Pete the Pick hasn't half seen some shite in his time....

Backslapping time. Well done us. We are fantastic.
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Postby Pete the Pick » 30 Mar 2005, 15:27

mentalist (slight return) wrote:Just a short note, it's The Master's Apprentices, note the plural, although I suppose each individual member was The Master's Apprentice.


I have seen both incarnations of the name, but I'm fairly certain mine was right for the period, or at least the advert hoarding, but no matter.

March 28th:

1976
No Sweat
The White Bear, Hounslow

1978
The Ekoes
The Heartdrops
The Heat
The Pegasus, Stoke Newington

1991
Blessed State
Blank Generation
The Red Lion, Brentford

At the moment, I can only dream of No Sweat......Manila, 30-odd degrees at 10:00 at night!
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Postby Pete the Pick » 30 Mar 2005, 15:29

March 29th:

1973
The Faces
BBC Paris Studio, Lower Regent's Street

Read'n'weep, boys!
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Postby Pete the Pick » 30 Mar 2005, 15:39

March 30th:

1972
Grimms
BBC Paris Studio, Lower Regent's Street

1977
Johnny Moped
The Damned
The RCA, Kensington

The Grimms thing was a special night: all manner of foolery from members of Scaffold, plus Liverpool Scene (Andy Roberts) and the genius that is Adrien Henri (plus other Liverpool poets, like Adrian Patten) bopping! Believe me that was an unexpected sight, as he was never made for that sort of behaviour! Neil Innes in attendance also, aka Stoop Solo. Wonderful night!

The punk Benny Hill, plus The Damned. What could be more fun at that time in 77?

Well, dunno about you lot, but I climbed an active volcano today. Hot? Only like fuck! Off into Northern Luzon tomorrow for a few days, so don't expect much activity hereabouts......

....except after signing off just now, I had to go to Conway's, the in-house, or in-hotel, bar, which seems to concentrate on Filipino 60s cover merchants. Last night it was a bunch providing, for our delectation, and well-performed, I must admit, versions of "There's A Kind Of Hush", and "Obla-Di, Obla-Da": y'know, no discernment about just because it was a hit in the 60s didn't mean it was necessarily good, or something. Anyway, a different lot tonight, who gamely embarked on "Macarthur's Park"! I had to buy a drink just so's I could hear how they managed the ending! Sadly, and shrewdly I might venture, the singer opted to, "soul-fashion", follow a completely different melody line, meaning he finished an octave lower than Harris' original. Bah!
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Postby Hugh » 31 Mar 2005, 12:30

Pete the Pick wrote:Well, dunno about you lot, but I climbed an active volcano today.


Is atoll?

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Postby Pete the Pick » 31 Mar 2005, 14:54

Hugh Jarse wrote:
Pete the Pick wrote:Well, dunno about you lot, but I climbed an active volcano today.


Is atoll?


No. Is included in price.

March 31st:

1988
Fairground Attraction
Deacon Blue
Town & Country, Kentish Town

Oh, the shame! Someone else got tickets, honest! Here I am up in the mountains, having just watched an ethnic celebration of local Filipino dance (Mrs. the_Pick approved of the near naked boys), and I have to admit to this rattling skeleton! "The Horror....".

Tomorrow's much more interesting......
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Postby Pete the Pick » 01 Apr 2005, 14:12

April 1st:

1971
Argent
The Marquee Club, Wardour Street

1977
Eater
Wire
Johnny Moped
The Roxy, Covent Garden

The Boot Boys had just about got in with Peelie, when we failed to get into Led Zeppelin at The Paris on this night. Bless his soul, he phoned up the Marquee and ensured we got freebies to see Argent at least, who were doing that gig. What a nice man! I think this was Argent in their pre-"God Gave Rock'n'Roll To You" phase which was still acceptable!

Oh yes! Eater at the Roxy on April Fool's Night! They produced a bona-fide pig's head on stage, and flung that into the audience. Nice! Next up Wire. Now recently, down in the BCB History of Music, or whatever it is, people have been having the usual problem in categorising, to everyone's satisfaction, the variances of Punk, and where New Wave does or doesn't encroach / overlap. I can't begin to get involved in that, but it does strike me that when the ethos of Punk is trotted out, y'know, the ability to just get up there and do what comes naturally, as it were, there cannot have been many bands that fitted that bill more easily than Wire. I remember little of this night, other than material that started, then stopped, just when you thought something else would happen, and that it didn't fit the usual template. Note this was April 1977, so any opinion that Wire were post-punk, I now declare null and void. Johnny Moped was as moronic, and wonderful as ever, and never the future of Rock'n'Roll, just good fun. You judge the significant band on this bill....
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Postby Pete the Pick » 02 Apr 2005, 14:26

April 2nd:

1980
The Agents
The Wooden Horse, Guildford

1981
Lucky Saddles
The Clarendon, Hammersmith

1988
Steve Marriott & The Official Receivers
The Red Lion, Brentford

Lucky Saddles was Arturo's short lived outfit post Pinpoint, and pre-Blubbery Hellbellies. This night, Robin Bibby (sp?) was in the line-up (he indeed played on their one and only single, which I believe I've provided on some previous comp, or at last the b-side).

Gutted to think this was probably the last time I saw Steve Marriott before his death.

Anyway, in the last couple of days I've seen enough rice-fields, albeit terraced, and therefore of architectural merit, to shake a stick at. Tomorrow it's back to the hedonism of Manila then Boracay. Hey ho......
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Postby Pete the Pick » 03 Apr 2005, 15:29

April 3rd:

1980
The Rest
The Spectres
The 101 Club, Clapham

About The Rest I wrote at the time, "Wasting their time and ours - they could do with one..." Scathing, huh? The Spectres were Glen Matlock's new band at the time, featuring Danny Kustow (ex-Tom Robinson) on lead. Pretty good, actually: had a couple of reasonable singles out, but not much more. The last sentence nearly came to you in Japanese, as I obviously hit some key by mistake, but it didn't display in Japanese, so it would have been wasted, so I got the lad to reset whatever I'd done!

It's off to Boracay, and therefore the beach, tomorrow. Hurrah!

Boracay yesterday.....
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Postby Pete the Pick » 05 Apr 2005, 09:42

The beach was so beguiling, I missed the boat, so to speak....

April 4th:

1978
The Ekoes
The Ventilators
Apostrophe
The Pegasus, Stoke Newington

Packing them in at The Pegasus, as usual! Apostrophe were presumably some Beatles fan's idea of a bad joke, else some frustrated fans' idea of a bad joke foisted on their offspring. I'm not kidding, these must have been all of 14 years old, dressed up in Beatles collarless suits, circa 1963/4, and playing the back catalogue of that era! I guess it just goes to prove you shouldn't mess with nostalgia!
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Postby Pete the Pick » 05 Apr 2005, 09:47

April 5th:

1977
The Fabulous Poodles
The Railway Hotel, Putney

I must have said all there is to say about the Fab Poos, except in these days they incorporated a number that necessitated Tony de Meur producing an outsized razor-blade, presumably as some sort of humourous concession to the Punk movement which would shortly take away the business from bands such as this....
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Postby Pete the Pick » 06 Apr 2005, 10:20

April 6th:

1972
Vinegar Joe
Hookfoot
BBC Paris Studio, Lower Regent's Street

Vinegar Joe featured pre-sophisto Elkie Brooks and supersmooth Robert Palmer on lead vocals, which is quite a good line-up, it appears to me. At the time, of course, I thought somebody looking as smooth as Palmer had no right to be involved in what otherwise constituted a pretty raunchy rock outfit. However, on this night, they kicked off with "See The World (Through My Eyes)", which I have to say endured, even though I never bought it at the time, and whilst Peelie championed it a bit, was never a hit. After all these years, I only got a copy a few years ago, and included it on an early JU comp.

Image

What collecting various freakbeat compilations over the last couple of years has, at least, told me is that Caleb Quaye was a pretty visionary writer and guitarist during the late 60s. How, then, he came up with a band so ordinary as Hookfoot at this point is a mystery. Maybe it's just me, but I did see them a few times, and they never floated my boat. His earlier stuff, however, was impressive.
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Postby Pete the Pick » 08 Apr 2005, 10:48

April 8th:

1978
2-Timers
The Speakeasy

The 2-Timers flew in from New York, intent on trying to get a record deal over here, I guess figuring the scene was better equipped for their sound than back home (kind of Hearbreakers thing - Thunders rather than Petty, of course). I can't quite remember how, or who, out of our crowd made the connection, but suddenly half of them were dossing at my friend Marion's flat in Chiswick. Led by writer / lead guitarist Audie Willert, they were a damned fine band, as this gig was to testify, as was the single they eventually got out on Virgin, "Now That I've Lost My Baby", but coupled with an amazing b-side, "Fast And Furious": just ask Nikki. They hung around for a while, but that Virgin single deal was the best they did over here. They returned to New York, and many years later I did find another single by them, "Living For The Weekend" (1980)which I didn't think a patch on 1978's effort.
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Postby Pete the Pick » 09 Apr 2005, 09:20

April 9th:

1977
Bamboo & The Reggae Guitars
The Red Cow, Hammersmith

1980
The Bazza Band
Cartoons, Croydon

Cannot bring Bamboo to mind, to be honest....

The Bazza Band was a jazz outfit that Andy played clarinet in, or something. Andy was the engineer that worked with us on The Form's "Watch Out!" session. Long-haired geezer with Lennon glasses, obviously belonging to a bygone age, but he was a nice chap, and pressed the right buttons for our stuff. I think we'd only just been back to RMS Studios in Selhurst a week or so earlier to finally mix the recordings done the previous year!
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Postby Pete the Pick » 10 Apr 2005, 09:08

April 10th:

1977
The Boys
Generation X
John Cale
The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm

1988
The Boogie Brothers
The Half Moon, Putney

1991
Blank Generation
Cartoons, Reading

Nice bill at the Roundhouse. The Boys were one of the better bands around at the time, and of course Generation X had a fair bit of style to their set. Uncle John Cale came across as doomy as you would expect, from one of the elder fraternity. Still, it was the undercard more than anything that drew me to this one. Cale didn't even wear his hockey facemask, a large disappointment, that: all the pre-publicity had featured that shot!

Gen X
Image

John Cale wearing the wrong mask...
Image


The Boogie Brothers touted themselves as a Blues Brothers type affair, a bit pre-Commitments. They were good fun though.
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Postby Pete the Pick » 11 Apr 2005, 08:59

April 11th:

1976
No Sweat
The White Bear, Hounslow

1978
The Ekoes
Pinpoint
The Monos
The Pegasus, Stoke Newington

1987
The Goagsb
Six Pound Trout
Blank Generation
Crusader Social Club, Reigate

Another night at The Newbeat Club, in downtown Green Lanes, Stoke Newington. This night, I was able to repay Arturo for giving our lot (The Zeros as was) our first ever gig, by giving his new band Pinpoint their first ever gig.

A fun-packed night at the Crusader Social Club, as you can imagine. This was the insurance company where Russ, our singer, worked.
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Postby Pete the Pick » 13 Apr 2005, 16:58

Bit late with this one.....it's suffering from jet-lag.

April 12th:

1977
Squeeze
Wayne County & The Electric Chairs
The Railway Hotel, Putney

1979
Exodus
The Ruts
Acton Town Hall

This being early 1977, I found Squeeze a little lightweight at this time. Much more appreciated later......Wayne County most certainly was NOT lightweight. This band were Grrrrreat!

Wayne and the Chairs, with bassist Val Haller (far left) looking like he should be on The Muppets...
Image

The Acton gig was a Rock Against Racism event, with a good Reggae band in Exodus. and one of the great punk / rock outfits of the time, The Ruts.

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Postby Pete the Pick » 13 Apr 2005, 17:00

April 13th:

1972
Home
Roy Young Band
BBC Paris Studio, Lower Regent's Street
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Postby Pete the Pick » 15 Apr 2005, 11:41

April 14th:

1971
Egg
The Lyceum, The Strand

1985
John Otway
Alexei Sayle
Wimbledon Theatre

The Egg gig cost 10p admission, and was billed as a "lunchtime workshop". I was on Easter holiday from school as I recall. Egg was, of course, Dave Stewart of "Canterbury" fame, Hatfield And The North etc., together with Mont Campbell on bass, and Clive Brooks, who later joined Groundhogs, strangely, on drums. I was well into their tricky time signatures and stuff at this point: "The Polite Force" was a firm favourite. Stewart's next venture outside Egg was a collaboration with Steve Hillage on the Khan album, "Space Shanty" which is an enduring favourite of mine. Good money's-worth this one!

Image

Comedy time at Wimbledon Theatre: 'Ullo John, Gotta New Motor?
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Postby Pete the Pick » 15 Apr 2005, 11:54

April 15th:

1977
48 Hours
Warren Harry
The Nashville, West Kensington

1981
Singapore
The 101 Club, Clapham

1990
Ship Of Fools
Tragic Roundabout
And The Generals Also Ran
The Marquee Club, Tottenham Court Road

48 Hours were later to change their name to 999, and were always good value.

I feel like I've said a few times "Good little band, what happened to them?" about some of the people I saw at the 101 Club. Singapore fall into this category. They had good material, played well, and sunk without a trace. Great shame!

Sledgey and me have a friend Stuart, who works for EMI Publishing. He had connections with Tragic Roundabout, thus this visit (my only one, I think) to the re-located Marquee club. Not particularly impressed with the Roundabout, unfortunately. The venue is now more remembered round these parts for being the site of the first ever Jolly Up, in April 2002, as a Wetherspoons pub. It was The Man In The Moon then, I think, though it's now called Montague Dyke, as a Lloyd's bar, still under the tutelage of Wetherspoon's.
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Postby Pete the Pick » 16 Apr 2005, 09:40

April 16th:

1978
Doctors Of Madness
The Marquee Club, Wardour Street

1983
Street Aliens
Red Shift
The Front Line Theatre, Brixton

I remember queuing outside The Marquee with my friend Marion, and bumping into Audie Willert from The 2-Timers. He liked Doctors Of Madness, but I found them noisy and tuneless. Kid Strange, Stoner and Urban Blitz? Really?

Noisy and tuneless people....
Image

Off to Brixton to see Chris' lot, Red Shift. Notable for the fact that the Front Line Theatre was in Railton Road, and I parked outside, and my Capri still had its wheels when I picked it up afterwards!
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