Glencoe: an under-rated early 70s band
Blogging on the Deep Purple gigs that I attended in the early 70s, has made me think a little about Glencoe, who supported Deep Purple on their 1972 UK tour. I remember Glencoe well and saw them a few times. They featured Norman Watt Roy on bass and John Turnbull ( from Newcastle ) on guitar, who had been in Bell and Arc. Both of them went on to be part of Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Norman is now bass player for Wilko Johnson. One particular gig comes to mind. I went along to see Stray and Glencoe at the Mayfair, with a friend who was heavily into Stray. It was a midnight to 4am gig; it may have been Easter Sunday or something like that. We got the last train through to Newcastle and arrived at the Mayfair. The queue was massive, and I remember being worried that we might not get in, and would be left stranded in Newcastle all night. We did get in and the place was packed to the walls. Glencoe played, and then they announced over the PA that Stray weren’t coming and would be replaced by a local band. My memory is hazy here. I have vague memories of both Lucas Tyson and Brass Alley playing. I think Lucas Tyson may have been on first, before Glencoe, and then Brass Alley replaced Stray (or was it the John Miles Set? Who nows….). We were also told over the PA that in compensation we could come along and see Edgar Broughton free of charge the following Friday. We didn’t think that was very fair, as we had come especially to see Stray, so we went along and spoke to a bouncer. I said I wanted to see the manager to ask for our money back. The bouncers weren’t the most understanding of guys in those days. He slapped me across the face, and told me to b***** off or he would throw us out. We decided it would be wiser to accept his advice. We stayed in the Mayfair until the gig finished at 4am. We then went to Bowers all night cafe which was opposite the station, had a cup of coffee and stayed there until the first train back to Sunderland, which was around 6am. Happy Days….Glencoe were a good band, who were a mix of funk and rock. Norman Watt Roy was the stand out as bass player, and John Turnbull was also great on guitar. I had their album at one point, and still have a single of theirs, called Friends of Mine. I also remember a song called Airport, which was a highlight of their live set at the time.
Posts Tagged ‘gig’
17 Sep
The Doors Sandy Denny & Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1972
The Doors Newcastle City Hall 1972
Support from Sandy Denny and Hawkwind
This was a pretty impressive line-up when I look back on it. I went along with my friend John, largely to see The Doors. This was post-Jim Morrison, at a point where the three remaining members were touring without any replacement singer. The line-up was Ray Manzarek – keyboards, vocals; John Densmore – drums, percussion; Robby Krieger – guitar, vocals; plus touring musicians Jack Conrad – bass guitar, and Bobby Ray Henson – rhythm guitar, back vocals, percussion. Ray and Robby took vocal duties, and they were promoting their recent album Other Voices. The advertised support act was Sandy Denny, who was touring as a solo artist, having left Fairport Convention a few years earlier. Hawkwind weren’t advertised at all, and were a nice surprise on the night. We arrived at the show not late but were suprised to find a band on stage that was obviously not Sandy Denny. At first we had no idea who they were, but were impressed by them and realised we were watching something which was quite weird and pretty special. Then they played Master of the Universe, which was in heavy rotataion at the local Mecca at the time, and we realised who we were watching. This was the classic Hawkwind, with naked dancer Stacia, Lemmy, Dik Mik, Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Del Dettmar, Simon King, and possibly Robert Calvert. There were certainly lots of them on stage. I recall great lights, a strong smell of joss sticks in the hall (the band were giving them out to the audience) and a set of great songs, which blended from one into the next. This was pre the release of Silver Machine, but I suspect the song will have featured in the set at that time. We were both blown away by Hawkwind and remain life long fans of the band to this day. Sandy Denny sat at a grand piano centre stage; I can’t remember what she played, but I suspect it was taken from her solo album Sandy which was released in 1972. The Doors were OK, but many of the songs were new and unfamiliar to us. The only old songs they played were Light My Fire and Love Me Two Times. We were both disappointed that they didn’t play Riders on the Storm. A great gig, and a great introduction to Hawkwind, who were at their height at that time. And all for 75p!
15 Sep
Sham 69 Brudenell Social Club Leeds 14 September 2012
Sham 69 Brudenell Social Club Leeds 14 September 2012
Support: Chelsea and Acid Drop
Great to see the original line up of Sham 69 again in the Brudenell Social Club with David last night. Jimmy was on top form. Its must be more than 30 years since I last saw this band, back in the day. Sham always stuck out to me as one of the best punk bands. There was an edge about them, their songs were both punky and catchy, and Jimmy Pursey was so charismatic and passionate on stage. I saw them in Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall and at Reading Festival in the late 70s. Both gigs were marred by skinheads and violence. In those days I couldn’t resist going to see Sham, but went in fear of my life, being the only guy in the audience with long hair. When I saw they had reformed the original line-up I just had to go and see them. The gig was sold out, and had been for some time. 
The Brudenell Social Club is a great little venue, and this was the second time that I’d been. First up were local band Acid Drop, who were good, and played a mix of punk, thrash and ska. Then after a short break Chelsea took to the stage. This is also a band that a saw a few times in the late 70s. I recall a gig at Newcastle City Hall where Gene October told the crowd to ignore the bouncers and come down to the front. 
I think they were banned from the City Hall after that gig. The band features original members Gene on vocals and James Stevenson on guitar. I recognised a couple of the songs; in particular Right To Work, which was the last song. It was good to see them again. Sham 69 took to the stage around 10.20pm. The place was completely packed, the crowd consisting of a mix of old punks, skinheads, and some younger fans, with a smattering of old timer long hairs like me. David and I managed to get a spot right down at the front, towards the side of the stage, and a safe distance from the mosh pit. Sham exploded onto the stage with What Have I Got, the crowd responding with a loud F*** All!. This set the mood for the rest of the evening, the crowd knew every word of every song, and went crazy at the front. Jimmy looks great, trim and fit, and was in great form. Lots of opening up his arms to the crowd and getting them to sing the lines. Lots of water being thrown about; by the end of the evening Jimmy was soaked. 
Favourites for me were always going to be Bortal Breakout, If the Kids are United and Angels with Dirty Faces. Other highlights were a great version of The Clash’s White Riot and a new song Stockwell, which was slow, dark and sombre. The set was short and the songs fast, and they were on stage around one hour, or slightly less. And they were just great, just as powerful, angry and relevant as they ever were. It was great to attend a Sham gig again, to have fun and not to be frightened. And the glasses that get thrown now are plastic! A great fun night. David is not a big fan of punk rock, but even he enjoyed them. We got home around 1am. The set consisted of (can’t remember the order, and may have missed some): What Have We Got; Hey Little Rich Boy; Tell Us the Truth; I Don’t Wanna; Ulster; Angels With Dirty Faces; George Davis; That’s Life; Money; Hersham Boys; Asbo Sports Day; Stockwell; Borstal Breakout; White Riot; If the Kids Are United; Rip Off; Hurry Up Harry. I could see the setlist on the stage and Questions and Answers was on the list, but not played. Photos are by David.
8 Sep
Dio Newcastle City Hall 1984
Dio Newcastle City Hall 1984
Support from Queensryche
This concert in 1984 was the last time I saw Dio in a concert hall setting. I did see Ronnie and the band a few years later at the Monsters of Rock festival 1987. This gig had strong support from up and coming act Queensryche, who had just released their second album and were building up their own strong following. Dio had also just released their second album “The Last in Line”, and the set featured a collection of songs from that album, their previous album “Holy Diver” and a few Rainbow and Sabbath songs. The evil, but cute. looking guy on the programme is “Murray”, who appeared on the band’s album covers, as well as in the backdrop for the live shows. Note Murray sports the devil’s horn salute that was the trademark of Ronnie. 
Setlist: Stand Up and Shout; One Night in the City; Don’t Talk to Strangers; Mystery; Egypt (The Chains Are On); Holy Diver; Heaven and Hell; The Last in Line; Rainbow in the Dark; Man on the Silver Mountain / Starstruck; Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll. Encore: We Rock; The Mob Rules. A DVD of performances from two Dio concerts in 1983 and 1984 was released a few years ago, and gives a great write-up of Dio’s rock stature at that time: “Ronnie James Dio remained at the forefront of hard rock for over twenty years and his position as the powerful voice, driving force and front man to rock gods ‘Dio’ is the stuff of legends. The finest hard rock album to come out of 1983 (Holy Diver) and a second serving of rock genius in 1984’s ‘The Last In Line’, Dio found themselves in embarking on a sell-out world tour. Delivering concert performances of the highest calibre and putting on the kind of value-for-money show that had become something of a lost art, the Holy Diver world tour won the band adulation from fans, critics and fellow musicians alike.”
7 Sep
Dio Newcastle City Hall 1983
Dio Newcastle City Hall 1983
Support from Waysted
I first saw the late Ronnie James Dio when he fronted the band Elf. Elf were support act on the Deep Purple Burn tour of 1974, which I caught at Newcastle Odeon. My mate John also reminded me that we saw Elf as support for Johnny Winter at the New Victoria Theatre, London, also in 1974. I them saw him several times in Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, and also in Black Sabbath. Ronnie was a great rock singer, with a tremendous range, his style mixing heavy metal with an almost operatic approach. Ronnie was also tremendously charismatic and powerful on stage, with a great stage presence which transcended his diminutive stature. I can picture him now leading the crowd on, his hands making the devil’s horn salute. A great talent, who is much missed. 
By 1984 Ronnie was of sufficient stature to be able to front his own band Dio. Playing alongside him were the three other great rock talents of Vinny Appice on drums; Jimmy Bain on bass and Vivian Campbell on guitar. Dio’s music drew heavily from his previous bands, retaining Ronnie’s distinctive style, and some of the dark satanic imagery of Sabbath. The set was a mix of track from the the new Dio lp, Holy Diver, and rainbow and Sabbath songs: Stand Up and Shout; Straight Through the Heart; Shame on the Night; Children of the Sea (Black Sabbath); Holy Diver; Stargazer (Rainbow: a great favourite of mine at the time; I’d forgotten this one!); Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath); Rainbow in the Dark; Man on the Silver Mountain (Rainbow: another great song); Starstruck (Rainbow). Encore: Evil Eyes; Don’t Talk to Strangers. Support came from Waysted, Pete Way of UFO’s side project, which also featured fellow UFO member Paul Raymond.
5 Sep
Patti Smith Newcastle Academy 4th September 2012
Patti Smith Newcastle Academy 4th September 2012
Patti Smith is one special artist. She is many things: a legend, an icon, a punk, a poet, a rocker, an outsider, but above everything what really strikes me is the total authenticity of the lady. With Patti what you see is 100% what you get; each and every time. Last night Patti was in a playful mood; she came onstage around 8.30pm, and treated a packed Newcastle Academy to a set which mixed tracks from her new album “Banga” and classics from her back catalogue. She seemed pre-occupied by the chicken that she had eaten at Nandos earlier in the day, which got the blame for everything. She fluffed the start of the first song, and started again, which was fine, and told us that it was because of the chicken. Later on in the set she admitted that she was chattering a lot, and wondered if the chicken was making her do that. Patti was indeed in a chatty mood. She told us that she’d been to the hairdressers to have her hair curled (she also thought that this might have caused her chatty mood, along with the chicken) and how she’d been photographed by the NME for their icon series, holding a copy of an old NME from 1976 which featured her on the cover. Enough about Patti’s chat; which I mentioned to illustrate the good mood that she was in. The music was great. She played several classics which went down well with the crowd: Free Money, Pissing In The River, Because The Night. All great. Long time band partner Lenny Kaye had his own spot, which he dedicated to local band Penetration, and featured: Night Time / (We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet / Born To Lose / Pushin’ Too Hard. During this spot Patti did her cute quirky little dance while Lenny and the guys ran through the songs. Gloria was the closing number. The encore was the title track of her new album Banga, followed by People Have the Power, and closing with an ace version of Rock ‘N’ Roll Nigger, the entire place singing “Outside of Society”. She closed around 10.20pm; almost two hours after she started. Patti closed by telling us how much she had enjoyed it, explaining that some nights are great musically, but that last night she had “fun”, and that Newcastle was a magical place. We all believed her; and judging by the comments of everyone leaving the venue, the crowd agreed and had great fun too. Just amazing. Some people do get better with time.
4 Sep
Dr Feelgood Newcastle City Hall 1977 to 1979
Dr Feelgood Newcastle City Hall 1977 to 1979
So Wilko was gone and Gypie Mayo was in. I had big doubts as to whether this could work. Wilko was a class act, and would be very hard to follow. The chemistry between Lee and Wilko was obvious, they worked together so well. It could never be the same again. So we went along to see; and it worked. All credit to Gypie Mayo for taking this on and making it work, but work it did. Apparently Gypie only had a week to learn the set before going out on this tour. He kept his own style, and didn’t try to imitate Wilko, but he and Lee worked together and the Feelgoods continued to rock, just as they had before. 
Support for the 1977 tour came from the very excellent Mink DeVille, who hit the charts around the same time with “Spanish Stroll”. We went along to the City Hall early to make sure we caught their set; this was one gig where we gave the bar a miss. Will DeVille was a cook guy and warmed the crowd up well for our session in the Dr’s surgery. 
Dr Feelgood often seemed to choose a strong support act to open for them. The support in 1978 was Squeeze, who are another class act. I think support in 1979 came from Red Beans and Rice. 
After 1979, the Feelgood’s North East gigs were in smaller venues than the City Hall, such as Durham University and Redcar Coatham Bowl. By 1981 there had been more change and Gypie Mayo had left then band, to be replaced by Johnny Guitar. I saw that line up at the Rock on the Tyne festival which took place over the 1981 August Bank Holiday weekend. This was the start of several more line up changes, which have gone on until this day. 
I saw Dr Feelgood once more, at Newcastle Mayfair in 1987. I’ll blog on that gig shortly. Its easy to forget just how great Dr Feelgood were in the 70s, particularly as a live act. Without the Feelgoods we may not have had punk, and things just wouldn’t have been the same. I spent some great nights with these guys.
3 Sep
Dr Feelgood Newcastle City Hall 1975 and 1976
Dr Feelgood Newcastle City Hall 1975 and 1976
Dr Feelgood were just plain amazing in their early days. They grew out of pub rock and preceded punk, and were pretty untouchable as a live act. I first saw them as support for Hawkwind on their 1974 tour, and was blown away by them. I couldn’t take my eyes off the two front men Lee Brilleaux and Wilko Johnson. Wilko strutted backwards and forwards across the stage, playing his Fender Telecaster in his characteristic choppy style, while Lee stared menacingly at us all, dressed in a sharp white suit, wringing the mike and pumping his fist. Sparko and The Big Figure silently and relentlessly provided the rhythm. I loved those tunes: “Back In the Night”, “Roxette”, “She does it right”. There was no one like them and no-one to touch them. 
The Feelgoods visited the City Hall every year from 1976 to 1979 and I went each year. They were always a great live act, and I never saw them put on anything other than a great performance. They also had some pretty cool support acts: GT Moore and the Reggae Guitars on the 1975 tour, and the George Hatcher band in 1976 (although the ticket says Clover, I am pretty sure they were replaced on the tour by George Hatcher). I also saw them at the Reading Festival in 1975, where they were the favourites of the weekend. Went with a group of mates; I can remember all of us coming back from the local pub specially to catcg the Feelgood’s set. 
And then the unthinkable happened, and Wilko was gone. I was shocked, and couldn’t see how the band would survive the loss of such a charismatic figure. Wilko wrote many of the songs, and was so crucial and integral to their sound, and their live show. But survive they did. I’ll blog tomorrow on the post-Wilko gigs that I saw at the City Hall. The live album “Stupidity” gives an idea of a setlist from those days: Talking About You; 20 Yards Behind; Stupidity; All Through The City; I’m a Man; Walking The Dog; She Does It Right; Going Back Home; I Don’t Mind; Back in the Night; I’m a Hog for You Baby; Checking Up on My Baby; Roxette; Riot in Cell Block No. 9
2 Sep
Thomas Dolby Newcastle City Hall 1984
Thomas Dolby Newcastle City Hall 1984
Thomas Dolby is better known as a producer of acts such as Foreigner and Def Leppard, than as a performer or recording astist. However, he did hit the UK singles chart in 1982 with “Windpower” and “She Blinded me with Science”, and again in 1984 with the single “Hyperactive!” He toured in 1984 off the back of this success, and I saw him at his concert at Newcastle City Hall. The gig wasn’t well attended, but was good fun. Dolby was see as a sort of mad musical scientist of the time. I remember the voice of Magnus Pike featuring on “She Blinded me with Science”. Thomas was interviwed by Record Mirror at the time and said of the US leg of The Flat Earth Tour: “All the money I’ve ever made I’ve invested in this tour. If it doesn’t pay off I’ll be broke – if it does I’ll be a millionaire. I have no aspirations for speedboats and fast living. I need to sell records because it’s a measure of success. I don’t need to make money beyond being comfortable and having cash for new projects.” A bootleg exist of the London date which was at the Dominion Theatre. The setlist will probably be the same as I experienced at the Newcastle concert and consists of 11 songs: Dissidents; The Flat Earth; One Of Our Submarines; Puppet Theatre; New Toy; Airwaves; I Scare Myself; Hyperactive!; Europa And The Pirate Twins; She Blinded Me With Science; Windpower.
1 Sep
Dead Fingers Talk Redcar Coatham Bowl 1978
Dead Fingers Talk Redcar Coatham Bowl 1978
I can’t be certain exactly when I went with a couple of mates to see Dead Fingers Talk, but I would guess it was around 1978. Dead Fingers Talk are a largely forgotten, and very under-rated band. They hailed from Hull and released one album entitled “Storm the Reality Studios”, which was produced by Hull-born Mick Ronson. Their best song, and the highlight of their live show, was a song called “Harry”. “For the uninitiated, `Harry’ was a song protesting against the persecution of gay people by society. In the form of a dramatic monologue over a basic backing track, Bobo takes the role of the persecutor, picking upon members of the audience as the persecuted. Chillingly effective, it is still the highlight.” (From a Record Mirror interview of the time). Dead Fingers Talk played extensively in the North East in the mid-70s, and built up quite a following in local clubs, before they were drawn into the punk movement. The Coatham Bowl was quite empty for this gig; I would guess that there were no more than 50 to 100 people there. But those of us who were there were treated to a great show by Dead Fingers Talk. 
Front man Bobo Pheonix was just amazing, “charismatic and an absolute dynamite stage performer – he was compelling and riveting” (Jeff Parsons, Dead Fingers Talk guitarist, 2005). During Harry, Bobo picked out members of the audience and shone a massive flashlight on them, shouting directly at them, persecuting them and haranguing them with a barrage of anti-gay slogans. Very, very powerful stuff that had to be seen to be believed; and I was so relieved that Bobo didn’t pick on me. A poor guy standing just in front of us bore the brunt of Bobo’s fury, and clearly didn’t know what had hit him. Their music showed influences of The Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls, and they mixed punk with more traditional rock. Sadly Harry was never recorded so all I have to remember the song are my memories of that night in Redcar.
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