On This Day 19/03/1987 Simply Red

On this day, 19 March 1987, Pop/soul band Simply Red played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. Support was provided by Terence Trent D'Arby.

The band had just released their 2nd album Men and Women which peaked at #2 in the UK album charts
Five singles were released from the album. "The Right Thing" was the first to be released, peaking at number 11 in the UK Singles Chart. "Infidelity" was the second single, which reached number 31, followed by "Maybe Someday..." which became Simply Red's first single to fail to reach the UK top 75, peaking at number 88.

The next single, "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye", a cover of the Cole Porter song, returned the band to the top 20 where it peaked at number 11. "I Won’t Feel Bad" was the fifth and final single from the album, peaking at number 68 (although the song was originally released as the B-side of "Holding Back the Years" in 1985 and was credited to Stewart Levine as producer, and despite "I Won't Feel Bad" not having been rerecorded for Men and Women, Alex Sadkin receives production credit on the album and the single).

On This Day 16/03/1964 The Searchers

On this day, 16 March 1964, pop group The Searchers played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on a package that included Dusty Springfield and Bobby Vee. The band had recently released their massive No 1 hit Needles and Pins.

The Pye Records single was released on January 7, 1964.It was number one in the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States. Soon after, in April 1964, "Needles and Pins" appeared on the Searchers' next album, It's the Searchers.

Audible during the Searchers' recording of "Needles and Pins" is a faulty bass drum pedal, which squeaks throughout the song. It is particularly noticeable during the opening of the number.

On This Day 15/03/1971 Genesis

On this day, 15 March 1971, prog rock giants Genesis played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens on the bands Trespass tour.

Recording for Trespass began in June 1970 at Trident Studios in London, with John Anthony as producer and David Hentschel hired as assistant engineer. The album included longer and more complex songs than their first, blending folk and progressive rock elements with various time signature changes, as in the nine-minute song "The Knife". Trespass is the first in a series of three Genesis album cover designs by Paul Whitehead. He had completed the design before the band decided to include "The Knife" on the album. Feeling the cover no longer reflected the album's overall mood, the band persuaded Whitehead to slash a knife across the canvas and have the result photographed. Released in October 1970, Trespass reached No. 1 in Belgium in 1971 and No. 98 in the UK in 1984. "The Knife" was released as a single in May 1971. Rolling Stone briefly mentioned the album unfavourably following its 1974 reissue: "It's spotty, poorly defined, at times innately boring". "Genesis seemed to be dying a death around our second album", Gabriel told Mark Blake. "We couldn't get arrested. So I got a place at the London School of Film Technique."

Mike Rutherford said that Trespass was the only Genesis album where each track was contributed to by each band member equally; every other album contained songs that were written by one or two individuals, with only minor contributions from the remaining members.

Setlist

Happy the Man

The Fountain of Salmacis

Seven Stones

Twilight Alehouse

The Light

White Mountain

The Musical Box

Harlequin

The Knife

Going Out to Get You

The Return of the Giant Hogweed

On This Day 14/03/1973 Black Sabbath

On this day, 14 March 1973, heavy rock band Black Sabbath played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre with support provided by Badger and Necramandus..

The band were promoting their fourth studio album Vol 4, released in September 1972. It was the first album by Black Sabbath not produced by Rodger Bain; guitarist Tony Iommi assumed production duties. Patrick Meehan, the band's then-manager, was listed as co-producer, though his actual involvement in the album's production was minimal.

In his autobiography I Am Ozzy, Osbourne speaks at length about the sessions: "In spite of all the arsing around, musically those few weeks in Bel Air were the strongest we'd ever been." But he admits, "Eventually we started to wonder where the fuck all the coke was coming from ... that coke was the whitest, purest, strongest stuff you could ever imagine. One sniff, and you were king of the universe." During a show in support of Vol. 4 at the Hollywood Bowl, the cocaine abuse caught up to Iommi. "Tony had been doing coke literally for days. We all had, but Tony had gone over the edge. He walked off the stage and collapsed," said Osbourne. During soundcheck earlier that same day, a crazed Christian man attempted to storm the stage and stab Iommi with a dagger, but he was tackled by members of the band's crew. According to Butler, "we wanted to take a break" at that point.

On This Day 11/03/1963 Brenda Lee

On this day, 11 March 1963, American singer Brenda Lee played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre headlining a package that included Mike Berry, Sounds Incorporated, The Bachelors, Steve Perry, Tony Sheridan and Bob Bain.

Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country, and Christmas music, she achieved her first Billboard hit at age 12 in 1957, and was given the nickname "Little Miss Dynamite". Some of Lee's most successful songs include "Sweet Nothin's", "I'm Sorry", "I Want to Be Wanted", "Speak to Me Pretty", "All Alone Am I", and "Losing You". Her festive song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", recorded in 1958, topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2023, making Lee the oldest artist ever to top the chart and breaking several chart records.

Having sold over 100 million records globally, Lee is one of the most successful American artists of the 20th century. Lee was the second woman ever to top the Billboard Hot 100 (after Connie Francis) when her song “I'm Sorry” reached number one in 1960. Her U.S. success in the 1960s earned her recognition as Billboard's Top Female Artist of the Decade and one of the four artists who charted the most singles, behind Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Ray Charles. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, four NARM Awards, three NME Awards, and five Edison Awards. In 2023, she was named by Rolling Stone as one of the greatest singers of all time.

On This Day Tasmin Archer 05/03/1993

On this day, 5 March 1993, singer-songwriter Tasmin Archer played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

Her debut album, Great Expectations (1992), spawned the hit "Sleeping Satellite", which reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. She won the Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act in 1993 and has since released three more studio albums.

Gwent Gazette

Setlist

Arienne

Ripped Inside

When It Comes Down to It

In Your Care

Somebody's Daughter

Hero

Steeltown

Man At The Window

Real Oh So Real

No Regrets

Sleeping Satellite

Lords of the New Church

On This Day 04/02/1998 Genesis

On this day, 4 March 1998, prog rock super group Genesis played Cardiff International Arena on their Calling All Stations tour. The concerts were part of the extensive European leg of the tour, which featured a new, younger lineup following the departure of Phil Collins.

Lineup: Ray Wilson (vocals), Tony Banks (keyboards), Mike Rutherford (guitar/bass), with Nir Zidkyahu (drums) and Anthony Drennan (guitar/bass).

Setlist

No Son of Mine

Land of Confusion

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Calling All Stations

Carpet Crawlers

Alien Afternoon

Domino

Firth of Fifth

Congo

Home by the Sea

Second Home by the Sea

Acoustic

Dancing With the Moonlit Knight

Follow You Follow Me

Supper's Ready

(Lover's Leap)

Not About Us

Mama

The Dividing Line

Invisible Touch

Turn It On Again

Encore:

Throwing It All Away

On This Day 28/02/1993 Pulp

On this day, 28 February 1993, rock band Pulp played Terminal 396, Cardiff University on their Razzamatazz tour supporting St Etienne.

Razzmatazz" is a song written and released by Pulp. Featuring lyrics written by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker about an ex-girlfriend, the song sees the narrator mock his ex-girlfriend for leading a dull life after dumping him.

"Razzmatazz" was the band's final single for Gift Records, charting at number 80 in the UK. The single was released independently of an album, although it appeared as a bonus track at the end of the US version of His 'n' Hers. Since its release, the song has seen positive critical reception and has appeared on multiple compilation albums.

Review by David Rose

A very quick trip (less than 1 1/2 hours!) down to Cardiff after the live footy got us (me, Clive and infrequent gig-goer Soke) there in time for doors. Not the usual Uni main hall, but an industrial decor pipe-lines psychic dancehall backroom as well! An excellent venue, and certainly one to go back to! Pulp, our main reason for being here tonight, came on at 8.20 and played a totally brilliant set of their haunting, sleazy organ-led pop; seventies-influenced, sleazy, sexy, sinister but always startling and superb. Jarvis Cocker, as I've always believed would happen, is well on his way to becoming a true star of our times, and was an inspiring and eye-catching focus for this brilliant band of misfits and strays. Every one a winner, but highlights were "Stacks", "She's A Lady", the God-like "Babies" and closer "OU". Another highlight was Jarv sharing his late-arriving pizza order with the front rows; I had a mouthful of garlic bread while dancing to "Stacks"! It's only February, but I'll be hard pushed to see a better performance than Pulp's this year!

St. Etienne, however, paled in comparison to their support. Due on at 9.30 but eventually emerging at 10 with "Nothing Can Stop Us", a fine but very laid-back opener, their subsequent set was ambient, unusual and very nice, but never startling and always suffering in comparison to Pulp's sparkling performance. 2 unusual covers, of Bowie's "Absolute Beginners" and the Fall's "Choc Stock", and their own cinematic pop classic "You're In A Bad Way" were the highlights of a set, during which I spent much of the time watching the projections on their heart-shaped backdrop. A very short set as well - off at 10.35 having played considerably shorter than their support, they introduced the last number with vocalist Sarah Cracknell announcing, "sorry to disappoint anyone but we don't do encores. We're not a rock'n'roll band, we're a pop group." Hmmm. So, off we went to the chippy, to celebrate Pulp's set.

Final score; Sheffield 4, St. Etienne 2. An impressive home win!