ASGARD - Progressive Rock Band 1969 - 71

Asgard were one of the top Coventry progressive rock bands in the early 70's, with their own experimental numbers influenced by bands like the Nice and Pink Floyd and picked up and promoted by John Peel with a view to being recorded for his Dandelion label alongside acts like Medicine Head and Principle Edward's Magic Theatre.

The band practiced at the Coventry Arts Umbrella club and were sometimes joined by Neol Davies (The Selecter) on sitar. Peter Clemons has the full story of this fascinating band in an article from the Coventry Telegraph. Below is further information and photos on the Hobo A to Z of Coventry bands and some youtube of the band, giving an idea of their sound - but first Pete's article -

 

 

The prog rock trio who filled in for Black Sabbath; ROCK fan and regular contributor Pete Clemons tells the little known story of Asgard after listening to rare recordings kept safe by a band member for nearly 40 years. Pete, from Keresley, charts the "refreshing" sound of the Eastern Green outfit.

A COVENTRY band who had always intrigued me due to the great things I had heard about them was a three piece from Eastern Green called Asgard.

I started doing some digging and discovered that they had played The Walsgrave, The Plough on London Road but had not then realised that this band had actually broken out of Coventry.

Then incredibly, a few years ago whilst doing some research, I was astonished to discover that some of their music had begun to surface on the internet. This had come about via the efforts of Trevor Teasdel who published the music onto his website and Grammy award winning producer Roger Lomas who did an incredible job digitising and cleaning the tracks up.

It turned out that the music had been produced during a period when the band was under the wing of John Peel. It had been recorded and cut to acetate in London during 1970. John Peel had offered to record the band on his own Dandelion label but they could not raise the cash needed, as Peel had overstretched himself by supporting his other signings.

The band's road manager Bob Mansfield had lost contact with Richard Kilbride for over 20 years, only tracing him when needing to get the news to him of Terry Westwood's terminal illness. Eventually it came to light that fortunately Richard had held onto these recordings on damaged acetate for almost 40 years. The tracks are not the greatest of quality and are clearly not professional but they are a remarkable insight and possibly the only recorded document of the band's existence. And they do give you more than a taste of what the band were all about. 

Asgard had been the brilliant organist Bill Walker with Richard Kilbride on bass and vocals and Terry Westwood on drums and percussion.

They had been together since 1966 when the three of them, all school friends, formed a mod influenced band called Union Jack.

Sometime later and clearly, by then, influenced by bands like The Pink Floyd and The Nice the band changed their name to Asgard. Initially they practiced their psychedelic brand of progressive music every night in a shed at the back of Bill's house. The band wrote a lot of material together but was known for the lengthy improvisations that they sometimes got carried away with even on stage.

By late 1968 they had secured some gigs at the Butts College and a year later they were practicing and performing at the Umbrella Arts Club where, occasionally, they would be joined on stage by Neol Davies (The Selecter fame) on sitar and sax player Mick Gawthorpe who was also a member of another local progressive/blues band called Whistler. By this time they had also established a light show that was operated by Adrian Watton, adding greatly to the band's performance.

The band were so good and well respected that they gained a manger, Foleshill born Paul Padum, who, through his links with John Peel, secured the band a slot at a major CNG gig at Victoria Park, London that was being headlined by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and included bands like The Liverpool Scene. The band had been a late addition having replaced the then relatively unknown Black Sabbath and performed in front of a huge audience of 25,000.

John Peel was compere at the event and had been suitably impressed by the band. He invited them to perform at the legendary Mothers Club in Erdington where, at that time, he was the resident Friday night DJ. He also, for a while, presented a radio show from the venue and this gave the band valuable air time.

John Peel also took the band to Torquay for the Torbay blues festival as support to Blodwyn Pig who failed to show. Peel asked the band if they would step in and play another set, after already completed their own support slot. Having just done their own set, all they could offer was to go on and improvise for Blodwyn Pig. Peel announced to the audience what the band's intentions were and asked them to appreciate the fact that Asgard would be performing without set material. The band improvised for an hour and was called back for an encore. After that Asgard had gained enough support to tour the university circuit that existed at that time. 

In October 1970, the UK music magazine New Musical Express reported that Dawn record label acts Demon Fuzz, Heron and Comus were due to take part in a series of UK gigs during November. It was a promotional tour and at all venues the price of admission was one penny.

Although not signed to the Dawn label Asgard joined the tour.

March 1971 saw Asgard back in Coventry making one of their final live appearances at the Warwick University Arts Festival alongside The Pink Fairies, Skin Alley and Whistler. The band then relocated to Devon for inspiration and to be able to write and lay down some new music. But in a rented cottage with no gas or electricity the idea never got off the ground and, in 1972, the band fizzled out. Soon after Bill Walker went off to university, Terry Westwood returned to Coventry with Bob Mansfield while Richard Kilbride remained in Devon.

Shortly after the split they learned that a band called T2 had also split and that band's tour dates including the U.S. had been offered to them. The band got back together for one final appearance at Tantons hotel in Bideford North Devon to an invited audience.

The magic was still there but by then they had all moved on. Richard Kilbride formed a new band in Devon called Bo-Speak that, again, skirted the doors of fame only to crash and burn as did Asgard. Manager Paul Padum went on to share an apartment with John Peel in London and worked for bands like Roxy Music, Rocket 88, Alexis Corner, Renaissance and Pink Floyd.

Unfortunately the story does not really have a happy ending and from here it all gets quite sad. Bill Walker suffered a fatal heart attack soon after getting married during the mid 1970s. Manager Paul Padum suffered a similar fate around 1980 while working with Charles Aznavour in Bahrain. Terry Westwood, after living with Bob Mansfield for a while, eventually settled in Kings Lynn where sadly he passed away in 2009. And finally Richard. He himself has been very ill recently with prostate cancer. But thankfully he now seems to be on the road to full recovery.

The band had also gigged heavily with a band called Principle Edwards Magic Theatre and clearly impressed their tour manager Chris Runician wrote the following words: "The original sound produced by Asgard comes as a refreshing change from usual heavy clich ridden bands who 'blow the mind' with volume and distortion. Asgard put the emphasis on quality and clarity of sound. Their sound has been described by other musicians as 'atmospheric'.

The best example is the climax of their act, simply called K511 which is concerned with the emotional rejection intolerance towards love, peace etc. A very powerful end to their act."

It all makes you wonder just what other musical gems are out there in Coventry just waiting to be discovered.

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 More material and photos via Trev Teasdel on Hobo - The A to Z of Coventry Bands

YOU TUBE

The following tracks by Asgard were digitised and cleaned up by producer Roger Lomas from a rare live acetate of the band which unfortunately was partially damaged with solder splashes along with the customary vinyl clicks and noises. Although Asgard were lined up to do some professional recording for John Peel's label at one stage, it never happened and these demo tracks are all that we have. However, they give a good idea of the band's sound and material at the time they were recorded.

 Asgard - Sunrise

Asgard - Month Part 1 and 2

Asgard - Trivialities parts 1 and 2

 

 

Follow the link to A to Z of Coventry bands for more photos and material.

Photo of  Neol Davies wirth his long hair playing sitar c 1970.

Asgard were under the wing of  John Peel for a while and they were mentioned in his column in Disc and Music Echo early 1970

In the article John Peel writes "Paul Padum and elements of Asgard stayed at Peel Acres. Tonight we were supposed to drive to Coventry to see Asgard play but there was talk of fog on the M1"

Richard Kilbride (bass player) wrote "

John Peel
"We were taken under the wing of John Peel for some time, through the efforts of Paul Padun our manager,We played with John Peel on his new band spot at 'Mothers' - Erdington in Birmingham / Asgard made its debut at the Torbay Blues Festival and also appeared at Torquay Town hall with John Peel at a Blues festival as support to Blodwyn Pig who failed to turn up! So we improvised a set to fill their spot. He also put us on a C.N.D festival in Victoria park (with a huge audience), headlined by The Crazy world of Arthur Brown and The Liverpool Scene. We also did many Gigs with Principal Edwards Magic Theatre in St. Ives, who were also his protogies. The Roundhouse in London"

The Moonbears

Peter Clemons recommends one of Coventry's newest bands - The Moonbears.

In this article from the Coventry Telegraph Alan Poole introduces the band -

http://themoonbearsband.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/were-moonbears-three-piece-pop-band.html

Beverley Jones and Ricky Lee - Coventry Singers of Note

Recently Coventry lost another outstanding local artist Beverley Jones. Peter Clemons details the rise of her career in the 60's and that of the closely associated Ricky Lee, in another of his Coventry Telegraph articles.

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Sixties singer Beverley was so close to greatness

ROCK fan and regular contributor Pete Clemons charts the career of Coventry singer Beverley Jones, who died this month.

Pete, from Keresley, said the Sixties starlet never hit the bigtime her talent deserved.

IT was sad to read about the recent passing of Beverley Jones, the Coventry singer who cut several 45 rpm singles and who had, early in her career, styled herself on little miss dynamite Brenda Lee, yet had her own very distinctive voice.

After winning a local talent competition, Beverley had a brief stint with local band Johnny and the Rebels who at that time included Johnny Miles on guitar, Johnny Gibbons on bass and Nigel Lomas on drums.

She first began to perform solo at pubs like The Craftsman and The Pilot during Sunday lunchtimes between noon and 2pm. This was early 1962 and she was going out under the name 'Beverley'. But this was soon changed and by April she began to use the name of Jackie Lane. However, and just as quickly, she had to revert back to her birth name when it was come to light that an American actress shared the same name.

During 1963 Beverley spent a lot of time in London recording three of her singles beginning with 'The Boy I Saw With You (I Know Him Well)' c/w 'When It Comes To Love' for the HMV label in January of that year.

Her other two singles that year were 'Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart' c/w 'I'm Just An In-between' and 'Wait Til My Bobby Gets Home' c/w 'A Boy Like You'. Again, both records were recorded and released by His Masters Voice.

At that time there were an awful lot of great female singers about. Whether that was a factor, maybe it was due to bad publicity, or maybe it was just simple plain bad luck but the singles were never great sellers. It is, however, very fair to say that at the time Beverley was within touching distance of greatness.

Another local performer who became very popular during the 1960s was Ricky Lee. His first band, The Atlantics included at that time future The Sorrows guitarist Pip Whitcher in their ranks.

Ricky then became known as Johnny Ransom and joined the Rebels, when they were formed during 1960. This was the same Rebels as mentioned above but at that time the band included Ricky on vocals, Johnny Miles, guitar and brothers Joe Kerrigan and Andy Kerrigan. The Rebels played venues such as The Co-op club located at the Forum on Walsgrave Road and the GEC ballroom.

In 1963 there was another band and another name change for Ricky. This turned out to be a very busy period as Ricky Lee, now Ricky Dawson, joined one of Don Fardons early bands the Millionaires.

Ricky Dawson and the Millionaires secured an awful lot of gigs throughout that year at venues like the Heath Hotel, The Pilot, The Walsgrave and The Hawthorn Tree.

By January 1964 Beverley had also joined the Millionaires. And together Beverley and Ricky quickly became known as the Duke and Duchess and judging by the number of gigs they performed together during that year they must have been incredibly popular.

At their peak the Duke and Duchess were playing lunchtime and evening sessions on both Saturdays and Sundays.

During that year Beverley's set list began to change. Groups were suddenly the fashion and rather than just sing Brenda Lee and Phil Spector type numbers she also began to belt out the songs of The Rolling Stones and The Animals.

The idea of being in a group then led her to answering an advert for a singer to be teamed up with a group.

This was opposed to her previously singing against a big band.

After a successful audition there was yet another trip to London. This time it was to record single number four with a group called The Preston's for the Parlophone label. The single was released during October 1964 and was titled Heatwave c/w Hear You Talking. Again it failed to sell well.

After that venture Beverley joined Coventry band The Mad Classix (Classics). The Classix had formed a few years earlier and now decided that they needed a female singer to front the band. The band toured Germany and this led to valuable road experience. But it also led to homesickness. 

By this time Ricky Dawson had reverted back to Ricky Lee and was now fronting a band called The Falcons.

They were very popular, not only in Coventry, but also in the pubs and clubs throughout the Midlands.

This band continued through to the end of the 1970s.

After a period of family life, which by all accounts was incredibly important to her, Beverley made a comeback in 1976 with a band called The Formula Five.

The Formula Five were another hard gigging local band and even managed to get onto the TV show New Faces. Apart from charity and other various appearances Beverley's career tailed off.

However for Ricky, arguably, his greatest achievement was yet to come. After stepping back from the music scene during the 1980s and 1990s he began to record again.

In fact he put together several CDs at studios in Dudley near to where he had moved. And during 2008 his single 'Please Remember Me' reached number 4 in the German charts. Sadly Ricky passed away during the early part of 2011.

Sometimes in life incredible coincidences happen. And, in hindsight, on Friday 26th February 2010 one such occurrence arguably happened.

At the annual 'Call up the Groups' event organised by Vince Martin and the Phoenix rock 'n' roll group and held at Christ the King church hall both Beverley and Ricky made appearances albeit separately. Beverley in particular, was in astonishing form.

As Beverley once famously said 'once you've been a performer, it gets in your blood. There's always gonna be a time when you'll do it again'. Both their respective families and friends will, of course, feel as though they have a loss within them which can never be replaced but both can rest assured in the knowledge that the legacy that they left behind will be remembered for years to come.

Lots of tracks on Youtube - here are some including Heatwave

The History of the Kasbah (Orchid Ballroom)

Peter Clemons - from the Coventry Telegraph. This time the fascinating history of the Orchid Ballroom - now the Kasbah.

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100 years of entertainment at landmark 

city building.

ROCK fan and regular contributor Pete Clemons charts the history of a building which has provided films, ballroom dancing and live music over nearly half a century.

Pete, from Keresley, looks at the forerunners to the Kasbah, including The Globe Picture Theatre, Majestic and Orchard Ballrooms, and the Tic Toc .

THE venue that we currently know and love as the Kasbah is soon to be 100 years old and is one of the oldest and most enduring entertainment rooms in the city.

Situated at 51 Primrose Hill Street, this incredibly proud looking building first opened as the Globe Picture Theatre in 1914. Quite incredible when you think about it now but at the time it was one of four cinemas in Hillfields alone. Movies were shown within it for more than 40 years until it closed in 1956. The venue was then re opened in 1957 as the Majestic Ballroom.

The Majestic, in the main, had resident big bands such as the Wylie Price Orchestra augmented with singer Jean Hudson. Fridays and Saturdays were advertised as evenings of modern dance. Although during the afternoons you could attend rock 'n' roll dances and learn to jive to band and disc. These sessions continued until July 1961. The venue was then taken over by the Mecca organisation that spent the rest of the year rebuilding and redecorating. During early 1962 announcements began to appear that bookings were now being taken at the renovated building with its luxurious decor and modern amenities. 

March of that year the venue opened as The Orchid Ballroom.

Initially the venue held beat, gala nights and bingo but The Orchid quickly became the premier venue for Irish entertainment. The show bands had now arrived and they were led by the likes of Johnny Flynn, Hank Locklin, Maurice Lynch and Jack Ruane.

Early 1963 and the Orchid Ballroom had now come under the control of entertainer and entrepreneur Larry Page. Larry had actually been a pop star in his own right, having toured with Cliff Richard and the Shadows and became known as the 'teenage rage'. Page retired from performing at the end of the 1950s and joined Mecca as a consultant manager.

During his stay in Coventry he hosted many Sunday night talent contests and had even managed to get record deals for local artists Johnny B Great and the Goodmen, Shel Naylor and The Avengers.

He even discovered and created an all girl group, The Orchids, who legend has it, were named after the venue. The Orchids, along with the bands named above all signed to Decca records and all had several minor hits on that label, although The Avengers had, by then, become The Mighty Avengers when their singles were released.

His time in Coventry was relatively short. The Orchid ballroom had, by now, become a magnet for some of the most influential record producers and music publishers of the early Sixties. Both Phil Solomon, of Decca records, and Edward Kassner , of President records, were both serious players in the music industry back then and their remit was to entice Larry back to London.

Of course they succeeded but the legacy he left us with was long lasting and continues to impress today. After he left Coventry during 1964 Larry then went on to manage The Troggs and The Kinks and, of course, set up his own Page One record label and later The Penny Farthing label.

From the mid Sixties the emphasis switched from beat to 'pop' music but throughout all this change the Irish 32 club continued through till the end of the 1960s when, as a music venue, the Orchid Ballroom closed its doors.

After that the venue became a bingo hall. And then some years later the venue closed for good and lay dormant.

That was until during the very late 1980s when Jon Gaunt began to breathe new life into the building.

Jon had founded a co-operative theatre company called Tic Toc. The theatre company, along with its other spin offs had performed at other venues within the city such as the Coventry University and at Hertford Place but now wanted its own permanent home.

The company received funding from West Midlands Arts and the Arts Council of Britain. With this money they bought and renovated the disused and now derelict hall. It reopened in 1990 as The Tic Toc Club. Looking back the Tic Toc Club had an illustrious history albeit a short -lived one. The Britpop scene was then in its infancy and the club captured the magic of those early days by playing host to Blur and the Ocean Colour Scene.

The Tic Toc also embraced the buildings earlier history by naming its two rooms the orchid suite and the majestic ballroom.

The Tic Toc club even teamed up with the Coventry Telegraph music column 'Street Talk' to bring some valuable exposure to the local scene at the time with performances by Splash With Sonya, The Giraffes, The Bonediggers and many others.

For a brief while in 1993 the venue became known as Antics and played host to future internationally important bands like Porcupine Tree and Ultramarine but by early 1994 it was all over.

But it did not remain closed for too long as it soon re-opened as The Colosseum.

The Colly, as it was fondly known as, opened in 1995 and initially concentrated on the dance scene holding regular themed nights such as Fundamental and the Groovy Garden which began at the Dog and Trumpet in the early 1980s and still continues today.

However, by the turn of the century it had established itself as an incredibly important live venue for local bands and also attracted future household names like The Libertines, The Arctic Monkeys and Keane as its fame widened.

During late 2007 and after around 12 years The Colosseum was refurbished and re-launched as its current incarnation The Kasbah. The Kasbah is very popular with Coventry's strong student base and holds a weekly mix of club nights along with regular live bands.

As a live venue the Kasbah has built on the successful foundations of the Colly and is also well established on the national touring map. Recent highlights include Cage the Elephant, La Roux and Noah and the Whale.

One hundred years of history is an astounding feat for any building nowadays. Let's hope, after this future landmark birthday, that it continues to grow for years to come.

Mr George's

Pete Clemons article from the Coventry Telegraph.

When two nightclubs ruled the city's music scene.

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When two nightclubs ruled city's music scene; ROCK fan and regular contributor Pete Clemons looks back to when two rival nightclubs dominated the live music scene in Coventry. Pete, from Keresley, charts the heyday of Mr George and the City Centre Club which were a magnet to revelers eager to see both local and national bands. past up The The 8 dispatches. Club YOUR nostalgia.

IF you ever get chatting about past nightclubs that once existed 'up town' then names such as The Locarno, The Pink Parrot, The Zodiac, The Top Spot and the After 8 club will always crop up into conversation.

Two other clubs will almost certainly be mentioned in despatches.

These are Mr George's Club and the City Centre Club.

In terms of live music these clubs were arguably two of the most important ever to have opened in Coventry.

It could be said that The Locarno/Tiffany's was equally as important if not more so. And of course this was true. But The Locarno/Tiffany's was a part of the greater national Mecca Leisure chain and, as such, I feel it deserves to be spoken about in its own right, as I did last week.

During their heyday Mr George's and the City Centre Club went almost head to head as they tried to entice clubbers through their doors. But both were also to be applauded for the way they booked national and local bands and at the same time having to handle the ever changing styles of music that, looking back was a challenging part of the 1970s.

Progressive, cabaret, rock, disco, punk and new wave were all catered for during their period of existence.

Mr George's was tucked in the corner of the building complex where the recently closed TJ Hughes and the Co-op meet in the Lower Precinct.

It first opened its doors as a club in November 1972. Its owner was the infamous Glaswegian, George Hendry, whose first involvement with the city came when he bought a share in the former Savoy building on the Radford Road. George of course became quite visible around town when out and about in his distinctive Rolls Royce complete with the famous COV1 number plate. 

The first major band to play 'Georges' came in early December 1972 was Sarah Gordon and Little Free Rock. The initial format was that one band played during the first half of the week with another band taking over and going into the weekend.

The venue was playing host to live music for as many as six evenings a week.

Two years later, in December 1974, and in direct competition to 'Georges', the City Centre Club was opened in Tower Street. The run up to Christmas saw a series of concerts by Billy J Kramer, The Searchers and Jimmy James and the Vagabonds.

It too ran on a similar format of two bands per week each given up to three evenings.

Their residencies included the likes of Gerry and the Pacemakers, Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets, Billy Fury and were as varied as Mac and Katie Kissoon and Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers. But both clubs were not afraid to take risks as they staged one-off concerts by the then relatively unknown bands such as Thin Lizzy, Slade, Motorhead and The Sex Pistols. Of course a lot of these events are now a part of Coventry legend.

As music trends changed both venues broadened out to first of all share live music, and then totally change direction, to become fully blown discotheques. The 'disco's' were, at that time, incredibly popular due in no small part to the commercial success of 'Saturday Night Fever' - the film that significantly helped to popularise disco music around the world.

However all good things, as they say, come to an end and with financial pressures and a host of other issues bearing down Mr George's began to encounter difficulties. The club struggled on with live music and May 1978 saw the last gigs at 'Georges'. Ironically the final residency was by The Coventry Automatics/The Jaywalkers who had had a Monday night slot. This was of course the short lived name for the band that would become better known as The Specials. (30p was the cost of entry for The Automatics if I remember rightly). A month later, during June, the doors finally closed for good.

The City Centre Club faced similar problems. But it did have an attempt at expansion with a short lived partnership with The Robin Hood Club in Watch Close. It battled on till mid 1980 but, like Mr Georges, went the same way. One of the last bands to play there was rock 'n' roll outfit Matchbox.

November 1979 did see a resurgence and 'Georges' re-opened as Park Lane which, in turn, became Mr G's. Yet again, the venue saw some high times and memorable moments and for a short while became incredibly popular. Several cabaret nights were staged there. But it wasn't long before, I believe, financial problems reared their head again and time was finally called during the early 1980s.

Similarly the City Centre Club building was rebranded as The Pink Parrot and then Tamangoes. Again, as popular as all these clubs were the same final fate awaited them.

This was not the end for George Hendry. His empire expanded to places like London, Paris and Majorca and continued to be known 'king of the clubs' until he passed away during 2008 aged 77.

I am sure that Mr Georges and the City Centre Club will hold fond memories for some. And that a lot of people will have their own recollections and thoughts. But the legacy of these two clubs will last for years to come. 

The Locarno

Pete Clemon's article for the Coventry Telegraph - this time on The Locarno (later known as Tiffanys and now of course Coventry Central library)

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The Coventry nightspot where crowds danced to rock legends; YOUR nostalgia ROCK fan Pete Clemons recalls when The Locarno/ Tiffany's put Coventry on the map as a major music venue and a must-play for big name bands. Pete, who is compiling a history of the city's music scene, recalls when the building rocked from the 60s to the 80s during its pre-library days.

THE recent death of Donald 'Duck' Dunn, bass player for Booker T and the MG's, had me casting my mind back and reminiscing about one of Coventry's major dance halls - The Locarno/Tiffany's.

The link, as tenuous as it is, being the fact that for a time Booker T's hit record 'Time is Tight' would welcome in the beginning of another night of dancing and frivolity at the venue.

For those too young to remember, The Locarno was the nightspot in the city centre that operated from the upstairs room where the main Coventry library now is. However, you didn't enter it via the doorway that now exists. The entrance was at the bottom of a tall glass atrium type tower that once stood in the centre of Smithford Way. It was linked to the main building at top floor level by a glazed bridge cum walkthrough.

This old dance hall is arguably as important of any venue Coventry has ever had. Over the years the list of live acts that appeared there, whether it is visiting the city or a local band, quite simply reads like a who's who of British music. The history is quite staggering and I can only touch on it here.

The Locarno was run by the Mecca Leisure Group who, during the 1960s and 70s, were at the forefront of the entertainment industry in the UK. They ran clubs and bingo halls up and down the country and staged TV programmes such as Come Dancing and Miss World. At their peak they owned 80+ similar dance halls. The group opened the Locarno in Coventry during August 1960 and, despite a name change in the mid 1970s to Tiffany's, continued to operate through to May 1981. 

Initially it staged regular Friday and Saturday dances led by the big bands such as the Harry Gray Orchestra but it did not take long for the then popular jazz and 'pop' acts to jump on board with early one off concerts by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, Shane Fenton and Screaming Lord Sutch.

For the majority of its 20 years The Locarno was, in the main, a dance hall but it did play host to and is widely remembered for numerous and some quite legendary events. One such event was held on October 22 1966 when John Mayalls Bluesbreakers, I assume with lead guitarist Peter Green who had earlier that year replaced Eric Clapton, along with Ronnie Jones and the Blue Jays held what was thought to be Coventry's first 'all nighter' at the venue. Although that had indeed been an all night event I can safely say it was not the first. Five years earlier, on Friday May 19 1961 The Clyde Valley Stompers, a New Orleans styled jazz band from Glasgow played an event that ended not long before the shops opened on the following Saturday morning.

The rest of the 1960s also saw The Locarno build a rich history of one off concerts as the likes of The Who, The Small Faces, The Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, Ike and Tina Turner and many many others all appeared there.

This rich vein of talent kept coming as the 1970s continued where the 60s left off by staging concerts by rock bands such as Pink Floyd, Slade, Mott the Hoople, Judas Priest, Hawkwind and Led Zeppelin. In fact the Led Zeppelin gig was interrupted by a bomb scare. Apparently the only person who refused to leave the venue was Robert Plant who did eventually get his way and was able to resume and finish the gig.

Even local band Lieutenant Pigeon played a gig there at the height of their popularity when they hit the top with 'Mouldy Old Dough'.

The very early 1970s also saw, for a couple of years, regular Sunday evening visits by the finest of Irish show bands. Maurice Lynch, Hank Locklin and The Avons and others all appeared there after the Irish 32 club relocated to the venue from the recently closed Orchid Ballroom.

Chuck Berry also made an appearance.

In fact Chuck's hit single 'My Ding a Ling' was recorded at The Locarno during Chuck's 1972 British tour. A couple of other tracks 'Johnnie B Goode' and 'Reelin and Rockin' also appear on an album called The London Chuck Berry Sessions. Chuck rarely, if ever, gave encores so at the end of the album you can hear the Coventry crowd going mad for more and an announcement that the show was over and that Pink Floyd were playing later and the room had to be set up for them. 

Radio 1 celebrities Noel Edmunds, Dave Lee Travis and Johnny Walker all did gigs as the 1970s saw guest DJs do one nighters. And while mentioning DJs, another noteworthy thing to mention, is the fact that Pete Waterman spent 12 years their spinning the records.

As punk rock / new wave then ska took hold of the country toward the end of the 1970s and into the early 1980s it became almost compulsory for the bands to play Tiffany's. This period saw The Clash, The Stranglers, XTC, Blondie, The Specials, The Selecter, UB40 and The Undertones all hold court. The list was almost endless as Tiffany's became one of the nation's major venues.

It is believed to be the club that is made infamous by and referred to in the Specials song 'Friday Night and Saturday Morning'. And if he ever puts on another exhibition then be sure to catch renowned photographer John Coles priceless photographs from this period.

As I said, I have only touched on part of the story of The Locarno. I have not even mentioned the Bali Hai bar, the revolving stage, the many resident bands, the lunch time sessions or the glitter ball.

And whenever I visit the library, and I imagine I am not alone, my mind wanders back to a time when that room was full of music and the dance floor and balconies full of revellers. The complete antithesis of how it is used nowadays.

The Walsgrave Band Nights

Pete Clemons from the Coventry Telegraph. 
 Pete gives a history of the band nights at the Walsgrave in the 60's and 70's including Pete Waterman's Tuesday night progressive Music gigs 1970 / 71.

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Queuing up for band nights at The Walsgrave; YOUR nostalgia ROCK fan Pete Clemons recalls the days when Coventry's The Walsgrave pub was a top music venue, attracting the region's best bands. Pete, who is compiling a history of the city's music scene, remembers long queues forming in wait for its doors to open and of its switch to the Carolina Club in the 1960s to satisfy strict Sunday licensing laws on dances.

ONE of the most popular local pubs of the 1960s was Coventry's The Walsgrave.

This majestic looking building sits proudly out past the Forum, on the bend where the Walsgrave Road meets the Ansty Road and where Dane Road intersects.

It was once Coventry's flagship and benchmark for all things required for a memorable night out. Thursday nights, for example, were hen party nights. Long queues would begin to form at 7pm for door openings at 7.30pm Nurses were always allowed in free of charge in acknowledgement for their outstanding work and devotion at the hospitals.

Sundays would quite often see two sessions. The first at midday till 2pm and then again from 7pm till 10pm.

Strict Sunday licensing laws existed back then which meant that dances were only allowed in clubs. So to satisfy those laws the pub became a club and, as such, the Carolina Club was born with a two shilling (20 pence) membership. There would be band nights that included local (to the region) crowd pullers such as The Mighty Avengers, Tony Martin and the Echo 4, The Matadors and The Beat Preachers (who once supported The Who). As the reputation of the Walsgrave spread it attracted bands from further afield like Denny Laine and the Diplomats, Carl Wayne and the Vikings, Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders and Lady Jane and the Royalty.

The pub was fitted out with permanent state of the art double decks that attracted the city's top DJs such as Mark Brown, Tommy T, Dr Vince and Freddie Flea.

DJs were paid around pounds 1.50 per night while the bands were given between pounds 10 and pounds 15.

The organisers of these dances, Friars promotions, also made sure that a team of bouncers was on hand to cater for any trouble. These included none other than Ken Brown, now proprietor of the popular Browns bar in the city centre.

Ken is, of course, very well known for his time in charge at the General Wolfe at the time it gained its 'legendary' status within Coventry music history.

Thankfully though, trouble at the venue was very infrequent although a set of double doors, similar to those seen in a wild west bar saloon, were left damaged by way of a permanent reminder of the results of some past evictions.

Despite this heavy presence it did not stop the inevitable 'pass out' scams. In essence, people leaving a dance early were handed a pass out which, in turn, was being sold on to late incoming punters for 2/6 (12-and-a-half-pence) or simply being used for another dance.

Management and promoters became aware of this issue and were kept on their toes combating the problem by having to introduce new measures such as different coloured passes for different nights.

Of course disc jockeying back then was a world away from today. Back then DJs had to be real showmen and have bags of personality.

On top of that they selected, introduced and played records for an audience.

They relied on good use of headphones to achieve the smooth cueing of tracks and a flexible microphone in order to introduce the songs.

You also needed a great rapport and a natural patter with the listeners and hecklers. Nowadays, you still need an abundance of showmanship, but the objective is achieved through the use of multi playback devices, cross faders and equalisation in order to deliver the continuous wall of sound required to satisfy the 'clubbers' of today.

By the early 1970s Friars had moved on but The Walsgrave pub still continued to be a popular venue.

The music scene had also changed.

The beat groups had gone and rock was now in vogue.

One of the main protagonists of this new scene was Pete Waterman.

By day Pete worked at the GEC, but by night he was a well known DJ who could be seen at any number of venues across the city.

One of his ventures was the Tuesday night progressive evening at The Walsgrave.

Trevor Teasdale, luminary, promoter and poet from that period remembers those evenings well.

Trev would help the bands unload equipment, set up and run the door.

Pete would put bands on like Indian Summer, and Wandering John but would also find slots for folk acts like Rod Felton and Dando Shaft.

Apart from the DJing, Pete would quite often join the bands on stage accompanying them on flute. This was, of course, during his early days and Pete would find worldwide fame in his own right, particularly with the creation of Stock Aitken and Waterman.

Today The Walsgrave still stands proud. It is more renowned for its food, but even now, after all these years, they can still occasionally find the room for a band to play.

In this article Pete Clemons mentions that i (Trev Teasdel) helped with Pete Waterman's Tuseday night Progressive Music nights 1970 / 71. So below I've included a few tickets from those gigs. I used to do the door and help set up.  Pete and I both worked at the GEC Telecommunications at the time where Pete also the shop-steward. Pete had written some music to one of my lyrics (A Lotta rain is Fallin') while there and asked me help out at the Walsgrave. It meant I got in free and witnessed some great local bands, some of whom I knew and had put on at the Umbrella Club and a lot I hadn't.

Bands included Indian Summer, Wandering John, Last Fair Deal, Asgard, Rod Felton, New Modern Idiot Grunt band, April, Audience (from Birmingham),  Gypsies Kiss. Roger Williamson's East Light, Dando Shaft, Pantomime (Birmingham band), Skid Row, Flying Hat Band and many more.

Pete Waterman - Coventry Days

I'd get there about 7pm and we'd open at 8pm. Pete would go through the records he was intending to play, current hits like - Yellow River, In the Summertime, Alright Now, soul and progressive tracks and oldies seg  The Small Faces, to name but a few. I'd help the bands in with their equipment, talk to him about music and on one occasion he introduced me to Rod Felton ( a solo contemporary folk and blues artist). The next week we went on walkabouts before the gig to Pete's parents house, (where the road is now named after him!). He'd be collecting bits of disco gear, and then caught the bus from Ball Hill to town calling in at a record shop near the arcade. Some of his fans from his Locarno discos would wave and call out to him. After that it was a trip up to Earlsdon Cottage - where they had jazz and folk nights. On this occasion  Rod Felton was on and was sitting on the grass playing guitar as we arrived. Pete had gone to collect his flute from Rod as he intended to play it later at the Walsgrave. Before we left Pete played some melodic flute to one of Rod Felton's songs. Sadly we didn't have mobile vids back then!

Gypsy Lee were on that night, a heavy R & B band and Pete got up to sing a raucous version of Rock me Baby, giving the flute some welly Jethro Tull style. They were popular nights with some good music and some good bands. Pete was a workaholic, DJing 7 nights a week and working at the GEC during the day - until about 1973 when he left to open Soul Hole Records.

Trev Teasdel - Cov Telegraph pic 1973

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