On This Day 19/11/1984 Meatloaf

On this day, 19 Nov 1984, American vocalist Meatloaf played St David’s Hall in Cardiff.

Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947), better known as Meat Loaf, is noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. His Bat Out of Hell trilogy—Bat Out of Hell, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose—has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide.

His visit at the time to showcase his new release Bad Attitude was publicised like this.....

It’s 1984 and Meat Loaf has a new album and a new label. This fresh start has brought the best out in the man, as he’s willing to testify. I think the songs are superior this time, he says about ‘Bad Attitude’. My last sounded small. We need that ‘wall of sound’ applied with my vocals. This record has some real classic songs. The single, ‘Modern Girl’, is as good as anything I’ve ever done! Strong stuff! The album was done in 60 days working 13-14 hours a day, and in the style of Meat’s duet with Cher the title cut ‘Bad Attitude’ sees the big man battling with ex-Who star Roger Daltrey

BAND LINE UP

Vocals: Meat Loaf
Musical Direction, Keyboards, Guitars & Vocals: Paul Jacobs
Lead Guitar: Bob Kulick
Bass & Vocals: John Golden
Keyboards & Vocals: Brian Chatten
Drums & Percussion: Andy Wells
Vocals: Kati Mac, Doreen Chanter

Set list 

1. Bad Attitude

2. Dead Ringer for Love

3. Jumpin' the Gun

4. Midnight at the Lost and Found

5. I'm Gonna Love Her for Both of Us

6. Paradise by the Dashboard Light

7. Nowhere Fast

   (Fire Inc. cover)

8. Piece of the Action

9. All Revved Up With No Place to Go

10. Modern Girl

11. Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

12. Bat Out of Hell
    

On This Day 18/11/73 Rory Gallagher

On this day November 18, 1973 at the Capitol Theatre, Cardiff, Rory Gallagher played with support provided by Strider.

Gallagher had just released his 5th album Tattoo a week earlier with Cardiff the first night of a 20-date UK tour.

Classic Rock magazine opined that Tattoo was an album that "crossed many genres of rock and roll and showcased the writing talents of Rory Gallagher more than any of his previous records." BBC's reviewer noted that while Gallagher "toured constantly," he still "found time away from the stage to write so many great songs," adding that "Tattoo is perhaps the pick of the bunch: a near-perfect document of the powerful, passionate performances that placed Rory in a league of his own."

In the later years of his life, Gallagher developed a phobia of flying. To overcome this, he was prescribed various drugs. By the time of his final performance on 10 January 1995 in the Netherlands, he was visibly ill with severe abdominal pain and the tour had to be cancelled. He was prescribed paracetamol for the pain, a drug that can be extremely harmful to the liver, especially with a heavy drinker such as Gallagher.

Gallagher was admitted to London's King's College Hospital in March 1995, and it was only then that the extent of his ill health became apparent; his liver was failing and the doctors determined that, in spite of his young age, a liver transplant was the only possible course of action.[52] After thirteen weeks in intensive care, while waiting to be transferred to a convalescent home, his health suddenly worsened when he contracted a staphylococcal (MRSA) infection, and he died on 14 June 1995, at the age of 47.He was unmarried and had no children.

Gallagher's body was buried in St Oliver's Cemetery, on the Clash Road just outside Ballincollig near Cork City, Ireland. The grave's headstone is in the image of an award he received in 1972 for International Guitarist of the Year.

On This Day Chuck Berry 17/11/92

On this day, 17 November 1992, American rock and roll great Chuck Berry played St David’s Hall.

Chuck Berry was one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958).[ Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.

Set list

1. Instrumental

2. Roll Over Beethoven

3. School Day (Ring Ring Goes the Bell)

4. Sweet Little Sixteen

5. Memphis, Tennessee

6. Old Time Rock and Roll / Rock and Roll Music

7. (Unknown)

8. When Things Go Wrong

9. Carol / Little Queenie

10. Nadine

11. Tell Me That You Love Me

12. Johnny B. Goode

13. Reelin' and Rockin'

On This Day - 11/11/64 The Animals&Carl Perkins

On this day, Nov 11, 1964, Newcastle band The Animals played Sophia Gardens along with R'N'R great Carl Perkins. Also on the bill, promoted by the notorious promoter and manager Don Arden (father of Sharon Osbourne) was a very young Elkie Brooks.
The Animals were an English rhythm and blues and rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon, as exemplified by their signature song and transatlantic No. 1 hit single, "The House of the Rising Sun", as well as by hits such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", "Inside Looking Out", "I'm Crying" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". The band balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm and blues-orientated album material and were part of the British Invasion of the US.

Carl Perkins, the other star of the show, was an American singer-songwriter who recorded most notably at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, beginning in 1954. Amongst his best-known songs are "Blue Suede Shoes", "Matchbox" and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby".
According to Charlie Daniels, "Carl Perkins' songs personified the rockabilly era, and Carl Perkins' sound personifies the rockabilly sound more so than anybody involved in it, because he never changed."[3] Perkins's songs were recorded by artists (and friends) as influential as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash and Eric Clapton which further established his place in the history of popular music. Paul McCartney claimed that "if there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles."

On This Day 1962- The Beatles' First Performance in Wales

On this day in 1962, The Beatles’ first performance in Wales took place at the Regent Dansette Ballroom in Rhyl. 

Admission cost just five shillings (25p), and the night lasted from 8pm to 11.30pm. The Beatles were paid £4 for their performance.

They shared a bill with a local group, The Strangers. They were Jeff Sutton (guitar & vocals), Dennis Rothwell (guitar), Pat Shuttle (bass guitar) and Pete Williams (drums).

A mix of tourists and locals were in the audience, and were more likely to have been at the venue to dance than to listen to the live music. The stage was made from wood laid over billiard tables.

The Regent Dansette was a ballroom situated at 38 High Street above a branch of Burton’s tailors. The manager of the venue was Joe Young, whose wife worked on the cash desk. When she arrived she was surprised to hear John Lennon playing classical music on a grand piano kept in one of the rooms.

Prior to the concert The Beatles spent a few hours exploring Rhyl, including the local funfair.

The Beatles came to Rhyl in the early 60s just before they became famous, and to get a bit more cash they crossed the Foryd Bridge and came to The Clwyd Hotel (now The Harbour) and asked my dad, Haydn Davies, who was the first licensee on the North Wales coast to put on cabaret in a pub, for some extra work. But dad being dad turned them away saying ‘I’m not having long haired yobos like that in my pub!’ Oh if he only knew.

Brent Davies

The Beatles never returned to the Regent Dansette, but they did perform again in Rhyl, on 19th and 20th July 1963. Their other performances in Wales included Prestatyn on 24th November 1962; Mold on 24th January 1963; Abergavenny on 22nd June 1963; Llandudno from 12–17th August 1963; and Cardiff on 27th May 1963, 7th November 1964 and 12th December 1965.

Comments from BBC website include:

JoAnne Francis, Rhyl: My grandfather had the Regent Ballroom in Rhyl and the Beatles played there before Ringo joined the band. The stage was wood built over the billiard tables and my nan said during the day John Lennon was playing classical music on the piano, and lots of girls arrived to see them before the gig and my nan sent them away.

Richard Evans: I saw The Beatles – with Pete Best on drums – at the Embassy Dansette Ballroom in Rhyl on 14th July 1962. I think it cost 2/3 to get in – that’s about 14p today. They were supported by local band The Strangers.

Jess Ballard, Holywell: I was working in the cash box [at Rhyl] at the time and so was my husband, the band leader who went under the name ‘Duke Gordon and the Ritz Showband’. The main Beatles hits at the time I believe were ‘Please Please me’ and ‘Love Me Do’.

Brent Davies: The Beatles came to Rhyl in the early 60s just before they became famous, and to get a bit more cash they crossed the Foryd Bridge and came to The Clwyd Hotel (now The Harbour) and asked my dad, Haydn Davies, who was the first licensee on the North Wales coast to put on cabaret in a pub, for some extra work. Dad being dad turned them away saying ‘I’m not having long haired yobos like that in my pub!’

Happy Birthday Mick Jones

The Clash Play Caerphilly 1977 Photo Courtesy of Dave Smitham

Mick Jones, guitarist, singer with The Clash, And with Big Audio Dynamite had the 1986 UK No.11 single 'e=mc2'. Jones plays with Carbon/Silicon and also toured the world as part of the Gorillaz live band.

As a member of The Clash,  Jones’s first visit to Wales was part of the ill fated Anarchy in the U.K. tour supporting the Sex Pistols. A gig in Cardiff being cancelled and moved to Caerphilly where the played to a smallish crowd whilst a protest took place outside.

The bands first visit to the City took place May 25 1977 at the Top Rank Suite with the Buzzcocks and The Slits in support. They returned again later in the year (Nov), this time to Cardiff University with Richard Hell providing the support.

British musician, singer and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, co-founder and songwriter for The Clash until 1983. In 1984, he formed Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts. Jones has played with the group Carbon/Silicon along with Tony James since 2002 and was part of the Gorillazlive band for a world tour in 2010-2011. In late 2011, Jones collaborated with Pete Wylie and members of the Farm to form the Justice Tonight Band.

Cardiff Top Rank Set List May 24th 1977

I’m So Bored With The USA

Hate And War

48 Hours

Deny

Police And Thieves

Cheat

Capital Radio

What’s My Name

Protex Blue

Remote Control

Garageland

1977

On This Day 1955 - Green Gartside

Green Gartside, singer and songwriter with band Scritti Politti

Green Gartside, a Welsh songwriter, singer and musician. He is the frontman of the band Scritti Politti was born on this day, June 22 1955, in Cardiff.

During art school in Leeds in 1977, Gartside formed the post-punk band Scritti Politti with schoolmate and friend Nial Jinks and university friend Tom Morley. After Gartside and Morley had left college, they moved to London, later securing a recording deal with Rough Trade Records who released the first Scritti Politti album Songs to Remember in 1982. However, subsequent Scritti Politti albums featured Gartside with different personnel, with Gartside being the only constant member of the group.

Beginning as a punk-inspired collective of art students and squatters, Scritti Politti released several early post-punkrecordings on Rough Trade Recordsbefore transitioning into a mainstream pop music project in the early to mid-1980s, enjoying significant success in the record charts in the UK and the US. The group's most successful album, 1985's Cupid & Psyche 85, spawned three UK Top 20 hits with "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)", "Absolute", and "The Word Girl", as well as a US Top 20 hit with "Perfect Way".

The band's 1988 album Provision was a UK Top 10 success, though it only produced one UK Top 20 hit single, "Oh Patti". After releasing two non-album singles in 1991, as well as a collaboration with B.E.F., Gartside became disillusioned with the music industry and retired to south Wales for more than seven years.[8]He returned in the late 1990s, releasing a new album, Anomie & Bonhomie, in 1999 (which included various rock and hip hopinfluences). In 2005 Rough Tradereleased the compilation Early, which collected the band's first releases. In 2006 Gartside released the stripped-down White Bread, Black Beer.

REVIEW

Hits and anecdotes at Tramshed prove a success for Cardiff's Scritti Politti

Tony Woolway was at the Festival of Voice's Scritti Politti homecoming show

June 2016

It was a long-awaited return to the capital for Cardiff-born Green Gartside.

He's not someone who treads the boards with any regularity, such is his chronic stage-fright - but, for the criminally small crowd who half-filled the city's Tramshed, it was an homecoming like no other as he and his band produced a cracker of a set that featured hits and more.

 First up was Alexis Taylor, the Hot Chip front man performing with the aid of just a piano and percussionist.

A friend and collaborator of Gartside's, his solo material is far removed from his heavily synth-influenced band, playing songs from his latest album Piano and featuring a lovely chilled version of James and Bobby Purify's R&B classic I'm Your Puppet.

But it was Scritti Politti and Gartside that the enthusiastic crowd had come to see and, on his arrival they responded with a cheer normally reserved for a Gareth Bale hat-trick.

Looking slightly nervous at first, Gartside quickly showed how pleased he was to be home with a odd fact, that his grandfather had worked at the very same venue when it was a tramshed, with his other job being a city lamp-lighter, and then effortlessly breaking into the excellent Sweetest Girl.

In between songs Gartside regaled the audience with tales about some of the songs. Sweetest Girl was written with a duet in mind including reggae singer Gregory Isaacs and German band Kraftwork.

Whilst Isaacs responded in the affirmative, the was no reply from Kraftwork.

Years later bumping into the band he asked Kraftwerk if they'd heard the song. Yes, Gartside was told, but, “We hate reggae.”

Still the anecdotes were flowing with Gartside explaining the story of one song, Brushed With Oil, Dusted With Powder.

Pursued by top music manager Peter Asher, a trip to the Hollywood Hills and a meeting found Gartside without a guitar, Asher said he would find him one and produced a guitar belonging to the great Joni Mitchell, a rather surreal moment followed by Gartside started the song, which was later finished whilst sitting above a dentist's in Newport.

It seemed every other song was a hit with The Word Girl, Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) and Hypnotise all sounding as fresh as the day they were released, 30 years ago.

Asylums In Jerusalem, a song Gartside said had only been played once before was quite stunning with the able assistance of his seriously funky band, and, whilst not resting on his laurels, a recent song written with and performed with Tayor, Airforce 2, proved that a new Scritti Politti album would more than a match for anything previously written and on tonight's performance, one certainly to look out for in the near future.

On This Day 1987 - David Bowie

A good concert and first time David did a concert in Wales
In 1987, David Bowie embarked on the The Glass Spider Tour in support of the album Never Let Me Down. The concert tour was the most ambitious by David Bowie surpassing the previous Serious Moonlight Tour in terms of audience figures and number of performances.
It has been estimated by the conclusion of the tour a total of three million people had attended beating his previous record set on the 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour

Anyway this show is quite famous as it’s the first rock concert from this venue.
The second was from U2 a month later,and that’s another story.

The review

It was simply the biggest and best rock concert Wales has seen. A total of 50,000 people paid £750,000 to see a legend and it was worth every penny.

David Bowie, 40, fit and fantastic, sent the National Stadium in Cardiff wild with excitement with a set of hits, ancient and modern.

A taste of everything from Heroes from 1977 to Zeroes from his latest album, Never Let Me Down, echoed around a stadium more used to the hymns and arias of the rugby multitudes and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The goal posts at the East Terrace end were replaced with a vast stage enveloped by a giant spider which incorporated a series of looping and stretching antennae.

On either side masking the whole of the daunting 260- speaker cabinet sound system were huge scaffolding towers painted gold.

Suddenly the strains of the Hendrix classic Purple Haze, played incongruously on strings, broke the silence of expectation which had hushed the stadium.

Enter guitarist Carlos Alomar to evoke the huge spider to free its brood and a host of spider -dancers descend followed by the main man himself suspended in a silver throne, speaking on a telephone.

Clad in blood red Teddy-boy style suit he threw himself into new material – Glass Spider , Day In - Day Out – surrounded and almost submerged by superb dancers and video crew.

For Bang Bang, Bowie was joined by a Latin dancer, whose seemingly endless leg draped over his shoulder.

And all the while the spiders – now not of Mars – wound around the web of scaffolding, followed by the roving video cameras, which relayed the action to two giant screens either side of the stage.



Tour band 1987 – The Glass Spider Tour
• David Bowie – vocals, guitar
• Peter Frampton – guitar, vocals
• Charlie Sexton – guitar, backing vocals
• Carlos Alomar – guitar, backing vocals, music director
• Carmine Rojas – bass guitar
• Alan Childs – drums
• Erdal Kızılçay – keyboards, trumpet, congas, violin, backing vocals
• Richard Cottle – keyboards, saxophone, tambourine, backing vocals

Tour dancers
• Melissa Hurley
• Constance Marie
• Spazz Attack (Craig Allen Rothwell)
• Viktor Manoel
• Stephen Nichols
• Toni Basil (choreography)

Tour design
• Allen Branton – Lighting design
• Mark Ravitz – Set design
• Christine Strand – Video director

1. Purple Haze

   (The Jimi Hendrix Experience song)

2. Up the Hill Backwards

3. Glass Spider

4. Up the Hill Backwards

   (Reprise)

5. Day-In Day-Out

6. Bang Bang

   (Iggy Pop cover)

7. Absolute Beginners

8. Loving the Alien

9. China Girl

   (Iggy Pop cover)

10. Fashion

11. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

12. All the Madmen

13. Never Let Me Down

14. Big Brother

15. Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family

16. '87 and Cry

17. "Heroes"

18. Time Will Crawl

19. Beat of Your Drum

20. Sons of the Silent Age

21. Dancing With the Big Boys

22. Zeroes

23. Let's Dance

24. Fame

    Play Video

25. Encore:

26. Blue Jean

27. Modern Love