On This Day 11/02/1975 Medicine Head

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On this day, 11 February 1975, Blues/Rock band Medicine Head played Cardiff College of Technology.

Initially a duo – active in the 1970s their biggest single success was in 1973, with "One and One Is One," a Number 3-hit on the UK Singles Chart.

The group recorded six original albums; the opening trio of which were on John Peel's Dandelion label.

For most of its career, the group was a duo comprising:

John Fiddler (born 25 September 1947, the Moxley area of Darlaston, Staffordshire, England) – (vocalist, guitarist, pianist and drummer).

Peter Hope-Evans (born 28 September 1947, Brecon, Powys, Wales) – (harmonica, Jew's harp, guitarist, and mouthbow player).

At various stages, the band used the following musicians: Laurence Archer, Clive Edwards, Keith Relf, Tony Ashton, Roger Saunders, George Ford, John Davies, Rob Townsend and Morgan Fisher.

Despite consistent touring, often as a supporting act, Medicine Head failed to place an album on the UK Albums Chart.

For their final album, Two Man Band, recorded at Pete Townshend's Eel Pie Studios, they reverted to being a duo.

Medicine Head finally folded in 1977.

Welshman Hope-Evans appeared on many albums, most prominently with Pete Townshend, and has played in several bands including The Dance Band, who released a 1980 album Fancy Footwork, and more recently accompanying singer-songwriter Noah Francis.

On The Day 08/02/1968 The Move

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On this day, 8 February 1968, rock band The Move played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.

The Move evolved from several mid-1960s Birmingham-based groups, including Carl Wayne & the Vikings, the Nightriders and the Mayfair Set.

Their name referred to the move various members of these bands made to form the group.

Besides Wood, the Move's original five-piece line-up in 1965 was drummer Bev Bevan, bassist Ace Kefford, vocalist Carl Wayne and guitarist Trevor Burton.

The final line-up of 1972 was a trio of Wood, Bevan and Jeff Lynne, all of whom had for two years been working in the parallel project the Electric Light Orchestra.

The band were just about to release their first album Move in April.

The album features ten Roy Wood compositions, along with three covers which had been a prominent part of the group's live act.

Although scheduled for an earlier release, the album was delayed by the theft of the master tapes, which led to the tracks needing to be re-recorded.

The album was sporadically recorded between January 1967 and February 1968 at Advision, De Lane Lea and Olympic Studios in London, during gaps in their tight recording schedule when the group were not booked for any performances.

Highly anticipated, the album featured two previously released singles: "Flowers in the Rain" and "Fire Brigade", both of which reached the top five in the UK Singles Chart.

It was the only album by the Move to feature original bassist Chris "Ace" Kefford, who left the band shortly after the record was released in spring 1968, as well as being the only one to fully feature rhythm guitarist Trevor Burton, who left during the early sessions for their follow-up Shazam.

Move was also the only album by the Move to chart in the UK, reaching number fifteen on the charts during the early summer of that year.

Tour Setlist

It'll Be Me

(Jerry Lee Lewis cover)

Too Much in Love

(Denny Laine & His Electric String Band cover)

Flowers in the Rain

Fire Brigade

Stephanie Knows Who

(Love cover)

Somethin' Else

(Eddie Cochran cover)

So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star

(The Byrds cover)

The Price of Love

(The Everly Brothers cover)

Piece of My Heart

(Erma Franklin cover)

(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher

(Jackie Wilson cover)

Sunshine Help Me

(Spooky Tooth cover)

On This Day 07/02/1957 Lonnie Donegan

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On this day, 7 February 1957, Skiffle legend Lonnie Donegan played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens. Also on the bill were Alex Welsh's Dixielanders.

The concert was moved to Cardiff after the concert due to take place at Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall was cancelled by the local corporation with Donegan’s music described as “Unsuitable” for the Hall.

He recorded his debut album, Lonnie Donegan Showcase, in summer 1956, with songs by Lead Belly and Leroy Carr, plus "I'm a Ramblin' Man" and "Wabash Cannonball". The LP sold hundreds of thousands.

The skiffle style encouraged amateurs and one of many groups that followed was the Quarrymen, formed in March 1957 by John Lennon. Donegan's "Gamblin' Man"/"Puttin' On the Style" single was number one in the UK in July 1957, when Lennon first met Paul McCartney.

Donegan went on to successes such as "Cumberland Gap" and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)", his biggest hit in the US, on Dot.

He turned to music hall style with "My Old Man's a Dustman" which was not well received by skiffle fans and unsuccessful in America on Atlantic in 1960, but it reached number one in the UK.

On This Day 06/021964 Cilla Black

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On this day, 6 February 1965, Liverpool legend Cilla Black played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre in a package that included P.J. Proby, Tommy Roe, The Fourmost, Mike Cotton Sound, Tommy Quickly, The Remo Four, Sounds Incorporated with Bob Bain (compere).

During the tour, PJ Proby was banned from all ABC cinemas after his "pant splitting incident" at Croydon & Northampton when he was arrested.. He was replaced by Tom Jones & The Squires.

Championed by her friends the Beatles, Cilla Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World" both reached number one in the UK in 1964.

Black's version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (1965) reached No. 2 on the UK charts. A week later the Righteous Brothers' original version of the same song went to No. 1 while Black's version dropped to No. 5. The single wasn't critically well received, however; the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham took out an advert in the Melody Maker to deride Cilla's efforts compared with the original.

Being so closely associated with the Beatles, Black became one of a select group of artists in the 1964–65 period (the others being Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas and Peter and Gordon) to record more than one Lennon–McCartney composition.

Black continued to record Lennon–McCartney compositions throughout her time with Parlophone (1963–1973) and her recordings of "Yesterday", "For No One" and "Across the Universe" became radio favourites. McCartney said Black's 1972 interpretation of "The Long and Winding Road" was the definitive version of the song.

On This Day 04/02/1984 Gary Moore

On this day 4 February 1984, guitar legend Gary Moore played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on his Victims Of The Future Tour.

Influenced by Peter Green and Eric Clapton, Moore began his career in the late 1960s when he joined Skid Row, with whom he released two albums. After Moore left the group he joined Thin Lizzy, featuring his former Skid Row bandmate and frequent collaborator Phil Lynott.

Moore began his solo career in the 1970s and achieved major success with 1978's "Parisienne Walkways", which is considered his signature song. During the 1980s, Moore transitioned into playing hard rock and heavy metal with varying degrees of international success.

In 1983, Moore released the album Victims of the Future, which marked another musical change, this time towards hard rock and heavy metal.

The album also saw the addition of keyboardist Neil Carter, who would continue to push Moore in this new musical direction. For the supporting tour, they were joined by former Rainbow bassist Craig Gruber and drummer Bobby Chouinard, who were later replaced by Ozzy Osbourne bassist Bob Daisley and former Roxy Music drummer Paul Thompson, respectively.

SETLIST

Majestuoso E Virtuoso

Rockin' Every Night

Play Video

Wishing Well

(Free cover)

Murder in the Skies

Shapes of Things

(The Yardbirds cover)

Cold Hearted

Don't Take Me for a Loser

Victims of the Future

So Far Away

(Mo Foster cover)

Empty Rooms

Blinder

White Knuckles

(G-Force song)

End of the World

Back on the Streets

Encore:

Nuclear Attack

Rockin' and Rollin'

(G-Force song)

On This Day 03/02/1990 Faith No More

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On this day, 3 February 1990, American rock band Faith No More played Cardiff University.

Formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man.

The band had recently released their single "Epic" the music video of which received extensive airplay on MTV in 1990, and angered animal rights activists for a slow motion shot of a fish flopping out of water at the end of the video.

During an interview, the band joked that the fish seen flopping around in the music video belonged to Icelandic singer Björk, who at the time was the singer for the band The Sugarcubes, and they claimed to have stolen it from her at a party.

There are also stories of Björk giving the fish to the keyboardist Roddy Bottum after a poetry reading in San Francisco. This was confirmed by the singer who defended the group, saying that "I know those guys, I know they wouldn't do anything to harm [him]. But I know, if I had gone home with MY fish, which was given to ME, none of this would have ever happened."

Tour Setlist

Big Battle

(Toto song)

From Out of Nowhere

Falling to Pieces

The Real Thing

Underwater Love

The Crab Song

Epic

Zombie Eaters

We Care a Lot

Chinese Arithmetic

As the Worm Turns

Sweet Dreams

(Lloyd Landesman cover)

Surprise! You're Dead!

Woodpecker From Mars

Encore:

Edge of the World

The Jungle

Why Do You Bother

Encore 2:

War Pigs

(Black Sabbath cover)

On This Day 02/02/2003 Electric Six

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On this day, 2 February 2003, American rock band Electric Six played Cardiff’s Barfly.

Formed in 1996 in Detroit, Michigan. Their music was described by AllMusic as a combination of garage, disco, punk rock, new wave, and metal. The band achieved recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar".

The 2003 release of "Danger! High Voltage" (produced and mixed by Damien Mendis and Stuart Bradbury) proved a massive hit, particularly in the United Kingdom.

The single also garnered the band public attention after a rumor got out that a pre-fame Jack White from The White Stripes sang backup vocals on the single track "Danger! (High Voltage)" when it was recorded.

Although this was presented as fact in multiple sources, then-guitarist Surge said in an interview:

'What about the Jack White rumors? Who sings with Dick Valentine in the song?' Surge responds, 'No, no it's a fan. We put a competition out, um and he won, he's a mechanic, it wasn't Jack White.' Disco adds, 'Yeah he was probably the only person that entered!'

Setlist

She's White

Nuclear War (On the Dance Floor)

I Invented the Night

Improper Dancing

Electric Demons (In Love)

Remote Control (Me)

Gay Bar

Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother)

I'm the Bomb

Danger! High Voltage

Dance Commander

Vengeance and Fashion

(The Dirty Shame cover)

Encore:

Radio Ga Ga

(Queen cover)

Don't Be Afraid of the Robot

I'm a Demon

(Roky Erickson cover)

On This Day 01/02/1993 Van Morrison

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On this day, 1 February 1993, Irish singing legend Van Morrison played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

Morrison began performing as a teenager in the late 1950s. He played a variety of instruments such as guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for several Irish showbands, covering the popular hits of that time. Known as "Van the Man" to his fans, Morrison rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B and rock band Them. With Them, he recorded the garage band classic "Gloria".

Under the pop-oriented guidance of Bert Berns, Morrison's solo career began in 1967 with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl". After Berns's death, Warner Bros. Records bought out Morrison's contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks (1968).

While initially a poor seller, the album has become regarded as a classic. Moondance (1970) established Morrison as a major artist, and he built on his reputation throughout the 1970s with a series of acclaimed albums and live performances.

The early to middle 1990s were commercially successful for Morrison with three albums reaching the top five of the UK charts, sold-out concerts, and a more visible public profile; but this period also marked a decline in the critical reception to his work.

The decade began with the release of The Best of Van Morrison; compiled by Morrison himself, the album was focused on his hit singles, and became a multi-platinum success remaining a year and a half on the UK charts. AllMusic determined it to be "far and away the best selling album of his career."

In 1991 he wrote and produced four songs for Tom Jones released on the Carrying A Torch album and performed a duet with Bob Dylan on BBC Arena special.

Setlist

Foreign Window

I'm Not Feeling It Anymore

Why Must I Always Explain?

See Me Through / Soldier of Fortune

Cleaning Windows

Vanlose Stairway

Route 66

So Quiet in Here / That's Where It's At

Youth of 1,000 Summers

A Town Called Paradise

Did Ye Get Healed? / It's All in the Game / Make It Real One More Time

Moondance / My Funny Valentine

Brown Eyed Girl

In the Garden / Since I Fell for You / Daring Night

What'd I Say

Enlightenment

Have I Told You Lately

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Lonely Avenue

Gloria