Studio Demos by Richard Sinclair's R.S.V.P.

Demo recordings by the original RSVP lineup were listed on PlanetGong's website of trades available, but I could never get them sent to me and now the website's gone dark. Luckily (of course) Richard had copies, discovered by Nic Sinclair in his rabbitholing. Richard was undoubtedly the original source of these pre-vocal demos.
http://planetgong.altervista.org/sinclair/rs1977-00-00.htm

"Rich said it was a demo session and they’d been planning to record an album soon after, but he was invited to join Camel so that was that. I found it on a CD-R here, I assume Mick transferred it from cassette to the CD for him."
- Nic Sinclair

This first incarnation of RSVP lasted from about November 1976 to April 1977 and consisted of Richard Sinclair, Richard Folds, Vince Clarke & Perry White.
https://richardsinclairsongs.bandcamp.com/album/bandology

Tracks labeled RSVP 1 & 2 are probably by Richard Folds, titles temporarily misplaced in memory. Inquiries are being made.

"The name R.S.V.P. has been used by Richard Sinclair several times in his career for pickup live bands. Originally, the letters more or less stood for the name of the members. As a matter of fact, the original R.S.V.P. line-up (in 1977) consisted of Richard Sinclair on vocals and bass, Richard Folds on guitar, Perry White on keyboards and Vince Clarke on drums. It was with this band that Sinclair first performed songs like "Emily" or "Keep On Caring". In June 1994, Richard Sinclair released a solo album entitled R.S.V.P. and the group assembled that month to promote it was also called that. Again it included Sinclair on vocals and bass, Patrice Meyer on guitar, Didier Malherbe on saxophone and flute and Pip Pyle on drums. An alternate line-up for a gig at Paris' New Morning had Sinclair and Pyle teaming up with David Rees-Williams on piano and Tony Coe on clarinet (with Meyer and Malherbe sitting in for the encores). Sinclair's subsequent gigs in 1994-96 were solo affairs (or occasionally trio gigs with Coe and Rees-Williams), with one exception : at the Harlingen Canterbury Event in the Netherlands (September 1996), R.S.V.P. was resurrected with a line-up of Sinclair, Patrice Meyer, Tony Coe, David Rees-Williams and Dutch drummer Hans Waterman (ex-Solution)". (from Calyx).
http://planetgong.altervista.org/sinclair/rs1977-00-00.htm

Tracklist

1.	Keep On Caring (take 1)	7:14

2.	RSVP 1	3:30

3.	Intro to Cruising / Outback In Canterbury (Riffs In D)	7:21

4.	Felafel Shuffle	6:22

5.	Sit On It And Spin	6:31

6.	Sit On It And Spin Again	6:32

7.	A.A. Man	6:56

8.	RSVP 2 (take 1)	8:59

9.	Keep On Caring (take 2)	6:07

10.	Nothing At All / Out Of The Shadows / Halfway Between Heaven And Earth	10:33

11.	RSVP 2 (take 2)	7:33

Credits

released March 15, 1977

Richard Sinclair - bass
Richard Folds - guitar
Perry White - keyboards
Vince Clarke - drums

The original R. (Richard F.) S. (Sinclair) V. (Vince) P. (Perry)

perrywhite.co.uk
www.discogs.com/artist/2725741-Perry-White-4
www.discogs.com/artist/1456776-Vince-Clarke-2
Great Caesar's Ghost!

"Returning to Canterbury, he stayed with Rick Biddulph, who had been Hatfield's roadie and would later be Sinclair's accomplice in Caravan Of Dreams. In 1975-76, he led several line-ups going under the name of Sinclair and the South, a humorous reference to his previous band. The first line-up included David Sinclair and his songwriting partner John Murphy (both providing the bulk of the band's repertoire), violin player Dave Arbus (formerly of the progrock band East of Eden) and, for just one gig, Bill Bruford on drums. Later line-ups were based on the duo of Sinclair and young guitarist Mark Hewins. In late 1976, Sinclair formed RSVP, which also included Richard Folds (guitar), Perry White (keyboards) and Vince Clarke (drums), and did several demo recordings with them, including an early version of 'Keep On Caring.'

During that period, Sinclair was not earning his living playing music : "I followed in my father's footsteps. He was a carpenter in Canterbury and a musician at night. So I made tables and stuff, having the same sort of skills."
richardsinclairsongs.bandcamp.com/album/interior-fitter
At one point, though, Sinclair auditioned to become Peter Gabriel's bass player, but was turned down in favour of Tony Levin. Eventually, in April 1977, he received a phonecall from Andy Ward of Camel and was asked to join the band, which he did."
- Aymeric Leroy, Calyx

"Remember Sunday lunchtime sessions at Alberry Wine Bar with Perry White and a bunch of others. Was lucky once to be there when Hugh Hopper dropped by to jam.
Perry is a fantastic pianist and seems to have kept a very low profile. Just checked his website to see what CD’s etc & surprisingly there aren't any !"
- Andrew Arthur Matthews, The Canterbury Scene Facebook
www.youtube.com/watch?v=68uMBiwQYqk
www.discogs.com/release/13259352-Dave-Quincy-Quartet-Dave-Quincy-Quartet/image/SW1hZ2U6Mzg3OTIwNDE=
bandbase.co.uk/artistes/perry-white/

Recorded at a studio to be remembered later (possibly Astra Studios in Monkshorton, Kent?) The date was probably in March 1977.

Cover photo credit: Intreegue (www.discoverbritain.com/journey-planning/city-guides/canterbury-city-guide/)

Thanks to Nic Sinclair and Mick Capewell for keeping the music alive.

©️ 1977 Richard SinclairSongs Ltd., All Rights Reserved

License