Otway is a pop star. Well he must be because he says it’s true. After all he resigned himself to his future as a pop star icon when he 
was young watching Top of the Pops. He didn’t dare reveal his true ambition to his mother who would not have believed him so he kept it quiet until he met his friend Wild Willy Barrett and the two of them embarked upon a lifelong career, all with the ultimate aim of making John Otway a true pop star. Sometimes along that journey the two would fall out but destiny would bring them back together again as they are today. The strange marriage has now reached its 50th birthday (wow! Can it be true) and the odd couple are travelling the roads of England singing their songs to cult followers old and new.
Now it is long long time since I witnessed Otway and Barrett. I have seen Otway advertised solo many times over the years but have passed on the opportunity of joining our true pop star in concert until now. The last time I saw the duo was probably in Newcastle Cooperage on a tour where to gain entry, free, you had to take along their latest 45 rpm single. Or maybe it was at Maxwell’s nightclub in Tynemouth (long since gone). Whatever, it was in the late 1970s or early 1980s. So, time to renew my acquaintance with the one and only true pop star, John Otway.
Jackie, my carer, and I arrived early and on time to snatch a couple of seats close to the front (well actually everyone is close to the front in the Launderette). In fact, the kind man on the door made sure that I had plenty of room in my wheelchair and that we had a great view of the stage. Soon our heroes took to said stage and it was not long before Otway delivered his hit, which made him a pop star “Really Free” and brought the duo into our living rooms on the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. Otway was on top form, really getting into the angst of his ballads, ripping his shirt open, and being, well, a pop star.
After a short interval, during which I was pleased to meet my old friend Mitch, who would often comment on my blog, we were away again with “Somewhere over the Rainbow”, “Two Little Boys” (yes the song which became a hit for he who shall not be named, but Otway sang it before that) and the wonderful “Beware of The Flowers… Coz You Know They are Going To Get You… Yeah!”. Soon we are close to the end and Otway tears out his heart in front of us to the beautiful Bob Lind ballad “Cheryl’s Going Home “; I can feel the emotion in his voice and his typically over-the-top melodramatic performance is well; just wonderful.” Choo-Choo “goes the train down the track taking Otway’s love Cheryl away for ever. My heart goes out to my favourite pop star. Melodramatic magic.
Now I must make mention of the many guitars and other instruments including a violin and a set of Bagpuss bagpipes played largely by Wild Willy and sometimes by Otway. And I just have to mention Wild Willy’s brown dustbin which he opens frequently to reveal a loud amplifier hiding within. Willy closes the set by sawing his guitar in rhythm to the music, hitting the same guitar with a claw hammer (I kid you not) and then stamping on it. He sells the guitar to a guy in the audience for £31.99 and promises that if you bring two of his smashed guitars along to a gig, you will be admitted free. And he means it. A couple of encores and then our two heroes are gone. Jackie is now convinced that Otway is indeed a pop star.
Thanks to Jackie and Mitch for the photos and Mitch for the set list (thanks, much appreciated)
Set List: Louisa on a horse; Gypsy; Really free; Best dream; If I did; Separated; Misty mountain; Bluey green; Body talk. INTERVAL. Somewhere over the rainbow; Two little boys; Real tears from both eyes; Beware of the flowers; 21 days; The snowflake effect; Come back darling; Cheryl’s going home.
Encores (sort of) – Racing cars; Geneve.
“Billy is a Geordie”. So the chant went from the Newcastle crowd. Billy joined in and danced around while the crowd kept chant going. This occurred halfway through the set and demonstrated the love and respect the Newcastle crowd have for 
This time I went along and the impetus came from the man himself. I saw pictures of him and he looks so cool these days. He is reborn as a Rasta Man with long grey dreadlocks right down his back, almost to his waist. Completely unrecognisable from cool soul singer of the 80s. So when I saw recent pictures of Rasta Billy I decided I should go and show my support for the cool guy. And after all, I do know lots of his songs.
The City Hall was packed. Carer Jan and I arrived during the set of the support act, a young female singer 
Then he returns to his true roots, Bob Marley, and he does justice to “no woman, no cry”. My thoughts run back to the hot summer of 1976 when Marie and I were dancing along to Bob Marley performing that very song in Leeds Students Union Refectory. Billy brings back magic memories. The ballad “Suddenly” is just lovely. Billy the Geordie leaves us with, of course, “When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going”. Another massive singalong, the capacity crowd simply love the guy and his performance is superb. For many of the songs he holds his microphone towards the audience who take over the singing.
Now sometimes I don’t like it when an artist allows the audience to take over, but the vibe between Billy and the City Hall crowd is so strong and there is so much love for the guy, it works well. It is like we are all with him, the artist and the audience together as one; as it should be. A few moments later and he is back. There is only one song left to perform: “Caribbean Queen”. We all singalong with Billy the born-again Rasta man Geordie. Magic.
Second night of a three night run of concerts. Which is, by the way, quite hectic for me these days! The first night was a concert by Mike and the Mechanics who I have already blogged about and were superb, followed by 
Now imagine a concert where you just go along out of interest to see what someone is like. Of course, I remember Matt Goss as a member of Bros, teenybopper heroes who were not really my cup of tea at the time. My daughter Ashleigh was really into them however. I had read that Matt had rebuilt his career as a big Las Vegas star, singing Rat Pack, crooner type songs. Intriguing. So, I decided to go along just to see what he would be like. I didn’t really know what to expect, to be honest. So along I went with carer Jackie and guest sister-in-law Elaine. All of us wondering what Matt would be like.
To say it was a revelation is an understatement. I have never seen anyone who has turned around his career 360° and come out fighting, strong and simply superb. This guy has gone from being right up top as a youngster with his twin brother (who is also making his own success as an actor) to more or less disappearing, certainly from my view point, to rebirth as a new star in America and Vegas in particular. I have never seen anyone connect with the audience in the way that Matt Goss does. To say he reaches out to the audience doesn’t touch it. He literally walked right down into the crowd taking his time to talk to people, ask them where they came from (“Redcar, where is that? Oh, just past Middlesbrough”) and offer them a small glass of tequila to give a toast to the crowd (“keep the glass, it is a gift from me”) accompanied by his bodyguard at all times.
You can just imagine him moving around the tables smoothly in Caesar’s Palace, Vegas. And then he is swiftly back up on stage singing his heart out. His voice is strong and he is accompanied by a full orchestra and excellent backing band and singers. A fantastic show. But I guess what else were we to expect given this guy goes down great in Las Vegas. We were all totally overwhelmed by it. This is a show to top all other shows. I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the best concerts I have ever attended. No joke, this guy is the business. He has everything, no fear, totally authentic, great voice, looks just great, snazzy suit, great moves on stage and a repertoire of classic songs.
Some of my favourite songs of all time from the Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Cole Porter stable. So, he sang “Luck Be a Lady Tonight”, the fabulous “Nature Boy” (one of my all-time favourite songs), Anthony Newley’s “Feeling Good” (another favourite of mine), “Birds Do It” (you know this one… Let’s Fall in Love), “Fly Me to the Moon” and (“it took me a long time to feel I earned the right to sing this one, but now I feel I can”) “My Way”. The classics keep coming. He throws in some new songs, which I obviously don’t know but sounded good; one is called “Mustang”. And he takes is back to his old band and “When Will I be Famous” and “I owe You Nothing”.
Simply great. Jackie, Elaine and I are all in total agreement. We had all witnessed something special.
A night of nostalgia. 
So tonight’s concert, which is in two parts with a short interval consists of a mix of old (pre-Mike D’abo; that is Paul Jones) era Manfred Mann hits, plenty of vintage blues, and some Paul Jones new solo album material mixed in. The first set is mostly blues with some great vocals and mouth harp from Paul Jones who looks good, sounds good and twists some great blues licks from his large collection of different key mouth blues harps which perch on the mic stand. Interspersed with that is the Bob Dylan cover (one of several which were a hit for Manfred Mann) “Just like a Woman” and the McGuinness Flint hit “Malt and Barley Blues”. Tom McGuinness is a member of the band (he was in Manfred Mann before forming McGuinness Flint) and turns out to be one of the stars of the evening with some great guitar work. They also sing Burt Bacharach’s “My Little Red Book” which was covered by Manfred Mann in the 1960s. Somewhere along the way there are plenty of blues songs including classics such as “Smokestack Lightning”. The closing song on the first set is one of Manfred Mann’s massive hits the wonderful “Pretty Flamingo”. Just great.
During the interval I catch a drink and purchase a couple of Paul Jones CDs which the man himself autographs for me; one for myself and one for my friend John in the USA. I am careful not to drink too much as I am still suffering from my misbehaviour the evening before at the Martin Carthy concert (see previous blog entry to read of my misbehaviour). The second set opens with another big chart hit “5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1”. We are soon treated to another classic song “Oh no! Not my Baby”, this one written by Carole King. Then Tom McGuinness comes up front for the McGuinness Flint hit “When I’m Dead and Gone” which, he reminds me was written by Gallagher and Lyle who were in the band alongside Tom McGuinness and Hughie Flint, before they went on to have many solo hits. I last saw McGuinness Flint supporting Humble Pie (or was it Wishbone Ash) at Newcastle Odeon in the early 70s. Then the band complete the show with “The Mighty Quinn” (another Dylan song, and sung originally by Mike D’abo, as I recall) and “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”. The encore is (most appropriately) “If You Gotta Go Go Now” (yet another Dylan song). And so it is over. A great night of classic 60s hits, and some great blues. At the end of a busy week of three concerts: Graham Gouldman, Martin Carthy and the Manfreds.
This man is a walking jukebox! Not only did he write/co – write all of the hits of the magnificent 10CC, he also penned many of the hits, all songs I loved and still love, from the 60s. So, when I saw he was appearing at the Fire Station in Sunderland I just had to go along.
Graham started acoustically with one other guitarist Andy song which I didn’t know he had written: “Pamela, Pamela” which was a UK hit for the late Wayne Fontana. A simple song with a very catchy tune. Lovely. Then he started to sing a series of songs which mean so much to me and were such an important part of my youth. With each song, Graham introduced a new band member until the stage was full of a set of four excellent musicians. And so he delivered: “Heart Full of Soul” which was a hit for the Yardbirds, the late great Jeff Beck’s guitar solo still jangling around my brain; the bittersweet tale that the note in a milk bottle can bring (Graham explained his father brought him the title for the song after seeing a milk bottle with such a note one day): “No Milk Today”, a hit for Herman’s Hermits, and then moving forward to a 10CC hit “Good Morning Judge”. It doesn’t come any better than this.
A few more songs in and then another classic, again inspired by a conversation with a family member about looking through windows as the bus passed by each house: “Look through Any Window” a big hit for The Hollies, one of my all-time favourite bands. Graham explained that when he was inducted into the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame there was only one song he could choose and that had to be his favourite (and mine) “Bus Stop” which he wrote, again for the Hollies. Another excellent 60s pop song. Somewhere in there he sang a big hit which, to my shame, I had forgotten: “Bridge to your heart” which he co-wrote with the late great Andrew Gold in their short lived collaboration band Wax.
I have wanted to see 
“One of his (Mills) earliest musical memories was “Puff, the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul and Mary, which he believes “summed up [his] childhood… However, it was hearing “You Really Got Me” by…The Kinks that inspired him to become a guitarist. “It was like walking into a temple, a moment when my life changed… Chung! This is your destiny! …I was a guitar worshipper.” Through the guitar, Mills also discovered Deep Purple, and has cited their lead guitarist Ritchie Blackmore as a major influence on his style. Later, Mills started to delve deeper into psychedelic music, and spent most of his A-Level years taking LSD and listening to The Doors. … but he soon realised that drugs alone would not bring him the enlightenment he sought.“ (From Wikipedia)
I even recognised several songs: the John Lennon classic “Gimme Some Truth” the lyrics spat out by Mills with appropriate venom, the Kula Shaker signature tune, “Tattva” and the Deep Purple (originally Joe South) classic and closer “Hush”. Along the way we were treated to songs with references to the 60s: “Grateful When Your Dead” and “Jerry Was There” (Jerry Garcia?) A compelling and quite bizarre take on “Ginger Bread Man” (yes, the lyrics were actually “Run, Run As Fast As You Can, You Can’t Catch Me, I’m the Ginger Bread Man”: just wonderful). Add some appropriate namedropping. Crispian: “I stole the next riff from George Harrison. I rang George one evening (you would, wouldn’t you, after all your mum is Hayley Mills) “Hey George, I hope you don’t mind I borrowed that riff from you”. George: “of course that’s okay, Crispian, but actually it’s not my riff, it’s Eric’s (Clapton, of course). Surreal., Then they were gone. It was almost 10:30 PM.
They were soon back for a trio of encores concluded with the wonderful “Govinda”, very similar to a Quintessence song of the same name. I loved every minute of it. Then things started to get crazy. A friendly guy, completely off his head, got me a set list (see image) from the stage. He then went on to offer to steal a guitar pedal for me.” No!” I shouted. He persisted “hey man, it’s cool”. I replied “it’s okay, I’m cool. The set list is just fine for me”. The guy gave me a couple of peace signs and disappeared into the crowd. Elaine and I made a hasty retreat through the crazy throng and got into our taxi, which was there waiting for us. The craziness continued, we drove through a tunnel where groups of young people were congregated making fires and settling themselves down for the evening, a couple of guys entertaining them with fire sticks which they were twirling around their heads.
Another night of memories and revisiting a band I followed many years ago. 
I first saw The Sweet live back in 1973 or 1974 when they were at the height of their fame and success, at Newcastle City Hall along with a good friend, Dave, who I have lost touch with and a hall full of screaming teenage girls. It really was a “Teenage Rampage” and lots and lots of fun! A few years later, after the hits had started to fade away, I saw them with my friend Norm and a few others on a very cold, wet evening at Sunderland Locarno. The venue was far from full but the show was excellent, very loud and quite heavy. Next time I saw them I was with my late wife Marie in a very empty City Hall. This was around 1981, and singer Brian Connolly had left the band to pursue I think a solo career. The Sweet continued as a three-piece band with Steve Priest taking on vocal duties and fronting the band. They still sang all of the hits but it wasn’t quite the same.
Roll-on 10 years or so and I saw Brian Connolly’s Sweet performing at Sunderland Polytechnic Students Union Wearmouth Hall at a packed Saturday night dance. This was Brian’s version of the band with a completely new set of musicians. Nevertheless, and of course, all the hits were performed well and the crowd went crazy. Then move forward another 20 years or so I saw Andy Scott’s Sweet performing as part of a 70s package tour alongside Slade (minus Noddy and fronted by guitarist Dave Hill alongside original drummer Don Powell).
The Boiler Shop is exactly what the name suggests, an old warehouse which in the past was an industrial workplace, situated behind Newcastle train station. My carer Jackie and I had a great view of the proceedings, sitting on a wheelchair platform overlooking the crowd with a direct view of the stage. Well by now, Andy Scott has achieved his dream and transformed The Sweet into a heavy rock band with new musicians around him all of whom look like they could have come from a true Hard Rock heavy metal band. Andy is the only surviving member of The Sweet. Brian Connolly sadly passed away in his early 50s, from alcoholism. Drummer Mick Tucker sadly passed away recently as did bassist and he of the bright ginger hair and crazy voice Steve Priest, who fronted his own version of the band situated in the USA.
So, Andy remains out on his own, to fly The Sweet flag high, having rejuvenated the band as out and out rockers, no longer closet heavy metal contenders. I buy a T-shirt and a couple of signed posters, one for me and one for my friend John in the USA. Soon the band take the stage and they are loud, heavy and I mean very LOUD. Great! They crash into “Action” and then follow this with a couple of heavier tunes. And that is the format for the evening: a hit followed by one or two heavier album or new tracks followed by another hit and so it goes onward.
Andy Scott looks great. All the heavy-metal hero with a long mane of pure white hair. Respect. He bangs away at his red Fender Stratocaster. “The Sixteens “(my particular favourite) soon follows and then we are treated to hit after hit. “Wigwam Bam”, “Little Willy”, “Hellraiser” and another classic “Love Is like Oxygen”. Just fantastic. Each one delivered in a new heavier, louder manner. These are no longer pop classics they are heavy metal songs!
A night of memories and reminiscences once again. This time I am in the lovely new local venue the Sunderland Fire Station for an evening of music with none other than 
Dada were first on the bill below Yes and headliners Iron Butterfly. I decided to treat myself to a copy of their album (see image) to remind myself of their music. They were a large band (I think around 10 piece) with a brass section and Elkie singing as front person, alongside ultracool soul man Robert Palmer.I remember being very impressed by the overall power of the band and, in particular, by Elkie’s raucous blues/jazz vocals. I was very much a young gig goer of 14 and sat in awe, by myself, feeling I was part of a big adventurous journey into the realm and world of live music which was just beginning.
The next time I ran into Elkie was in the band Vinegar Joe. She had become the wild, gypsy front person, again alongside Robert Palmer on vocals and her husband of the time Peter Gage on guitar (that is him, standing to the right of Elkie on the front cover of the album. Pretty cool guy, with great long hair and who played some wonderful slide guitar, as I recall). I was lucky enough to see Vinegar Joe several times during the early 70s at the Lincoln Festival, the Reading Festival, and local venues including (I think) Sunderland Locarno, Newcastle Mayfair and most notably supporting the legendary Free at Sunderland Top Rank. Vinegar Joe were quite a while raucous rock/blues band and we all sat in awe of the force of nature that was Elkie. Again, I bought a copy of one of their albums to remind myself of these Rock ‘n’ Roll Gypsies and their music. “They were an electrifying live act and quickly became a staple of the UK’s then-thriving university circuit.” (
The next time I saw Elkie was headlining as a solo artist at Sunderland Empire Theatre. This was in the late 70s and Elkie had become more of a middle of the road (and very successful) rhythm and blues singer hitting the charts with “Pearl’s a Singer”, “Sunshine after the Rain” and many other successful singles.
This is also another night of renewing friendships, through something of a coincidence. I was just telling my carer for the evening Jackie about when I saw Elkie in Vinegar Joe supporting Free at the aforementioned concert when along comes an old friend Paul, who I have not seen for many years and says “Do you remember seeing her in Vinegar Joe at the Rink? ” We chat about that great concert and how wonderful she was “back in the day”. Great to see him again.
Both sections of the show are impressive in their own way. The mix of classic soulful chart hits and raucous blues is fantastic. Elkie still has a very powerful voice. Although I can’t recall the entire set list, I do remember thinking how many hits she has had, some of which I had forgotten, such as “Don’t Cry out Loud “and “Lilac Wine”. During the first half she also does an excellent version of the Rod Stewart classic “Gasoline Alley”.
The second half of the concert comprises more hits including the Chris Rea song “Fool If You Think It’s Over” but, rather than finishing with her massive chart success “Pearl’s a Singer” she chooses to give us a great rendition of this song halfway through the second set. She closes the evening with a series of blues classics, belting them out in a powerful voice and showing what her true roots are. By the end everyone is up on their feet, lots of dancing, and a standing ovation for Elkie, which is well deserved. A great night full of many memories. Happy days.
Newcastle City Hall during the 1970s, several times. Sometime during the 1980s I began to lose faith in him, and started to view him (quite wrongly, on reflection) as a middle-of-the-road artist. But he was always much more than that. I used to play and play his first album Silverbird which contained such classic tracks as “The Dancer” and “Drop Back”. And then, of course, he wrote a lot of songs which were taken up by Roger Daltrey on his self titled album, including “Giving It All Away”. His performance as the Pierrot for “The Show Must Go on” is etched in everyone’s mind. And I love the song “Moonlighting”. The guy was a great storyteller back in the day.
Over the years Leo has suffered financial difficulties as a result of mismanagement by the late great Adam Faith (now there’s someone I would have loved to see in concert) and now live in Australia. But he is back, here in the UK, touring middle -sized venues on his 50th anniversary tour (is it really 50 years?); back where he belongs, on stage singing those songs. And sing them he does. He looks great, particularly for his 74 years which he is proud to mention, and his voice is really strong.
The Whitley Bay Playhouse website proudly advertised the show thus: “British music legend Leo Sayer will be touring the UK in 2022 celebrating his 50th anniversary in music. With this performance, Leo and his band bring boundless energy, exuberance and a hit packed show to some of his favourite venues across the country. Known the world over for his army of hits which include Thunder In My Heart, Moonlighting, One Man Band, I Can’t Stop Loving You, More Than I Can Say, Have You Ever Been in Love, The Show Must Go On and the transatlantic number ones, When I Need You and You Make Me Feel Like Dancing. This is a hit packed, high energy evening not to miss!”
The concert comprises two sets with an interval. He starts off going right back to the beginning with “The Show Must go on” followed by more classic hits: “One Man Band” and “Moonlighting”. Then he does a mix of songs; some containing great blues harmonica and other classic Leo hits. You forget how many chart hits this man had. Set 2 starts with “Thunder in My Heart” and also includes two Beatles songs from his latest album “Eleanor Rigby” and “Across the Universe”. He concludes with a small selection of songs from the Daltrey album including closing track “Giving it all Away”.
Many thanks to Jackie for the photography.
This was a special evening to celebrate 
The concert sold out almost immediately (the venue is relatively small holding only a few hundred people) and I was lucky enough to get tickets. The show was full of lots of reminiscences for me personally. First up, it was opened by old friend 
After Malcolm’s introduction, Dave Stewart came on to further explain how he used to also shop at local fashion shop West One, where he would get custom-made leather jackets! He then reminisced about his folkrock band Longdancer, who went on to get a record deal with Rocket Records, Elton John’s label. He explained how he joined The Tourists with a lady called Annie Lennox and another Sunderland musician Pete Coombs who wrote the songs for the band. Surprisingly, Dave and Annie did not compose together until they formed the Eurythmics.
Dave has done pretty well for a lad from Sunderland. He has sold in excess of 100 million albums worldwide. He has also played with some of the biggest names in the business. It is great that he remembers his roots, and this return home concert was much anticipated by the people of Sunderland.
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