MAL FOSTER : a poet of the ordinary man

Magic Moments At Twilight Time were a four piece band from Frimley near Camberley, Surrey who described their music as ‘Weirdo-Bop’. Recent email contact with their former frontman Mick Lancaster aka Mick Magic states that most of their old tracks are still confined to tape and are yet to be digitalised. The collaboration involved a number of my poems being set to music which culminated in a live appearance with ‘yours truly’ and the band at a Greenpeace benefit gig in Frimley Green in September 1987. In 1988 my good friend Paul Wells also from Frimley and I formed Leviathan. We were actually compared to Tangerine Dream by the Aldershot News’ Adrian Creek in his local Rock & Pop column which of course we found quite funny! - In truth it was a fusion between Paul’s keyboard talent and my attempt to sound like my personal God Leonard Cohen which obviously didn’t work. Anyway, Paul went on to make Leviathan his own with a number of original tracks now formatted on CD. One of the most unexpected collaborations was with the new wave Irish Folk Band Giro Junction who performed one of my few songs ‘The Unheard Of War’ live at the St. James Tavern, Piccadilly in London in the summer of 1988. The band consisted of Tommy and Joey Doyle and Tommy’s wife Lee plus a number of guest musicians who rotated around the various gigs. Tommy in fact, can still be seen busking for commuters on weekdays with his mandolin outside Waterloo Station and we still remain firm friends.

Magic Moments At Twilight Time: Poems recorded: The Ayslum Prince, A Short Time Beside You, Platform 8 Victoria, The Wedding and Preconception. 

Paul Wells / Leviathan: War Torn & Ravished Parts 1 & 2 plus bonus track of the same name and Timewarp. All tracks were instrumental with myself on additional keyboards. (Live studio tracks).

The song Misfits & Mercenaries – a version of my poem The Partisan on the ‘A’ side with a song called The Veil on the ‘B’ side – released on cassette tape.

A rare recording of Maelstrom on tape also exists along with some very patchy recordings of two other songs Luqa and Long Way Home – unfortunately the lyrics have since got lost somewhere. 

Giro Junction: The Unheard Of War - a patchy recording exists on a master cassette tape - the song is performed in front of a crowd of around 200 pub-goers. 

Knaphill Village Music Festival: Since 2007 Mal has organised the annual Knaphill Village Music Festival in the village where he lives. These successful events have attracted some of the best bands around as they continue to go from strength to strength.
Above: Mal in his Leviathan days

Pics: Courtesy http://www.theknaphillian.com/knaphillrocks.htm

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