On This Day 17/11/1970 Fairport Convention

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On this day, 17 November 1970, English folk rock band Fairport Convention played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.

Formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig). They started out influenced by American folk rock, with a set list dominated by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs and a sound that earned them the nickname "the British Jefferson Airplane".

Vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews joined them before the recording of their self-titled debut in 1968; afterwards, Dyble was replaced by Sandy Denny, with Matthews later leaving during the recording of their third album.

Denny began steering the group towards traditional British music for their next two albums, What We Did on Our Holidays and Unhalfbricking (both 1969); the latter featured fiddler Dave "Swarb" Swarbrick, most notably on the song "A Sailor's Life", which laid the groundwork for British folk rock by being the first time a traditional British song was combined with a rock beat.

Shortly before the album's release, a crash on the M1 motorway killed Lamble and Jeannie Franklyn, Thompson's girlfriend; this resulted in the group retiring most of their prior material and turning entirely towards British folk music for their seminal album Liege & Lief, released the same year. This style has been the band's focus ever since.

For this album Swarbrick joined full-time, alongside drummer Dave Mattacks. Both Denny and Hutchings left before the year's end; the latter replaced by Dave Pegg, who has remained the group's sole consistent member to this day; Thompson left after the recording of 1970's Full House.

On This Day 16/11/1985 Siouxsie and the Banshees

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On this day, 16 November 1985, punk rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club on the band’s Tinderbox tour.

Formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".

Initially associated with the punk scene, the band including guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris rapidly evolved to create "a form of post-punk discord full of daring rhythmic and sonic experimentation".

Their debut album The Scream was released to widespread critical acclaim in 1978. Following membership changes, including the addition of guitarist John McGeoch and drummer Budgie, they radically changed their musical direction and became one of the most successful alternative pop groups of the 1980s.

Banshees line-up spent much of 1985 working on a new record, Tinderbox. The group finished the song "Cities in Dust" before the album, so they rushed its release as a single prior to their longest tour of the UK.

Tinderbox was released in April 1986. Sounds magazine said: "Tinderbox is a refreshing slant on the Banshees' disturbing perspective and restores their vivid shades to pop's pale palette". Due to the length of time spent working on Tinderbox, the group desired spontaneity and decided to record an album of cover songs, Through the Looking Glass, in 1987.

Mojo magazine later praised their version of "Strange Fruit". After the album's release, the band realised Carruthers was no longer fitting in and decided to work on new material as a trio.

On This Day 15/11/1982 Talk Talk

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On this day, 15 November 1982, rock band Talk Talk played Cardiff University on their The Party’s Over tour.

Formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). Initially a synth-pop group, Talk Talk's first two albums, The Party's Over (1982) and It's My Life (1984), reached top 40 in the UK and produced the international hit singles "Talk Talk", "Today", "It's My Life", and "Such a Shame".

The band released their first single, "Mirror Man", on EMI in February 1982. The single was not a great success, but was quickly followed by their self-titled single in April 1982 (a rerecording of a track by The Reaction) which reached No. 52 in the UK.

The band's first album, titled The Party's Over, was released in July 1982. The band had their first UK Top 40 hits with the singles "Today" (UK No. 14) and a re-release of "Talk Talk" (UK No. 23). These singles also were hits in other countries including Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The re-release of the "Talk Talk" single reached the U.S. Top 75. The album was produced by Colin Thurston, who was Duran Duran's in-house EMI producer at the time, but picked by Hollis because of his involvement with David Bowie's Heroes. It was a moderate success in the UK reaching No. 21, and was later certified Silver by the BPI for sales of 60,000 copies by 1985. It was a Top 10 hit in New Zealand.

On This Day 14/11/1996 Erasure

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On this day, 14 November 1996, English synth-pop duo Erasure played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on their Tiny Tour.

Formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a member of synth-pop duo Yazoo.

From their fourth single, "Sometimes" (1986), Erasure established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful acts of the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. From 1986 to 2007, the pair achieved 24 consecutive top-40 entries in the UK singles chart.

By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK top 40, including 17 climbing into the top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group.

The October 1995 release of the studio album Erasure marked a determined shift away from Erasure's signature three-minute synth-pop to a more introspective and experimental sound. Nevertheless, it made the UK top 15 and spawned two UK top 20 singles, "Stay with Me" and "Fingers & Thumbs". A remixed version of "Rock Me Gently" was released only in Germany and the Czech Republic as the third single.

On This Day 13/11/1978 Lene Lovich

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On this day, 13 November 1978, American-English singer, songwriter and musician Lene Lovich and her band played Sophia Gardens on the Be Stiff Tour ‘78. Also part of the tour were Stiff artists Jonah Lewie, Mickey Jupp, Rachel Sweet and Wreckless Eric.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Lovich moved to England at the age of 13, where she met guitarist and songwriter Les Chappell, who later became her long-time music collaborator and life partner. She developed an interest in art and theater, enrolling at the Central School of Art and Design where she took saxophone lessons.

In 1975, she joined the band the Diversions and shortly afterwards wrote the lyrics to Cerrone's single "Supernature". After the band broke up, Lovich started looking for another band to join and contacted the radio presenter Charlie Gillett, who got her to record a demo of Tommy James and the Shondells' song "I Think We're Alone Now" and played it to Dave Robinson of Stiff Records, who decided to sign Lovich.

Invited by Robinson to participate in the forthcoming Be Stiff Route 78 Tour in 1978, Lovich quickly recorded her first album for Stiff, Stateless, which contained "Lucky Number" and another Top 20 hit, "Say When". Lovich's musical style combined her own quirky inventions with contemporary punk rock and new wave styles.

She released two more albums, Flex (1979) and No Man's Land (1982), on Stiff Records. In 1989, she independently released the album March, before her 15-year hiatus. She focused more on her family but came back in 2005 with the release of her album Shadows and Dust.

On This Day 10/11/1998 The Bluetones

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On this day, 10 November 1998, indie rock band The Bluetones played Cardiff University on their Put Em On The Glass Tour.

Formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth member, Richard Payne, came on board between 1998 and 2002. The band was originally named "The Bottlegarden".

The band has scored thirteen Top 40 singles and three Top 10 albums in the UK charts. Although their commercial success waned in the post-Britpop era, they continued to tour and release new records. Their most recent album A New Athens was released in May 2010.

The second Bluetones album, Return to the Last Chance Saloon, was released in 1998. While failing to repeat the commercial success of their debut, it reached the top 10 in the UK album charts and spawned the hit singles "Solomon Bites the Worm" and "If...".

On This Day 09/11/1986 James

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On this day, 9 November 1986, Manchester rock band James played Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre.

Setlist

Formed in 1982 they had popularity throughout the 1990s, with four top 10s on the UK Singles Chart and nine top 10s on the UK Albums Chart.

The band's best-known singles include "Come Home", "Sit Down", "She's a Star" and "Laid", which also became a hit on American college radio.

Following the departure of lead singer Tim Booth in 2001, the band became inactive, but reunited in January 2007 and have gone on to produce a further seven albums. Live performance has continually remained a central part of the band's output. As of 2010, the band had sold more than 25 million albums worldwide.

Their third release, the Sit Down EP (no relation to the song of that name) came out in February 1986 and was followed by their debut album, Stutter, in July of that year. The album reached number 68 in the UK Albums Chart.

Low on money and lacking coverage and promotion, the band recorded their second album, Strip-mine, attempting a more conventional song structure in an attempt to please their label Sire. The album almost went unreleased, but after a slight remix to sound more radio-friendly, Sire released it in September 1988, over a year after its initial completion. However the album only reached number 90. After finding a clause for ending their contract, the band left Sire.

James had by this point earned themselves a reputation as a live act and had built a solid fanbase. Sales of James T-shirts were particularly successful in Manchester even before they reached the Top 40. James financed the production of a live album One Man Clapping with a bank loan and the help of Rough Trade Records. The album went to number 1 in the indie charts, reinvigorating media interest in the band.

On This Day 08/11/1987 Freddie McGregor

On this day, 8 November 1987, Jamaican singer, musician and record producer Freddie McGregor played Cardiff’s Ritzy Night Club. His music career began when he was seven years old.

In 1963 he joined with Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin to form The Clarendonians, and began to record for the Studio One label. He was only seven years old at the time and was known as 'Little Freddie'.[2][3] He was also a member of the Generation Gap.

McGregor converted to Rastafari in 1975. He is a member of the Twelve Tribes organisation.

McGregor worked with producer Niney the Observer during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and in the same period was part of the resurgence of Studio One. His popularity soared in the early 1980s with the release of "Bobby Babylon". Other popular hits of McGregor's include "Big Ship", "Push Comes to Shove", "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely" (a top ten hit in the UK), and "I Was Born a Winner"; as well as cover versions of many early reggae standards.

He has also worked with producers Junjo Lawes, Linval Thompson, and Gussie Clarke. McGregor has also recorded as a drummer with artists such as Sugar Minott and Judy Mowatt.

McGregor has also toured extensively for many years. He secured a licensing agreement with RAS Records in US and released Come on Over in 1983.

McGregor's albums in the 2000s were Signature and Anything for You, which received a Grammy nomination.

He established the Big Ship label in 1983, and has produced many artists including Papa San, Lieutenant Stitchie, Tiger, Luciano and Mikey Spice.