Day: 30 April 2022

Them – Witch Doctor 30th April 1965

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Ad Andre Palfrey-martin collection. photo London Records Ad 1965

John Storer…Does this get votes as one of the most influential singles ever? both tracks are now standards and both sound as brilliant today as they did back then. “Gloria” was the b-side to “Baby Please Don’t Go” when it was released in the UK but the tracks were reversed when the single was released in the States. Yet it was “BPDG” as a b-side that caught the imagination of many American bands and it was a cover of that song by The Amboy Dukes in 1967 that brought a certain Mr Ted Nugent to prominence.

Andy Qunta…..Funnily enough, Gloria was the B-side to Baby Please Don’t Go, although it is perhaps the better-known one now. I like both, but I still prefer the A-side!  By the way, they say that if you drop a guitar down the stairs, sooner or later it will play Gloria!

Len……Saw ‘Them’ in the club upstairs above the Fiesta Coffee Bar, on the day they played the Witch Doctor.

Alan Esdaile….Anyone remember seeing Van Morrison at The White Rock Theatre in 1991?

Mick O’Dowd…..Yes I was there. Fantastic show from The Master and if I remember Mike Cotton Sound were a more than adequate band.

David Edwards… Well I never knew that Them had played the Witchdoctor.

John Warner… Mike Cotton, came across him again on a cruise, great trumpeter. Them – Van Morrison. Lonely Ones – Noel Redding. Great times!

Anti Nazi League Rally – Victoria Park 30th April 1978

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Supplied by Ken Copsey

Ken Copsey… Area Haider’s film about the inception of rock against racism White Riot, brought back happy memories of traveling up from Hastings with Dave Blackman and Mick Bacon  amongst others to see X-ray Spex , Steel Pulse and the Clash at Victoria Park in 1978. The eagle eyed ever twitching Mick Bacon said he was sure he’d seen Dave in some of the footage. I thought he was deluded until he sent me the screen shot he had taken. Who else from Hastings went on the march and to the gig?

John Gale… Thats definately Dave mate, who else would have worn a shirt like that. Having said that though he was the first person I knew who owned a punk record, New Rose and played it to me in his bedroom in Castledown Avenue so what he lacked in sartorial trend setting he made up for in the musical department.

Steve Sampson… Definitely Dave … ah yes the New Rose single … that got played a few times! Quite a few of us from Priory Road went in small groups … I also remember The Clash and Stranglers playing at something … was this the same thing or another one … I know we went to London a few times on RAR

Mick Bacon… I am deluded  Ken, but that’s another issue. Dave was easy to spot – he always stood out in a crowd. I remember him singing along to Tom Robinson- “Sing if you’re glad to be cough, cough..”. He was always so politically correct!

Andrew Bancock… I was there!

Martin Blackman… great to hear stories about dear Dave from his old mates after all these years, highly entertaining, he was such a character and I still miss him terribly, cheers guys and seasons greetings to all.

Peter Thomson… I was there with Perri Ann Haste and her mate Sally. I also went to the second one in Brixton.

Perri Ann Haste… That was quite a day, I still have a few pics somewhere.