SMART SOUNDS – Factory gig Marina Fountain 29th April 2016 and cd review by Colin Bell

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© Nastassja Kaschevsky Hastings Local Band Photos 

https://www.facebook.com/hastingslocal.bandphotos?fref=ts

So there we all were again for the second coming (this century!) of Andy, Tony, Jaffa, Laurie, or simply our very own local (Hastings/Bexhill) heroes Factory. After the re-union gig last October at the Carlisle the guys promised a return and return they did and this time with the extra treat of an album, a physical CD we can hold in our hands! Ok, I know these days music comes out of the air in files or whatever and I may be a luddite but I like something I can hold/look at/read etc. Anyway..after the ever excellent Roger Carey and Steve Cooke the boys hit the Marina stage and from ‘Call of the Wild’ to ‘Time Machine’ 18 songs later they ROCKED! with an energy and passion and yes..love for what they do, I said it before after the re-union gig and i’ll say it again the sheer energy and stamina on display would defeat many much younger bands. Whether old favourites or new material it all delivered. Highlights were many I particularly enjoyed Lightning From Heaven, Scarlet Lady, Am I Mad, Jig a Jig and Lady Muck where Andys keyboard skill and artistry reminds me so much of Ray Manzarek. Tonys fiery pyrotechnics on guitar and violin are a joy to watch, while Lauries ‘Moony’ antics and Jaffa’s solid bass bring it all together. So glad they did their ‘nod’ to the Roger Daltrey days with Behind Blue Eyes in the encore too, always one of my favourite Who tracks. Another great night for us all. If you didn’t make it along you can at least as aforementioned now enjoy a Factory CD!

This is where I put my professional journalist/reviewer hat on….how im supposed to be dispassionate is another matter…! Opening with a sample of the original recording of Time Machine before sliding into Call of the Wild, followed by Castle on the Hill (originally of course b side to Time Machine) the boys take us on a 15 track trip which rocks, lulls at times and has an overall ethereal quality that pervades the brain. There is a lot to absorb, all tracks are written by the band and I found it interesting that Tony’s compositions are intrinsically ‘english’ in feel/whilst brother Andys songs (in the main) have a whiff of the US West Coast about them, all those years in L.A.? They of course may well disagree! Jaffa’s ‘Howard’ is just great, a dark fable John Entwhistle would have been proud of. Harvey Summers has done a great job on production at capturing the Factory ‘sound’. Its just great after 40 odd years to have something tangible to listen to. One niggle…it would have been great to have had ‘bonus’ tracks of crowd pleasers par excellence Jig-A-Jig/Behind Blue Eyes maybe ‘live’, but I can see it from both sides of the coin! But very happy to be ‘Back In The Time Machine’.   Till next time……. Colincolin-head-111x150-111x150

Neil Steadman… The Factory video has turned out well Alan. It’s on a mobile but the quality is surprisingly decent. Great on the main home system. Their sound balancer knew his job.

Alan Esdaile… I think that was down to Roger Carey.

Neil Steadman… Hats off  to them.

Teresa Qunta… EXCELLENT review of the Factory Marina Fountain gig AND the Back in the Time Machine CD! (Available on CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, etc!!)

Hastings Town Magazine – May 2016 and The Record Shop chat.

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photo supplied by Tony May

Among the features in this months Hastings Town Magazine May 2016 are… The View From The Pier book by Anthony J Berry, Tony May’s thoughts on the reopening of Hastings Pier, Hastings Pier the early days, Hastings Pier is born again and The Dolphin Rock A Nore. Also the latest instalment “Letters From Keith’ including the above great photo of Jack London in The Record Shop. Chat about answer records, single b sides to flip and remembering Keith Emerson with talk when Jimi Hendrix was going to join ‘Nice’ and they would have been called ‘Help’ and collecting record shop bags. Congratulations to Hastings Town on reaching your 100 edition. Now available from your local newsagent.

Peter Fairless… What a great picture!

Steve Sampson… Is that Brian London ?

Dave Stevens… Jack London

Jim Breeds… Awwww. Wow, I can smell it – paper and plastic. Wonderful memory! Any clues as to date from the LP covers? I don’t think I recognise any for certain. There’s music cassettes on the right, and a picture disc above those. 1980s?

Lynn Graham… Dear old Jack

Peter Fairless… Diana Ross, ‘So Close’, single, picture bag, makes it 1983, Jim.

Alan Esdaile… Well spotted Pete. I think it is Culture Club Time above this.

Peter Fairless… Yes, ‘Time (Clock Of The Heart)’ released in November 1982. I’m going to call this as the end of January, 1983

Chris Meachen… I miss Jack and Sonia.. They gave me my first kitten.. Jack would often come out with the most inappropriate things.. “Were you breast fed?” being the one I recall most vividly…

Mick O’Dowd… Jack & Sonia. What a duo! They sold my Mum my first Dansette and knocked a bit off because it was a bit more than she had budgeted for.This was my first real(as apposed to second-hand) machine. !0 stack of singles and all the speeds! Wowee! God bless ’em both!

Paul Bridgett… Could get you any album no matter how rare or unheard off.

Tony May… Well done for posting this Alan! Sorry, I completely forgot to send you the original. Might have one or two more somewhere – I will see if I can find them. I wrote a song called ‘The Record Shop Revolution’ as a tribute to Jack & Sonia – its on my STILL to be finished ‘Elementary’ album.

Peter Fairless… Oh, yeah, the number of times Jack said he’d have it by next week, and always did!

Alan Esdaile… I bought my first lp from The Record Shop, Bee Gees 1st. I couldn’t afford to buy it straight away and paid something like a shilling a week and Jack wrote it on the back of the album sleeve until I paid it in full. Really lovely couple and many happy memories of staring at all the new exciting record sleeves in the window after school. Then off to the Pam Dor and probably one drink between four of us!

Clifford Rose… I learnt a lot about pop/rock groups from their 33p discount singles box.

Peter Fairless… Jack’s breadth of knowledge must have been phenomenal, whatever you were into he’s always think of something to suggest you listened to. Usually, got another sale out of it, too!

 

Disc Jockey early 7″ singles record bag

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supplied by Alan Oliver

Alan Oliver… I’ve just found this bag in a box of old bits and pieces. I must have bought a record in or around 1987!

Martin Richter… it`s older than that! – look at the phone number!

Alan Oliver… In which case I must have bought a record when I was on my holidays. I lived in Hastings 1986-90 and was a holiday maker from 1969 – 1976!

Nick Prince… Our Price was well established by 1987. An educated guess of the Disc Jockey becoming Our Price 1984-85. I’m happy to be corrected though smile emoticon. The four number Hastings phone numbers became six numbers between October 1973 and early 1975. Although Silverhill area retained some three figure numbers until around 1978.

Alan Esdaile… Must be an early one as made of paper, great find Alan. Anyone got any other record bags that we haven’t seen here before?

Will Cornell… Tower’s bags were the best, and they gave you a free mag they published as well (and it wasn’t bad at all). And the good thing, they did have Tower over there in merrye olde, it was one of quite a few I shopped! PS: best receipt ever: from the original Rhino Records Shop in LA, found tucked inside my CD of “Golden Throats”.

Alan Oliver… On closer examination I have found creases which indicate that it was folded around a cassette that was purchased. In which case it would be 1973 and the cassette in question would have been the sound track to The Jungle Book, purchased by my girlfriend (Much later to become my ex wife!) as a present for her dad!

Desert Trip – Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Neil Young, The Who

Anyone fancy a trip to California?

Joe Knight… Why couldn’t they chose CAMBER SANDS

Neil Steadman… How much are the tickets?

Alan Esdaile… It looks like $399 plus fees for a three day pass, plus the cost of getting their, accommodation etc but the biggest problem will be getting your hands on a ticket.

Neil Steadman… Norwegian airlines look reasonable, £450 return.

Well done to Sarah Harvey on Planet Rock

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Well done to Sarah Harvey who appears in this weeks Hastings Observer (6th May 2016) on the success of her show on Planet Rock. Pity they did not mention her very good Hastings Rock show every Thursday between 7.00pm and 9.00pm with Tony Davis on 87.7 FM playing music of bands that played Hastings in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s

Neil Steadman… Great stuff

Danielle Steel… Well done. Fame at last xxx

Hastings Rock Radio 2016 and Sarah Harvey’s Retro Rock Show.

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Hastings Rock is back air Saturday 30th April to Friday 27th May 2016

Sarah Harvey… Hastings Retro-Rock is a new weekly specialist show on this year’s Hastings Rock broadcast. The music featured will be those bands and artists that played in the Hastings area during the 60s, 70s and 80s. So it’s not just about the Pier, it’s about other venues in the area as well (many of which have now passed into history).

The show will feature music of the likes of Genesis, The Who, Saxon, Gong, Osibisa, Wolf, etc. etc. , with the music played reflecting what the bands and artists may have played when they played at their concerts in those days (i.e. no modern tracks by those bands or artists). In addition it is hoped to obtain some good studio recordings of local bands from that era (60s, 70s and 80s), and this is where your help is needed. If you have any good ‘studio’ recordings that are suitable for broadcasting (i.e. not live recordings), please do let me know along with a little bit of background to the band and the recordings.

Bear in mind that Hastings Rock is primarily a Rock station although this definition could be stretched a bit depending upon the recording. The show is intended to be interactive in that people are welcome to share their memories of the music, gigs and concerts they attended. If you can have any recordings of local bands and artists then please let me know. Email me at retro@1066-media.com ….. remember only 60s, 70s, 80s! The local music of modern day still remains with Andy Gunton’s weekly show on Hastings Rock.

Alan Esdaile… This sounds great Sarah and looking forward to it. Can anyone help with recordings?

Peter Fairless… Fab and groovy!

Paul Dove… Brilliant , im sure Jon Mc Callion has a recorded 45 from the sixties of MULLER, a song Jon & I wrote called Messing Around, think its on Youtube, hope this helps.. Dovey.

Tony Davis… Nice job Sarah – glad to see that you have managed to get your idea up and running. I can hardly wait to listen.

Wendy Weaver… Sounds good.

Sarah Harvey… Its nice to be able to share my collection of music from that era.

Sarah Harvey… Just one week to go until Hastings Retro-Rock hits the airwaves on Hastings Rock. Music and memories from the bands and artists that shaped the music in Hastings and surrounding areas during the 60s, 70s and 80s, . Music from bands you remember, and some you may have forgotten about. Share your memories. Join me and Tony Davis from 7pm each Thursday on 87.7 FM and online. Hastings Retro-Rock is sponsored by SMART, Seventies Music and Retro Talk.

Iain Cobby… Alas Sarah, I only have one recording of Damaris and that was recorded in mono on Hastings Pier in the ballroom. The quality is not that good, but hey………… if only we knew then ………… thanks Mr Davis for the tape to CD job!

Sarah Harvey… Don’t forget Thursdays (starting 5th May 2016) on Hastings Rock 87.7 FM or www.hastingsrock.co.uk for the retro rock show with Tony Davis and Sarah Harvey. Between 7 and 9 pm we will be playing music from bands that have played venues in Hastings over the years. Please listen in and share your memories with us.

Harvey Summers featuring Laura Cole performing the brand new album “Human” – The Printworks Hastings 8.00pm Fri 17th June 2016

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Harvey Summers is a record producer, composer and artist from Bexhill in Sussex with an impressive track record and over 2 million solo album sales to his name. Having worked with the likes of Steeleye Span, Danny Thompson, Ellie Ford, Paul McCartney and countless others, his last album, “Jupiter”, released in 2013 to critical acclaim has featured on TV shows including HBO’s ‘Looking’ and has received much airplay including BBC Radio 2 and XFM. “Human” is a record he has been planning for many years but only recently did he find the voice he was looking for to front the project when he heard a duet between legendary producer Daniel Lanois and Laura Cole. Last Year, Laura came to the UK to record ‘Human” along with bassist Chris Chiarcos. The first single from the album, “Skeletons” has also received Radio 2 airplay and featured on SubTV and another song from the album in R2 magazine. It is a rare thing for Harvey to venture outside of the studio but with “Human”, he wanted to take his latest work on the road and perform a series of rare live shows…            http://www.harveysummers.com

Laura Cole is a rising star in her native Canada where she recorded a duet, “Papineau” with Daniel Lanois and released her debut album, ’Dirty Cheat’ last year which has seen her compared to the likes of Amy Winehouse and Etta James. Her unique, smokey, soulful voice belies her youthful appearence. A regular feature on Canadian radio and TV shows, Laura is a mega star in the making, come hear her sing – she’ll make you dance, laugh and cry. If Laura’s voice doesn’t give you goosebumps, nothing will!           http://lauracolemusic.com