Author: Alikivi

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FEVER: with Durham musician Tony Liddle part 1/2

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For over 50 years Tony Liddle has been in the music business recording and playing with bands including The Animals, Tygers of Pan Tang, Sargeant and AOR band Strangeways.

I don’t think there’s enough space to mention all the bands I’ve been in but I’ll try.

The fact is after 50 years of fighting the world as hard as I could and eventually achieving my personal goals, when I start looking back through my memories, I’m worn out thinking about it – with hotel room after hotel room, airport after airport and alcohol abuse. Many times, on my road to success I wondered why I was doing what I was.

I’m pulling some memories out now like working on the road with Steve Lukather (Toto) Larry Carlton (Steely Dan), jamming with Cozy Powell and John Sykes for Screaming Blue Murder, radio interviews and live TV in Russia, tours with stars including Roy Wood of Wizard. Las Vegas gigs with Jefferson Airplane – yes we went to the desert on a horse with no name !

Going further back there was all those Northern working men’s clubs and bands. I was in Six of the Best for five years covering Boston’s More than a Feeling, Juke Box Hero…up and down the motorway till 6am five nights a week.

Not forgetting Innocent Elephant from South Shields, we went to record company in London and ended up living a year in luxury – also went to Liechtenstein with a Swiss bank account!

Where did it all start ?

I only joined a school band in 1975 cos I might get a girlfriend – LAB 9 they were called, and they didn’t even want a third guitarist.

A year earlier at 14 years old I was playing guitar in The Lance Brown Big Band, those were the days of bands with a brass section, drummer, bass, piano and a conductor at the front waving a stick.

We were playing dance/Jazz post war Glen Miller music in North East dance halls. Along with a paper round on a Sunday morning it was how I made my pocket money.

Lance Brown Big Band was a great introduction into Jazz when I was doing an HND course in Jazz and popular music at Newcastle College. I studied and achieved Grade 5 Classical guitar with the Royal School of Music – then I started writing original, unpopular, rock music.

During a studio recording session in 1978 the singer didn’t show up so I sang the songs Final Rewards and Mr X and was elected the singer, a lot of doors opened for me after that demo.

In the late ’70s TV producers Malcolm Gerrie and Chris Cowey were acting as my managers when they got me an audition with the Tygers of Pan Tang from Whitley Bay – but Jon Deverill got the job.

Line up for music TV programme The Tube December 1982.

From then on my career turned professional and I played a solo spot on the live music show The Tube broadcast from Tyne Tees studio in Newcastle.

I don’t want to name drop but hung out with David Coverdale, Brian Johnson, Phil Lynott, Herman Rarebell (Scorpions) and Leo Sayer…the list is endless.

At The Tube I was hanging with Lemmy and Brian Robertson from Motorhead after they had just finished an interview with Paula Yates. From the off I seemed to just get along with Lemmy and before I went on stage he waved me off and gave me a tall glass of bubbling dry ice.

The song I played was called Cold Mourning but titled wrong as Cold Morning on the credits but in fairness my spelling was bad and that’s what I probably wrote on the Channel 4 pink slip for royalties.

It’s about a narcistic view of death of your own confidence and self-worth – mental illness they call it today. Sounds clever but really it was about the time I found my pet tortoise dead.

Iggy Pop was resting on a big sofa keeping his energy for the TV gig as you know he really goes for it on stage, full on. He is excellent and was, still is an idol of mine and my stage show copied him sometimes.

Lemmy is still one of my favourite lyricists and I loved his voice and attitude. I met him again few times in London at an exclusive club for ‘them in the know’.

A lot of recording artists used to hang out at Frank’s Funny Farm – a secret bar open all night where I used to bump into Terry Slesser (Beckett/Back Street Crawler).

After that I got a free invite to all shows at The Tube, I remember standing next to Michael Hutchins from INXS when Paula Yates interviewed him.

You can spot me on the playbacks and when Paula passed away and Michael passed away that interview clip was shown many times as it was the time they met and started an affair.

Then came heavy rock band Sergeant with Robb Weir, Anthony Curran and Brian Dick touring the UK supporting German metallers Accept and recording with Tygers of Pan Tang (covered in part two).

Tony second from left in AOR band Strangeways.

I wrote songs in a band called Frontier and when I went to London and formed AOR band Strangeways, I took the Frontier tape down and tried to get a few tracks published. In 1985 our first self-titled album and single was released with Kevin Elson as producer.

I also fronted Oliver Dawson’s Saxon before completing a new line up of Newcastle’s finest band The Animals  including three original members who had recorded their hit records.  

They were a great band worthy of Eric Burdon’s great talent and reputation – Hilton Valentine (guitar), John Steel (drums), Dave Rowberry (keys) joined on bass by Jim Rodford (bass) ex-Zombies/Argent /Kinks, replacing the late Chas Chandler.

It couldn’t have been a better line up than that, I’d previously met and worked in my studio with the legend Chas Chandler.

There was stretch limos for many gigs when I toured America with The Animals, Coachman Park was an amazing gig in Florida and we toured all over Europe, Ukraine and Scandinavia. Most gigs in Russia were excellent and sponsored by Vodka companies.

Each tour was from two weeks to two month long. I got home from an Animals tour from Hungary and the next day The Tygers of Pan Tang tour bus picked me up outside my house for a two day drive to Germany and the bus had three other bands on it – Vaughn, Blow Up and Danny Danzi I think.

It was all way too confusing and the main toilet was blocked – piled up over onto the floor with sausages, well it looked like sausages…hundreds of them! Never cook another sausage.

The promotors laid a huge BBQ party for us when we arrived in Mannheim, and I opted for the cheeseburgers.

What are you doing now?

I’m currently fronting a local North East hard rock band playing two hour shows  – Zeppelin/AC-DC/Ozzy/Nazareth – a proper old school rocking band.

On the original side I’ve been busy building a new recording studio and can’t wait to get the band in to record. I’ve wrote some great new original songs but as yet no idea what we’ll call the band.

I’ve just put a huge Swim Spar in my house – think I’ll go for a swim now, just chill out and leave the past behind. I only live in the present and look to the future.

I’m lucky to still be alive and enjoy today, and through music have thankfully received escapism, purpose and the gift of wisdom.

Next up on the blog is part two of the interview with Tony and his time as a member of Tygers of Pan Tang.

Interview by Alikivi   October 2021

SOUNDS CLIPS : PENETRATION

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I’ve come across some grand postings on social media by archivist Stig Chivers. He’s added articles from Sounds music paper 1975-80 some featuring bands from the North East.

Penetration & Lindisfarne at Reading Festival 1978.

In issue dated 18 June 1977 music writer Phil Sutcliffe met County Durham punks Penetration. In a favourable interview he asked are the Northern outsiders ready to walk the same path as the London based crew of Clash, Damned and Stranglers ? In a recent interview (October 2021) Phil told me…

‘Penetration, were a quite brilliant sophistopunk band from Ferryhill, dazzling in every way with a natural star singer, Pauline Murray. Great ideas men in Gary Chaplin and Robert Blamire, plus drummer Gary Smallman and out-there’ish guitarist Fred Purser. They almost made it’.

When I interviewed Fred Purser back in December 2018 he told me…

‘When I met Penetration they had a real chemistry, the atmosphere was good so I gave it a go and we played The Marquee. It was really exciting, loved it and Virgin signed us that night on an album deal’.

Penetration in Sounds 18 June 77

A live review of a Penetration gig in Manchester appeared in 18 June 1977 issue, notable for the support band Stiff Kittens who changed name to Warsaw then changed up again and produced two great albums securing a place in rock immortality. They are widely known for their classic ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ – yes we’re talking about Joy Division.

Next on the bill was John Cooper Clarke reviewer Ian Wood labels him ‘a genius’, Wood warms up – or necks a few more beers – and calls for ‘A&R men to take note’ of Penetration as this band ‘are killers’. Buzzcocks close the (New Wave) show.

The review is illustrated by a great Penetration pic by Rik Walton – who else! In a previously mentioned interview with Phil Sutcliffe… ‘Rik was a good friend and the photographer of the Newcastle scene, one who worked via mild manner rather than being pushy and sharp-elbowed’.

‘You wanted Newcastle music pix, Rik was the man – except when the weeklies sent up one of the big names from London. But Rik’s pix are still valuable in every sense and he’s still the man for images of that time and place’.

For more articles from Sounds Magazine 1975-80 by archivist, Steve ‘Stig’ Chivers check twitter:  @SoundsClips.

For further posts about Sounds type in ‘Raw Meat in the Sonic Mincer’ in the blog search bar.

Read ‘Square One’ the full Fred Purser interview at:

SQUARE ONE in conversation with songwriter & producer Fred Purser | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK (garyalikivi.com)

Alikivi  September 2021

SOUNDS CLIPS : ANGELIC UPSTARTS

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I’ve come across some grand postings on social media by archivist Stig Chivers. He’s added articles from Sounds music paper 1975-80, some featuring bands from the North East.

In the 18 August 1979 edition is a Garry Bushell live review of the Angelic Upstarts gig at the Nashville in London.

Angelic Upstarts in Sounds 18 August 79

In a recent interview with music journalist Phil Sutcliffe, Phil talked about the Upstarts and remembers a gig in Newcastle which was a spin off from the Bedrock programme broadcast by BBC radio Newcastle.

‘Putting the Angelic Upstarts on before North East band Neon at the Bedrock festival proved to be a mis-judgment as a huge fight ensued, a rather one-sided affair given Neon fans were student’ish and Upstarts fans were from South Shields’.

Brian Rapkin from Punishment of Luxury remembers that infamous gig…

‘We were bottom of the bill and during our set someone lobbed a can at the stage. I caught the can and put it in my pocket. Later the Upstarts charged the stage. There was carnage, people beaten up, blood everywhere, the police came and made the rioters walk home to South Shields without their shoes’.

For more articles from Sounds Magazine 1975-80 by archivist, Steve ‘Stig’ Chivers check twitter:  @SoundsClips.

For further posts about Sounds type in: ‘Raw Meat in the Sonic Mincer’ in the blog search bar.

Read about the Angelic Upstarts in ‘The Butchers of Bolingbroke’ here:

THE BUTCHERS OF BOLINGBROKE – Pigs, Gigs and Prisons with Angelic Upstarts | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK (garyalikivi.com)

Alikivi  September 2021

SOUNDS CLIPS : PUNISHMENT OF LUXURY

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You will find some grand postings on social media by archivist Steve ‘Stig’ Chivers. He’s added articles from Sounds music paper 1975-80 some featuring bands from the North East.

Sounds singles review 9/6/79.

9 June 1979 issue carries a singles review featuring Newcastle post punk band Punishment of Luxury’s ‘Jellyfish’. Not a favourable review to put it mildly ‘Pathetic attempt to capture early seventies quirkiness’ ouch!

In an interview back in April 2021 Brian Rapkin (Bond) told me…

‘The first single after we signed was supposed to be ‘Jellyfish’, but the board at United Artists didn’t like it as an A-side so we reluctantly agreed to ‘Engine of Excess’ as the A-side’.

‘Then we signed to Screen Gems-EMI Publishing who gave UA a bollocking about the choice of A-side. So UA re-released ‘Jellyfish’ as the A-side. But by then it was too late to get airplay. The momentum was lost’.

The diamond in the dust amongst the reviews is a favourite in my top singles list – Babylons Burning from The Ruts – ‘Music to riot too’ shouts this week’s reviewer Garry Bushell. Yer got that right Gazza.

Also came across some pages from the Reading 1979 official programme, or the official title – 19th National Jazz, Blues & Rock Festival.

The Jags are on the 3pm Friday slot with Punilux at 4.30pm. Motorhead take the stage as the sun goes down. Scorpions and Ramones headliners on Saturday and Sunday.

Look out for Penetration and Angelic Upstarts on the next Sounds Clips posts.

Full interviews with Punishment of Luxury:

FUNK OFF – The Punishment of Luxury & further tales of musical adventures. | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK (garyalikivi.com)

FROM NEWCASTLE WITH LOVE – part one of an interview with actor & musician Brian Rapkin. | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK (garyalikivi.com)

More Sounds Magazine 1975-80 articles by archivist, Steve ‘Stig’ Chivers check twitter:  @SoundsClips.

Further posts about Sounds type in ‘Raw Meat in the Sonic Mincer’ in the blog search bar.

Alikivi  September 2021

TICKET TO RIDE : with North East show promoter, Julie Clay

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Julie has worked within the entertainment industry for over forty years, and is a local gig promoter based in Whitley Bay.

Before the Newcastle Arena the Whitley Bay ice rink put a lot of bands on. We had Sting, Def Leppard, AC/DC – who had a massive bell and cannons on stage and when it went off all the ceiling tiles came down on the crowd.

They thought it was part of the show, but it wasn’t a stage effect, all the staff were running round collecting the polystyrene tiles off the floor (laughs).

I lived across the road from Whitley Bay ice rink. In 1986 I worked in ticket sales at the rink then went to the box office at Newcastle Theatre Royal in ’88 – I had good times there.

I was working on box office when someone phoned up and said he had lost his tickets for a show – he said he’d accidently thrown them in the fire – I asked for his name, he said ‘A.Pratt’ – yes it was his real name (laughs).

I used to love standing in the theatre gallery watching the show’s and the audience laughing along. There was school outings and I used to love knowing I had arranged tickets for them to see the shows.

It was all about helping people and going out of my way to make sure the person who is buying the group tickets is being looked after because I know how much hard work it is getting people’s money in.

When I was Duty Manager our matinees are Thursday and Saturday afternoon. The theatre is dark when they are not in use and you’re not allowed to go in them when the show isn’t on.

One day in the box office I heard a noise coming through the speakers so I went into the theatre and there was a line of mature ladies sitting in the Grand Circle with their bags of sweets waiting for the show to start.

I went over and asked them what they were doing as there was no show on until tomorrow. They showed me tickets for the matinee on that day but they were for a different venue – they had come to the wrong place, they needed to be in the Tyne Theatre.

Ray Laidlaw & the late Chris Phipps on board the Tyne Idols bus.

SUNDAY FOR SAMMY

I work with Ray Laidlaw who runs the Sunday for Sammy production and Tyne Idols, I help out backstage and in the production office – I love being part of it. I often watch the DVD’s because it’s a good Geordie show, just like the Geordie grand performance – a great laugh.

The show is in rehearsal for a week before the production, Saturday is the fit up day in Newcastle Arena and two shows on the Sunday. I think they were only going to do one but it was so successful they’ve kept going over 20 years and raised a lot of money to support young creative talent in the North East.

It was so exciting to be part of the 2018 show, I had a small walk on part and shared a dressing room with Vera the TV detective and ex-ITV newsreader Pam Royal.

The future of Sunday for Sammy is looking great with the younger generation of local artists like Jason Cook, Joe McElderry and many more keeping the Geordie Command Performance fresh and current – long may it continue!

Julie outside the Tyne Idols bus. parked at the Millennium bridge across the river Tyne.

TYNE IDOLS

We get seventy people on a tour for our North East music, film and heritage tours. The double decker that we use is forty year old this year and now classed as a vintage bus.

With Ray Laidlaw (Lindisfarne) at the helm of most of our tours, The Coastal Heroes Tour taking us along the beautiful NE Coast, The Newcastle Tour is best at night, the lights on the river really showing the town at its best, crossing the bridges singing ‘Fog on the Tyne’ is an unforgettable experience. 

The Sting Tour, Punk Tour and Viz Tour are also very popular. All tours are very different, we usually visit an iconic music venue and historic drinking dens as part of the tour It’s a very unique experience.

Have you any events planned for the rest of the year ?

Because of Covid I had gigs pencilled in last year and it took five attempts to re-book the dates. A lot of people cancelled their tickets because they didn’t want to be amongst people – now we are seeing them slowly come back.

For Dirty Dusting (Friday October 1) at Whitley Bay Playhouse it was more or less full.

We’ve a couple of events happening soon at The Crescent Club in Cullercoats, there is electric skiffle on Saturday 13 November with the Peter Donegan band – the son of Lonnie.

On Thursday 16 December we’ve got a Christmas event with the beautiful voice of the Caffreys and their band plus a local choir at St Georges Church in Tynemouth, we can get about 300+ people in there.

It’s raising money for MacMillan cancer support and a local charity. So slowly but surely we are looking to get music back on and people performing again.

Tickets available from Julie Clay: 0191 253 1618 or juliecevents@gmail.com

Check the official websites: tyneidols.com

Sunday for Sammy | Supporting young creative talent in Tyneside

Interview by Alikivi    October 2021.

REIGNITE: New album from The Fauves

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The album was due to be released last year but due to Covid we had to hold back, we couldn’t get back in the studio to finish the recording as we were in lockdown. We had recorded four tracks then everything stopped.

It was July this year when we went back into the studio to finish the album – over a whole year wasted really.

The album was recorded at the Garage studios in South Shields as we like working with Kyle Martin the engineer because he has some good ideas said Bri Smith, bassist with The Fauves.

The first album we recorded Routine Kills, wasn’t really us at our best, to be honest we were disappointed in it, it was a bit too smooth.

We brought Mick in on vocals and re-recorded six or seven tracks off the first album along with four new ones and brought out the Back Off World album.

Mick made those songs much more powerful with his aggressive vocals and that was the sound we were looking for. Then Chris left so we brought in Allen on guitar he had a more rockier sound, the new album Reignite is sounding raw, a bit rockier and ballsy. We like it.

How did the songs come together ?

When lockdown was on we sent songs to each other online – myself or Allen would send a riff to Mick, he would add his bit with lyrics, Bob would also work on it– it came together like that and by the time we got back rehearsing the songs came together pretty quick.

We deal with all sorts of themes in the songs – betrayal, struggle, finding sanctuary, damaged personalities and staying strong through difficult emotional times. We’re not afraid to highlight the problems we all have in our daily lives. Mick works really hard on the lyrics.  

We booked the studio for two days in July and recorded the rest of the album with Kyle as he knows what kind of sound we like. We were going to add a few extra tracks but we wanted to get the album out quick so we went with mastering ten tracks.

Bri points out one of the pix on the album sleeve. It’s a picture of someone with a gas mask on…

It’s Cainy a lad from South Shields – when Covid was settling down a bit and bands started to play live again he turned up at one of our gigs with a gas mask on with The Fauves written across it – crazy (laughs).

We had up to fifteen gigs arranged last year and unfortunately had to cancel every one bar one at Aycliffe and that was outdoors.

The scene has really picked up in the North East its probably one of the best places for punk gigs at the moment. There is some really good bands up here.

Why do you think the North East is one of the better places ?

Probably because people are more angry up here, it’s a punk thing (laughs).

There’s some good punk venues Black Bull in Gateshead, Trillians which is mainly a rock venue are starting to put on punk bands, The Unionist club in Shields, The Ivy House and The Peacock in Sunderland – yes the North East is really picking up.

The only gig we played last year was outdoors at Newton Aycliffe it was organised by Gaz and Alby who run a punk show on Aycliffe radio. Brilliant gig, big PA, big stage – it was really well organised.

XSLF were headlining, Snide Remarks, Loudmouth The Logoz there was about ten bands in all. It was a great day.

We’ve played with some great North East bands lately – Zero Tolerance, Boilermaker, Force Fed Lies, The Carpettes, The Logoz, Kickback Generation, Loudmouth, The Proles, The Sadistic Slobs and more – they’re all doing really well at the moment.

We’ve also travelled a lot lately to gigs down to Derby, Manchester, we take our guitars, amps, drum breakables, the promoters normally supply the heavy stuff of back line drums and PA so we don’t need to carry a lot with us as we use our cars.

We’ve met some great people travelling around. Some of the Manchester crowd took us round the city after the gig we had a great laugh we really enjoyed the day. Great venue The Star and Garter, it steadily built up during the day and by night it was packed.

We take some merch with us, cd’s t shirts etc to make some cash. We get a fee for playing so that covers petrol and expenses so you’re not out of pocket. If it’s a fair distance away we normally stay overnight so we can watch the other bands and have a few drinks.

The venues are not the same before Covid – they were absolutely packed but now people are still wary of Covid as it’s not going away and people are dying. Some of the older folks are thinking if we catch it, it could kill us or pass it on to others. Its going to take time we just have to live with it.

The Fauves originally formed in 1977 after an infamous Angelic Upstarts gig at Jarrow Civic Hall. Full story at: 

GROUND ZERO – in conversation with Bri Smith & Bob Rowland from Tyneside punks THE FAUVES | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK (garyalikivi.com)

Around 1979 we used to get a lot of the Upstarts crowd coming to see us play as the Upstarts moved down south and got signed, they were really good times.

In the early days The Fauves recorded a few songs on tape and planned to go down to London and take copies of the recordings to record companies, but we only managed to get 70 miles down the road when the car broke down.

As we sat waiting for the recovery vehicle, Hodge (original singer) had brought a cassette player with him and pressed record without us knowing. We cracked a few cans open, sat and talked about the old times – a load of shite really (laughs).

Six months later we recorded three tracks and sent them to Garry Bushell at the Sounds not realising on the b side of the tape was the recording of us in the car pissed.

Garry was always putting bits and pieces in the Sounds for us – gig dates etc. He wrote an article about these three tracks saying we were like the Upstarts, who he was a big fan of.

He also added that he turned the cassette over and couldn’t believe what he was hearing – three pissed Geordies talking absolute rubbish which he could hardly understand. His heading was ‘Nice band shame about the accents’ (laughs).

Along with releasing the new album have The Fauves got anything planned for the rest of the year ?

We’ve got a gig in Workington in November on the 27th and on 4th December we’ve got the Riverside Rebellion in Middlesbrough. The headliners were going to be The Vibrators but they’ve pulled so XSLF are headlining now.

Also on the bill is Black Bombers, Boilermaker, The Gakk, Slalom D and a few others, it’s an all-dayer. Looking forward to that one.

Back in ‘79 we were planning a single but didn’t go through with it – such a big regret for us. So we’re looking to get a single out on vinyl. Phil Rowland is sorting that out at the moment it’s something we’ve always wanted to do.

We would have liked to put out Reignite on vinyl but it’s really expensive and takes so long. If you’re not a big name, you could be waiting from six to eight months to get it pressed on vinyl.

We use social media to promote our music and gigs also Northumberland radio with Keith and Paul. Aycliffe radio also promote local bands on their radio stations so keep an eye out.

REIGNITE cd release date 21 October 2021 available from:

Facebook pages: The Fauves punk band, or Brian Bassman

or email unclebrian1959@live.co.uk

You should be able to listen to the album on spotify, bandcamp etc and purchase online after October 21st.

The Fauves are: Mick Smith (lead vocals), Allen Hughes (lead guitar/backing vocals)

Bri Smith (bass/backing vocals), Bob Rowland (drums/backing vocals).

Interview by Alikivi  October 2021

BUSTING A GUT in NORTH AMERICA with CHIEF HEADBANGERS, RAVEN

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Is the Raven Metal Machine ready to bust a gut and get back out on the road again ? John Gallagher let’s rip with a short, sharp message to the Raven Lunatics in America…

**** absolutely, we can’t wait to get into that groove, getting out there and go nuts.  It’s been way too long and people need a dose of good music!

When was the last time the band gigged ?  

We played the Alcatraz festival in Belgium on August 15 which was the first gig we played since the Monsters of Rock cruise in February 2020. So it’s been 18 month between shows and we played ‘The Power’ from the Metal City album too – it was a great gig for us.

Will the set list be made up from the recent album ‘Metal City’ ?  

We will do three or four Metal City tracks and a selection of older tunes a few of which we haven’t played in a zillion years so that’s gonna be fun!

Are you stopping off in any towns you’ve never played ?

The States is so big there’s always somewhere new to play! Petaluma, California and Lincoln, Nebraska to name just two.

The ‘Metal City’ 20+ date tour stops off in cities including Akron, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, San Diego, Salt Lake City and Brooklyn.

If you are going to see the band leave a message and include comments about the gig and where you saw them.

For up to date info & merch check the website:

Raven | Official Raven Lunatics Website

Previous post:

METAL TOON, METAL CITY – video filmed in Newcastle for new single from Chief Headbangers, Raven. | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK (garyalikivi.com)

Interview by Alikivi   October 2021

BREAKING NEWS: in conversation with journalist & BBC Look North newsreader Jeff Brown 2/2

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Part two of a conversation with Jeff Brown in The Customs House, South Shields.

Jimmy Nail & Sammy Johnson in TV series ‘Spender’.

I’ve appeared in a few Sunday for Sammy shows at Newcastle City Hall and the Arena. I’ve loved taking part in that. In fact, the first time I was on telly was with Sammy Johnson – I was an extra in Spender.

I was in the background of a pub scene in The Ship in Byker and had to walk past him then order a pint at the bar. There was a couple either side of me with the woman saying quietly ‘Do you think we’re on ?

I said, ‘if you lean in a bit further you might get into shot’. I got £50 for that! (laughs).

Theatre and the arts have always been a huge part of my life, and being on TV is the nearest thing of being an actor in a way. My daughter had her first professional break here on stage at the Customs House.

We’re big supporters of this theatre with spending most of my life just up the road in Jarrow.

Jeff with former professional footballer Dave Corner. (pic courtesy Newcastle Journal).

CENTRE STAGE

A couple of year ago I took a play writing course at Live Theatre, Newcastle, and came up with an idea based on a true story about a Sunderland footballer, David Corner.

He gave away a goal in the Milk Cup final against Norwich City at Wembley in 1985. He was 19 years old, and it was only his third game.

Dave is six foot and ginger so he was very visible, and a lot of people blamed him for costing Sunderland the final. The ball was running towards the corner flag and instead of kicking it out he tried to shield it and let it run out for a goal kick.

Someone nicked the ball off him and scored – and that one mistake had a huge effect on the rest of his life.

In the years afterwards he got a lot of abuse – a broken jaw, broken eye socket among other things – so it was trying to get him a bit of redemption, really.

Everyone makes a mistake but this poor guy was pilloried for it – and even now, people see him in Sunderland and shout:  Are you Davey Corner? You cost us the cup final!

I loved seeing the play come to life. It was a monologue, with a great actor called Steve Arnott playing the part of Davey. He wasn’t a football fan and I thought he would’ve had to be to ‘get’ what the show was about.

First night Steve said, ‘No I’m an actor Jeff, that’s what I do – act characters that I’m not’. I thought – fair point, Steve!

It ran three nights here, then toured at Washington Arts Centre and the Gala in Durham. It was also on at The Peacock pub in Sunderland – where Davey had his jaw broken, so it was quite poignant, really.

I’m still in touch with him now, and he’s a lovely guy. He became a policeman after football, and said he never thought he would find a job where he was hated even more than when he was a footballer! He is retired now, as a result of all the knee operations he had in football.

We turned it into an audio book where I recorded it myself, absolutely loved it. We put it out last year during UK Anti-Bullying week, to raise money for the Foundation of Light, the charity connected to Sunderland Football Club.

ENTER STAGE LEFT

I’ve written a couple of plays since which I’m still hoping to have produced. One is based on a Premier League footballer, originally from the Republic of Congo but brought up in France.

The play is set in the North East, where he meets a single mum. She’s a lost soul with no money, and he is a lost soul with a lot of money – so there is a clash of cultures. I’m hoping it’ll see the light of day eventually!

Trying to get people back to the theatre is hard, and trying to get them back for untried new writing is doubly hard. I’m a huge supporter of the arts and can’t understand Governments not thinking the arts are important. They’re a huge part of life.

Recent pic taken at a ‘Talk In’ with former Sunderland manager Peter Reid.

TODAYS NEWS

Soon as I get up I listen to the radio but I’m still a big newspaper fan, although it is a dying industry and I would hesitate to tell kids to get into it like I did.

I still love physically reading an article in a paper, rather than trying to look at it on a phone. When I get in the office at work I flick through the papers, Northern Echo, Journal and Chronicle to see what’s going on locally.

People have been nice about us working on Look North during the pandemic. I was stopped in Morrisons in Jarrow a few weeks back and some people said thanks for everything you’ve done during lockdown.

I’ve just being doing my job really, but they said no it’s just lovely to see the same faces and hear a familiar voice every night.

I never thought about it like that – but some people have been stuck in the house all through lockdown not seeing anybody, so a regular news outlet with a familiar voice and face has helped in a small way. If we have brought some comfort to people, that’s nice.


CD version of ‘Cornered’ is available from the SAFC store: https://www.safcstore.com/200003380

Audiobook:  https://music.apple.com/gb/album/cornered/1539324695

Interview by Alikivi  October 2021.

BREAKING NEWS: in conversation with journalist & BBC Look North newsreader Jeff Brown 1/2

/ Alikivi

Jeff Brown has been a familiar face on North East TV for 25 years, delivering news and sport in his calm and self-assured way. I arranged to meet him in The Customs House, South Shields to find out what makes him tick.

Everyone is good at something it’s just finding it, it gives you tremendous focus and peace of mind and I was lucky to find mine at a young age.

I was also very lucky having supportive parents so when I said at 14 that I wanted to be a sports reporter they never said everyone wants to get into football matches for nothing, why not be an accountant.

Journalism was all I wanted to do. My Dad said let’s see what we can do to make it happen. He suggested looking in the Sunderland Echo every night to see what sports stories they don’t cover and go and cover them.

First thing I did was follow some friends up to Edinburgh for a Table Tennis tournament. I wrote it all up and sent it in. It was used in the Echo and it was an absolute wow seeing it in print. This was around 1976.

I also followed Newcastle Diamonds speedway, wrote up the reports in longhand and my Dad drove miles out of his way to work to drop them off at the Echo office.

After having three or four printed and not being paid my Dad said why not drop them a line and say you are happy to supply them but payment would be good.

I eventually got £1.25 for each report printed and after a few of these they started putting my name on them – giving me a by line. I knew then this is what I wanted to do.

I was desperate to start work straight after school but a teacher advised me to go to University because it would help get me further and faster in a career. Unfortunately no Media courses then so it was Economic and Social History at York.

Jeff at the Birmingham Post & Mail.

HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS

In my third year I wrote off to fifty newspapers and got six replies, two interviews and one job offer. So that’s how I finished up at the Birmingham Post and Mail in 1982 as a trainee at a time when newspapers had a bit of money so they were putting you on training courses.

I did my two and a half years training and everyday I would go over to the sports desk and ask if there’s a job nobody wants to do – maybe on a weekend or evening – I’ll do it.

As my training finished a job came up on the sports desk as a junior, so I became sports reporter in January 1985 and after a year a job came up on the North East Journal.

I thought I had left the North East and wanted to go to Fleet Street in London, but after talking to friends and looking at the opportunity of writing about North East sport, I came back and did ten years on the Journal.

That was mainly football, boxing and speedway plus Durham cricket who became a first class county and I got the job covering them home and away for not just the Journal but the Chronicle, Sunday Sun and the Pink. I always loved writing and did fourteen years in all on papers.

Jeff interviews cricketer Ian Botham for the Journal, 1993.

SPIRIT OF RADIO

When Durham were playing first class county matches BBC Newcastle wanted news reports from matches that I was covering. So at the end of the game I’d pick up a phone and talk about the game for a minute – and that was it.

Writing a report, you’d spend all day crafting eight hundred to a thousand words then ring the office, asking them to change a comma or paragraph – it was so much easier just talking! So I did a bit more radio broadcasting, before a job came up at Tyne Tees in 1996.

The boss, Roger Thames, got in touch and asked if I wanted to come in for a chat ? I was a bit naïve, because it was an interview really – and he asked me to do a screen test there and then.

I thought I had my best tie on, but is my hair ok ? Maybe I should say I’ll come back tomorrow, when I would have had time to prepare. But as he was talking I thought: no this is TV – it’s what you’ve got to do and be ready at a minutes notice.

I still have a copy of the screen test on tape, and if you saw it you would say ‘How did that bloke ever get on TV!’ I’m reading a news bulletin and it’s awful! I’m tense and moving nothing but my lips.

Then they asked me to talk about a sports topic for two minutes. I was wired up (through a headpiece) to the gallery and they let me know when there was a minute left, 30 seconds left, and then there was a countdown from ten seconds to zero.

Timing is all important – especially on ITV, because you have to hit the advertising breaks.

For the two minute sports topic I talked about Durham cricket, and as I wound the piece up I came out bang on zero. That’s when Roger Thames said ‘that’s the guy for the job’. Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat and think what if I did say I’ll come back tomorrow?

You’ve got to take opportunities when they come along. What’s the worst that could happen ? Changed my life that did – and that was twenty five years ago this month.

BIG PICTURE

The Kevin Keegan and Peter Reid times were great for sport in the North East. ITV had Premier League rights to use the football highlights, and at its height we had a team of eleven in the sports department.

We did sport every night on Tyne Tees, and on a Monday and Friday there were separate sports desks in City Road, Newcastle and at the Belasis studio in Billingham.

We did a Saturday tea-time results service called ‘Full Time’, a weekly magazine programme called Café Sport, and Football Flashback – an archive programme.

We had our own football shows with studio guests, built around Highlights of big Cup ties, and I even travelled to do features in Italy, Holland and the States – it was a great time.

I had six and a half years at Tyne Tees, but then in 2003 I had an appraisal with Roger where he asked what do I want to do? I said ‘I want to do your job, Head of Tyne Tees Sport.’

But he told me his job would be gone in a few years and there wouldn’t be a separate department – it will all be under one roof. It was just the way ITV was developing.

Instead of eighteen separate regions – Tyne Tees, Yorkshire, Granada etc – it would all be just one big ITV company.

It broke my heart to leave but BBC Look North were looking to compete by having a sports night every night. And everything Roger said about the way ITV was changing came to pass.

On the BBC sofa with Carol Malia.

LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN

In 2008 our main Look North news presenter, Carol Malia, went on maternity leave and a national advert went out for the post. I thought ‘I’ve done sport for around twenty years now – I might just give it a go’. I was in my comfort zone, and thought I should try something different.

I had been doing sport on Look North five years so knew I wouldn’t be a new face to viewers. My boss said, ‘You didn’t give the best but we’ll take a chance!’

So, I started on news, and when Carol came back, I filled in on some days. Now she does three days a week hosting Look North and I do two, plus two days of sport.

Most of the programme is done in advance with a planning team. The order of news stories is decided on the day. On Monday we spend most of our time churning out the weekend sport.

But we also plan ahead for the rest of the week, so we know we have something every night. At the same time, you’re always ready to drop everything and go chasing after a breaking news story.

There is a high degree of flexibility because of the way the industry has changed. Initially it would take five people to put a story on telly. When I started there was a cameraman, sound engineer, reporter, video editor and another sound engineer for recording a voice over.

Now I can be a video journalist (VJ) where I film something, digitize it, choose the pictures, write the voice over and record that, then edit the whole package and finally present it – which is why there aren’t as many jobs as there used to be, despite there being loads more channels!

Being able to edit pictures can give you great flexibility. If a story breaks at 6pm I can write it, choose the pictures, edit it all together then bang – it’s there to use at 6.30pm.

One time I was just putting my phone in the locker and I picked up a text that the Sunderland manager at the time – Steve Bruce – had just been sacked.

We had half an hour to reshape the whole programme, which began with Carol asking me questions while we floated in some pictures of Steve, and I talked about it for 2-3 minutes. It’s that immediacy which makes it so exciting.

The day after this interview Newcastle United were sold to new owners becoming one of the richest football clubs on the planet.

Jeff was called in for a special live broadcast from St James’ Park and Newcastle manager Steve Bruce again was in line to be sacked.

Read part two about Jeff’s involvement in theatre and arts and what he is doing now.

Interview by Alikivi   October 2021.

PLAY LUCKY: Celebrating 75 years in showbiz with Ray Cooney O.B.E

/ Alikivi / 1 Comment

‘I was born in 1932 and been in the business since I was 14 years old. When I was 18 I had to do National Service for a couple of year, you had to do that after the Second World War’.

London born Ray remembers his roots and where his life on stage began…

‘Originally the family were Irish and came over to Jarrow in the North East where my Dad was born, then he hitch hiked down to London to get work.

After I completed my National Service I went up north and joined a repertory company in Blackburn for a couple of year, before auditioning for Brian Rix at London’s Whitehall Theatre where I ended up staying for seven years’.

Comedy and farce are the backbone of Ray’s work but a rock n roll swerve in 1977 saw a musical celebrating the life of Elvis Presley.

The show opened at London’s Astoria Theatre with pop stars Shakin’ Stevens and PJ Proby playing the Elvis role in different stages of his life. Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan tours quickly followed.

‘I enjoyed the Elvis show so much. We got in touch with his agent and asked to put a show on about his life and he said sure go for it. So we went ahead and here we are over 40 years later talking about it’.

‘Having previously written with Tony Hilton and John Chapman, I then started to write my first solo play which was ‘Run For Your Wife’, that ended up running for nine years in London.

We also had a six week run in New York and that went well, really delightful’.

Various TV and film stars appeared in the 1982 and 83 productions of ‘Run For Your Wife’ including Richard Briers (The Good Life, Ever Decreasing Circles), Bernard Cribbins (Carry On, Tales of the Unexpected) Bill Pertwee (Dad’s Army) and Carol Gill (Robin’s Nest, Carry On).

The show was first performed at the Windsor then promoted to the Shaftsbury Theatre, London.

‘My process is I write the play, then have a rehearsed reading which we do in my house or garden, I always play in it, and that’s where I get a real good feel for it. I do a re-write then we go to Guildford or Windsor Theatre and do a three week production’.

‘After that I do a re-write then a short six week tour and another re-write. By the time we come to do it in the West End it’s really, really polished and the play is then set in stone’.

‘The premise is basically simple and that’s why they play so well, in fact my plays are played all around the world, and in Poland ‘Run For Your Wife’ has been playing for over 27 years and is still running’.  

‘Also in Russia my plays, play for months and months and they love them – because the basic premise is so easy to understand’.

‘The well-known actors who I’ve worked with in the past, like Richard Briers and Donald Sindon, know what I’ve done with the play so respect it and rehearsals are really fun. Plus any producer who does them knows what would have gone in to them’.

With a skill set of actor, writer and director, Ray added producer, with west end credits including Chicago, Andy Capp, Elvis, Jack the Ripper and Birds of Paradise. Is he thinking of slowing down ?

‘I’m not writing anymore, I don’t have the feeling to write, but there is a lovely little dinner theatre near Reading called The Mill at Sonning Theatre. They love doing my plays there and I always go down to see them’.

‘I’ve directed a couple there and even though they were written years ago they still play wonderfully well. They do dinner before the show and it’s around £60 a ticket – it’s always packed out’.

‘Looking back I’ve been very fortunate over the years because my plays are done all over the world. I’ve been really, really lucky – you betcha’.

For more info on Ray check his official website, Facebook and Twitter accounts:

Ray Cooney

Interview by Alikivi  September 2021.