NWOBHM

CHAIRMAN WOOD OF WALLSEND  in conversation with ex Impulse Studio/Neat records bigwig David Wood

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The last time I met David was in October 2019 he talked about starting up Impulse Studio in Wallsend and the legendary record label Neat.

David exclusively revealed how the success of North East comedian Bobby Thompson kick started the label which went on to spawn chief headbangers Raven, Venom, Blitzkreig and Tygers of Pan Tang who in turn were a huge influence on American bands Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeath. Read the interview here >>>

THE FIXER – in conversation with former Impulse Studio and Neat Records owner David Wood | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE

We’re in The Customs House, South Shields chatting over a pot of tea and David is in a talkative mood. We talk about North East music and how influential live music show The Tube was, and how it outclassed other music TV. I was lucky to be in the audience of the ground breaking show and being exposed to different genres of music that opened my eyes and ears.

I remember The Tube. I took Venom to the studio they weren’t playing they were there to highlight the type of music they were doing and getting their name out. On that occasion Madonna and Cliff Richards were also on recalls David.

I knew Geoff Wonfor and his wife Andrea who both worked there. I was surprised when it was shut down it was a beautiful studio. Andrea worked on the Lindisfarne film in our recording studio in Wallsend, that was for local news. Unfortunately, a lot of that footage and much more has been lost. Andrea done really well she ended up an executive at Channel Four.

However, my interest in music goes back to when I was 16 year old, a long time ago I’m nearly 80 now. I remember asking a bank manager for a loan to open a recording studio ‘A what?’ he replied. There was a drummer from Howdon came to see me, he looked around ‘Is this yer studio is it. A recording studio in Wallsend? Ya must be f***in’ mad’. That just gave me a push to get on with it.

Councils weren’t interested. Music wasn’t taught much in schools then. We had only one school from Blyth who had enough sense to come down and get the kids to know what it was all about. If you encourage people to find out about things it works on all parts of their life rather than trudging about.

At Impulse I ended up recording every Tom, Dick and Harry in the North East. There was John McCoy and his band. John ran the Kirklevington Country Club near Stockton on the A19. His brother was chef in the restaurant downstairs while bands played upstairs, the club booked in a lot of big acts including Jimi Hendrix.

I have the recording here that I did for them at Impulse in Wallsend, I was 21 we had just started the studio. This must be from 1967 or 68 the time they opened for Jimi Hendrix. They were some band, I tell ya the Real McCoy could really play.

John was a nice bloke, he must be in his 80’s now, he was a really good musician (I’m in touch with John his stories will be added to the site soon). I saw the band at Middlesbrough Town Hall that was always a good gig. I used to go to the Country Club because the food was amazing – charcoal grilled fillet steak in red wine sauce with all the trimmings …beautiful.

We had bands coming to Impulse like The Sect, Half Breed, John Miles – he was brilliant, a class act, a great songwriter, it’s very sad he’s not around now he was such a nice bloke. As a studio it was how basic can you get really but we were all trying to learn new things – that’s how you start.

All the stuff we were working on in the studio was original songs – folk, alternative, punk. We had The Carpettes and Penetration from down Durham way, and from your doorstep in South Shields who else but the Angelic Upstarts! Yes, they were a wild bunch! I didn’t do an LP with them at Neat records it was only the first single ‘Liddle Towers’ and ‘Police Oppression’.

Cover for Angelic Upstarts 7″ single ‘The Murder of Liddle Towers’.

I remember years later they were on Warner Brothers and I got a phone call ‘I need the tracks you did with them to put on an LP, can you mix them and send them to us’. In the archive I had the 16 or 24 track tape they had done so it was possible. ‘When do you need it for‘? ‘Tomorrow morning’. I was up all night I couldn’t get the engineer so had to set it all up but got there in the end and they paid the bill for re-mixing.

But thinking back the Upstarts were fine lads I got on with them. I went to see them at the Guildhall in Newcastle and out comes the pigs head with a helmet on which they start kicking around the stage! I could see what they were doing. People like a bit of edge to things I see it now when you watch TV. A band wouldn’t be able to do that now – probably get them locked up.

There was a lot of musicians who really worked at it and built themselves up, there was even my milkman. Well, it was his son Gordon who used to work weekends to collect the money with his brother Phil. Thing was I used to frequent the Peoples’ Theatre in Newcastle’s Haymarket, this was around 1970, ‘71. My friend Andy Hudson talked about a Newcastle Big Band, around 20 of them – there was sax, drummer, trombone all sorts and of course the bass player was Gordon Sumner or Sting as he became.

They played all this American big band stuff there were some professional players in there like Ronnie Pearson the drummer. But sometimes they weren’t taken seriously as there were members who had day jobs or on the dole – it was a real mixed bag. Andy used to lead it and it was really good, the place would get packed out, a good atmosphere.

I used to go on a Sunday and had the idea to record them at Newcastle Playhouse. I took up a portable kit, a Revox quarter inch tape recorder and made a record which we put out, just a few hundred copies pressed. We sold them at the gigs, ironically the bands do things like that now to make money which is the only way for most bands.

Andy had good contacts and one of them was the airline to Holland. He fixed up a gig for the band to play for the Mayor of Amsterdam, it was some kind of twinning town or similar. We all got on the plane with the instruments for a 7.30am flight to Amsterdam it was only a short flight. When we got to the town hall we set up and had a bit practice. The Mayor turned up and we met him and he gave us a few drinks….within an hour we had a good skinful and were bladdered.

The flight back after the show was much later in the day so Andy suggested a walk around town. Not everyone went just the hardcore were left walking around. We eventually ended up in the red light district with its little bars and clubs. There was a few of us so we negotiated a cheaper admission into a live show.

Some lads still had their instruments with them as we sat down to watch the show. A couple got on stage and started doing their act and got well ‘at it’. One of our lads got his trombone out and waited for a certain movement by the act then played a short burst – it didn’t go down well. The lass on stage gave them ‘what fettle’. ‘We are professionals, this is our job’! The lads were thrown out by the manager. You’d have to ask Sting if he was there.

Andy then arranged a visit down to Pau in France near northern Spain. I went with my recording equipment and we took the gear in a transit van down through France. Part of the road was Le Mons race track it was so smooth you couldn’t hear the tyres. In all it took about two days.

We had a member of the band with us in the van and he had an accident in his underwear, so he chucked them into the back of the van. When you went abroad you used to have a carnet which was a document listing everything in the van to make sure you brought everything back. Everything was listed down to the name of the instrument, serial number, colour, value – you had to sit down and type out pages of it. Then apply for it, then get it stamped before you go anywhere.

We get to the border and the customs officer checked the carnet. ‘So, you are a band, open the doors and just step out the van’. We open the back doors the smell hits them. Holding their noses they quickly say ‘Hurry up, close them and be on your way’! Touring at its best.

We then went to Pau municipal casino. It was like a big echo chamber in there, I remember they played ‘Hey Jude’ with everyone singing along to the chorus. That was a good recording, we spliced it with a version from a Newcastle recording, it came out great.

We sorted out digs at the university because hotels would have been expensive for all the band and crew. As we tucked in to our first meal it was ‘What’s this? – it’s a bit tough’. It was cheval – we all had horse steak for the first time.

We crossed the border and travelled to San Sebastian, there was a jazz festival with big names on, Last Exit played in the town square, I don’t think the Big Band played there. I remember Sting played bass in Last Exit and other members of the Big Band were also in Last Exit.  

When it was all over, we headed to Bilboa and jumped on the ferry. The crew found out about the band travelling over to England so invited them down to the Pig and Whistle bar in the bowels of the ship.

It was a great atmosphere with jam sessions going on, laughter, food and a few drinks – well more than a few drinks. At the end of the session as we were coming into Portsmouth, I went to the bar to pay but the steward said ‘no, nothing’. I insisted ‘Come on the boss told me to sort it out you’ve been really good, we’ve enjoyed ourselves, how much do we owe?’ ‘Ok’ he replied ‘One pound’. Wasn’t that a great gesture.

You know it was 2011 when the Borough Theatre in Wallsend where Impulse studio and Neat records were based was eventually demolished, it had been lying empty for years. Looking back, it was a great time but to be honest I just wanted to hoy the keys away. I worked there from 1966 to 2001. The years since then have passed very quickly.

After I sold Neat records I ran a Theatre group which went well until Covid destroyed the numbers involved so we are building it back up again. I kept a lot of the group together through ZOOM. I was also on the local club committee at Cullercoats on the North East coast here.

Now I’m writing short comedy scripts for a podcast. I’m trying to get them on local radio. Problem I have is some of its adult humour you might laugh your socks off but not sure you’ll hear it on the radio.

What else do I do? I’m also on a committee for wine tasting because I like my wine. That’s been going for 40 years. We also like our holidays, we have a few planned this year. We look after our Grandchildren and dogs and take them out to the country each weekend, yes you just get on with things don’t ya. I’ve also been involved with a few compilation CDs with the Cherry Red label, I’ll let you know all about that when we catch up next time.

Alikivi   February 2025.

SPRING ROCK AT NEWCASTLE TRILLIANS

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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

ALIKIVI IN NUMBERS

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Big thanks to all the readers of the site with just over 4,000 for January and a total of 418,000 since the first post in February 2017. There was an extra push on social media for ‘The Butchers of Bolingbroke’ (Angelic Upstarts) and the punk band proved as popular now after first posting the interview in 2017.

January readers in UK & USA have contributed most views to the site, however there’s been a spike in numbers from Australia and Sweden after another social media push on ‘Ticket to Ride’ from promoter Julie Clay in 2021 and ‘Light ‘Em Up’ from stagehand & lighting technician Par Can in 2023.

Finishing with a big number crunch from the backroom statistics uncover the largest number of referrers to the site are from Google search then Facebook, with smaller numbers from Twitter, Bing and Yahoo.

Drilling down into the count for daily views reveal a rise from the first year (2017) of 46 to 219 in 2020 and 212 the next year, with a slight drop to 147 in 2024. Average views per day in the first month of this year are at 130.

Well, it’s just about the end of the eighth year of the site, loved every minute of working on it and meeting everyone I’ve interviewed over the years. I look forward to seeing who or what will turn up in 2025. If you’ve got a story to add, just get in touch.

Alikivi   January 2025

ALIKIVI BY NUMBERS

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WordPress, who run this publishing site have a statistics page where all the viewing numbers, countries, dates and comments are gathered and crunched. A new addition to the stats is the percentages from what device the site is being read from – currently it’s mobile 63%, desktop 32% and tablet 5%. We are entering nerdsville territory so some people’s eyes will glaze over but stick with it, the stats can bring up some interesting surprises.

I remember back in 2017 posting an interview with former Angelic Upstarts guitarist Mond Cowie and noticing views from the Bahamas – who’da thought punk would invade the tropical paradise!

The site kicked off in February 2017 with first year views of 15,478 quickly rising to 79,850 in 2020 with most people staying at home during the Covid pandemic. It was March of that year that hit the highest monthly views with 9,700.

2021 reached 77,259 with a high of 8,400 in February that year with a small dip back to a total of 51,482 in 2022. This year has experienced a sharp upturn in numbers, so after eight years you can say ‘it’s daein’ canny’. For non Geordies and Mackems that means ‘it’s doing fine thank you very much’.

2024 has hit over 53,000 views with nearly 3,000 this month. December readers from the UK and USA are high with an unexpected spike in numbers from Belgium. So, yep its daein’ canny. All the best for 2025!

Alikivi   December 2024.

HAVE YOU HEARD THIS ONE? #8

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How’s it gaan? After sharing stories first posted here in 2018 about the New Wave of British Heavy Metal there’s been a welcome spike in views from Poland, Slovakia and the Netherlands.

NWOBHM has always been popular since the first posts in 2017 which featured Fist, Raven, Mythra, Satan, Hollow Ground and Tygers of Pan Tang, plus stories from Impulse Studio big wig David Woods and producer Steve Thompson who brought the hammer down on seminal recordings on the Neat label. Also posted are stories from Durham’s Guardian Studio, although producer Terry Gavaghan has remained elusive. So far.

While new interviews are being lined up to take the site to the end of 2024, November has featured a compilation of stories from this year – and here’s another batch.

First up is a regular to the site, songwriter & vocalist Emma ‘Velvet Tones of Teesside’ Wilson. Emma first appeared back in 2019 talking about her influences in music…

‘Aretha Now’ and ‘Aretha Sings the Blues’ were both records that shaped my development as a singer. I used to sit for hours listening to the songs on vinyl’.

Emma kick started 2024 being pictured on the cover of Blues Matters magazine featuring her new album ‘Memphis Calling’ recorded in Sam Phillips studio, USA.

‘The studio breathes, it has an immense presence. The live room is awesome, beautifully designed. I let my emotions out on the recording’.

Full story >>> EMMA SINGS THE BLUES – with Emma ‘Velvet Tones of Teesside’ Wilson | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

100 year old actress and entertainer Helen Russell sadly passed away this year. She will be missed. In May, Helen featured on the site looking back at the start of her career.

‘We didn’t have a phone in the house so I’d take calls on the local public telephone box outside 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.’

Full interview >>> TON UP for North East actress and entertainer Helen Russell  | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Another regular to the site is songwriter and former Neat records producer Steve Thompson, he got in touch in May.

‘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. It was my publisher on the phone 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, 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’.

Full interview >>> I WILL GO BACK– with songwriter & former Neat records producer Steve Thompson | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

In February former entertainer Peter Embleton recalled his time in clubland.

‘I had a marvellous time working the North East, the greatest training ground for anyone, my job was 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’.

‘I look at some of the talent now and feel sorry that they never experienced the Saturday night atmosphere of say the King Street club in 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’.

Full interview >>> GOLDEN AGE OF CLUBLAND with entertainer, Peter Embleton. | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Got a story to add to the site? Just get in touch >>>

Contact | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Full list of hundreds of interviews >>>

About | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Alikivi   November 2024

HAVE YOU HEARD THIS ONE? #7

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How’s the stats so far this year? Numbers from the UK and USA with regular hits from the European block of Spain, Italy and Germany plus a sudden spike from Ireland.

So, it’s big thanks to readers taking the total views over 410,000 since knocking out the first post in February 2017 which was an interview with one of the original New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands Mythra.

This post features another batch of North East stories from this year with links to the full interviews at the end. First up are Hartlepool based VaingloriousUK who got in touch in July.

‘We began seeking out, tidying up and uploading historic – and sometimes hysterical – video footage of music associated with the North East. The VainGloriousUK channel currently has up to 170 videos uploaded’.

‘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’.

‘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 66!’

Full interview >  NORTH EAST MUSIC & VIDEO with Hartlepool based VainGloriousUK | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

North Tyneside Actor & Theatre Producer Alison Stanley got in touch and talked about her latest project ‘Tits Up’.

‘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’.

‘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?’

‘I went along to Live Well with Cancer in North Shields where the ladies were kind enough to share their stories with me.’

Full interview >  TITS UP – New play from Alison Stanley | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

In June we had a severe Heed Case – musicians Newts Newton (ex Angelic Upstarts guitarist) and Si Cadelik (Northumbrian Psych rock bassist) filled yer in about their new album.

‘The new 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’.

‘Rather than tackle the causes of problems, the trend is to scapegoat. This should be a worry and concern for everyone, not just two people in a band. One day, that scapegoat might be you!’

‘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’.

Full interview > HEED CASE release debut album ‘All the Rage’ | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

In July playwright Tom Kelly talked about writing a number of musicals 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’.

Full interview > WALKING MY STREETS – New Poetry and Prose collection from Jarrow born Tom Kelly. | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Got a story to add to the site? Just get in touch .

Contact | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Full list of hundreds of interviews >

About | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Alikivi   November 2024 

TOO FAR NORTH in conversation with Boldon author Ian Fawdon

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‘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

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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 (4th), Germany (5th) and Netherlands (6th) and November – Barnsley, UK (7th) then crossing the border on Friday 8th 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 9th 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 (10th) and finally Marseille, France at the South Troopers Festival (16th).

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

I WILL GO BACK– with songwriter & former Neat records producer Steve Thompson

/ Alikivi

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. 

Link > ‘I Will Go Back’  https://vimeo.com/643038136 


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 show via 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 >  

https://www.bit.ly/room2024

Link > ‘Distant Destination’ album 

https://bit.ly/2023Destination

Link > Cherry Red albums with Andy Taylor’s tunes:

https://bit.ly/nortoniron

https://bit.ly/nortoniron2

Alikivi   May 2024

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

/ 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 26th 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