On This Day 14/10/1977 The Saints

On this day, 14 October 1977, Australian rock band The Saints played Cardiff’s Top Rank. Support was provided by Mirrors.

Formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 1973 and founded by singer-songwriter Chris Bailey, drummer Ivor Hay, and guitarist-songwriter Ed Kuepper, they originally employed fast tempos, raucous vocals and a "buzzsaw" guitar sound that helped initiate punk rock in Australia and identified them with the greater international movement.

Unable to get gigs, they converted their share house into a venue where they could play. With their debut single "(I'm) Stranded", released in September 1976, they became the first punk band outside the US to release a record, ahead of the first UK punk releases from the Damned, the Sex Pistols and the Clash.

They experienced UK chart success in 1977 with the song "This Perfect Day", which peaked at #34. Bassist Kym Bradshaw left in 1977 to join first-wave British punk rock band, The Lurkers, and was replaced by Algy Ward.

On This Day 13/10/1975 Demis Roussos

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On this day, 13 October 1975, Greek musician and singer Demis Roussos played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

He had recently released his fifth studio album Souvenirs which peaked at #25 in the UK charts.

After settling in Greece, Roussos participated in a series of musical groups beginning with the Idols when he was 17, where he met Evángelos Papathanassíou (later known as Vangelis) and Loukas Sideras, his future bandmates in Aphrodite's Child. After this, he joined the Athens-based band We Five, another cover band which had limited success in Greece.

Roussos's operatic vocal style helped propel the band to international success, notably on their final album 666, based on passages from the Book of Revelation, which became a progressive rock cult classic.

After Aphrodite's Child disbanded, Roussos continued to record sporadically with his former bandmate Vangelis. In 1970, the two released the film score album Sex Power (the album has also been credited to Aphrodite's Child), and later recorded the 1977 album Magic together.

On This Day 12/10/1977 Dr Hook

On this day, 12 October 1977, American band Dr Hook played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens. Support was provided by Alfalpha.

The founding core of the band consisted of George Cummings, Ray Sawyer and Billy Francis, who had first worked together circa 1966 in Mobile, Alabama, in a band called Chocolate Papers. Cummings, Sawyer and Francis started a new band up in Union City, New Jersey, in 1968 and included primary vocalist Dennis Locorriere, who initially joined as a bass player.

By 1969, the new band was named Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Tonic for the Soul. The name, thought up by Cummings, was inspired by Sawyer's eyepatch and a reference to Captain Hook of the Peter Pan fairytale. Sawyer lost his right eye in a near-fatal car crash in Oregon in 1967 and, after that, wore an eyepatch, leading some people to believe that he was Dr. Hook; when asked by fans which band member was Dr. Hook, they would all point to the bus driver.

The band shortened its name to Dr. Hook in 1975. They signed with Capitol Records in 1975, releasing the aptly titled Bankrupt. Unlike previous projects, this album included original material written by the group. The hit from the project was a reworked version of Sam Cooke's "Only Sixteen" (US number 6), revitalizing their career and charted in the top ten in 1976.

Haffkine discovered a song titled "A Little Bit More" written and originally performed by Bobby Gosh and released on his 1973 album Sitting in the Quiet, on a record he purchased for 35 cents at a flea market in San Francisco. The band recorded and released the song, which reached number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and spent two weeks at number nine on the Cash Box Top 100. It also reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, matching "Sylvia's Mother".

The band followed Bankrupt with 1976's A Little Bit More (named after the hit), which was certified double gold in Australia in November 1976.[4] It was quickly followed in turn by the 1977 album Making Love And Music which gave them a number 1 hit single in Australia with "Walk Right In"

On This Day11/10/1977 Dr Feelgood

On this day, 11 October 1977, English pub rock band Dr Feelgood played Cardiff’s Top Rank. Support was provided by American rock band Mink DeVille.

Hailing from Canvey Island, Essex, they are best known for early singles such as "She Does It Right", "Roxette", "Back in the Night" and "Milk and Alcohol". Their original and distinctively British R&B sound was centred on Wilko Johnson's choppy guitar style. Along with Johnson, the initial band line-up included singer Lee Brilleaux and the rhythm section of John B. Sparks, known as "Sparko", on bass guitar and John Martin, known as "The Big Figure", on drums.

Their breakthrough 1976 live album, Stupidity, reached number one in the UK Albums Chart (their only chart-topper). The Ramones were the opening act for the group's May 1976 shows at the Bottom Line in New York.

After the 1977 follow-up Sneakin' Suspicion, Johnson left the group because of conflicts with Lee Brilleaux. He was replaced by Gypie Mayo. The band with Mayo were never as popular as when Johnson was in the line-up, yet they went on to enjoy their only top ten hit single in 1979 with "Milk and Alcohol".

On This Day 10/10/1966 Manfred Mann

On this day, 10 October 1966, rock band Manfred Mann played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

The band were about to release their third studio album As If, their first to feature new members Mike d'Abo and Klaus Voormann.

The twelve tracks on the record include the line-up's first single release, a cut-down version of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" that reached the UK top ten, and a short cool jazz version of "Autumn Leaves", reminiscent of the Modern Jazz Quartet with Mike Hugg's vibraphone and double bass from the group's former bassist Dave Richmond, sounding like an out-take from the group's instrumental releases: these two make weight for a fairly short collection of group compositions. As d'Abo's presence somehow sparked Mike Hugg into producing baroque pop miniatures, both contribute three songs: d'Abo's "Box Office Draw" and "Trouble and Tea" are well-crafted pop, while "As Long as I Have Lovin'" is a generic soul ballad.

Hugg's "Morning After the Party", also released as a "B" side and on the compilation album What a Mann, recalls the rowdy rhythm and blues of the group's past, while two of his three collaborations with Mann suggest something of the direction they would later take with Manfred Mann Chapter Three. Guitarist Tom McGuinness provides a range of textures, including his trademark National Steel Guitar and contributes sleeve notes and a gentle folk-ballad. The group continued to exploit studio multitracking: keyboardist Mann layering Mellotrons, bassist Voormann taking over from Mike Vickers on flutes.

On This Day 09/10/1976 Climax Blues Band

On this day, 9 October 1976, blues, rock and pop band Climax Blues Band played Cardiff University.

The band had just found chart success with the song Couldn’t Get It Right taken from their eighth studio album Gold Plated.

The song was originally released by RCA Records in early 1976. Although the song did not make the UK Singles Chart until October 1976 it did manage to crack the top ten, entering at #47 and departing from #18 in early December 1976, having been at positions #10 and #11 the weeks before. It reached #8 in Canada and #29 in New Zealand.

Later on that year, the song was picked up by Sire Records and the following year it made #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, the song was ranked #32 on Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1977.

The band were formed in Stafford, Staffordshire, England in 1968 by vocalist, saxophonist, guitarist and harmonica player Colin Cooper (1939–2008), guitarist, bassist and vocalist Pete Haycock (1951–2013), guitarist Derek Holt (b. 1949), bassist and keyboardist Richard Jones (b. 1949), drummer George Newsome (b. 1947) and keyboardist Arthur Wood (1929–2005).[2]

Holt tells of their formation:

"When I left school, I went to work in a local grinding wheel factory as a laboratory assistant and attending college for a degree in Chemistry. Colin Cooper also worked there as a metallurgist, so that's how we met. He had already discovered a young Peter Haycock and had wanted to put a blues band together. He was already gigging with a jazz band on clarinet. We started doing local gigs with local drummer George Newsome and a keyboard player named Arthur Wood, who at the time was a school teacher. Our bass player then was Richard Jones, who also knew Pete from grammar school. I was rhythm guitarist. While playing local gigs we were "discovered" by a scout for the new EMI label Parlophone, who was on the look out for a young blues/rock outfit for their label. We signed up for two albums with them, though we still had day jobs, so had to take time off work to go and record in London. Our first album was recorded over two days in the infamous Abbey Road Studios in 1968. We were in Studio 1, The Beatles were in Studio 2 and Pink Floyd in Studio 3! I was just 19 years of age.”

On This Day 08/10/1966 The Rolling Stones

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On this day, 8 October 1966, legendary rockers the Rolling Stones played two shows at Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

Support was provided by Ike & Tina Turner,The Yardbirds,Peter Jay and The New Jaywalkers, Jimmy Thomas, Bobby John, Long John Baldry and The Kings of Rhythm Orchestra.

The tour commenced on September 23 and concluded on October 9, 1966.

The band had recently released their Aftermath album, the first Stones LP to be composed entirely of original material by the group, considered by music scholars to be an artistic breakthrough for the Rolling Stones.

Brian Jones emerged as a key contributor and experimented with instruments not usually associated with popular music, including the sitar, Appalachian dulcimer, Japanese koto and marimbas, as well as guitar and harmonica.

Along with Jones' instrumental textures, the Stones incorporated a wider range of chords and stylistic elements beyond their Chicago blues and R&B influences, such as pop, folk, country, psychedelia, Baroque and Middle Eastern music.

Influenced by intense love affairs and a demanding touring itinerary, Jagger and Richards wrote the album around psychodramatic themes of love, sex, desire, power and dominance, hate, obsession, modern society and rock stardom.

Women feature as prominent characters in their often dark, sarcastic, casually offensive lyrics.

SETLIST

"Paint It, Black"

"Under My Thumb"

"Get Off of My Cloud"

"Lady Jane"

"Not Fade Away"

"The Last Time"

"19th Nervous Breakdown"

"Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

On This Day 07/10/1980 UFO

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On this day, 7 October 1980, hard rock band UFO played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens on their The Wild, the willing and the innocent tour. Support was provided by Fist.

The Wild, the willing and the innocent was the title of the band’s ninth studio album released the following January.

The album was their first album to be entirely self-produced. Its song "Lonely Heart" was a minor UK hit.

Former Wild Horses' keyboard player Neil Carter replaced Paul Raymond, who had left to join the Michael Schenker Group after a disagreement with singer Phil Mogg. However, according to guitarist Paul Chapman, Carter – though credited on the sleeve – did not play keyboards on the album (see below).

"We produced it ourselves with nobody breathing over our shoulders. The only problem was it cost twice as much because we kept changing studios and re-recording stuff…. [After Paul Raymond's departure] I tried to get John Sloman involved because he could sing, play keyboards and guitar, and was just out of Lone Star like me. He did play on the Wild album, but most of the keyboards are by the brother of the engineer Gary Edwards – until Phil sacked him. We finished that album without a keyboard player, then got Neil Carter in later." – Paul Chapman

Setlist

Alpha Centauri

Lettin' Go

Long Gone

Cherry

Only You Can Rock Me

No Place to Run

Makin' Moves

Love to Love

Hot 'n' Ready

Mystery Train

(Little Junior’s Blue Flames cover)

Too Hot to Handle

Lights Out

Rock Bottom

Doctor Doctor