Early 1992 found Nick and Chris at respective universities squeezing in lectures between composing songs and writing novels.

Chris was in the midst of writing the his first book: “The Magnificent Fourteen Day Challenge” - a fictional comedy about the making of the follow-up release to “Nancy’s”. The story was published in weekly instalments, each guaranteed to whet the appetite for the forthcoming chapter.

In fact it was a good time for all things F/P. They kept in contact regularly and worked hard at their separate ends at amassing enough material as to make recording the follow-up to “Nancy’s” every bit as good as they could. The song writing period taken for “Nancy’s” had been between 4 and 5 years (1987-1991). It would therefore be a mighty challenge to gather the necessary material together to do the follow-up in a much briefer timeframe.

In the early months of 1992 the idea of following-up and bettering “Nancy’s” almost became a neurosis of the band. It is well recognised within the music industry that oftentimes debut albums are the crowning glory of bands; pinnacles never again to be reached. Nick and Chris however were adamant that in no way would the follow-up be weaker than the debut. Every aspect and angle had to be covered and improved upon in order to maintain their reputation as innovators and rock prodigies.

Indeed “The Magnificent Fourteen Day Challenge” was an example of this neurosis. The plot revolved around the boys’ inability to gather themselves together in order to be able to compose and record the songs for the follow-up to “Nancy’s”. Indeed a psychologist could hypothesise that the writing of “14 Days” was a kind of therapeutic comic relief aimed at propelling and motivating the band to an artistic plateaux conducive to the spawning of classic rock’n’roll ! Whatever, this preoccupation with self-improvement is a theme that runs right through the band’s history and remains one of their principal guides and philosophies to this very day.

Ignoring the Freudian psychoanalysis into the meaning of and reasons behind the book, it was a jolly good read and welcome instalment of Fawcett / Poustie fun paving the way to the much heralded follow-up album.

Like “Nancy’s” the follow-up would be recorded at The Coach House. This time however the schedule would be much tighter. Now that they had proved it possible to make an album they had to prove it possible to make a quick album. The follow-up, which already by the Spring of 1992 was known as “The Magic Bowler Hat Ride” would have to be recorded in weeks not years.

And so as Summer arrived the boys hauled up at the Coach House armed with ample songs and energy to have a crack at demolishing the legacy of “Nancy’s”. Only one major addition to the formula would help them in their task and that was the introduction of the 4-track.

The introduction of the 4-track was an obvious and necessary progression. As the band searched for ideas and inspirations with which to improve on the achievements of “Nancy’s” it seemed natural that from a technical standpoint improving the recording process was the most obvious necessity.

Particularly in the very early days, Fawcett / Poustie were a band who enjoyed capturing their sound as organically and naturally as possible. From the basics of piano and guitar to the practically ‘live’ recordings of much of their studio works the band rarely relied heavily on technology to aid their abundant talents. This leant for exciting and spontaneous music but was also a reason why their earlier releases were rather rough around the edges.

“Nancy’s” was particularly scarred by the very primitive recording techniques used by the band at that point. From track to track recording levels and qualities vary tremendously and the overall texture tends to lack clarity and dynamics. Another downside of the technique was the limit it placed on overdubbing of solos and vocals, practically a necessity in this day and age.

“Magic” allowed the band to record more freely and captured their sound more consistently and for the most part with a good deal more clarity. The responsibility of getting to grips with the mechanics of the recording process rested heavily on Nick’s shoulders but both members had to familiarise themselves with the working of the equipment.

F/P had always been a 50/50 concern ever since its inception. Chris and Nick were equal partners in every aspect of the band its management and its output. On “Nancy’s” though, owing to experience, Chris was the predominant songwriter and received the due credit likewise. By the time of “Magic” however Nick had grown sufficiently in terms of both ability and material to have a crack at achieving a more significant input in the song-writing department.

It was always accepted by the band that whenever possible they should be projected as and percieved to be an equal partnership. On “Nancy’s” this was achieved through the sharing of vocal responsibilities on all tracks regardless of composer. This friendly and democratic approach was also adopted on “Magic” for the most part though with Nick’s growing stature as song writer the arrangement was relaxed slightly as each gravitated naturally to singing his own numbers. This was not so much a display of growing egos as much as a natural progression; Nick knew how best to sing his songs and Chris his. This was true both rhythmically and stylistically. Each knew how best to technically deliver and attack the song rhythmically whilst each voice tended also to lend itself better to a certain feel or style intended by composer. The sharing of vocal duties was pretty much dropped from their third studio album onwards.

And so with the aid of improved technology and the usual necessary input of beer and Marlboros the stage was set and all the bases covered. The volume was turned up loud, the beer cans cracked open and the smokes lit. Enter Danny Collins as Master of Ceremonies and....