On This Day 23/09/1984 Difford & Tilbrook

On this day, 23 September 1984, Squeeze bandmates Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club. The duo had recently released their Difford and Tilbrook album.

Because Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook have always been the songwriters and only constant members of Squeeze, Difford & Tilbrook is often considered to be a Squeeze album in all but name.

Several remastered tracks from this album have been included on Squeeze compilations such as Piccadilly Collection and Excess Moderation (both released in 1996), and tracks "Hope Fell Down" and "Love's Crashing Waves" have regularly been included in Squeeze setlists since 2010. Tony Visconti produced the album, but A&M rejected his mix, and brought in Eric Thorngren to do a new mix.

On This Day 22/09/1958 Terry Dene

On this day, 22 September 1958, rock music singer Terry Dene played Cardiff’s New Theatre. Providing support for Terry Dene and his Dene-Aces was provided by, Edna Savage, Margo & June, Chas. McDevitt with Shirley Douglas, Dave Gray, Barry Anthony, Earl & Elgar and Eva May Wong.

In 1957, his first single, "A White Sport Coat", sold in excess of 350,000 copies in the first seven weeks and together with his own version of "Start Movin'" at number 14, put his records in the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart twice in the same year, securing his name in the Guinness Book of Records.

His recording of "Stairway of Love" in 1958 remained in the chart for eight weeks. He toured Britain, was one of the first to appear in the BBC Television's first pop show, Six-Five Special in April 1957, and appeared in a film, The Golden Disc (1958).

After being arrested for public drunkenness and breaking a shop window in 1958, and ripping out a telephone box from the wall whilst claiming his passionate love for Edna Savage, Dene was branded as a 'bad apple' and the exemplifier of the 'evil of rock and roll' by the press, and was then conscripted into the Army for national service.

He was originally expected to report to Winchester Barracks, where he was due to join the King's Royal Rifle Corps on 7 July 1958, but his call-up was initially deferred until contractual commitments had been completed. When he finally did go in, it was so badly handled by the press (who filmed and publicised his arrival at the barracks) that after two months Dene had to be discharged on psychological grounds as his mental health had deteriorated considerably. By that time the press had almost ruined his career, and the Army offered him a pension as a form of compensation which Dene refused.

Dene later joined the Larry Parnes' stable of stars and toured with them around Britain.

On This Day 21/09/1964 Brian Poole & the Tremeloes

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On this day, 21 September 1964, beat group Brian Poole & the Tremeloes played Cardiff’s New Theatre headlining a Variety Package that featured, Tom, Dick & Harry (Your kind of folk), The Buckmaster Puppets (Modern puppetry), Anna-Lou & Maria (Sophisticated sorcery), Linda Lee (Television's "Think Of A Word"), Bobby Dennis (Who's crazy), June & Johnny (Novelty dancing entertainers) and Ray Bishop & His Orchestra.

Brian Poole and The Tremeloes) are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. 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 on 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" (1967).

On This Day 20/09/1973 Savoy Brown

On this day 20 September 1973, Blues/Rock band Savoy Brown played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre as support to Status Quo.

Formed in Battersea, south west London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they promoted their albums with non-stop touring. Founder, guitarist and primary songwriter Kim Simmonds was the sole constant member of the band from its formation in 1965 until his death in 2022.

In June 1973 the band released their 10th album Jack The Toad.

The band was formed by guitarist Kim Simmonds and harmonica player John O'Leary, following a chance meeting at Transat Imports record shop in Lisle Street, Soho, in 1965. In naming themselves, the group put together two words that conveyed an interesting balance of opposite sentiments and approaches.

The word "Savoy" came from an American blues label, Savoy Records, as the members of the band thought the word "Savoy" sounded elegant. They added “Brown” because they thought it was an extremely plain word. Overall, the group called itself the Savoy Brown Blues Band to tell listeners that they played Chicago Blues-sounding music.

On This Day 19/09/1995 The Everly Brothers

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On this day, 19 September 1995, rock and pop legends The Everly Brothers played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

The American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, and pop, becoming pioneers of country rock.

The duo was raised in a musical family in Central City, Kentucky, first appearing on radio singing with their father Ike Everly and mother Margaret Everly as "The Everly Family" in the 1940s. They gained the attention of Chet Atkins through Merle Travis and subsequently moved to Knoxville, Tennessee while still in high school. Nashville musicians like Atkins began to promote them for national attention.

They began writing and recording their own music in 1956, and their first hit song came in 1957, with "Bye Bye Love", written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The song hit No. 1 in the spring of 1957, and additional hits would follow through 1958, many of them written by the Bryants, including "Wake Up Little Susie", "All I Have to Do Is Dream", and "Problems". In 1960, they signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records and recorded "Cathy's Clown", written by the brothers themselves, which was their biggest selling single. The brothers enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1961, and their output dropped off, though additional hit singles continued through 1962, with "That's Old Fashioned (That's the Way Love Should Be)" being their last top-10 hit.

Long-simmering disputes with Wesley Rose, the CEO of Acuff-Rose Music, which managed the group, and a growing drug usage in the 1960s, as well as changing tastes in popular music, led to the group's decline in popularity in its native U.S., though the brothers continued to release hit singles in the U.K. and Canada and had many highly successful tours throughout the 1960s. In the early 1970s, the brothers began releasing solo recordings, and in 1973 they officially broke up. Starting in 1983, the brothers got back together and continued to perform periodically until Phil's death in 2014. Don died seven years later.

The group was highly influential with the music of the generation that followed it. Many of the top acts of the 1960s were heavily influenced by the close-harmony singing and acoustic guitar playing of the Everly Brothers, including the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, and Simon & Garfunkel. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked the Everly Brothers No. 1 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.

South Wales Echo Review - 40 years on and still great

The career of Phil and Don Everly spans forty years since they first performed as children on radio shows in the fifties.

And it's this experience professionalism picked up along the way that had a packed audi. ence at St David's Hall eating out of their hands.

Mixing country, blues, and folk, they wasted no time in cracking out hit songs like Bye Bye Love, Wake Up Little Susie and Cathy's Clown and  whipped up a storm.

During ballads like Let It Be Me and Crying In The Rain, you could have heard a pin drop as the audience listened to the wonderful harmonies that have become the singers' trademark.

A little older and without a teenager in sight, the Everly Brothers certainly know how to put on a show - no fancy lighting or techno gimmicks, just good songs performed with enthusiasm.

Phil and Don benefited from having a excellent band of musicians which featured the brilliant guitar playing of Albert Lee.

Tony Woolway

On This Day 18/09/2013 Joe Bonamassa

On this day, 18 September 2013, guitar legend Joe Bonamassa played the Motorpoint Arena on his European Fall Tour.

An American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. Bonamassa started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, of which eleven have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues chart.

Bonamassa has played alongside many notable blues and rock artists, and has earned three Grammy Awards nominations. Among guitarists, he is known for his extensive collection of vintage guitars and amplifiers.

The live acoustic album, An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House, was released as a CD/DVD/Blu-ray set on March 26, 2013. This concert marked the first time Bonamassa played a wholly acoustic show.

The acoustic ensemble that performed the show was assembled with the help of Bonamassa's longtime producer, Kevin Shirley. The concluding, three-night stand of Bonamassa's spring 2013 tour, occurred at the famous Beacon Theatre in New York City.

Over the summer of 2013, Bonamassa performed four shows in London featuring three different bands (and a horn section at one show), covering four different sides of his music. Each show had a unique set list. The shows were recorded for a DVD release, and the set of DVDs was released in October 2013 as "Tour de Force".

Setlist

Acoustic

Palm Trees, Helicopters and Gasoline

Seagull

(Bad Company cover)

Jelly Roll

(Charles Mingus cover)

Athens to Athens

Woke Up Dreaming

Electric

Dust Bowl

Story of a Quarryman

Who's Been Talkin'

(Howlin’ Wolf cover)

You'll Be Sorry

(Big Joe Turner & Orchestra cover)

Dislocated Boy

Driving Towards the Daylight

Slow Train

Midnight Blues

(Gary Moore cover)

Spanish Boots

(Jeff Beck Group cover)

Song of Yesterday

(Black Country Communion song)

Won't Get Fooled Again

(The Who cover) (Snippet)

Django / Mountain Time

Encore:

Sloe Gin

(Tim Curry cover)

The Ballad of John Henry

On This Day 15/09/1980 The Specials

On this day, 15 September 1980, two tone Ska pioneers The Specials played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens with support from The Swinging Cats.

The band were about to release More Specials, the band’s second album and released by 2 Tone Records in October 1980. The album peaked at No 5 in the UK album charts.

After the success of the band's self-titled debut, band member Jerry Dammers assumed the role as the band's leader and stirred them into expanding their 2 Tone sound into other genres of music, most prominently a lounge music and easy listening style inspired by Muzak.

At the end of 1980, it was named the year's 32nd best album by the NME, and 31st best by OOR. In 1995, Melody Maker included it in a list of "great lost albums," having been chosen for inclusion by Simon Price, who wrote an accompanying essay for the album's entry.

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 1987, Rockdelux named it the 91st best album released between 1980 and 1986. In 2003, Mojo included in their list of the "Top 50 Eccentric Albums," while in 2007 they included in their list of "The 80 Greatest Albums of the 80s."

Several band members disagreed with Dammers' vision and brought their own influences to the album, including from northern soul and rockabilly, contributing to an eclectic sound palette.

The relations between band members continued to sour into the album's accompanying tour and most of the band departed in 1981.

On This Day 14/09/1995 Seal

On this day, 14 September 1995, British singer, songwriter and record producer Seal played Cardiff International Arena on his Holding The Sun tour.

He has sold over 20 million records worldwide. These include hit songs "Crazy" and "Killer", the latter of which went to number one in the UK, and his most celebrated song, "Kiss from a Rose", which was released in 1994. Seal is renowned for his distinctive soulful singing voice.

Seal has won multiple awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards; he won Best British Male in 1992. He has also won four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.[7][8] As a songwriter, Seal received two Ivor Novello Awards for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for "Killer" (1990) and "Crazy" (1991).

His second album, self-titled, was released in 1994. A success, the album featured the singles "Prayer for the Dying" and "Newborn Friend", and later received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. "Prayer for the Dying" became a minor pop hit in the US, peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. A third single, "Kiss from a Rose", performed modestly when released, but was later featured to much wider popularity when it was remixed for the soundtrack to Batman Forever. "Kiss from a Rose" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1996, becoming Seal's best-performing single on the US market (it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in late August 1995) and hit number four in the UK.