Edward Barton? You know him! He's the man who had no chicken but had five wooden chairs. What? Then there was the other single, Me And My Mini. He made two classic frenzied appearances on The Tube, he looks very strange, and when he sings he appears to be in the tight grip of a violent fit.

Edward Barton is the last of the great eccentrics. He sits cross-legged on his home-made wooden throne and tells me that he writes songs "the way that they should be written." Where the great man's previous efforts have featured a unique guitar accompaniment ("I'm the best Edward Barton-style guitarist there is"), his new EP Belly Box Brother Gob features that much neglected percussive instrument, the stomach (on I Slap My Belly). On Knob Gob angst is taken to a brand new level - that old problem of getting one's knob in one's gob is discussed, while, Telephone Box is Brief Encounter Barton-style and Everyday I Try To Find The Man That Killed My Brother is self-explanatory really.

Is Edward Barton mad? "A journalist once said that I was 'mad', but 'mad' is synonymous with dangerous... and I'm dangerous to no-one."

Except, quite possibly, to himself, of course.

The Barton 'style' has changed little since his first appearances three or four years ago. The content follows a familiar path, the songs invariably reflect the life of Edward's brother who shares his house. "He's in Thailand at the moment - so that things can happen to him and I can write about them."

Teamwork! If the raw material comes from his brother, where does he draw the inspiration to write the songs?

"From sitting here in my wooden room. I can pretend that I'm in Canada."

Edward has a love of wood - not the polished variety you understand, but things like railway sleepers and splintered planks. He even named his record label after it - Wooden Records. It will release five more records this year; Edward's been saving 18 months to finance these.

And his work's not without admirers - James took him on tour with them a couple of years ago and Stump have recently done the same. Admiration is not something the considers to be important though... "I don't mind if people want to hit me or kiss me." If you ever witness him in action, chances are you'll be too. dumbstruck to consider either.

[Author: Craig Ferguson]