Mud - Canley College March 1974

Mud - Canley College March 1974

By Pete Clemons

Continuing on from the article about Roy Wood's Wizzard who, by the way, would perform several more times in Coventry, I recently discovered another report from an end of term event at the Canley based teaching college.

The venue had played host to locals like Dando Shaft, Asgard and Wandering John when it first began to put on these gigs. But as the colleges name grew, so did those who appeared there as visits by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Wishbone Ash and Genesis followed.

The colleges entertainments team also appeared to take advantage of the then growing Glam Rock era that coincided with the venues hey day, and included a variety of bands, as the following account reported:

'High flying Mud surprised the cynics with an appearance at the Coventry College of Education showing they were more than just another machine turning out highly commercial Chapman and Chinn hits.

The group put themselves in a category way above the likes of The Sweet with an hour plus session in which they proved themselves highly talented both musically and vocally.

True, top three hits like 'Tiger feet' and 'Dynamite' were well pushed in the act, singer Les Grey admitted that they were a bit short of material and both numbers were repeated during the encore, but how well the group came over on close harmony numbers like 'Blue Moon' in which all four members sang spot on.

The musicianship was good, the balance right and the act had the essential ingredient of audience communication and humour so often lacking when groups take the stage'.

Mud had initially formed during the mid 1960s but it was during the glam rock era that saw the band hit a peak when they signed up for Mickie Most on his RAK records label.

The line up that night included lead vocalist Les Gray, Rob Davis on lead guitar, Dave Mount on drums and Ray Stiles on bass, and this gig took place before the band had their two massive number one hits.

The three piece all girl harmony group, The Flirtations, opened the live entertainment at this end of term ball with a highly polished act of Philly and Tamla sounds. The Flirtations, also popular on the Northern Soul scene, had had a hit with 'Nothing but a Heartache' during 1968 but brought with them material from their re-emerging acclaim.

There is little doubt that the entertainment committee from that era of the colleges were indeed very switched on to the then current music scene. They certainly had vision and instinct for current trends.

Coventry's Dando Shaft

Coventry's Wandering John