STROKE OF LUCK in conversation with Durham musician Stuart Willis

October 26, 2025 / Alikivi

Sitting in the Littlehaven Hotel on a sunny autumn day in South Shields I’m listening to a familiar story which I’ve heard a lot since starting this site in 2017.

59 year old Durham musician Stuart Willis told me ‘I was in a band for a short space of time and got a taste of the music business. Although we weren’t a success commercially, we played gigs and got attention from record labels but didn’t quite get it over the line’. This is Stuart’s story.

(***Stuart Willis outside Littlehaven Hotel, South Shields September 2025. pic. Alikivi).***

Older generations of the family originally came down from Scotland to the North East to work in chemical factories and the mines. My father was first in the family to go to grammar school and became an accountant. He was the one who bucked the trend.

I remember my mam brought a classical guitar record into the house. I absolutely loved it. I was around 11 year old when I got a cheap guitar and music book for Christmas. I picked it up very quickly. There wasn’t anyone else in the family who played and the school I went to didn’t even do music lessons.

My first influences were The Jam and Specials the whole Two-Tone and post punk scene with bands like Television, Magazine and Gang of Four who I saw at the Gateshead Festival in 1982 (The Police headlined with U2, The Beat and Lords of the New Church on the bill).

On the North East music scene was a band I liked called Neon. Tim Jones was in them and he went on to play fascinating music. I first played in a punk band in the local community centre when I was 16. Then I met Michael Salmon in 1985.

***(Michael Salmon in rehearsal 1980s)***

He was a drummer in Prefab Sprout with Paddy McAloon the main songwriter. When Michael left Prefab it was purely amicable. He wanted to realise his ambition of being a songwriter.

I was 18 playing in a duo in a pub in Witton Gilbert, County Durham. Michael was there that night. He liked what we were playing. I was playing classical guitar with Mark Wiles on bass.

Michael was a charismatic guy, excellent guitarist, singer and songwriter almost a teacher to me. Michael had a phenomenal record collection and I was introduced to all these amazing sounds.

We got in a drummer who was playing on the Durham scene and we called ourselves Swimmer Leon. Rehearsals were in Fowler’s Yard in Durham a lot of bands rehearsed there. We practised in there every week. The room itself almost became another member of the band. The sound was born in that room. We had about three albums worth of great songs that Michael had written.

The first place we recorded in was Consett Music project. We were all nervous. We recorded three tracks live and added a few overdubs. We took the songs out to play a few gigs.

We were mainly playing live around 1985 we got on well and had a cracking time. We supported a few big bands mainly playing University gigs. One night we supported the Ronnie Scott Quartet, he had a jazz group who had the club in London. Then there was ex Waterboy Karl Wallinger and World Party.

There were loads of times we met different musicians at these gigs who knew Michael from his Prefab days. There was the drummer from The Ruts who gave us some insightful advice about the record industry. He told us not be in a band because you can get lumbered with huge debts. Best to play for other people and get paid. Wise words.

For me the quality of any live work or recording we done was so important. Sometimes playing smaller gigs is a cacophony of sound but when we played the Students Union in Durham that gig was recorded straight off the mixing desk and we loved that sound.

After gigs other guitar players want to speak to you. That’s really great we appreciated all the attention but we thought where’s the women! We didn’t play ordinary chords so a few times they’d ask ‘At the beginning of that song what’s that chord’? and ‘Can I look at yer Gretch’. We were a quirky band and got a lot of press.

We also recorded in the Cluny Warehouse in Newcastle with John Silvester. Michael’s songs had jazzy elements too them, complicated chord progressions with complicated lyrics – it was like post punk jazz. With all the obscure influences we weren’t your run of the mill band. We were an arty band. We thought yeah, we’re great we’ll get a record deal!

Did you know we ended up with a development deal with CBS? Thing was we never sent a tape to them, strangely Michael thought it should come to us! The only thing we did was send tapes with the band name and telephone number to the local press to get reviewed.

All the major labels had regional scouts who would pick up on the music section in the local papers then come to gigs and take it from there. This is what happened to us and led us to recording in Guardian studio in a little village called Pity Me in County Durham. It was a really good studio.

Guardian was two houses knocked together with a large console and a piano at the side. The owner Terry Gavaghan was very professional about the work and we got on well with him. He wanted to know the structure of the songs, so we played them through sitting near the console.

Michael played drums on that recording his first time since leaving the Sprouts. I played guitars, bass and all the keyboards. Terry recorded it separately with a guide vocal, guitar, drums, bass and put stuff on top. He produced both tracks which still sound good today.

I was working in Windows musical instruments and record shop in Newcastle so I put their telephone number on our demo tape. A local reporter wrote a review of the tape. At work I got a call telling me it was Simon Potts at Capital Records and he was phoning from L.A. Yes Los Angeles! He asked if we had many songs so I told him about three albums worth. ‘OK I’m sending someone up to see you.’

Research has found an interesting story about Simon. He was originally from Newcastle and lives in Hawaii now. With a great pedigree within the music industry he signed The Beat, Simply Red, Thompson Twins, Stray Cats, all selling in huge numbers having massive hits. Last band he reportedly signed were Radiohead.

This guy came up to Witton Gilbert from London and liked what he heard. We quickly arranged a showcase gig in Newcastle pub Slones. Actually, Brian Mawson, my manager at Windows music shop arranged the gig for us.

I loved working in Windows. It was a great place surrounded by people with aspirations to become musicians. There were new instruments on sale, latest records, local releases also a wall full of wanted musicians and bands advertising gigs – a great atmosphere. Darren Stewart who played bass for a few years in Swimmer Leon worked there. Dave Brewis also worked there he was in The Kane Gang.

The night of our gig London record label were having a promotion so a lot of artists were there and ended up at our gig. It was mad. Simon Potts from Capital flew in from L.A. We had Bananarama dancing down at the front, I think the Kane Gang were there. The head of A&R at Capital records told us ‘We’re giving you some money to record, just as long as you don’t go to Montserrat with George Martin!’ So, we went back to Pity Me and Terry Gavaghan!

We were in Guardian for three days and recorded three songs. By then GO Discs were interested in us, Warners were interested in us, Phonogram were interested in us. We were going up and down to London for meetings but we couldn’t get it over the line. It was just two kids really, me and Michael Salmon. The thing was we didn’t have a manager.

I remember going to CBS for a meeting. We were in a lift and there was Mick Jones from The Clash. I thought what’s going on here? From being a 16 year old punk playing gigs in Grindon Community Centre to meetings, gigs, studios and all this record label stuff without us really trying.

But life caught up with us. There was a time we thought is this gonna work? We didn’t want to move from Durham. I was from Sunderland so was Terence the drummer, Michael was from Witton Gilbert, Mark was living in Durham. The irony is when the band split up in 1989 we all moved.

I lived in London in the early 90s and worked in marketing for Virgin records. It wasn’t a glamorous lifestyle. I was living in a dingy flat in Blackheath. I saw the inner workings of the record business and couldn’t wait to leave. Richard Branson had sold the label by then to EMI and everybody was losing their jobs. I handed my car keys in went to Kings Cross train station and couldn’t wait to get back to Sunderland.

What am I doing now? My ambition was to study music properly so I done a music degree at Newcastle University from 1993-95 and ever since then I’ve been a teacher at Durham University in the music department, performer in classical guitar and specialise in historical music performance where I play the lute. I’ve also got a publishing deal for Schott, publishing guitar books.

Don’t want to come across like a moaning old bloke but young people today don’t understand what a band is. To get four or five like minded people trying to evolve a sound and make it into something special for you – that happened for us. We were lucky to be able to do what we done in the 80s. Today I still listen to all the bands I listened to back then. I’m still passionate about music.

Alikivi October 2025

SPELLBOUND – in conversation with Prelude singer & songwriter Brian Hume

June 19, 2025June 20, 2025 / Alikivi / 2 Comments

I met up with Gateshead born Brian Hume and he talked about his life in music and what it means to him now.

‘Music dominates your life. It can often exclude things that you should pay attention to. Personal relationships can suffer cos it takes over your life. All you wanna do is make that sound, make that music, at first you don’t care if you make any money you just do it for the love of it.’

‘Unless you’re all on the same page there’s always tension within bands. You’re living permanently on the idea that it will all come to an end tomorrow. If you’re a guitar player you could break a finger or get arthritis. Somebody might leave and your left high and dry. You might have an argument and everybody falls out, it’s a miracle they stay together. But it can be exciting not knowing what’s round the corner’.

78 year old Brian looks back to when and where he was first inspired.

‘Me mother was very musical she’d knock out a tune on the piano and a four string guitar – all self taught, amazing. That’s where I learnt to pick out a few tunes. Lot of houses had a room where no one went very often, that’s where the piano was.’

It was in Grammer school where Brian first met up with Ian Vardy, forming a duo to sing in Tyneside pubs and clubs.

‘One of the first gigs we played was the 99 club in Barrow in Furness. After two songs the chairman came up to the front of the stage “You’re not really right for this kind of environment”. He was nice about it but, yeah, we were paid off.’

‘The Everley Brothers songs were the go to sound, when we heard their two part harmonies we thought we could do that. We used to play the Bridge Hotel in Newcastle. The folk scene then was vibrant, clubs were always packed out people were singing sea shanties then Paul Simon came along.’

‘Then we’d try writing our own stuff. Our publisher wanted us to be called The Cobblers. You could see the first review – what a load of! We settled on The Carnival – a very 60s hippy name. We lasted for one record – a Paul Simon song called The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine. The review in the NME read ‘social comment at breakneck speed!

‘Ian and I were singing in our flat in Gateshead. We had just bought the Crosby, Stills and Nash album trying out different songs like Sweet Judy Blue Eyes. My wife, Irene was singing in the kitchen with the door open. She was singing the third harmony. We were totally surprised as we didn’t know she could sing. We turned and said ‘sing that again’. It wsan’t long before we went out to folk clubs and started going down really well.’

‘We lived in School Street, Gateshead and nearby at the end of the Tyne bridge is an old toll booth. A big granite structure. It had a lovely echo. Some nights we’d go in there and sing. One night a policeman came in. He thought we were up to no good. Very officious. But he stuck around listening to a few songs then as he was leaving said “Carry on”.

‘We got a deal with Decca Records and recorded a single The Edge of the Sea which had a strong hippy vibe to it. All during that period we were recording in Impulse Studio making demos courtesy of the owner, Dave Woods who soon after ‘discovered’ Alan Hull.’

‘We were called Trilogy for a while but had to change it because there was an American band with the same name. It’s not easy choosing a name as any band will tell you. I came up with Prelude and that stuck. That was 1972.’

‘Three part harmonies had a big effect on musicians. A lot of bands had done it like The Lettermen and The Platters from way back, but Crosby, Stills and Nash were different, this was whack right in your face. Yeah, a big influence on us and many other bands including fellow Tyneside band, The Caffreys.’

‘Different members have come and gone but the band were Ian Vardy, me and my wife Irene. Ian and I got a song writing contract with ATV music which worked for us financially. We decided to put both our names on everything we wrote irrespective of who wrote it.’

‘We had a brilliant guitarist called Frank Usher. We parted company and and he went on to play guitar with Fish from Marillion as well as being a fine guitar maker.’

‘We played the North East club scene for a while and in between we’d do Durham College where we’d support artists like Gerry Rafferty, Mott the Hoople, Shaking Stevens and the Sunsets – that band were amazing. There was a hippy commune type band called Principle Edwards Magic Theatre who all dressed in white which looked cool so we copied that – it was a cheap uniform.’

‘Our manager George Carr got us a record deal with Pye who back then were dominated by Max Bygraves selling boatloads of Sing-a-Long-a-Max records. We were the token folk band, although we were never folk they just called us that cos we had acoustic guitars! You couldn’t say that Pye were part of the cultural vibe.’

‘In 1973 we went to Rockfield Studio in Monmouth to record our first album How Long is Forever? produced by Fritz Fryer who was in a group called The Four Pennies. They had a number one with Juliet. A wistful ballad. On the final studio day Fritz asked if there was anything else we had. We used to sing a Neil Young song just for our own pleasure. That was After the Gold Rush.’

‘We recorded it and it sounded pretty good so we double tracked it. Overdubbed it fifteen times and it sounded massive. We never thought for a minute anyone would pick up on it. But John Peel at Capitol radio did. He got loads of calls ‘Who is this band?’ ‘Where can we buy the record’.

‘Next thing we know Pye put it out as a single and we’re on Top of the Pops. That was 1974. We ended up appearing twice the first time was with Marc Bolan. There was a succession of TV appearances. You had to do television because you are reaching a massive audience. We did a show for Tyne Tees called the Geordie Scene. We did the Basil Brush show for Pete’s sake.’

‘Most notably we went on the Vera Lynn show. During rehearsals she referred to us as The Prelude. Later she was walking towards us along the corridor when Ian stopped her and said “By the way Vera it’s not The Prelude it’s just Prelude”. Not skipping a beat she turned to him and said “If you don’t mind it’s not Vera…it’s Miss Lynn”.

Prelude were always based in their hometown Gateshead this meant constantly travelling up and down the M1 to television and recording studios in London.

‘It was every other week. We should have moved down there. But 1974 was a big year for us. We did the background vocals on Streets of London which was a hit for Ralph McTell. He asked us to go out on a UK tour with him.’

‘Ralph wanted to put our names on the record but our company wouldn’t allow it. For the next best thing Ralph put ‘background vocals by ‘The Gold Rushers’. It would have been a great advert for Prelude to have their name on the single but Pye were stupid on that.’

‘Ralph was so talented and generous to a fault. It was a big tour around the country then we played a venue where we’d seen Paul Simon, Crosby, Stills and Nash – here we were on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall. Amazing.’

‘After the McTell tour we went back to playing smaller venues but I’m getting the timeline mixed here because I remember before touring with Ralph was a UK tour with a singer and songwriter called Mike Chapman. He had a devoted following and used to live up the Tyne Valley in Haltwhistle.’

‘Then we went on the road with a great piano player called Peter Skellern who had a big hit with You’re a Lady. Meeting him he was rather quiet and reserved – he later became a priest. Then there was talk of America.’

‘This was 1976. What happened was Lindisfarne played the States. When Alun Hull came back, he’d tell us to get over there ‘Cos all ya’ hear is your bloody record ‘After the Gold Rush’ on the radio all the time.’

‘I always read the NME and Melody Maker, looking at American charts where like the Holy grail of music to me. To see Neil Sadaka, Beach Boys and bands like that we thought wouldn’t it be great to get in there. Our manager George Carr said ‘You’re in the American top 100’. We thought this is a dream come true.’ Then it went towards the top 20.’

‘We wanted to capitalise on the success but the record company didn’t want to pay for us to go to America they sent us to Amsterdam. We played the clubs and had a good time but we should have been in the States where we wouldn’t have even needed guitars as the song was acapella. We could have done the Johnny Carson show and the like and knocked that record up the charts.’

‘It wasn’t until 18 months later we got to the States. There were a few gigs on the West Coast in San Francisco where we supported Jerry Garcia in Berkley and met Nicky Hopkins who played piano on all Rolling Stones records. Then over to the East Coast and played The Bitter End in New York. When we came back to the UK Irene took a break when we had our second boy, Joel.’

‘Things moved on quickly until 1979 when our manager got us a deal with a new company called After Hours who were very forward thinking. We made an album at Abbey Road with The Hollies producer Ron Richards. His style was more towards lush strings and stuff like that. It didn’t really work for us.’

‘We also signed to EMI in 1980 and made an album in Portland Studios owned by Chas Chandler, charming fella. We had some great players on there but the only track that came out of it was Platinum Blonde. Our principal guys were Ian Green de facto producer of Platinum Blonde and Dave Wintour who was Neil Sadaka’s bass player. It was a minor hit which got to number 45 in the charts.’

‘We did a video for it in the old Battersea Power Station in London arranged by the head honcho at our record label, Richard Jacobowski. He was really on the ball, a hip guy. We crashed in his three storey flat in Hampstead and shared it with a band called The Regents who were very talented, like a proto-punk band. They had a hit song on Top of the Pops with Seventeen.’

‘For the single we did Top of the Pops and I remember on the same programme were Bay City Rollers. Platinum Blonde was good for us but afterwards we came back up North and played the folk clubs again.’

‘Ian Vardy was looking at doing something different so left the band around 1985 and became a social worker. We continued and got in ace guitar player Jim Hornsby who had been with a lot of country bands. Jim was very much in demand for session work.’

‘Country was labelled as redneck music then, it wasn’t cool – but it is now. Gram Parsons did a hell of a job making country hip. He influenced The Byrds and Keith Richards. Some clubs turned their nose up at country stuff but we had a great time doing clubs then. Unfortunately, as happens in bands Jim left.’

What did the new millennium bring?

‘From 2001 it was Irene, me and Chris Ringer who we brought in on bass and vocals and took Prelude on the circuit of country clubs and the whole scene. Through the years we have performed with countless numbers of musicians and loved every minute of it.’

‘Our latest album The Belle Vue Sessions (2012) is all acoustic. It started in 2010 when Ian came round to our house, he had an appointment at his dentist round the corner. We got the guitars out, as you do,and it all went well so we asked him to do a gig with us. One turned into many.’

‘It was our manager Sue Brind who originally said ‘Why don’t you make a new Prelude album? We thought ‘why not?’ so we wrote some new songs and recorded them in Broadwater studios, Gateshead. Two lovely guys engineered, Gavin and Paul. We recruited Paul Hooper who was drummer for The Fortunes and again Chris Ringer played bass. We are very proud of the album.’

What does the future hold for Prelude?

‘We’re busy meeting with David Wood who used to run Impulse Studio in Wallsend. Impulse was a gateway for a lot of acts. He released a lot of Heavy Metal stuff like Venom and Raven from the North East, it was a big scene for him.’

‘David recently put out a CD box set of Alan Hull demos, he recognised Alan’s talent early on. Now he wants to do the same with us because he’s got a lot of tapes that have never seen the light of day. We’re looking to release something soon.’

After recalling a life spent with a multitude of musicians and the memories it triggers, Brian reveals that his ‘obsession’ holds a deeper meaning than just getting on stage and banging out a tune.

‘Your friends tend to be musicians and you share a common language which is almost secret amongst you. You know and experience things that nobody else has. There’s a bond between musicians which is friendship but sort of deeper. You know what the other is going to do, what they’re going to sing, – what they can and can’t do. Every successful band has to have that. It’s like brotherly love. It’s a wonderful feeling. It’s why people do music instead of opting for a ‘safer’ life.’

Alikivi June 2025

ALIKIVI IN CITIES

March 5, 2025March 5, 2025 / Alikivi

If ya like ya lists these make for interesting reading. There’s been a new welcome addition to the back office stats from owners WordPress. Previously they’ve counted views from each country with the total to date 422,000.

Now they have drilled down further and added the number of views from what regions and cities where the posts are being read. These are from start date February 2017 – March 2025.

Top 10 countries >>>

UK
USA
Australia
Canada
Spain
Germany
Ireland
France
Netherlands
Italy

This list includes countries with ex pats who I think will add views from countries like Australia and Canada. European countries Germany, Spain, Italy, France etc might include followers of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal – I’ve added many posts including North East bands Fist, Raven, Tygers of Pan Tang etc.

Top 10 regions >>>

England, UK
Scotland, UK
Virginia, USA
Wales, UK
California, USA
Northern Ireland
Dublin, Ireland
Limburg, Belgium
Texas, USA
Ontario, Canada

This list is harder to summarise – USA regions Virginia, California and Texas in the top ten are a surprise. I have added a few posts with musicians based in America so maybe that’s it really. I can speculate as much as I like about why people are attracted to the site but honestly, I’m just very grateful that people enjoy reading it.

Top 10 cities >>>

North Shields, England
London, England
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Manchester, England
Edinburgh, Scotland
Washington, USA
New Silksworth, England
Sheffield, England
York, England
Birmingham, England

Few things popped out of that list – New Silksworth is only a small suburb of the city of Sunderland so a big shout out to the Silks whoever you are! Washington, the capital of America, is not to be confused with Washington near Sunderland because when I checked on the list the stars and stripes are next to the name.

Outside the top 10 the next most international cities viewed are Menlo Park in California, USA, Maasmechelen in Belgium, then Lincoln in Nebraska, USA, next is the Australian city of Perth and then Dallas in Texas, USA.

Big thanks to all the readers it’s much appreciated that you check in to the site from wherever in the world you are. New posts have slowed up lately so why not do a quick search on the archive to see who or what is there – you might be surprised – and why not pass the link on to a friend.

If you’ve got a story to add why not get in touch.

Keep on keepin’ on.

Alikivi March 2025

SPRING ROCK AT NEWCASTLE TRILLIANS

February 8, 2025 / Alikivi

Rock is still big in the North and you can’t get bigger than at Newcastle Trillians. In the coming months bands booked have the power to rip yer skin off yer skull. Here’s a few gigs to stir yer up and let yer know yer still alive in ’25.

Friday 14 Feb > Tytan/Baphomet – ex Angelwitch NWOBHM flag bearer Kev Riddles – “Great to be returning to Trillians, our North East home from home. Brilliant atmosphere and banter at the expense of yours truly! Amazing how a London accent brings out the best in people, see ya there!”

Friday 28 Feb > Godzz of Wor – ex Venom/ Ballbreakers guitarist Jim Clare – “We’ll be rocking the place with 205 years of experience – not bad for a three piece. Hardest working trio in the North East”.

Saturday 8 March > Spartan Warrior – NWOBHM/Guardian/Roadrunner Records frontman David Wilkinson– “Trillians shows are always pretty special it’s one of the best rock venues in the UK. Having hosted many fantastic and legendary bands across the decades it’s the North East equivalent of the Cart and Horses down south. We always have a great crowd in Trills, that’s appreciated and never taken for granted. We’re really looking forward to playing a headline show on home turf alongside special guests Risen Prophecy and Overdrive. It’s going to be a hell of a night…guaranteed!”

Also squeezed in are dates for White Tyger who opened for ex Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil and WASP guitarist Chris Holmes. The Midland Metallers hit the stage on Thursday 27 Feb. Stopping off in the Toon on Sunday 9 March is former vocalist with Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow/Michael Schenker Group/Vandenburg/Elegant Weapons frontman Ronnie Romero on his UK tour.

Lottsa more gigs on the official website >>>

Gig Guide – Trillians Rock Bar

Alikivi February 2025

TOO FAR NORTH in conversation with Boldon author Ian Fawdon

September 24, 2024 / Alikivi / 3 Comments

‘There’s been nationally recognised music scenes in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow and Bristol but there hasn’t been one in the North East. So, I thought there’s a story to be told’.

Retired former Nissan worker Ian Fawdon decided to write a book about his passion. ‘Too Far North’ features over 30 interviews with musicians talking about what it means to be a musician from the North East.

‘I started talking to musicians like The Kane Gang and Lindisfarne drummer Ray Laidlaw, they were all fantastic to interview. White Heat frontman Bob Smeaton was a great storyteller and I found the Heavy Metal section really inspiring’.

‘John Gallagher from Raven and John Roach from Mythra were so enthusiastic – after all these years. When I met Robb Weir from Tygers of Pan Tang I took their first single to the interview I bought in 1980 to get autographed. Robb was more shocked than me!’

‘I start off looking at the 60s and The Animals. I talked to people from then, it was a really vibrant scene. Then I look at the folk scene and Lindisfarne, then punk and New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Then the Kitchenware record label and Sunderland bands Field Music and the Futureheads and finish off by bringing it up to date with Nadine Shah’.

‘Did I come across any unexpected stories? When putting this book together good management really stood out it really made a difference. Tom Noble at Tygers of Pan Tang went to MCA and got them a four album deal. Fist got an album deal but didn’t do as well’.

‘I talked to Keith Armstrong, owner of Kitchenware Records a really interesting guy. Until they came along there was only one choice for bands and that was to go to London. Kitchenware thought no, you don’t have to move we can do it up here. That for me was a refreshing attitude’.

‘They had four bands – Prefab Sprout, Kane Gang, Hurrah and Martin Stephenson and the Daintees. Keith got them all really good deals. Kitchenware still managed the bands but were licensed to the major companies’.

‘Prefab Sprout had already recorded a single and were selling them in HMV when Keith heard them. He went to CBS for Prefab and they asked him how much he wanted. ‘£100,000’ he replied. They made a quick phone call to their boss and agreed the price. He said he had ‘no idea where that number came from!’

‘He later went on to Editors and Jake Bugg. Keith could spot talent and he always hoped that each band recognised that he was doing his best for them’.

***Lindisfarne at Newcastle City Hall.***

‘Further interviews with Keith revealed that around 1982 there wasn’t much happening in Newcastle. ‘There was me and a couple of mates looking to start something. There was Viz, Trent House bar and a club called World Head Quarters. We wanted to put bands on in the town, there was plenty Heavy Metal gigs but nothing else’.

‘We got a few bands from Scotland like Aztec Camera and a few other nights started up. Our favourite band was New Order so we thought of getting them’. They phoned the manager up and he demanded cash on arrival, which they agreed to. Tickets sold quickly so they transferred the gig to Newcastle Mayfair, that sold out and set them up’.

‘The New Order gig money was enough to record singles in a London studio for Hurrah, and Martin Stephenson and the Daintees. One day Keith Armstrong, who was manager at Newcastle HMV, had Martin Stephenson’s Daintees busking outside the shop. But they were getting some grief so Keith asked them to play inside. He liked some of the tunes – that’s where he asked them about going down to London to record’.

‘Just every now and again you get people from the North East who have that drive, that ambition, and Keith was like that. He was just a young lad at the time, in his early 20s and a manager of a record shop’ said Ian.

‘Keith told me that he got hold of Malcom Gerrie who was the top boss at The Tube and said to him ‘you’re not doing much on the North East why not do something on Kitchenware?’ It wasn’t long till a segment on Kitchenware records was broadcast on The Tube. Keith was pushy with enough belief in the North East. He’s still active now and has Soul Kitchen Recordings and gets young talent from the North East to put records out’.

‘If you are looking for a sad story in the book I did an interview where I did feel sorry for those concerned. There is a lot of tales of woe. One of the bands in the punk section were from Durham, called Neon. I really liked them, they were so arty and interesting and played a lot in the North East. One of the famous gigs at the Guildhall in Newcastle was with Angelic Upstarts and Punishment of Luxury where a massive fight broke out’.

‘Punishment got signed by United Artists who were also sniffing around Neon. In an interview Tim Jones (vocals, Neon) told me there was a guy called Martin Rushent (Buzzcocks, Stranglers, Human League). He was a big name producer starting up a new label. He asked Neon to ‘come down to our independent label and we’ll put your single out give you plenty of attention’.

‘They went with them and started touring but the van was breaking down, the PA was knackered, there was just no money. They went to the studio where Martin was recording XTC and told him about the situation, he replied ‘What do you expect me to do about it?’

The band were devastated and not long after split up. Tim was shocked at the treatment and said ‘at first someone gave us the dream, then just dropped us. How could he treat a bunch of 18 year old kids like that? It seems we got picked up then they got bored of us’.

‘You want a funny story? Maybe not comical but the book has a number of incidents that occur around musicians and gigs. This one included top Hollywood film director Spike Lee’.

‘Believe it or not Spike has a brother who is a massive Prefab Sprout fan. A few year ago Spike wanted to develop a fairy tale animation based on the music of Paddy McAloon. Everything was going alright until they met in London and Spike had changed his mind because he had fallen out with his brother’.

‘Hurrah got the gig supporting U2 and found themselves in a big venue in Birmingham where they didn’t understand the scale. Their little curly guitar leads wouldn’t stretch across the huge stage’.

‘They also told me they didn’t play the game. After gigs they didn’t go in the green room to rub shoulders with other bands and music biz people. They’d stay in their dressing room turn the light off and shout at each other while throwing their rider about, which was usually fruit. At one gig The Edge and Larry from U2 opened the door to someone shouting ‘bananas’!’

‘I spoke to Brian Bond and he told me Punishment of Luxury were on a European tour and the last gig was in Holland. The stage manager said why not do something special? So, on their last song Jellyfish he got a bucket of raw fish and threw it at the audience – who threw it straight back all over the guitars and amps. Brian said it was the worst thing he had done on stage he couldn’t believe he had done it and had to apologise to the band’.

Ian adds ‘I wrote the 400 odd page book in a positive fashion, I didn’t include stories about drugs and not everyone’s favourite is in but I favoured the North East bands, always loved them and saw plenty when I was younger’.

‘Too Far North’ on Tyne Bridge Publishing is out now for further information contact >

https://www.waterstones.com/book/too-far-north/ian-fawdon/9781739223342

Alikivi September 2024

HOME COMFORTS for Whitley Bay Tygers

September 12, 2024 / Alikivi

A wave of steel is planned this autumn as standard bearers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal North East Division, Tygers of Pan Tang, map out a series of live European dates.

They include October – Belgium (4^th), Germany (5^th) and Netherlands (6^th) and November – Barnsley, UK (7^th) then crossing the border on Friday 8^th to play the Classic Grand in Glasgow with Scotland’s very own granite plated rock band Lyin’ Rampant opening.

Rampant lead vocalist Stewartie Adams is looking forward to the gig…

“It should be a great show we’re all up for it and looking forward to a great night with the Tygers. It’s the first time opening for them.”

“We’re back in the studio in Glasgow to work on some new material to add to our set…so we’ll be ready to rock. We’ve had a much needed break after the Graham Bonnet tour. We made great friends with Graham and his band. They were a joy to work with. It was a blast”.

Link to interview >> TARTAN SPIRIT with former Tytan & Lyin’ Rampant vocalist/guitarist Stewartie Adams | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

The legendary Tygers then march back down to Tyneside to celebrate a homecoming return in the seaside town of Whitley Bay on Saturday 9^th November 2024. The show is being promoted by the local town council to celebrate over 45 years of the Tygers.

Whitley Bay was the headquarters of the original four Tygers. They had a residence at local club Mingles where they honed the tunes that would make up most of their first album ‘Wild Cat’.

The Tygers most recent album ‘Live Blood’, released on Mighty Music, features songs from across their career including tracks that were first played in Mingles.

Support on the night will come from Shannon Pearl, a North East neo-folk band that was specially chosen by the Tygers.

“I’ve lived in the area for most of my life and being invited to play at the prestigious Whitley Bay Playhouse has long been a dream of mine” guitarist Robb Weir commented.

“I think the current band will really enjoy visiting where it all started. It promises to be one helluva night”.

Wrapping up the autumn dates is a visit to Grimsby (10^th) and finally Marseille, France at the South Troopers Festival (16^th).

Tickets for Whitley Bay are available here.

Buy/stream ‘Live Blood’ here.

Check the official website for further information on albums, gigs, photos, videos >

Tygers Of Pan Tang – The Official Site

Alikivi September 2024

NORTH EAST MUSIC & VIDEO with Hartlepool based VainGloriousUK

July 10, 2024July 10, 2024 / Alikivi

VainGloriousUK are collectively known as Chas Groovy.

“There’s been some amazing music created in the North East which has never received the recognition that it deserved and there is always an emphasis on musicians from the southern end of the country” said Chas.

“Being mostly Hartlepool based we were well aware of bands like The White Negroes – who were immense in Hartlepool in the early 90’s – also Jimmy McKenna and Wendells Parlour”.

In the ‘80s Dave Emerson bought a video camera and started making recordings of local gigs. Dave realised that some of the videos he had might be worth sharing and the VainGloriousUK You Tube Channel was created.

Chas explains “We chose the name VainGloriousUK because all the North East groups went for glory but ultimately for some it was in vain. However, we realised later that the dictionary definition says that vainglorious means someone who is boastful, which is not what we mean at all!”

“We began seeking out, tidying up and uploading historic – and sometimes hysterical – video footage of music associated with the North East”.

Since the early 70’s there had been local TV shows such as The Geordie Scene and Alright Now. Many of these shows still exist in TV archives and bit by bit some interesting videos fell into their lap.

“The VainGloriousUK channel currently has up to 170 videos uploaded and its playlists also link to interesting videos from other sources”.

One of the sources was the late music journalist and broadcaster Ian Penman.

“Ian had undertaken work for Tyne Tees TV and, lucky for us, he kept a personal copy of many of the things he was involved in. It took a bit of arm twisting but eventually Ian let us use some of them”.

“One of these was the appearance of Brian Johnson’s first group Geordie. Recently we learned that our copy appears to be the only one still in existence when we were contacted about it being used in a forthcoming documentary about Brian” said Chas.

The collective had found a hidden treasure trove of recorded music so they created a website companion to the You Tube channel.

“This would enable us to tell the stories of the groups and artists and provide direct links to their specific videos, and most importantly, provide examples of their music to listen to with the opportunity for this to be purchased”.

“CDBaby, Spotify, Soundcloud, all of these companies charge a percentage for their services whereas 100% of any income goes directly to our artists. What we are doing is focusing on a particular geographical area which we passionately believe has been a hot bed of great music, we are doing it for fun – and the odd pat on the back”.

“Most musicians are flattered that we care so much about their music, some are a bit wary about how their historical musical legacy may now be viewed – what you thought was important at 16 is not the same when you are 56!”

Top of the hit list to trace was a band called The Mynd. Eventually contact was made with former keyboard player Billy Surgeoner, who was persuaded to put The Mynd music on to VainGloriousUK.

“Bit by bit that’s how it worked, we learn about an interesting artist, do a bit of homework and sometimes it works out nicely”.

“We would love to find the performance on Tyne Tees TV’s Northern Life programme from early 1977 by Newcastle group Last Exit singing ‘Don’t Give Up Your Day Time Job’ – whose lead singer went on to have a successful career in The Police”.

Early 70’s Newcastle glam/folk group Sandgate have been added to VainGloriousUK, including their appearance on the Geordie Scene.

“With Sandgate there is a great omission. The band comprised of two main line-ups, the first was formed and led by songwriter Fred Wheatley and they made some recordings. Then when Fred left the group the remaining chaps made further recordings which are the ones we have. We would love to locate Fred Wheatley and get our hands on the early Sandgate recordings”.

Vainglorious also have software available that can make a good job of reconstruction and remastering.

“Sandgate had two albums worth of really good recordings, they noticed that our efforts had improved them sonically”.

Songwriter Steve Thompson, who has featured on this site, has had his work uploaded onto VainGloriosuUK leading to Cherry Red Records releasing it.

“Also, partly as a result of our pestering regarding making the music of mid 70’s group FOGG available again, their original record company has re-released their original album plus a second album of their singles”.

“We’re always on the lookout for interesting artists with a body of recordings. We’re open to ideas for future video uploads so if anyone has an interesting video, we would love to hear from them”.

Get in touch at info@vaingloriousuk.com

Check out the official website at > http://www.vaingloriousuk.com for links to biogs, compilation albums and books.

Watch music videos at > VainGloriousUK – YouTube

Alikivi July 2024

BLOODY TYGERS – new live release plus gigs in Miami, Brazil & Europe

April 7, 2024April 7, 2024 / Alikivi

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 26^th 2024 via Mighty Music.

Full track listing, gigs, photos & latest news contact the official website >

Tygers Of Pan Tang – The Official Site

Alikivi April 2024

STATS FANTASTIC – seven years & counting

February 22, 2024 / Alikivi / 1 Comment

After 500 posts and over 370,000 views, WordPress (who run this blog) have sent their congratulations to the North East culture site after completing its seventh year, aye seven years, can’t believe how quickly time has gone.

From the first post in February 2017, the free site – without any ads, pop ups or clickbait – has gone from strength to strength picking up views not only here in the UK but worldwide, including USA, Japan, Brazil, Sweden, Ireland, Australia and European countries Spain, Italy, France and Germany.

First up were metal bands Fist, Mythra, Raven, Satan, Venom and Tygers of Pan Tang followed by music memories from bands including Beckett, Angelic Upstarts, White Heat, Lindisfarne, Lorraine Crosby, Wildhearts, Dance Class, Kane Gang and Southbound.

Searching the site, you’ll find interviews with authors and photographers, there’s also stories from recording studios Guardian and Impulse.

As well as theatre producer Leah Bell and TV actress Lesley Saint-John, by far the most popular post at 15,000, there are stories from roadies, radio presenters and TV production teams.

During the 2020 covid lockdowns people looked for something new to read so their views added to the regular readers, resulting in monthly numbers of 7,000 with a high of 9,700.

Now the site gets a steady monthly count of 4-5,000, I must say a big thanks to everyone who reads the posts – much appreciated.

How long will it last? Well, the phone’s still ringing and stories keep dropping in my inbox, so I’ll keep gaan until the juice runs out.

Alikivi February 2024

GOLDEN AGE OF CLUBLAND with entertainer, Peter Embleton.

February 19, 2024 / Alikivi / 1 Comment

‘I’m originally from Teesside but have lived South of York for 10 years now. I had a marvellous time working the North East, the greatest training ground for anyone, but retired from the business when live backing started to be replaced with self-contained acts, my job was always to put on a show not just be a singer of songs’.

‘As well as all over the North East I worked in Australia and the cruise lines, I was voted male vocalist of the year twice in the ‘80s in the National Club Mirror awards’ said Peter.

‘I look at some of the talent now and feel sorry that they never experienced the Saturday night atmosphere of say, King Street club, North Shields. The club full at 7pm, great musicians to play for you led by the inimitable Micky Watson, what a buzz!’

‘Yes of course, there were poor nights when it didn’t all go according to plan, but hey the good times by far outweighed the bad times. I feel lucky to have experienced the golden age of clubland, there were some brilliant acts and musicians’.

***Peter at the back on the left in one of his club bands.***

Did you appear on radio or TV?

I did regular radio broadcasts from Manchester with the Northern Radio Orchestra, for TV, I was the first act to appear on London Weekend Television’s ‘Search for a Star’, there were more TV including two appearances on ATV’s ‘Starburst’, also two appearances on Granada’s ‘The Video Entertainers’ and a guest spot on ‘The Cannon and Ball show’ for London Weekend.

I did a national tour and two summer seasons with Cannon and Ball when they were at the height of their fame playing to thousands at Bournemouth and Scarborough.

There was lots of radio jingles at Metro radio and TFM (radio Tees) plus I wrote and recorded ‘Up the Boro’ for Middlesbrough football club which is still played 50 years later at the stadium!

Peter first got in touch after reading the recent Guardian Studio post (14 Feb 2024).

I first became aware of Guardian studios in the late ‘70s, I had been working at the Club Fiesta in Stockton as resident singer/compere and had just left to become ‘Peter Saint’ and start a solo career in the North East workingmen’s clubs.

One night I worked with a young band who began telling me about their recent experience at Guardian, they had just finished an album in there and were singing the praises of producer Terry Gavagahn.

I’d been doing some writing with the keyboard player at the Fiesta club, Pete Jackson, and we were looking for somewhere to do some demos so I gave Terry a ring and booked some dates.

Pity Me in Durham was a typical pit village, blink and you’d miss it. Basically, it was a row of terraced cottages and in the middle was Terry’s house – Guardian studios! The most unlikely place you could ever imagine a studio to be.

But inside it was like the Tardis, walls had been knocked down to make a decent sized recording area, there was a glass fronted control room at the back with an excellent recording desk and pro reel to reel machine.

Terry seemed like a nice guy and was very welcoming, more importantly he seemed to know what he was doing. If I remember correctly, he was quite an accomplished Rock guitarist and that was his main love, but he did a good job for us.

I think we had about three days there and ended up with some decent demos. Shortly after that I was told by my agency that Tyne Tees TV were looking for a theme tune for a new show called ‘Friday Live’. I put something together and sent it to them and was as surprised as anyone when they said “yes, we like it.”

I assumed they would organise the recording of it but they handed it all over to me and said “there’s a budget, go and do it”. I relied heavily on Peter Jackson as it needed arranging for a seven-piece band, that’s when we made the decision to go back to Guardian.

I think a few of the more seasoned session players were surprised when they pulled up at the terrace in Pity Me, but it didn’t get too cramped because we recorded the rhythm section first then overdubbed the brass, and finally layered the vocals.

Terry did a fine job and Tyne Tees were very happy with the finished track. I think he got some more work from them after that session. ‘Friday Live’ ran for nearly a year, I even got a guest spot on it.

I’ve since worked in many studios including Strawberry and A.I.R studios – George Martin’s place in London, but I’ll never forget Guardian.

What are you up to now Peter?

Right now, I sing for fun, I have taken a huge interest in guitar, play in a few different bands and enjoy singing in a local choir which performs an eclectic mix of music.