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Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Corby Rock Legends - The Mick Ferguson Story
Monday, 7 January 2013
The Disc May 2nd 1964
Rock 'n' Roll Archive - The Disc May 1964
1964 was the year when the term Beatlemania was coined. The Liverpool boys had their rivals though and heading the list were London's Rolling Stones. They've been called everything from great to outrageous. Now Disc tells you what the Rolling Stones are really like. The Stones were the main feature with a full page photograph on the cover and a double page feature inside. Keith; 'People think we’re wild and unruly. But it isn't true. I'm not a great raver by any means.' Mick; 'I hate petty people. I'm not over fond of being hungry either. Particularly when we're travelling and the only place to eat is a transport cafe' Bill; 'Thing I hate most about playing one-nighters is the fact that I don't get home till three or four in the morning. It's all grey dawn and cold and horrible and I'm tired. The playing is great it's the aftermath ad driving miles home.' Brian; 'A two tone Humber hawk is my favourite possession but the trouble is, I can't leave it outside the flat or theatre and in a way, it's an awful lot of trouble.' Charlie; 'I can't drive and don't particularly want to learn at the moment. I could change my mind in a couple of weeks though.' The Beatles were working on their very own TV Special with producer Jack Good. 'It has been a terrific thrill to work with them' Jack said while stating he is convinced the boys are the natural successors to the Crazy Gang. 'Take the Shakespearean sketch; the Beatles are acting a six minute sketch in full costume from A Midsummer’s Night Dream with Paul a Bottom, George as Moonshine, John as Thisbe and Ringo as the Lion. Thing is when they first saw the script they didn't like it. Thought it just wasn't funny. I had a hard job persuading them to do it. I was amazed at how quickly they picked it up and learnt their lines. At the start of the show they wear herald’s costumes to play a fanfare on the trumpets. They all had their costumes on and once they got hold of the trumpets it was riotous. All four of them started busking Cant Buy Me Love - it sounded like a street band down on the Shaftesbury Avenue!' Away from the stage Ringo was rumoured to be engaged to Dusty Springfield! This apparently was doing the rounds when Dusty arrived in the Hawaiian 
Islands where Dusty arrived for a few days holiday. The islands were buzzing with the news. If that left Ringo bemused, in America news was breaking that he was engaged to actress Ann-Margret! Disc wrote 'Ridiculous American publicity reaches new heights of absurdity with Hollywood claiming the song Anna on the Beatles' debut LP is dedicated to her! Top of the charts for this week were The Searchers with Don’t Throw Your Love Away. with the Bachelors on their tails at number two with I Believe. New releases included a Tommy Quickly record titled aptly, You Might As Well Forget Him. Interestingly from other music papers Disc included the top ten charts from other countries. Top in Spain was If I Had A Hammer by Trini Lopez, In Holland it was Vous Permettez Monsieur by Adamo and Norway's number one was La Meg Vaere Ung by Wenche Myhre. Gerry Marsden says he's been flying around that much, every time he sees a plane his elbow starts flapping! His brother Fred hates flying as Gerry reveals 'he just sits there very quietly when we're taking off and looks straight ahead. All the way until we land. Then he looks pleased - and surprised. The Letters page included a couple of interesting observations;' surely its time your readers realised what a 'gimmick' is? wrote R.F. Mattews, 84 Gofenton Drive, Oldbury Court, Fishponds, Bristol. ‘It seems obvious to me that a 'gimmick' is something used by artists to attract attention to their act and should be something easily removed by an artist on leaving the stage. Johnny Kidd and the Pirates with their pirate rig have a 'gimmick' but to say that the Rolling Stones' long hair is a gimmick is rubbish, since they don't remove their hair off stage!' C.Redmond, Northfield, Birmingham wrote; 'The great raving rocker Jerry Lee Lewis has shaken, bopped, and battered his way round England leaving a trail of lifeless pianos and breathless fans. Anyone who has seen his act must agree when I say it's now time for a welcome chart comeback.' Also happening this week.... This same week around the globe there was news of a £500 ransom demand for the return of the head of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen made to Danish newspaper BT. The paper's response was 'we don't know if the ransom is genuine or nonsense but we have forwarded the letter to the Copenhagen Homicide Squad as you would have expected, but if you don't want to talk to the police you may call us by telephone.' The head was severed in April and the police believe the job of cutting the head off was done in stages over several days. The headless statue is now in the workshops of the Royal Danish bronze foundries where a new head is being made. The well known tourist attraction was made by sculptor Edvard Eriksen in 1912 and placed by the waterside of the Copenhagen harbour in 1913. Britain's obsession with the weather was illustrated with over 500,000 telephone calls between October and April from people wanting to know if it was going to piss down. Two men walked into the Turkish Baths in Jermyn Street, Piccadilly, London, snatched the spectacles off the desk attendant and then robbed his till of £76. On television this weekend was a 90 minute Big Beat Show on Midlands TV starring Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Dave Clark Five and many more. Sunday Night at the London 
Palladium boasted the Dallas Boys, Lena Horne and comedian Don Arrol. As well as the regular 15 minute Beat the Clock game which gave compere the idea for his later huge success with the Generation Game. Z Cars, The Flying Doctor and Armchair Theatre provided this weekend's drama. A brand new Volkswagen 1200, advertised 'this is the car that asks to be abused, only then you will appreciate its durability and longevity'. Yours for only £625. The Austin Mini would have set you back £493 while if a Triumph Herald 1200 was your fancy, this was on sale for £579.7s.1d. How they came to adding 7/1d is anybody's guess! After you've bought a brand new car you may have wanted to smarten yourself up with the latest 'you can't beat style' suit from Burton's Tailoring at the cost of £11.19s 6d. Greville Wynn the businessman arrested in Russia in 1963 admitted to the Gordon Hospital, Westminster suffering with 'a disturbed mental state'. He was said to be making good progress. 'What's On Around the local Clubs and Pubs.' Kettering Windmill Club has Reg on the organ. The Working Mens Club in Wellington Street had Otto on the organ with Albert the compere. Town Band advertised a Free and Easy Night with Baz, Ray & Dodie. Ye Dun Cow, Wellingborough had Sing with Madge at the piano while The Globe Inn over at Raunds had Florence on piano and Bert on drums.
Sunday, 6 January 2013
1973 Marty Wilde about Alas Jon Smith
Two brothers who had paid their dues were twins Mick and Tony Haselip of Weldon. Tony had originally replaced Rhubarb Tree bound guitarist Graham Henderson in the Pacifics in 1966 before forming Magnetic Storm with his bass playing brother Mick. After a brief affair with the Lykes of Witch, they were now together and turning pro with another set of brothers, Stuart and Jimmy Irving and Kettering drummer Steve Short under the name of Alas Jon Smith, embarking on a tour of United States army bases in Germany beginning at Wildflecken in Bavaria. The base was originally a training centre for the Wehrmacht, the German Army 1937-39, and now a military training camp used by all NATO partners. One of its most famous residents was Elvis Presley back in 1958.
Tony; 'Mick, Stuart and myself all completed apprenticeships with British Steel Corby before going to Germany with Alias John Smith. It was our first job as professional musicians, it said so on our passports and we were proud, but as events unfolded it turned out to be a real eye opener. It seems unbelievable now but we had to play 5 x 45 minute sets each night and we were working 6 nights a week.
We were always broke, the deal was that we got paid 25% of our wages + expenses out in Germany and the 75% balance was sent back to the UK for safe keeping, we were told that this was the only way to avoid paying tax in both countries. It seemed logical at the time and we gave it no more thought.
Later on, after returning to the UK we had another adventure trying to trace our money, we went to see the agent Harry Goldblatt (honest it’s true) in Bournemouth, but he had disappeared. We never did get the dosh, but that’s another story.
I remember on one occasion shortly after arriving in Germany we played at a US base (pre re-unification) at Wildfleken on the border between East and West Germany. It was where the Americans had their crack ski-troops, just in case the Russians decided to attack across the mountains. It wasn’t only the war that was cold; it was the middle of winter with temperatures down to -20c. We got to the base easily enough, but that evening the snow was relentless and at about 8pm the guardroom told us that the main Autobahn was closed.
The Officer in charge of entertainment kindly offered to put us up in the sergeant’s quarters, a decision which he was later going to regret. They were basic amenities a bunk and a sink but we had little choice and gratefully accepted his hospitality. That night the club was packed, a captive crowd as there was nowhere else to go, we finished as normal at about midnight and it was then that the CO suggested a game of poker, the deal being that if we lost we played a song and if he lost he bought a round of drinks, that went on until about 3am, we stopped when the drummer Steve Short fell off his drum stool, we were all totally bladdered.
The kindly Officer then offered us a lift to quarters in his 2 cars, he had a 4x4 pickup and a gleaming Cadillac saloon, both cars were parked outside the club at the bottom of a small hill, we helped him to ‘gently’ clear away the snow so that he could show off the paintwork, he told us the story of how he had managed to con the Army and got them to fly them both out from his hometown in Texas, they were his pride and joy.
He drove the pickup with Stuart Irving and me sitting up front and his Sergeant drove the Cadillac with Mick, Steve and Jimmy checking out the drinks cabinet in the back. The road was total whiteout and so slippy that even the 4x4 struggled to get up the hill, his first attempt failed he slithered to a stop just short of the crest, so he reversed back down the hill, couldn’t stop and wrote off both his cars in one hit. I often wondered afterwards what his insurance company would have to say about that.
Whilst in Germany we were based in the Hotel De France at Wiesbaden near Frankfurt, it was a good central location and most nights we managed to get ‘home’ to the hotel, but some gigs were too far away. On one occasion we played at a base in South Germany that was very close to the Swiss border. It was too far to travel back to Wiesbaden so during the evening we arranged to stay overnight in the officers lounge, the local hotels were much too expensive but fortunately one of the troops we met had a girlfriend that worked in a local hotel and he arranged for her to get us some bogus receipts, the agent paid us extra for overnight stops, nice one.
We finished the gig, packed away the gear and settled down for the night in the Officers lounge. It was a large room with about seven sofas and a dozen armchairs. I got comfortable and quickly fell asleep. The next thing - I was abruptly woken and heard shouting and screaming, Stuart was dragging me off the sofa towards the door I could hear him saying ‘come on Tony be quick’, I shoved him away, ‘what’s going on?’ I was confused, I turned and saw two US marines both drunk, they were shouting something about smelly feet, one of them kicked the plate glass door which smashed into pieces I then noticed that they had guns and were pointing them at us. We legged it.
Driving became more and more difficult the longer we stayed in Germany. The old Ford transit was struggling with the extra mileage and extreme temperatures; it wasn’t long before it took four of us to drive it. One person on the steering wheel, another with a piece of string connected to the carburetor (the accelerator cable had snapped), another on the windscreen wipers (the motor had packed in) and another de-misting the windows (the heater didn’t work). Still we had all that money waiting for us back home, we could buy new gear, take a holiday, it was nice to dream.'
Steve did most of the driving down, he was more knackered than the rest of us. I remember traveling down an autobahn when Steve suddenly dozed off and veered over onto the other side of road, with a big artic Italian wagon coming the other way. Steve panicked, just in time! and avoided a collision but we ended up facing the wrong way. The lorry chased after us, with a wee Italian driver going nuts. It didn't help when Stuart Irving gave him the finger! He managed to hem us in and jumped out threatening like a wild man. We were crapping ourselves but Steve started backing up and we escaped from the scene! Crazy!'
Alas Jon Smith survived their many escapades in Germany and on their return auditioned successfully for legendary British Rock 'n' Roll star Marty Wilde who was set for a tour with his mate Joe Brown. John Grimley, who had joined Alias a month into the German tour when Mick and Tony Haselip returned home, recalls their first meeting with Wilde. "We were actually auditioning for a Jersey gig at a place in Derby, which we lost out on but Marty's manager Hal Carter, a well known figure who counted the Kinks amongst his clientele, just happened to be there and invited us to audition for Marty. We traveled up to Hull for this, set our gear up and Marty asked us to play a rock and roll song, a ballad and a pop song while he walked around this big hall in his sheepskin listening to us. At the end he asked us, "Have you got any stage gear?” We showed him our suits and that sealed it. “I like your sound, you'll do for me." It was the start of a terrific few years for us, leading to a three year gig for me with ex Move bass player Ace Kefford. Strangely, Marty asked which one of us was Jon Smith. "None of us" I said. "Who's Jon then?" I told him my name was John and he replied, "Do you know what my real name is?" to which I said no. It's Reg Smith, call me Reg from now on!"
“Our first rehearsal was at the Corby Bowling Alley, soon to become the Stardust Centre, where we ran through Marty’s hits Sea Of Love, Bad Boy, Teenager In Love etc. with me and Stuart providing the backing vocals. That was the day when Shafts opened its doors as the Exclusive Club and we were supposed to be playing along with Boot Z. Then all of a sudden, we were told we were making our debut with Marty that same night in Bedford at the Royal County Theatre Club as a late replacement for the Peddlars who called off because their drummer had fallen off his drum stool and fractured his arm!'
Nevertheless, despite the short notice, the band received an encouraging report for its debut in the showbiz page of the Bedford Chronicle?
'It was memory lane once again at the cabaret presented by the RYTC when Marty Wilde came on stage and did his thing. His backing men are the Alas Jon Smith Group and they presented a few numbers on their own before the top of the bill. This group was a little slow starting but once they got into the swing of things were really quite good and interesting to watch, particularly their lead singer, a very versatile funny young man by the name of Stewart. It has been said about Marty,, and quite truthfully too, that the basis of nearly all pop music is rock and roll and listening to the big voice of Marty you could see why. It was a pleasure to see a male entertainer who didn't have a tiny wasp waist and dainty little black patent leather dancing shoes. He was a big man, full of masculine charm and he turned on more than one female in the audience. Marty and his group had a right old go at Blue Suede Shoes and a Red Indian chant that had to be heard to be believed. The bawdy Old Bazaar In Cairo was done with much wit and laughter all around. Many old hits made the rounds, among them Teenager In Love, Rubber Ball, Donna, Singing The Blues. There was a great deal of variety and one of the best numbers was Joni Mitchell's Woodstock. Very nicely done and the Jon Smith backing group really outdid themselves with it.'
John; 'Next day, without Marty, we drove up to North Shield for a gig. That was a sign of things to come. We played two gigs a night for two weeks with Marty and then two weeks gigging without him. It was a hectic schedule playing venues such as the She Club in Liverpool and the following night a Working Men’s Club in Bristol. One week we played in Barrow In Furness and the next night in Welwyn Garden City! Two years of living out of a suitcase, some of the digs weren't particularly brilliant either. If you were booked into what they called 'theatre' digs, tbat was fine, you would get a breakfast at lunchtime. Even the sleeping arrangements were iffy at times. We played in South Wales a lot, Swansea sticks in my mind for a joke we played on Jimmy Irving. The landlady showed us our room and told us there was one double bed with nylon sheets, and two single beds, one with nylon sheets and the second with cotton. Jimmy immediately spoke up and said "I can't sleep under nylon sheets, I'm allergic to them, I'll have to have the single bed with cotton sheets. He then went to the bathroom - and we all jumped into the single bed with the cotton sheets before he came back. Just then, the door opened - and who should be standing there but the landlady! "Well I never!" she exclaimed in that lovely lilting Welsh voice, "what do we have here then?" She thought we were a bunch of queers!."No, you've got the wrong idea!" I said. Jimmy came back in, wondering what the hell was going on and we explained to the landlady it was all a bit of a laugh. She saw the funny side of it thankfully. It was in Swansea me and Steve Short had an altercation. We'd finished playing this club and had a few drinks. Steve was having a go at me about something or nothing and we ended up fighting each other! Marty intervened, just as the bouncers turned up and threw us all out. "I've never been thrown out of a club in my life!" Marty shouted. "You have now" I said.
Normally a gig began with Alias Jon Smith playing a couple of numbers before Marty casually strolled on, walked up to the mic, say “Good evening” and then without looking, stretch his arm out behind him, where I would then pass him his Gibson semi acoustic and we'd go straight into Elvis's Burning Love. It was corny but good crack. One night, I passed him a cheap plastic Woolworth’s guitar! He took it all in good fun though! I’m glad he did for he was a big bloke! Ricky Valance, the one hit wonder star, (Tell Laura I Love Her) overstepped the mark one time, making a sarcastic remark about him on stage. When he came off Marty pinned him up against the dressing room wall by the throat, threatening to do him over. Probably the highlight was a short Rock ‘n’ Roll tour we did with Billy Fury, Billy J. Kramer and Heinz. Both Fury and Kramer were nervous wrecks, used to drink a bottle of whisky before going on stage. Joyce and his kids Ricky and Kim would often show up at gigs, this was long before Kim became a huge star! 11 year old Ricky was signed up by Jonathan King as a hopeful answer to Donny Osmond and we played on a few sessions with him for his album.
We finished playing with Marty when we eventually got tired of being ripped off by his manager Hal Carter.
Friday, 4 January 2013
Corby Rock - St Cecilia - Leaping Up and Down
The first Corby band to gain a Top Twenty hit was St Cecilia with Leap Up And Down (Wave Your Knickers In The Air) in June 1971. Written by bass player Keith Hancock, inspiration for the song came during a holiday on the East coast with singer Les Smith. Keith: "We rented cottage in Norfolk where we met some French girls and during the time we spent with them the phrase ‘Leap up and down, wave your knickers in the air’ came into my head. Maybe I was being optimistic! But for some reason it stayed in the recesses of my mind”.
A week later I phoned Ricky Moss and told him I was going to write a hit record called Leap Up And Down. He started laughing. Two hours later I phoned to tell him I’d done it. Later in the week I played it to the rest of the band and they thought it was OK - so we started featuring it in our stage act. The song went down so well with the fans that we booked time at Derek Tompkins’ Beck studio in Wellingborough to record a demo of it. The recording session went smoothly and we emerged with a product I felt sure some enterprising record company would be certain to take. We had a lovely raucous, ballsy, brass sound on it and what I thought was a great bass line. Our manager sent the demo to several companies but they all seemed reluctant to take it on due to its lyrical content.”
John Proctor: “Wherever we played the song, people asked if it was available on disc. Eventually we started selling individually cut acetates for £1.50 a time - a huge amount of money, in 1971, when a 7” single cost only 35p. This fact alone convinced us that, if we could get a record deal, the song would sell. In due course Jonathan King heard the song and recognised the humour in it. King decided he could make it into a hit record and arranged a recording session for us at the Marquee Martin Studios in Wardour Street, London. We re-recorded the song along with an absolutely dire ‘B’ side called How You Gonna Tell Me - which King provided. This ensured that if the record was a hit, he would reap equal royalties! King also informed us that he didn’t like the bass line, insisting that it was too similar to the Beatles’ Ob La Di. We didn't agree but he changed it all the same and as a result, in our opinion, all the guts were taken out of the recording. It changed the sound totally. As soon as the recording was done we had to rush off to the South coast for a booking later that night - which meant that we had nothing to do with the final mixing. Jonathan secured a deal with Polydor Records and three weeks later we were summoned to their offices to hear the finished product. We were distraught. It sounded awful when compared to the original demo but there was nothing any of us could do about it. Fortunately and despite our reservations, the record was a success and spent seventeen weeks in the charts that summer - peaking at number 12. Looking back on the whole affair, I sometimes wish we had recorded a cover version of What Have They Done To My Song, Ma? - Melanie's big hit of that summer - as a response to King’s interference.”
The boys received a boost when Peter Jones reviewed it on his 'new singles' page in the Record Mirror. ‘This is blatantly commercial and could easily make it. Pretty straightforward stuff, at a breakneck tempo, and the frequent use of the word ‘knickers’ is no hardship. Could click.’
Guitarist John Proctor: “Unfortunately, it labeled us as a sort of dirty picture postcard band. Polydor released the record in April 1971 - but it was a struggle to get radio airtime. The lyrics appear tame now but, at the time, they caused us a problem”.
The opening verse was:
I once knew a girl, who was very, very shy,
Who never ever seemed to catch anyone’s eye,
She hit on a theme that made all the boys stare,
She leaped up and down and waved her knickers in the air.
Bringing his considerable resources to bear, Jonathan King promoted the record relentlessly. Interviewed in Reveille in July, he explained what had caught his imagination. ‘When I set out on this road I decided that my own formula for success was to be different. My formula is so different that when producers hear my product it stands out, they programme it and the housewives who listen have to notice it. ‘Knickers’ is a perfect example. When I first heard the song it made me sit up so I guessed it would have the same effect on others. It was ghastly, but different. It had a common, catchy bouncy enthusiastic quality, rather like a seaside postcard.’
Initial Sales were sluggish - mainly due to the BBC’s reluctance to broadcast a song about knickers. With DJs such as Tony Blackburn refusing to play the record on Radio One, it came as a surprise to everyone when Jimmy Young eventually decided to give it a spin on his show. Entering the charts at number 49 on June 19th, the song received the following review in the ‘New to the charts’ column of the NME: ‘That little number advising the ladies to jump about waving their undergarments is in the NME chart for the first time at number 28. It’s another production from that man behind a million hits, Jonathan King. According to bass player Keith Hancock, “We did it to shock people. Everywhere we played, we found the audiences in a kind of coma, hypnotised by the so called progressive groups. When we performed, we really shook them up and we found we could sell the acetates around the ballrooms. A copy fell into the hands of Mr. King. And the rest is history, as they say".
John: “The BBC refused to let us perform the song on Top Of The Pops - which was a huge blow! A coach load of our fans from Corby travelled down to London and protested outside the BBC studios - but to no avail. Auntie BBC was not to be swayed. Mel Cornish, the producer of TOTP, stated; 'I simply made an editorial choice to leave this number out of the programme bearing in mind the time it went out and the very young audience we attracted. I just didn't think it was appropriate.'"
Adrian Rudge, a spokesman for Polydor Records, spoke out against the ban, “The programme is supposed to reflect public taste but if Top Of The Pops are not going to use this song, somebody is acting as the arbiter of public taste, namely Mr. Cornish. He is also denying the group their right to appear.”
Though generally scorned by the music establishment, Leap Up And Down remained in the British charts for over three months. Decades later Hancock defended his number: “Knickers may have been saucy twenty years ago but not now. In retrospect, the publicity we gleaned from the ban worked wonders for the sales but five lads from Corby were distraught that they weren't going to be on the telly!”
However, out of adversity comes fifteen minutes of fame. John Proctor: “Suddenly St Cecilia was in demand and playing one-nighters all over the country. We acted as support, on the Top Rank circuit, to established acts such as the Alan Price Set and the Sweet. Of course, all this meant saying goodbye to our day jobs and turning pro. We employed two roadies - Jim Smith, a bass player who had worked with numerous local bands and Dougie Wilson, a local DJ and former Butlins, redcoat. Jim and Dougie drove the equipment to the venues and set it all up while the band members followed in Ricky’s car. We made a point of always being at the venue by mid-afternoon for a sound check - before retiring to the local hostelry for a bevvy or two. That autumn a mini-tour of Scotland gave us some great nights in Hamilton, Hawick, Ayr and Dunfermline. I loved every minute of it. The travelling didn’t bother me at all.”
An unforgettable night occurred at the Belfry golf course near Sutton Coldfield. John Proctor: “We were headlining supported by a local rock ‘n’ roll band. They opened for the first forty-five minutes and then we did our sixty-minute spot. Imagine our surprise when, out of the blue, Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne from the Move joined us on stage for our last set. We were also featured in most of the teen magazines - which sold in huge numbers in the seventies. Articles and photographs appeared in Romeo, Mirabelle, Valentine and Jackie. Fame at last! Looking back, I’m sure there was a little bit of resentment, from some of the older, more established Corby bands, over our sudden ‘leap’ to prominence. Nothing was ever said to me directly but one could sense that certain people were thinking, 'It should have been me!'"
John Proctor had developed a keen interest in hypnosis around this time and practiced on his fellow group members whenever he could - at times with near catastrophic results. John: “Jim Smith was my best subject and I could put him in a trance very easily. One night we were playing at Alconbury Airbase and, while the equipment was being set up, I put him under. Shortly afterwards he disappeared in the van and apparently woke up at a set of traffic lights in Peterborough! When Jim regained his senses he returned to the airbase, grabbed me by the throat and threatened to knock the crap out of me. Of course, everybody thought it was hilarious!”
Jim Smith: “Dougie and I were full time roadies on £20 a week. Dougie was the sound engineer and in charge of the mixing desk - with about four knobs to twiddle! I was mainly involved in repairing anything that broke - amplifiers, guitar strings, whatever. The band was working four or five nights a week, all over the country - an example of the schedule being: Sheffield, Glasgow, Nottingham, Penzance… all in a matter of days! St Cecilia was a top rate outfit who on their tours, surprised a lot of critics. That song didn't do them any favours. We couldn't believe it when Leap raced up the charts. St Cecilia covered material such as the Stones' Honky Tonk Women and tracks from the progressive rock band Yes. Harmonies on numbers like Beyond And Before were brilliant. They would spend four or five days rehearsing new songs until they got them exactly right.”
‘Maybe pop music is taking itself too seriously’, suggested the Melody Maker in July, ‘if so the tendency is reflected in record sales. St Cecilia's Leap Up And Down being typical. Its droning lyrics and limp melody have little to commend them unless in the context of a reaction against the droll complexity and pretension that constitutes the worst of ‘progressive’ rock. Essentially it’s a fun record.’
A booking at Barberella’s in Birmingham, reviewed in the Melody Maker by Denis Deatheridge, perhaps summed up the media’s feelings towards the band: ‘They didn't exactly get everybody up waving their knickers around in the air but they succeeded in making the title of their current hit seem like something from a Sunday school song book compared with some of their material. The Girls From Roedean was introduced by lead singer Les Smith as “a filth spot”. By the time they'd got through this drawn out routine featuring drummer Graham Smith in drag, no one was likely to dispute the accuracy of this description. It all seemed innocent enough at the start as pianist Ricky Moss, top hat aloft, led the band into Nutrocker. They also put across Delta Lady, No Matter What, Joy To The World, Travelin’ Band with a healthy vitality. Perhaps they should have saved the smut for the next stag do.’
Keith Hancock and Ricky Moss were being encouraged to write more songs whilst on the road and went back to Beck Studios on several occasions to record demos. Keith: “I had a couple of songs - another saucy number called The Village Bicycle. Ricky had a novelty number called He’s A Collector and John had written a skiffle-style song called Don’t Want Women, Don’t Want Wine. The recordings for these numbers took place in one 8-hour session in September 1971. We decided that John’s number would make an ideal choice for the lucrative Christmas market and we recorded the master at Polydor Studios - complete with clinking glasses and a singalong party atmosphere. Ricky’s He’s A Collector was chosen as the ‘B’ side. A release date was tentatively set for mid-November but, unfortunately for us, Polydor had other priorities and our ‘Christmas single’ was delayed until January 21st! ‘Wine’ made the NME ‘breakers’ of the week on release.’ With all due respect, many people were attracted to their recent hit by the ‘forbidden fruit’ aspect of its lyric. Auntie BBC shouldn’t have anything to frown about with this new one. It is however, a tremendously happy affair which looks set for healthy sales.’
Sadly, in spite of the encouraging exposure in the music press, ‘Wine’ evaporated as soon as it hit the air waves.
John: “Ricky and I were still writing and decided that the next single needed to be another controversial one. We came up with a ditty which we felt could be an anthem for the fast-growing women’s liberation movement. The song was called C’Mon Ma, Burn Your Bra! and, as John Peel pointed out when he reviewed the disc in the music press, it established us as an ‘underwear’ group rather than an underground group!"
St Cecilia made a rare appearance in their home town on Valentine’s Day 1972. Dougie Wilson, acting as booking agent for the Corby Bowl, forewarned fans “this is the only chance Corby will have of seeing their heroes this year" .Dougie was helped on the promotion by Tom Haworth, whose main recollection of the event was of “walking around the town’s Market Square - distributing paper knickers to advertise the performance!”
“We travelled the length and breadth of the country throughout early ‘72" said Keith Hancock, "sometimes in ever decreasing circles! On a mini-tour of Wales we spent a lot of time driving around with no idea of where we were going - thanks to the Welsh Nationalists painting out all the English road signs, turning the signposts round or removing them altogether!”
Eight members of the Welsh Language Society later found themselves in the dock at Swansea Assizes charged with plotting to steal and destroy English road signs. Following an unsuccessful attempt by the accused to have their case heard in Welsh, two women in the Public Gallery were thrown out of court for chanting ‘Justice for the Welsh language!’ They were later jailed for three months.
Keith continued his story; “One booking particularly sticks in my mind - after a long journey north we arrived at a rather scruffy miners’ social club and were told that there were no dressing room facilities available and that we would have to make do with the Gents toilet. Following a quick inspection of this hellhole we decided that we would probably die a slow and torturous death if we were to change in there - so we hatched a plan. After doing a sound check we sloped off to a nearby pub for a few beers, arriving back at the club just as the audience was being let in and, in full view of the assembled crowd, proceeded to wash, shave and change on stage!"
More controversy followed at a Hunt Ball in Tiverton, Devon. During a performance of Leap Up And Down, Wave Your Knickers In the Air, one of the women in the hall did just that! The Daily Mirror was on hand to report the incident:
'Sporty types roared with approval, but not all were amused. Local councilor Bill Jones complained: “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life! This quite attractive lady of about twenty-four took off her knickers. My wife and I will think twice about going to a Hunt Ball again.”
Dougie has clear memories of life on the road with St Cecilia, believing that in common with many artists in the spotlight, the band was ripped off. “St Cecilia only received two per cent of the royalties for the records written by Keith Hancock and Ricky Moss. Leap Up And Down, with its full brass section was a great production. Jonathan King decided to tone it down or - in his words ‘desimplify it’ - but it sounded crap compared to the original acetate. However, because of the contentious lyrics - which were a bit lewd, the BBC refused to give it airplay and, in a roundabout way, gave the band all the publicity it required. The follow-up wasn’t as controversial as Leap Up And Down but everybody thought it was going to be a smash. C’Mon Ma was released on 21st April but, despite our optimism, did nothing to raise a few eyebrows.”
To promote the release the band spent a day on a photo shoot in London’s Carnaby Street, accompanied by two well-known ladies (brunette Della Mancini and blonde Brandy de Franck) who were predictably waving their bras in the air! A copy of C’Mon Ma, Burn Your Bra! was sent to Germaine Greer, one of the leading protagonists of Women’s Lib.
Keith: “In the late spring of 1972 Ricky and I decided that we should cover Gone Fishin’ - a Bing Crosby classic. We felt that such a gem of a song was due a revival, so with the rest of the lads from St Cecilia, a few local brass players and a tap-dancer, we ventured once more into Beck Studios to record the song. I thought that the idea of using a tap-dancer was a brilliant wheeze at the time but after a while I had to concede that it wasn’t going to work. We did, however, get a deal with Polydor and we released the record under the name Sunny Daze. It did receive some airplay on the radio - but not enough for record buyers to cause a stampede at the shops!"
As the year progressed it became apparent that the writing was on the wall for St Cecilia. Bookings were drying up, money was tight and the constant travelling was becoming a chore rather than an exciting adventure. Although in June they did support The Sweet on a 10-day tour of the Top Rank circuit.
In 1985 a series of programmes, hosted by Noel Edmonds called The Time Of Your Life, were broadcast on the BBC. The format (along the lines of All Our Yesterdays) - showcased a different year each week. John Proctor recalled: “The show’s producer contacted me and explained that they were going to showcase 1971 and wanted to know if it was possible to reunite the band for a one-off performance. Only Ricky Moss was unavailable. We found ourselves sharing a bill with round-the-world sailor Chay Blyth and former Prime Minister Ted Heath! None of us had any desire to go back on the road and attempt to relive past glories, but one thing that came out of it was that Graham Smith and Keith formed a duo called the Wright Price, and made a record entitled Come On Down."
(Taken from Alive In The Dead Of Night, by Clive Smith and David Black. Published in 2009)
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Legends of Corby Rock - Energy.
One of the most popular bands in Corby during the 1970s and 80s was undoubtedly the four piece outfit Energy. Consisting of Iain Wetherell, Mike 'Bozzy' Bosnic, Mark Stewart and Stephen 'Flapper' Fulton, Energy built up a great local following who appreciated their driving rock covers of Thin Lizzy, Status Quo and Police material. During an interview at Iain's Premier Studios in 2007, Iain and Bozzy relived their Energy days for inclusion in the third part of the 'Steel Rock and Roll' trilogy 'No Occupation Road'. "When I grow up, I want to play in a rock band," Mike Bosnic told his dad. His response was typically caustic; 'you can't do both son!' The year was 1976. Bozzy took up the story; "We first started playing when we rehearsed in the Nags Head where Iain's brother Bip was proprietor. Then after a few weeks Bip threw us in at the deep end and told us we were playing in the Sunday dinnertime jam session! It was the first time we'd played in front of an audience which was daunting but a great experience. Bip was great, lending us gear when we needed and giving us the opportunity to learn our craft. Our first proper gig came at Corby Samuel Lloyds School on October 2nd 1976 thanks to teacher Frank Holmes, a one time Skiffle man himself, who encouraged pupils with musical aspirations. The dance was packed out. All our school friends were there of course. Iain sang the first song, Bryan Ferry's 'Lets Stick Together' before Flapper made a grand entrance, running in from the back of the school hall with a duffle coat tied round his neck like a cape, as Iain played the theme from 'Batman!'" Iain; "Initially we sorted out gigs for ourselves or with the help of Bip and then decided to sign up with the Concorde Ham Acts Agency. It didn't take long for us to realise that they were booking us in air bases for less money than what we were getting doing it ourselves, so Bozzy took control of affairs. Calling himself Pyramid Promotions he used to phone venues where live music was played and ask if they'd be interested in booking us. He would send them a copy of a collage we'd made of Energy, a record for their jukebox and ask them how much they paid, which was usually around the £100 mark. Boz would give them some bull, tell them we normally played for double that amount but as a favour we'd do the gig for £150 and after a bit of bartering, we'd get the gig! We became probably the most organised self controlled band on the circuit. We had a data base of people who followed the band. We'd phone what we called the ringleaders and tell them we were playing at such and such a place and they'd put the word around and the gigs were often packed out." Self sufficiency extended to taking care of the group van. Before a tour of Scotland Bozzy decided it needed a service; "It was outside Ian's house in Studfall Avenue. I changed the plugs, HT leads, rotor arm, oil, points, everything. Then when I finished, I couldn't get the thing going! I checked everything again, got the set of feelers out to re-check the gap in between the points, distributor cap was clean, etc. Still there was nothing. I said to Ian, 'tell you what, we're on a hill here, lets' give it a push and see if we can jump start it. Well, the van rolled down the hill, failed to kick in, and we were standing there bemused and scratching our heads when a taxi pulled up. The driver, Robert Knight, got out and asked us what the matter was. We told him the story, he said he'd give it a go, turned the ignition key, just a grunt as usual, then he discovered there was no fuel in the tank! That was my last attempt at being a motor mechanic! Mark Stewart would later complain, 'I'm only in the band because a drum machine can't push the van!'" Following this farce the band came up with the idea of joining both the AA and RAC motoring organisations. "We thought it was a good idea." said Iain, "we could use one to tow us to a gig if necessary, and the other one to tow us back home afterwards!' Iain did most of the driving; being the only one who'd passed his driving test. Coming down long lonely highways, like the A1, often in thick fog, or so it seemed, Bozzy would be sitting next to him steering the van while he kept his foot on the accelerator, trying to keep his eyes open and stopping from falling asleep! "When we reached Stamford I'd give him a shake, 'right, come on Iain, this is a bit more tricky from here on in!'" Energy received a great boost with an article featured in 'Musicians Only'. 'It can be argued that a lot of bands in the early stages of their career fall by the wayside, not through a lack of ideas or musical direction, but because they have not got the business end organised properly. That's why, in the light of the unpleasant fact, it was refreshing to meet the four people who make up the Corby based rock band Energy, and to witness for myself not only their unbounded enthusiasm onstage, but also their professional approach to the marketing of their name. Energy was formed out of the remains of two school bands; The Hardly Worthit Band and Lipstick. Mark Bosnic was asked why the band had parted company with their manager (their first and last) to go it alone? His reply demonstrated the band's ambition and self belief; "Well although his opinion was valued in many ways, on many things, we thought we could accomplish more on our own. It’s as simple as that." Certainly if you study the bands track record since they started handling their own affairs, you can see they made the right decisions. Mike handles the booking arrangements and publicity, while Ian sorts out the accounts and insurance. Agents are used as much as possible, the reason being purely financial. Equipment such as the PA, lighting system and the transport are bought out of the kitty. "Basically, it’s the money that's left after gig expenses. Sometimes one of us might dig into it for our individual instruments, but it is always paid back, always," stressed Mike. A new van is the next thing on the shopping list, as the two they have now don't warrant a decent set of spares between them. Turning to the subject of touring, Mike told me that apart from a three day stint in Middlesbrough a while back, the band have never been on a full tour. That's not to say, though, that they have been sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. Energy, clapped out vans and all, have averaged two gigs per week for the last sixteen months or so, taking in places like Cinderford in Gloucestershire, Ashford in Kent and Leicester where they were runners up in a national competition sponsored by Premier. They have also been support to big names like Love Affair, The Pleasers and Chairman of the Board. "We wouldn't have done half of this under our old manager" said Steve. Energy will be gigging consistently, but as before, it’s not an organised tour. And although it will take them right through to mid summer, there are no London dates mentioned. I put it to them that it might be a good idea to try and slot some London venues in between the local haunts. "We would love to play London" Mike replied, "but what would be the cost of a mini tour down there?" True, in financial terms, (time off work etc) it would be a bit of a struggle. But what about the long term effect? Mike; "Yes, you're right I suppose if we made the effort and the gigs came together it would probably lead to something". One drawback I did note was the playing of non original material mixed in with their own compositions. This is a shame, for their own songs had far more going for them, in terms of depth and style than the bulk of the pop/rock which made up the two sets that I saw them play. That's not a criticism of their playing ability because they played numbers like 'Message In A Bottle', 'Black Betty' and 'Since You've Been Gone' with just as much finesse as the original artists. It would be hard to pick out any particular star in the band; although I must say that at times front man Steve Fulton stole the show with his antics, dashing here and there, offstage and onstage, as though possessed. At the end of the second and highly impressive set I joined the lads backstage, where they presented me with a copy of their EP 'Energised', self financed, and issued/released on the BIPS Record label. The number which impresses me most was an out and out rocker called 'No Go' which reminded me of early Nazareth. Mike; "We have had a thousand copies pressed and we've sold about half. They're available through the local branch of John Menzies and mail order through me." Their immediate plans? Mike; "To keep on gigging. We would move to London as a band, not individuals if we thought we could make a living at it. But at the moment, just one gig and one stage at a time." Energy clearly has the ability but what they need to do is to get right away from Corby and its surrounds. If they made that all important move and wrote and performed more of their own material, their chances of making the big-time would be greatly enhanced. They are the best band I have seen this side of a lucrative record deal. Now it’s a question of finding an enthusiastic producer to channel their ideas into something commercially viable. The bands' reputation continued to grow, thanks to coverage in the 'Evening Telegraph' following a gig at the Rising Sun pub in Kettering... 'Energy need never fear a court action under the Trades Description Act. Their act is so energetic they probably link up to a trickle charger at night to prepare for the next gig! But surprisingly the band's name was not designed to fit their on stage gymnastics. Singer Steve Fulton in his soft Scottish tones;” I feel that if we are there to entertain then that's exactly what we will do - and to do it properly you have to create a buzz of excitement in the audience. We love jumping about on stage because it feels good, and shows just how much we enjoy our music." They write lots of their own material but the gig at the Rising Sun took on rather a pop flavour with the Police being honoured above all other chart bands. The thief who undoubtedly stole the show was bassman Mike Bosnic whose gangly frame practically dwarfed his Guild bass. This man put on a show which should have been watched by the country's bass playing statues. It was refreshing to see a bassist dramatise his playing but it would have been a whole lot more enjoyable if we could have heard what he was playing! He seemed to form a duo of victims with singer Steve Fulton. Both were barely audible above the standard rock offerings from guitarist Ian Wetherell and the awful boomy drum sound which yawned from Mark Stewart's kit. I hold a very old fashioned view when it comes to singers and their backing. As far as I am concerned, the singer and front man is the most important member of any band and he should come across above his backing - he shouldn't have to fight his way through the 'barrage from behind.' But to be fair, playing Energy's brand of music in a smallish pub is not easy - and their hard core of appreciation in the pub was obviously happy enough with what they heard. Energy has been working in its present form for about two and a half years now and seems content to carry on playing the circuit from their base in Corby. The four men have plans to put together an LP featuring mostly their own material and they hope to push the album themselves on their own record label. Steve;” We won't make any money on the record - it’s just a way of spreading our name and music about". He describes their sound as 'commercial rock' and makes the point that his band is not to be confused with a heavy rock outfit. Energy is a great band to watch. Unlike many other local crews they make an effort to provide a visual show and inject some excitement into the proceedings. Sound wise, I wasn't terribly impressed, but then I think the venue, had something to do with it.' Energy's lively stage act did have its embarrassing moments, as Ian admitted: "During ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’, the AC/DC number, at a venue in Peterborough, I turned round and wondered what had happened to Boz. Turns out he'd jumped up in the air too much on the one spot and eventually the boards on the stage gave way, and he went straight through it! At Cambridge Corn Exchange when we were support to Eddie and the Hotrods, Boz climbed up onto this plinth at the back of the stage and prepared himself to leap off when he overbalanced, went tumbling and ended up doing a forward roll on the stage. The crowd thought it was part of the act! They roared their approval. Terrific! Corby Civic Centre was yet another cringe making gig. Flapper did his usual routine of jumping off the stage and running around the hall, singing and whipping the fever up. He then ran back to the stage and couldn't get back up! The Civic stage was a bit higher than most of the others. He had to sheepishly walk to the side and get back on via the stairs. Everybody took the piss out of him - as you'd expect in Corby! We used to have an intro, the ‘Thunderbirds 54321’ tune, till one day we decided to change it to an air siren. Unfortunately, the first time we used it, at an air base, it caused a panic and they thought it was an air raid! A red alert! They weren't amused." More sobering was playing at the Royal Navy Base in Faslane, Scotland when the Falklands war broke. Mark Stewart; "That was a strange gig, tense. I couldn't help feeling for these young guys, many the same age as ourselves, preparing to head for a war zone in the South Atlantic and an RAF base in Northern Ireland was similarly a stra
nge experience, going to the bar or toilets and finding machine guns and rifles leaning against the walls." Energy turned fully professional in 1979, a press release stating their ambitions followed; The four man crew who energise locally are planning to peddle their particular brand of rock as far a field as possible. And that has meant their day time jobs have just had to go. "It's going to be a bit of a struggle and I suppose cars may have to be sold but we mean to make a real go of this" said Iain. Their bid for the big-time gets a shot in the arm later this month when they play the first round of the RCA 'Battle of the Bands’ contest in Birmingham. And its' quite a feather in the band's cap to have won the chance of competing. Thousands of demo tapes were sent to the organisers and 84 bands have been chosen nationwide. Only six were picked for the Birmingham region - and one of those was Energy. The final will be held at London's Hammersmith Odeon and will be televised. First prize is a recording contract and £4,000. To provide some Northamptonshire flavoured support, Energy are hoping to run two coaches to Birmingham Locarno and return tickets will be £2.50. Energy were recently at the Rising Sun, Kettering, and played to a packed house. They are a well rehearsed band, well sung, well played, and well deserving of national recognition. Ian; "We are planning to record another EP soon and it should be pressing about 2000 copies. And of course we will be after a record deal. Now we have given up our full time jobs we will have more time to chase these things." The band's date sheet is filling up nicely. This month they have 19 bookings and as Ian explained, the band has an insatiable appetite for work. "Of course, now, it's not just a case of bookings for exposure - we need money to live!" The Battle of the Bands contest was a headline making night to remember, for more than one reason. Apart from winning through to the finals, one of the coaches ferrying their follower’s home from the gig had to be abandoned when it went on fire on the M6! '52 escape coach fire' screamed the Birmingham Evening News. 'Passengers had to scramble to safety when a coach burst into flames. They escaped the smoke filled coach through emergency doors and windows after a night out in Birmingham. Passengers were transferred to two other coaches and police were called. The three coach loads of people, who were delayed for three quarters of an hour had been to Birmingham to support their band Energy in a contest.' On board was a shaken Cathy Bates of Corby; "Somebody shouted that there was a fire and a man banged on the window of the bus and told everyone to get out." Encouragement also came from The Leicester Trader's 'The Insider'. 'Like most other things, the music industry bares large, seeping wounds, inflicted without mercy by the recession's cast iron teeth. Hardly a week goes by, without news filtering through the record and entertainment jungle, that somebody or other has been released from what looked like and indeed was, a mouth watering, zillion dollar contract. Bands, like trends and fashions, come and go. Some disappear as if in their sleep, while others are condemned to a series of ups and downs, followed by slow, painful erosion which can and has broken the spirit of each individual concerned. It is with this in mind, why I have the utmost respect for the voice of voices who say goodbye to 9-5, cross 'no mans land' and plunge headlong into the uncertainty of the professional musicians world. Four such voices belong to Energy, a rocky type, all round entertaining quartet from Corby. "This will be a real test for all of us, in every respect" said vocalist Stephen Fulton. In a recent conversation we had, when the band played The Windmill. Steve is a front man par excellence and the same can be said for the guitar, drums bass combination of Ian Wetherell, Mark Bosnic and Mark Stewart. In the last three and a half years since the bands inception, Energy have averaged twelve to fifteen gigs per month, playing everything from seedy backroom bars with wall to wall sawdust, top plush nightclubs where even the Gents and Ladies powder room don expensive shag pile. On the recording side, the band have an EP out on the independent BIP's record label called ‘Energised’ and since being released about eighteen months ago has chalked up sales of around 1,500. The follow up to ‘Energised’ could take the form of an LP as there is more than enough original material ready and waiting in the Energy vaults. Playing regularly up to four, five gigs a week around the country, Mike told me that Energy will go 'pro' sometime this autumn, possibly in early October. All four members giving up careers 'to pursue the golden trail in the music business.' Iain was a trainee accountant, Bozzy a trainee computer programmer, Steve Fulton a fitter and Mark Stewart a trainee engineer. As they handle all their own affairs, all are aware, that once the bridges are burnt, the future will be full of animal traps, parasites and hollow promises. But all are equally aware, that at the end of it all there could be success. Will they stay the course? I think so. It may have been a bold decision to 'give up the day job' just as the unemployment figures locally were set to rocket. But for the four young lads, some far reaching horizons and exciting times were ahead of them. Who could blame them on taking the chance? The EP (Extended Play) 'No Go', 'Don't Show Your Face', 'Lovely Lady', 'Spoilt Choice' was recorded at Derek Tompkins Studio in Wellingborough. All songs were a collaboration by the band. Bozzy; "I used to tell people we've sold over two million copies of our first record. And if you don't believe me, come and look in my garage!" Two more singles followed; 'Conquer the World', 'Make It', 'Lawbreaker' and 'Nowhere To Hide', 'Fight For Your Freedom' became their third. "All are now collector’s items," says Bozzy, "you can find them on EBay!" Ian; "We secured a publishing deal with Nigel Gray, who had seen us play at the Ad Lib Club. Nigel was the producer of the first three Police albums and hits Message In A Bottle and Roxanne. We demoed all our songs in the same studios the Police had used which had a big impact on me as I was even then, interested in the recording and producing side of the business. A showcase gig was arranged for us at the famous Marquee Club in Wardour Street, home of the British blues in the 60's. It was a great experience but it was a shithole! Three coach loads of our fans travelled down to support us. Unfortunately, none of the invited Record Companies bothered to turn up. This soured our relationship with Nigel. We were disappointed and disillusioned but later on we realised it was just typical, it wasn't particularly Nigel's fault, it's just the MUSIC BUSINESS!! We secured a gig in Dubai, which we thought was a dry state and a typical Middle Eastern country, women in veils etc. On the plane journey over there we decided to make the most of it on and got rat arsed drinking bottles of wine. This was going to be our last drink of alcohol for nine weeks! Then we discovered everybody was pissed! The women were all wearing miniskirts, right up their arses! It was unbelievable. We played at a five star hotel, where there was a Rolls Royce in the foyer which was a raffle prize! For an hour a night, and the way we played and performed it was hard to work in that heat! Bip came out for a visit, told us that with all the spare time on our hands, we should be concentrating and doing some writing instead of just holidaying. He basically gave us a kick up the backsides." Boz; "I was suffering with my ears in Dubai and went on board a Royal Navy ship to have them syringed. They pulled out a solid piece of wax the size of a peanut. And I suddenly realised I could hear the fan in the ceiling whizzing around. Back on stage, the volume of the band amazed me. It was deafening!" Energy continued to tour the UK, Europe and the Middle East where a second trip to Dubai, lasting six months, netted the band £11,000 and gave them the opportunity to take a stab at America. Arriving in New York they discovered, quite coincidently, a 'Showcase for Talent' going on at the Marriot Hotel in Times Square, a 'world-class' hotel in the theatre district of midtown Manhattan. It was within walking distance of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, Central Park, Carnegie Hall and the Empire State Building. Iain; "We took part in a big cavernous auditorium, it was scary, the first two rows were occupied by these music people who we had to impress. It was the scariest gig I ever did. It was so sterile and the atmosphere was zilch. Gigs are all about atmosphere and this wasn't going to be achieved in this situation. Despite not giving our best, we met up with a guy who was very keen to become our manager and he arranged a few shows for us in New York and the West Coast to play at the famous Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles amongst other venues. That was terrific." By this time Mark Stewart was becoming restless and admitted he'd had enough of the travelling and on our return decided to quit. Chris Page took over on the drums." Energy were one of Corby's most enduring bands, a career which spanned a decade and rivalled that of some of its predecessors the Size Seven, Midnighters and Formula in the 1960s. As with them all, the treadmill of touring and quest for stardom became tiresome and eventually they called it a day. "The dread of having to get a 'real' job raised its ugly head" recalls Boz, "and I started my own wheelie bin cleaning business." Iain quipped; "Energy was a full time band for nine years. Bozzy calls it his retirement years! When the band split up, we all had to go back to work!" For Iain, his talent for recording had been noticed by his brother Bip who was in the process of setting up Premier Studios. Bip recruited him for the job 'behind the desk' where his years of experience and perfectionist attitude quickly saw him inundated with recording projects. Premier Studios rapidly gained a reputation to qualify its name. Energy would come back together 'for a one off gig' in 2002, playing the Corby Pole Fair on the back of a lorry in the middle of the roundabout between the Cardigan Arms and what was the Old White Horse, now the Village Inn. Thousands turned out on the hot summer’s day to enjoy and recall some great memories when following the band in their heyday. In a unique kind of way, they can claim a piece of history as being the only band to have appeared at two Pole Fairs, having played on the Nags Head roof during the 1982.
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Legends of Corby Rock - Scenestealer's First Offence
Taken from 'No Occupation Road' - 3rd book of the trilogy by Clive Smith and David Black
Frustration with how Bumper's future was developing saw bassist Mick Haselip leave along with drummer Nigel Hart. It also prompted a name change to Scenestealer. Mick's departure followed a letter received from Rebel Records dated 6th December 1977 giving the boys an update and information on all that was happening behind the scenes.
'We thought it was time we wrote to you to let you all know what is happening with Scenestealer around the world, but firstly to look back over the past few months.
From time of recording the album until now has probably been the hardest for all concerned. At the end of August the album was mixed and ready for presentation. The UK reaction was not favourable but nevertheless acceptable and owing to heavy commitments of EMI the release date was constantly being changed, which obviously created tension amongst the band. This position now seems to be rectified and a release is promised for early in the New Year.
The gig situation has gone from bad to worse and with the latest episode regarding the German booking we can understand your reactions. With reference to the German tour Barry Collins informs me that he is trying to recover this work by directly booking you as opposed to sub contracting the work. Failing this he assures me that he will make sure there is a minimum of £500 worth of gigs for December. Well, how do we stand now? What is there to look forward to? Let us explain.
With a highly professional album in the can we can look forward with confidence to a fast moving, star making, and highly profitable 1978 but this is going to require a concentrated effort on all sides. Why? Because of the phenomenal reaction to the album throughout Europe. We have just returned from Germany where they think you are one of the best bands they have heard in a long long time and are planning to back up this statement by arranging TV, radio and personal appearances for you, to coincide with the release. They assure me that the release will be in early January and we have no reason to doubt them. There is a marvelous team operating in Germany, and they are 100% behind you, so if we can give them the same sort of co-operation, there is no problems at all..
We had the same reaction from Holland and at the time of writing, have planned to visit them on Monday the 12th December to discus Scenestealer further and they also have a fantastic team and are behind 100%.
We feel sure that you will agree with us that we are now on the threshold of something big and only by giving all of our support can we obtain the success that we all so richly deserve. We have no doubt that you play your part and you know us well enough to play ours.
Don't be despondent lads, there's not much longer to wait. We take this moment to wish you all and your families a very merry Christmas and a real REBELious New Year!
Rock On!
Signed, Gavin and Dave'
Replacements for the departing duo were found following an advert placed in the Melody Maker, recalled by Bob Grimley;"the phone never stopped, there seemed to be hundreds interested in the job. Norman Hickens stepped in for Mick Haselip on bass and Tony Norris who came from Derby took over from Nidge on drums." Mick meantime had joined up with his brother Tony in another Corby band, Chrome Molly.
Scenestealer's long awaited debut album First Offence was finally released after almost two years of waiting in the spring of 1978. Recorded at Majestic Studios and produced by Dave Howman and Gavin Dare, who's credits included three Monty Python albums and a number of TV jingles, there was 'surprise backing by the Barnet Youth Opera Group and Strings arranged and conducted by Phyllidia Hearn.' The track listing was I Ain't No Angel; High And Dry; Loser; Flying; White Angel; Ballerina; Say It Ain't Nice; American Lady; Just The Other Day; Rolling Man; Sunshine Brightly.
True to Rebel Records' word, Scenestealer were sailing across the channel for a three week tour of Holland in May where they played fifteen concerts in Amsterdam, Paradiso and an open air festival in Rotterdam. receiving great reviews
Following their progress the Evening Telegraph reported; 'Back in 1962, an unknown British band called the Beatles were making a big name for themselves in Germany. Now, 16 years later, another comparatively unknown British band has found fame in Germany while still searching for success on this side of the channel. I'm not saying our continental cousins have a better developed musical taste, but they have the sense to buy more than 6000 copies of the debut album by Corby band Scenestealer. Released over there on the EMI distributed Crystal label, First Offence is a remarkably strong and mature set by the five strong group. Bob Grimley, Stuart and Jimmy Irving share the composing credits. I don't know if its a tribute to the German pressing plant or the London recording studio, but the sound throughout is clean and sharp on the eleven track album -and there's a nice diversity in style from the west coast like harmony work on Rolling Man and High And Dry through to the gutsy I Ain't No Angel to the more straightforward - a fine showcase for the instrumental talents of the band. They hope to have the album released in Britain soon and have an Irish tour and college and university gigs lined up.
Stuart Irving was upbeat on the band's return; "The visit to Holland was a promotional tour for the new album and although the going was hard, we were given a great reception by the Dutch audiences. We were called on to do encores at every gig and during the tour we did an interview on Dutch radio. They were very impressed with the band and this puts us in a good position for the next tour which should take place in August. The band is currently working on new material for the next album. First Offence is our own work and we are now rehearsing for the next tour and writing new material. The album is selling very well on the continent and it should be released in this country later this year." Before the band leave for their next tour, which should include Norway, Germany, France, Belgium and Holland they will be making two appearances in Corby on July 22nd with a daytime open air concert and an evening performance at the Raven Hotel.'
Plans were also in the pipeline for an extensive tour of America later in the year to promote First Offence. There seemed to be no stopping the rollercoaster ride for the band, who made their London debut in June at Fulham's Golden Lion pub for an audience made up of agents, members of the music press and top musicians.
Gavin Dare was ecstatic; "Their performance was acclaimed by the music profession. It was amazing. My telephone hasn't stopped ringing since they appeared. Although the band has been kept out of London in the past, we now feel the time is right for a blitz on the city, it can only be a matter of time before their music carries them to stardom."
For all the accolades and hype surrounding the band and their debut album, Bob Grimley was far from happy and his despondency continued to nag throughout the summer, culminating in the eventual and inevitable demise of the band just before Christmas. "We spent what seemed an interminable time in the recording studio cutting that album and at the end of it, Gavin Dare and Dave Howman then told us they would go and work on the mix, probably adding some strings and a choir on it. I couldn't believe it and told them in so in no uncertain terms. Gavin Dare looked at me, and said, half jokingly, 'we're in control of the cheque book!' We had no input whatsoever with the mix and when they called us in to hear the finished product I was appalled. I hated it. It left me totally disillusioned with the business. Apart from the addition of a choir and the string section they had squashed the sound of the guitars, putting compressors and limiters on them. We were a guitar band! We were given half a dozen copies of the album each and I felt that bad about it, I gave them all away and never listened to it again. The video, which was a comparatively new innovation at the time, was another joke. During the filming, the director stopped the production and said to me, 'do you think you could move around a bit more instead of standing stock still?' Stuart, who was a great front man, danced all round the set, Jimmy was also good at the choreography. It wasn't for me. I looked at this guy and replied, 'I'm a guitar player, if you want a dancer, go and get Fred Astaire or somebody!' He shrugged and then moved me to the back and gave me a pair of shades to wear! I also felt the management let us down by failing to promote the album to any degree. They promised us national music press coverage, a tour of Europe and America, which never materialised."
Things finally came to a head just prior to Christmas when the band was preparing to leave for Stranraer to catch the ferry to Ireland for a ten day tour following a gig in Hamilton. "Stuart described it as 'a premature end' for the band but we were depending on the money from the Irish tour to see us over Christmas. It was working out just right, and then out of the blue we received a telegram from our management telling us that they had pulled the gig. The IRA were making noises about another bombing campaign at the time and I suppose because we had a big orange van and a GB sticker on the back, they deemed it didn't particularly bode well for our health! However, it was the final straw for me. We came back to Corby, skint and peed off and I decided to quit. I got myself a job at York Truck in St James' Road earning £75 a week because I didn't fancy going back to the steelworks. And would you believe it, Stewart and Jimmy both went to the steelworks and a little over a year later, received over seven grand each severance pay when it closed own! Typical of my luck I thought!"
Stewart and Jimmy Irving both ended up in South Africa, Stuart after spending several years doing lighting for bands such as Altered Images, The Jetts, Kim Wilde and Killing Joke. In South Africa he joined Ballyhoo, one of the country's biggest bands. During his nine years with Ballyhoo, Stewart also found time to release solo material with two of his singles, Superstar and Heart Of Stone, reaching the Top 3 in the South Africa charts. He returned to Britain for a spell and formed a band with Brian Spence and Debbie McKenna called The Wish. He has lived in Johannesburg ever since.
Thursday, 23 August 2012
1971 Rod Stewart meets Big Bob Knight
The Nags Head Wollaston.
From the late 1960s to early 70s, the Nags Head was like no other place in the world. It hosted the biggest bands, had Radio One DJ's appearing weekly and was talked about all over the country. 'Big' Bob Knight, landlord, disc jockey, local legend was the brains behind the Nags phenonomen. Born in Earls Barton in 1933, Bob was brought up in Rushden,"one of my earliest memories is of being buried alive under a pile of rubble during the war years." On leaving school he was working as a clicker in a shoe factory when he was called up for national service in 1951. It was the time of what has become known as 'The Forgotten War' - Korea. "I spent a year there with the Royal Norfolk Regiment, we took over from the Glorious Glosters. I'd been transferred from the Northamptonshire Regiment and sent to Bury St Edmunds for training. They told us we were going to Korea, I didn't have a clue where Korea was! I was 18 and being sent to the front line. We had no idea what lay in store for us. A vivid memory is on arrival at Seoul and being transferred onto a train to take us to our camp - and a train pulling into the station as we were about to leave, full of injured American servicemen. That was a waking up call I can tell you. All these guys lying on stretchers with limbs torn apart and blood and guts everywhere. Frightening. Because I was a big lad I often got lumbered with humping things around. One time I was on a patrol with about a dozen others, making our way through a terrain that was mountainous, boggy, because of all the bombing that had been going on, and I was carrying this big heavy wireless on my back! It was scary and then all of a sudden I thought I heard these Chinese voices. I told the sergeant but he said 'no, no way, they're nowhere near us'. I was convinced but he refused to acknowledge it - until we went over a brow of a hill and spotted about four hundred of the Chinese coming towards us! We turned and ran like hell, tumbling back down the hillside to our jeeps. We'd spend the days and nights camped in the trenches, every so often giving the Chinese a burst of about 400 rounds out of our Vickers machine gun, working it in an arc, back and for, firing non stop. Just to let them know we were still there!" The 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, the 'Glorious Glosters', were so called because of a heroic three-day stand where they held off a Chinese force ten times its size. Fifty-nine were killed and 526 captured during the battle for the Imjin River, April 22-25, 1951. Bob; "It was only recently when we saw a 50th anniversary celebration of the war on television that I realised that the Glosters had suffered one of the worst defeats in the war. Wiped out." On demob Bob went back to the shoe factory and soon found the mundane work soul destroying. He left and became a lorry driver for a number of years, returning to the shoe industry when life on the road became tiresome too. "It was then me and a bloke called Don Planner, who used to run the West End Club in Rushden, started a disco. We were earning little money at work so we started doing it in our spare time. Concentrating mainly on the Tamla Motown stuff that is still my favourite music. That's how it all started. We went over to the Nags in Wollaston and done a few there and after a few months, the landlord said to me he was thinking of packing up. 'Why don't you put in to be the landlord?' he said. Well I had a good friend who ran the Blisworth Hotel where we also ran a few discos and he said 'I'll give you a few tips - take it on'. We took it on, Planner and me as tenants. And it all went from there. I used to do the Railway Club on the Monday, North Park on Tuesday, Nags Head on Wednesday, North Park again on Thursday, Friday the Nags, Saturday the Nags and a few others in between. Rushden Windmill Club as well. We used to play all sorts of music there. The Wellingborough Railway Club used to attract 500 to 600 people every week for about ten years, that was a Motown night. I was the first person in Northamptonshire to have twin deck turntables. They came from Japan. I used to share them with a bloke from Bedford. I used to have them on a Friday at Rushden and he used to use them on a Sunday at Bedford. Nobody had twin decks. Everybody just used too have one. We were the first discos in the area." The natural progression was to start putting on bands and branch out from the Motown discos that Bob had made his name with. Bob's protege Steve Hadjuk; "I knew Bob from Rushden, initially from when I used to deliver his newspapers! One day he caught hold of me and in that gruff voice of his, told me in no uncertain terms to tell my boss at the shop to stop the order. 'If he can't get the papers to me before 9 am he can keep the papers!' I then got to know him when they had bands on at the West End Club. He'd asked me to do some roadying for him when I was about sixteen and I started DJ'ing a bit - Motown. After a while I told Bob, 'look I'm not really into this, I've got all blues and rock albums.
That's what I'm into. I'm not enjoying the music'. Because he was a very forward thinker he said, 'well, why not do a blues night in the lounge downstairs?' I encouraged people to bring their albums along, one guy brought Captain Beefheart, another Frank Zappa. We started off with about five people in there, next week about twenty, the following week about forty or fifty then after that, they were spilling out into the yard because the people couldn't get in! Bob looked at it and thought maybe we should move this upstairs."
Regular Ken Marsh from Rushden; "Audience clientele didn't change much, you could guarantee who you'd see there. The uniform was typical of the type of hippie era around that time. Plenty of hair. Plenty of denim. Plenty of colour. It was about the birds and music definitely but I think the scene and the ambience of the place made it all the more special"
Bob was an entreprenuer way ahead of his time, contacting various agents to get the stars of Radio One to appear at the pub. Bob; "I had Dave Lee Travis, Noel Edmonds, Paul Burnett, and then I had John Peel and we just hit it off as friends. He loved it and stayed for four or five years."
More and more people flocked to the Nags Head. The Friday John Peel night was a massive hit. Steve Hadjuk; "When transport became an issue for punters travelling from across the county, Bob took the matter into his own hands." Bob; "United Counties stopped running the bus from Wellingborough because the kids going home were making a nuisance of themselves. So I put a bouncer on the bus. Then I had to send a car to bring him back. So I bought a bus. I used to run it to Wellinborough to pick the punters up and then drop them off again at the end of the night."
All the regulars were fond of Bob's pink double decker bus. Andy Bartlett; "You'd spend a lot of time acquainting yourself with a young lady throughout the evening - thinking you were going to be alright, walk her home and get to know her some more. And just as you'd think you were doing alright, they'd be whisked away on the bus! That was irritating!"
Steve Hadjuk;" Bob was very loyal. He's paying me for being the DJ, we've got the bands on when John came, it would have been very easy for Bob to say 'thank you very much, we've got John Peel now, we don't need you'. Instead he said, 'right, you open, John will do his stint, the band will then come on, and then you finish.'
He could have ditched me but he never did. John settled in nicely and wasn't just showing up and playing a few records and then going home again. He got involved in the running of the night."
Bob;"Sometimes, we'd take £20, sometimes nothing.
Most of it was £40 plus a percentage on the door. Course, John was straight, there was no fiddling. He would plug the Nags every week on his radio show, he'd plug it in his column in the Melody Maker."
Steve Hadjuk;"For the first few years I was a bit star struck because I'd been listening to his shows for ages. Bob wasn't because he wasn't into it. John Peel? Yeah, alright. That's where the magic was. Bob and John instantly hit it off. Bob's a very honest guy, he'd tell you what he thinks, and John liked that. At the time John Peel wasn't the cult hero that he became in later life. But the regulars still took it all in their stride. John Peel was such a relaxed guy, milling around with everybody. He'd stand at the top of the stairs at the Nags and stamp your hand. You'd walk by him as you went in. He was just one of the gang. But to Bob he'd become one of his closest friends. Bob; "He was a genuine bloke. He'd come and stay with me at the pub because we'd got three bedrooms. He'd sometimes stay the night then go back to London to do his radio show or he'd go up to Liverpool to see his beloved 'Reds' play. I went to all his birthday parties. When I got married he came to my wedding. Got a christmas card off him every year. We just hit it off."
Good judgement and some good luck led to a few scoops for the new promoters on the block. Steve Hadjuk; "Alexis Korner came up on two or three occasions. One time Alexis rang up and said I've got this band my friend's son is playing in it. Paul Kossoff, son of the actor David. They want to rehearse, they've got a record coming out, I'll bring them up to support me'. They were called The Black Cat Bones, the forerunner to Free." Mick Austin was a familiar face around the scene; "I saw so many great bands at the Nags, Free being my favourite.You did'nt have to go to London to watch class bands. The first gig I ever saw there was Alexis Korner when he brought The Black Cat Bones with him, and low and behold they returned a couple of months later in their own right as Free. I'll never forget them, they were great. I remember Big Bob having a blazing row with a very young Carl Palmer (Atomic Rooster)? Little did we know just how big Mr Palmer was going to become!
Some of the bands who played there have long gone but the individual musicians are still out there today playing. - Free, Blodwyn Pig, Bronco, Paladin, Uriah Heep,Formerly Fat Harry, Medicine Head, Burning Red Ivanhoe, Audience, Stray, so many........A pint of beer and a vodka & lime came to 7shillings and sixpence. Women could walk home safely and you could smoke your bloody head off without anyone complaining!...Now look at me A grumpy old man...GREAT DAYS."
The night which is still talked about is when The Faces came to play. John Peel asked Rod Stewart, who was a friend, to play as a favour. Bob Knight;"Peely said 'I can get the Faces to come'. Bloody hell I said, that'd be a good night! So we booked them, all the contracts were signed, all the kit came in at dinnertime. Mountain of it. They had a great big lorry full of kit. They only used about 10% of it because that's all they could fit in! So the kit was there, the fans were there en masse, the atmosphere was incredible. John Peel was there. But The Faces weren't!"
Kevin Marsh remembers the disappointment; "The lead up to it was incredible because the excitement was so intense. The rumours started going round that they hadn't turned up. We waited and waited. Something you thought couldn't happen, and it didn't happen. It was just absolute disappointment."
What should have been the biggest night in the pub's history ended in bitter disappointment. Steve Hadjuk helped John Peel to carry his records to his car; "a set of headlights then pulled into the car park and I'd never seen John lose his temper like he did that night. 'You have let me down! This is my friend's place' he bawled at them. The look on the guys faces, he said a few more bits and pieces to them and then got in his car and went. Billy Gaff was the Faces manager at the time. He promised that the band would re-arrange the gig, and they said, right, the only date we can play is on Thursday but we'll do it and we'll do it free. But John Peel couldn't make the night because his show was on the radio. So it was down to me and it was fantastic."
Pete Marshall from Corby (a big Rod Stewart fan) remembers an altogether different side of the Nags Head and of Big Bob. Pete: “John Chapman and I went over to Wollaston on the first night that the Faces were meant to appear. When they didn’t show, the management announced that everyone with a pass-out stamp on their hand would be able to get their money back - so Chap and I stumbled back up the stairs to collect ours. We were about to make our way back down to the pub bar, when suddenly I realised that I’d lost my wallet. I turned to go back in, but Big Bob and one of his DJs were barring the door. When I told Bob that I’d lost my wallet - and was only going back in to look for it - he swore at me. Then, completely without provocation, he punched me in the face! As I reeled backwards I bowled John over (he was standing right behind me) and we tumbled downstairs - ending up in a heap at the bottom. We were both too drunk to argue our case, and so I just looked at Chap and said indignantly: ‘There was ten bob in that wallet!’ Because his foot was stuck in the banister and he couldn’t get up, John merely shrugged his shoulders and offered me a cigarette, saying: ‘Never mind. Have a No 6’ (which was the 1970’s equivalent of a Woodbine.)
No one was really sure why Rod and the Faces failed to show up on time. Bob thinks it was confusion over the Nags opening times where Steve just reckons that they got lost. But whatever the reason the gig was back on and this time it would go ahead. Steve Hadjuk;"It was kept mainly a secret. We tried to keep it local because if we'd have advertised it it the whole of Wollaston would have been flooded. John wanted that as well. I don't think he even plugged it on his radio show."
Bob Knight; "It was absolutely fantastic. We had so many people, we had to let the people in who had tickets from the first show and everybody was there at six o'clock that night. Well the kit was all there, set up - but it was before! And I couldn't stop biting my nails!"
Steve Hadjuk;"You couldn't move. If you wanted to go to the loo, God help you! They were so close to the audience and I remember there were so many in there that Rod Stewart shouted back to the roadies to pass a crate of beer forward. They were the first band I ever saw who had what they called a tea break in the middle of a set! The bar was right at the back. You couldn't get there. The Faces asked to put the lights on and they were passing about twenty pints down over the people's heads to the guys at the front. And the band were talking to them, having a drink and after about ten minutes or so, they said, 'right, ok everybody happy? right, get the lights down again' and they kicked back in."
The gig was a massive success, the punters had had the gig of their life and it was fun to hang out a bit with the band as Steve Hadjuk recalls;" It was about two in the morning, which was late in those days, we sat around in the lounge just drinking after the gig - we just wanted to keep up with the Faces a bit - a bit awesome really - I was getting a lift home with Don Planner - I was on a real high. They had come in the lounge, started giving autographs and albums away. They were fantastic. Ronnie Wood sat there picking his toenails - it was that relaxed!"
For many bands gigs come and go, what city, what venue, but that gig at the Nags stayed with Rod and the boys."
Years later when Steve was making his way in the music industry he attended his first convention when the Nags legacy came into play. It was for the Phillips Record Company and Rod was guest of honour. He was dressed in a satin suit, and we've all got our suits on, I was a rep then. And we stood up at the bar and he about ten feet away talking to the likes of the Managing Director, Chairman, and he turned round and sort of looked at me, then said, 'I know you, don't I?' Well, yeah, I said, 'Do you remember the Nags Head Wollaston?' 'Yeah' And he totally ignored the directors after that! 'How's it going?' 'What's happening?' Because of that, whenever I saw Rod and The Faces gigs after that, I was always invited backstage. Not because what I am, but what the Nags and John Peel had done for them."
Taken from 'Alive In The Dead Of Night' by Clive Smith and David Black.
From the late 1960s to early 70s, the Nags Head was like no other place in the world. It hosted the biggest bands, had Radio One DJ's appearing weekly and was talked about all over the country. 'Big' Bob Knight, landlord, disc jockey, local legend was the brains behind the Nags phenonomen. Born in Earls Barton in 1933, Bob was brought up in Rushden,"one of my earliest memories is of being buried alive under a pile of rubble during the war years." On leaving school he was working as a clicker in a shoe factory when he was called up for national service in 1951. It was the time of what has become known as 'The Forgotten War' - Korea. "I spent a year there with the Royal Norfolk Regiment, we took over from the Glorious Glosters. I'd been transferred from the Northamptonshire Regiment and sent to Bury St Edmunds for training. They told us we were going to Korea, I didn't have a clue where Korea was! I was 18 and being sent to the front line. We had no idea what lay in store for us. A vivid memory is on arrival at Seoul and being transferred onto a train to take us to our camp - and a train pulling into the station as we were about to leave, full of injured American servicemen. That was a waking up call I can tell you. All these guys lying on stretchers with limbs torn apart and blood and guts everywhere. Frightening. Because I was a big lad I often got lumbered with humping things around. One time I was on a patrol with about a dozen others, making our way through a terrain that was mountainous, boggy, because of all the bombing that had been going on, and I was carrying this big heavy wireless on my back! It was scary and then all of a sudden I thought I heard these Chinese voices. I told the sergeant but he said 'no, no way, they're nowhere near us'. I was convinced but he refused to acknowledge it - until we went over a brow of a hill and spotted about four hundred of the Chinese coming towards us! We turned and ran like hell, tumbling back down the hillside to our jeeps. We'd spend the days and nights camped in the trenches, every so often giving the Chinese a burst of about 400 rounds out of our Vickers machine gun, working it in an arc, back and for, firing non stop. Just to let them know we were still there!" The 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, the 'Glorious Glosters', were so called because of a heroic three-day stand where they held off a Chinese force ten times its size. Fifty-nine were killed and 526 captured during the battle for the Imjin River, April 22-25, 1951. Bob; "It was only recently when we saw a 50th anniversary celebration of the war on television that I realised that the Glosters had suffered one of the worst defeats in the war. Wiped out." On demob Bob went back to the shoe factory and soon found the mundane work soul destroying. He left and became a lorry driver for a number of years, returning to the shoe industry when life on the road became tiresome too. "It was then me and a bloke called Don Planner, who used to run the West End Club in Rushden, started a disco. We were earning little money at work so we started doing it in our spare time. Concentrating mainly on the Tamla Motown stuff that is still my favourite music. That's how it all started. We went over to the Nags in Wollaston and done a few there and after a few months, the landlord said to me he was thinking of packing up. 'Why don't you put in to be the landlord?' he said. Well I had a good friend who ran the Blisworth Hotel where we also ran a few discos and he said 'I'll give you a few tips - take it on'. We took it on, Planner and me as tenants. And it all went from there. I used to do the Railway Club on the Monday, North Park on Tuesday, Nags Head on Wednesday, North Park again on Thursday, Friday the Nags, Saturday the Nags and a few others in between. Rushden Windmill Club as well. We used to play all sorts of music there. The Wellingborough Railway Club used to attract 500 to 600 people every week for about ten years, that was a Motown night. I was the first person in Northamptonshire to have twin deck turntables. They came from Japan. I used to share them with a bloke from Bedford. I used to have them on a Friday at Rushden and he used to use them on a Sunday at Bedford. Nobody had twin decks. Everybody just used too have one. We were the first discos in the area." The natural progression was to start putting on bands and branch out from the Motown discos that Bob had made his name with. Bob's protege Steve Hadjuk; "I knew Bob from Rushden, initially from when I used to deliver his newspapers! One day he caught hold of me and in that gruff voice of his, told me in no uncertain terms to tell my boss at the shop to stop the order. 'If he can't get the papers to me before 9 am he can keep the papers!' I then got to know him when they had bands on at the West End Club. He'd asked me to do some roadying for him when I was about sixteen and I started DJ'ing a bit - Motown. After a while I told Bob, 'look I'm not really into this, I've got all blues and rock albums.
No one was really sure why Rod and the Faces failed to show up on time. Bob thinks it was confusion over the Nags opening times where Steve just reckons that they got lost. But whatever the reason the gig was back on and this time it would go ahead. Steve Hadjuk;"It was kept mainly a secret. We tried to keep it local because if we'd have advertised it it the whole of Wollaston would have been flooded. John wanted that as well. I don't think he even plugged it on his radio show."
Taken from 'Alive In The Dead Of Night' by Clive Smith and David Black.
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