On This Day 06/10/1972 Electric Light Orchestra

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On this day, 6 October 1972, rock band the Electric Light Orchestra played Cardiff University to promote the bands first album

Formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters-multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography.

After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.

It was during this tour that Roy and Jeff began to not get along. The problems were initially caused because of the attention Roy was getting over Jeff, especially with the press. Although Electric Light Orchestra was a completely joint venture with the two songwriters/producers/musicians equally splitting the tasks on the first album and during the tour, Jeff's songs were featured even more than Roy's songs.

However, at the time, Roy was the much bigger star, having had big chart success as a songwriter and more with The Move. Jeff, on the other hand, had experienced no chart success with the Idle Race and little to no chart success as a songwriter when he joined The Move. So at press events and many of the tour performances, it was Roy who was getting all the attention, with very little left over for Jeff.

According to many sources, they nearly came to blows at times and would stand at the edge of the stage on performance nights and argue who should be the last to go on to the stage. There are specific reports of this in Italy, so that "getaway" leg of the tour did little to allay the problem. Roy claims, and probably accurately, that manager Don Arden fomented the rivalry, with the goal of getting one to leave the band and then he would have two bands with talented musicians to manage, rather than one band with two talented musicians.

On This Day 05/10/1981 Hazel O’Connor

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On this day, 5 October 1981, British singer/songwriter and actress Hazel O’Connor played Cardiff University.

She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles "Eighth Day", "D-Days" and "Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film Breaking Glass.

O’Connor had just released her second studio album Close Plus, produced by legendary producer Tony Visconti, which reached #32 in the UK album charts. The album spawned 3 singles, most notably a version of The Stranglers “Hanging Around”.

O'Connor was born in Coventry, England. She is the daughter of a soldier from Galway who settled in England after the Second World War to work in a car plant. Her brother Neil later fronted the punk band The Flys, best known for their single "Love and a Molotov Cocktail", which she later covered.

Her film debut was in Girls Come First in 1975, where she was credited as Hazel Glyn. She became prominent as an actress and singer five years later in 1980 when playing the role of Kate in the film Breaking Glass. She also performed on the accompanying soundtrack.

On This Day 04/11/1972 The Kinks

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On this day, 4 October 1972, legendary London band The Kinks played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

The band had just recently released their eleventh album Everybody’s in Show-biz, a double album, the first disc features studio recordings, while the second disc documents a two-night Carnegie Hall stand.

Everybody's in Show-Biz is often seen by fans as a transition album for the Kinks, marking the change in Ray Davies' songwriting style toward more theatrical, campy and vaudevillian work, as evidenced by the rock-opera concept albums that followed it.

This album marks Davies' explorations of the trials of rock-star life and the monotony of touring, themes that would reappear in future releases like The Kinks Present A Soap Opera and the 1987 live album Live: The Road.

On This Day 03/10/1977 Boomtown Rats

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On this day, 3 September 1977, Irish punk rockers the Boomtown Rats played Cardiff University.

Originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Republic".

The original line-up comprised six musicians; five from Dún Laoghaire in County Dublin; Gerry Cott (rhythm guitar), Simon Crowe (drums), Johnnie Fingers (keyboards), Bob Geldof (vocals) and Garry Roberts (lead guitar), plus Fingers' cousin Pete Briquette (bass).

The Boomtown Rats broke up in 1986, but reformed in 2013, without Fingers or Cott. Garry Roberts died in 2022. The band's fame and notability have been overshadowed by the charity work of frontman Bob Geldof.

Initially known as The Nightlife Thugs, the group changed their name to The Boomtown Rats, which Geldof had taken from Woody Guthrie's autobiography Bound for Glory.

In the summer of 1976, the group played their first UK gig before moving to London where they signed with Ensign Records later that year. Their first single, "Lookin' After No. 1", released in August 1977 after a year of touring, including a support slot with Tom Petty. It reached the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart at No. 11.

Their first album The Boomtown Rats was released the following month and included another single, "Mary of the 4th Form" reached No. 15 in December. Music journalist Martin C. Strong commented, "Geldof's moody charisma helped to give the band a distinct identity".

On This Day 02/10/2013 Funeral For A Friend

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On this day, 2 October 2013, Welsh post-hardcore band Funeral For A Friend played Cardiff University.

The band from Bridgend, formed in 2001 and currently consists of Matthew Davies-Kreye (lead vocals), Kris Coombs-Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, backing vocals), Darran Smith (guitar), Richard Boucher (bass), and Ryan Richards (drums, vocals).

Funeral for a Friend's popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their debut album, Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation (2003). Achieving both a gold certification and three top-twenty singles in their home country, Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation is often acclaimed as one of the landmark emo records of the 2000s.

Earlier in 2013 the band released their sixth studio album Conduit. . It was released on 28 January 2013 in the UK and 5 February 2013 in the United States. This is the band's first release with former Rise to Remain drummer Pat Lundy, who replaced long-term drummer and vocalist Ryan Richards during the album's production.

Throughout the recording of the album the band released several teaser videos that showed the recording of individual instruments

On This Day 01/10/1966 Alan Price

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On this day 1 October 1966, The Alan Price Set played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre as part of a package that included Dusty Springfield, Los Bravos and The Settlers.

Alan Price first found prominence as the original keyboardist of the English rock band the Animals. He left the band in 1965 to form the Alan Price Set; his hit singles with and without the group include "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear", "The House That Jack Built", "Rosetta" (with Georgie Fame) and "Jarrow Song".

Price is also known for work in film and television, taking occasional acting roles and composing the soundtrack to Lindsay Anderson's film O Lucky Man! (1973).

As a member of the Animals, he appeared on numerous television shows including; Ready Steady Go!, The Ed Sullivan Show, Hullabaloo, and Top of the Pops. Price left the band in 1965, due to personal and musical differences, as well as his fear of flying while on tour.

In August 1967, he appeared with The Animals at the hippie love-in that was held in the grounds of Woburn Abbey.

Price participated in three reunions of The Animals between 1968 and 1984. In July 1983, they started their last world tour. Price's solo performance of "Oh Lucky Man" was included in their set. In 1984, they broke up for the final time, and the album Greatest Hits Live (Rip It to Shreds) was released, comprising recordings from their concert at Wembley Arena in London supporting The Police.

Price was inducted as a member of the Animals into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

On This Day 29/09/1979 Secret Affair

On this day, 29 September 1979, mod revivalist band Secret Affair played Cardiff University.

Formed after the demise of the CBS Records signed power pop band New Hearts, singer Ian Page and guitarist David Cairns spent the second half of 1978 writing songs that would form the basis of the first two Secret Affair albums.

After spending January 1979 demoing songs, Page and Cairns enlisted the services of bassist Dennis Smith from the power pop band Advertising and Young Bucks drummer Seb Shelton. Saxophone player Dave Winthrop, originally playing with the group in his capacity as a session musician, would join as a full-time member of the band later in the year.

On This Day 28/09/1978 Wilko Johnson

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On this day, 28 September 1978, former Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson played Cardiff University with his group Wilko Johnson’s Solid Senders.

As member of the pub rock/rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s. Johnson was known for his distinctive guitar playing style which he achieved by not using a guitar pick but playing fingerstyle. This enabled him to play rhythm guitar and riffs or solos at the same time creating a highly percussive guitar sound.

Johnson and Dr. Feelgood were an influence on the English punkmovement. Paul Weller said of Johnson: "Wilko may not be as famous as some other guitarists, but he's right up there. And there are a lot of people who'll say the same. I can hear Wilko in lots of places. It's some legacy."

In 1977, Johnson was a founding member of Solid Senders, with keyboardist John Potter, bassist Steve Lewins, and drummer Alan Platt. They signed to Virgin in 1978 and released the album, Solid Senders that year.

The Wilko Johnson Band played at the 'Front Row Festival', a three-week event at the Hope and Anchor, Islington in late November and early December 1977, featuring many early punk rock acts. This resulted in the inclusion of two tracks by The Wilko Johnson Band ("Dr. Feelgood" and "Twenty Yards Behind"), on a hit double album of recordings from the festival. The Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival compilation album (March 1978).