Little Bob Story The Rex Hotel Whitley Bay 1977?
Its funny the things that stick in your mind. My mate Norm and I went to this gig around 35 years ago, and yet it is one of the gigs that we still talk about today. I can’t remember exactly when we saw Little Bob, but it was probably some time in 1977. Little Bob Story were a French rock’n’roll band who came over to the UK at the time of the pub rock boom, and then got caught up in the punk scene. They signed to Chiswick records and released an album, Off the Rails, and a few singles over here. Little Bob Story music was a blend of R&B, rock’n’roll and blues, and was quite Stones-influenced. They were often referred to as “The French Dr Feelgood”. Little Bob Story were fronted by singer Rogomme Roberto Piazza, who was a big guy, and the band name was often taken as his name. Their albums, and their live set, contained a mix of originals and classics such as “Lucille” (Chuck Berry), “I’m Crying” (Animals), and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (Bob Dylan). Live they were a pretty hot rock’n’roll act, and Roberto (or Little Bob) was a pretty great front guy. Norm and I certainly enjoyed the gig and, as I say, we still talk about it today. The Rex was host to many gigs throughout the 60s and 70s, and is a majestic hotel which sits on the sea front at Whitley Bay, in the North East of England. I don’t have a ticket stub for the gig as it must have been a pay at the door affair, but Norm did buy a badge which he snapped for me. Norm says “Long Live Leetle Bob!”.
Posts Tagged ‘gig’
5 Sep
Little Bob Story The Rex Hotel Whitley Bay 1977?
4 Sep
The Lurkers Sunderland Lees Club 1978
The Lurkers Sunderland Lees Club 1978
The Lurkers were part of the first wave of punk bands. They were big fans of The Ramones, The New York Dolls and the US Garage scene, and you could tell this from their music. This gig featured the original line-up of Howard Wall on vocals and Pete Stride on guitar. The Lurkers had just released their first album Fullham Fallout, and had hit the lower regions of the chart with their first three singles. Lees Club stood in Park Lane Sunderland, and was pretty empty for this gig. The two songs I remember most of all from the night were the Lurkers’ catchy fourth single “I Don’t Need To Tell Her” which they played on Top of the Pops (look it up on YouTube; it still looks pretty cool) and the B side of the same single “Pills” which is a Bo Diddley song, also covered by the New York Dolls. It was a pretty good raw punk gig. Support came from the Straw Dogs, a local band who featured Olga, and were soon to morph into The Toy Dolls. The Toy Dolls, of course, dedicated a song “She Goes to Finos” to this very night club (Lees Club was to become Finos a year or so later). The Lurkers exist to this day, featuring a line-up based around bass player Arturo Bassick, who was an original member of the band, but had left by the time I saw them in 1978. I saw the current line-up of the Lurkers a couple of years ago, when they supported the Buzzcocks at Newcastle Academy. Pretty cool yellow card ticket, and a bargain at £1.25.
3 Sep
Lords of the New Church Barbary Coast Sunderland 1983
Lords of the New Church Barbary Coast Sunderland 1983
The Lords of the New Church were a punk supergroup formed in 1982, by the late great (and totally crazy) Stiv Bators (The Dead Boys), Brian James (The Damned), Dave Tregunna (Sham 69) and Nick Turner (The Barracudas). Having seen The Dead Boys once or twice, and the Damned lots of times, this band seemed an attractive live attraction. The Barbary Coast was the latest incarnation of the old Boilermakers club, which is now North Shore, and part of the Sunderland University Students union. The Lords played in a small side room, not in the main hall, and the place was pretty empty. Their music was melodic punk / rock n roll, with a dark gothic psych tinge to it. Live they were a cross between The Damned and the New York Dolls, with Stiv a manic front man showing shades of Iggy, and no fear. Support came from Agent Orange, an American punk band.The Live lp has the following track list: New Church; Livin On Livin; Eat Your Heart Out; Russian Roulette; Fortune Teller; Open Your Eyes; Girls Girls Girls; Holy War; Apocolypso; New Church. I would guess that the set I witnessed that night will have been similar to this. From the rhapsody.com site: “Lords Of The New Church quickly established themselves as a must-see live act due to the wild, death-defying (literally!) stage antics of Bators.” From Wiki: “Bators had developed a fearless reputation in his Dead Boys days and continued such antics with The Lords, the most famous being the time he reportedly hanged himself during a show. Bator’s stunt went awry and he was pronounced clinically dead for several minutes.” Stiv died in Paris in 1990, after being knocked down by a taxi.
2 Sep
Liverpool Express Newcastle City Hall 1977
Liverpool Express Newcastle City Hall 1977
Support from local band Arbre
Liverpool Express were formed in 1975, by members of the legendary Liverpool 60s beat band The Merseybeats. They are best known for their two hits “You Are My Love” (which Paul McCartney once famously declared to be one of his favourite songs), and “Every Man Must Have A Dream”. I won tickets for this gig in a competition in a local newspaper. “You Are My Love” is a great pure pop song with beautiful harmonies, and was quite a favourite of mine at the time. 
The City Hall was reasonably full for this gig, which was part of the 1977 Newcastle Festival festivities. Guitarist Billy Kinsley was playing his trademark Gibson Firebird, which the Merseys were well known for; in fact all three front men played similar guitars, and still do to this day. Kinsley rejoined the Merseybeats after Liverpool Express folded, and remains in the band today, alongside fellow founder member Tony Crane. Liverpool Express were quite well known for a short time, appearing on British television quite frequently; particularly Top of the Pops. As well as playing their own hit singles, I think they also played a couple of Merseybeat hits.
Support for the gig were Arbre, a local band fronted by brothers Phil, Peter and Paul Caffrey who have been singing together for most of their lives, and still do today as the Caffreys. Arbre were signed to DJM records, which was home to Elton John at the time. They were promoted as Britain’s answer to the Eagles, but split after a few years and a couple of albums.
1 Sep
Linda Lewis Sunderland Empire 1975
Linda Lewis Sunderland Empire 1975
Support from Labi Siffre
Linda Lewis worked incredibly hard in the first half of the 70s. It seemed that everywhere I went, I would saw her perform. One of the first occasions I became aware of her was when this chirpy, cheeky but obviously nervous young lady took to the stage to sing and strum her songs early one day at the 1972 Reading Festival. She then popped up as the opening act on a number of concert tours of major artists of the time. I recall seeing her open for Cat Stevens, and Elton John, and there were certainly others. And she also took to the stage of the 1975 Knebworth Festival, sharing the bill with Pink Floyd, Captain Beefheart, Roy Harper and Steve Miller (and of course DJ John Peel).
Linda always came over as a genuine person. She would chat with the audience, and had an engaging, chirpy and bubbly personality. Her songs were a mix of folk, pop and R&B; as a result she was quite difficult to categorise. As the 1975 tour programme explains: “Tonight, ladies and gentlemen you have the pleasure of viewing one of the great contradictions of our time; Linda Lewis. Sounds like a bit of a cheek? When Linda greets you on stage or in person there is an immediate air of warmth, good will and earthy sensitivity. Between those occaional high pitched giggles, there is an outspoken artist who is very much her own woman.The contradiction lies with us her audience. Look around you tonight and you’ll see the kind of melting pot that Linda attracts as her fans. 
There are those who welcome sweet singing Linda, wrapped in delicate shawls, long skins and singing the misty lyrics of her early days. To the younger ones, Linda is the chirpy voice on the Spangles ad and the crooner of ‘Rock A Doodle Doo’. Late nighters have been swayed by her sensuous jazz influenced sets down at Ronnie Scott’s Club twice this year. And across the ocean, her old tim€e soul singing on ‘It’s In His Kiss’ probably has them envisioning her as the British Gloria Gaynor. Giving credit where it is due for diversity, it’s not everyone who has shared the stage with Elton John and The Staple Singers, Ritchie Havens, Jim Webb, Family plus tackled the Knebworth festival.”
By 1975, Linda was out on her own headline tour. My friends and I caught the tour when it called at Sunderland Empire in October 1975. She was promoting her fourth album “Not a Little Girl Anymore” which featured quite a racy photo of Linda on the cover. She had already hit the UK singles chart in 1973 with “Rock-a-Doodle-Doo” which reached No 15; produced by her husband Jim Cregan, of Family and Cockney Rebel. Linda hit the chart again in 1975 with her cover of “It’s in His Kiss”, which reached No 6 and was later covered by Cher. Her set consisted of some of her own songs, and a few covers, including a great version of John Martyn’s “May You Never”. Support act Labi Siffre had seen chart success himself with “It Must Be Love” (No. 14, 1971, and later covered by Madness) and “Crying Laughing Loving Lying” (No. 11, 1972). This was a pleasant evening with two great, and often under-rated, British singer-songwriters.
I lost touch with Linda Lewis as the 70s came to close. I remember seeing Labi one more time, at a Friday night gig at Newcastle Poly Students Union. Its time for me to look for copies of Linda Lewis’ early lps and catch up with her work again.
30 Aug
Kiss Newcastle City Hall 1983 and 1984
Kiss Newcastle City Hall 1983 and 1984
The next time I saw Kiss they had abandoned their trademark make-up and had plucked up the courage to appear before us all unmasked! (shock horror). What would these guys look like without the scary face paint? Well actually, they looked ok, and in some ways not too different from their onstage personas. Their new look was displayed to the world on the cover of the Lick It Up album, which was released in 1983. Their 1983 UK tour brought them to Newcastle City Hall and I went along with my mate Dave. Although the guys had gone (semi) straight in terms of their facial appearance, the show was almost as outrageous as ever. See the tank that appears on the front cover of the programme? 
Well that tank appeared on stage with KISS on the tour. From the KissFans site: “The stage was still a tank, and the “turret” moved… but there were hardly any pyrotechnics at all! KISS played in some very small venues and the gun had to be shortened for some shows… otherwise it would cut the stage in two!! Not every effect had been kicked out of the show however! The band would still end up on the “gun turret” and the turret would still turn from side to side, puffing smoke. Support for the 1983 concert were Heavy Pettin’, a metal band from Glasgow. KISS were soon back at the City Hall, playing two nights at the venue in 1984. This time the support was exciting in that it was Bon Jovi, who were up and coming and were touring in support of their debut album. 
This time we had seats right down the front, and came away almost deaf! 🙂 KISS were a shit hot rock band in the early 80s, with or without the make-up and the pyrotechnics. For this show, the UK dates had a scaled down version of the US stage show. Two ramps, allowed the band to walk from the top of the amplifiers to the stage. The drum riser was covered with black “fur”, while the ramps were painted like zebra fur. 
I remember feeling the poor cousins because we never seemed to get the full US KISS experience, I guess because of the logistics of taking their massive show around the world, and also because of the relatively small size of the venues which KISS were playing in this country, and in the rest of Europe. But, hey, it was still a great show and lots of fun. Setlist 1984: Creatures of the Night; Detroit Rock City; Cold Gin; Fits Like a Glove; Firehouse; Exciter; Gimme More; War Machine; I Love It Loud; I Still Love You; Young and Wasted; Love Gun; Black Diamond; Lick It Up; Rock and Roll All Nite
29 Aug
Kiss Alive! Birmingham Odeon May 1976
Kiss Alive! Birmingham Odeon May 1976
We’d read all about the weird world of KISS and their outrageous US stage show in the music papers, so when we saw that they were touring the UK we just had to go along. This was their first UK visit and it was a pretty short one too, consisting of four shows in three theatre venues (one night at Manchester Free Trade Hall, one at Birmingham Odeon and two at Hammersmith Odeon). I drove down with a group of mates to the Birmingham Odeon show. Support came from my old favourites Stray, with Del Bromham wearing his silver mirror suit. Stray were touring to promote the Houdini album. I remember not recognising many of the songs, as most were from their new album, although I think they finished with the old stage favourite All In Your Mind. 
Kiss were touring off the back of their Alive! double album and their set was built around that. They came over as a hot rock n roll band, complete with the crazy over the top make-up. I remember us staring in awe of their massive stacks, although I suspect the show we saw wasn’t anywhere near the scale of their massive US stage show, because of the limitations of the venue. And they had rocket firing guitars, Gene Simmons spitting blood and breathing fire; Ace Frehley’s guitar bursting into flames; Peter Criss’ elevating drum riser; Paul Stanley’s heavy posing, and various other pyrotechnics throughout the show. We were all very impressed, although we also thought that they didn’t quite live up to the hype we had read. The programme declares: “The KISS experience. KISS is total sensuality. Thundering rock, intense vibration, and soaring freedom. Penetrating energy and exploding emotion stimulate every nerve to unequalled heights”. Pretty impressive stuff, eh? The volume wasn’t LOUD enough and the sound mix wasn’t perfect, but it was great to see this seminal live act at such an important point in their career. 
We ran into an old friend who was studying at Nottingham at the time, and gave him a lift home on our way back, which meant that we final got home in the early hours of the morning, as dawn was breaking. The things you do for rock n roll. Setlist: Deuce; Strutter; Flaming Youth; Hotter Than Hell; Firehouse (Gene spitting fire); She(Ace guitar solo); Nothin’ to Lose; Shout It Out Loud; 100,000 Years (Peter Criss drum solo); Black Diamond. Encore: Detroit Rock City; Rock and Roll All Nite; Let Me Go, Rock ‘N’ Roll. Wish I’d joined the KISS army! 🙂 (see page from programme to right)
28 Aug
King Newcastle City Hall 1985
King Newcastle City Hall 1985
The Steps in Time tour
Big hair, Big colourful boots (and clothes) and a catchy hit song Love and Pride. That about sums up my memories of the band King. This was a band that quickly appeared from nowhere (it seemed), hit major success, and then they seemed to disappear just as quickly. Singer and front man Paul King developed a look which was described by his local newspaper the Coventry Telegraph as “like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But, hell, the girls loved him”. Paul King reappeared as a VJ on MTV and was on the TV quite a bit at the time. I recall the gig being good fun, although I also recall feeling a little out of place among loads of teenage girls screaming at Paul. And I was right down the front in the thick of it. The music was a mix of pop, dance and new wave. The ticket says the show also featured Special Guests, but I don’t recall who they were. 
From promo material of the time: “KING’s music makes use of many diverse and disparate influences – and they’re brought together with a heady power that puts “Love & Pride” right up there among the contenders. It’s not easy to describe their music – except to say that it’s a great danceable track that should work well with practically everybody. It’s got a really good and original feel and some excellent hooks that take no time at all in imprinting themselves on the brain – so provided you give it the plays it deserves – and it deserves a lot – KING could well have a massive debut hit. It’s been a long time since there was a band as original as KING with a song as good as “Love & Pride” – well now they’ve arrived and it could well signal the start of something big (and booted).”
27 Aug
Great British R&B Festival Colne August 26th 2013. Chris Farlowe, Climax Blues Band, The Pretty Things, and Wilko Johnson
Great British R&B Festival Colne August 26th 2013. Chris Farlowe, Climax Blues Band, The Pretty Things, and Wilko Johnson
Marie and I spent the bank holiday Monday afternoon at the Great British R&B Festival, which is held each year in Colne, Lancashire. Yesterday afternoon’s line-up was particularly strong, featuring Chris Farlowe, Climax Blues Band, The Pretty Things, and Wilko Johnson on the International Stage which is in the Municipal Hall on the main street.
The Norman Beaker Band opened the proceedings at 2pm. Or rather the proceedings were actually opened by the crazy compare, wearing a fluorescent suit and hat. The guy did a great job on introducing the bands, changing his suit and hat throughout the day, getting more and emore outrageous as the day went on. Norman and the guys played a couple of songs before they were joined by Chris Farlowe. It’s a few years since I saw Chris. His voice was as soulful as ever, and the years haven’t diminished his energy or style. They played a set of favourites including Stormy Monday Blues; Tough on you, Tough on me; The Small Faces’ hit All or Nothing, and Handbags and Gladrags. They closed with (of course) his big hit Out of Time. The guy remains a master of R&B. Pure class and a great way to start the day.
Next up was The Climax Blues Band. Now if its a few years since I saw Chris, it’s even longer since I saw these guys in concert. In fact I think the last time I saw them was probably I the mid 70s. The line-up has changed many times over the years, with no-one remaining from the early days of the band. The current band continues the Climax traditional of recreating an authentic Chicago blues sound. We slipped out for something to eat,but got back in time to catch the end of their set, including their hit single Couldn’t Get It Right. 
The Pretty Things are a big favourite of mine, and they never let me down. The current line-up of the band features originals Phil May on vocals, tambourine and maracas, and Dick Taylor on guitar, along with long standing Pretty Frank Holland on guitar and mouth organ. They started the set with a couple of old R&B tunes, and the classic Cries From the Midnight Circus. Phil then explained that, although it was a blues festival, they had to play something from their classic album S F Sorrow. So next up was S F Sorrow is Born and She Says Good Morning. The three front men then switched to acoustic mode to sing a couple of old blues: Come on in my Kitchen, and Little Red Rooster, featuring some excellent slide guitar from Dick, growling vocals from Phil and great blues harp courtesy of Frank. These guy know how to sing the blues, and they just held the place spellbound. Then it was back to their old rock roots for Mona, and Midnight to Six Man. Great stuff. The Pretty Things were swiftly followed by the great Wilko Johnson. Wilko’s situation has been well documented, and his recent appearances have apparently all been joyous celebrations of his music and legend. Thankfully Wilko is still able to play and, in his own words: ‘It seems that I am still being spared the final onslaught of my terminal cancer. As the memory of the Farewell Tour recedes I am feeling again the desire to get up on stage and do my thing while health allows – so it is that I have decided to make some festival appearances during during the summer’. 
He had asked specially to play at the festival, having done so several times in the past, and everyone present yesterday was delighted to see him. First Wilko was presented with an award for British Blues legend, he then started his set with the Feelgood’s song All Through the City, and also included the Feelgood classics Going Back Home, Roxette, Back in the Night and She Does It Right. The crowd clearly love the guy, and it was a very emotional show, with Wilko strutting his stuff back and forth across the stage, chopping away at his telecaster with those familiar riffs. Its many years since I’ve seen Wilko in concert and I felt privileged to have the opportunity to do so once more. I must also mention Norman Watt-Roy whose bass playing was simply stunning. Again, its many years since I’ve seen Norman perform, probably since I he was with Ian Drury and the Blockheads. The encore was a very emotional Bye Bye Johnny, with everyone waving Bye Bye to Wilko. The crowd were on their feet for a full 5 or 10 minutes after he finished, giving him a real standing ovation. Strong stuff.
We left after Wilko’s set, and drove back up north to pick Laura up and then return home.
26 Aug
Nik Kershaw Newcastle City Hall 1984
Nik Kershaw Newcastle City Hall 1984
Nik Kershaw was very busy in 1984. He released two albums, Human Racing and The Riddle and had five hit singles: I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Human Racing, Wouldn’t It Be Good, Dancing Girls, and The Riddle. I saw him at the massive Elton John show at Wembley stadium that summer, and on his winter tour, when he called at Newcastle City Hall. His backing band (who even had their own billing on the ticket!) were known as The Krew, and consisted of local lad, and old friend, Keith Airey on guitar, along with Tim Moore, Mark Price, and Dennis Smith. The tour was to promote The Riddle which is quite a strangely structured, but also very catchy song, which was a great favourite of mine at the time, and remains so to this day. 
I remember the place being packed and big singalongs for Wouldn’t it be Good and The Riddle :). Support act for the tour was Scary Thieves. I’m afraid I have no recollection at all of them! Wiki reports: Scary Thieves were a short-lived English 1980s New Wave band, best known for their 1984 hit “Tell Me Girl” and their 1985 hit “The Waiting Game”.
“Near a tree by a river, There’s a hole in the ground, Where an old man of Aran, Goes around and around, And his mind is a beacon, In the veil of the night, For a strange kind of fashion, There’s a wrong and a right, But he’ll never, never fight over you” (The Riddle, Nik Kershaw, 1984).
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