rock bands

Factory & Effigy – Clive Vale Annexe. Fri 7th May 1971 & YMCA review 13th August 1971

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Supplied by Jon McCallion

Andy Qunta… Ah! Good times!

Phil Gill… I was there, probably with young Carey, Meachen and Shirley, as they labelled us at school. Sarah Harvey might have enjoyed the evening too.

Sarah Harvey…. I did indeed Phil and I had. completely forgotten about Effigy and to be honest cannot remember seeing them at all other than a vague memory that I didn’t think much of them. Factory as ever were THE band of Hastings at the time.

Chris Baker… Hah! Flight of the Rat was one of my “Flashy” solos! Those were the days! We only did a few gigs.

Phil Gill… As I recall Chris, you showed me how to play the pedal note riff from Flight of the Rat, one night at an Effigy rehearsal that Roger Carey and I attended. Was it School Road in Ore? Roger was buying Iain Cobby’s speaker cabinet and we came along to look at it.

Brigitte Lee… Where was Clive Vale Annex?

Chris Baker… Ha! Phil! My arthritic old fingers can’t play it so fast these days! Fun to so though. Still got that analog Park Fuzzbox too and the old Hofner!

Geoff Peckham… I remember we (Factory) were really impressed with Effigy. Didn’t they do a couple of other Deep Purple covers? Speed King, and Child in Time? According to Andy’s diary we played with them twice in 1971. May 7th at Priory Road School. Andy said that school gigs have been “…really great. This was no exception. Bit of trouble from old ladies and police about the noise but never mind. Effigy supported (or did we support them?) – not bad for their first gig.” The second was at the YMCA on August 13th. Andy mentions the awful acoustics and that “Effigy (with Tom) supported.” Could that have been the legendary Tom Jones? (The one from Stoke, not S. Wales!)

Phil Gill… And Steve’s drumming was *never* too loud. End of.

John Wilde…. Tom Jones, any info on his history or where he is now?

Geoff Peckham…. I got to know Tom in ’69 when his dad had an electrical shop in Western Rd, Bexhill. He told me stories about being in a pre-Black Sabbath band called Horny Moon (!) and other tales. He was a great character and raconteur. Like you, he had great stage presence – a great blues singer and harpist. He moved back to Stoke, and around 73-74 turned up at a Factory gig in NE Staffs University. I think he put us up for the night. Haven’t seen him since. Anyone else know anything? Be good to see you again sometime.

Alan Esdaile…yes it was School Road Ore where the rehearsals took place, in the old church hall which was full of antiques and clobber and the band squeezed somehow in the middle. I think their was a giant stuff bear but maybe wrong? Geoff Peckham date is correct as Friday 7th May 1971. Clive Vale Annex was part of Priory Road School and the gig took place at Clive Vale. Jon McCallion sung with Effigy at this gig and glad you remembered Tom Jones. I got a review somewhere which I will post on the YMCA gig shortly.

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Clancy – Hastings Pier 7th May 1976.

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clancy promo

Martyn Baker… Still got the album that I bought after the gig. Tres funky! Featuring Colin Bass on er ……. bass! Also………. Remember Bo Derek? She’s his sister!

Alan Esdaile… Never knew that Martyn. Mention Bo Derek and all I think about is Arthur! I know Colin Bass was in Camel.

Chris Meachen… Seventh Heaven are a band that intrigue me;- they were early exponents of jazz funk, a genre I wasn’t ready for at the time. I do know that they came from the Isle of Wight, & have often wondered if there was a Level 42 connection… Does anyone know any background?

Quadrille, Incredible Hog & Stormcrow – Hastings Pier – 29th March 1974. Iguana replaced Incredible Hog

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poster supplied by Mick Mepham, flyer supplied by Roger Carey, Stormcrow photo 1 & photo  4 supplied by Chris Meachen, Stormcrow photo 2 and 3 supplied by Clive Richardson.

Quadrille and Incredible Hog did not play. Incredible Hog replaced by Iguana.

Clive Richardson….Quadrille turned up but the gear never arrived so Stormcrow did 2 sets. Also Incredible Hog cancelled and were replaced by Iguana. Iguana eventually became Jess Roden’s Band.

Peter Fairless… Always good to see pictures of bands in the ballroom!

Chris Meachen… Stormcrow’s singer was called Annie, if I recall correctly, & lived Bromley way.. I visited her for a couple of hours once when on the way to see ELP at the empire pool..

Gypsy & Dragonmilk – Hastings Pier 11th October 1974

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Clive Richardson… Gypsy were excellent. Really good sound. They had no roadies, no manager at the time and did the sound themselves. Paul Casson was very impressed and was interested in managing them.

Peter Thomson… Sure I was at that one but don’t remember the support act, unfortunately.

String Driven Thing and Stallion – Hastings Pier 7th September 1974

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7TH SEPT 1974 STRING DRIVEN THING.

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STRING DRIVE THING. DRESSING ROOM SEPT 1974

STRING DRIVEN THING SEPT 1974.

poster supplied by Mick Mepham. pier photos Chris Meachen.

Tich from Stallion at the pier gig supplied by Roger Carey

Here’s a great recording of ‘Circus’ venue unknown.

Wesley Magoogan…. Those Observer adverts were the center of some of our lives then.Whomever was on the advert for the pier were that week’s big deal !

Phil Gill… I was there, it was a brilliant gig.

Lost Boys, Vicious Minds, Jump The Gun, Roadhouse, Boring Farts, Cunning Stunts at The Carlisle 3rd July 1993

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supplied by Pete Prescott

Jan Warren… The Cunning Stunts ………. hahahahahahaha, brilliant name!!

Pete Prescott… What a band ha ha !

Karen Sweatman…Brilliant line up! Oh happy days

Ernest Ballard… I’d forgotten this one

Alan Vale… I remember this gig just about, there was a video, I played bass for various bands at that gig

Pete Prescott… The Boring Farts were the pre Highway Band. Same songs etc. Nigel on drums, John Laidlaw on guitar Dave woods (guitar. Sadly didn’t show for the gig) Roger Carey bass and me. I loved the rehearsals.

Tim Moose Bruce… We(the Blind Bats) supported Cunning Stunts and Cracked Mirror at a biker party in Camber in the 80s. A wild night

Janet Rennie… Excellent, I love a pun

Pete Houghton… Vicious Mind’s were great that night

Chilli Willi and The Red Hot Peppers plus Strife – Hastings Pier 15th June 1974

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autographed poster supplied by Peter Houghton

Pete Houghton… Both Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers and Strife were bloody fantastic great concert by both bands.

Phil Gill… Chill Willi were fabulous. Great country style guitarist, who I talked with afterwards and who was happy to talk guitars for ages. He gave me the best advice ever – always practice first thing in the morning and it sets up your fingers for the rest of the day. He was right, been doing that now for 45 years and it still works for me. Funny how a chance encounter can change your life so much.

Pete Fisher… Maybe that was Philip Lithman – read in wiki he’d been over to San Francisco before the band formed, and went back there after they split…I think you can hear a bit of West Coast maybe even Grateful Dead influence here…lovely guitar anyway, oh and good advice BTW – wish someone had said that to me – evenings after work not always the best time…

Mick O’Dowd… Chilli Willi. Excellent! Bongos Over Balham. Excellent album!

Pete Houghton… yes it’s an Excellent album

Nick Patching… Mick, Pete Thomas on drums (from Seaford) who went on to hit the pig skin for Elvis Costello

Ian Wright… Didn’t Strife headline on The Pier later? Anybody remember when?

High Mileage & Babylon – Hastings Pier 14th May 1977

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supplied by Sarah Harvey

Sarah Harvey… Best remembered as the founding keyboardist with Mott the Hoople, Terence “Verden” Allen was born May 26, 1944 in South Wales. He was in a number of bands following departure from Mott, one of which was Cheeks who he formed in 1976. This was quickly followed by the formation of HIGH MILEAGE, which featured Martin Chambers on drums, Paul Oaldenall on bass, and guitarist Dave Tedstone. Tedstone was another Hereford local, who was well known to Verden through his stints with the Doc Thomas Group and Lee Starr and the Astrals. High Mileage soon gave way to Verden Allen’s Seven Inches, which also featured Martin Chambers. Curiously HIGH MILEAGE isn’t even mentioned in Allen’s biography and skips from ‘Cheeks’ straight to ‘Seven Inches’. So if you saw High Mileage on The Pier, you were capturing a very rare gig.I can’t remember seeing them at this gig on May 14th, 1977…..but probably did….does anybody else remember them?  Also….Babylon! Was this the prog rock group that was formed in 1976 by Rick Leonard, Rodney Best, Doroccas, J. David Boyko, and Gary Chambers (As far as I am aware no relation to Martin Chambers…or was he)? They released one album, 1978’s Babylon, before breaking up that same year.

John Storer…This was one I missed. Had been to see The Vibrators the previous Saturday, and had spent shedloads of money on Thursday 12th May at Ye Olde Pump House celebrating Eric Cawthraw’s 25th, Mick Hurton’s 22nd and my 21st birthdays. It had been a night full of Thunderstorms (Mr Cawthraw will know exactly what I mean). So skipped this one as the following week, The Damned and The Adverts were playing and pay day was still two weeks away!

Mick O’Dowd… Good find Sarah. I’m not familiar with either band either.

Sarah Harvey… As for Babylon…they seem like a band who would appear on the pier but they were formed in Florida, so not sure…. but they were the only Babylon around at that time and all the dates seem to coincide with their short existence.

Eric Cawthraw…  just seen John Storer’s remark on ‘Thunderstorms’: a vicious little cocktail that slides down your neck so easy that you’ve had too many before you know it. After-effects ? – I hear you say…..well, the name is appropriate – it’s like having you head inside a car-crusher…only worse. Garry Peters and Mick Watson introduced the recipe to a bar in Florida – the barman got blitzed, but no surprise there!  It’s a bit like o/d-ing on orange juice: Take a small bottle of orange juice add a measure of Canadian Club and another of Cointreau a dash of soda water and ice – bingo, imbibe and hold on to your hat! Vince Bristow came in to the Pump House one evening and shouted ‘my round!’ – I think there were 9 of us along the bar, all on Thunderstorms having large ones in pint glasses and Vince paid up! It was another 3 weeks before Vince had to buy another beer as we bought him ales in turn. Then there were those evenings on the Green Chartreuse….how are we still alive!!!

Phil John… Saw him last year at The O2 when the original Mott the Hoople reformed for a short tour. They played to an audience of 9000 people. Not bad going for a band that had played only 3 gigs since 1975.

Pete Houghton… I saw High Mileage on the pier the line up was Verden Allen ,Martin Chambers , Paul Oaldpenall And Someone Called David S I can’t read his autograph as they signed a sheet of paper for me.

supplied by Pete Houghton

Dave Tedstone… hello Sarah, i’m Dave Tedstone. yes we did the pier gig ,77. Sorry , absolutly terrible set. , signed as Dave Stone, to avoid ID.

Barclay James Harvest – Hastings Pier 24th Jan 1975

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supplied by Sarah Harvey

Sarah Harvey…..In those days I seem to remember that there was a sort of rivalry created by the fans of Barclay James Harvest and Moody Blues. They were classed as similar sounding bands and there were always arguments about who was the better. I always thought that their music was very different albeit both bands were of a similar mellow genre of rock music.

Alan Esdaile…..Great band but was a bit touch or go if they were going to appear, as they were not happy with the piano as it was not tuned to concert pitch. It was tuned first thing in the morning and then retuned again. They were still not happy but the show went on.

Terry Pack…..I was at that gig, and I loved them. A year later, I joined The Enid, whose leader, Robert John Godfrey, had written the arrangements for the music on their first album. Small world.

Chris Meachen…..Great gig, excellent band….

Mick O’Dowd……This was the gig and band that cured my tunnel vision that only good music was by soul artists. Since then I have given everything a listen and now have a diverse musical taste. Thanx to The Mockingbird!

Stuart Moir… Saw them

Martin Waghorne… I was there that night

Glenn Piper… Roadied for this one 

Robert Searle… See them on the pier twice,the first time I thought they were ok,the second time was no better,just had better gear.

Iain Cobby… I was there with my first wife, what a fantastic drummer , the late Mel Pritchard was and that Mellotron of Mr Wolstenholms. Just listen to Crazy City and Summer Soldier.Prog doesn’t get much better. They went big in Germany just as the Berlin wall came down and then fell out, splitting into two versions of the band. fond memory’s.

Tony Davis… Going back to Sarah’s comments about the rivalry between BJH and the Moodies I think that BJH actually recorded a track called Poor Mans Moody Blues.

Patrick Lewis… I was there that night with my future wife and friends. We had a few drinks in French’s before going on the pier. I always remember the opening song, Medicine Man, absolutely knock out. And yes they did record a song called Poor Man’s Moody Blues. The whole performance was truly amazing – Crazy City, Mockingbird and The Great 1974 Mining Disaster to name a few.

Eugene Hughes… I have never heard anything about Paul Casson on this page. I know he has long left us. Some people must have something nice to say about him, surely!

Chris Meachen… Absolutely excellent band, my favourite being ‘Galadriel’. Nice blokes too..

Patrick Lewis… I was there with my friends and future wife. It was a marvellous performance by the band. Probably the most underrated band of the 70’s.

Tony Court-holmes… I was there

Pete Dearling… I was their and fav songs are mocking bird, after the day , and child of the universe and got my album signed

Dave Nattress… The Bexhill prog fans always came to see BJH – great band. Think they played the pier more than once?