On this day 10/12/1986 Fuzzbox

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On this day, 10 December 1986, alternative rock group Fuzzbox played Cardiff’s Montmerence Club.

We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It!!, often shortened to Fuzzbox, were formed in Birmingham in 1985, the all-female then quartet originally consisted of Vix (Vickie Perks), Magz (Maggie Dunne), Jo Dunne and Tina O'Neill.

They disbanded in 1990 after releasing two studio albums, and reunited in 2010 for a series of concerts. A second reunion was confirmed in 2015.

Their first release, in March 1986, was a single of "XX Sex" and "Rules and Regulations", with the fuzzbox featuring prominently, which reached No. 41 in the UK charts. This proved a huge success for the group: while not reaching the Top 40, the Vindaloo Records release remained in the Indie chart for 25 weeks.

This led to tours of the UK and Europe and, in December that year, their debut album, Bostin' Steve Austin, was released

On this day 09/12/1972 Family

On this day, 9 December 1972, progressive rock band Family played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

The band had just released their sixth studio album, Bandstand, featuring the singles "Burlesque" in late 1972, and "My Friend the Sun", which was released in early 1973.

Family's sound was distinguished by several factors. The vocals of Roger Chapman, described as a "bleating vibrato" and an "electric goat", were considered unique, although Chapman was trying to emulate the voices of R&B and soul singers Little Richard and Ray Charles, with some reviewers noting however that Chapman's voice could be grating and irritating occasionally.

John "Charlie" Whitney was an accomplished and innovative guitarist, and Family's often complex song arrangements were made possible through having multi-instrumentalists like Ric Grech, Jim King and Poli Palmer in the band and access to keyboards such as the Hammond organ, the new Mellotron, violin, flute and vibraphone.

The band's sound has been variously described as progressive rock, psychedelic rock, acid rock, folk rock, jazz fusion, not to mention "British art rock," and hard rock.

Family were particularly known for their live performances; one reviewer describing the band as "one of the wildest, most innovative groups of the underground rock scene", noting that they produced "some of the rawest, most intense performances on stage in rock history" and "that the Jimi Hendrix Experience were afraid to follow them at festivals".

Family was an influence on Jethro Tull, with Ian Anderson noting that the band were particularly under-rated. Both in his vocal sound and style and his dramatic stage presentation, Chapman was also a strong early influence on Peter Gabriel.

Setlist:

Sat’d’yBarfly

Part Of The Load

Top Of The Hill

My Friend The Sun

Children

Holding The Compass

Burlesque

The Weaver’s Answer

Rockin’ Pneumonia & The Boogie Woogie Flu

Let’s Have A Party

On this day 08/12/1982 Toyah

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On this day, 8 December 1982, Toyah, the band fronted by musician, actress, and TV presenter Toyah Willcox played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

The band had earlier in the year released The Changeling. The album peaked at number 6 in the UK and included the Top 40 single "Brave New World".

Toyah fronted the band between 1977 and 1983 before embarking on a solo career in the mid-1980s.

At the 1982 BPI/Brit Awards, Toyah was nominated for British Breakthrough Act, and Best Female Solo Artist.

Toyah was nominated a further two times in this category in 1983, and in 1984. Her biggest hits include "It's a Mystery", "Thunder in the Mountains" and "I Want to Be Free".

Band Members

Toyah Willcox vocals,

Joel Bogen guitar& backing vocals,

Phil Spalding bass & backing vocals,

Keith Hale keyboards & backing vocals,

Simon Phillips drums

On this day 07/12/1983 Killing Joke

On this day, 7 December 1983, post-punk band Killing Joke played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club.

In 1983 the band released Fire Dances and its single, "Let's All Go (to the Fire Dances)", the first Killing Joke single to be promoted with a music video. Another non-album single, "Me or You?", was released in October.

It was the band’s fourth album and the first to feature new bassist Paul Raven.

Fire Dances was generally well received by music critics. NME called it "their best [album] yet, and also likely to be their biggest."

PopMatters and Trouser Press both qualified the album as "superb", with the latter describing the album's mood as "brighter" and "more joyous" than previous records.

On this day 06/12/1993 Deborah Harry

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On this day, 6 December 1993, American pop icon Deborah Harry played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall as part of her Debravation" Tour U.K.

Born in Miami, Florida, Harry was adopted as an infant and raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey. After attending college, she worked various jobs, including as a secretary (including at the BBC in New York), dancer, and Playboy Bunny, before breaking through in the music industry. Harry co-formed Blondie in 1974 in New York City.

The band released their eponymous debut album in 1976, and released a further three albums between then and 1979, including Parallel Lines, which spawned six singles, including "Heart of Glass". Their fifth record, Autoamerican (1980), afforded Harry and the band further attention, spawning such hits as a cover of "The Tide Is High", and "Rapture", the latter of which is considered the first rap song to chart at number one in the United States.

Harry toured the UK with Blondie bandmate Chris Stein, guitarist Peter Min, bassist Greta Brinkman, and drummer James Murphy.

The set list of the Debravation Tour featured an offbeat selection of Harry material including the previously unreleased track "Close Your Eyes" (from 1989) and "Ordinary Bummer" (from the Stein-produced Iggy Pop album Zombie Birdhouse, a track that, under the moniker Adolph's Dog, Blondie covered in 1997).

Tentative plans to record these shows and release them as a live double CD never came to fruition.

However, covers of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" and David Oliver's "Love TKO" exist as bootlegs. In early 1994, Harry took the Debravation tour to the US.[40] In the UK, Harry's long tenure with Chrysalis Records also came to an end after Debravation's lackluster sales, but the label released all of Blondie's albums and Harry's KooKoo album (for the first time on CD) as remastered editions with bonus tracks.

Setlist:

Faces,

Close Your Eyes,

Rain,

Go Through It,

Love TKO,

I Can See Clearly,

Lip Service,

Strike Me Pink,

Rifle Range,

Ballad of Cookie McBride,

Memo From Turner,

Shotgun,

Shayla,

Ordinary Bummer,

Dancing Down The Moon,

Heart Of Glass,

Lovelight,

Wild Horses,

Dog Star Girl,

The Fugitive,

Call Me.

On this day, 02/11/1960. Adam Faith

Teen heartthrob Adam Faith played Cardiff’s Gaumont Theatre.
Also on the bill were John Barry Seven, Johnny Worth, The Honeys, and Johnny Le Roy.
Terence Nelhams Wright, better known as Adam Faith, was an English teen idol, singer, actor and was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s.

Faith managed to lodge twenty consecutive single releases on the UK Singles Chart, starting with "What Do You Want?" in November 1959 and culminating with "I Love Being in Love With You" in mid-1964; this was quite a feat for a British artist of Faith's era.

During the 1970s, Faith went into music management, managing Leo Sayer among others.
Faith negotiated an advance for his own comeback album with Warner Bros. Records, using half of it to record the album I Survive(which failed to chart) and the other half to finance Sayer.

Faith and his former drummer David Courtney co-produced Sayer's initial hits "The Show Must Go On" and "One Man Band". Sayer later said in an interview with British newspaper The Daily Telegraph that "[Faith] handled everything for me, but although he was a very good mentor, he was less trustworthy with my money. In the end, Adam Faith made more out of Leo Sayer than I did."

On this day 30/11/1982 Simple Minds

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On this day, 30 November 1982, Scottish rockers Simple Minds played Cardiff’s Top Rank on the band’s New Gold Dream Tour. Support was provided by Liverpool band China Crisis.

New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) was the fifth studio album by the band. The album was released in September 1982 by record label Virgin, and was a turning point for the band as they gained critical and commercial success in the UK and Europe with the album peaking at number 3 in the UK Albums Chart.

The record generated a handful of singles: "Promised You a Miracle" (released in April 1982), "Glittering Prize" (August 1982) and "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" (November 1982).

From a fan site - It was an extensive tour from the start: warm up in the UK (Glasgow, Edinburgh and London) followed by Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada before returning to the UK. Plans for the Japanese visit were quickly shelved before the tour started, and the Canadian leg of the tour was marred by accidents and delays.

It all proved far too demanding for Mike Ogletree, who left immediately after the Canadian leg. Therefore the band quickly contacted Mel Gaynor who joined them for the remaining UK dates.

The second UK leg marked a significant ramp up in terms of merchandising and promotion. Whilst T-shirts and badges were for sale on previous tours, a tour programme appeared for the first time. And the single Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) was issued to remind everyone that Simple Minds were back and touring.

The band were clearly overflowing with ideas. Not only did many of the songs take on extended, rearranged forms, but new songs, such as Street Hassle, The Kick Inside Of Me and, as a triumphal conclusion, Waterfront all started to appear; all of which would appear on the next album Sparkle In The Rain.

Setlist

Somebody Up There Likes You [Intro]

New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84)

Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel

Hunter And The Hunted

Glittering Prize

Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)

Sweat In Bullet

Promised You A Miracle

King Is White And In The Crowd

I Travel

Celebrate

The American

Big Sleep

Love Song

New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84)

On this day 29/11/1977 Split Enz

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On this day, 29 November 1977, New Zealand rock band Split Enz- played Cardiff’s Top Rank,

The band had just recorded their third album, Dizrythmia (a title taken from the medical term for jet-lag, circadian dysrhythmia, meaning 'upset body rhythm').

It made no appreciable impact in the UK, but was very successful in Australasia, and gave them their first simultaneous hits on the Australian and New Zealand singles and album charts.

It was the first Split Enz album without co-founding members Phil Judd and Mike Chunn. Neil Finn and Nigel Griggs, the first being the younger brother of band leader Tim Finn, replaced them respectively.

Between November 1977 and February 1978 Split Enz toured solidly throughout the UK and Europe.

The Enz struggled to survive through 1978: they lost their Chrysalis contract and spent most of that year without a UK record deal, a booking agent or a manager.

Debts mounted and, unable to get gigs, they were forced to go on the dole, but they continued writing new material and rehearsing constantly. It was at this point that the New Zealand Arts Council came to the rescue with a grant of $5000.

Grant of $5,000