On This Day 13/04/1976 Judas Priest

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On this day, 13 April 1976, Heavy Metal band Judas Priest played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

Formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million copies of their albums, and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time.

Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band had struggled with indifferent record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when they rose to commercial success with the album British Steel.

In March 1976, the band released their second studio album Sad Wings Of Destiny, recorded at Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, S. Wales.

t is considered the album on which Judas Priest consolidated their sound and image, and songs from it such as "Victim of Changes" and "The Ripper" have since become live standards. It was the band's only album to feature drummer Alan Moore.

Noted for its riff-driven sound and the wide range of Rob Halford's vocals, the album displays a wide variety of styles, moods and textures, inspired by an array of groups such as Queen, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath

On This Day 11/04/1968 The Tremeloes

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On this day 11 April 1968, English beat group The Tremeloes played the Capitol Theatre, Cardiff as part of a bill that included, headliners The Kinks, Gary Walker And The Rain, The Herd, The Life N Soul, Ola And The Janglers.

Founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex.They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me".

After Poole's departure in 1966, the band achieved further success as a four-piece with 13 Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1967 and 1971 including "Here Comes My Baby", "Even the Bad Times Are Good", "(Call Me) Number One", "Me and My Life" and their most successful single, "Silence Is Golden".

On This Day 10/04/1965 The Zombies

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On this day, 10 April 1965, rock band The Zombies played Sophia Gardens.

Also featured on the bill were, Dusty Springfield, The Searchers, Bobby Vee, Tony Jackson & The Vibrations, Heinz & The Wild Boys, Echoes & (compere) George Meaton).

Formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with “She’s Not There” 

In the US, two further singles—"Tell Her No” in 1965 and "Time Of Season” in 1968—were also successful.

The day before the Cardiff concert, The Zombies released their debut album, Being Here.

The album was an interesting mixture of original songs and rhythm and blues cover versions.

Of the eight original tracks, Rod Argent supplied the album's biggest hit, "She's Not There", and the songs "Woman", "I Remember When I Loved Her", plus "The Way I Feel Inside" which was the shortest track on the album at 1:28.
It might have been shorter, had not their recording manager and producer Ken Jones added the sounds of footsteps and a coin dropping, which contributed to the feeling of alienation that the song projected. 

Bassist Chris White provided "I Can't Make Up My Mind", the quirky "I Don't Want to Know", plus the beaty "What More Can I Do" which, at 1:38, is the second-shortest cut on the album and contains a simple but distinctive drum riff. The final original was an instrumental written by Ken Jones, "Work 'n' Play".

The Zombies continued recording original songs through 1965 and 1966, trying to achieve chart success. There were enough tracks to have filled a follow-up album, but due to the band's lack of chart success, most of these tracks remained unissued at the time.

On This Day 09/04/1980 Genesis

On this day, 9 April 1980, rock giants Genesis played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens on the band’s Duke tour.

The tour followed the release of their 1980 album, Duke, which was well received by both critics and fans alike.

The tour began in March of 1980 in Paignton, England and ended on June 30th the same year in Saratoga, New York.

It was the band's fourth tour since the departure of singer Peter Gabriel, the second tour since the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett.

Band

Tony Banks – Keyboards/Piano
Phil Collins – Vocals/Drums/Percussion
Mike Rutherford – Bass Guitar/Lead Guitar
Chester Thompson – Drums/Percussion
Daryl Steurmer – Lead Guitar/Bass Guitar

The Tour set list was mainly comprised of :

 Deep in the Motherlode, Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (intro)/Carpet Crawlers, Squonk, One for the Vine, Behind the Lines/Duchess/Guide Vocal, Turn it On Again, Duke’s Travels/Duke’s End, Say It’s Alright Joe, Ripples, The Lady Lies, Misunderstanding, In The Cage/Slippermen/Afterglow, Follow You Follow Me, Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos, I Know What I Like, The Knife, Back in NYC/The Musical Box (ending)

On This Day 08/04/2002 Texas

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On this day, 8 April 2002, Scottish rockers Texas played Cardiff International Arena, with support provided by Reef.

They were founded in 1986 by Johnny McElhone (formerly of the bands Altered Images and Hipsway) and Sharleen Spiteri on lead vocals.

Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at the University of Dundee. They took their name from the 1984 Wim Wenders movie Paris, Texas.

The band released their debut album Southside in 1989, along with the debut single "I Don't Want a Lover", which was a top-ten hit on the UK Singles Chart and peaked within the top ten of the charts in many other European countries.

Southside entered at number three on the UK Albums Chart and number 88 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States, and sold over two million copies worldwide.

Despite the success of Southside, the follow-up albums Mothers Heaven (1991) and Ricks Road (1993) were less successful, peaking at number 32 and number 18 on the UK Albums Chart respectively, but achieved moderate success on various European markets.

The band's fortunes changed in 1997 with the release of their White on Blonde album, which entered at the top of the UK albums chart and became their biggest seller. To date it has been certified six times platinum in the United Kingdom.

Follow up album The Hush (1999) was also successful, entering at the top of the UK albums chart and certified triple platinum. The band's Greatest Hits album, released in 2000, was another big-seller, again entering at the top of the UK albums chart, and certified six times platinum.

Texas would go on to release a further two studio albums, Careful What You Wish For in 2003, and Red Book in 2005, both of which were certified gold in the United Kingdom.

After the release of Red Book and a tour to support the album's release, Texas went on hiatus. Lead singer Sharleen Spiteri launched a solo career, releasing her debut solo album, Melody, in 2008.

On This Day 07/04/2007 Bombay Bicycle Club

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On this day, 7 April 2007, indie rock band Bombay Bicycle Club played Cardiff University.

From Crouch End, London, consisting of Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl, Suren de Saram, and Ed Nash.

They are guitar-fronted and have experimented with different genres, including folk, electronica, world music and indie rock.

The band were given the opening slot on 2006's V Festival after winning a competition.

Steadman, MacColl (son of former Bible/Liberty Horses guitarist/producer/session player Neill MacColl, nephew of singer Kirsty MacColl and grandson of folk singers Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger) and de Saram (son of Sri Lankan cellist Rohan de Saram) met at age 15 as students at University College School, Hampstead (in the same year as the members of the band Cajun Dance Party), and began playing under the name The Canals after performing together in a school assembly, with an additional keyboardist.

They switched between various aliases until they picked Bombay Bicycle Club, named after a (now defunct) chain of Indian restaurants in North London. The line-up changed regularly until summer 2006, when Ed Nash (a student at Camden School for Girls), joined the band after they met him at a funeral.

Initially they played gigs at small London venues such as The Old Blue Last, Lark in the Park and Jacksons Lane (as well as winning Exeter's Got Talent 2009). They released demos of their music on Myspace, with early versions of 'The Hill' and 'Autumn' as well as the song, 'City Lights'.

The band was entered into Virgin Mobile's "Road to V" competition on Channel 4 in 2006.

They were announced as one of two winners of the competition on 16 August 2006, beating competition from fellow London band - and favourites to win the competition - The Holloways in the final round of fourteen bands.

Previous participants include The Young Knives, who were winners of the inaugural competition one year before. They were given the opening slot of the 2006 V Festival, playing on the Channel 4 Stage in Chelmsford on 19 August, before opening the Staffordshire site the following day.

On This Day 06/04/1985 Shy

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On this day, 6 April 1985, British metal Shy played Cardiff’s Bogey’s nightclub.

Shy made their major label debut on RCA Records with 1985's Brave the Storm. This release gained success despite the single "Hold On (To Your Love)" being disqualified from the charts, as early copies included a shrink-wrapped T-shirt.

Reviews from Kerrang! were more positive, comparing singer Tony Mill's soaring vocals with those of Geoff Tate, vocalist of Queensrÿche.

In the eighteen months that preceded the band's third album, Shy toured with Bon Jovi, Meat Loaf,[Twisted Sister, Gary Moore and UFO.

Formerly known as Trojan (not to be confused with NWOBHM band Tröjan who released the album Chasing the Storm), Shy featured vocalist Tony Mills, Steve Harris (guitars) (not to be confused with Iron Maiden's bass player, Steve Harris), Paddy McKenna (keyboards), Mark Badrick (bass) and drummer Alan Kelly.

Their first album, called Once Bitten...Twice..., was released in 1983. Initial reports from Kerrang! were positive. After the release, Mills dropped his David Bowie-esque make up, and Mark Badrick was replaced by former Trouble bassist Roy Davies.

On This Day 05/04/1964 The Bachelors

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On this day, 5 April 1964, popular Irish musical group The Bachelors played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens, with support provided by Bern Elliott & The Fenmen.

They formed their first band together in 1957: "The Harmonichords" (also seen as "The Harmony Chords"), a classically styled instrumental harmonica-act.

As the Harmonichords, they appeared on Hughie Green's Opportunity Knocks on Radio Luxembourg and on the 'Ed Sullivan' TV show St. Patrick's Day special (filmed in Dublin, broadcast 15 March 1959), where they played "Danny Boy".

They also played background music plus featured pieces in a 25-week radio comedy series called Odd Noises on Radio Éireann, which featured Eamonn Andrews.

In 1960, they changed their name to the Bachelors at the suggestion of Dick Rowe, A&R at Decca Records, who reportedly recommended the name "because that's the kind of boy a girl likes".

During the 1960s they had many successful songs in music charts in Europe, Australia, South Africa, South America, parts of the USSR, and the United States. Some of the most successful were "Charmaine" (1963); "Diane", "I Believe" (1964), "Ramona" and "I Wouldn't Trade You for the World" (1964).

The Bachelors appeared in a film in 1964 called Just for You, with Billy Fury. In 1965 they made I've Gotta Horse and in 1971 they starred in a TV situation comedy series called Under and Over playing three Irish navvies working on the London Underground. Six episodes were broadcast on BBC One.