About Me
Name
Tony 'Doc'
Hi!
My name is Tony “the Doc” Sharpe and I am the Bass player in the Band.
My interest in music began in
1963. I was 10 years old and
my cousin, a lot older than me, just never stopped going on about this new
group. They had long hair and
wore funny jackets and they were called the Beatles. I
first saw them on a black & white 14-inch screen T.V. at my Grans
house and was hooked from that day.
My
first “live” performance was at the age of 11 when, at junior school,
I and three mates made cardboard cut out guitars and drums and mimed to
some tracks of the Beatles to the whole school. The
music was provided via the latest technology at that time – my Grundig
TK18 Tape Recorder/Player. The
adrenaline rush from the applause and the attention after from lots of the
girls sealed my fate. At some
time I just had to join a real Band!!
Starting
at senior school was a major plus for me in as much that we had music
lessons. I soon realised
however that there wasn’t a lot of call for Recorder Players in Bands.
My
Dad gave me a major leg up when at the age of 14 he brought me home a set
of drums. They were being thrown out and he was offered them for free. I
had the odd bang on them but it was very difficult in a three bedroom
semi-detached Council House to get away with making much noise. It
didn’t matter. A few of my
mates (we had a gang of around 8) decided we should form a Band and being
the owner of a set of drums put me firmly in the frame for being a member.
Away we went, meeting one
night a week in whoever’s Kitchen was available. The
“Bass Player”, Baz, used a Spanish Guitar with the thinnest two
strings removed. My old mate
“Toppers” could play about three chords so he played rhythm. Another
mate “Pith” who was clever (he went to Grammar School you see) decided
to just learn the guitar and he played lead. Yours
truly was the drummer.
To
be quite frank we just didn’t have a clue, but we did have a Band. First
song attempted was Judy in Disguise. Our
interest in Girls and in particular Sex was to be the most influential in
shaping the Band. I suppose
one other important factor was that one Gang member was an only Child and
had access to far more money than the rest of us put together. Being
the only Child he normally threw a tantrum or two to get what he wanted
and he eventually persuaded his Dad to buy him a “Top Twenty” Bass
Guitar. Baz resigned, “cuz
we’re not getting anywhere”, and only child Joe took up the Bass.
I
have to say that in the real light of day Joe was never going to learn the
Bass but anyway, he had already decided that the Drums would be easier. As
I had taken an immediate fancy to his Cherry Red Bass Guitar I agreed to
swap my Drum Kit for it. Enter
new Drummer Joe and new Bass player yours truly.
Sexy
Girl arrives on the scene and Joe would rather be humping upstairs on a
Saturday night than trying to put a Song together. Ray,
the twin brother of Baz, gets on the Drums and surprises everybody. He
was a natural. The Band is
almost set in stone. Our
Biology Teacher heard us at practice in the School one evening (we had an
after School Club and used the facilities) and asked if we wanted to do a
Gig at his local Pub.
Four
spotty faced 16 year olds did seven songs that had taken nearly 2 years to
put together. We had a great
time and that same adrenaline rush that we all experienced focused our
work and determination to really move it on.
The
Eggman, namely a Bloke who delivered the Eggs on the Estate, made the
fifth member. My Mum
introduced him as he was quite accomplished as a Guitarist and in her
mind, being a fair bit older than us, would be a steadying influence. Toppers
dropped onto Lead Vocals as he was the only one with the Bollocks to do
it.
21
songs learnt, four 17 year olds and one 22 year old got on stage to do a
set whilst at a Gig a Band called Carls Fables were doing and the Band
“Bite” was duly formed.
There
is not enough space here to take you through the five years we were
together but our claims to fame are that we supported Chicory Tip (Son of
my Father) and Christie (
The
decision to marry my long suffering sweetheart saw me leave the Band in
1975 at 22 years old. I sold
everything and vowed I’d never play again.
You
can never forget that adrenaline rush and in 1985 when Dick our Vocalist
asked me to do just one Gig for Charity - how could I miss getting that
fix!
The
addiction to adrenaline is indeed powerful and I’ve been getting a
regular fix with