SPOKE IN THE WHEEL
Saturday, 7th November 2026 GMT* - CATA LOGG INFO - INDX
Fellow Workers,
Things have changed.
As much as I approve of the concept of change, I do not approve of these changes. It seems from here on (27th of May 2026) until the end of this year, there might be an episode of Spoke in The Wheel on every date in the month that contains a 7.
But...
I should warn you, there may be further changes – for the better but probably for the worse.
And don’t forget…
If you want to record your Forty Minute SPOKE IN THE WHEEL, that in some way is a response to the ongoing content to FOOT NOTE, please get it done and submit it to me...
brush@penkilnburn.com
And…
I have been told to remind you it is better if you do not really know what you are talking about. That said I personally don’t approve of people not really knowing what they are talking about.
Yours from the shop floor,
Brush (Your Shop Steward)
EPISODES TO DATE:
TRACEY film TRACEY
7th of November 2026
TRACEY TRACEY film TRACEY
TRACEY film TRACEY TRACEY
film film film film
TRACEY tracey TRACEY tracey
FILM film FILM film FILM
FILM tracey FILM tracey
TRACEY TRACEY TRACEY TRACEY
FILM FILM FILM FILM
TRACEY film TRACEY film TRACEY
Tracey, I will be there now, in a minute...
BORIS JOHNSON’S UNWASHED ARMPITS
27th of October 2026
Don’t read some memoir by some bloke that used to be in some band that you used to like when you were in your teens or whenever.
But do read this memoir by a woman called Penny Kiley, even if you have never heard Eddie & The Hot Rods. Not that Penny Kiley was in Eddie & The Hot Rods, but she was there observing things happen.
The thing is with blokes in bands, they can never observe things happening, because they think they are the thing that is happening, that and blaming the record company or whoever.
Anyway...
Atypical Girl by Penny Kiley is out there waiting for you
This SPOKE IN THE WHEEL was recorded with Penny Kiley in a field in England. But sadly, not that field but one where you could almost smell the stench of Boris Johnson’s unwashed armpits.
Also...
Hand Held Device volunteered to record the conversation, but they did not take into account that they didn’t have the recording capacity block out the sound of the Weather. And Weather likes to be heard.
I wonder if Boris Johnson has washed his armpits on the days you are reading these words and maybe listening to this SPOKE IN THE WHEEL.
BREAD OF HEAVEN
17th of October 2026
Like...
History might have a habit of catching up with us...
You might have never stood on the terraces of Cardiff Arms Park singing Bread Of Heaven back in the 1966.
Or...
You might have never composed your nation’s unofficial national hymn in 1905.
But you could, in theory, sit on a pew in a currently disused chapel in a Welsh town, talking about this and that.
And...
If that disused chapel had the name of Capel Rhondda, in the town of Pontypridd, you might be sitting in front of a glorious pipe organ.
And...
It is claimed, by those that claim such things, that this was the organ, and still is the organ, that the tune of Bread of Heaven was first performed in public (1907). And this is the chapel where Bread of Heaven was first sung.
But of course, back then, as in 1907, it would not have been called Bread of Heaven as this was a Welsh speaking (and singing) chapel, thus it may have been called Arglwydd, arwain trwy’r anialwch.
But that is history, and history evolves, depending on who is telling it, and what purpose their telling of history serves.
I mean...
Some make it their life’s purpose to tell the History of Punk, but in reality, are more interested in just using that said history to promote themselves as a brand.
Anyway...
The local history of now, as in October 2026, claims that two men of uncertain ages and issues, sat on the said pew, in front of said organ, within said chapel, talking about this and that, for about forty minutes. And this conversation was recorded by Hand Held Device. And this recording claims to be the SPOKE IN THE WHEEL for the 17th of October 2026.
You can either listen to this conversation here and now...
Or...
Choose to have your own conversation with someone else for forty minutes.
I mean...
When was the last time you had a conversation with someone for forty minutes?
Later...
VAPE SHOP
vape@penkilnburn.com
NOT TODAY
7th of October 2026
GOING FOR A SONG
27th of September 2026
Fellow Workers,
For you humans, life is simple – you are born, you live, you die...
And while you do the living bit, you tell your stories. But in the end all stories are forgotten.
Even mine...
The former Bill Drummond might think he is the central character in his story, but in reality, he is only a bit part player in other people’s stories.
One of those people is David Knopov.
David Knopov’s creative life evolved through being a singer, artist and documentary film maker. He is also the co-writer of the musical Sinatra: The Man Behind The Voice, which will be staged at The Brindley Theatre, Runcorn on Tuesday 26th of January and the Shakespeare North on Saturday 30th of January 2027.
David Knopov is also Perfectly Frank. As in not Frank Sidebottom.
It is also rumoured that David Knopov was a regular at The Rover’s Return, and early doors back whenever, he was there when Andy Warhol dropped by for a quite pint of mild. It seems that Hilda Ogden had no idea who this Andy Warhol was. David Knopov decided to document this moment in cultural history by making the print used at the top of this missive to you.
The former Bill Drummond has known David Knopov since 1976 when Knopov was a member of The O’Boogie Brothers along with Ambrose Reynolds, Nathan McGough, Ian Broudie and others. Since then, their lives have crossed at various times, each being bit part players in each other’s stories.
Today’s SPOKE IN THE WHEEL documents one of those crossings. The conversation was recorded in a room in The Royal Liver Building, Liverpool, where the musical Sinatra: The Man Behind The Voice was written.
Yours, from the shop floor,
Brush (Your Shop Steward)
brush@penkilnburn.com
SAVE RIDLEY ROAD
17th of September 2026
Recorded by Kenny Atkin
Fellow Workers,
I was supposed to be getting my comments regarding this week’s FORTY WORK O’ART done when VAPE SHOP came into to the workshop. He couldn’t stop mumbling about Ridley Road Market and how...
But I wasn’t really listening.
But the next thing I knew was that he had persuaded the former Bill Drummond to get down there to record his next SPOKE IN THE WHEEL conversation with someone there.
But when that former Bill Drummond came back and handed the recording of the conversation over to me with a couple of his Hand Held Device images, I noticed the conversation was only 17 minutes long, as in not the prescribed 40 minutes. And this conversation seemed to be with some retired middle class white bloke and not an actual stall holder.
So
I told him he should go back next week and record a 23 minute conversation with a couple of the actual market stall holders, whose actual livelihoods are being threatened by whatever.
Anyway, give this a listen, while I get on with recording my comments for this week’s FORTY WORK O’ART.
Yours, from the shop floor,
Brush (Your Shop Steward)
NOT TODAY
7th of September 2026
WE LOVE ANGER
27th of August 2026
Fellow Workers,
Mick Houghton has listened to more records than anyone else alive on the planet today.
The above is a claim that cannot be proved or disproved.
And...
Just for the sake of clarification...
When we say records, we mean physical vinyl records, as in not tracks on a playlist.
This edition of SPOKE IN THE WHEEL is an extract from a conversation between Mick Houghton and the former Bill Drummond. This conversation is about records. This conversation began in the early months of 1980 and will continue until the first of them is to be found dead lying on the carpet of their front room.
This extract of this ongoing conversation was primitively recorded on the former Bill Drummond’s handheld device while it lay of Mick Houghton’s kitchen table. That kitchen table is somewhere in London.
Then...
A Tony Wright attempted to make the recording more acceptable to your ears, while he was in his uncle’s loft in a house in Portstewart on the north coast of Ireland.
Where you are when you might be listening to this, is as yet, unknown to the other person who might be listening to this. As is where you might be found dead.
The title of this edition of SPOKE IN THE WHEEL is in reference to the band Them performing Baby, Please Don’t Go on the TV programme Ready Steady Go in late 1964.
Or was it early 1965?
Yours, from the shop floor,
Brush (Your Shop Steward)
Studio BRUT
17th of August 2026
Fellow Workers,
On the 17th of July 2017 an email arrived in the in-tray of the Penkiln Burn Workshop.
The opening line of the email read...
Hello Penkiln Burn,
This is an invitation and nothing else...
There is little the former Bill Drummond fears more than an invitation. It used to be to parties that he feared being invited, but now that he is in his mid-70, no one thinks it worth their while inviting him to a party.
But...
In the modern world some people think it might be still worth their while inviting him to the opening of exhibitions and the launching of book. He deletes all these invitations from his in-tray.
But...
Before he hit delete he saw the word ‘Swindon’ on the email. The former Bill Drummond has a tenuous relationship with the town of Swindon, so he read the rest of the email. As he read the email further he started to wonder if the two culprits involved with the sending of the email should be ‘invited’ to record an episode of SPOKE IN THE WHEEL. And his wondering turned into a reality. He also asked them to send photographic evidence of the opening of their exhibition on the 15th of August in Swindon. The ‘culprits’ responded positively to both of these requests. We hope the evidence is here for you to judge.
Yours, from the shop floor,
Bush (Your Shop Steward)
OPENING NIGHT
Photographs taken on the opening night of Studio BRUT on the 15th of August 2026
HORROR FILMS for The Cell
7th of August 2026
Ken Bartley in discussion with the former Bill Drummond
Ken Bartley is one half of ArtisAnn
ArtisAnn is an art gallery in Belfast
Ken Bartley is also the documentarian of The Curfew Tower
And...
The author of the yet to be published And Make Art (a history of artists in residence at The Curfew Tower)
And…
A guitar maker
This conversation took place in The Cell of The Curfew Tower and was recorded by Tony Wright.
HORROR FILMS for The Cell is also the title of a season of horror films to be screened in the The Cell of The Curfew Tower and curated by Ken Bartley.
If you do listen to the conversation in whole, you may then want to scan Ken Bartley’s ranking of every film he has ever watched HERE
And inspect these photographs of his guitar making in process and the finished object
TRUST & FAMILIARITY
27th of July 2026
Jean-Paul L. Garnier runs a small book shop in the Mojave Desert called Space Cowboy Books and makes a magazine called Electronic Brain
Last week...
Jean-Paul L. Garnier emailed the former Bill Drummond asking him if he would write a piece for his Electronic Brain magazine. Jean-Paul L. Garnier also told the former Bill Drummond, he had watched the film Best Before Death, commenting that he thought the central theme of the film was the exploration of trust and familiarity.
The former Bill Drummond did not know who this Jean-Paul L. Garnier was or where the Mojave Desert was.
But...
The former Bill Drummond responded that he would write 800 hundred words for Electronic Brain in exchange for Jean-Paul L Garnier recording a 40-minute conversation with a person of Jean-Paul L Garnier’s choosing on the subject of ‘trust and familiarity’. And this recorded conversation be used as an edition of Spoke in The Wheel.
Jean-Paul L. Garnier emailed the former Bill Drummond back agreeing the proposed agreement.
But...
The former Bill Drummond did not see a follow up email, where Jean-Paul L. Garnier was asking the former Bill Drummond, if the conversation on the subject of ‘trust and familiarity’ should or should not reference the film Best Before Death.
Jean-Paul L. Garnier took the lack of response to mean, that the film Best Before Death should not be referenced.
The former Bill Drummond was sent the recording of the conversation on the subject of ‘trust and familiarity’ on the evening of the 23rd of July 2026, while he was lying on the floor of a room in a city called Belfast. He listened to the recording of this conversation. It was like no other conversation he had ever heard. And he thought there was no way two men living on these islands could ever have a conversation like this. Or how people living on these islands would respond to a conversation like this. I mean, the former Bill Drummond comes from a culture where feelings about ‘trust and familiarity’ are never shared. The former Bill Drummond also had no idea who this Jean-Paul L. Garnier was having the conversation with.
But...
He has just learned and shared, with whoever I am, that the conversation was with a Gabriel Hart
https://mrgabrielhart.blogspot.com
LACK OF CERTAINTY
17th of July 2026
Simon Morris is a painter
clare e. potter is a poet.
Simon Morris is many other things.
clare e. potter is multiple other things.
But...
They both live, work and mine in and around Pontypridd.
And...
On the 14th of March 2025, they both attended a HEAR HARD session and a screening of Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow And All Music Has Disappeared, at the Hopkinstown Hall.
LACK OF CERTAINTY was the title given to a conversation between Simon Morris and clare e. potter, instigated and recorded by good cop bad cop over a year later.
IN MY ROOM
7th of July 2026
Leo Condie Mikłasz interviewed by the former Bill Drummond.
Leo Condie Mikłasz is an historian of the human voice as used in song
Leo Condie Mikłasz is the musical director of the Galloverse
Leo Condie Mikłasz also has a day job where his hands are used in several puppets.
TAM THE WITCH BOY
27th of June 2026
Tam Dean Burn interviewed by the former Bill Drummond
Tam Dean Burn is many things, including being an actor.
Tam Dean Burn has played numerous roles on stage, radio, TV and film.
These many roles have also included bringing to life an array of characters that exist within the Penkiln Burn Universe.
ABOVE THE CHIPPY
17th of June 2026
Tony Wright interviewed by the former Bill Drummond
Tony Wright plays the part of The Artist in the film STAY and co-wrote the score and the soundtrack to the said film. Tony Wright was the only artist alive on the planet today who could have played the part of The Artist and delivered the voice of Puppet Elvis. And again additional credit goes to Culbertson Music for providing the mic stand.
ABOVE THE FLESHER
7th of June 2026
Zippy Kearney interviewed by the former Bill Drummond
Zippy Kearney is the Keeper of the Keys to the Curfew Tower and is the one constant. Zippy Kearney knows more about what motivates those that claim to be artists than anyone alive on the planet today. And additional credit goes to Culbertson Music for providing the mic stand.
HOW TO GROW CARROTS
27th of May 2026
We got the following email.
We read it, then decided to present the content of the recording attached to the email, as a Spoke in The Wheel – without listening to it first. Thus have no idea what it might contain or not... Other than it refers to Carrots. We are not aware the ‘carrots’ have ever been referenced before within the Penkiln Burn Universe.
Prynhawn da Brush
I’m enclosing an MP3 of a conversation held today. I’m not entirely sure what’s on it, or what was lost in the missing introductory 7 minutes. I could have practiced with the new gear a bit more before recording. But where would be the fun in that. I have only checked that all three parts have conversation on them. I was messing with levels during the conversation without knowing what I was doing. Some bits maybe missing, some bits might be too loud. I don’t know
If you are interested in it being used as a spoke in the wheel and require any more info, or not, please feel free to use / ask / not ask. Other formats are available, but all digital, not vinyl
Cofion gorau
Rhmx
AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON
17th of May 2026
Kenny Atkin interviewed by the former Bill Drummond
Kenny Atkin is A La Fu / DLX ADV
Kenny Atkin might be the man from Va Va Records
Kenny Atkin has not only recorded all the spoken word the former Bill Drummond has done within the Penkiln Burn Universe but has also co-written the score for the film STAY and been the sound designer on the said film.
JENNY GEDDES Verses THE MAN
7th of May 2026
Stephen Clarke 1980 interrogates Erin Farley about the historic role of women in Scottish Presbyterianism and other stories. Stephen Clarke 1980 has history with confronting the activities of the former Bill Drummond. Erin Farley has history of confronting men in Scotland via the medium of storytelling.
