Dave The Keys aka David Baker from Komputer / Fortran 5 / I Start Counting Releases Christmas Song To Help Local Pub

‘THE LIGHTS OF THE PUB’

David Baker aka Dave the Keys (best known as one half of Komputer), has released a Christmas charity single benefitting his local pub, The Lamb in London. 

Available here: https://davethekeys.bandcamp.com/track/the-lights-of-the-pub.

Watch the video here:

The track was originally going to be a Londoner’s answer to ‘Fairytale of New York’ but soon evolved into ‘The Lights Of The Pub’, when Baker connected the track to the plight of The Lamb, and many other pubs around the country closed due to current restrictions.

The Lamb is on the Holloway Road in North London, and the track connects Baker’s electronic and piano sides through the road – home to Joe Meek’s studio where The Tornadoes ‘Telstar’ was recorded and to The Lamb, where David Baker performs singalongs as Dave the Keys.

He explains, “Everything in the song is connected to that road, but it applies equally to other pubs in the same unfortunate situation at the moment. The picture on the cover of The Kinks album Muswell Hillbillies was taken in The Archway Tavern at the top of Holloway Road. The Kinks and Kraftwerk are two of my greatest influences and I like to think they come together quite well on this song.

David Baker met Simon Leonard at Middlesex University where they DJed together and, in 1982 began to collaborate on an electronic pop project, I Start Counting. I Start Counting released two albums, and, in 1987, supported Erasure on a European tour.

In 1990 the new material they were working on was sounding quite different from their electro pop roots and it was decided that a new name, Fortran 5, would give the new dance/techno style a completely fresh start. The duo also began to collaborate with a number of other artists including DJ Colin Faver, Thrash of The Orb, Rodney Slater of the Bonzos and Neil Arthur of Blancmange.

David and Simon then reacted to the tedium of mid 90’s indie guitar music by returning to their Kraftwerk inspired roots which again provoked a name change to Komputer.

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