Past
and Present.
Past
and Present.
The lads have asked me to write the band bio; despite being the second eldest it would seem that I’m the only one with any memory left, so hear we go………..
We call ourselves a band for all occasions; we were only supposed to have been a band for one occasion and some would say we should have kept it like that!
It was the summer of ’85 (sound familiar?); Tony “the Doc” and I were working at the same engineering factory in Nottingham, England and our time in a band from the early seventies was a distant memory. He had seen a factory circular looking for musicians, actors etc interested in taking part in a review which was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the factory.
Playing music and performing just stays in the blood, so the decision was an easy one and we started building a band for the gig. We had thirteen weeks to find our band members, get equipment, put a set together, and rehearse it to an acceptable standard. From within the factory we found a drummer and a sax player but could not find a guitarist. Many contacted us and claimed to be guitarists, but alas not what we wanted. For One guy we even arranged a session, paid for a rehearsal room and found he could only play one song – “wild thing” by the Troggs!!
Then along came “the Hollis” from the maintenance department and oh boy could this guy play. We had our first line up which was
Tony Sharpe – Bass
Dick Hodges – Vocals
Gordon Hollis – Lead guitar
Steve Yates – Drums
Chris Reckless – Saxophone
We put a set together; about thirteen songs as I remember and started rehearsing. The very first song the band learned to play was “River Deep Mountain High” by Tina Turner; great, so the first thing I’m asked to do is sing like a woman. The lads thought I had the legs for it!
The first play list included (not in running order)
Somebody Help Me
Wonderful World
Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley
Knock on Wood
Hey Jude – (instrumental version to give Chris Reckless something
to play).
Hungry like the Wolf
I saw her standing there
We rehearsed in the factory social
club where the event was to take place and the house PA was excellent, which was
a bonus as we didn’t have one. I seem to remember that Gordon, in his capacity
as an electrician, installed the system and so we also had our sound engineer.
Rehearsals went well; so much so that when we performed a few songs to the rest
of the cast at a dress rehearsal, it was decided that we should close the show.
We took that to mean we were top of the Bill! At a rehearsal close to the time
of the show, and while packing the gear away, we suddenly realised that we did
not have a name. If my memory serves me correctly it was Gordon who suggested
that, as we were not particularly good, we should use a name derived from a term
known to engineers for something that is unserviceable or useless and so the
band
The show was a great success, we played to about 500 people and once again we were hooked. An entertainments society was formed within the factory and we agreed to do a second show. We continued to meet and play but did no more gigs until that second show which took place in November ’86. Steve Yates had dropped out, but Tony had met and introduced us to Trevor Whitham, who agreed to “help us out” on drums and as Trev rightly says in his Bio he’s been doing it ever since. We also lost our sax player at the same time. So the nucleus of the band was established i.e.
Tony Sharpe
Dick Hodges
Gordon Hollis
Trevor Whitham
For that second show, Tony’s brother Kevin Sharpe brought his very sexy Gibson “flying Vee” out of retirement and joined us for the gig. We had learned a new set for that show and interestingly I remember that we played “feed the world” with Gordon on keyboard. Other good songs from that set were “Lyin’ Eyes” (The Eagles) and “Suspicious Minds” (Elvis).
The entertainment society at the factory died away but not our desire to play and perform. We bought a PA and so we could now get out and play our music. Trev had a ready made practice room available, the bottle room of his Uncles’ Pub and across the road from where he lived – perfect. Just walking distance from the beer we often played until very late in the evening. We rehearsed there right up until 2005 when the bottle room was converted into a restaurant and we sadly had to leave. Thursday night became practice night and it’s still that way today.
Kev played that one gig with us and then went on to do his own thing, so we continued to play and gig as a four-piece. We have had a long and enjoyable association with the good people of Shelford, where we used to rehearse. We would periodically, on a Thursday night, set up in the pub and play to what seemed like the whole village and more. This was by way of a thank you for the free practice room!
Whilst the core members have never changed we have added to the line-up from time to time. The first time was around 1990, Trev introduced us to a talented guitarist named Kevin Green, who joined the band and stayed with us for about three years. We entered what you might call our rock era; Kev, if nothing else, never had to be asked to turn his guitar volume up and many a Thursday night we would leave practice with the feeling that our ears must be bleeding! Songs by the likes of Hendrix and Poison came into our set and the “stray cat strut” would surely never be the same again. I remember Kev would turn up with a new guitar every week, each one louder than the last; he must have quite a collection by now.
We played a gig called “the
feast” every year for the people in and around Shelford, a great outdoor event
in the middle of summer with BBQ’s and beer for all. Alas too much beer one
year for the Doc and Kev, who spent all day in the village pub and by the time
of the gig were, shall we say, pissed! Now the stage for this event was always
made from a farm trailer and having good balance on “the stage” was quite
important. Kev fell about all over the place to the delight of the audience and
eventually gave up when he realised he was too drunk to remember the songs.
Gordon had long since switched his amp off and settled for miming. Not one of
our better performances. Our association with Kevin had to end and after a band
meeting Kev was invited to resign. He now fronts his own band in the
Next to join the band, circa 1994, was a great fella named Terry White. We ran an advert in the local paper for a keyboard player and what a laugh that was. It was quite amazing the people who contacted us wanting to join the band. Now we are not ageist, we’d sack ourselves if we were, but the best had to be the 70 year old fella who turned up with his Alsatian dog and proceeded to unfold his “Casio for beginners” keyboard. No amp and just the 2 inch built-in speakers! One crack from Trev’s snare drum and he was never heard again. He did not know any of our songs, not even the Beatles or the Stones or Elton John or anybody else for that matter. He produced a book from his Alsatian’s mouth entitled “One hundred songs from the shows.” We decided if you can’t beat them join them, packed our gear away, gathered round the keyboard and spent the whole evening singing with the old fella. He was delighted and thanked us profusely; needless to say he didn’t get the job. Terry by comparison was great. His playing style was just what we wanted and his character fitted perfectly with the rest of us. He played with us for a couple years, including when we played at Trev’s wedding in 1995. Trev and his wife Joanne still have it onVCR I believe. Our style changed again during that period; the keyboard gave lots of options so we targeted songs that Terry enjoyed playing and we found to be fresh and untried. As a four-piece Gordon had developed a wonderful skill for playing Midi-guitar and at times it was astonishing to hear him turn his guitar into a piano or a string or brass section. He always said that Terry allowed him to be a “guitarist” again. Songs like “Eloise”, “He ain’t heavy he’s my brother” came into our set. Sadly for us Terry got a lucrative job offer and left very suddenly to live and work in the north east. Thanks Terry for bringing a breath of fresh air to U.S.
In 1999 Paul Goodman (stage name Paul
Francis) joined the band, a particularly talented keyboard/pianist. We changed
style again, into what you might call our technical period. The music was
testing and interesting, with songs like Sultans of Swing (the Hollis at his
very best) and Tunnel of Love. But it didn’t last, Paul left to further a solo
career and once again we were a four-piece. Thanks Paul, we enjoyed the time you
spent with
It was around that time we went into
the studio and made our first CD, five or six covers from our set. The studio
was the “Rubber Biscuit” in
We have remained as a four-piece
since then, apart from me becoming the black sheep in 2002 when I left the lads
and sang with Kev Sharpe’s band for a couple of years. Undaunted and clearly
demonstrating that no one is indispensable they continued as a trio. Doc and
Gordon sharing the vocals and even Trev had a go. My sabbatical ended in 2004
and the lads very graciously invited me back into the fold. They will forgive me
for saying it but I found that in my absence they had become very rebellious and
I suspect some gigs were part rehearsed and part jam session!! Their set at that
time contained the likes of “I am the walrus”, "Sweet home
So we come to present day, well
almost. You see there is one last twist in the tail. Thursday night practice as
usual (end of 2005) and Gordon says so nonchalantly “I’m going to have to
leave the band lads as I’m going to emigrate to
It was extremely difficult but we did
it. Yet another ad in the local paper and after more time wasters a phone call
from a guy named Andy Buckley from
Right from the off it worked and at that first session we played something like ten songs from our set without too much effort. We invited Andy to join and he accepted, so it was back to the Rubber Biscuit for an up to date CD. Andy fits in perfectly, has a big influence on our sound with his style of play and brings a lot of much needed discipline to our music. Andy, I’m sure, is in for the long haul; we certainly hope so.
So that’s about it really, I’ve missed lots out but just how much can the reader take? From 1985 to 2008; some 23 years for a band to stay together is really quite rare don’t you think?
Hope the journey wasn’t too boring.
Dick…… on behalf of all members
of