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Thursday, May 28, 2020

FROM THE ALBERT HALL TO THE SNOOKER HALL

FROM THE ALBERT HALL TO THE SNOOKER HALL!!'


For the completion of this article my sincere thanks go to Milan Stojsavljevic, whose passion for the subject, took this project to a whole new level. Thanks also to Horizon photography, Val Webb (Haudiquet) for information, and John Shipley for making the priceless photographs available. And, of course, to John Shipley for the wonderfully funny and informative chat. Pete Clemons.


John Shipley - Horizon photography

Interviews  with Mr Peter John Shipley, 3/2/20 and beyond

It’s not every day that you get an opportunity to talk to a musician who played guitar on one of the most iconic songs ever released. Recently, I did just that, when I spoke at length to Peter John Shipley who played on the Jerry Dammers’ anthem “Free Nelson Mandela”, whilst a member of The Special AKA.

John, of course, was also on that remarkable picture that showed a group of David Bowie “freaks”. The image was captured at the Rose and Crown on the High Street during the mid 1970’s, and was recently released on the internet. In fact, it was John’s photo.

John arrived in Coventry with his family in 1965 after spending his early years in Bedford, having been delivered to an unsuspecting world, at Whittington Hospital, Highgate, London. He was schooled at King Henry VIII grammar school, where he excelled at cricket, basketball and cross country running, an all-round athlete.

His introduction to the world of arts and culture came during 1972, when he first heard Bowie’s “Life On Mars”, which was originally released on the “Hunky Dory” album on 17/12/71. His interest in music and performance developed when he went to see Roddy Byers’ showband perform at the Smithfield Hotel on Hales Street, opposite Coventry Theatre, in 1974. The rhythm guitarist, “Trev”, apart from being a decent musician, also wore....drainpipe trousers, an oddity at the time. This inspired John to pick up a guitar.

John couldn’t remember Trev’s full name. So I had to call on Roddy’s memory once again. “Trevor was a bit of a mystery. Apparently, that was not his real name. All I know is that he was a big fan of Lou Reed and had been expelled from a posh school. I met him again when the Specials played Berlin in the early days. He was pretending to be German. He said hello, gave me a hug and a kiss and then walked off. Strange guy, he gave me a black eye once, too!”

During 1975 John moved to Torquay. While there, John honed his guitar skills and vividly remembers the hot summer of 1976, when he serenaded folk on the beach, with his take of “Bobby Shafto”, which he had learnt from Bert Weedon’s “Play in a Day” book. He moved on to Brighton, but was back in Coventry, however, when the Sex Pistols and The Clash performed on the same bill at the Lanchester Polytechnic on 29/11/76, and, as with the legendary Manchester Lesser Free Trades Hall gigs, it seems that it had a profound effect on all that gathered there. Returning to Brighton, John moved in with old friend and fellow “Bowie boy”, Dave Wankling during 1977, and has fond memories of duetting with him on their take of “I Got You Babe”.

Dave knew some French guys called Philippe and Alain, and between them, they formed a band they called, The Squares. However during 1978, both John and Dave left the band. John seems to think that the young Frenchmen returned home, and continued to perform as “Les Squares”, until fairly recently.

After the split, John and Dave returned to Coventry where Urge were formed, with the additional services of John Westacott on bass, and Billy Little on drums. John was not destined to remain in Urge for long. He had noticed that people didn’t dance at their gigs even though the songs were, by and large, danceable, and he was very keen to create a more rhythmic groove with more visible audience participation. Dramatically, in the middle of a set at the Lanchester Polytechnic, John walked off the stage, never to return. Seeing the (Coventry) Automatics perform at Mr George’s nightclub and the Hand and Heart, only confirmed the direction that he wanted to take.

The formation of the Swinging Cats, during ’78, began when John met keyboard player, Toby Lyons at the Hope and Anchor, and they then approached bass player, Steve Wynne of the Transposed Men to join. Together with drummer Billy Gough, they rehearsed at the Green Shed, close to the Butts. John formed a friendship with Jerry Dammers (coincidentally, another ex- Henry’s pupil), over a pint or three at the Hope and the Bear Inn, and the two pals would also travel to the Rum Runner in Birmingham, where the ideas (and more beer) flowed.

It all began well for the Cats when they won a Battle of The Bands competition at the Lanch. The band began the competition with Jane Bayley on vocals, only to be replaced, for the final, by Jerry Dammers’ girlfriend at the time, Valerie Webb (now Val Haudiquet). In Val’s words, “Not sure why, but Jane Bayley left the Swinging Cats whilst doing Battle of the Bands. I offered my services as a stand in for the final. I think I had about 10 days preparation, if that. We went on to win...I was elated, as I'd never sung before...I remember I was nervous as hell...but as so many people have said, once I was up there I was loving it”. In his capacity as 2 tone supremo, Jerry offered the band a two single deal, and having joined the 2 tone stable, they went on to tour with the Selecter, and later, the Specials. Val describes the experience, “We toured with Selecter to replace Holly and the Italians who had dropped out of the tour. Remember my voice getting progressively worse and worse as I had no experience of singing so much for such a long time! After the tour, we appeared on Look Hear. By that time I sounded like an old washboard. So sad...my only ever TV experience and I was awful! By the time Jerry offered the 2 single deal, I had left, and Jane Bayley had rejoined”.

The prize for winning the competition had been a day’s recording at Woodbine Studios in Leamington Spa, and that single session spawned the double A side, Mantovani/Away, which was eventually released in August 1980. The release of their debut though representing a great step forward, did not fare well however, despite the first 20,000 copies being sold at the giveaway price of 50p. Each of the members of the Cats had adopted a “nomme de guerre”, including John as “Vaughan Truevoice”, Chris Long as “Craig Guatemala”, Paul Heskett, “Vince Laredo”, Toby Lyons, “Toni El Dorko”, and Val as “Pussy Purrfect”.

The Cats suffered from constant line up changes, and this possibly hindered their progress. This culminated in their meltdown, much to John’s regret, shortly after the notorious Cambridge Midsummer Common gig in October 1980, as part of the “More Specials” tour, which saw Jerry and Terry Hall hauled in front of the beaks and fined £1000 for inciting a riot. The Cats’ set was rudely interrupted after only two tunes by National Front thugs who started a violent fracas. After the tour, which John recalls was peppered with similarly unpleasant incidents and brought little joy, the almost inevitable happened, and the Cats breathed their last.

The second planned single, “Greek Tragedy”, was finally recorded with a roster of Rhoda Dakar on vocals, Chris Dickie (of Gods Toys) on bass, Rob Hill on drums, Jerry on keyboards, and John on guitar. Sadly it never reached the pressing plant. “Greek Tragedy”, however, did get a live outing during the Rock Against Racism gig at the Butts stadium, in June ’81. The opening band that day were “Ship’s Crew” a hastily formed outfit of John’s creation. At about 1pm, the song was aired to just two people, as John recollects it...Mr Dammers and John’s dad, Bob, who was attending one of his son’s gigs for the very first time. Ship’s Crew sailed out that day, and capsized on their maiden voyage.

John’s next move was to become a member of the Special AKA, by which time 2 tone was fully under the control of Chrysalis Records. This was a particularly difficult time financially, as Chrysalis were not paying him any wages, so he had to sign on to make ends meet. This situation wasn’t helped by the fact that the album, “In the Studio” took a tedious and protracted three years to complete. As an unexpected silver lining though, John did get to appear on the iconic “Crackerjack” children’s TV show, performing “What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend”. However this sudden apparent lift in his fortunes was somewhat tempered by the fact that he never received a single Crackerjack pencil..........

John’s relationship with the music industry progressed when Pauline Black fronted band, The Supernaturals. Other personnel in a fluid line up included Everett Morton (ex Beat) on drums, replaced by Rob Hill, Zip the Bassman on bass(!), replaced by Ray from Rugby, and Dave Gedney, Tony White and John Greenhow (guitar). The Supernaturals eventually secured a support slot on a prestigious tour with the Communards, which led to one memorable performance at no less a venue than the Royal Albert Hall. Following the tour, and a gig at Bangor University, Pauline and the band went their separate ways. However, without the kudos of Pauline as vocalist, the Supernaturals began to “de-energise”, in John’s words, and finally dissolved.

The break-up of the Supernaturals precipitated a name change to The Great Escape and the eventual recruitment of Val Webb as lead singer and lined up as Val, Tony White, John, Rob Hill, John Greenhow and “Barry” on bass. John reminisces, “a gentleman called “Callum” suddenly appeared on the scene, a bloke claiming to be the brother of Billy McKenzie (of Associates fame, RIP). Following a recording session in Stoke- On-Trent, it soon became very apparent to everyone that Callum couldn’t sing.” Val enthusiastically recalls, “We only did a few gigs, but they were well received. John wrote some excellent stuff for the band. I sent a cassette to Trev Teasdel, which he managed by magic, to transfer onto a cd. Unmistakable Shipley wonderstuff. They are, in fact, my proudest moments."

Inevitably, however, following an almost predictable pattern, and much to John’s bitter disappointment, The Great Escape parted ways, once and for all.

After the demise of The Great Escape, John joined a motley group of like-minded, bohemian musicians called The Cosmics. The line-up consisted of Carlton Brodin (guitar/vocals), Dave Fullwood (trumpet), Nadja (trombone), Richard (sax), and Neil (drums,) and, on their London dates, they were joined on stage by no less a legend than Cuban-born Jamaican ska, reggae and erstwhile Specials trombonist, Rico Rodriguez. The cohort started busking at Camden Lock, next to the Cutty Sark and eventually secured a residency at Gaz Mayall’s “Rockin Blues”night, in Soho. A German promoter from Hamburg saw them playing at Gaz’s Rockin Blues and secured their services to play at the first German Ska Festival in Aachen entitled “Skanking the Linden Tree”. John fondly recalls fondly remembers a local band dressed as wasps wearing bin liners and antennae...The Cosmics then supported the notorious Judge Dread aka Alex Hughes (who still holds the record for having the most songs banned by the BBC) at a bierkeller in Freiburg and then narrowly missed out on a one off support slot with Black Uhuru. The night before a trip to Amsterdam, the Cosmics reluctantly played a gig in Folkestone at a nightclub called “Bottoms”, ostensibly to earn the fare for the ferry over to Ostend. Having safely boarded the ferry , John was on his uppers, and only had enough cash to buy some bread rolls. In an act of desperation, John cheekily appropriated some jam pots to augment his repast, which almost got him arrested...After an infamous gig at Hackney Empire an employee from the venue absconded with the takings and the band spent a futile couple of hours driving around Hackney, in the vain hope of tracking down the perpetrator.

One final anecdote from John’s seemingly inexhaustible supply involved a breakdown on a trip up the motorway in his trusty Allegro, to his adopted home to play at the Tic Toc club in Hillfields. The AA were summoned and a rogue water pump was identified as the problem. After being towed the rest of the way, John abandoned the vehicle near the club and as he got out, a local “entrepreneur” emerged from a bush and offered to “look after” the car for a small fee. John declined. That night John fell asleep in the gents toilets, no doubt due to an exhausting live routine, the refreshments that followed and the fate of his beloved motor playing on his mind. He was rescued the following morning by a cleaner. As luck would have it, John returned to his vehicle which started first time, and he drove home without further amiss.

Regretfully John had to leave the band soon after, due to personal circumstances.

John’s final romance with the music world saw him join Elektrik Custard, a band formed by his son Ethan (vocals and trumpet), and based in Leamington. Other personnel included ex Specials and Swinging Cat’s horn player, Paul Heskett (Sax), Steve Goodyear(Trombone), Clint(vocals/rapping), Leon(vocals) and John’s stepson, Frank(drums). John reckons he played about 30 gigs with the band and really enjoyed the camaraderie and atmosphere of the collective. He took particular pride in performing on stage with Ethan and Frank. His favourite tunes from the set are “Suspects on the Mic”, Pie Life (inspired by Ethan’s stint working at a pie factory), and a cover of Prince Buster’s “One Step Beyond”. After a three year labour of love, John left the band in 2013.

Financially, John supplemented the instability of his career as a musician by undertaking a variety of jobs. He worked as a labourer and scaffolder on building sites, as a cleaner at Mr George’s nightclub, a chef at Suzy Q’s pool and snooker club, and even held a position as bar/cellarman at the Chesford Grange Hotel, to name but a few.

During his time as a guitarist, John has always shunned the limelight, preferring instead, to loiter in the shadows. Through it all, he has never given up his great love of snooker, either as a player or a spectator. It reached a pinnacle when he played a frame against Steve “Boring” Davis, broadcaster, club dj, and erstwhile world snooker champion, at the Arches Snooker Club.

Despite the onset of Parkinson’s disease, John retains a razor sharp wit. He is a gentleman of sartorial elegance and fine taste (thanks, that tenner will come in handy later...), an enthusiast of music and film, and is often to be found foraging in local charity emporiums, for items of cultural and aesthetic interest. The chat with John concluded with an exclusive viewing of a biography, which is still only a work in progress, and has the working title of “From the Albert Hall to Fuck All”, an “account of his journey through the treacherous waters of the music industry”. It promises to unleash a veritable tsunami of engrossing tales.

And John’s biggest regret...not getting those Crackerjack pencils, of course! It’s a cruel world.

Note: These interviews were conducted in a controlled environment at Ikea, Coventry (RIP) and Cafe Italia, Trinity Street, Coventry, and no musicians were harmed in the process.

Disclaimer: The veracity of these interviews, including, names, dates, venues and incidents is totally reliant on John’s memory bank but every effort has been made to embellish them to make them sound even more bizarre...just saying. 


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MORE ON THE SWINGING CATS HERE A TO Z OF COVENTRY BANDS POST

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS


Below - King Henry VIII School cross country team with John Shipley, top row, third from right, 22/3/67.



'The Bowie Boys' at the Rose and Crown.Back row Big Jim, John Wankling, Chris Byers, Roddy Byers, John Shipley, Dave Wankling, Kevin Brown. Kneeling - Steve Connolly (Scon) aka Roadent. Paul 0'Brien.



Swinging Cats outside Noels Cafe, Station St West, Foleshill (down the road from the General Wolfe). Photo Jill Furmanovsky.



Swinging Cats with Jane Bayley on vocals. General Wolfe rehearsals - Two photos from This Then




Away - The Swinging Cats - on Look hear

Never on a Sunday - The Swinging Cats - on Look Hear





The Swinging Cats Mantovani - Horizon Photography


The Specials Tour Poster






Swinging Cats at the Big Top


Free Nelson Mandela - Special AKA with John Shipley on guitar.



Special AKA with Housebound with John's favourite track from 'In the Studio'

Special AKA perform "What I like Most About You" on BBC's Crackerjack.





The Supernaturals - Horizon photography
The Supernaturals line up 

Pauline Black - Vocals
Everett (The Beat's old drummer) - Drums replaced by Rob Hill
Zip The Bassman - Bass replaced by Ray, a bass player from Rugby
Tony White - Guitar
Dave Gedney ("That boy gets everywhere!" - Tony)
John Shipley - Guitar (2nd Line-up)
John Greenhow (2nd Line-up)

The Great Escape - 
Memories from Tony White via Rex Brough

"The first line-up supported Joe Boxers on tour. The second line up really rocked. NME described us as playing 'Guitar-based underwater spy-movie music' I really enjoyed this band - we supported The Communards on their UK tour in 1986 and played some great gigs around the country. There was a lot of Press and record company interest in The Supernaturals at that time. John Shipley and Pauline fell out. Upshot was that a new band emerged from the ashes called The Great Escape".


The Great Escape - Val Webb (Haudiquet) (Ex swinging cats) was drafted in as lead singer and Barry (Rob Hill's old partner in rhythm from The Mix) replaced Ray on Bass. The new line up was now Val, Myself, John Shipley, John Greenhow, Rob Hill and Barry. The Great Escape actually played some corking gigs in Cov in early '87 but finally split up.

The Great Escape - Demos 
These next three videos of John Shipley's The Great Escape are unheard cassette demos / rehearsal tapes that Val Webb (Haudiquet) sent for digitisation. Digitise by Trev Teasdel for Val.


The Great Escape video 1,  3 tracks. The first track is a new version of the Swinging Cat's number Away but with John on vocals. Followed by Motion of the Ocean and Ordinary Life with vocals by Val.



The Great Escape Video 2. 3 Tracks. Date a Heart - Val on Vocals, Don't say You're Sorry - John on vocals - Don't Say You're Sorry - Val on vocals.

Great Escape 3. 3 tracks 1. Hold me Vocals John, Hold Me backing track, I Must Confess -John vocal.




The Cosmics live at the Stoker, Coventry - Horizon Photography.

The Cosmics - Released as a 3 track 12 " Produced by Mark Downie aka Marcus Upbeat








Elecktric Custard live at the Roadhouse, Birmingham

Swinging Cats reunion - Paul Heskett, John Shipley, Chris Long. Horizon photography



“John and the General reunited.  Horizon Photography.


JUNGLE MUSIC - The Special AKA featuring Rico




John Shipley - Horizon photography
d



A Swinging Cat in a Hat. Horizon Photography

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Bruce Soord – Requests gig part 1, from the studio 23 May 2020

Bruce Soord – Requests gig part 1, from the studio 23 May 2020

by Pete Clemons



Yet again, and in the spirit of writing down our thoughts for our childrens childrens children to get some kind of insight into this once in a lifetime event, we call 'the lockdown', I am together a few words about what, for me, has been a highlight of it all............

Once more it involves the talents of songwriter Bruce Soord who, yet again, has very kindly invited us round to his place for a soiree. Well when I say 'round to his place' I didn't mean it literally. What I actually mean is that he is in his attic studio while I am sat on my sofa with my laptop on my knee watching this streamed in gig.

We are now several weeks into lockdown and, to be honest, it is getting a bit tedious now. And I think people are starting to fray at the edge a little. Having said that, by and large, people in general have shown tremendous resolve.

But if I am starting to get a bit fed up with it, imagine how a musician is feeling right now. At least I can see signs of some more shackles coming off soon Over this weekend the government has suggested that more restrictions will soon be lifted. But for the musician there is still no end in sight. And that, for me, is what is making these studio sessions all the more special.

On to the gig and, for this, Bruce has promised less chat and more music. And, by and large, this is what we get as he prepares his delay pedal and quickly gets into his stride by performing his first song 'Magnolia'.What followed was a beautiful version the title track from his 2014 album.

Bruce explained that he had prepared more for this gig and there would hopefully be none of the 'button issues' experienced during the last set. Also the set, which was being watched by his own parents and his Mother in law, had been put together by way of requests. Bruce also mentioned that these sessions had been a good opportunity to look back on his career. And that he had been surprised as to how many songs he had actually amassed.

With that Bruce turned his attention to his next song 'My Debt to You' from the Tightly Unwound album. This threw my mind back several years as I seem to remember that 'My Debt' was written while Bruce was ill from Bruce's and happened to be watching daytime TV from his sofa. Having said that, my mind could be playing tricks.

Next up was 'Alone at Sea' from the Your Wilderness album. This was edgy and a bit more of a rockier tune. And for it Bruce deployed his looper pedal and introduced an electric guitar. Asked, via the comments about the concept for Your Wilderness, Bruce kind of sighed and replied that the album cover, showing a child with his Father staring into the vastness, explained everything really.

Then it was back to something softer in the shape of 'Clapham'. Again this was another thoughtful moment for Bruce as he reflected on the songs creation after receiving some awful news while stood on Clapham Junction station platform.

Another remembrance tune followed. This time 'Cut the Flowers' from Bruce's second solo album All This Will be Yours. And again this was a moment of reflection as Bruce gave an insight as to how the song came about. Of course, Bruce mentioned, 'remembrance and loss never replaces anything'. But, as he continued 'it is all we have'. Raw emotions were suddenly rising to the surface.

The last two songs of this session came from the Dissolution album. And these were 'Shed a Light' and 'White Mist'. The first of these songs saw Bruce introduce an eight string guitar that had an enormous sound. The latter brought everything to the table including looper pedal, shaker, electric guitar and tons of improvisation. Between the two songs Bruce reminisced about the Dissolution tour and, in particular the champagne bottle incident. And a final flourish of electric guitar brought to a close yet another compelling set that was just an utter delight.

Although rehearsed to a point Bruce, at times, gave the impression that he didn't know which way the songs would actually go. And this added that unique charm to the event. Cut the Flowers, for example, was not an easy tune and Bruce's face, at times, said it all. He did grimace once or twice. But Bruce himself mentioned that 'he fell off the tracks a couple of times and that in itself makes it all a lot of fun'.

But don't just believe me about the standard of these gigs. An almost final word from a guy who knows his eggs when it comes to this kind of thing. He said 'Ive watched a lot of these streaming gigs, and I honestly think his are the best by quite a big margin. He puts his soul into them'.

High praise indeed. Did I mention earlier that I was getting fed up with lockdown?. Not a word of it, maybe I was born for lockdown as, all of a sudden, I am looking forward to part 2 of this.



Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Neol Davies of The Selecter

Neol Davies of The Selecter

by Pete Clemons




As part of last year's 2 tone at 40 celebrations, The Selecter's Neol Davies, gave an incredibly interesting and insightful chat at the Coventry Music Museum. Neol really did reveal some amazing facts as he saw things at the time.

The event began when Neol, who was born in 1952, mentioned that his birth name was actually Leon. He rearranged those same letters to arrive at the name Neol (pronounced Neil).

Neol’s early interest in music was the twangy guitar sounds of The Shadows. And, during 1967, he saw Jimi Hendrix perform at Coventry Theatre. And that moment was very inspiring for him.

A damaged finger forced Neol to change his plectrum style. And that, in itself, may have helped in producing his unique playing style.

Neol's introduction to playing reggae happened during a spell with Chapter 5. Chapter 5 had formed sometime around 1974 or 1975 at the Holyhead youth Centre where Charley Anderson had been a youth worker. The band included Charley on bass, Desmond Brown on Organ, drummer Sylverton Hutchinson and Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson guitar and vocals. Chapter 5 continued through till around 1976. And Neol was quick to acknowledge that these early relationships, including that with the group Nite Train – who were led by Ray King and included both Jerry Dammers and himself - were the seeds of the Two Tone movement.

However, depending on who you talk to, there was a lot of inter-changeability between the musicians of these bands before the ‘classic’ 2 Tone line up's settled. And people see things from slightly different angles.

As time went on a number of other bands were either formed at, or were at least associated with, the Lower Holyhead Road centre. These included Pharaohs Kingdom, Earthbound, Nite Train, Hard Top 22 and Transposed Men.

And, of those, the period when Transposed Men would begin to take shape, would prove to be another critical moment for Neol. The band comprised of former Chapter 5 bandmate Desmond Brown on organ, guitarist Kevin Harrison who Neol had known for years, Steve Wynne on bass and drummer John Bradbury (Brad) who Neol once had to persuade to take up the drums and to buy a kit.

The story goes that Brad played 'Watching the Detectives' by Elvis Costello and both he and Neol decided to make a record. Between them they came up with the most wonderful of grooves. Even today, it is such a delight to listen to. The tune was recorded at Roger Lomas's studio using Roger's drum kit and included additional trombone from Barry Jones. It also used the sound of sandpaper. Originally titled 'Kingston Affair' by Selecters this most amazing tune was completed by Christmas 1977. Of course, 'Kingston Affair' would not see light of day until it turned up on the flip side to The Specials debut single 'Gangsters' released during May 1979 and re-titled 'The Selecter'.

The Transposed Men band name had come from a book read by drummer John Bradbury who had been sharing a house with Jerry Dammers at the time. Transposed Men built a set that included tunes like ‘On My Radio’, ‘Missing Words’, ‘Street Feeling’, 'Washed up and Left for Dead' and ‘Out on the Streets’. They would rehearse at Binley Oak and almost signed to Virgin Records during late 1978.

In parallel to this Jerry Dammers had been working up the Coventry Automatics and all the hybrids of them. By now, John Bradbury was building up quite a reputation and Jerry asked Neol if he could borrow Brad. Jerry was desperate for a drummer and Neol immediately realised he was going to lose Brad. And so it was, as Brad took with him the 'swing' that the Transposed Men had. And that crucial part of John's repertoire went, with Brad, to the newly formed Specials.

There appeared to be no animosity in Brad's departure. Yet, strangely, the pair never spoke again. In fact Brad completely blanked Neol on Two Tone tour. And to this day, Neol is totally mystified as to what had happened between them.

Could Neol have been a Special ?. Neol didn't suggest it, as such, but he can be forgiven for thinking that it was indeed a possibility given the circumstances at the time. Neol did caveat his thoughts by conceding that the prospect of him becoming a Special was maybe just have been in his mind and had never even crossed Jerry Dammers thoughts.

However, as The Specials were taking shape, they would rehearse at the Heath Hotel on the Foleshill Road. At the time Neol was attending and taking part in those rehearsals. He attended an awful lot of the sessions.

Neol, who lived close to the Heath Hotel, then discovered that rehearsals were going on behind his back. Initially a guy called Chuck was taking on the guitar parts. Then Neol saw guitarist Lynval Golding turning up and realised that was that, as far as he was concerned.

Again, in those early days of The Specials, Jerry possibly thought he only needed one guitarist in the band. Then Jerry began to realise that he needed a second guitarist. And, after a 'meeting' at the Domino in the city centre, in came Roddy 'Radiation' Byers. Even at that point Jerry could have quite possibly considered Neol.

A possible explanation as to why Neol was never in the frame to join the band was that Jerry maybe recognised that both he and Neol were strong characters and band leaders. And that would have caused problems and they would quite likely to have clashed. All interesting thoughts though.

As far as I can determine, Hard Top 22 formed during 1977 and were a reggae roots group. The band included Charley Anderson, Amos Anderson, Charles 'H' Bembridge, Compton Amanor, Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and Chris Christy.

Having seen the rise of The Specials and realising the potential of The Selecter track were possibly the reasons Neol set about creating a whole new band based around the tune.

Hard Top 22 were experienced, they had recorded four songs at John Rivers studio in Leamington Spa. Charley effectively broke up the band and invited both Neol and Pauline to form The Selecter. Additionally, The Selecter included Charles 'H' Bembridge on drums, Compton Amanor on rhythm guitar, Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and recruited Desmond Brown on organ. Neol brought some great songs with him but, in Charley's words, 'Hard Top 22 made them hotter'.

As The Selecter began to form Neol was lead singer but he never felt fully confident to be a front man. The band were so loud and Neol's voice became inaudible. So Pauline Black was invited to join.

Pauline Black's book exquisitely details the birth of The Selecter. It seems that Lynval Golding was instrumental with introducing Pauline to the band. Initially the entire band, according to Neol, was doubtful that Pauline should be singer. Although Pauline's book gives a slightly different slant. Either way, as Neol acknowledged, how wrong they were as, having Pauline on lead vocal, clearly worked. Pauline's book also mentions her debut gig as being in Worcester during July 1979.

But one thing is certain and that the formation of The Selecter did happen really quickly as Hard Top 22 had headlined a festival at Hearsall Common during April 1979. And Neol's memories of the beginning of The Selecter are similar to that of Pauline's: 'The Selecter band formed June / July 1979 and the first gig included the the full first line up. It was not until the 2 tone tour when The Selecter played dance hall sized gigs. October 1979 saw The Selecter headline at the Lanch supported by The X/Certs.

Up until Selecter formed Charles 'H' Bembridge had been a bass player. Suddenly he decided that he wanted to play drums. And, he became a truly unique drummer. Resentment that The Selecter were playing Neol's songs. And a mixture of all those emotions made it so good and punchy. And, between them, the band members were putting everything into it. 'at times up to eight nights continuous at, two shows per night and six weeks on road'. And, all the time, things were becoming a real issue.

From the outset it seems that there was a lot of tension within The Selecter. Apart from Desmond and Charlie no one really knew Neol. Charlie wanted to steer band in a more roots reggae direction but Neol wanted to take the band down a totally different path. But, as Noel conceded, they were a very good band because of the friction. It brought with it a lot of power and energy.

With Chrysalis Records providing the money for the 2 Tone label Neol was given a budget of one thousand pounds for their debut single 'On My Radio'. Neol also went with Jerry Dammers to get the deal for The Selecter's debut album. The Specials manager, Rick Rogers, had a company – Trigger – that dealt with the albums publicity. But Neol felt that that Trigger pushed the record from a different angle than it should have been.

Neol admitted that his single biggest mistake was not signing for Warner Brothers when the opportunity presented itself. And he holds his hands up to that one. Neol thought that it would have been difficult to manage the whole 2 Tone thing, if The Selecter and The Specials had been on two different labels. As such he put his trust into the 2 Tone umbrella as opposed to that of what the band were capable of. In hindsight he feels that they should have gone out on their own.

The beginning of the end for this version of The Selecter came, just under eighteen months after the band formed, when Desmond Brown left . The Selecter were on the verge of recording their second album 'Celebrate the Bullet'. This was a devastating blow for Neol. Charlie Anderson also left. Charlie has mentioned on social media that he was not happy with the album's title. And during the album's recording, up stepped producer Roger Lomas, to play some of the bass parts. The Selecter played Top of the Pops where they met Ian Dury and that secured the loan of Norman Watt-Roy to help on some Selecter bass lines when the band played live.

Neol may or may not have being considered for The Specials, we might never know, but Jerry Dammers certainly acknowledges Neol’s involvement and contribution at the outset of 2 Tone era. And, it is true to say that, the basement under that Lower Holyhead Road building was the place where the seeds of 2Tone movement were formed and from where history was created.

Finally, Neol mentioned that he was going through old tapes and recordings with the posibillity of these being released in some form or other in time to come.

The Searchers , Dusty Springfield - Coventry Theatre - August 1964

The Searchers , Dusty Springfield - Coventry Theatre - August 1964

by Pete Clemons






After a summer recess, further pop entertainment was provided by the Coventry Theatre, over the August bank holiday weekend of 1964, and for the rest of that week.

This time it was the turn of another Liverpool group, The Searchers, who would share top billing with Dusty Springfield in a one week variety bill that marked the reopening of the theatre.

Within the advertising for this event it was stated that 'The Searchers visit to Coventry will be a welcome opportunity for local fans to see the band in a live performance. They reached the coveted top place in the hit parade with 'Needles and Pins' and 'Dont Throw Your Love Away'. And their latest recording 'Someday Were Gonna Love Again' is already climbing the charts'.

After forming and, in the space of two short months, The Searchers, established themselves as one of the countries most successful and sought after bands. They gained their first silver disc during 1963 with 'Sweets for my Sweet' which hit the top spot just three weeks after it entered the charts. Their debut LP, 'Meet The Searchers' released during 1964, hit the upper reaches of the charts within seven days after release, quickly establishing the band as serious recording artists and not just one hit wonders.

The Searchers were apparently named as such after the John Wayne. They formed initially as a backing group for a country and western singer. But they soon departed from that genre and quickly established themselves as a part of the Merseybeat boom. After several highly successful trips to Hamburg's Star Club they cut some demo's. These found their way into the hands of Pye Records A&R man, Tony Hatch. A contract and recording session soon followed and they came to the great listening audience during June 1963.

On December 20 1963 the 'New Musical Express' printed a series of lifelines, in a feature on Dusty Springfield. Of those ambitions Dusty stated that her personal ambition was to be happy. And, back in 1964, she certainly appeared to come across as having a very happy disposition. But, regarding her work, she was never completely happy for no matter how great her performance was, she was always striving for something greater. Another ambition for Dusty was to become an international star. This, at the time of these Coventry appearances, she was well on the way to achieving. Dusty had had a succession of hits in the UK and several in the USA. But of course, Dusty Springfield went on to achieve that ambition by the bucketful. By the time of her week in the city she had completed recording sessions in France and Germany and was scheduled to record Italian and Spanish versions of her hits. And all of these achievements were realised in a short space of time, having only began her solo career during the second half of 1963.

The original advertising for the 1964 Coventry event continued: 'In September The Searchers will be making a return visit to America for a tour. Going with them will be Dusty Springfield who has also made a previous visit. In the meantime her visit to Coventry will also be welcomed, especially when it comes at a time when her latest release, the Burt Bacharach song, 'I Just Don't Know What to do With Myself' is competing for a top place in the hit parade'.

Another singer, Eden Kane, was among the supporting artists for this huge event and the compère for it all was Clifford Davis. Clifford had been a variety performer in his own right. He has appeared at various variety theatres in Britain as a magic act compère and this was be his first appearance in Coventry.

A slight mystery to this event is around the line up of The Searchers. Depending on which source you use, bass player and vocalist Tony Jackson left the band during either July or August 1964. I suspect that his replacement, Frank Allen performed at these gigs. That aside the line up was Tony Jackson/Frank Allen bass and lead vocals, John McNally rhythm guitar and vocals, Mike Pender lead guitar and vocals and Chris Curtis on drums.










Saturday, May 16, 2020

The Beatles vs Cliff Richard - Coventry 1964

The Beatles vs Cliff Richard - Coventry 1964

By Pete Clemons



It is true. Cliff Richard once went head to head with The Beatles when both were involved in a contest for audiences at two of Coventry's most popular cinemas during August 1964. To be fair, the same conflict was also happening up and down the country. And, as it happens, both films proved to be incredibly popular with each doing exceptional business all round at their opposing box offices.

The Beatles first film 'A Hard Day's Night' had already broken box office records in many parts of the country in the short space of time since it was released. And it was anticipated that the tremendous attraction of the famous Merseyside group, which was so irresistible to teenagers, children and many adults during 1964, would bring about a box office record's at the Gaumont Coventry.

In preparation for the crowds a special schedule had been drawn up to show the film five times a day during the week, and three times on a Sunday. The way was indeed opened for records to be broken. Additionally, extra staff had been taken on to help control the enthusiastic audiences expected.

The film itself was, and still is, a comedy with many hit tunes and an offbeat storyline. It follows thirty six hours in the life of The Beatles as they travel to a TV show in London. The film used a variety of state of the art photographic techniques including a documentary. Together it created one of the music based motion pictures of the 1960s. Apart from The Beatles, the only other well known personality to share the film, is Wilfred Brambell of 'Steptoe and Son' fame. He played Ringo Starr's grandfather. 



Cliff Richard's third musical, 'Wonderful Life', which came to The Empire, had already outstripped the great success of his previous effort, 'Summer Holiday'. 'Wonderful Life' was filmed in colour and contained numerous song and dance numbers. The action took place against the beautiful backgrounds of Canary Islands.

The story was along the lines of a cruise ship pop band is thrown off the boat for causing an electrical failure, and they all end up in the Canaries. This happened to be where a film director is shooting a movie. The group help him in the making of the film by helping the nervous leading lady prepare for her scenes, but is inspired to reshoot the movie in their own way.

'Wonderful Life' is a musical comedy, with Susan Hampshire being Cliff's leading lady along with his backing group, The Shadows, who also having a prominent role. The film also starred Walter Slezak, as the movie maker, and Melvyn Hayes, Una Stubbs and Richard O'Sullivan. But in all honesty, the film was not one of Cliff's finest.

Both films produced soundtracks that hung on to top 10 places in the UK charts for weeks and, yes maybe dated now, but both were incredibly successful at the time of release. Interestingly, the 'Wonderful Life' soundtrack was released in America under the title 'Swingers Paradise' but failed to break unlike the soundtrack to 'A Hard Days Life' which was a massive success in the States.







Flashback: Coventry mods cause Bank Holiday trouble

Flashback: Coventry mods cause Bank Holiday trouble.

Pete Clemons


Pete Clemons recalls when Broadgate suffered a knock-on effect from the beach riots



While out for a walk with a friend recently we were talking about old scooters and, of course, the conversation soon got around to the ‘Mods’ who made that particular mode of transport famous during the 1960’s.

My friend then went on to mention that of all the youth cultures and fads which have existed over the last 50 years the ‘Mod’ fashion has never really disappeared which of course, when you think about it, is quite true.

When the term ‘Mod’ was first coined during the 1950’s it was used to describe traditional jazz players and their followers. The common denominator though for 1950’s ‘Mods’ and those ‘Mods’ that followed during the 1960’s was the fact that they had both been style conscious and sharply dressed, as they still are to this very day.

One of the earliest written examples of this can be found in the 1959 novel ‘Absolute Beginners’ by Colin MacInnes where he describes modern jazz players and their style conscious fans as ‘modernists’ later shortened to ‘Mods’.

Coffee bars at that time were associated with many forms of music and attracted youths and teenagers of differing backgrounds. And due to the fact they were open after the pubs had closed meant that these youngsters had a place to meet and listen to the various music styles and discuss the latest films, magazines and other things that were flavor of the day. And it was from here that ‘Mods’ developed their ideas and identifying features such as the scooters.

And, I am sure that, anyone who lives in the vicinity of The Craftsman pub will also agree with me as they will have noticed, as I have, the regular scooter rallies taking off from that particular pub car park on a Sunday morning. It really is a great sound when I hear all those Vespa’s, Lambretta’s, and such like, all take off.

When you talk about the ‘Mod’s’ music created by bands like The Who, The Kinks, The Small Faces and relatively, more latterly, The Jam and The Secret Affair should spring to mind along with music genres such as Ska and Soul.

You will also immediately think of those beach towns such as Brighton and Margate, Southend and possibly others like Clacton, Bournemouth and Skegness and other areas of the UK where, during the early 1960’s, the ‘Mods’, along with rivals the ‘Rockers’, would sort out the their differences – particularly during bank holiday weekend of May 1964.

What you wouldn’t necessarily do is associate the events of 1964 with Coventry. So what might surprise you would be for you to learn that Coventry City centre did actually get caught up in those skirmishes and brawls that caused moral panic within the British Government back then.

Just after those infamous bank holiday beach scenes a series of minor disturbances seemed to culminate in a major incident in Broadgate. The Deputy Chief Constable, at the time, stated that it was not gang warfare as such but that it had all been more a case of exhibitionism. The series of events were reported widely at the time and some of the reporting went like this:

"At the time of the beach riots rumours were rife in Coventry that the city would feel a knock on effect. On the Wednesday after those bank holiday disturbances two juveniles were arrested for committing a breach of the peace but no special significance could be placed on the attendant circumstances.

On the Thursday evening there was some trouble in the precinct and four youths were arrested. At 11:15pm on one Friday evening trouble broke out outside a dance hall and five youths were arrested.

At 1am the following morning there was a flare up in Broadgate involving about one hundred youths. On this occasion there was clearly a great deal of excitement no doubt engineered by the current atmosphere. In any event five were arrested.

Many rumours supported the possibility of what can only be described as an invasion by young people not living in Coventry. "

A report from a Monday newspaper, again from May 1964, reported on the previous weekend’s activities as follows:

"The disturbances which shattered the peace of Coventry’s Precinct and traffic free shopping areas on Saturday afternoon gave many people their first taste of the sort of hooliganism which has recently blighted the country’s seaside resorts.

Coventry’s Police soon had the situation under control but it took scores of them, included numbers specially drafted into the city centre, to do so.

They broke up large groups of youths who rampaged about the precinct and detained some of them in Black Marias and police cars stationed at various points in the area.

In the morning a number of youths on the balconies of the Precinct started jeering at an elderly orator near the water feature and some moved towards him menacingly, but he stood his ground.

A crowd of youths made for Coventry station and by the time others, and a number of girls had joined them, there were about 200 in total.

After they returned to the city centre, groups drifted about, and the manager of Woolworths reported to the police that about 150 had barged their way through his store.

One shopper stated ‘I had to get out of the way of a crocodile of black-leather jacketed ruffians coming from the direction of the Precinct. They streamed diagonally across Trinity Street without regard to the traffic which was held up’. ‘While the end of the column was opposite Boots the Chemist the front was outside the Fire Station’ he added. "


The ‘Mod’ scene musically had also begun in Coventry during 1964 and continued and for a couple of years as it carried on well into 1966. The Matrix Ballroom can lay claim to staging the very first Mod gig in Coventry after it had put on a band from Liverpool along with our very own beat band ‘The Sorrows’. Pubs and clubs such as The Cheylesmore and The Walsgrave put on regular Mod nights that included bands and artists such as The Ray King Soul Band, The Steampacket (complete with Rod Stewart), Herbie Goins, Zoot Money and many others.

It did not last. Like all fashion statements, people change, circumstances change and fashions change and so did ‘Mod’ fad. At least until Pete Townshend revived the whole thing, when, his album of the same name provided the inspiration for the 1979 film Quadrophenia. And from then on it never quite went away.

..........................

A recent comment on another Hobo magazine blog on Discos and Venues was this - no idea who the DJ was - if you left this comment please let us know your identity and any other information.

"Anyone remember The Green Onion. 1965/66. It was a very early MOD record club. Every Saturday night at a ballroom dancing school on the green opposite the station. I was the promoter and DJ, played regularly at The Gaff, The Whisky and Spikes Place."

Scooters exhibition at Coventry Transport Museum

Quadrophenia's Jimmy, played by Phil Daniels.


‘Absolute Beginners’ by Colin MacInnes