On This Day 15/10/1984 Hanoi Rocks

On this day, 15 October 1984, Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club on their Two Steps From The Move Tour. Support was provided by Johnny Thunders.

Formed in 1979, they were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and popular in Japan.

By 1984, the band was considered to be on the verge of an international breakthrough when they released their first major label album for CBS and headed for their first US tour.

In early 1984, Hanoi Rocks and Bob Ezrin recorded Two Steps from the Move,in New York and Toronto. Ezrin had invited Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople to help with the songwriting, and Hunter brought Jack Bruce (formerly of Cream), who in turn brought Pete Brown, to the recording sessions. Brown wrote a lot of lyrics, but the only one the band used was "Smoked a lot of sky, drank a lot of rain", in "Million Miles Away".

By the end of April the new album was almost ready for release, but Ezrin and the label thought that the album was missing a hit, so they recorded Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Up Around the Bend",[8] which was already a favorite of Michael Monroe and Nasty Suicide.

In May 1984, Hanoi Rocks went on tour in Bombay and Japan. In Japan, excitement over the band led to sold-out concert halls and fans following the band everywhere. Even in Finland people were baffled by the extent of the band's popularity in Japan.

The Japanese tour was followed by a tour across England and Scotland. British magazines raved about the band, and were certain that the next record would be their breakthrough. In June, the single "Up Around The Bend / Until I Get You" was released, but it also appeared as a double single and as an EP. A music video for "Up Around the Bend" was also produced. At the time it was the most expensive music video for any Finnish band. The song climbed to number 61 on the UK singles chart,and got radio airplay in America.

After a July tour in England, Two Steps from the Move, whose title was changed from Silver Missiles and Nightingales at the last minute, was released. It was their most successful album in the UK Albums Chart, where it peaked at number 28. "Underwater World / Shakes" and "Two Steps From the Move" were released as singles in the UK, and right away the band went on tour with Johnny Thunders.

In November the single "Don't You Ever Leave Me / Oil And Gasoline" was released, by which time the new album had sold 200,000 copies—most of them in the U.S. (60,000), Britain (50,000), and Finland (20,000). In the US the album sold 44,000 copies in its first two weeks.

After a Swedish tour, the band toured America until Michael Monroe fractured his ankle onstage at USA Sam's in Syracuse, New York, on 29 November, resulting in some of the dates being canceled. Los Angeles shows were all sold out in less than half an hour.

Setlist

Two Steps From the Move

Back to Mystery City

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

I Can't Get It

Visitor

Underwater World

High School

Motorvatin'

Don't Never Leave Me

Tragedy

Malibu Beach Nightmare

Taxi Driver

Million Miles Away

(aka Never Get Enough)

Up Around the Bend

(Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)

The Train Kept A-Rollin'

(Tiny Bradshaw cover)

Lost in the City

Until I Get You

I Feel Alright

Pills

(Bo Diddley cover)

Gloria

(Them cover)

On This Day 02/01/1984 The Damned

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On this day,2 January 1984, punk pioneers The Damned played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club.

Formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies. They were the first punk band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976),release a studio album, Damned Damned Damned (1977) and tour the United States. Nine of the band's singles charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40.

In 1984, the Damned performed on the BBC Two sitcom The Young Ones with their song "Nasty", featuring new bassist Bryn Merrick (replacing Paul Gray) and both Roman Jugg and Sensible on guitar.[citation Sensible played his last concert with the band at Brockwell Park before leaving to pursue his solo career.

From the earliest days of the band, Vanian had adopted a vampire-like appearance onstage, with chalk-white makeup and formal dress. With Sensible gone, Vanian's image became more characteristic of the band as a whole.

The Damned on The Young Ones

The Damned signed a recording contract with major label MCA Records, and the Phantasmagoria album followed in July 1985, preceded by the UK No. 21 single "Grimly Fiendish". Other hits from the same album were "The Shadow of Love" with a gloomy gothic sound, and the lighter "Is It a Dream?"

The Damned at the New Ocean ClubPhotos: Anthony Tooze

Setlist

There Ain't No Sanity Clause

Disco Man

Ignite

Stranger on the Town

Wait for the Blackout

Do the Blitz

Melody Lee

Born to Kill

Love Song

Neat Neat Neat

Looking at You

(MC5 cover)

New Rose

Encore:

Smash It Up

Noise Noise Noise

Hippy Hippy Shake

(Chan Romero cover)

Encore 2:

We Love You

(The Rolling Stones cover)

1970

(The Stooges cover)

Encore 3:

Happy Talk

(Rodgers & Hammerstein cover)

Love Song

I Just Can't Be Happy Today

On This Day 30/05/1986 The Mission

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On this day, 24 May 1986, gothic rock band The Mission played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club on their Expedition I tour. Support was provided by Pauline Murray and The Storm.

Formed in 1986 and initially known as the Sisterhood, the band was started by frontman Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams (both from the Sisters of Mercy), soon adding drummer Mick Brown (Red Lorry Yellow Lorry) and guitarist Simon Hinkler (Artery and Pulp).

Aside from Hussey, the lineup has changed several times during the years and the band has been on hiatus twice.

After an aborted recording session with Andrew Eldritch in the summer of 1985, Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams left the Sisters of Mercy. Based in Leeds, the duo continued to work on various musical ideas and recorded them over the autumn.

Dismissing the use of a drum machine, Adams and Hussey asked Mick Brown (Red Lorry Yellow Lorry) to help out with the sessions. By the end of the year, he had joined the band on a permanent basis. With Hussey as both the frontman and principal songwriter, the trio required a second guitarist to facilitate a live setup.

They recruited Simon Hinkler (Artery), who also contributed keyboards and thus completed the four-piece. The name the Sisterhood was chosen with a nod to the past and rehearsals for the first shows started in January 1986.

The new name quickly became a point of discussion in the UK music press, giving the four-piece a significant amount of publicity. As the Sisterhood, the band made their live debut on 20 January 1986 at the Alice in Wonderland, London.

While the band was on tour as support to the Cult around Europe, Eldritch released a single as the Sisterhood. Back in the UK, Hinkler was briefly dismissed and reinstated for three dates where the band revealed their new name, the Mission.

Although Hussey and Adams were still under contract with WEA, manager Tony Perrin prepared their material for a release. In May, the EP I (Serpents Kiss) appeared on the Chapter 22 label as the Expedition I tour took the band around Europe. Two months later, II (Like a Hurricane/Garden of Delight) was released on the same label and supported by a number of festival slots that culminated in an appearance at the Reading Festival.

Setlist

Wasteland

And the Dance Goes On

Garden of Delight

Naked and Savage

Bridges Burning

Stay With Me

Serpent's Kiss

The Crystal Ocean

Wake (RSV)

1969

(The Stooges cover)

Sacrilege

Like a Hurricane

(Neil Young cover)

Wishing Well

(Free cover)

Shelter From the Storm

On This Day 27/11/1984 Alien Sex Fiend

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On this day, 27 November 1984, gothic rock band Alien Sex Fiend played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club.

Alien Sex Fiend were formed by Nicholas Wade (Nik Fiend), Christine Wade (Mrs Fiend), David James (Yaxi Highrizer) and Johnny Freshwater (Johnny Ha-Ha) in late 1982 at the Batcave club in London (where Nik worked).

The band became known in the gothic scene for its dark, electronic industrial-leaning sound, heavy samples, loops, dub remixes and manic vocals. Nik Wade had previously been a member of the Alice Cooper-influenced bands the Earwigs and Mr & Mrs Demeanour, and later the punk band Demon Preacher (later known as the Demons).

The band had recently released their second album Acid Bath on Anagram Records and was produced by Kevin Armstrong. Trouser Press described the album as "an inspired dose of mesmerizing, brain-frying insanity"

They released the world's first 11" single, "E.S.T. (Trip to the Moon)", that October.

The band also recorded two BBC Peel Sessions in 1984. At the May session, they recorded "Attack!!!", "Dead and Buried", "Ignore the Machine" and "Hee Haw"; at the August session, "In God We Trust", "E.S.T. (Trip to the Moon)" and "Boneshaker Baby".

On This Day 16/11/1985 Siouxsie and the Banshees

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On this day, 16 November 1985, punk rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club on the band’s Tinderbox tour.

Formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".

Initially associated with the punk scene, the band including guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris rapidly evolved to create "a form of post-punk discord full of daring rhythmic and sonic experimentation".

Their debut album The Scream was released to widespread critical acclaim in 1978. Following membership changes, including the addition of guitarist John McGeoch and drummer Budgie, they radically changed their musical direction and became one of the most successful alternative pop groups of the 1980s.

Banshees line-up spent much of 1985 working on a new record, Tinderbox. The group finished the song "Cities in Dust" before the album, so they rushed its release as a single prior to their longest tour of the UK.

Tinderbox was released in April 1986. Sounds magazine said: "Tinderbox is a refreshing slant on the Banshees' disturbing perspective and restores their vivid shades to pop's pale palette". Due to the length of time spent working on Tinderbox, the group desired spontaneity and decided to record an album of cover songs, Through the Looking Glass, in 1987.

Mojo magazine later praised their version of "Strange Fruit". After the album's release, the band realised Carruthers was no longer fitting in and decided to work on new material as a trio.

On This Day 03/11/1983 King Kurt

On this day, 3 November 1983, Psychobilly/rock-n-roll band King Kurt played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club with support provided by Demented Are Go. Reduced price entry was offered for anyone with a special rat and rodent card, which was available free by writing to King Kurt in advance of the gig.

The band began as Rockin' Kurt and his Sauer Krauts in 1981, with Jef Harvey on vocals, John Reddington on guitar, Bert Boustead on bass guitar, Alan "Maggot" Power on "saxamaphone" and Rory Lyons on drums. Paul "Thwack" Laventhol joined on guitar at their third gig in July 1981, and the name was shortened to King Kurt later that year.

Harvey left in 1982 to be replaced by Gary "The Smeg" Clayton as vocalist, and it was at Harvey's farewell concert at the 101 Club in Battersea, London that the infamous "food fight" gigs started. The band were known for their stage performances in which eggs and bags of flour were thrown around both on and off stage.

Free haircuts and other audience participation included stage props such as "The Wheel of Misfortune", a wheel on which a fan was strapped and fed Snakebite through a tube. Themed concerts included "Kurt Skirts", where admittance was refused to men unless wearing a skirt, or Easter concerts with the band dressed as legionaries, angels on flying trapeze, and an extra in a loincloth on a cross at the back of the stage.

The band joined Stiff Records in 1983 and recorded the album Ooh Wallah Wallah with producer, Dave Edmunds. They had a few minor hit singles that featured in the UK Singles and UK Indie Charts, such as "Zulu Beat", Weill and Brecht's "Mack the Knife" and "Banana Banana", along with their Top 40 hit "Destination Zululand", which reached No. 36 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1983.

On This Day 27/02/1984 Magnum

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On this day, 27 February 1984, heavy rock band Magnum supported by Steel, played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club.

Formed in Birmingham by Tony Clarkin (guitar, songwriter) and Bob Catley (vocals) in order to appear as the resident band at the Rum Runner nightclub in the city. Magnum have undergone several changes in personnel over the years; however, the core of Catley and Clarkin remain.

Magnum's most significant early success was Chase the Dragon in 1982, which reached number 17 in the UK Albums Chart. It included several songs that would become mainstays of the band's live set, notably "Soldier of the Line", "Sacred Hour" and "The Spirit".

On a Storyteller's Night gave the band its breakthrough in Europe, and achieved a Gold certification in the United Kingdom.

The band's 1986 album Vigilante represented a further move towards the mainstream before the band achieved their commercial peak in 1988 when they entered the UK Top Ten for the first time with the album Wings of Heaven, which reached number five and featured three Top 40 singles, "Days of No Trust", "Start Talking Love" and "It Must Have Been Love".

It was followed by Goodnight L.A., which was produced by Keith Olsen and reached number nine in the UK Album Chart in 1990. It produced another Top 40 single for the band, "Rockin' Chair".

On This Day 05/07/1985 Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

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On this day, 5 July 1984, rock band Red Lorry Yellow Lorry played Cardiff’s New Ocean club supporting German rockers Xmal Deutschland.

Formed in Leeds in early 1981 by guitarist and songwriter Chris Reed, vocalist Mark Sweeney, bassist Steve Smith and drummer Mick Brown. After breaking up in 1991, the band reformed in 2003 and have released 5 studio albums over the course of their career.

In 1985, the band's debut album, Talk About the Weather, was released and peaked at No. 3 on the NME independent albums chart.

The album, which most fans consider to be the band's best, received generally positive reviews and sold extremely well for a small label offering.

"Hollow Eyes", a single taken from the album, attained good sales as well, as did follow-up non-LP singles "Chance" and "Spinning Round" the latter of which is generally felt to be the Lorries's strongest song.

Personnel

Chris Reed - vocals, guitar

David Wolfenden - guitar

Paul Southern - bass guitar

Mick Brown - drums