On This Day 19/01/1972 Ten Years After

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On this day, 19 January 1972, British blues rock band Ten Years After played Cardiff University with support provided by Jude, a new band comprising of guitarist Robin Trower, ex-Stone the Crows bassist/singer James Dewar, and former Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker.

It is said that Alvin Lee and Leo Lyons again changed their name in 1966 from The Jaybirds to Ten Years After – in honour of Elvis Presley, one of Lee's idols. (This was ten years after Presley's successful year, 1956).

Some sources claim that the name was pulled by Leo Lyons from a magazine, advertising a book, Suez Ten Years After (referring to the Suez Crisis).

In 1971, the band switched labels from Deram to Columbia Records (US) and Chrysalis (UK) and released the hit album A Space in Time, which marked a move toward more commercial material.

It featured the group's biggest hit, "I'd Love to Change the World".

In late 1972, the group issued their second Columbia album Rock & Roll Music to the World and, in 1973, the live double album Ten Years After Recorded Live. The band subsequently broke up after their final 1974 Columbia album, Positive Vibrations.

On This Day 18/01/1999 Idlewild

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On this day, 18 January 1999, Scottish rock band Idlewild played Cardiff University.

Formed in Edinburgh in 1995. The band's line-up consists of Roddy Woomble (lead vocals), Rod Jones (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Newton (drums), Andrew Mitchell (bass), and Luciano Rossi (keyboards).

The band had released their debut album Hope Is Important the previous October.

Hope Is Important received generally favourable reviews from music critics, some of whom praised the songwriting and Idlewild's energy. The album charted at number 53 in the UK; it was also certified silver.

During the summer of 1999, Idlewild were invited to play at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, a momentous day for Scottish history.

Scotland is where the band would remain for a while, letting the surrounding environment influence their songwriting and letting the songs represent the band as they were.

On This Day 17/01/1974 Beck, Bogert & Appice

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On this day, 17th January 1974, rock super group, Beck,Bogert & Appice played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

Formed by legendary British guitarist Jeff Beck, evolving from the Jeff Beck Group. It included bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, Americans who had played together in Vanilla Fudge and Cactus.

The band had the previous year released their only album, the self-titled Beck, Bogert & Appice.

The album contains Beck's version of the song "Superstition" which was written by Stevie Wonder. Beck had appeared on Wonder's original recording of the song in 1972.

Beck, Bogert & Appice was released in both conventional 2-channel stereo and 4-channel quadraphonic versions. This was the band's only studio album, as Beck's departure forced a sudden dissolution in 1974.

Recording sessions for a second studio album began in January 1974.

On May 18, 1974, New Musical Express wrote "Rumours concerning an imminent split in BBA, which have been rife for several weeks, were confirmed by bassist Tim Bogert". Melody Maker also reported the breakup of the band at that time.

The band dissolved before the completion of a second studio album.

On This Day 16/01/1999 John Cale

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On this day, 16 January 1999, Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer and founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

The previous year, Cale spent on tour with singer Siouxsie Sioux. In February, he was the curator of one day festival called "With a Little Help from My Friends" that took place at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with the presence of the Metropole Orchestra.

The concert was shown on Dutch national television and featured a song specially composed for the event and still unreleased, "Murdering Mouth", sung in duet with Siouxsie and her second band the Creatures.

Cale and Siouxsie then did a double bill tour in the US for two months from late June until mid-August, both artists collaborating on stage on several songs including a version of "Venus in Furs".

Cale's autobiography, What's Welsh for Zen?, was written in collaboration with Victor Bockris and published in 1999 by Bloomsbury Publishing.

To promote the book he tours Europe with the John Cale trio (with Mark Deffenbaugh & Lance Doss, starting at St Davids Hall, Cardiff - January 16.

John Cale: vocals, piano, guitar

Lance Doss:lap steel guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin

Mark Deffenbaugh: guitar , flute, harmonica, banjo, Jew’s harp

Setlist

Lament

On A Wedding Anniversary

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Buffalo Ballet

Chinese Envoy

Child's Christmas in Wales

Some Friends

Darling I Need You

You Know More Than I Know

Ship Of Fools

Set Me Free

Leaving It Up To You

Cable Hogue

Cordoba

Dying On The Vine

Heartbreak Hotel

Fear Is A Man's Best Friend

Style It Takes

Thoughtless Kind

Hallelujah

On This Day 15/01/1996 LUSH

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On This Day 15 January 1996, alternative rock band LUSH played Cardiff’s Gassy Jacks.

The band was formed in 1987 in London, initially named the Baby Machines (after a line in the Siouxsie and the Banshees song "Arabian Knights"), with a line-up of Meriel Barham (vocals), Anderson (guitar, vocals), Berenyi (guitar, vocals), Steve Rippon (bass guitar) and Chris Acland (drums).

Their influences were diverse; they were inspired by the garage rock scene of the Nuggets series, Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Beach Boys and the Byrds.

They were just about to release their second studio album Spooky, reaching No 7 in the UK album charts.

In 2016, Pitchfork ranked Spooky at number 27 on its list of "The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time".[7] In the album's entry, Paula Mejia said:

On This Day 14/01/1965 The Moody Blues/Chuck Berry

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On this day, 14 January 1965, rock ‘n’ roll legend Chuck Berry played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

The main support was the The Moody Blues, who had recently achieved the biggest hit of their career so far with a cover of Bessie Banks’s ‘Go Now’ reaching No 1 on the UK charts.

The Moody Blues had little success with singles after "Go Now!" in the mid-1960s, which led to singer Denny Laine’s departure from the band, later being replaced by Justin Hayward.

Bassist Clint Warwick had already departed the band at this time. Rodney Clark had replaced him for a while before they recruited John Lodge. With the new lineup, The Moody Blues continued to perform "Go Now!" for a short time, up until they began writing their own material.

Hayward sang the song during his first year with the band, and Ray Thomas attempted to sing it a couple of times.

Also on the bill that night was the Graham Bond Organisation, Winston G, The Five Dimensions and Long John Baldry.

The Moody Blues Setlist

Time Is on My Side

(Kai Winding & His Orchestra cover)

Pretty Thing

(Bo Diddley cover)

It Ain't Necessarily So

(George Gershwin cover)

Bye Bye Bird

(Sonny Boy Williamson cover)

(Bessie Banks cover)

I'll Go Crazy

(James Brown & The Famous Flames cover)

On This Day 13/01/1977 Daryl Hall & John Oates

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On This Day 13 January 1977, American pop/soul duo Daryl Hall & John Oates played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

The band had recently scored a top 50 hit with their single She’s Gone plus their album Bigger Than The Both Of Us, peaking at No 25 in the album charts and included their breakthrough US hit Rich Girl.

The duo first met at the Adelphi Ballroom in Philadelphia in 1967. At the time they met, each was heading his own musical group, Hall with The Temptones and Oates with The Masters. They were there for a band competition when gunfire rang out between two rival gangs, and in trying to escape, they ran to the same service elevator. On further discovering that they were interested in the same music and that both were attending Philadelphia's Temple University, they started spending time together on a regular basis and eventually shared a number of apartments in the city.

One of the apartments they shared had "Hall & Oates" on the mailbox, which became the duo's common nickname.

It took them another two years to form a musical duo, and three years after that, they signed to Atlantic Records and released their debut album. The two didn't start working together seriously until 1970 after Oates got back from an extended stay in Europe.

Tour Setlist

Back Together Again
Rich Girl
Crazy Eyes
Do What You Want, Be What You Are
Lady Rain
Falling
Camellia
You're Much Too Soon
Is It a Star
I'm Just a Kid (Don't Make Me Feel Like a Man)
Sara Smile
She's Gone
Abandoned Luncheonette

Encore 1:
Ennui on the Mountain
Gino (The Manager)

Encore 2:
Room to Breathe

On this day 22/12/1983 Hot Chocolate

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On this day, 22 December 1983, soul/disco band Hot Chocolate played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

The band had just released their 8th album Love Shot.

Formed in 1968, the band initially consisted of vocalist Errol Brown, guitarist Franklyn De Allie, drummer Jim King (shortly thereafter replaced by the unrelated Ian King), percussionist Patrick Olive, and bassist Tony Wilson; with keyboardist Larry Ferguson joining the band in the following year.

The band was originally named "Hot Chocolate Band" by Mavis Smith, who worked for the Apple Corps press office. This was quickly shortened first to "The Hot Chocolate" and then to "Hot Chocolate" by Mickie Most.

Hot Chocolate started their recording career making a reggae version of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance", but frontman Errol Brown was told he needed permission. He was contacted by Apple Records, discovered that Lennon liked his version, and the group was subsequently signed to Apple Records.

The link was short-lived as the Beatles were starting to break up, and the Apple connection soon ended.

The band became the only group, and one of just three acts, that had a hit in every year of the 1970s in the UK charts (the other two being Elvis Presley and Diana Ross).

The band eventually had at least one hit, every year, between 1970 and 1984.

The band continued well into the 1980s, and clocked up another big hit record: "It Started with a Kiss", in 1982, which reached Number 5 in the UK. In all, the group charted 25 UK Top 40 hit singles. Their single "You Sexy Thing" became the only track that made British Top Ten status in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s