Thursday, November 18, 2021

The MP'S

The MP'S


(Ska) (Above - From Alternative Sounds)


"The MP's are a new Ska band or something from Coventry with 3 blacks and 3 whites including a saxophone player. They wore smart modish suits, silly plastic bowler hats and red carnations. The lead singer used an umbrella on stage.

Mick Roberts (also was a member of Team 23 and later the hit band - King)
The MP's released a single Life on the Dole.
Other songs - Madhouse, Crowded City, She's a Goer


"Mike Roberts was a classically trained pianist who had just finished a stint playing with

reggae legends The Pioneers. As a teenager he'd earned his crust backing American touring acts such as The Crystals, Chantelles and Velvelettes. An adept player who could move with ease across soul, ska and rock, he fitted perfectly into Paul's vision of a hybrid dance group.

"The first time I saw Mick he was in band called the MPs, supporting the Reluctant Stereotypes. When the show finished and everyone was packing down, he got on a piano and started playing - it was then I realized that he was very talented. When King came together we needed a versatile keyboard player; an anchorman. Mick came through on all levels." Paul King - Music Maker Magazine

 
Life on the Dole - The MP's - 1980

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Moon

 MOON

Cult soul / funk band - 1976 - 77


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Moon were not a Coventry band as such but at least three of its members were from Coventry. Possibly four with Bob Jackson - of Indian Summer - later Badfinger and many other bands - Bob Jackson has confirmed that he guested on Moon's album.

Members - (at various stages as far as I can tell) John ShearerNoel McCalla (vocals), Loz Netto (guitar, vocals), Doug Bainbridge (wind), Graham Colyer (guitar), Dave Dennis (vocals), Bob Jackson (keyboards) Bob guested on Moon's album, Ron Lawrence (bass), Gary Moberley (keyboards), Nicky Payne (wind), Luigi Salvoni (drums) https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/moon/

About -

The group were short lived 
and didn't become commercially successful, despite signing to Epic, a major record label but produced two albums and several singles between 1976 and 1977. The group did four sessions for Peel's show during the 70's.

Pete Clemons has some additional material about Moon Here https://coventrygigs.blogspot.com/2021/09/moon.html



Loz Netto - From Pete Chambers in Coventry Telegraph April 2009


Pete Chambers "You joined the band Moon who had a strong Coventry connection"

Loz Netto - " I got a call from a friend Noel McCalla, also from Coventry. He had got a gig with a new band in London called Moon and they were holding auditions for a guitar player and bass player. So Ron Lawrence and myself went along, got the gig and started playing the London pub scene. We played pretty much every major town in the UK and Wales, travelling up and down the motorways in our bashed up Transit van. We also played The Butts College in Cov and The Lanchester Poly.

We were doing lots of live radio shows for John Peel, I guess all that helped us get signed
Moon supported War on tour via Nick Knibb

to CBS records. We recorded two albums for the label. We were then doing bigger venues like The Hammersmith Odeon and The Fairfield Halls in London, The Glasgow Apollo, Odeon cinemas etc, supporting bands like War, Thin Lizzy, Boxer, Crawler, Gill Scot Heron and many others. I guess the band was together about three years before we called it a day. We played pretty much every major town in the UK and Wales, travelling up and down the motorways in our bashed up Transit van. We also played The Butts College in Cov and The Lanchester Poly."

Moon's Peel Sessions (From here https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/Moon)

1. Recorded: 1975-07-15. Broadcast: 28 July 1975

Lone Ranger / My Old Friend / Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight / You've Got The Love

2. Recorded: 1976-01-13. Broadcast: 20 January 1976. Repeated: 16 March 1976

My Kinda Music / Makin' Love / It's Getting Better / Don't Wear It

3. Recorded: 1976-07-27. Broadcast: 23 August 1976

Too Close For Comfort / Day Dreaming / Cold Nights

4. Recorded: 1977-06-08. Broadcast: 20 June 1977

Only Sad Boys Cry / Name Of The Game / This Is Your Life (Take 2)

Records


1976
13 July 1976: Lone Ranger (7" - Lone Ranger / Back To Your Old Ways) Epic


Too Close for Comfort (1976)
Turning the Tides (1977)













Lone Ranger


Too Close For Comfort

Cold Nights written by Loz Netto

Desolation Alley

 Drivers Seat by Sniff n the Tears with Loz Netto lead guitar, Noel McCalla backing vocals


Below - Day Dreaming by Moon.



Broken Hearts at High School - Moon

Coventry Members of Moon

Noel McCalla

Born 4 November 1956 in London, is a British rock singer. He was the lead vocalist for

Manfred Mann's Earth Band from 1991 until September 2009. 

McCalla was born to Hubert Sylvester McCalla, a minister in a gospel church, and Elizabeth Victoria McCalla, North London, England. There were eight children. He attended Alexandra Park infant school in London, but was withdrawn at the age of nine, as the family moved to Coventry, where he attended Hillfarm Junior School and began studies at Barkers Butts Secondary School.

At 15, McCalla dropped out of school to work with a band called Black and White Notes. They gigged and eventually supported The Shadows. He then joined Moon, who were signed to Epic Records. After splitting from the band, he stayed with Epic Records, releasing a solo album. In 1972, McCalla left his family in Coventry to move to London.

From 1977, he worked as a backing vocalist for Sniff 'n' the Tears. During this time, he worked as a freelance musician. He sang on Mike Rutherford's solo album Smallcreep's Day and on Morrissey-Mullen's 1985 This Must Be the Place. By 1981, he had decided to form his own band, which he had named Contact. They played a series of gigs, producing a cassette. In 1993, the band's name changed to McCalla, and they released “Push and Pull”, followed by “Hot From The Smoke" in 1995.

Manfred Mann

McCalla first became involved with Manfred Mann's Earth Band in 1990, featuring on the Plains Music album, and thereafter toured extensively with them, also featuring on the studio albums Soft Vengeance and 2006, and the live album Mann Alive. From mid 2006, he collaborated with jazz band Dave Lewis 1Up.

His fifteen-year-old son Mali Michael-McCalla competed for a place in the fifth series of the UK talent competition X-Factor in 2008, but did not progress to the Live Final stages. Mali auditioned for the 2009 series, but did not get past the 'bootcamp' stage.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_McCalla

Ron Lawrence Played bass in Coventry bands in the 60's including Monday's Children and East Side Protection and April, a folk rock outfit

Ron Lawrence in April 1970 3rd from left

originally with guitarist Roy Butterfield in the band who had played with the original Indian Summer and later wrote and played with the Tom Robinson band and even with Horace Panter in an early Pre-specials band Alive and Kicking. In the 70's Ron played bass on the album of another Coventry area folk outfit Gothic Horizon - the album was called Jason Lodge Poetry Book 1971 - here https://coventryfolkclubs.blogspot.com/2013/04/gothic-horizon.html 
More about April here https://coventryfolkclubs.blogspot.com/2012/08/april-coventry-folk-rock-band-1969-70.html In the mid 70's he joined Moon with Loz Netto and played on Fickle Heart album by Sniff n the Tears and went on to do session work including with the Kinks and Dave Davies  -  more on his discogs profile https://www.discogs.com/pt_BR/artist/1464622

Loz Netto Is covered by the Pete Chambers interview below but early Coventry bands

include Nack ed En 1970 - a three piece with Loz, John Bradbury - later of the Specials and bassist Neil Richardson later of Drops of Brandy. Loz also played in Al Docker's 1970 bands Tsar and Love Zeus before leaving Coventry to join Moon etc. His website is here http://loznetto.net/




The Full Pete Chambers Interview with Loz Netto April 2009 Coventry Telegraph.

COVENTRY-BORN Loz Letto, was the man behind one of rocks most enigmatic songs Drivers Seat, although a huge hit in America for his band Sniff 'n' Tears, the song that failed to break the charts in the UK . PETE CHAMBERS caught up with him recently, and chatted to him about his extraordinary career in the world of music.

"So you were Coventry born, tell us about your formative years?
 "I was born in Coventry. In my grandmother's bed at Clifford Bridge Road, to be precise.

"I started playing guitar when I was 13. I eventually became quite fanatical and practised so much that my fingers bled.

"My father could not afford to buy me a guitar so he made one for me; a solid body electric with two pickups which he also made himself! "Literally the only thing that mattered in my life was music to the point where one day when I was 16, I was ushered into the headmaster's study at Caludon Castle School and was asked to leave. I met the drummer John Bradbury (Specials drummer).

We used to rehearse above a pub, then later we were involved with a little four piece band. We did a couple of gigs but nothing much came of it. We were just mates really and I have some fond memories of that time".

You joined the band Moon who had a strong Coventry connection I believe. How exciting was it to sign to CBS? "I reluctantly joined various showbands to earn some cash and it proved to be a very good musical education indeed.

"I eventually secured a job with Ben E King (ex Drifters) as his guitar player.

Then I got a call from a friend Noel McCalla, also from Coventry. He had got a gig with a new band in London called Moon and they were holding auditions for a guitar player and bass player. So Ron Lawrence and myself went along, got the gig and started playing the London pub scene.

We played pretty much every major town in the UK and Wales, travelling up and down the motorways in our bashed up Transit van. We also played The Butts College in Cov and The Lanchester Poly. We were doing lots of live radio shows for John Peel, I guess all that helped us get signed to CBS records.

We recorded two albums for the label. We were then doing bigger venues like The Hammersmith Odeon and The Fairfield Halls in London, The Glasgow Apollo, Odeon cinemas etc, supporting bands like War, Thin Lizzy, Boxer, Crawler, Gill Scot Heron and many others.

I guess the band was together about three years before we called it a day." Sniff 'n' Tears, Drivers Seat, a superb song, does it bug you that it never did the business in the UK? What was the best part of being in the band? "I then got a job as house guitar player for a now defunct label called Imagination records. I did a bunch of albums before becoming one of the original members of a band called Sniff 'n' the Tears. The first single Drivers Seat became an international hit but the UK public were a bit sniffy, excuse the pun.

Despite Steve Wright continuously playing it and appearing on Top of The Pops, the single never took off here. The band also played The Old Grey Whistle Test. We did a fair amount of TV in Europe plus tons of touring in Spain, Franc , Germany and the US. We were managed at this point by Bud Prager who was also Foreigner and Bad Company's manager.

So what is the Loz Netto up to at the moment? My main job at present, other than running my website www.loznetto.co.uk, is composing and recording soundtracks for film and TV..

Loz Netto trivia ONE night in Coventry Loz stumbled on a rock band playing at the TUC building to a rather unappreciative crowd. The band turned out to be Black Sabbath. However the Irish show band the TUC had actually booked that night, were wondering what they were doing playing at a Satanist convention. That's agents for you.

Drivers Seat got to number 15 in the US charts in 1979.." 

Sunday, August 8, 2021

The MONEY SPIDERS (The CHICANES)

 The MONEY SPIDERS (The CHICANES) - later as The Beautiful People 1968


The CHICANES
December 1963 - 1965 (Source Broadgate Gnome)

Beat Group

Members: Roger Gunn (lead guitar), Robert Cumner (rhythm guitar), Bernie Tompkins (bass), Kevin Connelly (drums). Barry Kingsbeer

Barry Kingsbeer formed the band with Kevin Connelly- see note below.

Formed in December 1963 and managed by Gordon Williams. Signed with Joe Meek as their recording manager. Became The Money Spiders in 1965 and the Beautiful People 1968.

Barry Kingsbeer
I was flattered to see a kind mention of The Chicanes here, schoolmate Kevin Connolly got a drum kit and took me round to his house to see it. At that point, being young and without fear (some might sat without a clue) we decided to form a band. I didn't play any instrument at that time but ended up on bass which has been my first instrument ever since. On leaving the band I joined The Establishment, formerly The Stormbreakers from Nuneaton. Left Coventry 65/66 and lost touch. I’ve lived in Stratford for the last 20 years and am still playing.

Mondays Children

Mondays Children

 


Mondays Children circa 1966 - 1967


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From Broadgate Gnome and Bryan Fisher.

Line up was Ron Lawrence (guitar), Chris Smith (Vocal and keyboards), Dave Pennycook (guitar), Bryan Fisher (bass guitar) and Graham ?  Gray Richardson(drums). We did record for Polydor at Ivy Studios but the record got nowhere fast. (Picture attached showing us on steps at The Racehorse in Warwick)

Bryan Fisher says "A Small Faces style band which we did recording at Iver Studios in London, the same studio where Donovan did his first hits as well as The Ivy League. Unfortunately our management screwed things up and our record deal came to nothing."




Beat group - 'Five piece Small Faces- type combo' , said Midland Beat in November 1966


Modern Zoo

 Modern Zoo


Modern Zoo circa 1980 - 1983


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Which were one of the first "electronic bands" from Coventry, who maybe had more success out of Coventry rather than in it. The Band comprised of:-

Lead vocals and Synthesisers - Stuart Knapper - ex of Riot Act.
Vocals, Bass and Synthesisers - Mark Toomer
Saxophone and Synthesisers - Ian Haines


Gigged all around Coventry, and the first to gig at "Guys" Club in lower precinct when this was changed into a Band venue for Avant Garde type Bands in the 80's

The band actually split in 1983 and was re-formed with
Mark Toomer - Keyboards and vocals
Nick Hadley - Keyboards and vocals
Ian Haines - Saxophone and Keyboards
Steve Jones - Bass

This format of the Band had a few success's with "Studio work" however split in late 1985 to take alternative directions.


Information from Salvador Foxx (with thanks).

Mobolicious

 Mobolicious




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From Leigh Malin "Another good band I was in for a stretch between roughly 2005-2007 was Mobolicious. We had residency at the Escape Bar & played weddings, corporate gigs, bars & other stuff again, all funk & soul covers."


Line up was -
Paul Skyers - lead vocals
Rachel Sherriff - backing vocals
Emily Sherriff - backing vocals
Andrew Mcintyre - trumpet
Leigh Malin - tenor / baritone sax
Chris Redwood - trombone
Sean Kapusta - guitar
Wayne Matthews - bass
Matt Bramhall - keyboards
Ben Haynes / Joe Manger - drums








The MOB

The MOB




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The single Send me To Coventry.

Line Up include
Bob Jackson on Keys / vocals - (ex Indian Summer / Badfinger / Ross / John Entwhistle Ro Ro / Monster Magnet / Dodgers).
Arun Bhandari (also vocalist with Stiletto)
Jim Pryal - drums



The B side Mobbed



Pete Chambers writes in Godiva Rocks
" A blatant 2 Tone bandwagon jumper has to be Send Me to Coventry, by The Mob, there were 9 of them, including Bob Jackson. It’s a song that really has no right to be so catchy. With lyrics such as, “I can see no naked lady, riding on her horse now”, and, ”C-O-V-E-N try our new horizon”, a blatant plug for Horizon studios probably, not it was recorded there but at Woodbine Studios! The Mob was the brainchild of Arun Bhandari. Who not long before the Two Tone explosion was fronting a rock band called Stiletto doing a blooming good Phil Lynott impersonation at the Dog and Trumpet. This is certainly my favourite Coventry song of the time, a kitsch classic."


From Marco on Bass (a great site for Ska fans) and drummer Jim Pryal
http://marcoonthebass.blogspot.com/2010/12/unsung-bands-of-2-tone-era-mob-9-piece.html

Marco writes " In the wake of the 2-Tone explosion, the story of The Mob is one that happened all across the U.K. In this case, the band -- made up of nine established rock musicians, including a member of noted 60's rock band Badfinger --  was actually based in the epicenter of Coventry.  Despite its rather blatant attempt to jump on the 2-Tone bandwagon, it’s a song that really has no right to be so catchy. With lyrics such as, 'I can see no naked lady, riding on her horse now' (referencing Lady Godiva who is an icon in Coventry) and, 'C-O-V-E-N try our new horizon', its a great guilty pleasure."

Jim Pryal says in an interview with Marco " At the time of the 2-Tone explosion, I was drummer in a Coventry rock band Stiletto, doing mainly covers and playing bars and clubs. The bass player, Arun Bhandari had written several songs and the band was always experimenting with different beats and rhythms to try and come up with something original. Arun already had the idea of ‘Send me to Coventry’ so we booked studio time and drafted in other musicians – keyboard player Bob Jackson of Badfinger fame and a sax player who’s name I cannot remember and some backing singers. "Was it an attempt to jump on the 2-Tone band wagon sound?

It was a one off and a definite attempt at jumping on the bandwagon. " Tell me about recording the rare 45-rpm single, 'Send Me To Coventry. What kind of reaction did the single get when it was released?

We recorded it and had 1,000 copies pressed. Although the local radio station made it their record of the week, we couldn't get any other interest with it. I heard recently that it sells in Japan and I’m trying to find out what happened to all the copies!"

Jim Pryal commented on the original Hobo site " In 1979 I  recorded a song with Arun called 'Send me to Coventry' at John Rivers Woodbine street studios in Leamington Spa.  We were trying to jump on the ska bandwagon that was emerging in Coventry. On the B side of the single was a tune called 'Mobbed' featuring Bob Jackson of Indian Summer (and now The Fortunes) on keyboard. We called the band 'The Mob'. Mercia radio made it their 'single of the week' in their first week on air in 1980. It received some other airplay and publicity but that's as far as it went. It was at these sessions at Woodbine that I first met 'Ollie' or Roland Oliver as I was later to find out. He was in a band called Machine that became Hot Snacks, which i joined as drummer - replacing Silverton who had been in the original Specials "







This is a transcript of the article
"Chart Bound - That's the Ansty Mob
Rolls Royce News 1980 by Gary Atkins

"Send me to Coventry" has in recent months developed a whole new meaning in the pop world with the emergence of such groups as The Specials and Selecter who have captivated young audiences with the Coventry Sound.

Hoping to become part of that sound very soon - with the release of a single entitled Send me to Coventry - is Ansty's Arun Bhandari, guitarist and the brains behind both the record the recently formed band The Mob.

The other side of the single is supposedly called Mobbed, co written by Arun and another member Bob Jackson who is an ex Rolls Royce Parkside man but whose main claim to fame comes from the days when he played keyboards with the popular band Badfinger.

The third instrumentalist with the Mob is Jim Pryal, a drummer who played with Arun in Stiletto, a band well known at the Dog and Trumpet pub in Coventry before splitting up.

Arun said "I've always wanted to play the guitar - it has been one of my greatest ambitions. After Stiletto, I wrote the new number, felt it might do well, and got a few people together to make the single.."

Vocals
Some of those people who assembled to provide backing vocals are from Rolls Royce, Mick Forsyth from Parkside, and Chris Woodmass, Tony Cooper, and Kate Burns from Ansty.

Two other girls, Mary and Julie complete the backing vocal sextet. As well as writing and playing the material, Arun has handled all the stages of production, from practice sessions to cutting the record.

"I've had quite a lot of help, particularly from Pete Ashton, who also works at Ansty and has designed a beautiful cover for the record' he said.

"Studio costs and the outlay on artwork and production have cost me around a thousand pounds which means I must sell a thousand discs to break even."

To do that Arun is sending copies of the disc to all BBC DJ's and commercial radio stations to get as many airplays as possible. 

Then hopefully a distributor will step in to control sales nationwide, said Arun. Kate, Tony and the rest are already looking forward to appearing on Top of the Pop - and so am I."





The Mix (formerly The Rest)

The Mix (formerly The Rest)

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The Rest

From Alternative Sounds 1979


The REST

Dave 
Gedney - Guitar (Formerly with The End)
Ady Dix - Guitar
Mark Harold - Bass
Rob Hill - drums

All members played in other bands such as Squad; Tar
gets, The End etc.

Songs (Dave's)
Terminal Reality / Taxi / Insect Life / 1909 / Dead Boy / I'll be your Ghost again tonight /

The Rest





Reggae based c 1979

Dave Gedney - Guitar Vocals

Rob Hill - Drums

Mark Harold - Bass

Barry Jones - Bass

Caron - Vocals

Dennis Burns in 1981 on keyboards /backing Vocals)

Cutting from Alternative Sounds

"Pub band that entertained beer swiggers at the Whitley Abbey Public House" Pete Chambers

Horace Panter and Dennis Burns (Link to his music blog) played with this band at some stage.

Tracks by The Mix 1981 from Dennis Burns

The Mix back in 1981. The line up at the time was: Dave Gedney - guitar/ vocals; Barry Jones - bass, Robin Hill - drums, and myself Dennis Burns on keyboards/guitar/vocals.

Johnny Surf (1981) Listen to the track here

Boy with a Knife (1981) Listen to the track here.

Taxi by the Mix 1981 - Listen to the track here
Dennis Burns says "This is a old audio cassette recording of a live track by The Mix, playing at the Hope and Anchor, Islington in 1981 when were supporting The Reluctant Stereotypes."

Hate by the Mix 1981 Listen to the track here 
The demo was recorded at (Yes's) Chris Squire's studio, at his house in Virginia Waters. The demo was produced by a colleague of Chris's brother (the names of both escape me....); but was co-produced by Kevin Harrison.

Track on Sent From Coventry Album 1979 - With You.



From this site http://thisthen.co.uk/ by Mark Osborn with many photos of Cov bands in action. More photos if you take a look.



The MIDNIGHTS

The MIDNIGHTS


circa 1963 - 1965

Beat Group

Line up: Paul 'Mitch' Mitchell (guitar), Rick Robbins, Peter Sykes, Keith Sandall.


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Warwick based band, played at the Coventry Theatre December 1963. Released debut single on Ember in August 1965, but were 'unhappy about the promotion of it' .

Appeared on 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' in June 1965 as well as at Coventry Carnival the same month.

Single:

A: Show Me Around /B: Only Two Can Play (Ember EMBS 220), Mar 1965)

Show me Around...




Only two can play the Midnights






Midnight Circus / The Flys

Midnight Circus / The Flys



Became the Flys (See the Flys entry)
Neil O'Connor - Guitar, Vocal
Dave Freeman - Guitar
Joe Hughes - Bass
Paul Angelopoulis - Drums replaced by
Pete King - Drums



Check out The Flys Post here https://coventrybands.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-flys.html


Played at the carnival in the memorial park in 1976 (see the photos). Neil O'Connor (brother of Hazel) was the lead singer. Their image was slightly hippy. The next year they played the memorial park again as the Flys.


Early gigs were at the HOBO WORKSHOP - Holyhead Rd, Coventry in Monday July 22nd & 14th October 1974 -




Memories from Neil O'Connor (Via Rex Brough)


"...Paul Angelopoulis was from Florida. With us he was a really great guy but unfortunately he could get a little too wild for some others. He had a bit of a drug problem, not that we were or still are angels in that respect, unfortunately for Paul it led to his untimely death at the age of 24 from a barbituate overdose. By the time of his death he had been out of the band for at least 6 months, we'd had to ask him to leave as he had started to become unreliable and less than concentrated in his playing though we remained friends, it was a very tragic conclusion to anybody's life."


"...there were a number of things that spurred us into changing and seeing The Clash playing in Birmingham was indeed one of these turning points. One of the other main reasons was a friendship that we developed with a young punk kid (at the time) called Adrian who just happened to hear us rehearsing in a pub back room and regularly sat in with us. He would bring some of his records and notably the first Damned album and the first Buzzcocks EP stand out in my mind as being influential in our change from "Midnight Circus" to "the Flys". Eventually Adrian introduced us to Pete Shelley (they were friends) from the Buzzcocks, we opened for them in Coventry and ended up opening on most of their Midlands shows. This was a big turning point for us as it cemented our deal with EMI which had been in negotiation for a couple of weeks. As soon as the record company saw us opening for one of the names (at that time) they put their offer to us on the table. Ah the myriad connections in life."

Memories from Trev Teasdel


The Hobo Workshop Band Schedule here shows a second gig for Midnight Circus on 14th October 1974. I was introduced to the band led by Neil O'Connor by Phil Knapper, a musician friend and older brother of Stu Knapper who later formed the punk band Riot Act. Phil and I were good friends and often played music together. Phil knew Neil O' Connor from the very early 70's when he went on a jaunt through Finland with Wandering John lead singer - John Gravenor, Alex Murphy (their roadie) and Neil.
Midnight Circus first played for the Hobo Workshop in July 1974 - shortly after it was set up by myself and the other co-editors of Hobo magazine, with support from Bob Rhodes of Coventry Voluntary Council Service Council. Downstairs in the cellar of the Holyhead Youth Centre, a then unknown Charley Anderson (later of the Selecter) was a youth leader and leading a great set of reggae musicians whom we tried to involve in the Hobo Workshop (upstairs in the Theatre). For the first session, I invited Neol Davies to organise a jam session, similar to the one he'd organised for the Coventry Arts Umbrella in 1970, for the Hobo Workshop. Charley said the musicians were a bit shy to get involved at that time so Neol Davies went down and jammed with them in the cellar. Although no one would know it at the time, some of the roots of what would become Two Tone were taking place at the Holyhead Youth Centre. A number of early bands emerged from those sessions with Charley and Neol - notably Chapter 5 and Hard Top 22 over the next four years and eventually, through various formations, led to the classic Two Tone line ups. Above in the Hobo Workshop, Jazz rock bands like Trigon and Analog would later merge, through a number of transitions, to another Two Tone band - The Reluctant Stereotypes and later King. A young Dave Pepper (later to form The X Certs,) had his first gig with the band Phoenix. 

So Midnight Circus were clearly part of a new seed bed of young unknown musicians who were later to put the Coventry Music Scene on the map some 5 years down the road c 1979 / 80. It has to be remembered that c 1974 / 5 it was very hard for new bands and musicians to get started - the music scene had taken a dip and the Hobo Workshop was one of the few places to get started and so was quite important and rare at the time. After Punk the scene changed dramatically and new venues opened and new bands formed. Indeed, Phil Knapper and I next saw Neil O'Connor on a bus at Warwick University c 1979, after the Warwick University Rock Band Final which launched Stu Knapper's Riot Act. Neil had played with the Flys (as Midnight Circus were now called) and told us that they were to appear on Old Grey Whistle Test with a new single - Molotov Cocktail. More info on the Flys under that heading. The Flys success may have been short lived owing to various circumstances but Neil's Sister - Hazel O'Connor would be soon to make a break through with Breaking Glass and Neil would become part of her Megahype band. Neil O Connor is still making great music over in Canada with plenty of track on You Tube and My Space."






The MICK GREEN BLUES BAND

 The MICK GREEN BLUES BAND (1970)


Mick Green - Lead / Rhythm Guit / Vocals

Tony Mojo Morgan - Bass / vocals

Steve Harrison - Drums

(at various times..Johnny Adams - Vocals / Guitar and Paul Samson? Guitar)


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Tony Morgan's memories (Pic was taken by Mick Green (not in pic) with Steve Harrison drummer on left and Johnny Adams on right and Graham in middle - not exactly of the Mick green Band but with some of the members).


" I met Steve Harrison (Drummer) through a friend Alan Jones in Willenhall, Coventry. Steve lived up the road from me, and we became best friends. I'd played with Steve in an earlier band Orange. The last time I heard about Steve, he was living in France. It would be great to find where he is now, and to get back in touch. I met Mick Green through a guy called Tony who lived in the Stoke area in Coventry, and Mick became a good friend! We played together in Mick Greens Blues Band, and a few other bits and bobs, but nothing came to fruit! Steve Harrison, Mick Green and myself moved to Ealing, London, and formed a band with John Laverick and started jamming together, after a couple of weeks, we were gigging around London, We were young and foolish! and it was crazy times. "
Trev Teasdel's memories


" It was about May 1970 that I met drummer Steve Harrison at the Coventry Arts Umbrella Club. I was doing the door for the Friday band nights and Steve recognised me. We hadn't been great friends but he lived in the street opposite my parents and I had played with him on occasions at primary school age. I went to the City of Coventry Boarding school, Cleobury Mortimer after that and had lost touch. I had no idea Steve was in a band until then or played drums and he gave me a lift home. Along the way we swopped notes. Steve was in a band called The Mick Green Blues Band and asked me to write some lyrics for the band to try out. I wrote a couple and showed them my songbook and met the band. The bassplayer - Tony Morgan also recognised me, this time from the boarding school. He'd been there for a year or two in the mid 60's. Again I had had no idea of his interest in music at school. I remember we went to the Sportsman's Arms for a drink - Allesley way and Free had just broken through with Alright Now, which was just up their street musically. When the DJ put the record on they just flipped!


Mick Green was a nice guy, quite and a good blues guitarist really into the music. We all became friends. I only remember those three being in the band but I read somewhere that Paul Sampson, who I later got to know through Hobo Workshop in 1974, played in the band at some stage. Paul went on to play Jazz rock in Trigon and then through ENS, Bung formed Reluctant Stereotypes who in 1980 swopped jazz rock for jazz ska and became a Two Tone band. The chart topping band King came out the Reluctants and Paul went on to produce the Primitives.


The Mick Green Blues Band rehearsed either in Mick's or sometimes at the Umbrella. They did standard rock and blues Nos popular at the time. The band in itself was short lived and they were forever breaking up and reforming under a new name or with slightly different line ups.


Nothing came of the lyrics I wrote for them although Tony Morgan did put music to one of my lyrics called The Elusive Metallic Idol - about money and the rat race which had been inspired by a TV programme and some of the early Cat Stevens work like Mathew and Sons. He played it to me, changing the word order here and there to fit the song. However it was never used with a band.


Not long after I met them, the band split for the first time and Steve Harrison asked me to bring some of my lyrics down the the Queens near what is now the Cashbah in Coventry one Sunday for his new band Nack Ed En. When I got there, the band were rehearsing but there was no sign of Steve! I told them why I had come and that Steve had told me to come down. However they explained that Steve had been replaced by John Bradbury (who ten years later would be in the Specials!). He was a great drummer even then and I stayed to watch the band. The guitarist, Loz Netto became a good friend and later played in Sniff and the Tears (he's on the single - Driver). The bass player was Neil Richardson who played with Ted Duggan afterwards in Drops of Brandy.


After the gig we went to the Dive bar (Lady Godiva) a cellar bar in Cov where students and musos hung out. John Bradbury had a look through the lyrics and so did Chris Jones ( a Cov blues guitarist who went on to play at Ronnie Scotts and the Speakeasy with Khayyam). They told me the Queens charged a lot for them to rehearse, so I suggested they join the Umbrella and then they could rehearse there for free, which they did. Because of that, John Bradbury and Loz took part in a jam session organised by Neol Davies and this was the first time Neol and John Bradbury played together bearing in mind that together they would record the Selecter in 1977 - the track that was featured on the B side of Gangsters by the Specials.


Meanwhile the members of the Mick Green Blues band reformed under different names sometimes with different members added in - in 1971 it was Railroad - I tried vocals for this one and wrote some progressive lyrics. Later versions were Eli, Rein Chantrey, Concert - all with their own posts on here. Along the way they involved Johnny Adams (later with Fission and Squad) and Simon Lovegrove. By 1973 I was playing acoustic and writing my own music to my lyrics and often played solo or backed by some of the band in between their sets at venues like the Navigation, Hand in Heart.


Mick Green, Johnny Adams and myself often used to jam around town with our Eko Jumbo guitars and Mick's harmonica, informally playing Johnny's or my songs or blue or rock hits. Jean Jeanie was a favourite, with Mick Green giving it some harmonica. One occasion was on the steps of the Climax - near Virgin records on one of the heavy disco nights c 1973. I was just learning guitar at the time and they taught me loads.


Tony Morgan went on to form the Ska band EMF in 1980 and then the Travelling Riverside band - Tony's musical history is outlined in an interview here http://coventrymusichistory.typepad.com/blog/2009/03/interview-with-mojo-tony-morgan-coventry-blues-ska-man.html"


Here's some of the lyrics I wrote back in 1970 for the band


The Elusive Metallic Idol (Written 1968 when I was 17 - set to music by Tony Morgan 1970)


There’s a maze of minds


Designing all kinds of cars.


There’s a surfeit of time to kill


So the people do what they will


Living in flats, so very high


Working so hard till they finally die.






Cogwheels are spinning


And people are sinning.


Papa’s won the pools


Look at all the fools


Smoking and drinking


No time for thinking.






(Bridge)


I don’t know what to do for the best


I’m counting the hairs on my hairless chest


Times are so hard


Think I’ll send them a Christmas card.






Money becomes their life


The object of their strife


The elusive metallic idol


Can make you suicidal


So get outta bed


Screw on your head


It’s full speed ahead


Grab what you can while you may


No time for pleasure and play!






................................






BACK IN WINTER TOWN by Trev Teasdel 1970
I persevered through persistent rain


Believing that the sun must shine.


Through the thunder clouds,


I kept my head


Wishing that the sun would shine.


I was isolated


by deep frozen snow


Believing that the sun would shine.


And the sun did shine,


and it shone so bright


that it dazzled me.




Chorus


And the rain came down


Now I’m back in Winter Town


And the rain came down


Now I’m back in Winter Town




(Bridge)


I'm a child of the snow. I'm a child of the snow. I'm a child of the snow






I dug my way through fields of hurt


Believing I would find the key.


Through the gates of pain,


I kept my head


Believing I would find the key.


I was left alone,


In that nowhere zone


Believing that the key I'd find


And the key did shine


and it shone so bright


that it dazzled me.






Chorus


And the rain came down


Now I’m back in Winter Town


And the rain came down


Now I’m back in Winter Town.






(Bridge repeat)








REALITY (Lyric by Trev Teasdel March 1970)




Got no pretensions


‘Bout a love that is smooth


No candy floss trees,


No lemonade lakes.


No semi-detached


Or a shop-on-a-lease.


We’ll just make the most


Of what is least.




(Refrain)
Reality…


Is what I offer you….


Broken dreams -


will only make you blue.






It’s you that I crave,


So let it be


The isle is waiting


For you and for me.


(Refrain)
Reality…


Is what I offer you….


Broken dreams -


will only make you blue.
Guitar solo…..etc…

Messiah Trip

 

Messiah Trip




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Had a request from Paul Purchase for info on his uncle's band Messiah Trip. If anyone has further information, please get in contact.


The information we have is limited and uncertain but we believe the band


Operated in the Coventry area mid to late 90's
Played the Tic Tac / Colloseum
There was a tape of their songs
Possibly from Nuneaton and the guitarist was possibly a gent named Matt Flood
they released 3 songs in total
they were an indie type band,
One of the songs was a soft rock ballad, i know the first part of the lyrics if that is helpful to you !!!
"birds sing in a night dream
past the porecious of a tree sing
stroke the wind, hold it back
as the night draws oh so blind
only she knows how to be free
i cant tell by the way she breaths
she walks to me with her slow stepping"
The uncle's name is Simon Purchase and i believe he was singer / guitarist but not lead singer, he only sung on one track i thinki 'each step a thousand dreams pass in my mind "


UPDATE


Paul has had some more feedback today -

"I knew them all well and played with Joe Wilkes in a couple of bands, "Loki (Pre Messiah trip (With Eddie the Viking :D ), and Messiah trip when it first started.

I still have cassettes around somewhere and other cassettes from pre/post Messiah trip. In fact I probably still have set lists, etc,

Memories

 Memories


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Ray Borkowski " The Memories played a lot on Monday nights at the Smithfield Arms, Hales Street, Coventry. I would sometimes get up on stage and play bass along with John Hughes - Vocals, Paul Ashfield (lead guitar) and Tom Ryan on drums, Mick Cashin - bass (Later, in the 80's with Firefly) .Eventually the Memories had 2 drummers on stage, the extra one being Tom. It was only a small room and 2 drummers pounding away made a really big sound. The Smithfield Hotel no longer exists along with many pubs and clubs I played in. Is that sad, or is it progress?

Memories - first left Paul Ashfield - lead guitar,
second left Tom Ryan drummer
third back row Peter Hewins [ passed away peacefully at Derriford Hospital on August 19th 2010, aged 56 years. fourth back row Ray Borkowski bass [Ray Barry]
front row Peter Hughes vocals .


From Paul Kennelly - Peppermint Kreem That is so cool Ray , that you played with Tom Ryan... another link between Peppermint Kreem and Journey of a Lifetime.


Ray Borkowski
I played with the Memories on a freelance basis during much of 1975. I never attended a single practice session, I'm not even sure the band ever practiced! I remember John the vocalist, I can't think of his sir name. Paul Ashfield played lead guitar he also had his own band called Riff Raff.

I enjoyed my freelance status for a couple of years being available to help bands out at a moments notice."


Trev Teasdel

"Autumn 1974 I was running the Hobo Workshop gigs on Monday nights at the Holyhead Youth Centre in Coventry. Along with youth worker Bob Rhodes we scheduled Coventry Precinct concert one Saturday morning to publicise the work of the Hobo Workshop. One of the bands we booked was Memories. Another was Phoenix (Dave Pepper's first band).

As it happened Memories were the only band to play that day. Their mix of pop songs went down well with the crowd and through the 50 watt PA helped to relocate a child separated from its parents. All was going well and people were enjoying when the police closed it down. Bob Rhodes had secured all the permissions necessary but the police alleged that there had been complaints and that the sound (through 50 watt amps!) could be heard as far away as Little Park Police Station!

We had no option but to wrap it up but in terms of publicity for the Hobo Workshop, we got more attention than could otherwise have been hoped for! The Coventry Evening Telegraph reported the shut down concert on the front page of their paper, hitting the stands by lunch time. We were still packing away when somebody turned up with a newspaper.

We rallied the troops and got every one to write into to the paper to complain about the shut down and explain the good work we were trying to do for the youth and musicians of the city. We kept the publicity going for the next seven days!

Saturday we were on the front page
Monday Bob Rhodes was interviewed about it
Tuesday - there was a letter about it in the paper
Wednesday the editor dedicated the editorial to us given the volume of responses he received.
Thurdays - Trev Teasdel was interviewed for the Coventry Journal
Friday Coventry Evening Telegraph printed an abridged letter from myself - Trev Teasdel.

Memories were an unlikely band to be featured in such a protest being a pop band. Some of the other bands might have been more anarchistic but they were the right band to open the show, engage with a wide ranging audience and held the crowd.

Here are the cuttings -


From Saturday 14th September 1974 Front Page Coventry Evening Telegraph

Monday 16th September 1974- Bob Rhode's article in Coventry Evening Telegraph

Tuesday 17th September 1974 Liz Scott's letter to Coventry Evening Telegraph.


Wednesday September 18th 1974 - Editorial in Coventry Evening Telegraph

Thursday September 19th 1974 - Article in Coventry Journal based at the time across the road from the Coventry Evening Telegraph. Trev Teasdel and Bob Rhodes were interviewed for this. Memories are mentioned in this article!


Friday 20th September 1974 - Trev Teasdel (Coordinator of the Hobo Workshop) had an abridged letter in the Coventry Evening Telegraph. The letter was very long - in fact there was more than one - so the editor wrote to me and asked permission to abridge to a length he could print and promised to maintain the gist of what I was trying to say.