By the mid 1920s the post-war period of prosperity in Britain was well and truly over. The re-introduction of the Gold Standard by Winston Churchill in 1925 kept interest rates high and meant UK exports were expensive. Coal reserves had been depleted during the War and Britain was now importing more coal than it was mining. All this and the lack of investment in the new mass-production techniques in industry led to a period of depression, deflation and decline in the UK’s economy. Poverty amongst the unemployed contrasted strikingly with the affluence of the middle and upper classes. But none of this stopped young Thorsten McMillan from giving voice to his muse. One of the 2 million unemployed factory workers roaming around the British countryside, McMillan nevertheless dreamed of pressing a record with one of his very own songs. One night, McMillan was wandering a dirt road near Lincolnshire when a tipsy Lady Jane Wilhelmina “Lily” Anne Price, a wealthy heiress and the daughter of the local governor, spotted him while passing by in her motorcar and invited him to a ball at her nearby manor house. Though at first she meant her invitation facetiously, McMillan took her up on it and jumped into Lady Price’s carriage. The two fell in love on the dance floor, resulting in the song “What Were The Chances?” Upon learning about McMillan’s dream to get his song published, Lady Price offered to give McMillan the money, but her father, Lord Price, was appalled at Lady Price taking a lover so far below her station. He swiftly banished McMillan from his estate and married his daughter off to a French count, who whisked her away to Paris. A heartbroken and penniless McMillan stowed away on a ferry across the English Channel, but he was arrested by authorities and sent to Dartmoor prison, where he lived out the rest of his days humming his song through the bars.

Vocals: Michael Johnson
Piano: Jenny Conlee

Recorded in 2007/2008 In Jenny Conlee’s living room and at Reclinerland HQ in Portland, OR. Mixed and mastered by Michael Johnson and Scott Garred.