ENS to Reluctant Stereotypes
by Pete Clemons
Pete Clemons - Any research on Coventry band The Reluctant Stereotypes may well result in you seeing the note 'morphed out of ENS' or similar. Rarely is it expanded on.
But who or what was ENS?. To begin with, musicians including Paul Sampson, Steve Edgson, Peter Bosworth, Paul Brook, Steve Haddon and Chris Dunne were involved at some point. But that list is not exhaustive and others may well have passed through the band.
Trev Teasdel Hobo site editor - Stop right there. I think I can fill in here! Let's expand - (we'll come back to Pete's article)
Steve Haddon wrote "Ens was formed by Pete Bosworth (guitar - brilliant John McLaughlin look/sound-alike) and myself (Steve Haddon).
The original bass player didn't turn up for our first gig (at The Golden Cross) so he was ditched! Our first drummer was Johan (can't remember surname) who played the working men's clubs in a drums/keyboards duo. Johan's commitments made it difficult for us to fit in gigs, so he was replaced by Paul Brook. Paul came to our first audition but was still playing in another Coventry band (Analog) along with Steve Edgson & Mick Hartley, so despite him being brilliant, he couldn't join because of this commitment. When Paul Brook joined, we also gained Mick Hartley (Bass) and Steve Edgson (Clarinet) - actually Steve Edgson may have joined before the other two! Paul Brook still found it difficult to give us 100% of his time and, eventually, this led to us replacing him with Chris Dunne - our 3rd brilliant drummer in a row. Sadly Pete Boswell died and was replaced by Paul Sampson. Pete Bosworth made a huge contribution to Ens and it really wasn't the same without him - so the name was changed to the Reluctant Stereotypes mark 1 before Paul King replaced Paul Sampson."
Trev Teasdel " Yes Steve Haddon is right the core of ENS came out of Analog but who were Analog? I can help here - summer 1974 I was producing Hobo Coventry Music and Arts Magazine and got a letter from guitarist John Rushton telling the magazine about Analog - the letter began -
"Hi Trev, I thought you might like some details of a new and truly original Coventry rock band to include in your mag - Hobo."
And yes we did include the band and their details in Hobo summer 1974 issue and then gave them their first gig at the Hobo Workshop Holyhead Road Youth Centre in Coventry in the July and and another in September 1974. Bear in mind at this time Charley Anderson etal and Neol Davies were practicing their reggae licks in the basement downstairs some years before the Specials formed there.
Analog's line up was Mick Hartley - bass, Steve Edgson guitar / clarinet / Paul Brook drums (double kit) and vocals / John Rushton lead guitar and backing vocals. They band were a jazz / Rock band influenced by bands like Colosseum. Paul Brook had written a 40 min suite called Custer's Last Stand which they recorded at Bird Sound Studio, Snitterfield. You can listen to these suburb tracks here - and bear in mind three of Analog went into Ens and later the early Reluctant Stereotypes.
Analog at the Hobo Workshop Holyhead Road Youth Centre September 1974 from the Coventry Journal.
John Rushton's letter to Hobo Magazine July 1974
Pete Clemons - I for one would like to know what the acronym ENS stood for. But, I think, it would not be unfair to describe ENS as something of an experimental art rock band. They were certainly avant-garde and had a style of their own.
In fact ENS once won the Melody Maker folk/rock area finals competition. In hindsight, the problem for them was that they won this contest and flourished during 1977. A time when the country was not quite in the right frame of mind for innovative and forward thinking music.
During 1975, as far back as I can trace any of their history, ENS were described as a 'bona fide university band' and 'worth a glimpse' as they were announced as support to Savoy Brown who had guitarist extraordinaire Kim Simmonds in their ranks. Also on that bill was Jet who were described as 'an up and coming Sparks/Queen outfit'.
However I am guessing that ENS were maybe more at ease when, during 1977 they supported Henry Cow, a band who were trying to break free of all possible barriers to their music.
In, just short of 2 hours, five pieces of music of music was performed by Henry Cow. The shortest of them was the Lindsay Cooper tune 'No More Songs' which was dedicated to Phil Ochs. They played four long pieces, two of which were called 'Beautiful As An Army With Banners' and 'Living in The Heart Of The Beast'. The other two pieces were simply unannounced.
The gig had certainly been an evening of drama. Henry Cow had attempted to step outside of all that had been considered 'the norm' and simply experiment. With an audience that had a sympathetic ear, ENS had , without question, been received extremely well. But if ENS had felt like they were on a high, sadly it was not last.
Early 1978 saw Warwick University put on free entertainment in the Union Building. As it turned out it was an unfortunate example of student misbehaviour as ENS came in for criticism by those who considered them to be a 'bad band who could not satisfy their unruly inclinations'.
To be fair it was a sign of the time as it merely showed that some gig goers of the day lacked musical appreciation as well as etiquette.
Audiences had lost there way and had quickly forgotten that there was still music outside the realms of heavy rock and sniff rock. And ENS were more than competent to play their type of music.
It was unfortunate that those who were interested in listening to quality music had had their enjoyment spoiled by those who felt that they should voice their disapproval of the whole event.
Afterwards it was mentioned that 'One thing was certain, ENS won't play at Warwick University again unless we pay them 'danger money!'
Thankfully we have changed and, today, we seem to be more open and receptive to many different styles of music.
....
No audio of ENS but this is the early Reluctant Stereotypes with Paul Sampson on vocals before Paul King took over on vocals.
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