WHITE HEAT

HAVE YOU HEARD THIS ONE? #6

/ Alikivi

Following on from the last post here’s another batch of North East stories this time featuring music, books, TV, boxing and the police. First up is former White Heat & Loud Guitars frontman Bob Smeaton.

‘If you asked me to list what gave me the biggest buzz I would say playing live top of the list, writing songs in second and recording in third. One thing I did learn is that playing songs live and recording them in a studio are two different animals’.

‘I love performing in front of an audience and felt that I was a much better frontman than I was a singer, so studio work for me back in the early days was not always an enjoyable experience. Also, the vocals were always done last, so the rest of the band were able to relax and the pressure was on me to deliver’.

‘What did I do after White Heat and Loud Guitars split? I pretty much stopped performing gigs as my career went down a different path’.

Full interview > ANOTHER JOURNEY UP THE RIVER – New album from ex White Heat frontman Bob Smeaton | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

In August award-winning author & freelance journalist Terry Wilkinson talked about his new book…

‘At midnight on 3 May 1941, the factory and Head Office of Wilkinson’s Mineral Water Manufacturers in North Shields was hit by a single German bomb. It went through the roof, descending through all three floors, taking all the heavy bottling machinery and chemicals down to the basement – which was in use as a public air raid shelter. 107 died, 43 of which were children. Whole families were wiped out.’

‘Nothing is known of the identity of the plane which dropped the bomb – type, squadron, mission etc – as German records were mostly destroyed in the closing stages of the war’.

‘I wanted to write a story that answered all these questions and create a fictional alternative. Having said that, nobody could say with any conviction this is not what happened’.

Full interview > STORIES OF WAR – with award-winning author & freelance journalist Terry Wilkinson | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Also in August former boxer Terry Patterson remembers his time boxing in the North East…

‘Over the years I fought a few Sunderland lads. Derek Nelson was a classy boxer who turned pro. I fought two ABA finalists in Gordon Pedro Philips and Willie Neil. I fought Pedro in the North Eastern Counties final but lost. Both lads were well schooled’.

‘Willie Neil’s coach asked if I’d fight him because his opponent hadn’t turned up. I weighed in at 10st 6lbs (welterweight), he was heavier than me by 6lbs. I knew his reputation for knocking people out. £50 was slipped into my hand for taking the fight’.

‘Willie could bang a bit – so could I – but he had me down three times during our bout. We set about each other unleashing all hell for three fierce rounds. I had him going at one point after landing a good left hook but the bell sounded and my chance to finish him had gone’.

‘Gordon and Willie are still good to this day – it’s been 36 years since we shared a ring but I see them at boxing dinners and club reunions’.

Full interview > KNOCKOUT with former boxer Terry Patterson | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Former police detective & writer Arthur McKenzie talked about his work…

‘There was a police section house near Newcastle’s Exhibition Park, in it was a bait room, just a pokey little room with a table to play cards on. If you’re on night shift you’d take sandwiches and a flask of tea in. That’s where you gathered around 1am where the events of the night would unfold’.

‘You would get advice on how to deal with someone, it was a good place to sort things out like the older cops would tell you how to deal with a death, how to deliver a death message to the unfortunate family. It was a sort of meeting of minds over a game of cards. Aye the bait room was a good place to vent your spleen so to speak’.

‘So, I went away and wrote about the bait room. Tom Hadaway (writer for episodes When the Boat Comes In) read the play and was laughing at it ‘Yeah, you know how to write dialogue son’. He gave me pointers, when I finished it landed on two desks. One was the BBC in Manchester where it ended up on the Saturday Night Theatre radio show, which was a big thing’.

‘The other was the script reader for David Puttnam (producer Chariots of Fire, Local Hero, Midnight Express) who hated it at first but won her round in the end. She said she couldn’t do anything with it but put me in touch with an agent who was looking for writers for a tv show called The Bill. That’s where the writing started’.

Full interview > COP ON THE TYNE – in conversation with ex police detective & writer Arthur McKenzie | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

TV actor & musician Michael McNally got in touch and talked about his time in ground breaking BBC TV drama The Cops…

‘I’d watched the first two series and it was my favourite programme on TV. When I started watching it, I thought it was a fly on the wall documentary it took me 10 minutes before I realised it was a drama. I was totally hooked’.

‘One of my first scenes was I was sat in a police van at 11pm on a Friday night on Bolton High Street. The general public were walking up and down the street they knew nothing of this, it wasn’t a closed set like on some programmes and we had to go and arrest someone’.

‘Two actors were having a fight then we got the message to go, so on with the blue flashing lights, we pulled up and jumped out of the van. Some people were trying to defend the actors and some were encouraging us to get in there and sort it out’.

‘We didn’t know where the cameras were we just heard someone say stop. We got back in the van, re-set and done the scene about four or five times’.

‘Same happened when responding to a fight in a bar, we had to pull people out and the general public in the bar didn’t know what was going on. There was an element of choreography for the fight, we didn’t want anyone to get hurt’.

‘After that first night the cast got together afterwards for some pub grub and a karaoke. Most of us were unknown actors so mixed in with the general public without any hassle. Every member of the cast got up and sang, mine was Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash – it was a really good night’.

Full interview > THE COPS with TV actor & musician Michael McNally | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

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

Full list of hundreds of interviews >

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Alikivi   November 2024

TOO FAR NORTH in conversation with Boldon author Ian Fawdon

/ Alikivi / 3 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lindisfarne at Newcastle City Hall.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alikivi    September 2024

ANOTHER JOURNEY UP THE RIVER – New album from ex White Heat frontman Bob Smeaton

/ Alikivi

Some say White Heat were the best band to come out of Newcastle who never ‘made it’. They made all the right moves – opened for Judas Priest, headlined London’s Marquee, signed to Virgin records, they were contenders – but unfortunately never got over the line.

If you asked me to list what gave me the biggest buzz I would say playing live top of the list, writing songs in second and recording in third place said Bob Smeaton. But one thing I did learn is that playing songs live and recording them in a studio are two different animals.

I love performing in front of an audience and I felt that I was a much better frontman than I was a singer, so studio work for me back in the early days was not always an enjoyable experience.

Also, the vocals were always done last, so the rest of the band were able to relax and the pressure was on me to deliver. What did I do after White Heat and Loud Guitars split? I pretty much stopped performing gigs as my career went down a different path.

After signing up as an actor for stage and TV roles, a successful career in music documentary films came next. Bob worked on programmes featuring boy hood heroes The Who, Rolling Stones and The Beatles.

Bob added…I was fortunate to start making music documentaries but I never stopped writing songs. The songs that I wrote with Alan Fish my song writing partner in both White Heat and later Loud Guitars were good songs, that’s why some of them remain popular forty years after we recorded them. I’m really proud of those records we released in the late 70s early 80s, they’re a great time capsule.

Just before Covid happened Alan Fish encouraged me to get a set up so that I could record at home, I took his advice and got some pretty basic recording equipment.

Like most of us I had a lot of time on my hands so I recorded demos of a bunch of songs, there was a couple I’d been working on for decades but never finished, I also wrote some new ones.

Shine On (The Ballad of White Heat) was a new song and it took about two hours to write, some of them took around twenty years to finish – better late than never.

I always liked songs that told stories. Narrative has always been the key for me, that’s also been my approach when I’ve been making music documentary films and to some extent why I wrote my memoir.

When growing up in Benwell, Newcastle, the first person that I met that owned a Fender Strat was Stew Selkirk. Even as a teenager Stew was a great guitarist (The photographs of Bob and Stew were taken in the backyard of Stew’s house on Colston Street, Benwell, approx.1974).

When I released my memoir ‘From Benwell Boy to 46th Beatle and Beyond’ in 2018, Stew read it and we caught up again, we hadn’t seen each other for over forty years. Stew was still playing guitar and involved in record production. I mentioned that I’d written a bunch of songs that I’d like to record.

I sent him demos which he liked and he suggested we work together. Black Wind Blowing was the first song we recorded at his studio in Wooler during October 2021.

During the second Covid lockdown to cheer myself up, I was listening to Nick Cave’s ‘murder ballads’ album and reading a biography of Johnny Cash. They were the inspiration to write the song.

When I heard what Stew did with that first track, I was overjoyed, he had taken my very basic song and turned it into something really special. None of the songs I had written had been performed live so they had to stand up purely on the basis of what we recorded. Stew did a great job.

Back in the late seventies with White Heat we played the songs in front of an audience before we recorded them so we had a good idea of what were the strongest songs based on audience reaction. Then we would pretty much record the songs in the studio how we had played them live, there was not a lot of production as such.

We never thought to change the keys to suit my voice or rearrange the songs so they would sound better on the radio. It was impossible to capture the energy of a live band in the studio.

I didn’t want to sound like White Heat but there was always going to be a familiarity because it was my voice. There is so much great guitar playing by Stew on the songs, it would have been a different album if he hadn’t produced it.

The first recording that I released from the sessions I did with Stew was Shine On (The Ballad of White Heat). I thought it was quite fitting that for my first solo single I paid homage to my former band.

I revisited the character of Sammy who first appeared in the 1979 song ‘Sammy Sez’, the B side of our single ‘Nervous Breakdown’. Sammy was loosely based on my brother Tony who appeared on the sleeve of the 7”inch. I also name checked a number of songs that Alan Fish and I wrote together.

In essence the song is about the way that music has the capacity to transport you back to a time and a place. It was written as a thank you to those people who supported the band back in the day.

I remember when we were playing gigs the excitement we used to feel when we would perform a song for the first time and how after we had played it a handful of times we would look out into crowd and see them singing along, it was a great feeling.

One of the songs I name checked in ‘Shine On (The Ballad of White Heat)’ was the Fish/Smeaton song ‘21 and Wasted’. In 1979 when we wrote the song, I was in full Springsteen mode, I was obsessed with him, this was my attempt at writing a ‘Springsteenesque’ lyric.

When we played it live it was great, but for some reason, with the benefit of hindsight, the studio version White Heat recorded for the ‘In the Zero Hour’ album fell short of our expectations.

A couple of years ago Alan re-worked the song, gave it a new title and recorded it with the Attention Seekers. I thought it was fantastic. Alan told me he had also recorded a rockier version of the backing track and that I was welcome to add my vocal to it for inclusion on my album.

I believe that in the Attention Seekers version both of the protagonists live to fight another day. In my version I will leave it up to the listener to decide what fate befalls them. It is one of my favourite songs.

In the video clip I used footage that was filmed of White Heat performing the song back in 1981 but cut to the recoding from my album.

Whenever I played Alan my songs, he would often comment on how I never wrote ‘happy songs’, when I first played him ‘Things that She Said’ he told me that I had finally written one.

The song is about the feeling you get when you meet someone who you really believe is going to have your back through good times and bad. Alan liked the song and offered to produce a recording of it, on the understanding that I let him do it ‘his way’.

During the two days we recorded at the Cluny Studios in Newcastle, I managed to keep my mouth shut. I’m pleased I did as Alan did an excellent job. It also features great work by Trevor Brewis, Sophy Jess Ball and Tony Davis. Alan was right it is a happy song. 

Whenever I wasn’t busy working on music documentaries I would drive up to Wooler and record at Stew’s place. I also spent time recording at the Cluny Studio. A lot of the vocals and drums were recorded there. Trevor Brewis formally of Dance Class played drums, he was brilliant.

What are my hopes for the album? Once it was finished all I really wanted is for people to hear the songs and I was more than happy for people to listen to the album for free on the likes of Spotify and You Tube etc.

I enjoyed the writing and recording of the songs but once they were mastered all I wanted was to put them out there. The first thing I did was post the songs on the White Heat and Loud Guitars appreciation society page on Facebook. That was pretty much the sum of my promotion.

Various people offered to help promote the album or help find a record label. I didn’t want to do that, I’d been down that road with White Heat and it becomes more about the business. I didn’t view this as a money making venture, I just wanted people to hear my songs and hopefully enjoy them.

The response has been very encouraging, in that respect all the work that Stew Selkirk and I put into it has been worthwhile.

Am I planning on taking it out live? At the moment I don’t have any plans to go out and start doing gigs with a band. Putting a band together I imagine is much harder now than it was when I first started doing gigs in the seventies, we were kids then, we had less commitments.

There is every chance that I could turn up and do some support slots on my own or maybe with a couple of other musicians. The thing is that I never really considered myself a musician, I always thought I was a performer first and foremost and songs were a vehicle to tell stories which I love doing.

My guitar playing skills are pretty basic but you don’t need to know a hundred chords to write a song. Whenever I meet young musicians I always tell them to write songs and if what you write about is honest and personal to you, there is every chance it will connect with other people, we all go through similar situations in life – songs are like diaries.

When you hear a song it can transport you back to a time and a place and that is the beauty of a great song, it never grows old. As I said in one of my songs “We will shine on because we wrote it all down in a song”.

‘Another Journey Up the River’ was released 5th July 2024. The album is now available on all streaming services, You Tube and available to download on iTunes.

Links to previous interviews >

THE BOY FROM BENWELL with Film & TV Director, Bob Smeaton | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (5 Nov ’18)

PLAY IT AGAIN – on TV & Stage with music documentary director, Bob Smeaton | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE  (6 April ‘21)

Alikivi   July 2024

WIRED FOR SOUND with Hartlepool musician, Jimmy McKenna

/ Alikivi

Hartlepool musician Jimmy McKenna has over 50 years in the business and in that time has released 14 albums. In the first part he looks into his musical memory box and digs out stories about auditioning for White Spirit, playing for Hell’s Angels, and does he still listen to Cliff Richard?  Read on….

The legend in our family is that my Dad went out to buy a washing machine and came back with a radiogram. As a small child I would play all the family records, A and B sides, digesting the labels as to who wrote the songs etc.

The radiogram did really well up until 1970 when it struggled trying to play my Deep Purple in Rock LP – it jumped all the time – by that time stereo was the big thing.

Jimmy was a child of the 50’s and his home was full of the top musicals of the day, Carousel, South Pacific, Carmen Jones, West Side Story, as well as current pop songs.

My all-time favourite was The Wanderer by Dion. My first love was Cliff Richard and I remember arguing in school with older kids who were trying to tell me that Elvis was better than Cliff – I just wouldn’t have it. Mam and Dad dutifully bought me all the early Cliff singles. Then of course came the Beatles, writing their own songs, the Merseybeat explosion and all that followed.

Jimmy in Iron Cross, 1973.

Jimmy’s big present for Christmas 1967 was a Magnus chord organ – a small keyboard with buttons to play chords.

I wanted to play the big hit of the time A Whiter Shade of Pale, but instead learned to play Silent Night and Londonderry Air. By now I was making up tunes in my head, including putting a couple to poems I found in a book about the 1745 Scottish rebellion!

By the time I was 14 my friends and I all received our first guitars, and suddenly we were a group. Within weeks we went from being The String Vest to Black Canyon to Iron Cross and later as pretentious 17 year olds we became Hansard. Also, within weeks I was relegated to bass as I was the last to master that pesky F chord.

As Iron Cross we played our one gig at a Boys and Girls Brigade party, performing My Generation and easy bits from ‘Live at Leeds’ when I was suddenly promoted to lead singer. My sister Margaret had been knitting a quilted bed spread, but converted it into a Roger Daltrey type coat for me!

After appreciating other people’s music, Jimmy started spending time writing his own songs.

We had a piano at home on which I spent hours doodling and making up quasi classical tunes, not even understanding what key I was playing – most of these have still to be completed/recorded, but they are on the list.

My friends and I were also diverging in our tastes, I discovered the ambitious music of Van der Graaf Generator and Peter Hammill. When I later heard the Sex Pistols I noted that a rock group had a singer with the same passion in his voice as Peter Hammill. I later learned that John Lydon was a Hammill fan also.

I then connected with Peter Scott of Hartlepool – not to be confused with Newcastle folk songwriter Pete Scott or that bloke who went to the Antarctic. Peter was an intuitive and aggressive guitar player. He was impressed that I was writing songs which encouraged him.  

Our first club group was Silver and our singer was Geoff Grange who would later sing, blow harmonica and record for Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings and Thomas Dolby.

After a gig one cold night the van’s windscreen was completely frozen over and our roadie Peter ‘Dock’ Oliver had the perfect solution and stood on top of the van to pee over the windscreen. It worked well.

Link to Silver playing intro to Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix).

By 1975 Jimmy had an electric piano…Still only able to play my little quasi classical tunes, but I answered an advert for keyboard player for local rockers White Spirit. I blew it as soon as I got into their van, when I exclaimed that they were a bit young. I was 19 and they were just 17. After extensive jamming on the main riff of Jethro Tull’s Locomotive Breath their manager Sandy gave me the ‘we’ll let me know’ speech.

So back to bass guitar, around 1975/76 Peter Scott began backing popular Country and Western singer Mick Layton. There was a nightclub gig in Scarborough, the manager was desperate. A group of Hells Angels had arrived for a weekend of fun but it had rained nonstop and their weekend had fallen flat.

The manager was worried they would take their disappointment out on his premises so he begged us to do what we could to entertain them. This was Peter’s cue to turn up his guitar and we spent two hours doing extended Status Quo, Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry songs. At the end the biker lads were on their knees giving us the ‘we are not worthy’ hails and everyone went home happy.

At this gig Peter did a little trick with his wah-wah pedal, placing his guitar against his amp to make it feedback, then balancing one foot on his wah-wah to change the notes of the feedback  – noisy but dead good. This was while we were playing Ghost Riders in the Sky.

The Mick Layton Trio would often get booked into cowboy clubs…

I remember the audience all dressed up with names like Diamond Lil and Big Jim Bowie. It would get hectic when in moments of excitement they would start firing their pretend guns.

We once had a polite gig in a posh Newcastle Hotel. The manager came up to us at half time, a little excited. Cliff Richard was performing one of his Gospel Shows that night, and was staying at the hotel. The manager said he would ask Cliff on his return if he would sing a couple of songs with us – we had already played Apache.

Unfortunately, Cliff was a little tired and just wanted a nice cup of tea, so declined the invitation. Then Summer ‘76 we heard The Ramones and everything changed.

DisGuise in 1978, Jimmy McKenna, Alan Sculley & Pete Scott.

Next up read part two of Jimmy’s story including his close brush with fame with punky pop group DisGuise opening for AC/DC, Glen Matlock and The Rick Kids, and on the bill at the Newcastle Bedrock Festival with White Heat.

Alikivi   June 2024

‘SEVEN BRIDGES’ new album from The Attention Seekers

/ Alikivi

During Covid lockdowns some musicians took time out to reboot ideas and produced new music, guitarist Alan Fish was no different.

‘Against all odds I managed to produce a new collection of songs. It’s been quite a journey. This pandemic has reminded us how fragile and precious life is and it’s in this spirit of gratitude that we are releasing a new album which is a tribute to my home town Newcastle upon Tyne’.

‘We’ are a collection of musicians trading under the moniker The Attention Seekers who went into Newcastle Cluny studio and with engineering skills of Tony Davis, recorded new album Seven Bridges – also the name of a track with its infectious chorus…

‘It’s a beautiful city I know, from the steps to the quayside, and I can still see Seven bridges to carry me home, to the streets of Newcastle tonight’.

The album is Tyne soaked in a positive acoustic feel with vocals on the eleven tracks shared between Jesse Terry, Romaana Shakir, Sam Blewitt and Alan who had different plans back in 2020.

‘Everything stopped in March 2020. The world as we know it ground to a halt. Covid made the future uncertain. The plan had been to return to the USA to promote the previous album A Song for Tomorrow. We had promo in place but gigs and radio interviews had to be put on hold’.

‘Fast forward to 2022 and some semblance of normality is gradually returning, most importantly my family, friends, bandmates and I have our health intact. There are too many who have not been so fortunate’.

When did you start putting the Seven Bridges ideas together ?

‘I travelled back in time to revisit songs from my days in North East rock bands White Heat and The Loud Guitars in Do Me A Favour, Chain Reaction and Is it Too Late? Keeping in that frame of mind I wrote a letter to my younger self in Daydreaming’.

‘Romaana Shakir provides great vocals on the track Mr Coastguard which is a letter of thanks to The Turkish Coastguard Service. What happened was my wife Viv and I spent a night in a tiny speedboat lost in rough seas and with no fuel. An experience Viv and I will not be repeating’.

‘And there is a ‘what if’ song called Money In His Pocket. The lyrics covered the story of a musician trying to ‘make it’ in the music biz’…

‘He put some money in his pocket, grabbed a bag and picked up his guitar. He took off in the middle of the night in his beat up car. He left behind the prettiest girl, to find his way in the big wide world’

‘That’s about walking away from ‘the deal’ which was one of the best decisions I ever made. In 1989 White Heat reformed for a one-off festival appearance alongside Aswaad and Nick Hayward.

After our set we were approached by Don Arden ‘notorious’ owner of Jet Records, manager of ELO, Dio and Black Sabbath, father of Sharon Osbourne, and father in law of Ozzy’.

‘He expressed an interest in managing us (White Heat), although I had long put aside any thoughts of a full time career in the music business, I was interested in what he had to say and I agreed to meet with Don the next day’.

‘His plan was to put us out on tour after tour in the states supporting his bands – ELO, Black Sabbath to name but two, until we ‘broke the market’. He was aware I was married with a young family and said “you have a decision to make”. I kindly declined the offer, ‘Money In His Pocket’ is a fictitious story where in a parallel universe I accepted the deal’.

A full interview with Alan was posted on 13 September 2019. (Link below)

A track on the new album was originally by a band with its roots firmly in the North East – Lindisfarne.

‘The Alan Hull (Lindisfarne) track Winter Song was suggested to me by New York radio presenter Charlie Backfish, many thanks Charlie! Both Sam Blewitt and Jesse Terry share lead vocals and I think their voices work incredibly well together, I am planning to repeat this combination in the future’.

‘Passing Ships is a dip into the murky waters of Greek Mythology and The Girl with the Jukebox Mind was after a chance encounter with someone in New York, she definitely had the Woodstock look, she described herself as having a ‘Jukebox mind’ – a brilliant title for a song!’

‘And on the next track who is Alison Jones ? well everybody loves a mystery’.

Have you plans to take Seven Bridges out on tour ?

‘Firstly a huge thanks to all the talented musicians who have joined me in this venture and yes there was a mini tour in October finishing at The Cluny in Newcastle’.

‘Our next gig is at Birmingham Central Art Space on the 30th October supporting Dan Whitehouse, and more gigs to be announced soon so keep a look out on our social media page or check the official website’.

http://www.the-attention-seekers.co.uk

‘Seven Bridges’ is available to stream/download via all the usual platforms.

NO ORDINARY JOE – in conversation with Alan Fish former guitarist with WHITE HEAT | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK (garyalikivi.com)

Alikivi  October 2022

250,000 MILESTONE MESSAGES #3

/ Alikivi

More messages to celebrate the quarter million milestone – great stuff but where’s all the interviews man ! New one’s posted soon from songwriter Bernadette Mooney and former ‘She’ guitarist/keys Lee Robertson. 

Michael McNally (Performer/Musician) ‘These interviews have enriched my knowledge of music and the arts in the North East. Such an eclectic mix of articles filled with in-depth information about our cultural heritage’.

Paula Dudley (author) ‘I love your posts as they are so various. Some are political, some are about local heroes and heroines, some are about music, some are interviews. Thank you for including Ellen Wilkinson former Jarrow MP among them.’

Dave Morton (Journalist, Newcastle Chronicle Live) ‘Congratulations to Gary for hitting a milestone on his blog that expertly covers all aspects of North East culture and history. It’s always a great read – and on more than one occasion he’s kindly shared content with me for use in my own work on ChronicleLive. Here’s to the next 250,000 views.’

Bob Smeaton (Music documentary director) ‘Congratulations well on course for 250,000 views. Performing a valuable and always entertaining service for North East Talent. As Neil Young once said ‘Long May You Run’.

Howard Baker (Singer/Songwriter) ‘The North East culture blog Alikivi is definitely the place to find out about the music scene of yesteryear with ‘60s and ‘70s in particular. I played through years with some of the finest bands in the North, they were fantastic. I’m glad I met Gary and for him making all of this happen, thanks so much for all that you put in’.

Vin Arthey (Author) ‘I was delighted to be interviewed by Gary in 2019, and to feature in The North East Culture blog! I now check the blog regularly, and have learned so much about North East bands, entertainment history and about, say Ellen Wilkinson, George Orwell, the Spanish Civil War, which have gone on to illuminate my own work. I’m proud to be one of your interviewees, and one of your many readers, Gary! Thank you’

Martin Blank (Author) ‘I have been an avid reader of Gary’s blog since it started in 2017 and since then it has gone from strength to strength. I like Gary’s interview style – straight to the point – and he’s very knowledgeable about not only the North East music scene, both back in the day and now, he’s also very knowledgeable about North East history in general – especially his native South Shields.

Another great thing about the blog is that you never know what to expect next – it could be an interview with a world famous rock star, an ex-cast member of Auf Wiedersehen Pet or an up and coming local comedian. The fact that the blog has reached 250,000 views with readers, not just in the North East but worldwide, is staggering and well deserved’.

Bernadette Mooney (Musician) ‘I would like to say I have been very privileged to been interviewed and included in this blog and thank everyone that took time to read my interview.’

John Roach (Mythra) ‘Congratulations ALIKIVI on a quarter of a million views! Thank you for enriching our lives and reminding us of our fantastic North East cultural heritage. All the very best and here’s to the next 250,000’.

Jim Saxton (Temple of Blah) ‘Despite my focus on Roadrunner Records, I find myself coming back to Alikivi time and time again. The focus on the resources, key personnel and general moods of the North East music scene – especially in the early 80’s, is profoundly vivid and extremely helpful to my own reading.

Additionally, just one good interview, never mind hundreds, is a colossal undertaking – and Gary deserves every ounce of credit coming to him for filling the knowledge gap on this topic so substantially.’

Tom Kelly (Writer/poet) ‘I have worked with Gary on a number of films, telling stories of our area we felt needed to be told. The first film we worked on together was ‘Little Ireland’ in 2009 which has been seen by more than sixty thousand throughout the world. Gary has far exceeded that number with over a quarter of a million – keep on giving it six nowt Gary’.

Martin (Harbourmaster Productions) ‘Alikivi is a brilliant website, packed full of really interesting interviews and stories from culturally significant figures. I have always enjoyed reading the articles, and watching Gary’s films too’.

Daniel Clifford (Singer/Songwriter, Amateur Ornothologist) ‘It’s amazing to see the success of the blog and range of artists and projects covered over the years. Congratulations on reaching this milestone and I can’t wait to be interviewed again.’

Ian Slater (Entertainer)  ‘Well done that man! Thanks for your continued dedication to North East music, past and present and thank you for featuring me in one of your blogs. I continue to read it with great interest and enjoy having my memory and interest piqued by some of the acts that I thought I had long since forgotten. It brings it all flooding back’.

Julia Northam (Fietscher Fotos) ‘Congratulations Gary for creating the best North East blog on the net and thanks for letting me contribute, it was an honour x’.

Drew Gallon (Sweet Trash/Shotgun Brides/Dawn After Dark) ‘250,000 views by people checking out the past, present and future of music from the North East is an amazing number, a great boost to keeping music foremost in people’s minds, and keeping music alive and kicking. And it’s certainly a welcome boost after the 18 months or so that musicians, crew and venues have had to suffer. Thanks for making this happen Gary, and keep up the great work mate’.

John Gibson (Journalist, Newcastle Chronicle) ‘Congratulations Gary on reaching such a wonderful milestone richly deserved. It was a pleasure to take part as so many have done down the passage of time. Long may it continue’.

Steve Hall (East Side Torpedos) ‘Proud to feature on the Alikivi blog. It’s your own North East cultural history, so be part of it and check it out whenever you can.’

Brian Ross (Satan/Blitzkreig) ‘It was great chatting to Gary about the old days. It was a pleasure to relive those days in the words of my story. The memories all came flooding back’.

Alan Knights (Musician) ‘The North East is the best breeding ground by far for musicians to serve their time and I have been one of the lucky ones to have had music provide well for my families and a brilliant lifestyle – music has made me a happy man’.

Angus McDonald (South Shields museum) ‘I enjoy reading your blogs and interviews with North East rock bands, they bring back memories of when all the local clubs featured rock bands, especially the British Legion Club in South Shields – happy memories’.

J. Vincent Edwards (Songwriter) ‘You are fantastic for keeping our history alive. I’ve also did this around the world with my music. People love us Sand Dancers. We are fun and that’s what our world needs. I miss and love my old home town South Shields. Bless you for keeping the memory alive, love and peace x’.

John Edward Spence (Photographer)  ‘This blog has been a great insight to the talent within the North East music scene over the years, really enjoyed the interviews and features on the bands I used to love go and see at the Newcastle Mayfair and Mingles in Whitley Bay. Keep up the good work, so proud that my photos are part of it’.

Peter Chapman (Author) ‘Alkivi, the North East culture blog, is a unique and enduring record of regional history. You should be very proud to have been its creator.’

Big thanks to all you lovely people…keep spreading the love !

BINGO ! NORTH EAST CULTURE BLOG HITS QUARTER MILLION

/ Alikivi

Big thank you to all readers of the blog – very much appreciated. Some of the messages you sent will be posted soon. Reaching the milestone people said why not interview yourself you must have an interesting story ?

I thought ok why not – here goes.

Leaving school in the 1980’s there weren’t many options for a working class kid on Tyneside, I drifted aimlessly from Government employment schemes, factory work and signing on the dole – one time I found myself packing blocks of cheese!

Eventually I found the peace of mind I was searching for after studying photography and video production at Gateshead college in the early ’90s. Then I dove straight in at the deep end – no art grants or funding just full time self-employment.

Since then, my life has been dedicated to photography, video production, making social documentaries and the past five years writing this blog.

It can be relentless forming ideas from the minute you wake up to working seven days a week – but to be honest it’s the only way to do it. If you’re not prepared to put the time in you might as well shut up shop and hand the keys in.

The Tube was broadcast from 1982-87 at Tyne Tees Studio, Newcastle.

There were a number of big moments that inspired me. I was fortunate enough to get audience tickets for live TV music show The Tube – looking around the studio I was surrounded by cameras, lights and stages – that was a buzz right there.

The first time I developed one of my photographs was magic, I had a similar reaction when I first saw a videotape editing machine.

Plus, I was and still am, curious about stuff – Who made that ? How does it work ? When did that happen ? All very useful when talking to people and searching for the sharp end.

The blog is called Alikivi because I was looking for a short, original name and discovered my Great Uncle Alexander Alikivi was born in Russia around 1880 and left the country around the time of the revolution.

He came to live in South Shields as a merchant seaman. His name is pronounced Ally-kivy.  

At first I didn’t have a plan, the blog was to be just another outlet for interviews I’d filmed over ten year ago with South Tyneside musicians called We Sold Our Soul for Rock n Roll.

I thought they still had some juice in them, so I updated them, contacted more musicians, added more stories and in February 2017 the blog went live.

The next few years snowballed as the blog ended up covering culture across the North East – writers, artists, photographers – all very popular as the amount of hits show.

I never thought I’d end up talking to actors from Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and producers of The Tube.

For an interview style I try to make it a relaxed, light conversation, and being genuinely interested in what they have to say. It seems to work as hundreds of interviews later the blog has hit over quarter million views worldwide.

The Angelic Upstarts, pic. by Rik Walton.

There is so many highlights and in one interview Mond Cowie, former guitarist with Angelic Upstarts, remembers being on a USA tour in 1983.

‘We walked on stage, the lights blazed and Mensi screamed ‘We’re the Upstarts, we’re from England, 1,2,3,4’ – then bang there was a huge power cut’.

Another time Danny McCormack from The Wildhearts told me his parents were only convinced he had a real job when they saw him on telly.

‘Being in a band with a plank of wood and four wires hanging around your neck doesn’t cut it with your parents. After we’d done Top of the Pops my mam and dad stopped asking if I was going to get a proper job’.

A lot of stories were bands trying to ‘make it’ and one band who set alight to the Tyne but unfortunately not the Thames, was White Heat. Former singer and songwriter Bob Smeaton, now award winning music documentary maker, told me…

‘I was working as a welder at Swan Hunters shipyard when punk and new wave happened in ‘76,’77, that’s when I started thinking I could possibly make a career out of music’.

Lesley Saint John with Bill Patterson in series two of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. pic by Newcastle Chronicle.

One show that had me glued to the telly on a Friday night during the ‘80s was ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet’. So I didn’t miss the opportunity to talk to one of the stars of the show, Lesley Saint John.

‘You wouldn’t believe how much attention the show attracts. I done five years on Byker Grove, and a Catherine Cookson film, but Auf Wiedersehen is the one that’s talked about the most’.

South Shields born Eileen O’Shaughnessy.

‘Wildflower’ was a documentary I made about South Shields born Eileen O’Shaughnessy, George Orwell’s first wife. I interviewed his son Richard Blair who revealed Eileen’s influence on George.

‘She done some re-writing of his manuscripts, certainly when he was writing ‘Animal Farm’ he would read out what he had written during the day and she would pass comment on certain aspects’.

I was proud to hear The Orwell Society screened the documentary on the Isle of Jura where Orwell wrote his masterpiece ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’.

The late Chris Phipps, author & TV Producer.

One man I interviewed, sadly just a few weeks before he passed away, was author and TV Producer Chris Phipps who worked on live TV music programme The Tube.

I told Chris it was being in the audience of the programme that inspired me, Chris offered bags of encouragement ‘to go and dig out more stories, there’s plenty out there’.

So far I’m proud at the success of the blog – can’t smile wide enough, and I suppose I’ll keep going until the juice runs out.

Check out the You Tube channel : ALIKIVI – YouTube

PLAY IT AGAIN – on TV & Stage with music documentary director, Bob Smeaton

/ Alikivi

Smeaton first featured on this blog back in November 2018 talking about his time as lead vocalist and frontman with Newcastle bands Hartbreaker, White Heat and Loud Guitars. Over 17 years Bob played over 400 gigs, his last was in 1991.

Some say White Heat were the best band to come out of Newcastle who ‘never made it’. They signed for Virgin records in 1980, went on tour with Judas Priest and headlined London Marquee – they set alight to the Tyne, but sadly not the Thames.

Smeaton turned to acting on stage and TV, and like most North East actors was cast in an episode of Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

‘I was in the second series that was mostly filmed in Nottingham prior to them moving the action to Spain. I had known Jimmy Nail from when he used to come and see White Heat and had also met Tim Healy a number of times, as I had once worked with his wife Denise’ remembers Bob.

Nearly 40 years later the show about a group of British workers on a German building site is still being repeated on TV today.

Even though some scenes have been chopped out – it still gets me smiling which is a hard ask at the best of times. I suppose it’s a great example of ‘feel good telly’ – and nothing comes close.

‘My role as shop assistant in a man’s boutique was very much blink and you miss it, and in fact it didn’t warrant a mention in my memoir. I’m sure that role could have been played by a hundred other actors. 

I was told recently that my scene has been cut from the re-runs on UK Drama but my name is still there in the end credits!

As chance would have it I was in a club in London a couple of years ago and a bloke came up to me pointed to my trousers and asked ‘Do they do the Italian paratrooper in your size’. Which was one of my lines from the scene.

He then proceeded to run the whole scene with him playing the role of Oz and me reprising my role as the shop assistant’.

Fans of the programme still regard it with much affection and the interview with Auf Wiedersehen actress Lesley Saint John, is by far the most popular interview on this blog (link below). Lesley appears in ‘Hasta La Vista’, the episode that Bob appeared in.

It just goes to show what a brilliant series it was and how people still look upon it with great affection. I was also lucky to have been in a scene with Tim Spall, he is a genius and nothing like the character he played on screen.

Bob in his early days in White Heat.

TEENAGE DREAM

When my careers guidance teacher asked me what I wanted to do when I left school I told her I wanted to be an actor or singer. This didn’t seem like an option and she suggested the shipyards as a third option. As it turned out I have been fortunate to do all three.

Without doubt singing in a band was, and remains, the best thing that I’ve ever done. Nothing beats being on stage and performing to an audience. And my love of music was the springboard to my present job as a director of music documentaries. 

Even working in the yards had its upside, it gave me loads of material for song lyrics and made me realise ‘there must be more to life than this’.

Bob and Mick McNally shooting a scene from the Film on Four, Accounts.


STAGECRAFT

I always felt there was an element of acting in being in a band, you learnt your lines, put on a show and hopefully entertained an audience with a degree of honesty.

I first acted in school plays at junior school even though at South Benwell school we didn’t do drama. Therefore, I would write plays and give myself the lead role. Often with a few songs thrown in for good measure.

When White Heat split I was very fortunate to be cast in a Film on Four called Accounts. The guy who wrote it, Micheal Wilcox, had seen me presenting a television show called The Colour Programme, and thought that I would be right to play the part of Andy Mawson.

The role had previously been performed on stage by Kevin Whately. Mike McNally played the role of my younger  brother, Donald. Mike and I have remained good friends and I look forward to getting up a doing a turn with him at ‘Jarra Tapas’ in the not too distant future.

15 MINUTES OF FAME

I thought that having had a lead role in a film would be the springboard to more acting work, but that wasn’t the case. I soon learnt that for every role there would be hundreds of actors going for the same part.

I was up for roles alongside the likes of Robson Green and Joe Caffrey, great actors with more experience than I had.

As far as my acting career goes the thing that got me noticed most was an advert for McEwan’s Best Scotch. When it was broadcast I discovered what it was like to be famous for 15 minutes.

The irony was I was recognised more for that ad than I did for being in a band. But I guess that’s that the power of television. It’s still out there on You Tube. And I can laugh at it now and it’s great to have a record of what I looked like all those years ago.

Like most local actors I did a Catherine Cookson. I was cast in the The Black Candle and had my throat cut about ten minutes into the film. My mam thought it was the best thing that I had ever done, and would watch on repeat my sad demise at the hands of some posh bloke.

Those Cookson’s were great and had really high production values and were a great source of work for a load of local actors. I am sure every actor in the North East will have a Cookson on their CV.

Bob during the time of making the McEwans Best Scotch commercial.

SCREEN TIME

Another show filmed in the North East was TV detective show Spender, broadcast 1991-93. The programme starred Jimmy Nail who created the series with Ian La Franais, who also wrote Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

I played the part of a drug dealer in Spender, I think Jimmy Nail put me forward for that role. I still see Jimmy occasionally but we never talk about acting.

Like me I think his first love was and remains music, we talk about music and the sad demise of our football club.

I also did some Theatre work and my debut was in a play called Fur Coat and No Knickers by Mike Harding. This was at the Palace Theatre in Westcliff Upon Sea.

My opening line was “Hello I’m Mark Greenhalgh I’m as bright as the inside of a cows bum”. It wasn’t Shakespeare, but it was a good laugh.

Eastenders actor Ross Kemp was also in it. We became good mates, we also did The Wizard of Oz together. Me and telly hardman Ross Kemp in leotards playing munchkins was a sight to behold. I never really caught the theatre bug and much preferred television and film acting.

I did dip my toe back into acting when I finished working on the Beatles Anthology. Matthew Robinson cast me in Quayside a soap opera that was set on Tyneside.

The television audience hated it, and it got dropped after one series. I loved it and had a great time making it, the highpoint was getting to work alongside the great Joe Caffrey.

One time we were sat waiting to start filming and he was chatting away to me. I didn’t realise he was running the scene. It didn’t seem like he was acting. That was the difference between my acting and the likes of Joe, for him it was effortless.

Bob on stage at the Palace Theatre doing Wizard of Oz. Ross Kemp and Bob standing either side of Dorothy.

TV EXIT

I haven’t done any acting since Quayside (1997), the series was cancelled around the same time as my career as a director of music documentaries began to take off.

My first love was always music, but I was very fortunate to have experienced what I was like to be an actor and I really enjoyed it and I would ‘never say never again’.

I really miss performing and although acting will never replace the buzz of being on stage with a band I feel it works a similar muscle. Performing is in my blood and I would like to think both of those doors remain open.

When I released my book someone got in touch and suggested trying to make a film of it and that I could play the role of my dad. Anyone who has read the book would realise me and my dad had a difficult relationship, but maybe playing him might have helped get rid of some demons. Also I would have got to get up and sing a bunch of Tom Jones songs.

YOU BETTER YOU BET

The year before the pandemic struck I broke my knee-cap and I was out of action for six months. I was finally back up and running at the start of 2020, then the pandemic struck.

I have been very fortunate to have been kept busy during this past year. I finished a documentary about the Who Sell Out album just before Christmas, this is due to air on Sky Arts around the end of April.

At present I am in the process of finishing a film about a big American band, I’m not at liberty to say who it is, it should hopefully get a cinema release later this year and will also screen on television.

GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE

As we have not been able to get out and do much socialising, my evenings have been spent working on some new songs and practicing my singing and guitar playing. It would be great to get the songs recorded.

I am also pondering the possibility of getting out there and doing some gigs once the restrictions are lifted. I am not sure what form the gigs would take but I am keeping my options open.

But I have always said that it’s as big a buzz playing to twenty people as it is to two thousand.

Bob Smeaton’s memoir – From Benwell Boy to 46th Beatle…and Beyond

is available now through Newcastle Waterstones and Amazon.

Link to previous interview:

THE BOY FROM BENWELL – with Film & TV Director, Bob Smeaton | ALIKIVI (garyalikivi.com)

Link to interview with Lesley Saint John:

TALKING PICTURES in conversation with actress Lesley Saint John | ALIKIVI (garyalikivi.com)

Interview by Alikivi   March 2021.

LUCKY MAN – part one, with North Shields actor & musician Tony Hodge.

/ Alikivi

Leaving school and taking up a job as a Chef led Tony Hodge down a path that he couldn’t imagine…

I’ve been very lucky as a chef, drummer, actor and company director plus a rocker in the famous ‘60s era of mods and rockers. Looking back they were great years, it’s been a blast. I’ve been a lucky man said 75 year old Tony.

Did you come from a musical family ?

My family weren’t musical as such, although my parents sang in the church choir and my brother plays guitar.

When I was a chef in 1961 at the Park Hotel in Tynemouth, the hotel had a resident band with a drum kit. I had an urge to play and that started a career that spanned over 30 years. Mind you many wouldn’t class my drumming as musical.

Then I went with Ray Laidlaw (Lindisfarne) to see Ginger Baker and Cream at the Club A Go-Go in Newcastle, that changed my style of playing – I became known as Animal.

Can you remember your first bands and gigs?

My first band, I was 16, we only played a few gigs then I joined Dominion Aces, then Turm with John Lawton singing, he later sang for Uriah Heep.

Next was Arctic Rainbow with Kenny Mountain (Beckett) and Micky Balls on guitar. Venues included the famous Rex Hotel, Whitley Bay and the Cellar Club in South Shields.

Then there was Tex Leon and the Tynesiders and finally The Piranha Brothers who had a huge following and never stopped filling clubs for the 10 years we played in the North East.

We had a four-part singing line up in many songs and some of a set at the Birtley Rex is on my You Tube page.

The Pirahna Brothers line up was two lead vocalists in Geordie Scott and Allen Matthews, lead guitar & vocals from both Paul Simmons & Mac Norris.

During their time they had three bass players – founder Bill French, then Paul Allen and finally Dave Wightman. On drums was Tony Hodge.

Where did The Piranha Brothers play ?

Venues were mainly social clubs as they were hundreds around then and all the agents used them. We weren’t a typical social club band though, as our act was largely made up from our own songs written by Paul Simmons our lead guitarist.

Most bands played covers as I had in the Tynesiders, but we had an act that worked in clubs and other venues.

One night we played Newcastle Mayfair with three other bands to a 3000 plus audience and The Piranhas played several open air concerts in the early ‘80s at Gypsies Green stadium in South Shields.

The most popular Piranhas venue was Heaton Buffs in Newcastle. Our Christmas concerts sold out the year previous. The original single night ended up as three nights, and we had guest bands playing along with the brilliant resident band Burlesque.

The Christmas nights were themed with ideas being thought up by our singers… ‘St Trinians’, ‘The Young Ones’, ‘WWII’ and the final one ‘The Nativity’ and Burlesque always joined in the game. I still wonder though how some of the guys always thought women’s nylons had to be included.

The guest bands never knew what to expect and one time a guest band was 747 with the late brilliant musician Dave Black. This band was really cool, all good looking and right up to date. We hired a topless dancer to come on stage mid set and serve drinks on a tray to the band.

Dave was singing in full swing and she was out of his eyesight. The rest of the band saw her and were laughing but Dave was oblivious. When she stood in front of him he was speechless – literally – and his face was a picture. The audience loved it though.

We often had many famous faces in the audience such as John Miles, Brian Johnston (Geordie) and Hylton Valentine (The Animals) so it must have had some appeal.

Pictured above is the Newcastle Mayfair competition final. The room was packed with over 3000 people. Two bands had the biggest following, that was Burlesque and us.

All bands were great on the night but the audience were very unhappy when neither won. A riot erupted with plastic glasses being thrown and Alan Hull (Lindisfarne) could not provide the prize.

Alan and Brian, the Mayfair manager, asked if anyone from the Piranhas or Burlesque could try and do something. Paul from Burlesque and I went on stage to try and calm the audience down and the anger turned to cheers.

Alan Hull presented the prize with a bowl on his head to everyone’s delight. One of the judges, Chas Chandler (The Animals), invited us to go to Abbey Road studios and record our songs which we did.

Have you any memories from those North East gigs ?

Piranhas were known for the two main singers in Geordie Scott and Alan Mathews, pulling many stunts like pretend fights and blood capsules. They had funny routines without in any way being a comic band.

This night to a packed room we counted four beats and the usual very loud intro to First Bite powered out. As always Geordie jumped up fists in the air and hit the deck, Alan started to dart around the stage.

This time however Geordie didn’t get up. This seemed ok, these guys were up for anything after all, however the intro was over and Alan wasn’t joined by Geordie. We played on but after a few more bars we realised something was wrong.

It was…Geordie had dislocated his knee and ended up being taken to hospital in an ambulance. In the true showbiz style of the show must go on, Alan and the rest of us finished the night.

Another night at the Birtley Rex. A guy called Liddle Towers had recently died in police custody in Birtley and the police were none too popular.

Liddle Towers was an amateur boxing coach who died in police custody, in 1978 South Shields punk band The Angelic Upstarts wrote a song about the incident The Murder of Liddle Towers.

This night our first set was our own material only, but second set we were finishing our final set with a couple of punk covers. A wedding party had been trouble through the night and a fight broke out.

The police were called and a young Police Constable plus an overweight Sergeant arrived. When they entered the whole club erupted against them, chairs, tables, glasses all went flying.

A roadie got cut and I ran from the dressing room to the stage yelling to the police to run to the dressing room. The guys dragged them in and the glasses hitting the doors sounded like a battlefield.

Suddenly there was silence and out of the tiny window was a wall of blue lights as far as you could see, police were everywhere.

Eventually, I ventured to the stage and the club was empty. Wrecked but empty. Never have I ever seen a club clear so fast.

Did you record any of your material ?

Yes I have a couple of singles they are in the attic collecting dust, unfortunately no turntable. I last heard one of them on You Tube as a fan must have uploaded it.

In 1979 The Piranha Brothers had a single on the Durham record label, Guardian. The song was called Too Much of Wanting You and studio owner Terry Gavaghan wrote that and Paul Simmons and Iwrote the b-side Dancing Time.

At one point Brian Johnston (Geordie/AC/DC) was a big fan. We recorded a single in his Newcastle studio Lynx, the song was called A Woman Like You. But it went to the USA and nothing happened. Chas Chandler (The Animals) got us recording in Abbey Road studio – but major fame alluded us.

Next time on the blog read the second part of Tony’s story, where he sees an opportunity to prolong his career in entertainment.

I didn’t think I could be playing drums in my 40s and 50s and I thought I would have a longer career in acting than music. It was a surprise because I never thought I would get as far as I did.

Interview by Alikivi   February 2021.

SANTAS BIG BAG O’SWAG 2020

/ Alikivi

If yer looking for an original Christmas present to buy why not have a butchers at these from North East musicians who have featured on the blog.

Alan Fish former White Heat guitarist now in the Attention Seekers, got in touch….

In 2020 with all gigs cancelled, The Attention Seekers diverted their energies into recording.

We released three singles in total which are now available to download/stream….

The Girl With The Jukebox Mind (Fish), Chain Reaction (Fish/Smeaton) and Is It Too Late? / 21 and Wasted (Fish/Smeaton). Our albums The Curious And Deranged and A Song for Tomorrow are also available.

Visit our website the-attention-seekers.co.uk and check out the shop section.

With multiple vaccines within grasp in the words of Pete Townshend  “got a feeling twenty-one is gonna be a good year“. Here’s the link  http://www.the-attention-seekers.co.uk/band.html

Wishing all our friends who have supported us through the years a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and see you on the other side as life returns to normal.

Read more interviews on the blog from Alan back in September & November 2019.

Steve Hall former guitarist with East Side Torpedoes now in The Questionnaires, sent over some newspaper and radio reviews from the new album Atlantic Ridge….

‘As soon as people start listening to Atlantic Ridge, they’re going to fall in love with the album…. they’re absolutely going to fall in love with it’ – Dave Englefield, West Somerset and Sedgemoor FM

‘Sumptuous playing, Jane Wade’s perfect diction and wonderfully warm vocals combine to make both albums what I would describe as proper ‘adult’ orientated pop offerings. Chuck in exemplary self-production and this is, indeed, ‘music for pleasure’ – Pete Whalley, Get Ready to Rock

‘The cream of the crop of local musicians…. song-writing talent flows across an album that any true music lover should have in their collection’ – Brian Clough, The Northern Echo

‘Stunning vocals by Jane Wade. Impossible to pigeonhole but, if you must, file under ‘proper music’ – Stephen Foster, BBC Radio Suffolk

‘An accomplished, ultra-professional set of quality songs’ – Neil Vessey introducing Atlantic Ridge as album of the week on Folk Pilot, Deal Radio

The album is available to buy from: https://thequestionnaires.bandcamp.com/

Read interviews on the blog with Steve from March 2019 & October 2020.

Gary Alikivi December 2020.