B A Robertson Newcastle City Hall 13th April 1980
“OK.- So I’ve had a couple of hit singles (Bang Bang – Know what I mean?!!), done 2 or 3 radio shows and been on the telly – Top of the Pops. Whoopee!! But I don’t know what I’ll be like “live” any more than you. – Fancy coming along to find out? It’ll be a drag if there’s more of me on stage than you in the audience. Maybe together we could “Knock it off”? 🙂 (Opps sorry man). Stay Kool, Luv. B A. (sing the above to the tune of “We’ll Meet Again”). Sentimentality Rools OK?” (B A Robertson tour programme, 1980). “Initial Success” The Album coming soon. “Kool in the Kaftan” The single out now. (Also from the programme).
Not sure whether this is a guilty pleasure or not. I’d all but forgotten about this gig. One of the great things about writing this blog is that it reminds me of concerts that lie long forgotten somewhere in the depths of my fading memory. Another great thing is that it encourages me to read a bit about each act. Now all I remembered about B A Robertson until yesterday was the great fun single “Bang Bang”, which I though was pretty cool at the time; in a quirky sort of way. But a little googling and I find that he had a few more hits (including “Knocked it off” and the above mentioned “Kool in the Kaftan” which was out at the time of this concert; of course now I remember).
And he had a hit with an excellent cover of the equally excellent P J Proby’s “Hold Me”, on which he dueted with the wonderful Maggie Bell. I’d forgotten about that song too, until I saw Maggie Bell perform it with Pete Barton of the Animals a few weeks ago (and good it was then, and now, too). I’ve just watched “Bang Bang” and “Hold Me” on YouTube. Top of the Pops really was great, wasn’t it. Today I also discovered that B A Robertson wrote some hits for Cliff Richard and “The Living Years” for Mike and the Mechanics. Quite an accomplished guy. Now back to this concert. My ever-fading memory tells me that it was good, harmless pop fun, and also that it wasn’t particularly well attended. But there wasn’t more of B A on stage than us in the audience, as B A had feared.
I’ve decided that it isn’t a guilty pleasure after all, and that B A is a cool guy. Bang Bang. 🙂
2 Apr
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