-
This site is sponsored by Lang & Potter.
God Save the Queen (gigs in Plymouth)
- Thread starter MickyD
- Start date
I was a couple of years young for those gigs, but NMtB, GSTQ et al sit proudly in my vinyl collection. I loved everything about the genre - raw, anarchistic- just two fingers up to society, authority and of course the beige music scene if the time. You couldn’t accuse the Pistols of being musical geniuses but that wasn’t what it was all about.
In those days you always had a favourite band, something to identify with (never understood my daughters’ generation thinking that was an alien concept). Mine was The Stranglers - who I followed around a fair bit and am still mad about today. Dave has now sadly gone of course and every time I hear of a passing of ‘heroes’ of that musical genre, I always remember what an amazing period it was - never since matched IMO. Times were harder but still feel lucky to have lived it.
In those days you always had a favourite band, something to identify with (never understood my daughters’ generation thinking that was an alien concept). Mine was The Stranglers - who I followed around a fair bit and am still mad about today. Dave has now sadly gone of course and every time I hear of a passing of ‘heroes’ of that musical genre, I always remember what an amazing period it was - never since matched IMO. Times were harder but still feel lucky to have lived it.
I do, but my mohican is now very grey !!!Ahhh. but do you still have your hair?
That was Andy Howard. Total pri.....no, I'll leave it there.
Missed the gig but but bought the single in Virgins when it was in Cornwall Street next to the market entrance. Still have it.
Remember mystery group SPOTs being advertised around town . Think admission was 70p, so you knew that they had to be pretty good.
Anyone go to Woods to see Albertos y Los Trios Paranois being supported by The Police (when Roxanne was first released)? Or see The Jolt at Woods - pretty unlikely as the attendance was six!
Anyone go to Woods to see Albertos y Los Trios Paranois being supported by The Police (when Roxanne was first released)? Or see The Jolt at Woods - pretty unlikely as the attendance was six!
Its odd looking back at some of the bands being supported by, what we would call much bigger bands. Many years back I was a Student Union Officer at Plymouth CFE and we put on the Climax Blues Band (who remembers them) but they were supported by Dire Straights. We had to go around the posters adding their name in felt pen as Dire Straights, at the time were, nobodies. They were bleddy good though.
If you attended the previous week's gig in August 1977 (which I did) you got a voucher for first dibs on a Pistols ticket. That previous gig was the Police on their own first, then as backing band for Warhol Superstar Cherry Vanilla. That's my memory of how it went, anyway!
Having just checked, Roxanne wasn't released until April 78, so mine was an earlier gig - they were pretty much completely unknown when I saw them. Unless I'm mixing up a memory from a TV appearance, Sting wore a jumper (mohair, no doubt) with broad black and yellow horizontal stripes - see what he did there?
And I saw Climax Blues Band as well - can't remember where now. I wonder if I also saw Dire Straits without even knowing it?
Having just checked, Roxanne wasn't released until April 78, so mine was an earlier gig - they were pretty much completely unknown when I saw them. Unless I'm mixing up a memory from a TV appearance, Sting wore a jumper (mohair, no doubt) with broad black and yellow horizontal stripes - see what he did there?
And I saw Climax Blues Band as well - can't remember where now. I wonder if I also saw Dire Straits without even knowing it?
The Police started out as a full on punk band and only later morphed into the Police we know today. I thought their music was pretty dreadful at the time and can remember drinking in the Welly when Roxanne came out and wow ... what a change.
I think Climax Blues Band was at Castaways in Union Street and it must have been Dire Straights first national tour as at the time, nobody had heard of them. I only remember them because, a; I had to write their name on a load of posters and b; they were very good.
I also remember him as being quite a pri... although I don't recall any specific misdeeds - but that kind of personality was pretty much de rigueur for club DJs back in dem days.
And maybe I was being generous with "a bit of a hippy". The memories are blurred, but maybe it was more like wannabe member of some godawful smooth pop-rock band with huge lapels.
It still amazes me when I (very!) occasionally look back at old charts and TOTP clips and am reminded of the huge culture clash between punk and "straight" Britain that saw the likes of Peters and Lee following, say, the Stranglers on TOTP.
Musically that period between 1976 and around 1981 was incredible for teenagers and young people, add in the political state of the country at that time made it a volatile, passionate and inspiring situation.
There seems to be a general consensus about Andy Howard. I know him personally and that is far from the truth. He’s a lovely bloke who will bend over backwards to help anyone who needs it.
