“Rock fans wreak havoc in Empire”
(From The Sunderland Echo, 13th April 1978)
“Seats and brass rails were smashed and twisted at the Sunderland Empire last night, as rock group Slade worked a young audience to fever pitch.
House manager, Mr Ron Jameson said today that the cost of the damage had not yet been counted, but it was expected to run to hundreds of pounds.
“The youngsters tend to stand on the arms and backs of the seats which smashes the framework, and the sheer weight of numbers pressing up against the brass rails bent them easily”
He added that although there was an audience of only 800 – less than half the theatre’s capacity – they had been very involved in the performance, and at times some became carried away with the highly charged atmosphere.”
You can find a copy of the original article from the Echo on the Sladescrapbook website:
http://www.sladescrapbook.com/cuttings-1978.html
The next time I saw Slade was at Sunderland Empire, a gig which ended with serious damage to the first few rows of the seats. Support came from local rockers Geordie. I was quite close to the front, with a group of mates, and we watched the first few rows of seats collapse under the weight of fans pushing, shoving and generally going crazy. By the end of the concert all that was left of the first five or so rows was a pile of smashed up wood. The same thing happened at a Boomtown Rats gig around the same time.
The set list at the Empire will have been something like this: Hear Me Calling; Get on Up; Be; Take Me Bak ‘Ome; My Baby Left Me; Burning in the Heat of Love; Everyday; Far Far Away; Them Kinda Monkeys Can’t Swing; Gudbuy T’Jane; Give Us a Goal!; Get Down and Get With It; Mama Weer All Crazee Now; Cum on Feel the Noize; Keep on Rocking
My ticket for the gig looks a bit of a mess. I have written “Slade” on it (at the time the Empire tickets didn’t list the act who was playing) but the change of date was done by the Empire when we bought the tickets. It looks like they were reusing some tickets from another night!
Slade went further into the wilderness in 1979, playing cabaret and residencies at Baileys Nightspots up and down the country. The next time I saw them was another wild night, at Middlesbrough Rock Garden, which I’ll write about tomorrow.
Posts Tagged ‘gig’
13 Aug
Slade Carnage at Sunderland Empire 12th April 1978
12 Aug
Slade: Whatever Happened to Slade? (or the night I saw the old Slade return) Newcastle City Hall 8th May 1977
Slade: Whatever Happened to Slade? (or the night I saw the old Slade return) Newcastle City Hall 8th May 1977
Slade had been away too long. They’d been over in America working the US market, and had taken their eye off the ball in terms of their home fans. As a result their popularity was waning. They realised this, and in early 1977 Slade came back home to England and recorded their sixth album “Whatever Happened to Slade?” The album was a return to their rock’n’roll roots, and received positive critical reviews, but failed to make the UK album charts. Musical tastes were changing in the UK, the glam craze had passed, “dinosaur” or “old fart” bands were being passed over for new bands, and the fashion of the day was “punk rock”. Some of us could see the similarities between the rawness of punk, early Slade, and their original skinhead image; however to the majority of the music public Slade were a forgotten band; a thing of the past.
Not deterred, however, Slade decided to go out on a national tour, returning to the theatres and concert halls which they were selling out just two or three years earlier. The tour called at Newcastle City Hall and I went along with a few mates to renew our acquaintance with Slade. Support for the tour came from Liar, a rock band formed by a former member of Edison Lighthouse and featuring Clive Brooks, who was previously in Egg and the Groundhogs. The City Hall was far from full, which was a shame, as Slade were on fire, working so hard to regain their fans, and demonstrating just how great a rock band they were. The stage was set with the one of the biggest backlines of stacks that I’d ever seen. I knew this was going to be LOUD 🙂 The lights went down, and Slade walked on stage. The first I noticed was the appearance of guitarist Dave Hill. Dave’s hair was gone; he was completely bald with a shaved head and the biggest dangly earring that I’d ever seen. He was wearing a leather jacket and jeans, and looked amazing!! Noddy was wearing a Napolean hat and jacket! Now what was all that about? Then I heard the opening chords of “Hear Me Calling’ and everyone was up on their feet. And away we went. For an hour or so Slade showed us exactly how and why they made it big the first time. By playing LOUD, good honest raucous rock, like only Slade could. They even finished with “Born to be Wild”. It was just like old times, as if the last five years had never happened. The loud, heavy rock band that was early Slade was back 🙂
From a review of the time: “But poor old Slade have blown it, have they? Oh no…..The music suggested havoc. It was sensational: a riff as pile driving as anything Quo have produced with the distinctive fuzzed, rough texture of the Slade guitars and a hint of American funkiness working through. Compulsion……I could hardly believe it….Dynamics, dynamite….The crowd……were on their feet and singing ‘The Blaydon Races’ while Noddy in total friendly rapport squawked away like a cross between Mr Punch and schnozzle Durante….. I expect Slade will be the Status Quo of 1987.” (Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, May 1977).
Setlist: Hear Me Calling; Get on Up; Be; Take Me Bak ‘Ome; Gypsy Roadhog; Everyday; Gudbuy T’Jane; Coz I Luv You; The Bangin’ Man; Lightning Never Strikes Twice; The Soul, the Roll and the Motion; Mama Weer All Crazee Now; Cum on Feel the Noize; Born to Be Wild
Yes, Slade were playing excellently, but it was a few years before they would rebuild their fan base and return to the charts. During the period between 1977 and 1980 Slade entered their “wilderness years” playing up and down the country in clubs, dives and cabaret. I attended a couple more great Slade gigs during those wilderness years, and will reflect on them over the next couple of days.
11 Aug
Slade Newcastle City Hall 30th April 1975
Slade Newcastle City Hall 30th April 1975
In April 1975 I finally relented, saw sense, put “cool” aside, and went along to see Slade again. This was my one and only experience of Slade and their audience full-on during their glamrock megapop teen sensation period. Support came from Bunny (not sure what happened to them). The City Hall was packed full of teenage girls. When sold-out, as it was for Slade that night, the City Hall holds 2,400 people; I swear there were 2,200 screaming girls there, me, and 199 other guys. The guys that were present were either with their girlfriends, feeling very out of place (like me) and looking around sheepishly (also like me), skinheads who had followed the band from the start, or full-on Slade fans (you could tell which ones they were; they were the guys dressed as Nod or Dave). I swear every single girl was wearing a Slade scarf, tartan trousers or top (or both), Slade badges, or even better a Slade rosette (the rosettes were often home-made with pictures of Noddy cut out of Jackie or Fab208). And of the 2,200 girls, I reckon 1,500 of them were wearing top hats (or bowlers) with mirrors stuck around them. Well maybe all of that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but you get the general picture. I was seated upstairs on a side balcony, looking down on the stage. Not the best position in the house, and it only added to me not feeling fully part of the event. I felt sooooo…. out of place, and self conscious; but what the hell; I was at a Slade concert again, and I knew how hard these guys could rock on a good night 🙂
“We Want Slade…Slade…SLADE…SLADE ….SLADE..”. Slade arrived on stage and the place went crazy. Mad. Totally.
The truth was that Slade’s popularity was starting to decline and their last single “How Does It Feel” (which was also the theme for “Slade in Flame”) had only made (shock horror) No 15 in the UK charts. But as a live act, and in Newcastle City Hall that night, Slade remained massive.
Noddy was on top form. No-one could work a crowd like him. And some of his banter with the crowd was pretty filthy in those days; “Hands up all those girls with red knickers on….Hands up all those girls with blue knickers on..Hands up all those girls with NO knickers on!” The girls lapped it up and they screamed and screamed and screamed. They waved their scarves in the air, and everyone sang “Everyday”. I stood watching, taking it all in. Sometimes I felt I was part of it, but mostly it was as if I was outside looking in. I couldn’t quite relate to the madness and craziness of it all. The set had changed completely from the early days, which surprised me, but I guess it shouldn’t have. Slade no longer started with “Hear Me Callin'” or finished with “Born to be Wild”. However, elements of the old Slade did come through now and then; those old rockers were hidden behind the glam pop teen swagger. After all, deep down I knew that Nod was still the cheeky raucous rock singer, Dave was still the big kid who wanted to show off, Jim had always been a real musician, and Don just remained unphased by it all, the solid rock rhythm holding it all together at the back. But I left with a strange feeling; it was as if I’d been to a kid’s party where I didn’t know anyone, no-one spoke to me, and the party went on in full swing, completely ignoring me.
Setlist: Them Kinda Monkeys Can’t Swing; The Bangin’ Man; Gudbuy T’Jane; Far Far Away; Thanks for the Memory (Wham Bam Thank You Mam); How Does It Feel?; Just a Little Bit; Everyday; O.K. Yesterday Was Yesterday; Raining in My Champagne; Let the Good Times Roll; Mama Weer All Crazee Now
But my Slade experiences didn’t end in the City Hall that night; amid the scarves, the glitter and the teenage girls. The old Slade, the rock’n’roll band I loved from the day I first saw them in 1971, returned a few years later. Slade then got lost in a cabaret wilderness, but were to return again; this time as heavy metal heroes. And once again, it was a festival appearance that transformed their career, just as their appearance at the Lincoln festival did in 1972. But this time it was in a field at Reading in 1980, when they appeared at short notice as a replacement for Ozzy. But more of that later..I experienced all of those ups and downs of Slade’s crazy career, and was lucky enough to live through a few more LOUD crazy Slade rock nights.
I’m on a roll with Slade memories now; things are starting to come back to me quite clearly. I’ll work my way the rest of those happy memories during the remainder of this week.
10 Aug
Slade in Flame Sometime in early 1975 A personal appearance at Studio 1 Cinema Sunderland
Slade in Flame Sometime in early 1975 A personal appearance at Studio 1 Cinema Sunderland
I lost faith in Slade during 1973 and 1974. I thought they had become too much of a teen pop band, and didn’t feel it was “cool” to go and see them live at the time. I felt that I’d lost that fine loud raucous rock band to the teenage girls who would scream at Noddy and Dave, and go the concerts sporting top hats with silver circles stuck to them, Slade scarves and tartan baggies. So while all the girls at school were going to see them at the City Hall, and telling me how great they were, I resisted the urge to go along. I didn’t fancy standing in a hall full of screaming girls. And anyway, I told myself, I’ve seen them before they “sold out” to celebrity status, when they were a proper rock band. Looking back that was a mistake; its funny how important it was to appear “cool” at the time. And all along I secretly wanted to go and see them again. Still, I consoled myself by spending my time going to see Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, The Groundhogs, Uriah Heep and lots of other “proper” rock and “underground” bands. My pop side did win through a few times, however, when I went to see T Rex and the Bay City Rollers…..
Anyway, the next time I (sort of) saw Slade was when they made a personal appearance at a local cinema to promote their film “Slade in Flame”. “Slade in Flame” tells the story of “Flame” a fictitious late 1960s beat group who make it to the top, only to break up at their peak of success. The film begins with the future members of Flame playing in two rival bands, one fronted by a singer named Jack Daniels 🙂 (played by Alan Lake), and the other, The Undertakers, fronted by a singer known as Stoker (played by Noddy Holder). Flame formed from remnants of the two bands, and have the same line-up as Slade do in real life. The rest of the film tells the story of Flame’s rise to fame, disillusionment and eventual and inevitable break-up. It is quite entertaining and pretty funny in places, with some great songs.
One moment which sticks in my mind is when Stoker is brought on stage in a coffin (the band is called The Undertakers after all; the idea was nicked straight from Screaming Lord Sutch, who, of course also nicked it from Screaming Jay Hawkins). Anyway, the lid of the coffin gets stuck and Stoker can’t get out (now I never saw that happen to Screaming Lord Sutch 🙂 ). The album of the same name, “Flame”, was released at the same time and features the two classic hit singles “How Does It Feel” and “Far Far Away”.
I went with a group of mates to see Slade introduce the film. We were cutting it fine time-wise and as we arrived at the cinema, we saw a big silver Rolls Royce pull up outside. Noddy, Dave, Jim and Don jumped out of the Rolls, ran straight past us, and made their way into the cinema. We quickly paid our money to the cashier (probably £1 or so) and followed them in, just in time to hear them say a few words to introduce the film, and then run out just as quickly as they came in. I think they told us that they were off to another cinema in the region to do the same thing. Strangely, given the band were making a personal appearance, the cinema was nowhere near full. Or maybe their popularity was already starting to wane.
I still enjoy watching “Slade in Flame” and “How Does It Feel” is a classic song.
I’ve added a picture of a Slade programme that I have from the period. I’m not sure at which gig I bought this one; it could even have been sold at the cinema.
I finally relented from my Slade abstinence and went to see them in concert a few months after seeing the film. I’ll write about that concert, in April 1975, tomorrow,
9 Aug
Slade Alive! 1971 and 1972
Slade Alive! 1971 and 1972
Slade were, no question, one of the best live acts out on the road in the early 1970s. I saw them twice, maybe three times at Sunderland Locarno in October/November 1971 and January 1972. The first time I saw them was just as they released their No 1 smash hit “Coz I Luv You”. The ballroom was packed for these guys. They had played Sunderland Top Rank for the Sunderland Poly students union freshers ball a few weeks earlier, at the time “Get Down and Get with It” was in the charts; a few of my mates had gone to that gig and were raving about how great this band was. Support was Steamhammer, who are perhaps best known for their track “Junior’s Wailing” which was covered by Status Quo. We all sat crossed legged on the floor (as you did, back in the day) watching Steamhammer; I think they reminded me of Man. But when Slade came on stage, Noddy wasn’t haven’t any of this sitting on the dance floor. Slade were a loud rock band. “Come on, up on your feet, everybody”. The crowd jumped up and crushed to the front of the stage. The opening number was their cover of Ten Years After’s “Hear Me Callin'” (it always was in those early days) and it was amazing. It started quietly and slowly with Noddy singing in (for him) quite a low voice, then after a few bars the pace picked up, and Dave Hill’s guitar, Jim Lea’s bass and Don Powell’s drums came crashing in at an amazingly loud volume, so loud that I thought my ears would go. BY then Noddy’s voice was his normal raucous scream. And the crowd went crazy; completely bananas. Slade were a force to be reckoned with. 
They played wild, fast and very very LOUD. The set was short, probably around an hour, but furious and by the end we were all ringing in sweat and totally whacked. Slade were juts coming out of their skinhead phase; their hair was starting to grow, but you could still see signs of crew cuts. Except for Dave, whose hair was already growing right the way down his back. Nod was wearing a cap, a checky shirt, braces and jeans. The set included all of the tracks form “Slade Alive!” and quite a few covers; favourites of mine were “In Like a Shot from My Gun”, their excellent cover of John Sebastian’s “Darling Be Home Soon” which took the mood and the pace down a notch, the rocking “Get Down and Get With It” during which we all had to follow Nod’s instructions and “stamp our feet” (as long as we had our boots on 🙂 ), their new single “Coz I Luv You, with Jim soloing on his violin, their cover of Janis’ “Move Over”, and they closed with “Born to Be Wild”, an ear-piercingly loud cover of Steppenwolf’s classic. It was all over too soon, but it was amazing.
I saw them again a few months later. By that time they had released “Look Wot You Done” and were becoming chart heroes. But the live set remained as wild, raucous and loud as before. After one of the gigs, I think it was in early 1972, The Groundhogs were playing the Rink (Top Rank) on the same night as Slade at the Mecca (Locarno). We went to see Slade (who were excellent as usual) at the Mecca earlier that night, and came into the Rink just as The Groundhogs took to the stage, having missed the support act Ashton, Gardner and Dyke. I managed to make my way right to the front, and stood right in front of Tony McPhee as he soloed on Amazing Grace and Split II. Seeing Slade and The Groundhogs in the same night, when both acts were on top form 🙂 Happy Days.
The next time I saw Slade was at the Lincoln Festival in 1972. Slade managed to change a difficult situation into a major success. Chris Charlesworth writes of the event in his book “Feel The Noize!” (1984): “They were terrified of that audience…..completely overawed by it all … it was an underground audience and Slade had become a pop band…
Their fears were justified. When John Peel announced Slade’s imminent appearance there was an outbreak of booing from the large crowd….” Jim Lea :”Chas did everything he could to delay us going on stage…He was waiting for the sun to set so we could benefit from the stage lights and the big screen projection they had. When John Peel announced us he was very unenthusiastic. We just did a fifty minute set … bang, bang, bang … all rockers. We had the crowd in the palm of our hand after ten minutes and in the end we walked away with it.”
Noddy, from his book Who’s Crazee Now? (1999): “….we got a big break. We were invited to play the Lincoln Festival, which was being put on…by the actor Stanley Baker…The other acts were all much hipper than us….Joe Cocker, The Beach Boys, The Faces, Status Quo…we were only asked to be on the bill because Stanley Baker was a Slade fan…It had been pissing down with rain…the audience was drenched and the ground was all muddy…..We got booed when we walked on stage…the first time that had ever happened to us….. We carried on regardless…two minutes into our set, the rain went off. Then all the lights came on. Suddenly, the whole audience stood up. They had been sitting down all day…..people began going berserk. The place just exploded. We took everyone by surprise……My mind was racing about what we should do for a second encore. We had nothing planned. 
Then I saw Stanley Baker standing with Chas at the side of the stage….Suddenly, a mad idea popped into my head. I went up to the microphone and thanked Stanley for putting on the festival and invited him to come on and take a bow. As he was walking on, I started doing the Zulu chant, from the film Zulu that he had starred in. The rest of the band joined in, then the entire audience. Stanley absolutely loved it. It was the perfect end to our set…..The next week, we were on the cover of every music paper in the country….The impact of that gig was amazing.”
Slade were, indeed, simply epic that day, and the buzz after the Lincoln set helped cement their position as a top rock and pop band. They surprised a lot of people at Lincoln; but then those who had already seen them “Alive!” knew just how great they were.
I saw Slade several more times and will reflect on those crazy nights over the next few days.
7 Aug
The Sex Pistols Brixton Academy London 10th November 2007
Sex Pistols Brixton Academy London 10th November 2007
Support from The Cribs
John Lydon: “It started out as one night at Brixton….We thought maybe 5,000 will want to see us, but it’s turned into a bigger monster than any of us had any concept of.” In fact, the Sex Pistols ended up playing to 60,000 fans during their brief 2007 reunion tour, camping for five nights at Brixton Academy and then adding two massive arena shows in Manchester and Glasgow.
I’ve already blogged on the two occasions which I was lucky enough to see The Sex Pistols in their prime, once in 1976 and once in 1977. I passed on their 1996 “Filty Lucre” and 2002 Golden Jubilee reunion gigs. I figured it was never going to be the same. Well of course, it wasn’t going to be the same, but it could still be bloody great! When I saw that they were reuniting again in 2007 for a few dates at Brixton I relented and bought tickets. The dates were to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of the band’s seminal album Never Mind The Bollocks.
David and I arrived early for the gig, and watched support band The Cribs, who seemed very much out of the punk mould. By the time the Pistols were due on stage, the place was completely ram packed, almost dangerously so. The audience was, as you would expect, largely aging punks; lots of mohican haircuts and studded leather jackets. Before the Pistols came on stage, the hall was filled with the sound of Vera Lynn’s “There’s Always Be An England” which prompted mass singalong (and sadly quite a few right arm salutes). I’m not sure it was the most appropriate song to open the concert with, but it certainly got the crowd going.
The band walked on stage Rotten as wide-eyed as ever. 
They hurling themselves into “Pretty Vacant” and the place went completely bananas. An atmosphere, a band, a crowd, and a punk anthem like no other. There never was, never has been, and never will be anyone who can touch these guys. Rotten was sneering, his snarling vocal as thrilling and powerful as ever. Flanked, as in 1976, by Steve Jones, ever the guitar hero, and Glen Matlock looking ever the cool guy.
All the hits and most of the “Bollocks” album are played; an immense crashing version of “Holidays In The Sun” with Paul Cock slamming the drums, Rotten spitting out the lyrics to The Stooge’s “No Fun”, and a backdrop of our safety-pin-sporting queen is lowered behind them for “God Save The Queen”. Half way through the set David and I make our way towards the back of the hall, its juts too full and too hot down near the front. Then there is the inevitable encore of “Anarchy In The UK”, at which point I swear every single person in the venue is singing at the top of their voice. They return again to play a cover of Jonathan Richman’s “Roadrunner”.
We walked out in the cold London air, stunned; knowing that we had experienced something special. I bought a bootleg programme for £1 (pictured).
Well, of course, no it wasn’t the same. We were older, and so were the Pistols. The crowd was bigger than those they played to in their heyday (when I saw them in 1976 there were 50 to 100 people there, a few hundred in 1977). We knew all the songs this time. But these old guys could still sneer at society, and play some of the best rock’n’roll produced by any band. Amazing. Scary. Stunning.
I have the DVD and play it every now and then to remind myself of that night.
Setlist: Pretty Vacant; Seventeen; No Feelings; New York; Did You No Wrong; Liar; Holidays in the Sun; Submission; (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone; No Fun; Problems; God Save the Queen; E.M.I.
Encore 1: Bodies; Anarchy in the U.K.
Encore 2: Roadrunner (Jonathan Richman cover)
6 Aug
Steps The Steptacular Tour Newcastle Arena 11th May 2000
Steps Newcastle Arena 11th May 2000
Now my entry today is definitely a guilty pleasure. I even hesitated abut including it. But, being the completist I am, here we go….Although I must share in some of the guilt for admitting to seeing popsters Steps in concert, I will also lay some of it on Laura, who was a big fan at the time. The Steptacular tour was Steps third tour and came off the back of their second album of the same name, and was actually a pretty spectacular event, and good fun too. It was an amazingly successful tour, including three nights at Newcastle Arena, seven nights at Wembley Arena, and similar runs in Glasgow, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham and Belfast. Demand to see Steps was so high, that five open air show were added to the tour, including one in London’s Hyde Park.
The show started with our five heroes flying down from the roof of the arena, and continued in an outrageously choreographed manner throughout the entire evening. Highlights were H singing a solo suspended from the ceiling in front of a huge letter “H”, lots of explosions, a multitude of dancers, and of course the finale with “Tradegy”, that crazy dance, and lots of confetti coming down from the ceiling and covering us all. 
The programme promised us the “tippermost, toppermost show you’ve ever seen” and it wasn’t far wrong. Back to serious rock tomorrow 🙂
Setlist: Deeper Shade of Blue; One for Sorrow; Say You’ll Be Mine; I Know Him So Well; Come on Get Together; After the Love Has Gone/Last Thing on My Mind; 5,6,7,8; R Dancing; Lay All Your Love on Me; Heartbeat; When I Said Goodbye; I Surrender; Things Can Only Get Better; Never Get Over You; Better the Devil You Know; Summer of Love; Love’s Got a Hold on My Heart; Tragedy.
Steps were: Claire, Faye, Lisa, “H” and Lee.
5 Aug
Sailor Newcastle City Hall 26th February 1976
Sailor Newcastle City Hall 26th February 1976
I was about to categorise Sailor under “Guilty Pleasures”. Then I thought a little more. It would be easy to dismiss Sailor as a 1970s teen pop band, but actually, there was much more to them than their two UK singles charts hits “A Glass of Champagne” (which reached No 2), and “Girls, Girls, Girls” (No 7). Sailor were a serious band, grounded within a solid concept, and received many positive reviews and considerable critical acclaim at the time.
I first saw Sailor when they supported Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel on tour. Their show was pure theatre, exploring concepts of the sea, and telling stories of the docks, voyages and sailors. Sailor’s songs were based upon a narrative of life on the sea, drinking, frequenting taverns and visiting shady red light areas. Their influences came from European music of the 1940s and 1950s and they played authentic, unusual instruments including a charango (what is one of those 🙂 ?), and a nickelodeon. “If you can imagine Jaques Brel leading Edison Lighthouse through the score of ‘On the town’ or one of those other sailor-suited Gene Kelly musicals, then you’re half the way there” (New Musical Express, September, 1974).
Sailor’s line-up and instrumentation was Georg Kajanus (12 string guitar, charango, Veracruzana harp and lead vocals), Phil Pickett (bass nickelodeon, guitarron, piano and vocals), Henry Marsh (nickelodeon, accordion, piano, marimbas), and Grant Serpell (drums, percussion).
Their music was quite different from anything else around at the time, they were definitely an acquired taste, and their two hits singles were not typical of their music or of their theatrical stage show. Their 1976 tour came shortly after the release of their second, and most successful, album “Trouble”. The concert was an attempt to take us down to the dockland, setting the scene for their seaport stories, and it all worked quite well. Those in the audience who were only familiar with Sailor’s hits probably found it quite strange. Support came from three piece Alfalpha, featuring a young Nick Laird-Clowes, later to be a presenter on the Tube and lead singer and one of the principal songwriters in Dream Academy (“Life in a Northern Town”).
From the tour publicity: “It’s extremely unlikely you’ve ever heard anything quite like Sailor before in your life, because they are, quite simply, unique. An over-worked word…..but you can apply it to Sailor, not only for their repertoire, with its echoes of waterfronts, bars and bordellos, but to the sounds they use to colour the stories they tell. That monstrous machine on stage is the Nickelodeon — a custom-built bank of keyboards played by two musicians and something you won’t hear from any other band…..The Sailor sound has already resulted in the group having had Top Ten hits in Europe (with their first single Traffic Jam’) and becoming, in an incredibly short time, one of the most feted and popular outfits in Holland, Belgium and Scandinavia.”
If my memory is correct (and it often isn’t) after the Sailor concert at the City Hall we went down to the Guildhall and caught the end of a Big Jim Sullivan show, which was organised as a guitar clinic/exhibition in collaboration with a local guitar shop.
The set list is likely to have been something like this: Blame It On The Soft Spot; The Street; Let’s Go To Town; The Old Nickelodeon Sound; Veracruz; Blue Desert; Jacaranda; Girls Girls Girls; Panama; Traffic Jam; A Glass Of Champagne.
“I’ve got the money, I’ve got the place
You’ve got the figure, you’ve got the face
Let’s get together, the two of us
Over a glass of champagne.”
(Sailor, A Glass Of Champagne, 1975)
4 Aug
Sparks Leeds University Refectory 22nd June 1974 & Newcastle City Hall 3rd November 1974
Sparks Leeds University Refectory 22nd June 1974.
California brothers Ron and Russel; Mael relocated to the UK In 1973, having already appeared on the Old Grey Whistle test (Bob Harris declared Sparks “a cross between Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and The Monkees”). They recruited Martin Gordon on bass (later of Jet and Radio Stars), Adrian Fisher (guitar) and Norman “Dinky” Diamond (drums). This line-up of Sparks recorded the breakthrough album “Kimono My House” which featured their No. 2 hit single “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us”. Sparks’ appearances on Top of the Pops were sensational. Front man Russell was the cutesy glam singer with strange jerky hyperactive dancing, flanked by his older brother Ron, seated motionless at the keyboard, flashing evil stares at the camera, and sporting a weird Charlie Chaplin mustache. “This Town” propelled Sparks to almost immediate teen stardom, and in June Sparks went out on their first UK tour. My friend Gillie and I had been blown away by “This Town” and really wanted to see this crazy new band, although we hadn’t heard anything else by them. 
The nearest date of the tour for us was a concert at Leeds University Students Union, so we drove down to see the band at that gig. It was a Saturday student event, and we weren’t quite sure whether we would get into the show, not being students ourselves. We managed to get a couple of students to sign us in at the door, and we made our way into the vast union refectory. This was our first visit, and we were very excited at the prospect attending a gig in the famous hall where The Who had recorded “Live at Leeds” not that many years before. I think the support act was Old Tennis Shoes, who were a rock and blues band from Preston. Sparks were magnificent. I don’t recall what they played that night other than “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us”, which I think they may have played twice, once during the main set and then again as a final encore. Ron looked just as mysterious and mean as he did on Top of the Pops and Russel was a little ball of energy; he wore a white smock top and danced himself silly the entire evening, climbing up the PA stacks during “This Town” and singing it from the top of a speaker column. Gillie and I drove back up the A1 in my little MG talking about just how great Sparks were. Well worth the trip to Leeds.
Sparks Newcastle City Hall 3rd November 1974
1974 was a busy year for Sparks. They recorded the follow up to “Kimono My House”, which was their fourth album “Propaganda”, Martin Gordon and Adrian Fisher were replaced by Trevor White and Ian Hampton, and they had two further UK hit singles “Amateur Hour” (which reached No 7) and “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth” (which reached No 13). They toured the UK again, to promote “Propaganda” this time calling at Newcastle City Hall. Support came from Pilot, who had been in the charts with “Magic” and were to have a No 1 single with “January” the following year. Sparks delivered another great performance; by this point in their career they were big teen heroes and the City Hall was full of girls screaming at Russell.
3 Aug
Squeeze and Wreckless Eric Newcastle Mayfair 28th February 1980
Squeeze and Wreckless Eric Newcastle Mayfair 28th February 1980
I’d seen Squeeze supporting Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Tubes, Dr Feelgood, and at Reading, but this was the first time, and only time, I saw them as a headline act. This was the classic Squeeze line-up featuring Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook and Jools Holland. Squeeze had just released their third album “Argybargy” and had already made the UK top 20 four times, with their first single “Take Me, I’m Yours” which reached No 19 in 1978, the excellent “Cool for Cats” and “Up the Junction”, both of which reached No. 2 in 1979 and their most recent release at the time, “Another Nail in My Heart”, which made No. 17 in January 1980. Support came from the crazy Wreckless Eric, whose most well-known song is the wonderful “Whole Wide World”. Squeeze were a great live act who produced a clutch of perfect pop songs; my favourite is “Up The Junction” which is just pure class. The setlist for the concert at the Mayfair is likely to have been something like this: Slap and Tickle; Touching Me, Touching You; Slightly Drunk; Pulling Mussels (From the Shell); Hop Skip & Jump; Another Nail in My Heart; Cool for Cats; Messed Around; I Think I’m Go Go; Take Me I’m Yours; If I Didn’t Love You; Misadventure; It’s So Dirty; Goodbye Girl; Up the Junction; There at the Top. Encore: Going Crazy
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