On This Day 22/10/1975 Showaddywaddy

On this day, 22 October 1975, Rock ‘n’ Roll band Showaddywaddy played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre with support provided by Arrows. The band had just released their second album Step Two.

The band was formed in 1973 by the amalgamation of two groups, Choise (Dave Bartram, Trevor Oakes, Al James, and Romeo Challenger) and the Golden Hammers (Buddy Gask, Russ Field, Rod Deas, and Malcolm Allured), the latter often known simply as The Hammers. They both played at the Fosse Way pub in Leicester, and soon discovered shared musical tastes.

After playing together in jamming sessions, they joined together permanently, and Showaddywaddy were born. This led to an eight-member band, with the unusual feature of having two vocalists, two drummers, two guitarists, and two bassists. The band's first gig as professional musicians was at the Dreamland Ballroom in Margate, Kent, on 1 September 1973., although the first gigs under the Showaddywaddy name were in 1972.

Showaddywaddy won one programme on the ATV series New Faces, in November 1973, and were runners-up in the "All Winners Final", which was broadcast on 28 December 1973. They have made nearly 300 television appearances, including their own BBC TV special, Showaddywaddyshow, broadcast between Christmas and New Year in 1980. The band also appeared in the 1975 film Three for All, where they performed "The Party" from their 1974 debut album.[citation needed] Their first single, "Hey Rock and Roll" (written by the band), was released in April 1974. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart.

On This Day 21/10/1976 Thin Lizzy

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 21 October 1976, rock band Thin Lizzy played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on their Johnny the Fox tour.

By the beginning of 1976 the classic lineup of the band had been together for 18 months;Phil Lynott, Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson; and the band’s distinctive take on the classic ‘Wishbone Ash twin-lead guitar’ attack had begun to cut through, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Jailbreak album was recorded at The Who’s Ramport Studios in Battersea, London, between December ’75 and February ’76, with John Alcock producing. The band had worked up the songs in a small studio in Buckinghamshire in late ’75 so that the arrangements were really tight by the time they got to Ramport, (too tight for Robertson who later complained that he felt restricted by the lack of experimentation at Ramport.) Unknown outside of the band and their label at the time, however, was that this album was their last chance; they were about to be dropped by Vertigo if it didn’t make the charts.

Jailbreak came out on 26th March 1976 and went into the U.K Album Chart at No.60. It peaked at No.10 on its 22nd week and remained on the chart for a total of 50 weeks, 13 of those in the Top 20.

The first single from Jailbreak was The Boys are Back in Town c/w Emerald, released three weeks after the album, on 17th April. It didn’t break into the Singles Chart for nearly 6 weeks, reaching No.48 on 29th May. However, as soon as Radio One and Top of the Pops picked up on it, it rose to No.8 on 3rd July during that long hot summer.

The album’s title track was the next single, peaking at No.31. However, all was not well in the band. During a triumphant U.S tour, where the album had broken into the Billboard chart at No.18, Phil Lynott contracted Hepatitis which meant that the band and crew were quarantined and the tour was cancelled.

While he was ill, Lynott was determined to try and salvage some momentum from the situation and he wrote most of the next album, Johnny the Fox, in a Manchester hospital on an acoustic guitar. In August ’76, Thin Lizzy went back into Ramport with Alcock and recorded the new album in a few weeks, after an aborted attempt to record at Musicland Studios in Munich. While in Germany arguments about musical direction began to surface, mostly between Robertson and Lynott. The Ramport sessions were fraught with tension but they delivered the album on time and Vertigo put out Johnny the Fox in October ’76, just 7 months after Jailbreak. It went straight into the U.K Album Chart at No.11, staying on the chart for 23 weeks. The only U.K single was Don’t Believe a Word c/w Old Flame which was released on 26th November. It spent 7 weeks on the chart, peaking at No.11. In the U.S, the album suffered from that cancelled tour and the lost momentum, reaching No.52.

The band’s touring schedule during 1976, despite recording two albums and Lynott’s illness, was relentless. 65 gigs in the U.K, 14 in mainland Europe and 32 in the U.S meant almost a third of the year was spent on the road. However, as 1976 came to an end, Brian Robertson almost destroyed all of the progress and hard work that Thin Lizzy had made. The night before leaving London for the start of another U.S tour, the Glaswegian guitarist got into a fight and broke his hand. The tour had to be delayed while Gary Moore rejoined the band and the dates were all moved to Jan-March 1977 with Lizzy supporting Queen.

Sadistic Mika Band 20 October 1975

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 20 October 1975, Japanese band the Sadistic Mika Band played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre supporting Roxy Music.

Formed in November 1971 by husband and wife duo Kazuhiko Katō and Mika Katō, In a time when it was still rare for women to sing in rock bands in Japan, the fact that the Katōs were a married couple was even more unusual. This, combined with their glam rock-influenced fashion, has been cited as ground-breaking for defying gender norms in the country.

Throughout October 1975, the band played live in the United Kingdom supporting Roxy Music on the European leg of their Siren Tour, including a show at Wembley Arena. It was the first ever UK tour by a Japanese rock band.

They were well received by the local music press, including Melody Maker and New Musical Express, and performed on British TV in between concerts. When they group performed "Time to Noodle" and "Suki Suki Suki" on the Old Grey Whistle Test on October 7, 1975, the letters spelling the name of the programme (usually shown hung from the back wall) were spelt as The Old Gley Whistle Test. The band also made an appearance on BBC TV's Pebble Mill at One and were interviewed by Jan Leeming.

After releasing three studio albums and becoming the first Japanese rock band to tour the United Kingdom, the Sadistic Mika Band disbanded in November 1975 when the Katōs divorced.

On This Day 13/10/1975 Demis Roussos

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 13 October 1975, Greek musician and singer Demis Roussos played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

He had recently released his fifth studio album Souvenirs which peaked at #25 in the UK charts.

After settling in Greece, Roussos participated in a series of musical groups beginning with the Idols when he was 17, where he met Evángelos Papathanassíou (later known as Vangelis) and Loukas Sideras, his future bandmates in Aphrodite's Child. After this, he joined the Athens-based band We Five, another cover band which had limited success in Greece.

Roussos's operatic vocal style helped propel the band to international success, notably on their final album 666, based on passages from the Book of Revelation, which became a progressive rock cult classic.

After Aphrodite's Child disbanded, Roussos continued to record sporadically with his former bandmate Vangelis. In 1970, the two released the film score album Sex Power (the album has also been credited to Aphrodite's Child), and later recorded the 1977 album Magic together.

On This Day 02/10/1976 Osibisa

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 2 October 1976, Ghanaian-Caribbean Afro rock band Osibisa played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

Founded in London in the late 1960s by four expatriate West African and three London-based Caribbean musicians.

Osibisa was the most successful and longest lived of the African-heritage bands in London, alongside such contemporaries as Assagai, Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, Demon Fuzz, Black Velvet, and Noir, and was largely responsible for the establishment of world music and Afro-rock as a marketable genre.

The band spent much of the 1970s touring the world, playing to large audiences in Japan, Australasia, India, and Africa. During this time Paul Golly (guitar) and Ghanaians Daku Adams "Potato" and Kiki Gyan were also members of the band. In January 1976, their single, "Sunshine Day", reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. Their next single release, "Dance the Body Music", peaked at number 31 in the same listing.

On This Day 29/09/1977 Leo Sayer

Images may be subject to to copyright

On this day, 29 September 1977, singer Leo Sayer played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre, the first date on his Thunder In My Heart tour.

Thunder In My Heart was the title of Sayer’s fifth album released on the 30 September 1977, peaking at #8 in the UK album charts.

Review - South Wales Argus

Setlist

Giving It All Away

I Hear the Laughter

In My Life

Hold On to My Love

One Man Band

Train

Thunder in My Heart

Easy to Love

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

Moonlighting

Fool for Your Love

When I Need You

(Albert Hammond cover)

How Much Love

Encore:

Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance)

The Show Must Go On

On This Day 26/09/1976 Hawkwind

On this day, 26 September 1976, space rock band Hawkwind played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. The band had just released their sixth studio album Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music

The title makes references to old science fiction magazines (Astounding and Amazing Stories), the concept being that each piece of music (and its title) would be interpreted as an individual science fiction story. The record cover is a parody of the cover of these magazines, while the inner sleeve carried small ads, with each band member having their own product (e.g. Dr Brock's cure for piles, Paul Rudolph's Manly Strapon, and Simon King's Pleasure Primer). The cover was double-sided, one side illustrated by Calvert's childhood friend Tony Hyde, the other by Barney Bubbles signed as Grove Lane, with initial print-runs having either as the front cover. Bubbles original design was to have been Steppenwolf looming over the city.

This album marked the start of a new era for Hawkwind, having left the management of Douglas Smith for Tony Howard and changed record companies from United Artists Records to Charisma Records. Musically, the dirty heavy metal lead bass guitar playing of Lemmy was replaced by the cleaner, formally trained bass playing of Paul Rudolph. All members of the band were now contributing to the writing and arrangement of the music leading to more width in style, and the recording and production is better defined than previous albums.

On This Day 21/09/1974 Roxy Music

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 21 September 1974, Art rock band Roxy Music played the first of two nights at Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. It was the first gig of their Country Life tour. They were supporetd by the Jess Roden Band.

Review South Wales Argus

Country Life, peaked at number three on the UK albums chart.and was the first Roxy Music album to enter the US Top 40, albeit at No. 37.

Country Life was met with widespread critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone referring to it "as if Ferry ran a cabaret for psychotics, featuring chanteurs in a state of shock".

The cover image was controversial in some countries, including the United States and Spain, where it was censored for release. As a result, early releases in the US were packaged in opaque shrink wrap; a later American LP release of Country Life (available during the years 1975–80) featured a different cover shot. Instead of Karoli and Grunwald posed in front of some trees, the reissue used a photo from the album's back cover that featured only the trees. In Australia, the album was banned in some record stores, while others sold each copy inside a black plastic sleeve.

Author Michael Ochs has described the result as the "most complete cover-up in rock history".

Setlist

Prairie Rose

Beauty Queen

Mother of Pearl

All I Want Is You

A Song for Europe

Three and Nine

Out of the Blue

In Every Dream Home a Heartache

If It Takes All Night

If There Is Something

Street Life

Virginia Plain

Editions of You

Encore:

Do the Strand

Tour Musicians

Bryan Ferry - Vocals & Keyboards

Phil Manzanera - Guitars

Andy Mackay - Sax & Oboe

Paul Thompson - Drums

Eddie Jobson - Violin & Keyboards

John Wetton - Bass