Tom Kelly is a short story writer, playwright and lyricist now living further up the Tyne in Blaydon. He’s written a number of musicals with the late John Miles that have been produced by The Customs House, South Shields, including the work of Tyne Dock born author Catherine Cookson.
‘Tom & Catherine had its premier at South Shields Customs House, it was really exciting. All the team were really nervous on the opening night but when the overture began, we all felt it was going to be a success. And it was. It had a ‘sold out’ run. A measure of its success was that me mam wanted to go every night! And she was not a theatre-goer. She loved ‘Tom & Catherine.’
“The play was first produced in 1999, and again 2001. In 2006 there was an outdoor performance at Bents Park, South Shields in which Jade Thirlwall (Little Mix) appeared, and most recently in 2019” said Tom.
His two football plays I Left My Heart in Roker Park (1997 & 98, 2004 & 2014)and Bobby Robson Saved My Life (2019) toured the North East and were well received by audiences and critics alike.
“I Left My Heart in Roker Park’ is a one-man play that looks at the life and football times of an avid Sunderland supporter. As more than one have said of the play, ‘it makes you laugh and cry” said Sunderland fan Tom.
His new book ‘Walking My Streets’ is his fourteenth and thirteenth published by Red Squirrel Press. Tom read at the Lit & Phil, Westgate Road, Newcastle, Cullercoats Library and The Word in South Shields to promote the book.
“I’ve already read at a number of venues and thankfully it’s gone down very well. As it says on the books cover, ‘Walking My Streets’ explores in prose and poems Kelly’s life and the changing face of his native north-east of England’.
Walking My Streets is available from Red Squirrel Press.
After playing in club groups and appreciating other people’s music, Jimmy was now spending more time writing his own songs. Then in ’76 New York Kings of Punk the Ramones blitzed the bop and beat on a brat. This was the catalyst to form DisGuise.
DisGuise in 1978, Jimmy McKenna, Alan Sculley & Pete Scott.
It was May 1977 when White Spirit’s drummer Crash Crallan played with me and another Hartlepool musician Peter Scott at The Queens pub in Hartlepool. On the way home in the hired van we tried to persuade Crash to join us but he remained loyal to his mates said Jimmy.
As we approached a junction a young couple in a state of intoxication were having an altercation. As we drove past the young lass stepped back and fell under the van. I jumped out and sprinted the 200 yards home to ring for an ambulance, convinced she had died, we were relieved when we found out she hadn’t.
She had a nasty cut on her head and the lads took her to hospital. The next morning we returned the van and informed the hirer that the Police might wish to check some details, but we had already cleaned up most of the blood and vomit from the van.
The gig itself was recorded by our friend Dave Emerson on his trusty cassette recorder. This was used to entice Chiswick Records into taking an interest in us. We eventually recruited Alan Scully on drums.
At the time we thought we were really good and assumed we were going to be the next Big Thing, yet one by one other North East punky type groups came up from behind and overtook us.
It was 1977 and DisGuise had a club gig booked around the time when Elvis Presley had died in the August, Marc Bolan died in the September and it was the anniversary of the death of Jimi Hendrix. At the gig we played a Bolan song and a Hendrix song, completely forgetting about Elvis.
Unfortunately, the club was frequented by a lot of Teddy Boys who quickly took exception to the DisGuise performance. A common practice at Social Club gigs was for song requests to be written on a beer mat and handed to the artist during their performance. The one handed to Jimmy said ‘play Get Off by Nobody Likes You’. The song was written in the van going home.
Confidence grew among the three members of DisGuise to where they gave up their day jobs to became full time musicians.
As did our three road crew! This of course meant that we were signing on for unemployment benefit.
It was September ’77 we had a gig at Longscar Hall in Seaton Carew, we were getting paid £30. We went across the road to Max Magic shop and blew it all on little disguise type masks which we threw out to the audience. The next week we were all called into the Benefit Office and had our dole stopped for working.
On 23rd October 1977 we were at Middlesbrough Town Hall opening for AC/DC. There was no time for a soundcheck, I recall running on stage and turning my bass amp to 11 and just going for it.
Afterwards we were invited backstage for a bit of socialising, but declined because we wanted to get home in time for Match of the Day. Also, during the AC/DC set I was in the wings of the stage when their roadie came over to ask if I had a safety pin. Of course I had one in the lapel of my jacket and he used it to great effect on a running mid song repair to Angus Young’s school shorts.
On 25th February 1978 we were booked for Middlesbrough Rock Garden with local group, Giantkiller. Over at Redcar Coatham Bowl, the Sex Pistol’s former guitarist Glen Matlock’s new group The Rich Kids were supposed to play but there was a power cut. So they contacted the Rock Garden to ask if they could play at our gig. Suddenly we were relegated to being first on, but we got our mad up and played well.
Later I was watching Giantkiller’s set when Glen Matlock sought me out to tell me that he enjoyed the DisGuise performance. Mind, he then asked to borrow my plectrum and my guitar strap – which he wore side saddle, which looked cool though he had to keep adjusting it as it slid off his shoulder. The Rich Kids set finished with Pretty Vacant – of course, with a two guitar chiming intro.
In June ’78 it was one of the Newcastle Bedrock Festivals, sharing the stage with some local youngsters called White Heat. I remember watching them soundcheck doing Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay and thinking oh dear is this what Newcastle rock is all about? I was wrong of course.
After our two-dimensional set White Heat went full on 3D with show-off frontman Bob Smeaton pushed to stage front by the explosive drumming of John Miller. John later joined Disguise in 1979.
Chiswick records promo poster for Dis Guise.
DisGuise recorded one single for Chiswick records in December 1977, but it wasn’t released until November ’78.
I think someone from the Netherlands bought a copy and then errr nothing. So, our chance at fame had come and gone. The single chosen by Chiswick who were very keen on the song, was not representative of what we normally sounded like, it being rather polite pop.
I have recently been tidying up some of the other recordings from December 1977 and made them available as the 1977 And All That album, which redresses the balance a little.
The original DisGuise came to an end in Summer 1979. There were some on and off recordings with Peter and myself up until 1985 and some of these are available on VainGloriousUK.
Since then I’ve tricked and coerced musicians into feeding the needs of my songs. Gavin Bell on bass and Jason Bell – no relation but brothers in creative rhythm, are my go-to duo every time I want to start a bunch of new recordings. I will have a rough idea, shout out some chords to Gavin and songs take shape very quickly, even my peculiar ones.
Jason Bell, Jimmy McKenna & Gavin Bell.
LINK to Jimmy, Gavin and Jason performing ‘Mystery Singer’ >
The website VainGlorious UK features biogs, books & music videos by North East bands. Jimmy explains…
Yes, it’s for bands who for one reason or another didn’t get that big break. When it came about it seemed a good way to finally store all my music, of course in the hope that others may pick up on it.
Hartlepool musician Jimmy McKenna has over 50 years in the business and in that time has released 14 albums. In the first part he looks into his musical memory box and digs out stories about auditioning for White Spirit, playing for Hell’s Angels, and does he still listen to Cliff Richard? Read on….
The legend in our family is that my Dad went out to buy a washing machine and came back with a radiogram. As a small child I would play all the family records, A and B sides, digesting the labels as to who wrote the songs etc.
The radiogram did really well up until 1970 when it struggled trying to play my Deep Purple in Rock LP – it jumped all the time – by that time stereo was the big thing.
Jimmy was a child of the 50’s and his home was full of the top musicals of the day, Carousel, South Pacific, Carmen Jones, West Side Story, as well as current pop songs.
My all-time favourite was The Wanderer by Dion. My first love was Cliff Richard and I remember arguing in school with older kids who were trying to tell me that Elvis was better than Cliff – I just wouldn’t have it. Mam and Dad dutifully bought me all the early Cliff singles. Then of course came the Beatles, writing their own songs, the Merseybeat explosion and all that followed.
Jimmy in Iron Cross, 1973.
Jimmy’s big present for Christmas 1967 was a Magnus chord organ – a small keyboard with buttons to play chords.
I wanted to play the big hit of the time A Whiter Shade of Pale, but instead learned to play Silent Night and Londonderry Air. By now I was making up tunes in my head, including putting a couple to poems I found in a book about the 1745 Scottish rebellion!
By the time I was 14 my friends and I all received our first guitars, and suddenly we were a group. Within weeks we went from being The String Vest to Black Canyon to Iron Cross and later as pretentious 17 year olds we became Hansard. Also, within weeks I was relegated to bass as I was the last to master that pesky F chord.
As Iron Cross we played our one gig at a Boys and Girls Brigade party, performing My Generation and easy bits from ‘Live at Leeds’ when I was suddenly promoted to lead singer. My sister Margaret had been knitting a quilted bed spread, but converted it into a Roger Daltrey type coat for me!
After appreciating other people’s music, Jimmy started spending time writing his own songs.
We had a piano at home on which I spent hours doodling and making up quasi classical tunes, not even understanding what key I was playing – most of these have still to be completed/recorded, but they are on the list.
My friends and I were also diverging in our tastes, I discovered the ambitious music of Van der Graaf Generator and Peter Hammill. When I later heard the Sex Pistols I noted that a rock group had a singer with the same passion in his voice as Peter Hammill. I later learned that John Lydon was a Hammill fan also.
I then connected with Peter Scott of Hartlepool – not to be confused with Newcastle folk songwriter Pete Scott or that bloke who went to the Antarctic. Peter was an intuitive and aggressive guitar player. He was impressed that I was writing songs which encouraged him.
Our first club group was Silver and our singer was Geoff Grange who would later sing, blow harmonica and record for Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings and Thomas Dolby.
After a gig one cold night the van’s windscreen was completely frozen over and our roadie Peter ‘Dock’ Oliver had the perfect solution and stood on top of the van to pee over the windscreen. It worked well.
Link to Silver playing intro to Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix).
By 1975 Jimmy had an electric piano…Still only able to play my little quasi classical tunes, but I answered an advert for keyboard player for local rockers White Spirit. I blew it as soon as I got into their van, when I exclaimed that they were a bit young. I was 19 and they were just 17. After extensive jamming on the main riff of Jethro Tull’s Locomotive Breath their manager Sandy gave me the ‘we’ll let me know’ speech.
So back to bass guitar, around 1975/76 Peter Scott began backing popular Country and Western singer Mick Layton. There was a nightclub gig in Scarborough, the manager was desperate. A group of Hells Angels had arrived for a weekend of fun but it had rained nonstop and their weekend had fallen flat.
The manager was worried they would take their disappointment out on his premises so he begged us to do what we could to entertain them. This was Peter’s cue to turn up his guitar and we spent two hours doing extended Status Quo, Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry songs. At the end the biker lads were on their knees giving us the ‘we are not worthy’ hails and everyone went home happy.
At this gig Peter did a little trick with his wah-wah pedal, placing his guitar against his amp to make it feedback, then balancing one foot on his wah-wah to change the notes of the feedback – noisy but dead good. This was while we were playing Ghost Riders in the Sky.
The Mick Layton Trio would often get booked into cowboy clubs…
I remember the audience all dressed up with names like Diamond Lil and Big Jim Bowie. It would get hectic when in moments of excitement they would start firing their pretend guns.
We once had a polite gig in a posh Newcastle Hotel. The manager came up to us at half time, a little excited. Cliff Richard was performing one of his Gospel Shows that night, and was staying at the hotel. The manager said he would ask Cliff on his return if he would sing a couple of songs with us – we had already played Apache.
Unfortunately, Cliff was a little tired and just wanted a nice cup of tea, so declined the invitation. Then Summer ‘76 we heard The Ramones and everything changed.
DisGuise in 1978, Jimmy McKenna, Alan Sculley & Pete Scott.
Next up read part two of Jimmy’s story including his close brush with fame with punky pop group DisGuise opening for AC/DC, Glen Matlock and The Rick Kids, and on the bill at the Newcastle Bedrock Festival with White Heat.
Heed Case are North East UK musicians Newts Newton (ex Angelic Upstarts guitarist) and Si Cadelik (Northumbrian Psych rock bassist).
“We’ve been involved in music since our late teens, so that’s approximately 40 years and counting. In some ways it feels like forever, in others, like only yesterday” said Newts.
“Recently I noticed the closure of the Marsden Inn in South Shields and was saddened because that’s where I played my first gig back in 1984”.
Are the duo still angry after all these years?
“The album explores gaslighting, narcissism and entitlement. All three elements feature heavily in populism and identity politics. Social media allows this to flourish, elbowing aside balance, objectivity and critical thinking. This emboldens extremists and those who seek to radicalise people with their brand of hateful rhetoric”.
This album ain’t no snoozefest. Heed Case deliver hefty chunks of pneumatic post punk on steroids, their angry vocals reflect the problems of the world around them, and us, today.
“Rather than tackle the causes of problems, the trend is to scapegoat. This should be a worry and concernfor everyone, not just two people in a band. One day, that scapegoat might be you!”
All Wankers, Rats and stand out track WTFH are on a 16-track album that clocks in at a ball busting 30 minutes.
“The album was recorded at home but mixed and mastered by Martin Trollope at his studio Harbourmaster Productions. We think he did an excellent job, he was a pleasure to work with.” explained Newts.
Heed Case debut album June 2024
With an impressive debut album in the bag the Case are in no mood to rest on their laurels.
“It’s an introduction album but also a transitional one, we hope people will enjoy what they hear and stick with us moving forward as we look to broaden our horizons beyond our punk and psych roots”.
Next up for Heed Case is transferring the songs to a live stage. Can it be done?
“Absolutely. We must do the hard yards and tour – it’s as simple as that. We’re working on that right now, so please like and follow our socials for news of when and where we’ll be making a nuisance of ourselves around the UK and beyond.”
Debut album ‘All the Rage’ is released on Friday 21st June 2024& on pre-sale from the website.
For further info-music-video-merch- contact official website
“A couple of years ago a young friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer, people think it’s older people who develop this disease, so I wanted to raise awareness of this”.
Alison Stanley
‘Hard’, ‘Life of Reilly’ and ‘You Need To Say Sorry’ writer & actor Alison Stanley has tackled diverse subjects such as autism, sex workers and domestic violence. Her new play ‘Tits Up’ examines the strength of maternal love and the choices women face.
“Last year I found a lump and experienced the process of going to the breast clinic. Fortunately, my lump wasn’t anything of concern but it did make me think”.
“Even though I was fine I began questioning my own mortality and spent nights wondering what would happen if I had cancer? What would’ve happened to my son who is autistic”.
Alison threw herself into an intensive period of research, she spoke to people who had lived through cancer and heard real stories including from the LGBTQ community who had another perspective.
“I went along to Live Well with Cancer in North Shields where the ladies were kind enough to share their stories with me”.
From here, Alison created a piece that looked at life choices for three different women with different lives united together in their fight against breast cancer.
Alison explains“Tina, Rachel and Rosie are unlikely friends. Tina is a devoted Mam, she can’t understand why ‘bonny bairn’ Rosie wants to put rings through her nose, and Rachel, who lives to work, can’t understand why Tina is content at home and why Rosie doesn’t iron her jeans”.
Alison added “The three characters are very different and would never have met if they hadn’t found themselves having treatment at an oncology ward.The play hasn’t been cast yet, but will be soon.”
Alison’s last play ‘You Need to Say Sorry’ received good reviews and is now used by Northumberland/North Tyneside social services as a training tool.
“I’m in discussions with Northumberland Police to do the same with them. A lot of police and social services staff came to see the play”.
Alison also finds time to be Director of Participation at the Whitley Bay venue, Laurels, where her new project is called ‘Pasty, Play & a Pint’. People buy a drink and a pasty and a ticket to see a reading of a script of produced plays and new writing.
“It’s an attempt to open up the theatre during the day and encourage older visitors” added Alison.
‘Tit’s Up’ runs from October 8-17 at Laurels, Whitley Bay. There are some matinee performances and tickets are on sale now via Laurels official website.
A North East icon will celebrate her 100th birthday with the launch of her new book of poetry at The Word, South Shields.
Helen is one of the few surviving ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) members from WW2 – the elite troupe who entertained military personnel. She joined ENSA at 15-year-old and toured the UK singing and dancing.
Helen was born in London on May 30th 1924 near the London Palladium. “I was bitten by the showbiz bug as a young girl and fortunately I could sing and dance well, so I was able to follow my dreams”.
Helen started her career aged eight and at 14 performed in her first professional pantomime, Dick Whittington, at the Winter Gardens in Morecambe.
During the war Helen married Colin Hillcote, who ran a dance hall in Belfast. “It was an exciting time there, too”. At the end of the war the couple returned to South Shields, Colin’s home town, and she has been an adopted Sand-dancer since 1946.
In the 1950s Helen was singing at church events and played many roles as member of the South Shields Amateur Operatic Society. A friend who performed in working men’s clubs heard Helen sing and invited her to step up on stage.
“From there I became an artist in my own right, singing and dancing throughout the region” she said.
“We didn’t have a phone in the house so I’d take calls on the local public telephone box to tell me where I was playing that night! Sometimes it meant getting a bus to Newcastle and then catching another to Stanley in County Durham, or Ashington in Northumberland, then heading back after 10pm – all the time humping my guitar and other equipment. I had no helpers!”
“When guitar groups became popular in the 60s I had to stop dancing on stage because of all the leads and wires. That’s when I took up the guitar and later started writing my own songs.”
In 1965 a Vaux beers television advert came calling and a number of variety shows were filmed at Tyne Tees Television, including a double act with Bill Pertwee of Dad’s Army fame and working with Dick Emery. She was a contemporary of North East legends Bobby Thompson, Bobby Pattinson and Dick Irwin, all of whom she knew well and regularly worked with.
Her TV and film appearances include When the Boat Comes in, Supergran, Catherine Cookson adaptations, Highway (during which she sang with Harry Secombe), Emmerdale, The Fast Show and Billy Elliot.
On stage, Helen’s credits include performing in her self-penned plays Off the Shelf and Keep Calm and Carry On. She was also an original Dirty Duster, a play which transferred to Newcastle Theatre Royal and sold out twice. Helen was still performing in the Dirty Dusting tour until the age of 90!
She was also part of the hugely popular Angels of the North variety group with the two other original Dirty Dusters – Jean Southern and the late Gwen Doran. Their shows, mostly of original material, were self-written and performed to sell-out audiences all over the region.
Regular successful contributions to BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Corner sparked Helen’s creativity, she started writing in the 1970s and returned to poetry during the Covid lockdown.
Her new book of poems “Oh! Life is a Joy” will be launched at a free event in The Word, South Shields Market Place at 1pm Thursday, May 30th.
There will also be an ’in conversation’ with Helen to mark her remarkable life and career. All profits from the book will be donated to cancer charities. Helen successfully fought off breast cancer a decade ago.
Steve Thompson first dipped his toes in the North East music scene in the early 70’s as bassist with rock band Bullfrog who played the working men’s clubs and opened for Vinegar Joe and Wishbone Ash.
By 1977 Thompson was house producer at Wallsend’s Impulse recording studio and helped set up the legendary Neat records working with Raven, Venom and Tygers of Pan Tang earning him the title ‘Godfather of the North East New Wave of British Heavy Metal’.
Steve worked with top female vocalist Lorraine Crosby, also with producer and songwriter Gus Dudgeon of Elton John fame. He went on to write songs recorded by mainstream artists Elkie Brooks, Sheena Easton, Celine Dion and Wavelength who appeared on Top of the Pops with top 20 hit Hurry Home. That was incredible, I had quit producing records to concentrate on my song writing career said Steve. I was 24 year old at the time and just quit a waged job to live on fresh air and follow a dream. I was either very brave, very stupid or both. I quickly began knocking out songs and pitching them all over the place. I knew I needed some action or I was going to starve.
One day I was at the dentist in Wallsend. I’d been called upstairs to the surgery when the receptionist called me back down and said ‘there’s a call coming in for you Steve’. It was my publisher they tracked me down to tell me ‘Hurry Home just entered the charts at 63’. You could’ve knocked me down with a feather, that was the break I was looking for.
From there on in incredible things happened it climbed the charts over a period of three months and peaked at 17. Here I am top 20, I had arrived! Then all sorts of things started to happen, the lyrics were printed in pop magazine Smash Hits, people singing it in the street, all the airplay on Radio One, name checks from DJ Mike Read on the Breakfast show, and of course Top of the Pops.
All this was happening but I was still broke. I went to the bank to draw out a fiver. The bank teller knew me and knew I was a songwriter – obviously the only one they had on their books – he said ‘one of those payments you get has come in’. I’d not received notification so I had no idea of this.
He asked if I wanted him to go check how much had come in and I said yes please. I waited with intrepidation. The largest royalty I’d received to that time was £500. I wondered, could it be more than that or just a 20 quid brush off?
The bank teller came back and gave me the figure. I almost passed out. It was an absolutely huge sum of money and this was just the first of many royalty payments to come. He said do you still want to draw that £5? As I walked home, in a daze I thought to myself “Stevie, you’ve arrived”.
Steve was also on the books as songwriter with MCA records working with Pete Waterman. The Tygers of Pan Tang top 20 single Paris by Air came from those sessions.
But it was while Steve was at Impulse Studio that he came across a young guitarist from the seaside town of Cullercoats who went on to achieve world-wide fame.
Andy Taylor and Steve Thompson.
Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor invited me to his homecoming show in Newcastle September 2021. We had a good catch-up backstage at Wylam Brewery and talked about the two tracks that I’d produced with him back in the day that are soon to be released on the Cherry Red label.
I also mentioned I had a new album in production and talked about him guesting on a track I thought would be suitable called ‘I Will Go Back’. The song is about going back to the place where you belong.
Later Andy’s assistant told me he had said to her “Whatever you do, make sure Steve Thompson is at that show.” I thought that was a bit strange, but just let it go.
A week or two later Andy announced his cancer diagnosis and then went completely off radar. So, I ended up singing the song myself. Surprisingly for the first time in many years, I sang in tune.
Other people were pleased with the vocal so it gave me the confidence to do a couple more tunes on the album. There are four in total with me singing on the ‘Distant Destination’ album.
The final song, ‘The Parting of the Clouds’ is basically my life story and people who are anonymously referred to in the lyrics recognise themselves in there. I sing the final verse from beyond the grave.
Then totally out of the blue I heard from my nephew Martin who is also a singer songwriter as well as a rock show promoter “Uncle Stephen, this would be a good show for you”.
He was talking about a solo performance of my songs with acoustic guitar and vocal. I said don’t be daft I can’t possibly do that. But five minutes later I messaged him back “Oh okay, go on then”.
Then I thought, how the hell am I going to do this? I’ve never done anything like it before. Then Barry Race, percussionist on the album track I mentioned that I had sang, messaged me and offered to play percussion on the show, I was glad of the company.
Later my regular keyboard player Richard Naisbett mentioned that he had seen I was doing a show at The Carriage in Jesmond. He said it was his regular haunt and that he would be along to see me. I suggested he bring his keyboards and watch the show from the stage which he did.
Until the very moment I sang the first note of the first song I had no idea whether or not I could do it. It turned out I could do it so I arranged another show at the White Room in Stanley and for this I prepared an extended set.
It turned out to be a well received show and I was pleased with it. I’d gone from being a non-singer to singing a full 90 minutes on my own. It took me two days to recover from that show, so I decided a change was needed.
You will find a link to the Stanley White Room showvia You Tube.
I invited two great singers to join the lineup on backing vocals, Jen Normandale and Kirsty Forster. They have a couple of featured slots as well. Rehearsals with this new line-up have sounded great.
I’m doing all the songs I wrote for people like Celine, Elkie, Sheena as well as stuff from my last two albums, including a hit I wrote for Tygers of Pan Tang and a whole bunch of other artists.
Although we are now a five piece it’s still basically an acoustic show with cut back versions of the songs I wrote for all kinds of people. And this line-up creates a really nice sound with an emphasis on vocals. We’ll be back at the White Room in Stanley on June 9th 2024.
For more information contact the official website >
Former guitarist of ‘90s Newcastle band Greedsville releases a new solo album. The 12 track CD Distortion includes new single Too Far (link to music video below).
My new single was recorded in July and August 2022 at Sound X Studios The song is based around a guitar riff I kept coming back to. The lyrics reflected feelings I had to get out there. Like the heavy tone of the music, it’s about the rollercoaster journey into the uncertain aspects of future life both personal and global.
A quick spin of the song immediately turns my ears on to Black Sabbath’s track Symptom of the Universe.
Glad you like the song, genuinely, didn’t make the Sabbath connection at the time, but you’re dead right with the riff!
A couple of people have compared it to Rockin’ in the Free World by Neil Young and Bowie’s Rebel Rebel as well, I can see that too.
Did the songs come easy or did you have to work on them over a period of time?
I had a burst of regular songwriting that started in the lockdown period and continued long after. I got to about 36 songs and thought I have to do something with them!
I came back from a holiday in Los Angeles in July 2022 and was totally energised by it, California has that effect on me. Too Far was one of the songs I wrote and recorded when I got back.
As on previous albums Jackson played all instruments and recorded on a Mac Book Pro coupled with Apple’s high end Logic Pro X Software.
Yes, and I cherry picked what I thought was the best out of everything I’d written. Sadly, I had to delay anything to do with the album in the first few months of 2023 due to serious family issues. I finally finished recording in October 2023.
It was mastered by Jon Astley in November 2023 at Close to the Edge Studios in London. Jon was a producer on albums by The Who and Eric Clapton in the 1970’s and has remastered albums by tons of artists including Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones.
Have you any plans to play live?
I’m playing a gig in Newcastle at the singer/songwriter night at the Globe on the 18th May 2024. I hope it’s one of many to promote the album. I’ve applied to play for a lot of festivals, showcase nights and Music Industry events.
What are your hopes for the album?
I hope the album reaches as big an audience as possible via streaming and download through professional online promotion, this includes the music video for Too Far.
I’d also love to somehow release the album on vinyl which is experiencing a deserved resurgence, it’s maybe seen as old technology but it still sounds bloody great!
2024 is shaping up to be a busy year in the Tygers camp – for an old cat there is plenty wag left in its tail!
“First show of the year was a heavy metal cruise called ‘70,000 tons of metal’ the world’s biggest heavy metal cruise. This year the ship sailed from Miami to Porto Plata in the Caribbean and back to Miami. 60 bands and two performances from each act. Absolutely amazing!”
“Next up was Italy, just last week we played to sold out shows in Rome, Florence and Milan” said founding member & guitarist Robb Weir…
“We also have a new live album due out on April 26th called, ‘Live Blood’. The first single taken from the album is in video form on YouTube called, ‘Gangland”.
Second single Keeping Me Alive has just been released. The track is a mainstay of their live set which first appeared on the 2012 album Ambush.
Live Blood was recorded at the Patriot Club in Crumlin, Wales, by vocalist Jack Meille, drummer Craig Ellis, bassist Huw Holding with guitarists Francesco Marris and Robb Weir.
The album includes material from across the band’s career including tracks from their first four albums from 1980-82 on MCA Records.
Robb explained “Our live show adds a new dimension to the old songs and allows us to stretch out a bit on the newer numbers”.
Vocalist Jack Meille added “Live Blood captures all the energy we deliver while playing our favourite songs live and raw“.
What has the summer got in store for the Tygers? First up they’ll be zooming over the Atlantic Ocean to play in South America then keep the thunder rolling with a return to Europe for gigs in May.
Robb has the details…“Next shows are the Summer Breeze festival in Brazil on April 27th, then four UK shows starting at Preston Continental May 2, London Boston Music Rooms May 3, The Crown Merthr Tydfil, Wales May 4 and Eleven in Stoke on Trent on 5th May.
We have two days off then back out to play Budapest in Hungary, Zagreb in Croatia, Belgrade in Serbia, and that’s just for starters”.
With the first half of the year mapped out, Robb adds a final message…
“We’ll be playing a rather special show up in the North East of England in November, details coming very soon. We can only do all of this because of your amazing support and belief in the band and the Tygers would like to whole heartedly say ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you, oh, and see you down the front at the next show!”
Live Blood will be released on double LP (black vinyl, including three exclusive bonus tracks), CD and digital formats on April 26th 2024 via Mighty Music.
Full track listing, gigs, photos & latest news contact the official website >
It’s free entry on Sunday 19th May at Newcastle Trillians Rock Bar for the visit of Troyen who first hit the NWOBHM scene in 1981.
Troyen toured with Girlschool, Spider, Diamond Head plus a European support slot with Nightwing, their demo was produced by Gil Norton who went on to work with the internationally renowned Foo Fighters, Feeder and the Pixies.
With gigs coming thick and fast a recording contract was on the table from legendary record label Neat, but the band never made it up the A1, unfortunately they split and went their separate ways.
Bringing things up to date the band reformed in 2014 and appeared at Newcastle’s Brofest along with a line-up of NWOBHM bands from around the country, appeared on many European metal festivals, produced a whole load of new recorded tracks and a CD anthology, plus this year went back in the studio to record new album Unfinished Business for the Classic Metal Records label.
Latest line-up, there’s been a few changes since the original Troyen over 40 year ago, is Jeff Badley (drums), Steve McGuire & Simon Lind (lead guitars), Mark Nortley (bass) and Paul Ward (vocals).
Jeff explained “For the album we’re still finalising the twelve tracks, all are unique in their own way with contributions from all five band members”.
“On the live front we’re returning to Trillians next month and will have tracks from our forthcoming album in the set. We have an awesome new vocalist Paul Ward fronting the band” (pic. above).
Jeff added “It’s going to be an awesome night of rock and metal. Joining us will be our good friends and local heroes Culloden”.
Free entry on Sunday 19th May 2024 at Newcastle Trillians Rock Bar.
Official release date for the album ‘Unfinished Business’ is 22nd June 2024.
ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE 