Never Say Die
Musical Genre/Type: Rock
Formed: 1988
Tony Lakin
[Also in: Flash Harry, Depth Charge]
Trevor Muggleston
[Also in: Flash Harry, Depth Charge]
John Haslam
[Also in: Ethis, Depth Charge]
Garry Dobson
[Also in: Depth Charge]
16/07/88
Tamworth Rock Festival
Torn in Two
Shellshock
The Searching
DHSS
Wolfsbane
The Conspiracy
Never Say Die
Kubla Khan
Castle Grounds
Admission free 11am-7pm
08/12/88
Never Say Die
New Swan, Atherstone
26/02/89
Tamworth Rock Festival - Indoor Festival
DHSS
Space Seeds
Never Say Die
King Woderick
Tamworth Arts Centre
28/05/90
Tamworth Indoor Rock Festival
Fat Moggy
Naked Touch
Never Say Die
The Magnets
King Woderick and the Yogots
Vindaloo Breakfast
Banned in Yellow
Rhythm Damage
Night Moves
Tamworth Herald - 15/01/88
Depth Charge have changed their name to Never Say Die which, according to guitarist Trevor Mugglestone, ‘sums us up perfectly’.
Tamworth Herald - 17/06/88
…demos shortly. Among those to surface is the debut work from Mark Mortimer’s new band The Space Seeds, a new tape from Never Say Die and a brand new demo from The Parade.
Tamworth Herald - 24/06/88
Here are a selection of demos that have found their way to my ears lately.
Never Say Die – All Night Long
A RESILIENT band this, and one who continually turn up surprises. This latest offering ranks amongst their very best and oozes quality. It is a stylish, well-written number, expertly played and sung and featuring some delicious guitar work. It rather reminded me of Whitesnake actually but don’t hold that against them. Nice one Trevor.
Tamworth Herald - 02/12/88
Never Say Die are in action at the New Swan, Atherstone on December 8.
Tamworth Herald – 20/01/89
TAMWORTH’s rock fans are in for a real treat throughout February when the Arts Centre hosts a sparkling indoor festival.
Three top quality concerts will be on offer featuring the best of the area’s older acts and some brand new local talent.
And to top off the whole indoor extravaganza it is hoped that Wolfsbane will kick off their major UK national tour by concluding the festival on Sunday March 5.
Plans for the indoor festival were sorted out on Sunday night when Tamworth’s main outdoor festival for 1989 was launched. Once again a huge crop of bands registered interest in the 89 outdoor festival and at least 14 of these will be involved in the indoor festival in February/March.
At the moment the line-ups are strictly provisional but here they are as they stand at time of going to press. Please note the line-ups could change dramatically and you will have to keep reading this column to find out exactly who is playing and when. Assuming everything does go according to plan here are the line-ups for Tamworth’s 1989 Indoor Rock Festival.
Sunday February12
CATCH 23 will headline with the support of one ‘oldie’ Emma Gibbs Loves Badges and two ‘newies’ Big Noise and Shock Culture.
Sunday February 19
SCREAM DREAM will headline with Mike Fleming’s act Nightshade and two relatively new acts – The New Puritans and Double Vision.
Sunday February 26
DHSS will top-off a line-up featuring The Space Seeds, Never Say Die and King Woderick.
 Sunday March 5
WOLFSBANE (contract permitting) will kick off their UK/USA tour by headlining alongside Spiral Eye and Kraze. If the Wolfies can’t make it Spiral Eye and Kraze with team up with A.N. Other band.
As you can see from the above, many new bands have already emerged for this year’s festival and in addition to those listed look out for several other new groups who have set their sites on the Castle Grounds for July.
In the meantime, pencil the above dates in your diary now. With the first three shows all the money raised will go towards the outdoor festival so they are vital fundraisers as well as tremendous concerts.
All the line-ups will be finalised in the next few days/weeks so keep your eyes peeled on this column. This indoor festival will prove a very exciting sampler for what you can expect this summer so get set for a Fab Feb and hopefully a marvellous start to March.
Tamworth Herald – 03/02/89
Tamworth Indoor Rock Festival 1989
THE Tamworth Indoor Rock Festival begins a month long stint at the Arts Centre on Sunday with a tempting looking concert combining the old and the new of the local music scene.
Over the next four Sundays, 15 bands will play under the Indoor Festival banner concluding on Sunday March 5 with the eagerly awaited return of the mighty Wolfsbane.
Before then however there are bags of goodies to look forward to. Scream Dream, DHSS, Bash Out The Odd (ex-Space Seeds) Never Say Die, Spiral Eye, Kraze and several brand new bands will combine their talents for the festival and on Sunday the whole rambling charabang gets off to a powerful start.
The four acts who will hit the Arts Centre stage this week are the award-winning Catch 23, the much-admired Emma Gibbs Loves Badges and two brand new groups – The Big Noise and Shock Culture.
For Catch 23, the show will be a triumphant homecoming. The band have not headlined the Arts Centre for many moons and they are keen to show their natural audience just what has made them one of the most talked about young bands in the country. For the past two years they have been chosen as the best school/college age rock band in the whole of the Midlands and this year they are hoping to extend that to the whole country by winning the final of the TSN Rockschool contest. They have powerful allies to that end – dj Mike Read is an acknowledged example – and if you want to see why, then just stand back and listen on Sunday night. Their all new set will include the three songs that won them the TSB regional heat, including MUSICBOX song of year ‘Hangin’ On’ plus many, many more that may be unfamiliar to those who haven’t caught the band in a long time. Expect to be impressed.
The other established band on the line-up are Emma Gibbs Loves Badges, who specifically requested to play alongside Catch 23. Lee Revelle’s band have undergone somewhat of a transformation since their early days and the increased profile and popularity of their performance indicates that it is a change that has been welcomed by the masses. I have become an admirer but being as I was slagged of for disliking them in the start and then slagged off for LIKING them in their last gig-fanzine I will offer no opinion at all because it would obviously be invalid. Suffice to say that they are very watchable these days. Try not to miss them.
Teaming up with these two old bands (seems daft calling Catch 23 old doesn’t it!) are two brand new acts – The Big Noise and Shock Culture. The latter, Shock Culture are a complete mystery to me unfortunately, and all I can say is that they are ideal festival material. By that I mean something which you can watch without any preconceptions allowing YOU to pigeon-hole them (if you must) before I do (if I must). There, that was a good way of hiding my ignorance wasn’t it.
Interesting
Completing the show is The Big Noise. This outfit made up of Ben Machin, Carl Harris and Ana Situnyake say they are influenced by the likes of That Petrol Emotion, Teardrop Explodes and Captain Beefheart.
“The band are crispy in a crunchy sort of way.” Insists their manifesto. “You’ll have to listen to see what you think.”
Actually they sound pretty interesting and they are almost certain to get a good review because Ben Machin’s sister Helen is a Herald scribe who will no-doubtedly beat me up if I dare to dislike them.”
That’s the line-up then, pop kings Catch 23, the unique Emma Gibbs, the mysterious Shock Culture and the alt-popsters The Big Noise. It is a very entertaining looking line-up and at just £1 per person entry it represents the best value of the year.
The proceeds from the show (starts 8pm) will go towards this years Tamworth (outdoor) Rock Festival so that’s another good reason not to miss it. We’re looking for a capacity crowd on the night, you won’t let us down will you?
Tamworth Herald – 10/02/89
 The first album put together by Lichfield Studio ‘The Reptile House’ has now arrived. It is superbly packaged and features 10 bands including our very own Catch 23 and Never Say Die. We will hopefully be reviewing it in the next couple of weeks but if you want a copy on spec (and it is worth it) I know for a fact that Catch 23 have a limited amount for sale at a crazy, knockdown price of just £2.50.
Tamworth Herald – 24/02/89
Tamworth’s Indoor Rock Festival reaches its third exciting night on Sunday when four very different bands tread the boards.
Sadly, as you will see in our story below, the original headliners DHSS have had to pull out. They will clearly be missed a great deal but fear not – we still have a very nice package indeed for your palates to taste.
The new headliners will be the band formerly known as The Space Seeds – Bash out The Odd. They will join up with Tamworth’s most popular new group of recent months, King Woderick, old favourites Never Say Die and the newly revamped Rape In Yellow.
Together it represents a very strong line-up and one which should appeal to music listeners covering a very wide spectrum.
Bash out The Odd will certainly bring with them a large, curiosity-filled audience. The band have been away from our sights for some time and have undergone both personnel and sound alterations. The personnel has had many changes most noticeably in that Mark Brindley has now taken the complete frontsman role while former Orange, Sitting Pretty and Great Express guitarist Julian Amos is now back with avengeance. In addition the brass crew has been revamped to include some very major talents and the whole sound has moved a little bit closer to the musical ideals of band instigator Mark Mortimer.
“It’s retained its commercial feel but is a lot harder now. We are all very happy about the sound.”
It’s hard to know what to expect with Bash Out The Odd, but look for a more powerful version of the oldpop-sounds of The Space Seeds.
Teeming up with the Bash Street Kids will be three equally unpredictable acts. Never Say Die are undeniably the most traditional rock outfit on the line-up, boasting a guitar-based sound which combines the best of the mid-Seventies and mid-Eighties and personnel who are literally weighed down with bags of experience. They don’t play too many shows and for that reason those that do are always worth watching. See what you think.
The Wodericks on the other hand seem to be the Arts Centre’s most regular visitors these days. They have launched themselves on the scene in a very big way a fact illustrated by a sell out Arts Centre show a few weeks back, a top 20 placing in the MUSICBOX poll and a highly-praised demo. Their sound? Don’t ask me, I’ve tried (and failed) to describe them several times now, all I can say is that they are fun, fun and more fun.
And so to Sunday’s fourth outfit – Rape in Yellow. They have nicked DHSS’s Sunday slot by virtue of being the festival’s ‘first reserve’ and they are delighted to have done so. The band are now full of renewed confidence and enthusiasm a fact highlighted by the faith they feel in their new demo. If you want to see if their faith is justified then trot along on Sunday.
As usual the proceedings start at 8pm, entry fee is an embarrassingly cheap £1 and all the profits will go towards making YOUR Tamworth outdoor rock festival the best yet. Get a Grip on Yourselves and Get it On.
Tamworth Herald – 03/03/89
Never Say Die
You have to feel sorry for Never Say Die. They are clearly the right kind of band who are unfortunate enough to be in the wrong kinda Town at the wrong kinda time. The problem is that Tamworth has become a very fashion-orientated musical Town where the scene is dominated by spike, leather, gel, haircuts and pseudo-late Eighties style. What this means is that a traditional guitar dominated late-Seventies style rock act will always struggle to win over the crowds. There is simply nothing wrong with this band at what they do – the Mugleston’s for example are brilliant guitarists – and if they were playing in the rock-loving areas of the Black Country they would be bigger than bonking. As it is however, they are like the nice guy (Bruno) against the new animal (Tyson). The fact that they keep battling away seeking that knockout punch is admirable and impressive and I for one hope that Never Say Die never do say die and keep battling on until the final bell. Failing that you could always try colouring your hair Trevor.
Tamworth Herald – 31/03/89
Never Say Die will be in action at a favourite haunt of theirs on March 30 when they play the New Swan, Atherstone.
Tamworth Herald – 08/06/90
HUNDREDS of pounds were raised last week by two special concerts to raise money for the Tamworth Rock festival.
The major event was the eight band show at Nightmoves which was a huge success and that was followed on Sunday by another good fundraiser at the Arts Centre.
We haven’t got space to do an in-depth report on both shows but using what I have heard and what I have seen here is a brief resume of what took place.
Friday, Monday began with Fat Moggy who delighted most of the audience with a show full of originality and wild abandon. Even Mike Fleming said they could potentially be a BIG cult band. The Naked Touch were apparently quite sedate and calms as were Never Say Die who boasted some fine guitar work. The Magnets weren’t too happy with their sound but it seemed OK to most people while the Yogots also came off stage with a frown despite one or two absolute gems including a relative newie which was good. Vindaloo Breakfast were mine and many people’s band of the night with a killer show of attacking guitars and punchy vocals that brought back happy echoes of 1977. Excellent. Banned in Yellow stunned my ‘oppo’ Sean Atkins but didn’t quite reach their Mean Fiddler heights in my opinion although ‘going Green’ was CRUCIAL. Finally, Rhythm Damage played a hugely popular set of anarchic pop which delighted most. Personally I thought they were far better at the Arts Centre on Sunday where they played what I regarded as their best set yet. Even technical hitches couldn’t ruin a set in which two songs – ‘Energise’ and ‘Taste the Rod’ were absolutely magical. Also at the Arts Centre, Flowers in the Attic showed that they have become a bit more sombre in recent months and have perhaps lost some of their angelic charms while Chemikill played with stunning precision and ear battering power with Bayley’s contribution adding sugar to the metal strawberries. End result, two successful nights and a lot of much needed DOSH.
Sam Holliday
The first album put together by Lichfield Studio ‘The Reptile House’. It featured 10 bands including our very own Catch 23 and Never Say Die at a knockdown price of just £2.50.
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