On This Day 26/04/1958 Johnnie Ray

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On this day 26 April 1958, American singer, songwriter, and pianist Johnnie Ray played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

Born and raised in Dallas, Oregon, Ray, who was partially deaf, began singing professionally at age 15 on Portland radio stations. He gained a local following singing at small, predominantly African-American nightclubs in Detroit, where he was discovered in 1949.

In 1951, he signed a contract with Okeh Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. On the Billboard charts, he rose quickly from obscurity with the release of his debut album Johnnie Ray (1952), as well as with a 78 rpm single, both of whose sides reached the Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 chart, "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud That Cried".

In the 1950s, after both sides of the single "Cry"/"The Little White Cloud That Cried" ran their course, more hit songs followed. They included "Please, Mr. Sun", "Such a Night", "Walkin' My Baby Back Home", "A Sinner Am I", and "Yes Tonight Josephine". He scored a number-one hit in the United Kingdom with "Just Walkin' in the Rain" (which he initially disliked) during the Christmas season in 1956. He hit again in 1957 with "You Don't Owe Me a Thing", which reached number 10 on the Billboard charts in the United States.

Though his American popularity was declining in 1957, he remained popular in the United Kingdom, breaking the attendance record at the London Palladium formerly set by fellow Columbia Records artist Frankie Laine. In later years, he retained a loyal fan base overseas, particularly in Australia.

On This Day 25/04/1989 Salif Keita

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On this day, 25 April 1989, Salif Keita, the Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa" played Cardiff University. He had just released the album Ko-Yan which was recorded in Paris.

The album contains more influence from Western music, while still maintaining a traditional style. All the songs were written by Keita, including "Nou Pas Bouger", one of his first hits.

Album review - South Wales Echo

The New York Times wrote: "Synthesizers and Western horns perk along (sometimes sounding like Weather Report on Ko-Yan), but the underlying rhythms percolate in triple time, and it's hard for a Western ear to predict where Mr. Keita's vocal lines, and the responses of his female backup singers, will begin or end." The Edmonton Journal noted that Keita's music "injects the stirring traditional rhythms of Mali with nourishing contemporary textures—funk, soca, and soul."

On This Day 24/04/1977 Small Faces

On this day, 24 April 1977, rock band Small Faces played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. Also on the bill were Cock Sparrer and P P Arnold.

Following the breakup of the Faces in 1975, the original Small Faces line-up reformed briefly to film videos miming to the reissued "Itchycoo Park" which hit the charts again. The group tried recording together again but Lane left after the first rehearsal due to an argument. Unknown to the others, he was just beginning to show the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and his behaviour was misinterpreted by Marriott and the others as a drunken tantrum.

Nevertheless, McLagan, Jones and Marriott decided to stay together as Small Faces, recruiting ex-Roxy Music bassist Rick Wills to take Lane's place. This iteration of Small Faces recorded two albums, Playmates (1977) and 78 in the Shade (1978), released on Atlantic Records.

Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch also briefly joined this line-up after leaving Wings. When McCulloch phoned Paul McCartney, who had found him increasingly difficult to work with, to announce he was joining Marriott, McCartney reportedly said "I was a little put out at first, but, well, what can you say to that?" McCulloch's tenure with the band lasted only for a few months in late 1977. He recorded only one album with the group, 78 in the Shade .

The reunion albums were both critical and commercial failures. Small Faces broke up again in 1978.

On This Day 22/04/2005 The D4

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On this day, 22 April 2005, New Zealand rock band The D-4 played Cardiff’s Barfly. Support was provided by The Caves and the Little Unknown.

The group was assembled by vocalist/guitarists Dion Palmer and Jimmy Christmas, who put together a collection of songs and built a four-piece combo, featuring founding members English Jake and Rich Mixture, during late 1998 and started playing at the Frisbee Leisure Lounge parties along Symonds Street, followed shortly thereafter by inner city pub gigs. They have also played at the Big Day Out and at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

The group's debut EP was released by Flying Nun Records in 1999 featuring the tracks "Girl" and "Come On!". The band was later enhanced by members Vaughan Williams (Vaughn) (bass) and Daniel Pooley (Beaver) (drums). The D4 went on a UK tour supporting The Hives.

As of May 2006, Breakfast announced that after eight years, the D4, would be taking an indefinite break from the music industry. After the split, Rich Mixture went on to replace Paul Robertson as the drummer of The Rock n Roll Machine, bassist Vaughn joined Shocking Pinks, an Auckland-based indie pop act and Jimmy Christmas formed the rock group Luger Boa who have supported Shihad on tour. Most recently, Dion has moved to NYC, formed a new band called The True Lovers and also plays bass in A Place to Bury Strangers.

On This Day 22/04/1997 Catatonia

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On this day, 22 April 1997, Welsh band Catatonia played Cardiff’s Coal Exchange on their Way Beyond Blue tour.

The band formed in 1992 after Mark Roberts met Cerys Matthews. The first major lineup featured Dafydd Ieuan of Super Furry Animals on drums, Paul Jones on bass, and Clancy Pegg on keyboards. With this line-up the band recorded two EPs, For Tinkerbell and Hooked.

Pegg was fired prior to work on their first studio album, Way Beyond Blue, and during the recording of the album the band was joined by drummer Aled Richards, replacing Ieuan, who left to focus full-time on Super Furry Animals. During the live promotional appearances for the album the band was joined by guitarist Owen Powell. This latest incarnation of the band lasted until its dissolution in 2001.

The single "You've Got a Lot to Answer For" received radio airplay and became the band's first top 40 single in the UK Singles Chart in September 1996.

Their breakout success came at the start of 1998 with the International Velvet album and the release of the single "Mulder and Scully" some two weeks apart. The album went to number one in the UK Albums Chart, and sold more than 900,000 copies being certified triple platinum by British Phonographic Industry, while the single reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, the highest any Catatonia single would chart.

On This Day 21/04/1958 Lonnie Donegan

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On this day, 21 April 1958, skiffle legend Lonnie Donegan played Cardiff’s Gaumont Theatre, the first of a week of shows, playing twice nightly. Also on the bill was Welsh comedian Ossie Morris, Paul and Peta Page, Ballet Montmartre, The Terry Sisters, The Carlo Sisters and Grif Kendall.

Review - South Wales Argus

On This Day 20/04/2000 Coldplay

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On this day, 20 April 2000, rock band Coldplay played Cardiff University on their Parachutes tour co-headlining with Welsh band Terris. The band were about to release their debut album Parachutes.

The album was produced by the band and British record producer Ken Nelson, except for one track, "High Speed", which was produced by Chris Allison. Parachutes spawned the singles "Shiver", "Yellow", and "Trouble", with a limited European release of "Don't Panic". The album was also supported by the Parachutes Tour, which saw the band performing 131 shows in their first world tour.

The album was a commercial success and was met with positive reviews from critics. Upon release, it quickly reached number one in the United Kingdom and has since been certified 9× Platinum. In the United States, the album peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200 and eventually was certified double platinum.

It won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2002, the British Album of the Year award at the 2001 Brit Awards, and many other accolades. Parachutes is also the 22nd-best-selling album of the 21st century in the United Kingdom. As of 2020, it has sold over 13 million copies worldwide.

Melody Maker hailed Parachutes as a "masterpiece" and "a defining musical statement of 2000", while James Oldham of Uncut felt that the album "more than justifies the plaudits heaped upon [the band] by the weekly music press". The Guardian described the album as "one of the year's most uplifting albums", adding that it features "elegant songs, classic guitars and gorgeous singing".

While noting that Parachutes "brings nothing new to the table" and that its "musical reference points are immediately recognizable and difficult to overlook", Billboard stated that the band "seems talented enough to transcend this early identity crisis." Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone opined that the album "ultimately rises above its influences to become a work of real transcendence".

On This Day 19/04/2010 Feeder

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On this day, 19 April 2010, Welsh rock band Feeder played the Millennium Music Hall on their Renegades tour.

The band was formed in 1994, although an earlier incarnation under the name of "Reel" was formed in 1992 by vocalist and guitarist Grant Nicholas, drummer Jon Lee and bassist Simon Blight, three of the four members of Raindancer, after the departure of that band's other member, guitarist John Canham. However, Blight left Reel later in 1992, and the band played with many session bassists before hiring Taka Hirose in 1994 and re-establishing themselves as Feeder; that year, the band signed with The Echo Label.

Feeder garnered media attention in 2001 for their third album, Echo Park, and its lead single, "Buck Rogers", which later became a UK top five Platinum-selling single. Jon Lee died by suicide at his Miami home in January 2002, after which the remaining members began to record and play with former Skunk Anansie drummer Mark Richardson.

They released their fourth album, Comfort in Sound later that year. Richardson was ultimately made an official member, remaining so until May 2009 when he returned to a reformed Skunk Anansie. Feeder have since worked with a roster of drummers live and in the studio, including Tim Trotter, Damon Wilson, Karl Brazil and former Elviss drummer Geoff Holroyde. Between 2010 and 2024, the band charted seven more top 20 albums, with the latest of these being 2024’s Black / Red, their fifth consecutive top 10 album. In 2019, the band signed a deal with Believe UK to release their tenth studio album, Tallulah. The band released their eleventh studio album, titled Torpedo, in 2022. Their twelfth studio album, a double album titled Black/Red, was released in 2024.

Setlist

Barking Dogs

Sentimental

This Town

Left Foot Right

Home

Down to the River

White Lines

Tangerine

The End

Renegades

Call Out

Encore:

Sweet 16

Descend

Shade