There’s a suburb in Krakow called Nova Huta which was Stalin’s great attempt at Social Realism. My friend Jason and I were in a Trabant, being driven by the craziest tour guide east of Berlin, heading towards Nova Huta at 90 miles an hour.

When we got there we took a short tour round the still-existing shops that would dole out rations to the residents. Long wooden counters with drawers containing goodness knows what, and a sparse decor flagrantly ignoring commerciality, advertising and consumerism.

We had a short vodka in a 1970s restaurant and our guide showed us photographs and told us stories of the days of communism.

It was a fascinating tour and rich with human interest. Couple that with the recent John Le Carre film, “Tinker, Tailor” and the Cold War becomes much more luminous in the mind.

So I thought why not write some song collections about interesting historical subjects. You know, things that actually interest me. Raaaaaadical dude.

It makes for inspiring subject matter and a sense of direction.

Watching “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”, a trip to Poland and reading The Spy Who Came In From The Cold together have inspired a new project provisionally titled:

The Songs That Came In From The Cold: 9 Cold War Espionage Songs

And since I haven’t written or recorded anything since 500 BC it’s an even more suitable title.

I tracked down an Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations at Amazon which is jam packed with the stories of spies and their murky goings on. A great source of inspiration.

My penciled in track listing includes:

• Leamas’ Lament
• Hotel Krakow
• Berlin Drive
• Going Back To The Circus
• I Won’t Be Going Home
• …. and more

That’s it so far. If you want to receive email updates stick your email address in this ‘ere box below and join the list. And I promise I won’t sell, rent or give away you email address to anyone else, especially spies.. I hate spam as much as you.