Sarah L Dixon Writer

– This is the first in a series of blogs I am going to write about albums that were and still are important to me and how they influence(d) my writing.

Hello! For anyone who has been paying attention (and anyone who doesn’t know) my fourteen-year-old son is called Frank. We liked the name and thought about all the connections before settling on it and The Frank and Walters fell on the plus side of these considerations and we thought it was unlikely Frank Lampard would give us reason to worry that everyone was going to call their children Frank after the 2010 world cup.  On Frank’s fourteenth birthday I noticed a band name on my Facebook thread and I hadn’t seen it for almost a decade…

The Frank & Walters are playing Gullivers in Manchester on 22^nd February 2025!

@haplessmuseumworker poster design

I immediately bought tickets for a gig in a small pub venue in Manchester, Gullivers, then forgot until I turned my Jim Bob calendar over to February.

Trains, Boats and Planes (1992)

Trains, boats and planes was one of the first CDs I owned. I was introduced to The Frank and Walters on a Venture Scout weekend to Cumberland Cottage in Macclesfield. A joyful bundling of sleeping bags and an open fire, waterfalls, cider, hotpots.  

This is where I had my first proper kiss under a full moon in the middle of nowhere. I was sixteen and my parents were happy for me to go as a leader was there. I didn’t tell them the leader was twenty-five-year old Dave, not a dusty Brown Owl in their seventies who would be making us turn the light off by ten and limit how much we had to drink. It wasn’t like that.

The soundtrack for the weekend included Carter, The Franks, The Sultans, The Smiths, Pulp, Elastica, The Cure, Poppies, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Stuffies, Teenage Fanclub, James, EMF, Jesus Jones, Suede, Neds, The Stone Roses, Belly, Echobelly and many more. I made mix tapes called ‘Full Moon Mix’ and ‘Waterfalls are beautiful’ inspired by that weekend.  

Album thoughts

This is not a song tells you what it is by what it is not and that is what the album does too. It tells you about the people who are not in the following songs (partly because they are mentioned in too many songs already). This album is not for them, they are already recognised and catered for. This is an album that is often about finding new places and groups to belong to and also explores what it is like to not belong.

Belonging and not belonging has always interested me and is one of my constant themes. I have often felt I don’t belong in the centre of any group, while at the same time enjoying being an important player in teams. From being a base-runner in three softball teams (the Whalley Rangers, The Centurions and The Clangers) to making workmates a round of tea or collecting breakfast orders, helping others at the edge of mosh pits and hugging those who are crying at emotion awoken in them by the music. Even in poetry I feel I am not considered academic enough for some places. I am not a particularly loud poet and cannot be purposefully funny so performance nights are not totally my place either. So I straddle the gap between performance and page sometimes capturing both audiences and sometimes falling in…

Happy Busman and Trainspotters shine light on people who are often unseen or unsung, mocked and unappreciated. The first couple of notes of After All and Fashion Crisis hits New York take me directly back to being a teenager in my room or on a dancefloor. This album fills me with utter and unreserved joy. Peer pressure and belonging are explored here and the small groups are celebrated, those who can find comfort and share their strange (to others) passions together.

As a teenager finding someone to ‘get off’ with at a club was the most important thing. Everyone told you a boyfriend was key and John and Sue helped me through the searching and the sadness. This is the song that spoke to me about how it was to be in the group of rejects on the front row of a class that was mainly the ‘in crowd’. This was shaping us into who we would become, building resilience at a young age. The music made sense and was something you knew would always be there for you. Daisy Chain says it is okay not to understand what everyone else thinks and not to care about being judged, also useful advice for a teenager.

Walter’s trip makes me think of many songs on a Nuggets CD I used to have and I love the randomness of it and I try, often, to remind myself part of writing is playfulness.

High is low introduced me to the tiny song and in my poetry writing a lot of my poems capture what I feel is needed in a dozen lines and then stop and Paul was one of the first people who let me know this was okay, quiet and small is often well-crafted, compact and complete.

The combination of upbeat and joyful instrumentation and Paul’s voice combine to be something quite striking and enduring. Both the instruments and Paul’s powerful song (and here it is often not only the lyrics, but equally the way they are sung with such emotion) allows space for the other and enhances it. I am working on a one hour show at the moment and learnt something this weekend from a friend who is more performance poet than me and I am learning about giving my words the respect to not rush over them and invest them with the emotion they hold. With this knowledge and aim to transform my show I will be revisiting a lot of the Franks songs too.

I am hopeful there will be new tracks soon. I keep seeing hints about this.

Renewed interest

I first saw The Franks and The Sultans as support bands of Carter USM. My first concert was back in 1993 with the Sultans as support.

I last saw the Franks at Gigantic Indie All Dayer in Manchester on May 24^th 2014 with Ned’s Atomic Dustbin who I hadn’t seen before. Both Jonn Penney (Neds singer) and Paul Linehan (Franks singer) were so evidently excited to be there and this fed to the crowd and back to the stage, creating a positive feedback loop of adoration and giddy joy. I bought a navy blue t-shirt that said Renewed Interest in Franks t-shirts on the front.

22nd February 2025

Gullivers

So, the date came around and I met up with my school-friend, Joanne, in Stockport. I love this photo of us. I then went solo to see The Frank and Walters for the first time in 9 years. I made some friends in the bar beforehand and then some more while we gathered waiting with great anticipation. Many had seem them way more recently.

So, Dylan and Paul walk through the crowd to the stage and I am, by coincidence, wearing my orange book t-shirt and I hadn’t realised or had forgotten the orange theme of the Franks stage-wear and many of the fans. The orange shirts and ties made them stand out vibrantly against the dark curtains and I had never seen the songs played acoustically and was worried they would lose something by being played by a two piece. I couldn’t have been more wrong, the compositions leant themselves perfectly to this. Dylan and Paul are evidently fond of each other and had a playful back and forth chat while on stage which made me smile.

At the end of the second half I decided I would sign one of my books and give it to Paul to thank him for the music and being such a big part of the soundtrack to my life. I am not sure if he would be able to read what I wrote because I wrote it both in the dark and several pints drunk after a day out with Joanne.

Paul offered the crowd hugs and came out hugging people. I felt I couldn’t take him up on the offer when I had already pushed a book on him. Would have loved a Paul hug though and I hope to get one soon.

Highlights of the gig were hearing Tony Cochrane and Colours and revisiting Fashion Crisis hits New York and Time. I had to leave to catch my last train home halfway through the encore song so, sadly didn’t get to say thanks for Paul and Dylan.

Book feedback joy

I have given my book to a few musicians and haven’t expected feedback but also hoped I might get some, sometime.

Paul was the one, the day after the gig I received a message that made me dance around a bit and grin. Paul told me ‘I like the way you transport me back to the nineties and I love your honesty. It’s beautiful.’ This will be going on the back of the second edition.

The enthusiasm and feedback I have received from those on the other side of the barrier have definitely encouraged me to get the book out into the world and help bolster my belief in it.

Shiiine On Weekender 10 Year Anniversary – Skegness

(see Shiiine write up blog)

After the solo set being so well-curated and intimate I had wondered if the full band had what it took to win over a Shiiine crowd, but they stormed it and there was no way I would have missed that.

Franks t-shirt

Twelve newer Frank and Walters songs I love (in no particular order and they might change tomorrow)

1. How can I exist?
2. Colours (glorious)
3. Tony Cochrane (has the line I wake up with in my head all the time)
4. Underground (suprisingly and brilliantly electronic)
5. Plenty Times
6. Falling out of love
7. Landslide
8. Hold on
9. Berlin (made me cry the first time I heard it)
10. Unkind
11. Stages
12. Trust in the future
    
    And since listening to radio show on Nova today I will be revisiting Russian Ship and Goddess of Athena.

The Frank & Walters

Website: http://thefrankandwalters.ie

@haplessmuseumworker

For other gigs follow the band on Facebook as The Frank and Walters or Instagram @frankandwalters

Star and Garter Manchester 7th March 2026 I will be there!!!