OLD PUNKS ARE STILL PUNKS

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an evening with THE SADISTIC SLOBS

In an interview Angelic Upstarts singer/songwriter/leader/chief, Mensi Mensforth (RIP) told me that ‘To be in a band you don’t have to be a prolific musician or go to art school you can just bang a dustbin lid and you’re away mate’.

Sadistic Slobs 2022.

Over 40 years ago in a working class pit village in County Durham a gang of brothers crashed into each other and were named The Sadistic Slobs.

To sift through the damage I met up with Paddy (vocals) and Gran (bass) in The Littlehaven Hotel, South Shields.

Gran: Me and Paddy first met after I was locked up at Roker Park, Sunderland football ground. What happened was a lad standing next to me had a butchers knife and was banging it on the gates, he saw police coming so passed it to me.

Well I got marched around the pitch and put in a cell, and who else did I find there ? it was only Paddy’s brother. I told him my story wanting to be in a band and you know what he said ? ‘Don’t let our young ‘un sing…..he can’t’.

But he’s still here now and doing a great job.

Where did it all begin ?

Paddy: In the ‘70s we were living in Fencehouses near Sunderland and nothing much was happening. I was into glam rock first then suddenly got hit by punk.

Gran: Never Mind the Bollocks changed everything, it opened my eyes, that Pistols album cannot be beaten, then I started listening to The Clash who I still play to this day.

Paddy: Suddenly around the village it was like an institution to be in a band, everybody was wanting to start or be in a group. Bands like The Carpettes were around, The Proles had just put out a single and we all thought ‘we want to do that’. I remember buying the 7” in a record shop in Houghton le spring.

Then starting a band there was lots of comings and goings of different line ups, someone once turned up with only a cymbal and a snare drum.

Gran: We started rehearsing one song and said ‘right that’s in the set’. All the songs were like that, done very fast.

Paddy: I remember our drummer used to bring his kit in a wheelbarrow.

Gran: Yeah we had a roadie as well, and his younger brother came along and made it two roadies!

Paddy: But eventually we got a settled line up in 1982.

Gran: Unlike other punk bands we weren’t political, we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Paddy: We did play some Rock Against Racism gigs and done stuff for Animal Charity’s. Funny enough these days we are a lot more popular than we were back then, we have a decent following and the new album is out.

Gran: Five year ago we got back together and added more catchy songs to our set and we’ve recorded an album.

‘Simple Songs for Like Minded Idiots’ features Paddy (vocals) Rek (guitar) Rat (drums) Gran (bass).

Where did you gig in the early days ?

Paddy: Places like Peterlee football club, Fowlers Yard in Durham, Chester le Street and Ferryhill supporting GBH. We played in the Robin Adair pub, it was notorious as one of the roughest pubs in Newcastle and eventually got burned down. It was a sort of workingmen’s club.

Gran: On the night of the gig we went in with our mohicans and the poster on the wall advertised us as a comedy show group!

Paddy: There were only a few people there, I’m sure one of them had a dog.

Gran: Aye when we finished the committee guy popped his head around the door and said ‘you can rehearse here again next week’.

We played the famous Old 29 pub in Sunderland and a band called Animated Coathangers supported us. When we were on stage our friends were jumping about, the floor was bouncing and going to collapse.

The manager ran out threatening them with a baseball bat shouting ‘will ya’ stop pogoing’ (laughs).

Paddy: It was like walking on a sheet of glass with all the broken bottles on the floor.

Gran: Rock bands played there on a Saturday afternoon, I remember before a Sunderland match we went in and two lads were pissing on the fire – imagine the stench! But yeah saw the Toy Dolls in there and The Proles of course who are still very good friends of ours. Aye really good days.

What other bands were around at the time?

Gran: There was and still is Uproar who we played with recently.

Paddy: Red Alert, Red London and we played in a band in the early days with Steve Straughan who’s in the UK Subs now. All good lads you know.

In the North East during the early ‘80s as the shipyards and pits were being closing down and the Miners strike was boiling over did you get involved in any fund raising for the miners families ?

Gran: No but we were pinching coal from the coke works ! We didn’t play any Miners Benefit gigs or charities to be honest we were just happy being in a band. You see its all about enjoying it for us, being with mates, not taking it too seriously and definitely no egos.

Paddy: We were never a protest band and we’re keeping it light hearted even now. A lot of songs are tongue in cheek. We’re nearly 60 year old we can’t be jumping all over the place you know.

Gran: In our songs we can take the piss out of each other, it’s all about having a laugh for us.

Paddy: I joined when I was 16 and probably took myself serious then but times change, life happens.

Gran: With our roadies and followers we all get on so well it’s like a family.

Paddy: Yeah it’s called The Slob Squad and not one of us are a full shilling!

Gran: Sometimes it’s like a day out for everyone like ‘last of the summer wine’.

We played Rebellion Festival in August and went on stage 12.30pm, there was a couple of hundred people in the audience but more outside couldn’t get in, not sure why they were stuck outside might have been a problem with security on the main doors. But we just got on and done our thing on stage.

Paddy: We enjoyed it and had a great time, would love to go back and play again.

New album available on CD & record.

Where did you record the new album ?

Gran: My mate Wayne Marshall in Pelton Fell has his own digital set up at home that’s why it’s called Bedrock Studios. He was guitarist in a band I was in years ago called The Scream. It’s come out great he’s a talented lad.

Gran: We went ahead and got 500 copies printed of the album and that’s starting to sell and we are looking to record a second one. We’re not in it to make money, not that bands do anyway but to keep ticking over we’ve got a lot of merch on sale, even face masks!

Paddy: The quality is fantastic, ten songs, it’s heavy vinyl with a gatefold sleeve they’ve done a great job for us.

Gran: And on the back of the cover we’ve included a big thanks to people who’ve helped and supported us along the way.

Paddy: Yeah they’ve been with us for nearly 40 year. We done our first recording in Impulse Studio in Wallsend in 1983, I think the guy from Venom was working there then (bass & vocalist Cronos was tea maker/gofer).

What does punk mean to you ?

Both at the same time: Attitude.

Paddy: Now it’s as big as it ever was, we are getting more people at gigs than we used to. They have all grown up and their kids have grown up so they’ve time to go to gigs.

Gran: I’ve always said we are at a funny age – there’s a song in there somewhere! When we’re on stage once we stop seeing people laughing and enjoying themselves we’ll call it a day.

Paddy: In ’85 I was in The Scream we supported UK Subs at the Bunker in Sunderland there was maybe 15 people in the audience, now it’s growing because at a UK Subs gig there is easy 500 – 1,000. Always said that old punks are still punks.

Contact The Sadistic Slobs on social media for info/gigs and email gransarc@gmail.com for details how to buy the album.

Alikivi   September 2022

IT’S GRIM UP NORTH

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Newcastle’s Lit & Phil Celebrate Anniversary of Hadrian’s Wall

Lit & Phil, Newcastle, built 1825.

Just two mins from Central Station, Newcastle’s prestigious Lit & Phil historical library are hosting an evening of comedy fun as part of their celebrations to mark the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian’s Wall upon which the library stands.

A radio sitcom pilot written by Ed Waugh (Sunday for Sammy, Christmas in the Cathedral) and Trevor Wood, which was first broadcast on BBC Cumbria in 2011, will have a script-in-hand read through in October.

Kay Easson, Lit & Phil Librarian, is responsible for bringing the laughter to the library on Westgate Road.

“Ed and Trevor have contributed to our cultural heritage with their impressive canon of professionally produced plays that include international comedy hits Dirty Dusting and Waiting for Gateaux, as well as more serious national successes Maggie’s End and The Revengers.”

Kay added “Hadrian’s Wall is an incredible part of North East history and culture so it was a no brainer staging a read-through of their excellent, irreverent but funny radio play about Hadrian cutting the tape to officially open the wall -it’s really daft!”

Jamie Brown, who recently completed a hugely successful tour as Harry Clasper in the one-man show Hadaway Harry – written by Ed – will direct the 40-minute piece that is set in AD 126 as the wall is being constructed.

“Ed and Trev have always had a distinctive voice and perspective on things and it’s wonderful they are collaborating again on this project. Their observations and humour strike a chord with audiences young and old, so I can’t wait to get It’s Grim Up North on its feet”.

“Having read the script and started to assemble an hilarious cast – audiences are in for a proper belly laugh or two”.

Tickets for It’s Grim Up North, which starts 7pm on Friday, October 28, 2022 cost £6/£8.

Visit  https://www.litandphil.org.uk/events/it-s-grim-up-north-a-script-in-hand-performance-of-a-classic-north-east-sitcom or telephone the Lit & Phil on (0191) 232 0192.

Alikivi   September 2022

GROWING UP BIPOLAR with Scottish writer & musician Mark Fleming

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Mark Fleming is based in Edinburgh, his work has appeared in a number of published books and magazines including the Big Issue.

He’s run workshops across Scotland and given talks on creative writing and mental health in schools and prisons.

After spending time in a Psychiatric Care Unit, Mark rediscovered his love for creative writing and music.

As well as documenting my experiences of mental illness in my 20s, my story focuses on the cathartic power of music – said Mark.

I write regular blogs about the revitalising impact of nature and music, the blog promotes positivity through writing about mental health, wellbeing and popular culture.

What is your experience of being in bands?

My first band The Seduced, were formed in 1979 at the tail end of the first wave of punk.

We mustered about three songs, including a passable version of X-Ray-Spex’s ‘Art-I-Ficial’ – chosen because we had a female singer called Pauline, just like Penetration. We never played live but did get as far as spray painting our name on our local launderette!

I joined my first ‘serious’ band a year later – 4 Minute Warning, named after a lyric by our biggest inspiration, Killing Joke, and outlining our anti-nuclear/pro-CND political stance.

4 Minute Warning

At the turn of the decade a far more interesting post-punk scene began emerging.

Many bands were breaking free of the three-chord, shout-along template – The Slits, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Wire, PiL, Punishment of Luxury, Gang of Four, Joy Division/New Order, Scars, A Certain Ratio, The Fall, et al – and using punk as a springboard into a whole new sonic universe.

As our music became more funk than punk we evolved into Desperation AM – named after a Gang of Four lyric. By the mid ‘80s my next band was Little Big Dig, melding post-punk, pop and Can, making it as far as a session on BBC Radio 1.

We never gigged beyond Edinburgh – and once in Glasgow, but did get a residency during the ‘85 Edinburgh Festival, in an ‘open until the wee small hours’ bar, La Sorbonne.

Gig poster for 4 Minute Warning

Mental health issues, recovery, marriage, and starting a family brought a lengthy hiatus until around 2002 when I reunited with mates from an old Edinburgh punk band, The Axidents.

We covered everyone from The Ruts to Magazine then started writing our own stuff, supporting UK Subs, 999, Eddie and the Hot Rods and Tenpole Tudor.

Desperation AM reformed and were joined by Paul Research (ex-Scars) on violin, leading to another post-punk band, Noniconic. Then Covid struck.

I’m currently mucking about with more ambient soundtracks under the moniker Giant Household Names – overheard in an interview with Wire.

Where did you grow up and what type of kid where you – playing football/in a gang/a member of a youth club ?

I grew up in Shandon on Edinburgh’s west side – traditionally the Hearts side of the capital although my dad was from Monaghan in Ireland, so I chose Hibernian. But I was always more into music than football.

In the late ‘70s uptown Edinburgh was a no-go zone, we were too young for pubs, and spiky hair/badges/ripped jeans were a red rag for ‘punk bashing’ by the far more prevalent ‘trendies’ who preferred disco music.

We’d stick to hanging around youth clubs where you could take your own records to pogo to. Youth was much more tribal back then, so if you were into punk, it was like being in a gang.

But nothing like the Edinburgh street gangs, with names like Young Leith Team and Gorgie Jungle, where the emphasis was on violent ‘turf wars’ – it was always about the music for us.

North East band Punishment of Luxury.

By the ‘80s the stubborn punks who refused to embrace post-punk did become much more aggressive. Sporting cockatoo hairstyles and studded biker jacket uniforms, the bands they were now listening to, typified by local exponents The Exploited, resembled heavy metal being played at 78 rpm.

By that time we were into Punishment of Luxury, the North East’s finest sons since Penetration, Angelic Upstarts and The Carpettes!

Check out the interviews with these bands on the Alikivi blog.

What does music mean to you?

Music means everything to me. In my 20s, I struggled with bipolar disorder, and was sectioned in 1987 spending time in intensive psychiatric care.

My wee sister Anne, bringing in cassettes of my John Peel recordings during visiting hours, was a pivotal moment in my recovery. I’ve only recently come off long-term medication (lithium) and music remains crucial to my wellbeing.

BBC Radio 6 presenters.

I’m an avid listener of BBC Radio 6 whose DJ’s include many long-standing musical heroes of mine – Iggy Pop, Marc Riley and Tom Robinson, along with a host of enthusiastic presenters like Craig Charles, Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Steve Lamacq, Mary Ann Hobbs, Stuart Maconie and others.

Although post-punk remains a major influence and I still love playing my now increasingly scratchy/jumpy 45s from 45 years ago, I prefer constructing playlists based on brand new songs introduced across the board on Radio 6.

Listening to these on headphones while strolling along the Firth of Forth on my doorstep, is wonderfully therapeutic.

Book cover for ‘1976 – Growing Up Bipolar‘.

What have you got planned for the Autumn ?

I’ve just completed a memoir that takes in my bipolar experiences of low manic depression to the high of mania and psych wards set against the backdrop of electrifying post-punk scene of the ‘80s that coaxed me back towards stable mental health.  

‘1976 – Growing Up Bipolar’ is based on a novel I wrote a while back called BrainBomb. The title is a homage to the massively underrated and still out there being creative and inspirational – Punishment of Luxury.

I’m being interviewed about my book at the Portobello Book Festival on October 1st. Gig-wise, I’ve got tickets booked for Public Service Broadcasting and Pale Blue Eyes at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall in September.

I’m also making the trip down to Middlesborough to catch Punishment of Luxury in December. I never saw Punilux first time round so immensely looking forward to that.

Paperback copies of ‘1976 – Growing Up Bipolar’ are available to buy from Waterstones and most retailers. The ebook can be downloaded from Kobo, Nook, Scribd and Hoopla.

For further info check the site:

MARK FLEMING – CREATIVE WRITING & MENTAL HEALTH // MUSIC & PHOTOS. – Home (markjfleming.net)

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

Alikivi   September 2022

PHOTO ARCHIVE: CHANGING FACE of SOUTH TYNESIDE 2010-20

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Search the Alikivi photo archive on South Tyneside History website for nearly 2,000 images including Haven Point, Mill Dam, The Word, Seafront, Holborn, Market, North Marine Park & more of the changing face of South Tyneside 2010-20.

pic. taken August 2015 of The Word library being built in the market, South Shields.

ALIKIVI COLLECTION – South Tyneside Libraries (southtynesidehistory.co.uk)

Alikivi 2022.

DEATH MARCH of the BLUE BONNETS – in conversation with author John Orton

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Former Tynesider John Orton is author of three previous books which have featured on this blog, The Five Stone Steps, Blitz Pams, and A Chill Wind off the Tyne which are all set in the 1900s to the 1940s, but his new book goes back further.

“Shields has a rich history, I always had an inkling that I might find some tales worth telling from way back in the mists of time. It was by chance that I read a newspaper article about the Dunbar death march”. (Dunbar is on the North East UK coast 30 mile east of Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh).

In 1650 Oliver Cromwell defeated the Scots at the battle of Dunbar but was left holding thousands of prisoners. His own troops had almost run out of supplies so he forced the Scots on a march from Dunbar to Durham with no food or water, hundreds died and some were interned in Durham Cathedral.

What caught my eye though was the 1500 that survived, most were shipped to the New World, but 40 were sent to South Shields to work in salt pans.

The new book tells of the fortunes of five highlanders taken on by two of Shields salt-pann owners who lived along the banks of the river Tyne.

Can you tell me about the plot and what happens to the five Scots lads in Shields ?

It’s a bit difficult to do without giving out any spoilers, but one of my old friends from South Shields Grammar Technical School in the 1960s Bob Colls, who went on to become a Professor of Cultural History at De Montfort University and authored a book about George Orwell, has given an excellent summary of the new book:

‘It’s a rattling yarn that takes on the life and times of poor Tyneside fishers, fish wives, keel-men and panners.

If you like a salty tale – love in the sand dunes, sweat in the salt houses, riding-the-stang and dodging the press gang, you’ll enjoy this book. If you are interested in how the poor lived in 1650 – by their wits, mainly – you’ll learn something too.’

Was salt making important to the town and what sort of life did salt workers lead?

Making salt by boiling sea water was practised in both North and South Shields form the 1300s. It probably started to help fishers to preserve their fish, by the 1600s it was a major industry.

The sea water that flowed into the Tyne at high tide passed through pipes into wells, then it was pumped into iron panns that were 20 ft long, 14 ft wide and up to 14 inches deep. Coal would be carried from keels (boats) into the salt-house where panns were heated over a furnace.  

In all it was a dangerous and hard job as workers would stoke fires, pump waters, and carry newly formed salt into the sheds where the salt dried out to be weighed and measured by excise men.

A Shields pann would produce highest quality white salt that was in demand not just from local fishers, but for shipping to the rest of England. In the 1600s there were more than 150 panns producing the ‘white gold’ and pann owners made fortunes.

Keelmen Playing at Cards (reproduced by permission of Durham County Record Office, Mackenzie and Dent, Histories of Northumberland Durham and Newcastle (Newcastle vol 1 294a) – 183

‘Weel may the keel row’ is a song known to many older Tynesiders. Do the keelmen come into the story?

Wye aye they do! The City of Newcastle had a royal monopoly over trade on the Tyne, which was a dangerous river to navigate in the days of sail, so most ship’s master’s preferred to moor their vessels near to the river mouth, and transported their cargo to and from Newcastle by keels – keels were boats 42 ft long and 19 foot wide.

At the stern, the skipper steered the boat with a long oar called a swape, and two bullies (crewmen) and a boy propelled the keel with an even longer oar.

Coal was a major export, and the keels would carry coals to the colliers waiting at the mouth of the Tyne. The keelmen were mostly from Scotland and wore blue bonnets, the young lassies would fall for them – dimples and all.

In research did you come across any unusual stories ?

To be honest Gary it was all strange to me, but here are two. One-eyed seamen were a common sight in the ale-houses of Shields. To find the latitude of a ship, a device known as a Jacob’s Cross was used – a long stick with a cross piece was held to the eye with one end to the sun and one to the horizon – the markings on the stick gave the latitude.

Gazing for long periods at the sun lead to blindness.

Another I came across was the story of the Royal Navy who always laid in wait for ships returning from voyages to board the vessel and press gang the crew.

To beat this many ships would anchor a few mile away and make a swift swap and discharge their able-bodied crewmen and take on in their place boys aged under 10, plus one-legged or one-armed unfit old seamen, just enough to carry the ship to a mooring place.

When is the book released and where can people buy it?

It’s out now on Amazon as a paperback and kindle, and on sale at The Word library shop in South Shields.

Alikivi  July 2022

PHOTO ARCHIVE: CHANGING FACE of SOUTH TYNESIDE 2010-20

/ Alikivi

Search the Alikivi photo archive on South Tyneside History website for nearly 2,000 images including Haven Point, Mill Dam, The Word, Seafront, Holborn, Market, North Marine Park & more of the changing face of South Tyneside 2010-20.

ALIKIVI COLLECTION – South Tyneside Libraries (southtynesidehistory.co.uk)

pic. in 2012 the now demolished Wouldhave House, Market, South Shields, today the site of The Word library.

Alikivi 2022.

SUMMER MUSIC ON THE TYNE

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Mouth of the Tyne Festival, Tynemouth Priory 2022 pic. Paul Appleby

Well that wasn’t a bad place to do some filming. The past couple of years I’ve not been ‘on the tools’ doing as much camera work as I used to but this month was working on two video screen camera set up’s with the first at Mouth of the Tyne Festival at Tynemouth Priory where Keane headlined to a sell-out crowd (2019 pre covid was The Proclaimers and Rik Astley) plus at South Shields Bents Park on Sunday 10th July was Beth Macari supporting Will Young to an estimated 20,000+ crowd.

Will Young at Bent’s Park, South Shields pic. Lee Davison

Both were captured by stunning drone shots which pictured the scale of the events held next to the coastline and on the North and South of the Tyne, plus the huge audiences soaking up the music and sun on a blistering hot summer weekend.

Lee Davison was at Shields (with his pics making The Shields Gazette) and professional photographer Paul Appleby was at Tynemouth.

Keane at Tynemouth Priory pic. Paul Appleby

Check out Paul’s work at:

https://www.facebook.com/PaulApplebyPhotography

Alikivi   July 2022

BOYS IN THE BANDS with writer Chris Scott Wilson

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Chris Scott Wilson

Yorkshire born Chris has authored eleven books, collaborated on two others, contributed to newspapers and magazines and written promotional material for local and international musicians.

Two of his books highlighted here are Boys in the Bands: Teesside’s Groups 1960-70 and Backstage Pass: Redcar Jazz Club.

“I felt those 1960s needed to be documented, the musical history needs preserving because once it’s gone, it’ll be lost forever” said Chris.

Saltburn born International rock star David Coverdale (Deep Purple/Whitesnake) added…

“Christopher Wilson has written and collated a genuinely touching and refreshing stroll down Memory Lane with this fabulous book.

It opens so many joy filled memories of evenings spent in the breath taking company of the original Fleetwood Mac, The Who, Joe Cocker… many of whom I had the extraordinary pleasure of opening for when I was in local bands. A must have and a must read”.  

What inspired you to research and put the books together ?

After writing five westerns, five local history books and a couple of historical fiction books, I wrote a piece about the band Cream in response to a request from an Australian website called Those Were The Days.

Also, two photographers who had covered Redcar Jazz Club were interested, one of them, Dennis Weller, read my piece on Cream and contacted me and proposed working together.

My initial interest in the Redcar Jazz club was ignited one night in 1966 when I sneaked in to watch a band I’d never heard of, they were billed as The Cream. That night changed my life.

I’d seen many acts at the Jazz Club so I set out to create a book I wanted to read, incorporating the club’s story, a full timeline of dates, what the headliners and support acts got paid, photographs, vignettes of the artists and ticket buyers – as many quotes as I could get.

For the designer I had a few ideas about layout and mocked up a few pages to help explain what sort of format we wanted. It was very primitive, I was flying by the seat of my pants. Eventually it was pasted up for the printer and became Backstage Pass : Redcar Jazz Club.

After publication, a big surprise was an unsolicited email out of the blue from Ed Bicknell who managed Dire Straits, Gerry Rafferty, Bryan Ferry and Scott Walker among others, and his email was headed FOREWORD (for the next edition). That in itself was proof he liked the book enough to have his name on it.

In Boys in the Band I look at the 1960’s where many pubs and workingmen’s clubs provided venues for bands who played most nights, a day off was a luxury.

Most musicians were content in earning an extra few quid on their day job and having a laugh – others were more ambitious wanting to take it further. But they all started on Teesside honing their musical chops.

Chris drew on his experience as a drummer in the 1960s playing for local bands…

Yes I started playing drums in a band at school then switched to guitar, but after seeing Hendrix live at the Kirklevington Country Club and Cream twice I went back to playing drums and The Wheel played all over Teesside and North Yorkshire and as far south as Birmingham, we also played Annabel’s in Sunderland, the Quay Club in Newcastle and up to Ashington.

Late 60s early 70s I was in Candy Factory a professional club band who played workingmen’s clubs, including the infamous Downhill Social in Sunderland. Also the Bailey nightclub circuit including Change Is and La Dolce Vita in Newcastle, Latinos in South Shields and Wetherells in Sunderland when John Miles and Toby Twirl were on the circuit.

We were offered work in South Africa and France but it didn’t feel right.

With a couple of line-up changes Candy Factory morphed into Pretty Like Me with a less friendly club repertoire and we were working from the Mayfair in Newcastle down to London, and picking up university gigs. But the mid-week gig staples were always those kids’ nights in the County Durham clubs when you could play heavy stuff.

The mantra there was always, “Can you play The ‘unter or Born To be Wild?” Didn’t matter what else we played, we always played those.

Did you record any of your songs ?

We did cut a couple of demos of self-penned material. First was in a studio in a basement in Newcastle and another in Redcar, but we weren’t satisfied with them. They never seemed to capture what we thought we had.

No cassettes then or CDs to bombard A&R guys with, we got a few expensive acetates which all seem to have disappeared now.

When the band later imploded I had to get a ‘proper job’ and working shifts in heavy industry, albeit mostly in laboratories, not conducive to a musical lifestyle. With not playing I needed a creative output and started writing, short stories at first, then books.

Where you surprised about the feedback for Backstage Pass and Boys in the Bands ?

I worried how many people were interested enough to buy a copy of Backstage Pass. In fact I was astonished at how well received it was. There is something to be said for timing, maybe we hit the right moment – after seven years it’s still selling.

It was launched at Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum and the photographers – Dennis Weller, Graham Lowe and I did signing sessions at bookshops.

That book had been built around the photographs, which were extraordinary, but there were no images of the support bands except one, who had been personal friends of Graham. I insisted on including a few pages explaining who the support acts were and including them on the gig timeline.

After Backstage Pass was published, several local musicians hinted there had never been anything produced specifically about them, and although many of them had settled for a steady working lifestyle, their playing years, often only a handful, had been a big part of their lives – a big adventure.

I felt exactly like them. I had told stories of how it was – both the good and the bad, and the more I thought about it, more memories came back.

I wanted to kick-start their memories too. Since Boys In The Bands has been released…well the comments from local musicians on my website reveal what they thought of it.

What are you working on now ?

I’m putting together a book about the Redcar Coatham Bowl which was open 1973 – 2014. Information and gig records are patchy, especially support bands, I think it’s important to include local musicians who worked just as hard as the headliners, and for a lot less.

At present I’m trying to confirm dates – and as a support bands’ name get mentioned I’m trying to contact them to confirm they played, and if they played other dates in the Bowl as yet unrecorded.

This becomes especially difficult when bands are long disbanded and don’t maintain social media pages or websites.

If you have any information that will help Chris in his research or would like to buy his books contact him at his official website: http://www.chrisscottwilson.co.uk

Alikivi    June 2022

SUNDERLAND MUSIC with Ray Dobson & Trevor Thorne

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Ray Dobson & Trevor Thorne with their book ‘Music in Sunderland’. (Alikivi collection May 2022)

“Don Airey was in my year at Bede Grammar school and each year there was a concert with the highlight being a band playing pop songs. I remember being impressed with Don playing the school organ on ‘House of the Rising Sun’.

Little did we know he would go on to play with Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake, and Black Sabbath while also playing on over 300 albums” said Trevor.

An excerpt taken from a book produced in Sunderland by retired teacher Ray Dobson and semi-retired accountant Trevor Thorne. Ray also brought his background as a local music photographer while Trevor has written several local history books.

They hit on a method of working with one taking the lead on a subject and the other chipping in with their own knowledge of different genres from skiffle to rock to punk and bringing it up to date with Sunderland bands Field Music, The Futureheads and The Lake Poets.

Geoff Docherty with his book ‘A Promoters Tale’.

The book also highlights the work of Geoff Docherty…

“Geoff’s forthright and honest manner endeared him to his audiences and the performers. He is today, remembered for his huge contribution to the musical culture of the North East”.

Ray added “Geoff is primarily known as the most successful rock music promoter in the North East. He was determined to bring quality live music to the area and his first venue was the Bay Hotel in Sunderland where he began by booking Family for the huge fee of £150”.

”The gig was a success and was followed the next week by an unknown band called Free – Geoff remembers people arriving under the illusion that they wouldn’t have to pay an entry fee”.

The Who at the Locarno 1969.

The Bay continued to attract huge stars including Pink Floyd, Tyrannosaurus Rex and The Who. In 1969 Docherty moved to a larger venue and a who’s who of legendary rock bands such as Mott the Hoople, The Kinks and Bowie followed.

“Perhaps Geoff’s greatest achievement was to bring one of the world’s top bands to town. He used his powers of persuasion to talk the rather daunting Peter Grant (manager) around to allow Led Zeppelin to perform at the venue, but on the eve of the event he was told the band would not be coming”.

“This only served to increase his determination and after numerous attempts to impress on Grant that he owed him a gig, it was eventually agreed he could have Zeppelin – twice”.

“Geoff also had a secondary career in band management. The best known of which was Beckett which included Terry Slesser – who later formed Back Street Crawler along with Paul Kossoff. Kossoff even lived with Geoff, under his care, while recovering from addiction”.

“Beckett performed on the Old Grey Whistle Test and had an acclaimed, though not commercially successful album, to their name. Unfortunately, they parted ways on the eve of an American tour and the chance of stardom faded away”.

Trevor added “One of the most intriguing bands we came across was Juice. From posters and online information, they seemed to be everywhere.

The band supported Pink Floyd, Free, Blondie, Deep Purple, The Faces, Terry Reid, and Black Sabbath as well as many others. We eventually tracked down the drummer Kelly Davis, who had a fund of tales to tell”.

“It seems they were the go-to support band during the 1970s. Kelly was particularly complimentary about Ian Paice, the Deep Purple sticksman.

While they were waiting for their gig to start, Paice went through the drumming routine for ‘Black Night’ with Kelly, taking up an hour and a half of his time to pass on tips on that and other songs. In 2011 Juice got together again and still record songs”.

Kiss album ‘Rock & Roll Over’ released in 1976.

Ray recalls a story about American born songwriter & musician Sean Delaney who is often referred to as ‘The Fifth member of rock band Kiss’ and “had worked with the likes of John Lennon, Cher, Clive Davis and many others. He played a key part in designing the Kiss stage make-up, choreography and pyrotechnics”.

“Sean was raised in Utah but moved to New York where he became involved in the music scene. An accomplished musician in his own right, Sean met producer Bill Aucoin in Max’s Kansas City, it was here the two spotted a new band and, took them under their wing.

Under their guidance the band were to become one of the most famous rock bands in the world – Kiss”.

“Several successful years later, having personally produced and co-written songs for both the band and their solo recordings, Sean moved to Arizona.

There he was impressed by an English/American band named Smith and Jackson. When the English contingent returned to the UK, Sean resolved to follow them and manage the band”.

“Much to everyone’s amazement, he arrived in Sunderland a few weeks later where he lived with singer Paul Jackson and his family. He became a great friend to many locals and would often stay with my wife Sue and I.

Sean fell in love with the local pubs and became a popular figure on the local music scene, where his outrageous eccentricity endeared him to everyone”.

“While in town, Sean produced an excellent album for Smith and Jackson to which he contributed two of his songs. The album was released on RGF Records and was intended for the ears of Gene Simmons (Kiss)”.

“I remember on Christmas Day 2002, at about 4 am, my wife Sue woke me up to ask if I could hear singing downstairs. On closer listening, we realised that it was Sean, who was sleeping on the sofa.

Next morning after he left, we found an empty chocolate box with some lyrics scribbled on it. This was probably Sean’s last attempt at song-writing.”

“Sean flew back to the US with some demos of the album but, within a day or so he had a stroke. On 13th April we received a call from Sean’s nephew to say he had passed away. Paul Jackson went home and wrote a song called ‘Ballad of Sean Delaney”.

“Sean left an indelible mark on those lucky enough to be his friends during that last period of his life spent in Sunderland. His funeral took place in Utah and written on the bottom of the gravestone are the four names of Kiss members – Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter”.

More stories and features in ‘Music in Sunderland – Past, Present & Futureheads’  is out now (£9.99 plus £2.80 UK postage) and available at Waterstones (Sunderland), Clays Nursery (Washington), Sunderland Museum, also from Trevor direct at jandmthorne@btinternet.com

Alikivi   June 2022

VAN HALEN RISING with author & historian Greg Renoff

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Greg was brought up in New Jersey, USA

“I grew up loving history, and eventually got a PhD in the discipline. I spent about two decades in academia, and was a college professor for over a decade. All that time, my childhood love for rock music remained strong”. 

In 2020, Greg released the authorized autobiography of Grammy winning record producer Ted Templeman (Van Halen, Van Morrison, Doobie Brothers, Little Feat). His latest book is ‘Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal’.

Van Halen toured the UK in 1978 opening for Black Sabbath did you come across any stories from that tour?

“I write about the VH/Sabbath UK tour a lot in Van Halen Rising. One of the main reasons I wrote the book and looked at Van Halen’s ‘pre-fame’ years was I wanted to know – how did Van Halen become a band good enough to blow Black Sabbath off the stage?

Those questions couldn’t be answered by focusing on 1981 or 1982. It had to be focusing on earlier years”.

Van Halen debut album released 1978.

What inspired you to write Van Halen Rising?

“I grew up a big Van Halen fan, and by the time I became a historian, I was struck by how little info was available about their early beginnings. There hadn’t been a book that had looked at those years”.

“If I wanted to learn the details of how The Detours became the Who, I could read that story in any number of books, if I wanted to learn the details of how the New Yardbirds became Led Zeppelin, a group that stormed the globe and released some of the best albums in rock history, I could read that story in any number of books”.

“But if I wanted to learn about how Van Halen, a band that recorded one of the most successful debuts in rock history, wowed stadium crowds in 1978, and became giants, I couldn’t read that story anywhere”.

Where and when did you first hear Van Halen ?

“I was 14 in 1984 and for me once I heard ‘Jump’ that was it. Then I was able to see Van Halen on the ‘1984’ album tour – a guy in my homeroom class had scalped a ticket.

I paid 50 bucks for it in ’84, but was just so desperate to go. And that was it. I became a big fan”.

“So, I saw Van Halen on a Monday night, April 2, 1984. That night, the band was just so larger than life. I’d seen a couple of concerts but the stage was so much bigger, the lights were brighter, it was louder and it was so much more energetic and just a spectacle”.

“Roth jumping off the drum riser and the other thing I remember he stood on the edge of the stage and said “F— the rest of the concert. Let’s go to the bar across the street and get drunk”.

“He was just doing whatever he wanted and I thought it was amazing. And of course Eddie’s guitar playing. You left with your ears ringing and you were so overwhelmed by the whole sensation of the band”.

Researching for the book did you come across any funny or surprising stories ?

“So many, but one comes to mind. There was a huge backyard party in November 1974 in Pasadena. The kids who threw the party went to high school with the Van Halen brothers and they just loved the band”.

“Their parents went off to Mexico so they threw this massive party at their home that Van Halen played at. There were hundreds of kids in attendance. It ended up that the riot police from one of the sheriff’s departments broke up the party!”

‘Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal’ out now.

For more information contact Greg at the official website:

Van Halen Rising – How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal | Greg Renoff | ECW Press

Alikivi  June 2022