicago, radio appearances in Bloomington and Louisville, mayhem in Nashville, a yuletide lovefest in Charlotte, laughter and tears in Ashland VA, and a triumphant Big Apple Christmas homecoming.

All that and a ton of great press everywhere.

November 18th 07

New York, NY – The Enemies have returned from their first weekend foray of regional touring in celebration of their tenth anniversary and their two new CDs.

And they have been receiving some very favorable press attention!

The Boston Phoenix marvels at Spottiswoode’s “moony, crooning voice, dripping with wasted elegance” and the band’s ability to “recall at various times the smoke-cured continental suavity of Serge Gainsbourg, the latter-day ethno-eclecticism of the Pogues, and the turbid moodiness of the Bad Seeds.”

The writer from the Portland Phoenix describes Spottiswoode as “one of the more commanding frontmen I’ve heard in a while,” and notes that “His Enemies are comfortable in cabaret, post-punk, soul, and any other mode – all but a backdrop for Spottiswoode’s sly, Nick Cave meets Stephen Merritt put-ons.”

The Washington Express, in a feature on the band, praises their two new releases, That’s What I Like and Salvation. “Both highlight Spottiswoode’s charmingly coarse baritone and conversational lyrics as well as a sparkling soundtrack from the dexterous Enemies, whose playing is technically cool but rife with embellishment and quirky colloquialism.”

And Washington’s NBC affiliate rhapsodizes about Spottiswoode’s “challenging, beautiful music” and “his incredibly talented Enemies.”

More articles and press will soon be forthcoming on the DOSSIER page.

Or go to the MISSIVES page and read Spott’s tour blog.

November 07

Clarendon, VA – Ten years ago, on November 14th 1997, the rock septet, Spottiswoode & His Enemies, performed their debut concert at Washington DC’s Black Cat.

At 10:30pm, on Saturday, November 17th 2007, Spottiswoode & His Enemies will return to the DC metropolitan area and take the stage at IOTA Club and Café.

They promise an uproarious anniversary celebration.

Most of the Enemies had been members of The Zimmermans, a cult 90s DC group that had disbanded a year earlier. Spottiswoode, a prolific English songwriter, had since moved to New York along with several of the others.

During the last ten years, the band has developed a cult following of its own. They have performed numerous residencies at New York’s best clubs; toured the country; played Lincoln Center, NPR, festivals from Texas to France; and released several critically acclaimed records.

And they remain a law unto themselves: a band packed with multi-instrumentalist personalities, fronted by an Englishman who is happy singing a neo-gospel lament, a cabaret ditty, a heartbreaking ballad and a balls-out rocker back to back without pausing for breath.

To capture at least some of the band’s range, the Enemies will play songs from their two new CDs.

Their first set will feature songs from Salvation, a collection of soulful ballads and upbeat folksy Americana. The second set will be a madcap cabaret retelling of their CD, That’s What I Like, as performed earlier this year to a sold-out crowd at Joe’s Pub in New York’s Public Theater.

Don Dilego opens at 9pm, Spouse at 9:30, Enemies from 10:30 till 1:00. Cover: $12. IOTA Club and Café, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201

The Enemies will also play shows this week in Boston (11/14), Portland (11/15) and New York (11/16).

October 5, 2007

New York, NY – Andrew Blackwell, a shadowy character with an ominous name, led seven musicians – resembling the fugitive band Spottiswoode & His Enemies – into a Chinatown dungeon on a recent weekend. They were followed by two dozen men in khaki.

Was it some kind of J. Crew orgy?

October 2007

New York, NY- This Friday, October 5th, Spottiswoode & His Enemies will perform two more late-night sets at the Living Room here in New York City. The show begins at 11pm.

Business as usual? Not quite. The whole show is being taped by XM Radio for future broadcast.

Spottiswoode promises to dig into the archive and play a medley of the band’s most radio-friendly hits. His Enemies have promised to sabotage the Englishman’s noble undertaking.

“Radio-friendly?” scoffs John Young (Enemy #1). “His songs aren’t even gyroscope friendly!”

“It’s just another excuse to rein us all in and play shallow three minute songs without ever letting the band stretch out,” said a pouty Tim Vaill (Enemy #2) to a lonely slice of vegetarian barbecue pizza here in the East Village.

The rest of the Enemies have declined to comment.

September 2007

New York, NY- Spottiswoode and His Enemies have threatened to hold hostage anyone who comes to the Living Room on Saturday, September 22nd.

“If they come at 11pm like they’re supposed to,” says Tim Vaill – band drummer and reportedly the gang’s most vicious member – “we won’t let them leave till well after their bedtime.”

Tony Lauria, band accordionist, followed Vaill’s threat with a statement of his own: “If these douchebags give a shit about good music why would they think about leaving anyway?”

An official statement from the band’s secret headquarters promised a “new and improved” Spottiswoode & His Enemies. This has been interpreted by certain experts as a message suggesting that a large number of brand new songs will be introduced into the repertoire at this particular performance.

In any event, we advise our readers to avoid the Living Room on the evening of Saturday, September 22nd. At all costs!

Shameless Propaganda!

(An Editorial By The Reverend Farley Grilwell)

Libertyville, SC- I am an open-minded God-fearing man. I am happy to let my fellow citizens go about their business as they see fit. I am proud to live in a free country.

Now we all know that the original promise of this great country has been corrupted. Still, my feeling has always been to just let the sinners follow their own unrighteous path to hell. We have given them plenty of warnings. If they don’t care to listen, well so be it.

However, I can’t just sit on the sidelines when a tribe of devils posing as a musical group actively encourages fornication and disrespect for women. For yes, that is exactly what Spottswick and His Infamies are trying to do.

We all know their music is bad. (And if you don’t know that, I encourage you to listen. Do not bury your heads in the sand!) But the fact that they are now indulging in a music video of perhaps their very worst song is a graver danger to our young children than the unacceptable coitus we all witnessed between Janet Jefferson and Justin Fingerflake only a few years ago.

Folks, it is no less than the propaganda of the Devil himself.

Evidently, on the weekend of September 22nd and 23rd, they will be filming a phoney performance of their song, “That’s What I Like.” They have even asked for volunteers. Yes, all an unsuspecting soul has to do is to send a message to the contacts page on their website and they willl be recruited!

My friends, the worse it is the further it travels. And believe me, this is BAD. I suggest we boycott the whole of New York City until these sad people are forced up to Quebec.

The Reverend Farley Grilwell is the author of “Life of A Saint: Pat Robertson and the Affliction of Haemorhoids,” and “Unholy Sinner: The Truth About Mother Theresa.”

SPOTTISWOODE REMINISCES

August, 2007

New York, NY – Some recent words of wisdom have been rescued from Spottiswoode’s subterranean foxhole.

No one is sure how the young Englishman has been able to learn what is happening in the outside world. He refuses to use electricity of any sort except for the purpose of drying his hair.

However, recent documents we have gathered suggest that Spottiswoode has not just kept up with current events; he may even be ahead of them.

A careful reading of his recent handwritten missives leads to some remarkable conclusions.

“The man is quite possibly the greatest cultural critic of his generation,” says Professor Anita Kielbasa, chair of Semiotics and Hermeneutics at the Warsaw Insititute. “But his recent travails appear to have damaged his powers of exegesis. Or it may simply be a matter of self-esteem.”

“Astounding!” remarks Professor Hugh Very-Ropey. “I haven’t seen anything as rich as this since the Hitler Diaries. They are his words. Of that I have not the slightest doubt.”

Judge for yourself. We invite our readers to open the Missives section in the left hand column….