Vintagerock's Weblog

Budgie: a much under-rated rock band. Memories of gigs 1972 – 2005

vintagerock — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:58:11 +0000

Budgie: a much under-rated band. Memories of gigs 1973 – 2005
My first memories of Budgie were seeing their name on the bill at the 1972 Lincoln festival. I was at the festival and noticed in the programme that they were playing in the Giants of Tomorrow tent. I remember thinking that Budgie was a strange name for a band. I can’t remember if I actually went to see them; I suspect not, as I spend most of the time in front of the main stage. The next time that Budgie came onto my radar was an appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. They played Breadfan and the riff just blew me away. My friend had the album Never Turn Your Back on a Friend, and I spent hours practising and learning the riff. Not long after that I went to see them at the local Locarno ballroom in Sunderland. Seem to remember they started with Breadfan, and played it again as an encore. But they had other great rock songs: Parents, Zoom Club, In the grip of the tyre-fitters hand. The album Never Turn your Back on a Friend is a classic, which I played again and again at the time. Burke Shelley has a unique vocal style. By 1977 Budgie were a regular on the concert hall circuit and often played at Newcastle City Hall. By 1978 guitarist Tony Bourge had left the band, and original drummer Ray Philips had also departed some time ago. Burke Shelley kept the band going, and signed up new guitarist Robert Kendrick. I went to see Budgie twice at the City Hall in 1978. They were still drawing a respectable crowd, but not filling the place, and I was beginning to feel that their time had passed. However, the dawn of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal gave a kick start to their career and a spot at the 1980 Reading Festival, where I saw them play on the Sunday afternoon, kept them in the minds of heavy rock fans.
They returned to headline Reading in 1982, a gig I sadly missed. It was to be over 20 years before I saw Budgie again. In fact the band all but disbanded in the late 80s, concentrating on studio work, and not gigging at all. They returned in the late 90s and started touring the UK again around 10 years ago. Will and I took the chance to see them when they last came to Newcastle in 2005 to play at Trillians Rock Bar, which used to be The Man on the Moon pub in the 70s. The set consisted of some new tracks but the old favourites: Parents, Zoom Club, and of course Breadfan all featured. They were loud, in fact very loud, and the guitarist Simon Lees was excellent. Burke Shelley’s screeching vocals were as strong as ever and he played and looked great. It was really good to see them again. Will and I had tickets to see them again at Trillians a few years later, but the gig was sadly cancelled. The last I heard was that Burke Shelley had taken ill while on tour in Poland. The rest of the tour was cancelled and Burke returned home to recover. Hope he’s OK. Budgie are often forgotten, and are never given the credit they deserve. They were a pretty good solid rock band, who I remember with some fondness. Hope I get to see them again one day.

Carlito and The Drug Store Cowboys The Ivy House Sunderland 28 January 2012

vintagerock — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:50:07 +0000

Carlito and The Drug Store Cowboys The Ivey House Sunderland 28 January 2012
Carlito (Carl Stephenson) is the son of Sunderland born Jazz drummer Ronnie Stephenson, house drummer at Ronnie Scott’s Club in the 60s. He formed The Drug Store Cowboys in Holland a few years ago, and has recently returned to Sunderland to form a new version of the band. Last night was their debut gig, and was full of friends and relatives. Luke, guitarist in the new Cowboys, is Davy’s mate; so we went along to support them on their first night. Carlito is a high energy performer from the mould of Iggy Pop and Mick Jagger; think of The Damned, The Dead Boys, The New York Dolls, Captain Beefheart and The Stooges all rolled into one. The set was a mixture of originals, other than a version of The Velvet Underground’s Waiting for the Man, and the encore of The Stone’s Sympathy for the Devil. Luke also got to perform three of his own songs. The sound mix wasn’t great at times, but Carlito’s manic performance made up for it. Davy got me the setlist. The guys play the White Room in Sunderland later this week.

The Bay City Rollers Sunderland Locarno 1974

vintagerock — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:47:52 +0000

The Bay City Rollers Sunderland Locarno 1974
Another guilty pleasure today. In fact, this is perhaps THE most sad admission I could make in terms of my gig going. OK I’ll admit it, I did go and see the Bay City Rollers….. and I survived to tell the tale, although only just. Actually, I think the Rollers deserve more respect than they ever get. I once read an article which described them as part of the true origins of punk rock, a bunch of Scottish street kids who played music for kids like themselves, and I sort of agree with that. In the history of pop The Rollers are often seen as a joke, which I think is sad. The Bay City Rollers played in Sunderland at the Locarno, just as they were taking off. It was probably in early 1974; when Shang-a-Lang was hitting the charts. They played on a Friday, which was a normal rock night, and a strange choice of billing. The normal faithful rock/hippy crowd, who went every Friday come what may, stayed away in droves, but I decided to go along with a couple of mates just to see what it was like. The ballroom was full of young girls and a smattering of skinheads. On any other Friday, I would have known almost everyone in there; that night I saw almost no-one I recognised, other than a handful of regulars who, like us, had come out of habit and curiosity. I couldn’t actually hear much of the Rollers set over the screaming, and the sound wasn’t wonderful. I do remember them singing hits such as Shang-a-Lang; Remember; Saturday Night and Summerlove Sensation (all from their first lp Rollin’) alongside a number of covers such as Be My Baby. Musically they weren’t great, but the way they worked the crowd was very impressive, Les on his kness at the front singing to the girls and all of the guys hamming it up. That was night was eventful for me for another reason. I was walking around the balcony when a skinhead came up to me and punched me hard in the face for no reason at all. I was dazed, and walked away; not very hurt, but pretty shocked. He was with a group, so it wouldn’t have been sensible to retaliate. However one of them came up to me, asked if I was OK, and explained that his mate was just edgy, and didn’t like guys with long hair. Just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess, but it did spoil the rest of the evening for me. I never did go and see The Rollers again, which is something I regret. From then on they played theatres and concert halls. I guess my experience that night put me off going along. Why recall this now? Well, Eric Faulkner, the Rollers guitarist is playing in a pub in Newcastle soon, and I’ve just bought tickets for Marie and I to go and see him. I understand he does an acoustic show, and has reinvented himself as a Scottish folk singer. Will report back on that after the gig; which is in a couple of weeks time.

John Lees Barclay James Harvest Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2006

vintagerock — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:11:54 +0000

John Lees Barclay James Harvest Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2006
It had been more than 20 years since I had last seen Barclay James Harvest. I’d grown disillusioned with the band in the early 1980s; however when I saw that John Lees’ version of the band was coming to the Tyne Theatre, I decided to go along. The Tyne Theatre is a nice little venue, and for this gig a respectable crowd turned out to see the band. The line up for this gig was :John Lees, Woolly Wolstenholme, Craig Fletcher (b), Kevin Whitehead (dr), Mike Bramwell (kb), and the setlist was: For No One; Child Of The Universe; Harbour; If Love Is King; The Iron Maiden; The Great 1974 Mining Disaster; She Said; Cheap The Bullet; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Galadriel; Suicide?; Medicine Man; In Search Of England; Poor Wages; Mocking Bird; The Poet/After The Day; Hymn. I was surprised how many songs I recognised: For No One; Child Of The Universe; The Great 1974 Mining Disaster; She Said; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Galadriel; Suicide?; The Poet/After The Day; and Hymn brought back memories of those City Hall concerts all those years ago. Mocking Bird was as beautiful as ever; I went home and dug out my (very scratched) copy of the Harvest single and played it again and again as I had in the 70s. I was hooked again.

Barclay James Harvest gigs 1980 – 1981 Newcastle City Hall

vintagerock — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:32:12 +0000

The 1980 Barclay James Harvest tour (ticket left and programme below) was the first chance for UK fans to see the band after the departure of Wooly. We all wondered how the band would shape up with the new line-up which was built around the three remaining members, but actually it was OK. For the tour the set included: Love On The Line; Capricorn; Rock ‘N’ Roll Lady; Nova Lepidoptera; Play To The World; Alright Down Get Boogie; The Song (They Love To Sing); Sperratus; Jonathan; Sip Of Wine; Loving Is Easy; Hymn. During the 70s many bands would play their “new album” on tour, and this was the norm for Barclay James in this period. A new lp; a new set; and a new tour. That was OK, but it was disappointing to see old favourites like Mockingbird being dropped from the set. One good thing about seeing classic bands now is that they play all of the old favourites, and are happy to return to their heritage. Looking at the setlist for the 1980 tour, the only song I recognise is Hymn. Later in 1980 the band played a massive free concert at the Reichstag in West Berlin, in front of an audience of 250,000 people. In many ways Barclay James were at the peak of their success in the early 80s, however, their golden creative period had passed, and their material was not as strong as it had been in the 70s, and to be honest I was becoming tired of seeing them. The set for the 1981 tour (ticket above, programme right) consisted of: Rock ‘N’ Roll Lady; Capricorn; The Song (They Love To Sing); Death Of A City; Berlin; How Do You Feel Now; Back To The Wall; Nova Lepidoptera; Crazy City; Suicide?; Echoes And Shadows; Sperratus; Love On The Line; In Memory Of The Martyrs; Life Is For Living; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Highway For Fools; Play To The World; Hymn. Again, this was mostly new stuff to me, although it was good to see them play Poor Man’s Moody Blues and Hymn again. But for me, a Barclay James Harvest concert without Mockingbird will always disappoint a little. I missed the next few tours, and didn’t go to see them again until over twenty years later. I’ll write something on that experience tomorrow.

Barclay James Harvest gigs 1972 – 1977

vintagerock — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:26:16 +0000

I guess, although I might not have fully realised it at the time, I was pretty into Barclay James Harvest in the 70s. They were one of the bands who I would go along and see with my mates, and we always enjoyed the show. We sort of took them for granted; they toured a lot, you could always go along and see them; you could rely on them to play well (and they would always play Mockingbird). I first saw them at gigs in Sunderland Top Rank and The Locarno. The first time was around 1972, at the Top Rank with the great Del Bromham and Stray support. Stray used to have dustbins on stage with explosives in. These were ignited during All In Your Mind, and nearly blew the roof off; I’m sure Health and Safety rules would outlaw such things these days. Barclay James set around this time consisted of early songs such as She Said; Mocking Bird; Medicine Man; Moonwater; Summer Soldier; The Poet; After The Day; Galadriel; Dark Now My Sky. I also saw them when they appeared at the Reading festival in 1974. By the mid to late 70s they were headlining, and selling out concert halls across the UK. I went to see them at Newcastle City Hall in 1977 (ticket above). That was the Gone To Earth tour (programme to left) and the setlist at the time was: Child Of the Universe; Rock ‘N’ Roll Star; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Mockingbird; Hard Hearted Woman; Medicine Man; Taking Me Higher; Suicide?; Crazy City; Jonathan; Polk Street Rag; Hymn. There show were always 100% professional, if smewhat predictable. At the time I saw them as an alternative to The Moody Blues, who were on a sabbatical throughout the mid 70s. Mockingbird was (and still is) a favourite song of mine and I would look forward to seeing them play it. Barclay James were back at the City Hall in 1978 (ticket right and programme below). This was the XII tour and the setlist was something like: Nova Lepidoptera; Hard Hearted Woman; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Berlin; Medicine Man; Sip Of Wine; Suicide?; Rock ‘N’ Roll Star; In Search Of England; Jonathan; Child Of The Universe; Mockingbird; Loving Is Easy; Hymn Throughout this period the classic line up was: John Lees – vocals and guitar; Les Holroyd – bass and vocals; Mel Pritchard – drums, percussion; the late Stuart “Woolly” Wolstenholme – vocals, mellotron, keyboards. After this tour Wooly left the band, which was a big shock. I remember a lot if talk at the time as to whether the band should, or could, continue without him, which they did. They were back at the City Hall a couple of years later. I’ll write about that gig tomorrow.

Kevin Ayers Newcastle 1974 and 2003

vintagerock — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:01:17 +0000

Kevin Ayers and Long John Baldry Newcastle City Hall November 1974
Kevin Ayers Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2003
Kevin Ayers’ legend looms large in English rock history. In 1974 he’d released The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories album on the Island record label, and headlined the now legendary 1 June 1974 concert at the Rainbow Theatre, London, where his band consisted of John Cale, Nico, Brian Eno and Mike Oldfield. For this Autumn 1974 concert tour (see ticket, and programme below), his band consisted of the late great Ollie Halsall, who I’d seen at the City Hall a few years earlier in Patto. Support came from Long John Baldry who by the early 70s had grown his hair, and was looking seriously hippieish. Long gone were the suited blues man days of the 60s and Let the Heartaches Begin (which he didn’t, of course, sing). But the set was still blues-based and Long John’s voice was as deep and impressive as he was tall.The set consisted of songs from Bananamour, Joy of a Toy and The Confessions of Dr Dream, and was a somewhat shambolic, but enjoyable mixture of English whimsy, reggae and jazz-rock. Ayers did a version Falling in Love Again in the style of Noel Coward and Halsall performed Elvis’ Don’t be Cruel. There were problems with the electricity in the hall, with the power going over several times, and Ayers and Long John Baldry singing to us without any amplication at all at one point. If I remember right, the power failed completely in the end and the show was abandoned. I next saw Kevin Ayers almost 30 years later in the bar of the Tyne Theatre. The approach was similarly eccentric and enigmatic, but just as enjoyable.

Blood Sweat and Tears Newcastle City Hall 14 June 1974

vintagerock — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:30:14 +0000

Blood Sweat and Tears Newcastle City Hall 14 June 1974
Spinning Wheel by Blood, Sweat and Tears seemed to be on the radio all of the time in the late 60s and early 70s. I only saw the band once, when my friend Norm and I went to see them when they came to Newcastle in 1974. The line up of this band changed many times over the years, and both Al Kooper and David Clayton-Thomas had left by the time of this tour. Nevertheless B,S & T put on a competent performance and played favourites ‘You’ve made me so very happy’ and ‘Spinning Wheel’. As I recall the City Hall was pretty empty for this gig.
The line up consisted of Bobby Colomby drums (by then the only original member!), Jerry Fisher lead vocals, Jerry Lacroix vocals, David Bargeron trombones, Georg Wadenius guitar, Larry Willis piano, Ron McLure bass, Tony Klatka sax, and Bill Tillman vocals. This was version 5 or 6 of the band, whose memberships has changed many times over the years with more that 100 (!) musicians passing through. A version of B,S & T continues to tour to this day.

ABBA Stafford Bingley Hall 11 November 1979

vintagerock — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:12:16 +0000

I’m starting this weeks posts with a guilty pleasure. I’ve always had a broad taste in music, and over the years, I’ve been to see quite a lot of straight pop acts, and artists from other genres. One concert that I am particularly proud of attending, and feel no quilt at all about, is Abba. My mate Davy and I went to see Abba at Stafford Bingley Hall at the height of their fame in 1979. Abba toured the UK twice, once in 1977 and again in 1979, and played around a dozen shows in the UK in total. Their first tour was at smaller venues such as Glasgow Apollo, and I remember regretting missing them on that tour. So when they announced some dates at larger venues in 1979, I bought a couple of tickets to see them in Stafford Bingley Hall. The concert was on a Sunday, and we drove down to the concert on the afternoon, and as I recall, went to a chinese restaurant for a meal before the gig.
Stafford Bingley Hall was used for gigs throughout the 70s, Davy and I also went there to see The Who in the mid 70s. It was a big old cattle market, and smelt like one! For the ABBA concert they laid plastic seats in rows, we were in Row 18, which wasn’t too far away from the front. I don’t recall there being any support act for this gig. One thing I do remember is we were both were quite tickled that the actor, John Forgeham, who played Jim Baines in Crossroads at the time was sitting in the next row. The setlist will have been something like: Gammal Fabodpsalm; Voulez-Vous; If It Wasn’t for the Nights; As Good as New; Knowing Me Knowing You; Rock Me; Not Bad At All; Chiquitita; Money Money Money; I Have a Dream; Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight); S.O.S.; Fernando; The Name of the Game; Eagle; Thank You For The Music; Why Did It Have to Be Me; Intermezzo No. 1; I’m Still Alive; Take a Chance on Me; Summer Night City; Does Your Mother Know; Hole in Your Soul; The Way Old Friends Do; Dancing Queen; Waterloo. The four members of Abba were accompanied by a band, and by a large choir of local children for I Have a Dream. They played all the hits and a selection of album tracks. The sound at big gigs wasn’t great in those days, and I seem to remember that being the case at this gig; it was quite quiet in comparison to a more traditional rock concert. Davy and I really enjoyed it, and I still look back on this gig with fond memories and feel quite lucky that I got to see Abba. My programme is above. After the gig we then drove straight back up to Newcastle, which is around 200 miles. It started snowing as we got further north, and I dropped Davy off at Newcastle City Hall, where he joined the queue for tickets for Paul McCartney and Wings which went on sale the next morning. I went home for a few hours sleep, got up went to work for a short time, then went through to Newcastle and met (a very cold and tired) Davy who had managed to get the Wings tickets, but thats a story for another day.

Jeff Beck Newcastle City Hall 1974, 1981 and 2004

vintagerock — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:18:30 +0000

Jeff Beck in Newcastle 1974, 1981 and 2004
Writing my post about the Grangemouth Festival, where Jeff Beck headlined, made me think about the other times that I’ve seen Beck. The most recent was at the O2 a couple of years ago, when he co-headlined and dueted with Clapton. It was a great gig, with an astounding performance from Beck. I’ve seen him three other times, making five in total. After Grangemouth I was keen to see Beck again, so when Beck, Bogert and Appice came to Newcastle City Hall in January 1974 I made sure that I was there. The set was similar to that he played at Grangemouth the year before. This was classic rock, but there were hints of the more experimental guitar technique that Beck was to move into in the future. The setlist for their Live in Japan 1973 DVD is: Superstition; Lose Myself With You; Jeff’s Boogie; Going Down; Boogie; Morning Dew; Sweet Sweet Surrender; Livin’ Alone; I’m So Proud; Lady; Black Cat Moan; Why Should I Care; Plynth/Shotgun. I would guess that the set that night will have been similar. By 1981 Beck was more into jazz-rock, and his 1981 show at the City Hall reflected this. As I recall, Ian and I went to this gig, and the set was all instrumental. Beck no doubt gave us some great guitar playing, but I found it a bit too much, and I was bored by the end. He’d released the Wired and There and Back albums in 1975 and 1980, and the set mainly comprised tracks from those lps, with no old songs, and definitely no Hi Ho Silver Lining. Looking at published setlists, around that time the set was something like: Star Cycle; El Becko; Too Much to Lose; The Pump; Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers; Space Boogie; Led Boots; Freeway Jam; Diamond Dust; Scatterbrain/Drum Solo; Blue Wind; Goodbye Pork Pie Hat/You Never Know; Going Down. It was over 20 years until I saw Jeff Beck again. By 2004, when Will and I last saw him in Newcastle, he was still playing mostly instrumental, with a singer for a few of the songs. By now he’d moved into a more experimental mode, using techniques which blend rock, jazz and sounds from the 50s and 60s; shades of The Shadows, surf guitar, Duane Eddy, Dick Dale and Santo and Johnny. He was awesome that night, and I realised again just what a craftsman he is. My programme for the 2004 gig is to the left. His instrumental version of The Beatles Day In The Life is a revelation. His set from The Albert Hall concert a few days later was: Resolution; Star Cycle; Freeway Jam; Roy’s Toy; Big Block; Cry Me a River; Stratus; Goodbye Pork Pie Hat; Angel; Even Odds; Brush with the Blues; Nadia; Nothing but Love; Loose Cannon; Blancet; Rollin’ and Tumblin’; Blue Wind; Voyage Home; Rice Pudding; Cissy Strut; Led Boots; A Day in the Life; Where Were You; You Never Know; Encore: People Get Ready. Still no Hi Ho Silver Lining. I’d resigned myself to never seeing him play the 60s classic. However, that was to come as a surprise at the gig with Clapton (see my earlier blog).