Newcastle band White Heat released three singles and recorded one album, signed for Virgin records in 1980, opened for Judas Priest and headlined London’s Marquee. People remark of a band that ‘shudda made it big’. They set alight to the Tyne but sadly not the Thames.
Previous interviews on this site with guitarist Alan and vocalist Bob Smeaton detail the journey of White Heat and The Loud Guitars who followed.
Bob went onto a successful career in TV & Film while Alan told me ‘The Attention Seekers were formed around 1999, our first album was released in 2002, we have released six albums and a seventh is in the final stages’.
For the past 10 years Alan has also toured as a session musician with American singer/songwriter Jesse Terry.
Alan and Jesse backstage Newcastle Cluny 2023.
‘However, to my surprise, at a number of gigs in the Netherlands audience members shouted out requests for White Heat songs. Nervous Breakdown and 21 and Wasted were hastily added to the set. Our songs had travelled far further than White Heat ever did.’
‘I look back on my time with White Heat and The Loud Guitars with great affection and have revisited and re-recorded a number of songs from those heady days. Promo videos are on You Tube for Chain Reaction, Is It Too Late?, A Long Way From Home, Do Me A Favour and Out Of Me.’
‘Recently I travelled even further back in time to the pre- White Heat days when we were playing under the name ‘Heartbreaker’. I always felt that the song Hard To Lose should have been recorded. My former band members were more than happy for me to reinvent this live favourite and Your Poster On My Wall is the result.
‘In 2017 I was approached by Newcastle Utd to develop a new version of anthemic song The Blaydon Races. My version The Fans – The Blaydon Races was accepted and I was informed they would be using it till the end of the season. It’s now 2026 and still being played at every home game. It’s now officially the most downloaded-streamed version in digital history. As a Newcastle supporter I am beyond proud.’
‘Pre 2017 Newcastle United were a club underperforming and floundering under a curse. A number of theories including ’The Gypsies Curse’, The Witches Curse’, ’The Burial Ground Curse’ were all to blame for this continuing pattern of failure. However, I think the problem lay closer to home.’
‘The version of The Blaydon Races the club were playing pre 2017 was recorded and performed by musician Alan Price (The Animals). I have it on good authority that Alan Price was an ardent Sunderland supporter. This was the problem hiding in plain sight.’
‘It’s no coincidence that since 2017 we have retained our Premier League status returned to the European Champions League and after 70 years in the wilderness have won silverware. Yes, indeed it’s all down to The Fans version of The Blaydon Races and not a Sunderland supporter within sight. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.’
‘The relative success of The Blaydon Races has allowed me to independently fund recording studios and top end musicians – who aren’t cheap. It gives my songs the best chance of having radio appeal. Iconic station Radio Caroline named The Attention Seekers track The Prudhoe Song, song of 2025. Many thanks to presenter Steve Anthony.’
Multiple media outlets have used recordings from The Blaydon Races sessions including Amazon Prime, BBC, ITV, The Bauer Media Group and the 2024 SELA Quayside 3D light show event. An unofficial Saudi version is on YouTube.
Both The Blaydon Races and the Carry me home outro from The Attention Seekers song Seven Bridges were used creatively on the Carabao Cup ITV video as the soundtrack to the historic Victory Parade.
‘This has raised the profile of the song and recently Newcastle United have asked me to develop a bespoke mix of Seven Bridges to integrate into their half time playlist. It’s now being played. As a lifelong Newcastle United supporter I’m on cloud 9!’
‘One of the highlights of 2025 was performing Seven Bridges with City Of Newcastle Male Voice Choir, Some Voices Choir and St. Teresa’s Primary School Choir as part of their Christmas Charity Concert.’
‘I’m presently working with City Of Newcastle Male Voice Choir, developing a choral arrangement of Seven Bridges to be included in their repertoire and to be recorded and released. It’s quite a departure from the days of White Heat.’
Promo shot of White Heat with Alan on the left and Bob Smeatonon right of picture.
‘The first release of 2026 for The Attention Seekers is Sweet Anna Brown. While unsuccessfully trying to track down an old friend and finding myself disappearing down numerous rabbit holes it occurred to me that this would make an interesting topic for a song.’
‘We step into the controversial world of social media and whether we like it or not it looks like it’s going to be with us for the foreseeable future. The character Anna Brown is one long mystery and doesn’t appear to have any social media presence.’
‘I’m rapidly closing in on a new album to be released later this year. Music continues to colour my life and long may it continue.’
Sweet Anna Brown is now available to stream-download via all usual platforms. The Attention Seekers – Alan Fish – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Trevor Brewis – Drums, Tony Davis – Piano, Organ, backing vocals. Produced by Alan Fish, engineered by Tony Davis. Recorded at Cluny Studios, Newcastle.
(John Heston in the Littlehaven Hotel, South ShieldsFeb. 2026. Pic. Alikivi.)
I’ve known John since 1970s living in South Shields and going to Tyne Dock youth club where rock music was blasted out of the disco.
‘Yeah, I was a bit of a rocker then. The first band I got a ticket for was Scorpions at Newcastle City Hall. I went on my own, I was only 11 – I’m 57 now. I had no concept of what a gig would be like’ said John.
‘When the band were on stage, I noticed something different. Was it an extra member? I didn’t recognise some of the songs. When they finished, I walked out when a bouncer on the doors stopped me “Hey son you not hanging around for the main band?” ‘I’d only watched the support band who happened to be Tygers of Pan Tang from Whitley Bay!’
‘Harry Hill the drummer of rock band Fist, his mother lived near me when I was a kid. When he used to come to see her, he’d drive into the street. A few times I would run over to get his autograph cos the band had just released a single. I met him years later he was really nice. We had a laugh when I told him about it. “What! You were that little squirt who used to come over all the time?”
‘Buddys nightclub in the town had an under 18’s disco and what caught me ear was bands like Stiff Little Fingers, The Jam and The Clash. Alternative Ulster from the Fingers blew us away. Unfortunately, as I was just getting into them these bands were starting to split up! I was a curse, too late for the party’.
One day in 1985 I was in Newcastle record shopping when I was surprised coming across a band busking at the Grey’s Monument. I wasn’t sure at first but it was The Clash.
‘Yeah, I’d been up Newcastle that day but missed them. The busking dates and locations were unannounced. I did meet Mick Jones’ band Big Audio Dynamite at the Mayfair – they handed out cans of Red Stripe. But we missed the last bus so had to walk home afterwards. About 10 mile!’
‘I’ve met Joe Strummer when he was on his solo tour. Had a smoke and drink with him backstage at Newcastle Uni. They say never meet your heroes but glad I did cos he talked patiently to us and answered our questions. I like that, open and relaxed not like now paying for a meet and greet.’
Since being a teenager John has been attracted to music.
‘I was never one who wanted to sound like Jimi Hendrix. The guitar was a songwriting tool for me. I remember when I was around 12 walking in the West Park, South Shields and this loud noise was coming from a distance. I followed the sound which led to a hut. I opened the door and there was a band inside rehearsing. It just hit me. I immediately thought I wouldn’t mind doing that.’
‘It was songs I was interested in, not just the guitar, I wondered how did they put them together? I was interested in the nuts and bolts of the song.’
We talked about great 80s music TV programmes like The Tube which I was lucky to get free tickets for to be in the studio audience. Watching rock bands like Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest and Gary Moore was great but this was the time that The Alarm, The Cult, Killing Joke and Big Country were making a different noise.
‘The first Big Country album really helped me learning guitar. It was a big influence.’
Previous interviews have revealed a family member who used to sing in the clubs or a granny who had a piano in the front room – but not in John’s case.
‘Me mam says I don’t know where it has come from cos there is no history in our family of any musical talent. I think it was just the generation I grew up in. I thought being in a band was beyond me. The punk attitude of going out to just do it made it more possible.’
‘Thing was there was no money around. I only had a cheap guitar from a shop in South Shields called Second Hand Rose. The scratch plate was made from the perspex from a bus shelter window. I don’t know what the strings were made of – possibly chicken wire – but they toughened my fingers up.’
‘It was just getting the feel of playing guitar along to records. I got a book out the library which showed me a few chords. I never got a proper guitar until I was 18. As I say writing songs was what I wanted to do and I started looking around to work on this with somebody.’
(Cloud 10, Laygate 1995 with John on the left pic. Alikivi)
‘I had a mate, Paul Stephenson, who wrote lyrics so we worked on them with some music for about two years. His brothers were a guitarist and drummer and we contacted Neil Newton to come in on bass so formed a band called Cloud 10. We found rehearsal rooms in South Shields this was around ’94.’
‘There was a good scene in Shields then. Plenty of bands like The Calm, January Blue, The Fad, Lemongrass and Nosh at venues like The Vic, the Amphitheatre and I remember playing a showcase gig for community radio station Seven FM at Temple Park Leisure Centre.’
‘After a few gigs we were getting noticed and a guy called Danilo Moscardini, who had a music page in the Sunday Sun newspaper, got in touch after hearing our demo tape. He managed Sunderland band Kenickie at the time who had a few hits. The singer/guitarist Lauren Lavern works on the BBC TV One show now. But after initial interest from record companies it faded away and me and Neil went our own way, forming a band called Speedster’
‘Pre-internet it was adverts in local music shops ‘looking for drummer’ that took ages. Then Neil left to join The Chasers with ex Wildheart Danny Mccormack and I joined The Last Men on Earth with Chris Wraith, Martin Payton and Wayne Burgess. We played around the pubs doing a mix of our own songs with a few covers which earned us enough money to buy new equipment and book in studio time.’
(The Last Men on Earthwith Chris Wraith, John Heston, Martin Payton, Wayne Burgess).
‘We were playing a few days a week around the North East and we got down to Camden in London. Again, this band fizzled out and me and drummer Martin Payton talked about getting something together.’
‘As Panic Report (Richy Harbison – keyboards, guitar & vocals, Steve Moore – bass & vocals) we went a similar route as Last Men on Earth by playing originals mixed with covers. From this we got ourselves a decent recorder where we got a few tracks down on CD. Obviously not as good a sound as studio but we spent more time on the tracks and didn’t worry about looking at the clock ticking. Studios are expensive.’
‘We did eventually book into a pro studio and have recorded two CD’s with our new one ‘Kingston to Coventry’ (pic below) which we are releasing on vinyl in a few months. The master tracks are sent away and the wheels are in motion. We will be arranging a launch party in the summer.’
‘For gigging the Panic Report have supported Toyah and Bad Manners at Newcastle Academy. We have played at Stone Valley festival (Bad Manners, From the Jam, Cast, The Professionals with Paul Cook, Bob Geldof). When I was 16 and people said you would have been in a band playing gigs alongside these people I wouldn’t have believed them.’
‘Although not long ago we done a gig down Bishop Aukland with only ten people in the audience, but you still play and just get on with it and enjoy it. We love what we are doing.’
‘A gig I enjoyed was when Angelic Upstarts supported us at Mensi’s 60th birthday at his pub the Alexandria in Jarrow. It was unbelievable. We couldn’t believe it when the big man asked us. Mensi wanted to go on before us then relax before the whole gig finished. It was a great night. The place was rammed’.
‘We’re playing on the Mensifest soon. The organisers are looking to get a festival in remembrance of the Upstarts singer who sadly died a couple of year ago. The gig will be at the Unionist Club, South Shields. There will be about seven bands on with Crashed Out headlining. The tickets are going well the organiser is hoping to make it an annual event.’
‘We’re more or less busy through the year with festival dates and there’s promoters still getting in touch to arrange more.’
Since he was a teenager playing music has been in John’s blood and being able to still be doing what he love’s for over 40 years, he says is a privilege.
‘I’ve done around 700 gigs since starting and I’m ready to keep going’.
‘Kingston to Coventry’ available on vinyl this summer. Check The Panic Report social media for details.
Southside Promotions present ‘Mensifest’ on 21st February 2026 at The Unionist Club, South Shields. Line up featuring Crashed Out, Red London, The Fauves, The Panic Report and more. Tickets £15. On the door £20.
Class Gymnast are Jon Melvin (Vocals), Mark Cliff (Drums), Jordon Ridley (Bass), Andrew Yates (Guitars) and John Dempsey-Curry (Guitar).
“We’re mainly South Shields lads, although I suppose our spiritual home is Sunderland – we’ve rehearsed at The Bunker on and off for the best part of two decades” said guitarist John Dempsey-Curry.
What are your hopes for this single?
“I’ll be honest, it’s just nice to get some music out there. We started this ‘project’ in 2019 as a way of playing some older songs and ended up writing and recording new music. Right when we started trying to do anything of substance, the pandemic happened and we had to slow right down. We’re not fast at the best of times, but we ended up writing and recording around one song a year, and never really doing anything with it. This is us finally committing to something.”
How long have the band been playing music for?
“We’ve all been playing together in some form for a while. Three of us were in a band called The Volts in 2000 for a couple of years. Four of us were in The Broken Things back in the early 2000s. A few of us started a band called Maps Are Fiction / The Dead Generosities in the 2010s. A couple of us are in the going concern The Union Choir. I believe The Broken Things may be making a brief comeback as part of a charity gig alongside some other bands of that time shortly, which will be exciting.”
What do you think about the state of live music today?
“We’re all in our 40s and most of us have kid(s) so getting out to see gigs is hard. Playing them even harder. I know from other folks I’ve seen posting pictures (on social media) that there’s still a thriving small band scene, so I know there’s a scene out there, but it does feel very much like there’s a lack of venues dedicated to this kind of thing like there was ‘in my day’. I’m very probably wrong on that though!
Have the band planned any gigs soon?
“On the live music front we are playing the Ship Isis in Sunderland on 31st January with two other bands – American Wrestling and Becca Rubin.”
Produced by Martin Trollope – aka Harbourmaster – ‘Fugue State’ the debut single released 26/1/2026 and same day music video premiering on You Tube at 6pm. Pre-orders on Apple music 19/1/2026.
Singer/songwriter Terry Gorman Nov.25 pic. Alikivi
Now based in North Shields, Terry Gorman was born in Colne, Lancashire and has been playing guitar for over 50 years. Music has taken the 66 year old around the UK and Europe including Ireland, Amsterdam and Lanzarote.
I’ve done thousands of gigs maybe more than anyone you’ve met! said Terry after he had taken a short ferry journey over the river Tyne from North Shields to South Shields. We met in The Customs House for a cuppa and talked about music.
In North Shields there’s a nice music scene going on. We currently run a monthly ‘Songwriter Circle’ event every month in The Engine Room on Tanners Bank. It’s ran by myself and a few friends Steve McVay, Larry Page, Steve Rudd and Lyndon Phyliskirk.
You see live performance of singer songwriters all playing original songs. We encourage all levels of talent leading to paid gigs and possible festival spots. It’s been very successful so far and has been going since June said Terry.
Have I ever held down a proper job? I tried working 20 hours a week but found it hard working for idiotic managers. I thought I could earn enough money playing guitar and singing. I wasn’t interested in chasing fame.
I liked Ralph McTell, Alan Hull, James Taylor people like that telling a story. I watched Lindisfarne who were ordinary blokes, really down to earth but well known at the same time – that was for me. It was all about the music.
My introduction to music was my grandparents who had a piano in the front room. A lot of people did. I was around 10 year old when I picked up a guitar. It was a Hofner with a scratch plate. A Catholic priest who was a friend of the family knew I loved singing and writing poetry so he gave me his acoustic as he was off to the missions in Africa.
I lived in Brampton, Cumbria until I was 8 year old that’s where I saw the first singer who made an impact on me. It was Elvis when he sang on our black and white TV although I couldn’t make out the words or what he was singing about. The Beatles and Stones were good but I really liked storytellers, folk music where you could hear the words. I love lyrics.
Then I heard Lindisfarne and Isaac Guillory who made a G chord sound interesting. My first public gig performing was as a teenager in Durham I think, I was nervous and pretended to be confident.
Terry supporting the Devan Allman band at Newcastle Cluny.
North East venues Terry has played over the years include Bents Park and Amphitheatre in South Shields, Sunderland Empire, in Newcastle he performed at the Live Theatre, Journal Tyne Theatre and The Cluny. He also played in Durham City Hall and Gala Theatre, Washington Arts Centre and Darlington Arts Centre.
I won a songwriting competition in 1990 and thought it would lead to bigger things. A lot of radio play came off the back of that and a slot at the Cambridge Folk Festival and a headline at Dungeon Ghylls Music Festival in Cumbria. Again, I thought that would lead to more so I kept plodding along.
I played support to the Levellers at Tan Hill, Yorkshire, the highest venue in England. It went great playing my own songs, really grabbed the crowd by the scruff of the neck and went down well with an encore. The Levellers didn’t like that so I wasn’t asked back! Opening for Ralph McTell was a good gig and I’ve worked with Prelude a lot, I liked your interview with the singer Brian Hume earlier this year.
Terry supporting The Levellers at Tan Hill, Yorkshire.
I remember I played at a festival on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. I was the only one who wasn’t signed to a record company or connected to a famous band. There was Steve Daggett from Lindisfarne, Baz Warne out of the Stranglers, Martin Stephenson who was popular in the 1980s and others out of bands like The Pogues. I thought what am I doing here? I didn’t get signed but really, I never felt out of my depth.
I’ve wrote a few songs about getting knocked down and fighting back. When on stage I wouldn’t introduce the songs as if they were about depression or mental health. They are more about the power inside of you. It’s about dusting yourself off and going again.
I’ve recorded in Newcastle studios like The Cluny. Archie Brown from the Young Bucks was sound engineer. Then I went to Trinity Heights ran by Fred Purser. He was great, a really good lad, he used to be in North East bands Penetration and Tygers of Pan Tang.
What am I doing now? Well, it’s keeping the work rate up. In the last 12 months I released a single, ‘Only News Today,’ two albums and six professional music videos.
For 2026 I’ve got a folk album ready. One of the songs is ‘The Silent Shipyard’ about the closing of the shipyards and mines, all of the industry we have lost. I want a male voice choir on that one with a brass band and violins. Another song is ‘Beacon in the Dark’ about the whaling ships we had on the Tyne.
An idea floating about is a rock opera about John Lennon who was shot and killed in New York in 1980. In ‘Sgt Pepper Survived’ John Lennon gets shot and survives, lies in a coma for many years, wakes up and reveals his thoughts about world events today.
One scene is him sitting in a bar talking to Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix – yes, he lives as well. Lennon is also interviewed on stage where he is asked what he thinks about today’s shows like X-Factor, bands like Oasis and social media Spotify, Facebook and Instagram. I’m always thinking of these ideas.
If I have any advice to young musicians, it’s that if you enjoy your music, you’ve made it. If you don’t best just pack in and go do something else.
Emma at BBC Radio 2 with Cerys Mathews December 2023
Magazine front covers, BBC Radio 2, awards, tours, record releases – this past few year Emma has been prolific. In 2023 she released ‘Memphis Calling’ recorded in Sam Phillips studio in Memphis, USA, earlier this year she talked about her third album ‘A Spoonful of Willie Dixon’. Recently she got in touch about her latest single…
I’m stablemates with American band Chris Wyze and the Tellers. We’re both signed for distribution with ‘Select-O-Hits’ in Memphis. Chris found out I was in Tennessee for a few days in September so asked me to co-write and sing a duet with him. We recorded ‘Hearts Blue Christmas’ at Royal Studios in Memphis with the Hi Rhythm Section.
At the end of the recording session producer Boo Mitchell said ‘We have an hour left“. Chris turned to me and said ‘Do you want to do anything?’ I’ve previously recorded with pianist Charles Hodges (who is part of the Hi Rhythm Section) on my record ‘Memphis Calling’ and we have a good friendship and work well together.
I asked Charles if he knew the song “What are you doing New Years Eve”? The track was written by Frank Loesser in 1947. I think I must have first heard the Lena Horne’s 1966 version as my Mum played a lot of her music when I was little.
Charles strolled over and started playing it so beautifully on the grand piano. That piano has been in the same position at Royal studios for decades. Goodness knows how many iconic songs it has featured on!
Charles and I spent about ten minutes getting a key to suit and having a run through, then he called Steve Potts to play some lovely light drums and then we taped it.
L to R – Charles Hodges, Steve Potts, Hubbie Turner, Emma Wilson, BooMitchell, Lina Beach, Chris Wyze and Leroy Hodges at Royal Studio, Willie Mitchell Boulevard, Memphis on 25 September 2025.
Along with promoting the singlenowEmma is already looking forward to 2026…Recently I won the UK Blues Challenge at Marshall Studios which means I go to Memphis in January to represent the UK in the International Blues Challenge and for the European Blues Challenge I go to Poland.
‘What Are You Doing New Years Eve’ is out on 21st November 2025 as digital download and a very limited run of CDs which are available from the official website >>>
Follow up to debut album ‘All the Rage’, post punk three piece Heed Case release new album ‘Mongo’ on Friday 31st October 2025.
Heed Case are former Angelic Upstart guitarist on vocals Newts Newton, bass Si Cadelik and drums Mr Dusty. They squeeze between the bubbling volcanic crack where The Fall and Killing Joke lie.
And who doesn’t love a solid thunderous drum intro? Infectious album track ‘ADHD’ crunches and buzzes in yer ear…. ‘Impulsive can’t sit still, Destructive, too many pills, Can’t sit still for meditation, too much pressure and medication’.
The sheer anthemic guitar calls out…. ‘Cast adrift in a sea of challenges with a feeling of being left to drown. Frantically waving to be rescued. But all the lifeboats have run aground’.
Where did the album title come from?
‘The title ‘Mongo’ comes from a phrase the three of us use to describe our autism and adhd. Example, I have to everything in order. You open a cupboard in my kitchen and all the tins face forward and stacked alphabetically. Instead of saying “Oh that’s just a trait of autism, I’m neurodivergent don’t you know”. I’d simply say that’s just my mongo!’
‘However, it’s original source came from Si’s bass audition. I’d asked people to learn two tracks video themselves playing them and send it within 5 days. Si was the only one who followed the instructions to the letter – his mongo made sure of that.’
‘But when I watched the video he was concentrating so hard he was quite stiff and cumbersome. So much so that he reminded me of Mongo from the film ‘Blazing Saddles’. Hence Mongo became a word our traits and mannerisms associated with being neurodivergent.’
You are open about various medical conditions within the band….
’The broad theme of ‘All the Rage’ was about narcissism and entitlement in modern society. For ‘Mongo’ we chose to write about our experiences of living with autism and adhd whilst using different samples and FX to create soundscapes that reflected what the inside of our head often feels like – at times fecking scary!’
‘The song ‘Manic’ for example, is about how dealing with everyday tasks often feels like being hit with a tornado. A visual representation would be the swirl of colours you see when Henry the mild mannered janitors car, turns him into Hong Kong Phooey in the TV cartoon – and that’s what we tried to recreate with the audio.’
‘You may notice that the guitar isn’t as prominent through the tracks, its being used more as a texture rather than a traditional role in a guitar band. ‘All the Rage’ was a transitional album, ‘Mongo’ goes further down that road towards our aim of broadening our horizons beyond the punk genre.’
With the album in the bag are any live dates planned?
‘Yes, we’ve already played about 17 gigs thus far, including Rebellion Festival, Punk on the Peninsula, Punk & Disorderly Festivals and our last gig was at the Dublin Castle in Camden a few weeks ago. We’ve got a few more coming up and adding dates all the time as we want to keep busy’.
New 10 track album ‘Mongo’ release date Friday 31st October on all platforms, vinyl & CD format.
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.’
In previous posts Tony has talked about the influence Ginger Baker had on his drumming, and the many nights with friends going to watch bands like The Nice, Tina Turner, Jimi Hendrix and The Animals at Newcastle’s Club a’Gogo.
Before joining the Pirahna Brothers, Tony drummed for North East band Turm with Micky Balls (lead guitar), George Sturrock (guitar), Alf Passmore (bass) and the late John Lawton (vocals). He remembers the night they got a gig opening for Jethro Tull in a County Durham club.
‘It was an amazing experience to play on the same bill as the legendary Jethro Tull, unfortunately, the venue we were booked in was the Argus Butterfly in Peterlee. I say unfortunately because The Argus Butterfly was and still is a difficult venue for two bands to play as the stage and concert room are really small and there was an even smaller dressing room at the back of the stage’.
‘We arrived first and set our gear up and heard that Jethro Tull and all their equipment were travelling up from London in a small Thames van’.
Turm at the Cellar Club, South Shields
Before big names including Cream, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin packed out halls around the UK, they built their reputation playing smaller venues including Bay Hotel in Sunderland, Club a’Gogo in Newcastle, Cellar Club in South Shields, Kirklevington Country Club in Yarm and Argus Butterfly in Peterlee.
‘When we got the booking I hadn’t heard of them as they were yet to hit the big time but when they entered the club, we were all fascinated by the lead singer. He was very thin, wore unusual hippy type clothes and had very long hair. This was becoming the fashion in London but was yet to be a fashion on Tyneside. Here was Micky and me wearing brightly coloured satin shirts in pale blue and fluorescent pink – so last year darling!’
‘All the guys were very friendly and were taken by our Geordie accents. They piled their equipment out of this small van, we wondered just how all their gear, four band members and a roadie got in the van – never mind drive 200 miles up the A1 dual carriageway. Note – there were no motorways yet’.
‘We were ready to play our set. Our fourth song in was a rousing number called Amen which had three or four sing along choruses with clapping to accompany it. This was a perfect song for John’s voice and the girls loved it’.
‘Each time the chorus started I would jump off the drums and go back stage clapping as I did. It sounds ridiculous, and it probably was, but it seemed to work well for the show’.
‘However, Mick Abrahams, the lead guitarist of Jethro Tull, was in the dressing room catching a well-deserved snooze on top of several amp covers. The first time I rushed in he jumped up in shock but then he saw the funny side when I ran back on stage for the opening riff after the sing along chorus. The next time I did it, Mick was laughing a lot as he had watched me returning just in time to start up after the chorus. The third time however he was ready. He grabbed me by the arms and didn’t let me return at the end of the chorus’.
‘The looks on the rest of my groups faces was a picture when they started with no drums. I can still see the vision in my mind today. Fortunately, he let go of me and it didn’t ruin the whole song, great guy, and a great laugh’.
‘After our opening set it was time for Jethro Tull to go on and they just couldn’t have been more different to us and were truly mesmerising. Their music was unlike anything I had heard before and their style was far away from anything I had seen before on the various stages in the North of England’.
‘Another first for me was that Ian Anderson, the main vocalist and front man, played a flute that was a huge surprise. He also played harmonicas which he kept in small leather pouches around his waist and there was a funny side to this. He also kept his cigarette tobacco in these pouches and this meant he had to knock the tobacco out of each harmonica each time he was about to play them which was really very funny to watch’.
‘The visuals of the band were like nothing I had seen before and Ian sang many of his songs on one leg. This became his trademark as time went on and still is today. The drummer and bass players were very solid, had a great sound and the band was well received’.
‘Turm and Tull had a great time together as fellow musicians even if we probably looked a bit out of the current fashions in London. After this meeting they released Living in the Past a song that started my romance with my wife Jane many years later’.
‘They became rock superstars filling massive stadiums all around the world to thousands of people. I wonder if they ever thought back to the good old Argus Butterfly in Peterlee, the Turm and the 200 plus audience – somehow, I doubt it’.
Words: Tony Hodge
Edited: Alikivi May 2025
More stories on the site from Tony Hodge including Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Tina Turnerand Club a’Gogo.
This second part of Tony’s memories feature his pilgrimage to Newcastle’s Club a’Gogo where he saw many bands who were on their way to a successful career in music. They included Amen Corner, The Nice and a young guitarist from the United States – Jimi Hendrix.
North East venues for the Hendrix tour in 1967 included dates at Kirklevington Country Club in North Yorkshire on January 15th. The Cellar Club, South Shields on February 1st and February 2nd at Imperial Hotel, Darlington with a gig at Club a’Gogo in Newcastle on March 10th.
‘We were right at the front and only a few feet away from the great man himself. He was tall and looked very young. His style of guitar playing was like no other I had ever seen – even playing with his teeth on some numbers. At one point Hendrix dropped a ten shilling note and the guy next to me rushed to pick it up and hand it back to him. He thanked him saying that was for the bands supper’.
‘He went on to finish the night with a long guitar solo and then thrust his guitar into the ceiling leaving it there with the feedback screaming as he left the stage. On many subsequent visits we saw the hole still in the ceiling. A great memory of a great night’.
‘Over the following months we saw many emerging London based bands play at the a’Gogo like ‘Amen Corner’ with Andy Fairweather Low, Jeff Beck with a very young Rod Stewart as his main vocalist wearing an extremely long college scarf and of course our very own local mega band ‘The Animals’
‘This club forged mine and many other local musicians’ tastes for the years to come and we got to see megastars playing only a few feet away from us’.
‘While I’m talking of being right up close to your idol musicians there are two more instances of things that could never happen today. On these occasions my brother Barry and I went to music events at the Sunderland University students Union’.
‘On one night ‘The Nice’ played and my brother was sitting on the edge on a two-foot-high stage only a foot or two from Keith Emerson and his famous Hammond Organ when he did the world renown stabbing of the keyboard. We also saw Tina Turner when she was still performing with Ike. She wore a one-piece lemon coloured jump suit and looked amazing. Once again, only feet away from us, wow!’
‘We didn’t know it at the time that only a few months after these events these bands would play in much bigger venues and stadiums so the days of being within a few feet of your idol were gone for ever’.
Plaque for Handyside Arcade and Club a’Gogo in Newcastle.
‘Sadly, the Club a’Gogo itself was only open for six years, it became a bingo hall as the game was becoming all the rage in the North East. Finally, the club and the surrounding buildings were demolished in the 1980’s making way for the Eldon Square shopping complex. The club was only open for a short time but the mark it left on the Newcastle music scene was amazing’.
‘These venues were where I started to love that different style of music, but it wasn’t until we formed bands that I got the chance to play it not just listen to it’.
Words: Tony Hodge
Edited: Alikivi May 2025.
Link to previous interview with Tony from February 2021 >>>
On 1st February 1967 on his way to becoming one of the most influential guitarists of the 1960s, Jimi Hendrix played the Cellar Club in South Shields.
A previous post (19 March 2025) looked at the impact this gig had, also mentioned was the opening of the new Cellar Club in December 1966 by Cream.
Reading the article stirred up some memories for North East musician and actor Tony Hodge, he recalled the time he was introduced to the band and in particular the drummer Ginger Baker and how influential he became in his life.
‘In the sixties my good friend Ray Laidlaw played in Downtown Faction along with Rod Clements and Simon Cowe – all three became famous in the amazing band Lindisfarne. Ray and Rod had an excellent bass and drums connection, driving the band’s music with real power – I loved to hear them play’.
‘On many occasions we went to see each other’s bands play at various venues including the Briar Dene Tavern in Whitley Bay and The Nautilus Pub, a short walk from my house that became a regular haunt from 1964 onwards.’
‘I would often go with Micky Balls and meet Ray and other likeminded musicians like Billy Mitchel, Will Browell and Billy Dunn. We always had great meetups and all types of music were discussed’.
Micky Balls and Tony in Newcastle.
‘One night near Christmas 1966 Ray mentioned he had heard of a drummer that played with two bass drums. This drummer apparently could play a drum roll with his feet!’
‘A drum roll is hard enough to play with your hands using sticks, never mind with your feet using foot pedals. I found it hard to do a fast double beat that was required in some pop songs of the time never mind a full drum roll. I said I couldn’t see that it was possible and we had quite a heated discussion about how impossible it would be’.
Fortunately, the band were due to play at Newcastle Club a’Gogo and Ray saw this as a chance to convince Tony. The Club a’Gogo was a popular venue housed in two upstairs rooms above Handyside Arcade in Newcastle.
It opened in 1962 as a jazz club but broadened its musical style and became better known as a Soul, Rhythm n Blues and Rock venue attracting big stars likeThe Who, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck and local stars The Animals.
Tony explained ‘It was split into two separate rooms each with its own stage three feet up from the floor. One room was called ‘The young set’ for under eighteens and the other was called ‘The jazz lounge’ for everyone young and not so young’.
‘When the big stars played there, they would play a set in each room. This must have been a nightmare for the road crew as during the interval everything needed to be set up in one room then taken down and set up in the other’.
‘If you got in early, you could be right at the front and literally a couple of feet from the stars. That was amazing for a fan. On every visit I always got to the front and had the most amazing view of people who were to become megastars’.
‘We had come to see the band that we had discussed in the pub with this special drummer. It was a newly formed band from London. Unusually they were just a three-piece group, lead guitar, bass guitar and drums and had no separate singer as was the popular set up of the time’.
‘The club had an amazing atmosphere, it was dark and you were all packed in together. Small lights lit the stage which was only big enough for artists to play and not a lot of extra room for big theatrics. The stage was absolutely packed with equipment’.
‘To each corner were two sets of PA speakers and on the right-hand side were four Marshall 4×12 cabinets and the same on the left-hand side. In the middle was a set of Ludwig drums with two tom toms, two floor toms and two bass drums showing the name Ginger on one drum and Baker on the other. Yes, this band was Cream and the amazing drummer Ginger Baker. At this time of course, I had no idea who he was – but that was about to change’.
‘On came a man dressed in a long purple Teddy boy jacket and a ginger quiff with a half pint glass of rum (I think) in his hand. He sat down picked up his sticks and hit all four tom-toms then did an amazing roll on the two bass drums. He stood up and left through the back door of the stage, his sound check completed. This was the one and only Ginger Baker’.
‘Both Ray and I just stood and looked at each other in amazement. The speed and technique were just amazing and so different to us two young drummers, I heard nothing like it before’.
‘I was still recovering when two other guys entered the stage and came to the microphone. Ginger came through and sat down behind this huge kit. They started to play with no count in just heavy tom-tom beats, then guitar, then the man in front of me who was Jack Bruce started to sing ‘Driving in my car, smoking a cigar, the only time I’m happy is when I play my guitar’.
‘The opening to N.S.U. was like nothing I had heard or played – ever! The drums rolled around the kit the volume was deafening and when the guitar solo came in by Eric Clapton the hairs on my neck stood up. It was loud, very loud. It was something you never forget’.
‘The rest of the set was also amazing playing in a style I could never have imagined. Ginger played a drum solo that was again long and loud but it ended with him playing the two bass drums and his tom toms in a chest thumping roll that went on for several minutes.
That was the famous twin bass drum roll Ray had been talking about, it was true, a drummer could play a drum roll with his feet. I had to learn that, I had to be able to play drum rolls with my feet. I was hooked’.
‘The trip back on the bus was all about the miracle we had just seen, a drummer like no other. I was changed overnight, by this one-man, Ginger Baker. Without my friend Ray persuading me to go to the Gogo to see him I would not have become the mad drummer I became. That night ‘Animal’ was born’.
‘I had to have a double bass drum kit and if possible, a Ludwig one. Off again to the music shop and more debt but I got a lovely Ludwig drum kit with a pearl finish just like Ringo Starr. It looked and sounded fantastic’.
‘Once I got this kit my whole style changed. I was more brash and started playing a drum solo at the end of The Pirahna Brothers first half. It was long, loud and not very technical but this new style and the notoriety it brought with it opened many doors. My nickname was ‘Animal’ and people shouted it out at venues’.
More stories from Tony Hodge coming soon including Jimi Hendrix, The Nice, Jethro Tull and Tina Turner.
Edited: Alikivi May 2025
Link to previous interview with Tony from February 2021 >>>
ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST MUSIC & CULTURE 