Tamworth Bands History : 1982 : April
Tamworth Herald – 02/04/82
Caption: Private Property…left to right Donald Skinner, Brian Lacey and Mark Mortimer.
BOUNCING bassist Mark Mortimer chooses his words carefully before speaking: “Too many bands in Tamworth seem to lack real enthusiasm. They are really talented, but they don’t seem to use their talent,” he says.
It’s difficult to argue with the astute synopsis from the former Thirty Frames a Second member.
Enthusiasm and energy are two words which feature heavily in Mark’s musical vocabulary, and they’re also two words which apply to his latest project Private Property.
In fact it’s misleading to give the impression that Private Property is Mark’s own project for the three-piece band has been formed by Mark and guitarist/vocalist and songwriter Brian.
After a fruitless search for a drummer Mark and Brian persuaded Thirty Frames a Second sticksman Donald Skinner to join them and Private Property were complete.
During the last few months they have put together a set featuring ten of their own numbers including “George Street” – a song about people in Tamworth – and “Welcome to the Working Week” – a number about unemployment.
They hope to start gigging shortly with possible dates at St. John’s Guildhall and other youth clubs in the district.
”We want to avoid being put in any particular musical bag,” says Brian.
“That’s been the downfall of too many other bands,” adds Mark.
“All we want to do is play some gigs and get people dancing.”
Tamworth Herald – 02/04/82
THE Polesworth School Users Council are a farsighted group of people who organise events to ensure that the school buildings are put to the best possible use of normal hours.
Recently they organised their first rock concert in the school hall, and they were rewarded with an audience in the region of 150 which, by local standards, is massive.
Exodus – the band formed by Dylan Haddon and Chris Price – headlined with Electro Tanz Musik providing the support.
Musicbox reader Nicola Kelly, sent us this review:
“The last time I saw Exodus I was far from impressed, but the synthesiser which they have now added has given the band a totally new sound.
“A new song called ‘Exodus’ went down well with the crowd – astonishing me and the Users Council. Exodus are trying to concentrate more on their lyrics, but they included some of the songs from their old Trojan repertoire.
“The group were more than adequately supported by Electro Tanz Musik, whose experimental new wave sound held the attention of the audience.
“A great night was had by all and requests for future concerts at the school will not go unheeded.”
Tamworth Herald – 02/04/82
MAGNUM vocalist Bob Catley popped into the Herald offices on Friday to meet the lucky winner of the recent Musicbox ‘Chase the Dragon’ competition.
Tamworth Herald – 08/04/82
MAGNUM flew out to America this week to begin their first major United States tour.
The five-piece fronted by Tamworth-based vocalist Bob Catley – will be supporting Ozzy Osbourne as the former Sabbath singer picks up the threads of his massive tour after the sudden death of guitarist Randy Rhodes.
Former Gillan axeman Bernie Torme has been drafted in as an emergency replacement for Rhodes for the remainder of the tour.
Tamworth Herald – 08/04/82
SEASONED Tamworth rock band Flash Harry play another in their series of fortnightly gigs at The Warren, Mile Oak on Wednesday April 14.
Tamworth Herald – 08/04/82
EXODUS will be playing a recently written Christmas Rock piece called: “The Resurrection” at a one-off Eater Sunday gig at St. Mary’s Church in Atherstone.
14/04/82
Flash Harry
The Warren
Mile Oak
Tamworth Herald – 16/04/82
TAMWORTH schoolchildren will next week be turned away from the doors of a local night-club after a licensing-laws mix-up.
Any under 14 year old who goes to Stripes night club for a regular Monday night under 18’s non-alcoholic disco will not be allowed in.
Tamworth Herald – 16/04/82
Caption: Tusk – left to right Richard Arundel, Ron Aucott, Tony Beaumont, Colin Hunt and Frank Ingley.
The sedate portals of Wilnecote Parish Hall will be alive with the sound of rampaging heavy rock tomorrow night.
For a powerful new five piece outfit – Tusk – are set to play their first major gig in the area.
Tusk are an amalgam of two of the finest rock bands ever to grace town stages – Brewster and Hamma.
Ron Aucott, bass and Tony Beaumont, vocals were both members of Brewster – who achieved an almost legendary status and large following all over the Midlands in the 70s.
And Frank Ingley, guitar and Colin Hunt, drums were both stalwarts of Hamma, the HM outfit who played so many fine gigs last summer before the departure of Norman ‘Stormy’ Swan to green pastures with Tytan, forced their break-up.
The fifth member of the band is guitarist Richard Arundel a musician of some experience who has never found a spot in a regular working band until now.
Tusk were formed at Christmas and the band have quickly put together a set featuring mainly old Hamma and Brewster numbers.
Frank said: “We aim to write more of our own material during the next few months. The sound won’t be as heavy as Hamma’s but it will still be rock.
Tomorrow night’s date as Wilnecote will be the second gig by the band who played a warm-up, debut set at the Chequers last week.
Wilnecote Parish Hall is opposite the main petrol station on the A5 between Two Gates and Wilnecote.
Tamworth Herald – 16/04/82
A LEADING Tamworth band are on the look-out for a vocalist.
We have been sworn to secrecy by the group concerned but we can say that they are very well known locally and have heavy leanings without being HM.
Anyone interested in filling the vacancy should ring Darren and all will be revealed!
Tamworth Herald – 16/04/82
DHSS make their long-awaited return to town stages tomorrow night with a gig at Wigginton Village Hall.
Vince Watts and his merry men will be blasting out their own highly distinctive brand of power-laden, new wave, rock at the small but atmospheric venue.
Support will be provided by Animal and the Stick Band – a new outfit which is the brainchild of the ubiquitous Donald Skinner – and The Long Days – another new outfit featuring former Thirty Frames a Second members Andrew Baines, Matthew Lees and Paul Summers.
Admission for what should be a varied evening’s entertainment is 30p.
Tamworth Herald – 16/04/82
LICHFIELD bands Ulterior Motives and Data Control return to Tamworth tonight after the success of their recent gig at the town’s college.
They will be appearing at the Chequers pub in Hopwas.
Three days later both bands join up with Wolverhampton outfit Virus for a triple-header gig at Lichfield Civic Hall.
Tickets for the Civic Hall gig can be bought from Bradshaw’s record shop in Lichfield and Rock-It Records in Tamworth.
Admission on the door is £1.25. There is a licensed bar.
16/04/82
Ulterior Motives
Data Control
The Chequers
17/04/82
Tusk
Wilnecote Parish Hall
17/04/82
The DHSS
Wigginton Village Hall
19/04/82
Exodus
Polesworth Working Mens Club
19/04/82
Ulterior Motives
Data Control
Virus
Lichfield Civic Hall
23/04/82
Classified Ads
The Unknown
St. Johns Guildhall
Tamworth Herald – 23/04/82
Tusk : Wilnecote Parish Hall
DESPITE the advantages of a fair sized audience and a bar, Wilnecote Parish Hall turned out to be a less than ideal rock concert venue.
The room was a little too large, the ceiling too high and the stage too small to accommodate the five members of Tusk comfortably.
Despite these limitations and the difficulties of working with partly borrowed gear, the band attacked their set with the sort of gusto and enthusiasm I’ve come to expect from such seasoned musicians.
Tony Beaumont belted out the vocals with great power, Ron Allcott, showed some nice touches on bass, Colin Hunt kept things rock steady on drums, Richard Arundel supplied the rhythm guitar and last, but by no means least, Frank Ingley gave his usual exciting performance of lead guitar skill.
The band played a set consisting entirely of cover versions – not something I’m fond of – but understandable considering the short time the band had been together.
“Tush”, “Reckless” and “Wasted” were among the expected numbers, but they did slip in some surprise songs including Rainbow ‘B’ side “Jealous Lover” and MSG’s “Armed and Ready”.
But even though the band performed so creditably I found my reservations about the venue over-riding most of the enjoyment I would have got from the set.
Tusk play the more intimate and suitable Chequers on Friday April 30.
Tamworth Herald – 23/04/82
TAMWORTH’s heavy rock fraternity have a double-bill to savour next week when two of the top bands in the area join forces for a one-off gig.
Omen join Flash Harry for one of FH’s fortnightly gigs at the Warren, Mile Oak next Wednesday. FH are always a powerful draw wherever they play, and the addition of young hopefuls Omen to the bill should make it an evening to remember.
Tamworth Herald – 23/04/82
NEW wave music comes to town with a vengeance tonight when two bands appear at St. John’s Guildhall.
A new band, The Unknown, make their debut. Fittingly, very little is known about The Unknown – except that they once advertised for a girl singer when they were called Apparition. Bill-toppers are Tamworth’s most popular band – according to a recent poll in Tambeat – the Classified Ads.
28/04/82
Flash Harry
Omen
The Warren
30/04/82
Tusk
The Chequers
Tamworth Herald – 30/04/82
PEGASUS, EXODUS : Polesworth Top Club
REGULAR trips out to Warton WMC on summer evenings last year often proved to be an enjoyable, if rather unrewarding, experience.
Trojan, the band that more often than not played at the club, always had bags of enthusiasm with enough skill to become a really exciting live band.
Now, nearly 12 months later, things have altered rapidly in that part of the world. Two members of Trojan have formed Pegasus and the other two are the founder members of Exodus.
And the split which means that these two new bands could be formed, is the best possible thing that could have happened as far as I am concerned.
Pegasus proved that after a few numbers. With vocalist Steve Haddon making up for his vocal deficiencies by aggressive presentation, the band stormed their way through numbers which soon shifted a contingent of teddy boys who’d come expecting a rock ‘n’ roll evening.
Guitarist Chris Kelt – dressed in super smooth white jacket – was the star, playing some excellent lead guitar while jerking his head around in the great Angus Young tradition.
Pegasus – fresh from their brief Atherstone church spot on TV – started out playing some of their own material which was in a sort of jerky eighties’ pop mould.
It was a bold move to try girl vocalist Jackie Day, but it only really worked when she was singing with Dylan Haddon rather than solo.
“Do We Hear Noises” – a song inspired by a Musicbox headline – was one of the better compositions, but, when they followed it with “Shaking All Over” I began to wonder exactly what sort of audience they were looking for.
Exodus could become an excellent local band if they sort out their stage presentation and decide exactly what sort of material they want to perform.
But there can be no doubt that everyone concerned is better off now than they were last summer, and Pegasus and exodus showed a marked improvement from Trojan.
Tamworth Herald – 30/04/82
The Unknown, Classified Ads : St. John’s Guildhall
TAMWORTH has one of the largest teenage populations in the Midlands…and you did not have to have a census report under your arm to establish that fact on Friday evening.
As I walked through the town centre streets on my way to the Guildhall, the area was alive with young people intent on enjoying their evening out.
Sadly though, none of them were going to the Guildhall, for when I got to the venue only about 25 people were dotted around the room.
And that, it seems, is the crux of the problem facing local bands. How do you persuade the potential punters that attending a gig might just be more enjoyable than an evening in a pub?
Well, I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that one. What I can tell everyone who didn’t go to the Guildhall is that they missed a fine show from two first-rate young bands.
The Unknown had been sensible enough to take the precaution of not playing their first gig until they were sure they wouldn’t fall flat on their faces.
The Glascote-based three-piece showed hardly any nerves, and played one of the best debut sets I’ve ever heard.
POPULAR
Musically, it was doomy, grey and fairly monotone – heavily influenced by the Banshees – but it was the sort of thing that’s very popular at the moment and with the right behind-the-scenes work The Unknown could become very well known.
The Classified Ads were their usually cheery selves and they were, as always, highly enjoyable.
Some impressive new numbers were wheeled out alongside the old favourites and while it wasn’t the best set they have ever played, it was their 25th gig, which speaks volumes for their “play anywhere, anytime” philosophy.
Tamworth Herald – 30/04/82
LICHFIELD band The Ultimate Sway – formerly The Ulterior Motives – play at Lichfield Arts Centre on May 5. The gig will be the first to promote the band’s double ‘A’ single “Always Waiting/Here We Stand”.
Tamworth Herald – 30/04/82
TAMWORTH music followers have their first chance to see local vocalist Norman Swan back in the Midlands this week-end at the summer’s first major festival.
For Tytan, the band formed by Norman plus ex-Angel Witch members Dave Dufort and Kevin “Skids” Riddles and former A-11Z guitarist Gary Owens are one of the bands featured at the Monmore Rock open-air gig at Wolverhampton, on Sunday.
Tamworth Herald – 30/04/82
SIXTIES’ music expert, Leigh Smart has produced how own fanzine with the accent on that historic era.
“Backtrack” helps the nostalgically inclined to recall the famous and not-son-famous bands of the Sixties and Seventies.
The fanzine – priced 30p – is Leigh’s first venture into this area, although he does contribute regularly to “Backbeat” a national distribution Sixties’ soul magazine.
Copies are available from Rock-It Records.
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