Stewart Henderson: Whose Idea of Fun is a Nightmare

(Dovetail DOVE 35) 1975

One of the most difficult genres of albums to sell is the spoken word. That’s because it’s not easy to sustain the listener’s interest over a sustained period. Long talking head videos have the same problem.

This album is a glorious exception to that. Henderson, originally from Liverpool, regales us with hilarious (and profound) humour that entertains, holds the interest and provokes thought. He uses some interesting music to spice things up as well. It’s too English in spots for Americans to fully grasp, and some of his humour is a little dated, but this gem shows that Christian comedy doesn’t have to be banal.

Henderson, a poetry reader for the BBC, is presently collaborating with Martyn Joseph on their CD Because We Can.

The poems (for individual download:)

1. 1. Intro
   2. And I Received A Vision
   3. Way Past My Birth Time
2. My Garden used To Look Ever So Nice
3. Mind The Doors
4. Yours, Not Ours
5. Vegetarian Love Poem
6. Splintered Messiah
7. She Wrote This Poem, I Just Typed The Words
8. To Write Of Love
9. I Die Now
10. I’m Dousing Myself With Cosmetics
11. Crack, Rap, Snap
12. Incident From A Sleeping Head
13. Hammersmith Dream
14. Typewriter Poem
15. Poem For A Big Al
16. Who Never Gets In The New Year’s Honours List