By 1987, and this, their fourth album, people seemed to be taking a little more notice of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. I remember Andy Kershaw playing Beanfields on his Radio 1 programme. And there was a South Bank Show profile of them in '87 or '88.
Unusually I can't find any trace of that profile on Youtube, but in searching I discovered several performances like this one, of Perpetuum Mobile, the most immediate piece to grab me from Signs of Life (and still a favourite):
I also realised how often people use PCO music to soundtrack their video projects. Here's one that uses Dirt and another quite different one that uses Wildlife — both tracks are on Signs of Life.
Since the Orchestra last featured on Music Arcades, we've had the delight of seeing them reconvened (minus their leader obviously) for three shows. Guy and I went to two of them. Here's an extract from an email I sent to Gideon Coe just after returning from the first:
It was everything I could have wished it would be. Beautifully performed and, though I still listen to the albums a lot, the orchestra brought out things I hadn't fully noticed before.
It was also quite emotional — not in a sentimental way, but it's ten years to the day since Simon Jeffes died, and the fans who love his music haven't had a chance to either celebrate his work or mark his passing until tonight.
Simon Jeffes's son, Arthur, was playing harmonium and some very delicate percussion with the orchestra this evening…
Numbers 1-4 always makes me cry. Oscar Tango and Music for a Found Harmonium got probably the biggest cheer, before the ovation at the end.
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