1982 - The Hawkwind Years Begin

1982 was a very important year in my musical development. Whilst the first half of the year saw the continuation of Motorhead as my favourite band, and 'White Heat' being the band that I was in; the second half of the year saw the rise of Hawkwind, who would replace Motorhead as my ultimate band for the next 7 years, and I would leave 'White Heat' to co-form a new band where I would have much greater artistic control, and write the first of my own songs.
There's no doubt that my musical icon and role-model at this time, was Lemmy. His influence via Motorhead was already fully established, and this was reinforced by that year's album release; 'Iron Fist', and my attendance of two Motorhead gigs that year, including the Wrexham Rock Festival, where ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson, stood in for Eddie Clarke.

Meanwhile, his previous role as bass player of Hawkwind became the major influential force in my own bass playing during 1982, by which time my own playing had become a sort of hybrid of the his respective sound and style of both Motorhead and Hawkwind, with a more of leaning towards the latter by the end of the year.
But as the year began, 'White Heat' was still very much the band I enjoyed playing in, and my bass playing had taken a slightly more important role via two cover versions which we had adopted. The first of these was a song done by Janis Joplin called 'Move Over', which had been recreated by 'Slade' in the early '70s. Slade's version was a heavier rock version which was a very bass guitar led arrangement. Andy and Gerry introduced the song, which was new to me, and asked if I fancied tackling it the way Slade did it, with the bass very much taking the lead, over and above the guitar itself. I was up for the challenge and went away to learn it, and pleased with the results, it was successfully introduced into the set.

For my own part, The Lemmy influence had led me to introduce the prospect of doing a cover version of 'Overkill' into the band. Gerry was fully supportive of us doing it as a trio, with me taking the lead vocal and singing it 'Lemmy style'. This was something new for me. Previously, I had only ever sung backing, harmony vocals in White Heat, and this was the first time I'd ever taken the spotlight as 'frontman'. It was also a slight departure from White Heat's overall style, which was a little more mid 70's heavy rock in its overall style. Although the song 'Overkill' was already over two years old, Motorhead's more 'punky' influence added an extra dimension to the set, and Andy set about learning the guitar part, whilst Gilly had to replicate the double bass drum using a low floor tom, and I muddled through some of the more undecipherable words.
'Overkill' was first performed at a gig at High Oakham School Hall in February 1982, and also pictured here being performed at our second visit to the Mason's Arms in May.

This beginning of an establishment of my own musical identity, albeit via an identification with Lemmy, would soon bring about the end of 'White Heat'. I had grown to like the guys a lot, and we had tremendous fun, but ultimately there was a divergence in styles and a musical mind-set on my part that took me in a very specific direction. I had been listening a lot more to Lemmy's period of time in Hawkwind, and I liked the very bass orientated music that he helped to shape with Hawkwind at that time.
I decided to leave White Heat early that summer after a gig at the Newark Palace Theatre. Although I felt full of the drive to do something new, in which I would take more of an artistic lead, It was a decision not without some personal sadness. Andy and I in particular had become a good friends, and I was touched when he told me how he'd grown to respect me over the last year or so, and that I'd developed into a great bass player. But we stayed friends, and musically our paths would cross again in the near future. But it was time to say goodbye to 'White Heat'.

Gradually, between 1979 and 1982, pub culture had grown to be the main aspect of my social life. The Masons rock scene continued be the main source of meeting new people, but things had also broadened out by being invited to parties, which in turn led to meeting more people. The drug connections of the rock lifestyle were greatly personified by bands like Hawkwind, and I'd been introduced to cannabis in a small way at some of the parties I went to. It seemed to go hand-in-hand with that particular cross-section of the rock scene. Hawkwind, who labelled themselves: 'Space-Rock',  had a less mainstream and more underground standing that seemed to have forged a fandom that mirrored that position. It seemed that being a Hawkwind fan and being a pot-smoker was rarely mutually exclusive in Mansfield, and as my interest in Hawkwind drew me towards meeting other fans, it drew me towards the cannabis scene.
My personal image was that of a fully fledged rocker. It was long hair, leather jacket and bullet belt. And by the end of the year, I had adorned my arms with tattoos celebrating my love of Motorhead, Hawkwind, and Led Zeppelin.

Around this time I'd met a local busker who was a Hawkwind fan, and through him I learned of another big Hawkwind fan, Dewi Taylor, who was a guitarist in the midst of forming a 'Space-Rock' styled band, and he was on the lookout for a bass player to complete this band. An introduction was facilitated, and a jam followed which yielded positive potential....

As previously mentioned, Lemmy's bass playing; particularly during his time in Hawkwind had gradually become the biggest influence on my own playing over the last year. I had acquired all the relative albums, and the 'Space Ritual' double live album was an especially important influence. I loved Lemmy's playing on that material above all else. Learning the bass-lines to such tracks as 'Lord of Light' and 'Orgone Accumulator' was a very exciting goal to achieve. But even more-so was the gaining of an understanding of how use these ideas in my own way, and how to adapt and change and build on them; So that rather than merely replicating basslines, It was ultimately about learning to use musical information in a more spontaneous way.
This was an idea that I'd originally grasped through listening to Led Zeppelin; who, on songs like 'Dazed and Confused' for instance, would improvise and jam on different sections, to the point where every version that I heard would never sound quite the same. Hawkwind reinforced this idea; Even more-so by virtue of  their different line-up changes. So for example, the way Dave Anderson played the bass-line on the original version of 'Master of the Universe', would be completely different to the way Lemmy played the bass-line on 'Space Ritual' live version. This reinforced the idea of being able interpret even the bass-line of a song in different ways; and thus opening the door to the idea that I could mix and match and build on ideas, and put a little bit of my own slant on things, whilst remaining in-keeping with the necessary working style.
There is perhaps one track I discovered in 1982, which best symbolises where my musical consciousness was at this time. And there perhaps couldn't a better track that encapsulates the point at which Motorhead meets Hawkwind from the point of view of Lemmy's bass playing; And that is the original version of Lemmy's song entitled 'Motorhead'. Not played by the band  Motorhead themselves; but the original recording recorded by Hawkwind in 1975, with Lemmy on bass. This re-mix with a strong vocal by Hawkwind's Dave Brock seemed to embody the very essence of the kind of music that I wanted to make.

In the midst of everything, On August 21st 1982, just a couple of months after leaving 'White Heat', I saw Hawkwind live for the first time, at the Donnington 'Monster's of Rock' Festival. Finally seeing this enigmatic band who had been moving slowly but surely, from the peripheral to the centre of my musical consciousness since first hearing them on the Friday Rock Show in 1978, was a tremendously thrilling experience. Whilst there I met up with my new musical partner Dewi Taylor, with whom I was on the cusp of forming a new a new 'Space-Rock' oriented band. And there was a taste of future things to come, when we both briefly met someone who, although I didn't know it yet, was to become the biggest personal influence and musical hero of my years playing rock music; Hawkwind guitarist: Huw Lloyd-Langton.

When Dewi and I got together later for a meeting and a jam, with Dewi on rhythm guitar, Glen Annable on drums and Simon 'Ched' Tilston on lead guitar, there was no clear idea of exactly what we were going to do or play, beyond the fact that we were all great enthusiasts of Hawkwind. It was a 'see what comes of it' type situation. We simply jammed through a lot of Hawkwind songs. It was very loose, but very enjoyable, and we resolved to get together and do it again on a more regular basis. At that time, we were playing in a small 8 track recording studio called 'Everbimes', which hired out their room and equipment for rehearsal purposes when the studio wasn't in use.
Along the way, It became clear that I was the most experienced musician of the four of us. I'd been in playing for over 2 years; almost 18 months of which had been in a gigging band. To be fair, Dewi and Glen were fine in their respective roles on rhythm guitar and drums, but it has to be said that 'Ched' stood out as the weak link.
However, we stuck together for a while out of newly forged friendships and to give Ched time to practice. Meanwhile, the problem of a singer had to be addressed. As we'd found no-one suitable, we'd all had a go, and it was decided that I had the best singing voice of the four of us, so I took it onboard. Luckily, we all recognised that that one of Hawkwind's strengths was in the harmony vocal department, and Dewi, who also had a reasonably good voice took on that secondary role, supporting me with harmony vocals where it was required. To emphasise the 'Space-Rock' connection, Dewi came up with the name: 'Dancing Shiva', which we felt reflected our musical and 'underground' leanings.
In the meantime, practising at 'Everbimes', we had the opportunity to record a demo tape very cheaply. So although we weren't at the gigging stage yet; In those days, the chance to record didn't come around all that often, so we did it for the fun and the learning experience.
We recorded four songs. Three of which were Hawkwind cover versions; 'Master of the Universe', 'Motorway City', and a version 'Motorhead', based on the Dave Brock re-mix version mentioned above. The fourth song was something of mine which was my first attempt at writing a song of my own, called 'Vision of You'. I was quite proud of this little song at the time. It was another mini-milestone for me.
By now, 1982 would soon be drawing to a close, and it was decided mutually between Dewi, and Glen and myself that Ched on lead guitar was not coming up to scratch, and as 1982 segued into 1983, We decided to let him go, and recruit someone else on lead guitar. This would lead to me working again with my old band-mate Andy Ashley from 'White Heat'.
Whilst all this was going on, Dewi and I gradually formed a strong friendship. He was the first of my musical collaborators who became one of my best friends. A friendship which far out-lasted our musical collaborations. But in the latter part of the year, 'Dancing Shiva' would be forged from our mutual love of all things Hawkwind; albeit coming from different angles, as the Motorhead influence would remain strong for me over the next year or so.
Seeing Hawkwind live had brought my fascination with them into the present day, and on the record collecting front, Dewi also introduced me to a few gaps in my collection.

Late in the autumn came the chance to see Hawkwind again, on the 'Choose Your Masques' tour. Both Dewi and I were there of course, and this second live experience, with the added bonus of the famed Hawkwind light show, had even more impact than the Donnington gig. Almost immediately afterwards, I went straight out and bought the newly released 'Choose Your Masques' album, and by the end of the year had acquired their two most recent, previous releases; 'Sonic Attack', and 'Church of Hawkwind'.

'Choose your Masques' would prove to be a landmark album for me personally, Because of a particular track called 'Arrival In Utopia'. It was the guitar solo by Huw Lloyd-Langton that left its mark.... There was something about Huw Lloyd-Langton's uniquely soaring style that really hit me on this track most especially;
And it planted a little seed that would take another two years before it really began to flower....
I wanted to play lead guitar....
But as 1983 beckoned, I wasn't finished with the bass quite just yet....

                                   

                                                                               

1981 - Joining my first band

On the record buying and favourite music front, 1981 was the year that Motorhead grew to be the dominating band in my musical affections. Fuelled by the release of 'Ace of Spades' at the tail end of 1980, and going to my 3rd Motorhead concert that year; (supported by 'Girlschool') They gradually overtook Led Zeppelin, who were no longer active since the death of John Bonham the previous year, to become my favourite band of 1981. Especially in the latter half of the year, after they released their iconic live album; 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith', that summer. As part of this, the importance of Lemmy, both as a bass player and a personal icon, grew to a level of hero-worship by the end of the year, as my personal image gradually changed from the slightly more pseudo-hippy/kaftan look, influenced by Led Zeppelin, to the leather biker jacket and bullet-belt look of Lemmy and Motorhead.

Bubbling under all this was the Hawkwind connection. After realising, towards the end of 1980 that Lemmy was the bass player in Hawkwind for 3 years, I set about collecting those albums which featured him, and this further marked his influence on me as a bass player. Particularly via the 'Space Ritual' live album which encapsulates just how good a bass player he was; revealing a more extensive and markedly different sound and style in many ways.
Hawkwind were, and remain to this day, a unique influence in rock music that has seen the band journey through a fascinating array of line-up changes and resulting variations in style. Browsing their record collection as an 18 year old was a somewhat daunting experience. Even in 1981, before the overwhelming proliferation of live albums, compilation albums, and related off-shoot albums that are available these days; There seemed to a hell of a lot of Hawkwind albums out there to be collected.
But although Hawkwind were firmly established this year in my musical psyche, their absolute domination wouldn't really come to fruition for another year, after I first saw them live, and began to pursue an active interest in the contemporary version of  the band.
But for now, I was focussed on seeking out what is now thought as the 'classic period' of the early to mid 70's, when Lemmy was their highly original and innovative bass player.

 Whilst my appreciation of Led Zeppelin had levelled out somewhat after they disbanded in 1980. Their back-catalogue of albums was still important to me whilst learning my craft as a bass player in 1980 and '81. The situation was similar as regards the Canadian rockers; 'Rush'. But simultaneously with the ascension of Motorhead and Hawkwind, began the decline of Rush in my affections. The previous year's album release of 'Permanent Waves' showed the first signs of a move towards a more commercial style during the 1980s, which became far more evident on their 1981 album; 'Moving Pictures', which released in February. I was very disappointed with this album, and dropped Rush like a stone. At this point, their previous 7 albums;  which I had in my collection, were still important to me. Particularly 'Hemispheres' and 'A Farewell to Kings' which best represented Geddy Lee's influence as a bass player. But as my musical consciousness was gradually encompassed by the Lemmy influence of Motorhead and Hawkwind.... For me, Rush had faded in obscurity by the end of 1981.
Meanwhile, developments in the real world were moving on. I was armed with a fine bass guitar and a good little practise amp, which I put to good use for the first 6 months of my life as a budding bass player. During this time, I had learned by ear; playing along to records that I wanted to learn. Top of the list was Led Zeppelin's first album which was always a great favourite. Soon enough I could play most of the way through it, and I was particularly pleased when I mastered the rolling bass-line on 'How Many More Times'. Similarly with 'Rush', I learned to play along to most of 'Hemispheres' and 'A Farewell To Kings', and felt particularly pleased to have mastered such bass-lines as 'Xanadu'.
A little later I would be tackling my first Lemmy bass-lines, But in the meantime, on the local rock scene centered around the Masons Arms, I was still going to 'Savage' gigs as a roadie, and watching and learning from them and other bands, as well as meeting new people on the scene.
One of these bands was a band called 'Lazee'. I was aware of  them from having seen them play at the Masons early on in the year, and by chance, I met up with someone I knew from my school days, who ironically had become a roadie for Lazee.
It eventuated that Lazee split up soon after I had seen them, and it came to my attention that the one of the guitarists, Andy Ashley, had teamed up with vocalist Gerry Harley, and was looking to put together a new band, requiring a bass player and a drummer.
Fortunately at that time, I had just turned 18, and recently started a new job in a factory, which resulted in a considerable increase in wages, making it possible for me to buy a bass rig suitable for using on stage, and playing with a band. Even so, this was expensive equipment, and it had to be done in two stages. The Marshall 100w bass amp came first, and the Peavey 2x15, 'Black Widow' bass cab came a little later.
In the meantime, A meeting was arranged in a small rehearsal room upstairs room at the Masons Arms with ex-Lazee guitarist Andy Ashley, and singer Gerry Harley, along with Lazee band manager Trevor ('Georgie') George.
I was a little nervous, and felt a bit green around these guys who were a couple of years older and more experienced than me. I also felt a little self-conscious about my relative youth and shorter hair; especially around Andy who really looked the part of the Heavy Rock musician with his longer than shoulder-length hair. But I set off for the meeting, armed with my trusty Rickenbacker copy bass, determined to have a go.
I think it's fair to say that Andy was a little distant at first. I got the impression he was disappointed that Lazee had split up, and he found it hard to imagine anybody replacing the previous bass player, Russ Haywood, with whom he was used to working.
However, we played a few numbers and I did ok; and Andy gave me a tape of a Lazee gig which had been recorded through a mixing desk, telling me to learn the songs; and before any decisions were made, we would have a further practise the following week. I spent the week learning those songs, and making sure I knew Russ Haywood's bass-lines in order to satisfy Andy, who was going to continue to use some of the old Lazee songs which he co-wrote.
As it happens, Russ played some great bass-lines which I was more than happy to pinch! And I had obviously done good enough on the second practice; as after a little encouragement from Georgie and Gerry; Andy gave me the go-ahead for the job of bass player. We still needed to find a drummer at this point, but nevertheless, I was in a band!!
This was obviously a tremendously exciting time for me. Within a year, I had got a bass, learned to play, and had joined a rock band. And to cap it all off, I had a new, better-paid job, where I was allowed to grow my hair as long as I liked!
A couple of weeks later, we found a drummer called Paul ('Gilly') Gilliat, and we began to rehearse in earnest; eventually at a local youth club every Sunday morning.
As my confidence grew, I began to put bits of my own bass-lines into some of the songs; And although at this point I hadn't yet gotten to the stage of writing anything of my own, I was more than happy with what we were doing. We worked on a set which comprised of re-vamped versions of Lazee songs, and a couple new numbers co-written by vocalist Gerry Harley. Mixed in with these was a selection of cover versions of songs by Deep Purple, Status Quo, and ZZ Top, amongst others.
Andy and Gerry had decided to call the band: WHITE HEAT, and soon, we began to do a few gigs, and recorded a demo tape of three original songs. Initially, I had to borrow a speaker cab for my first couple of gigs. I had bought a Marshall bass amp, but had to save up like mad for a few more weeks before I got my 'Black Widow' bass cab.

White Heat with roadies and manager, pictured on the roof of the Mason's Arms in 1981.

Band Practice.

My first ever public performance was a gig at a local pub called the Talbot Inn. I was really nervous, and I stayed in the background, letting the experienced Gerry and Andy take the limelight. But the audience responded well for the most part, and my confidence grew as we did a few more gigs; And soon enough, another little dream came true when we played upstairs at the Masons Arms, where a year before, I had watched my friends in 'Savage' play in the same room; dreaming of day when I would also be up there playing to the crowd. Now I was in a gigging band, and we developed a bond of our own over the next year or so. Andy and I became good friends, and I look back on 1981 with happy memories of a great year.

1980 - Becoming a Bass Player

As 1979 moved into a new decade, my passion for rock broadened still further. Heavy Rock was still the primary force, but in delving more deeply into the melting pot that forged the current rock scene, many discoveries were to be made; some elements of which remained at the forefront of my musical drive for many years to come.
Throughout 1980, Led Zeppelin were still my favourite band, and along with Rush, and an increasingly number of other rock bands, they were the main motivating influence towards learning to play music myself, which would  finally become a reality in 1980.
The music that I listened to, loved, and discovered, would come less from the radio this year, and more from going out to places which put on rock 'discos'; the main one being the Masons Arms in my home town of Mansfield. I had made my first tentative steps into the world of pubs after leaving school and starting work the previous year. After seeing an advert for a 'Heavy Rock Night' in the local paper, my friend, and fellow Led Zeppelin fan, Martin, had first gone to the Masons Arms rock disco as two naive 16 year olds who didn't even know what drinks we should order.
But by 1980, going to 'the Masons' on a Friday night had become the thing to do, and especially exciting was the fact they frequently put on live bands, of which there were several on the thriving local rock scene, that would enhance my desire to be one of them. Most particularly the aforementioned 'Savage', who through a mutual friend of their guitarist, Andy Dawson, I came to know well in year or so to come.
There were also more gigs from big name bands that I went to, including a second Motorhead gig, which would further cement their importance to me in my musical development. The influence of Motorhead was not as immediate as that of Led Zeppelin before them. In that sense, they were something of a slow burner which would come to fruition more in following year. But nevertheless, the 'Heavy Metal Barn Dance' festival, which they headlined that year, was easily the most memorable gig of the year. Motorhead were slowly but surely on the rise in my musical consciousness , and their importance would increase much more so after the release of the classic 'Ace of Spades' album at the end of November that year.

But for the moment, Led Zeppelin were still my main band. 1980 was the year when I added the rest of their back-catalogue of albums to my record collection, and I had a particular penchant for their third and forth albums, which would feature a fair amount of acoustic guitar based music, the most famous partially acoustic track obviously being 'Stairway To Heaven', which back in those days didn't have the "cliché" baggage that is has today. It seems to be the case that everyone who learns to play the guitar goes through that 'Stairway To Heaven' phase of learning those famous opening chords; and I was no different. More on this later.

The Canadian rockers; 'Rush' were still big on my musical agenda throughout 1980. Not only did I see them live in concert again, but I bought a few more albums from their back-catalogue, as well as that year's album release; 'Permanent Waves'; and Geddy Lee's bass playing in particular, still continued to be an inspirational force for the next year or so.

Continuing on from the previous year, I was still finding new music to listen to, either via the radio or the regular rock discos which I used to go. And some bands like 'Hawkwind', who so far were only represented in my collection by the 'Silver Machine' single, gradually became much represented throughout 1980, and went on to be THE single most important rock band of my life within a couple of years. Whilst others like Pink Floyd would fade away to be represented by only a couple of albums to this day.
The seeds of Hawkwind's enigmatic appeal were actually planted a couple of years earlier via Tommy Vance on the Friday Rock Show, when he played 'Spirit of the Age' from their 1977 album 'Quark, Strangeness and Charm', which I recorded onto cassette. But in the days before I left school I couldn't afford buy many albums, and the likes of Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, and Jimi Hendrix had to wait their turn. I finally got around to buying 'Quark, Strangeness and Charm' in 1980, But many of the albums I bought were just what happened to be available in the cheaper second-hand shops; And in the case of Hawkwind, by pure coincidence, it was their very first two albums that I acquired next.

At this stage, although I liked both Motorhead and Hawkwind independently, I hadn't realised that my future bass playing role-model, Lemmy, was actually a Hawkwind veteran. Particularly as he wasn't on any of those first three albums that I bought, and I hadn't recognised the younger Lemmy's voice on the 'Silver Machine' single. It wasn't until nearer the end of the year when I picked up the album 'RoadHawks', that I made the connection. Ironic that both Motorhead and Hawkwind were such important influences on me, yet in both cases it was a slow-burning process over a couple of years, and in the case of Hawkwind, they would overshadow every other band that I had discovered, relegating even the mighty Led Zeppelin to a distant second place.
Nevertheless, In 1980, Hawkwind were largely an 'also-ran', with the front runners being Led Zeppelin, and Rush, along with other pioneering rock legends like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, whilst Motorhead slowly gained ground to become my favourite band in the year to come.

Meanwhile, on the guitar playing front....
Earlier on, and enthused primarily by Led Zeppelin; I had gone to my local music shop and bought myself a beginners book of basic guitar chords. I didn't have a guitar yet, but my mother still had her 'ornamental' Spanish guitar, which I'd started to muck around with. It has to be said that my early attempts at playing the 'Stairway to Heaven' chords were somewhat thwarted by this pretty awful guitar, and my big, shovel-like hands which seemed to have difficulty fitting my fingers into the required spaces. I eventually managed to work out only the first 2 or 3 chords by ear, as the book was of no help in this specific regard, although I did pick-up a couple of basic chords, though not without some difficulty. It would be a few more years yet before I learned the rest of  'Stairway to Heaven'! This was a slightly smaller-sized guitar, which I hadn't really realised at the time, and it really felt as though there wasn't room inbetween the strings for my fingers. Plus I found that I liked the sound of the lower strings, which didn't sound so tinny. Then there was the fact that I'd really noticed, and liked the bass playing on those Zep and Rush albums so much..... It seemed that everything was pointing me towards the bass......
In the meantime, my friend Martin and I had taken to visiting our local, big music shop which was called: 'Carlsboro Sound Centre', just look and dream over the guitars. One day they had a Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar in the window. Geddy Lee used one of these bass guitars, and so did Lemmy, and gradually I began to focus more and more on the idea of playing bass guitar, whilst gazing lovingly at those Rickenbackers, which I could never afford in million years at that stage.
At that time, I'd gone to work in a furniture shop soon after leaving school with no qualifications, and being sent off to interviews for any old job by my parents. I hated it.
Apart from the fact because I worked on the shop floor, I couldn't grow my hair too long, the wages in retail work for people under 18 were not very good at all. Buying records and going to the pub once a week, and the occasional concert pretty much demolished my £30.00 per week wage packet;  let alone buying a bass guitar.
But one Saturday in September I was in Carlsboro looking at guitars, when I spotted a beat-up, battered looking, red-coloured Jedson SG copy which didn't have a price on it. When I asked, I was told I could have it for £40.00. It wasn't a Rickenbacker, and it would cost me over a week's wages, but I asked my Dad to loan me the money, and he agreed. I rushed back, and it was still there, and five minutes later I walked out with a big smile on my face and a bass guitar! I didn't have an amplifier yet, but I was on my way!
In the midst of all my first attempts to play and acquire an instrument, the biggest real-life inspiration was the local rock scene itself , with live bands playing at the Masons Arms and a few other places.
The so-called 'New Wave of British Heavy Metal' had shot up towards the end of the '70s and there was quite a thriving little rock scene in the humble town of  Mansfield. This was a time when the most notable of north Notts heavy metal bands; 'Savage' had recently got started. I was present at many of their early gigs, and gradually got to know the band, whose guitarist Andy Dawson, as it turned out, didn't live very far from where I lived at the time.
Soon I was going to as many of their gigs as I could, and ended up helping out as a roadie. This was a big inspiration to me to see at close quarters, the workings of a gigging band, from the rehearsals, and the composing of material, to the thrill of travelling around to gigs with them. I loved going around with them, and just to be involved in that scene was tremendously important in fuelling my desire to learn fast and hopefully be good enough to join a band. But they were such an accommodating bunch of lads, and I learned a lot from watching and listening to them.
In the meantime, I was trying to practise with my cheapo Jedson bass. Still with no amplifier until that Christmas, when mum and dad bought me a little 15w bass practise amp. I had been trying to play it through my stereo speakers, which made my early attempts to play along to a records that I was trying to learn, somewhat difficult. Especially as it was only a cheap copy with pretty rubbish pick-ups. At any rate, I distinctly remember the thrill of pleasure and achievement upon managing to learn the opening bass-line to Led Zeppelin's 'Dazed and Confused'. It's a simple bass-line, but it was the first thing I could do properly, and I'd managed to learn it by myself. I thought I had arrived!
A lot of things seemed to snowball at that point. It was only a short matter of months after buying that first bass, that I had the chance to buy a much better bass guitar, when Savage's bass player/vocalist, Chris Bradley upgraded to a Fender Precision bass, and gave me the opportunity to buy his red, Rickenbacker 4001 copy. This may not have been a real Rickenbacker, but it was a good quality copy, and a far better instrument than my battered old Jedson, and Chris let me have it for only £60.00. I was as pleased as punch.

1980 had moved in 1981, and now I had a good instrument, and a little amp of my own. From September 1980 I had worked hard to learn to play bass up to a standard where I might be able to join a band. And in 1981, I finally got my chance.....

1979 - Led Zeppelin and Heavy Rock

At the turn of '78/'79, TRB and the Stranglers were still my favourite bands, but my record collection had gradually been infiltrated by more and more heavy rock music, with a host of heavy rock bands like Rush, Deep Purple, Motorhead, AC/DC, and others, growing in stature throughout the year, as Punk fell into decline.
I still bought a few Punk singles that year, and also in February 1979, bought the last Stranglers album that really interested me;- 'Live X-Cert', which captured the essence of their early punk era. But their studio album 'The Raven', released in September of that year was something of a disappointment to me. In hindsight, it's still a good album, but it was a transitional period that showed leanings towards the smoother, more commercial road which they would travel down throughout the 1980s.

My short-lived love affair with TRB would also end early that year with the release of their second and final album in March 1979, which was also softer and distinctly lacking the energy and ferocity of 'Power in the Darkness'. The band themselves would split soon afterwards, but as the rock charisma of Led Zeppelin seduced me, I barely noticed, and along with the Stranglers and punk/new wave in general, they would be forgotten by the end of the year.
When I left school in June '79, my record collection began the grow rapidly and became album, rather single focussed, when I began to earn a modest wage of my own in my first job. Whereas previously, albums were reserved for only particular favourites, now, through the medium of second-hand record stores, I could afford to experiment and try albums out by a host of different bands, and this would soon develop into me going to my first rock concerts in the latter part of the year.
But the domination of my musical tastes by heavy rock, was spearheaded by Led Zeppelin. On February 2nd 1979 one of the their Radio 1 sessions from  way back in1969, which included a live concert; which, as my parents had brought me a music centre of my own the previous christmas; I had recorded on cassette, and played it constantly; well before I got around to buying any of their albums.
The raw emotional power of those early Led Zep recordings always stayed with me. To this day, I prefer them to most of their studio output; much as I would grow to love their albums over the next year or so.
Ironically, like Rock 'n' Roll before them, Led Zeppelin were a band who had been around for a long time before I discovered them, and it was to my lament at the time that I would miss my only opportunity to see them live, as plans for a full UK tour never came to fruition because they disbanded after the tragic death of John Bonham the following year. On the plus side, there was a back-catalogue of albums to discover, and it was somehow fitting then, that my first Led Zep albums were their first one, followed by their live album, which both reflected my love of those early Radio 1 sessions.
That year, I had made a new friend who was also into heavy rock and particularly Led Zeppelin, via his aunt had bought their first album back in 1969. He brought it round to my house to listen to, and that was how I first heard their first album. We became firm friends, and soon afterwards, we found out that the Led Zeppelin film of the live album; 'The Song Remains the Same', was showing at the Derby Playhouse. We went to see the film, and I was totally swept away; and 'The Song Remains the Same' became my second Led Zep album.

I think Led Zeppelin were the first band where I truly appreciated the musicianship of all four members of the band. But it has to be said that it was Robert Plant's soaring vocals, mirrored by Jimmy Page's seemingly magical guitar playing that had a particularly big effect on me; Especially seeing it all encapsulated in a live performance on the big screen. It was almost overwhelming; There was so much to take in.
In Jimmy Page, I had never seen anyone play so fast; But with so much fire and intensity between him and Robert Plant, who between them seemed to express such an intense, emotional feeling; from the searing blues performances of 'I Can't Quit You Babe' and 'Since I've Been Loving You', to the epic, mind-boggling  virtuosity of 'Dazed and Confused'.
The combined powerhouse effect of the whole band; the sheer totality of Led Zeppelin, was so devastatingly massive, that once again, everything else I had listened to before, seemed to have been rendered impotent and irrelevant. It also had a catalytic effect on my desire to play the guitar. Jump-starting a  schoolboy's daydreams, and taking them to the beginnings of an actual reality; with a little help and inspiration from certain local band called 'Savage', in the year to come.....
But in the meantime, as the Zeppelin flew, and my record collection grew, I went to my first live rock concerts in the latter half of the year.
As previously mentioned, I regretted turning down the chance to see Led Zeppelin live that year, at the Knebworth rock festival, because of the expectation of the forthcoming UK tour. But there was another band, secondary in importance only to Led Zep, that I had discovered that year, and who were the hosts for my first ever live rock concert by a big name band. And that band was the Canadian rock band; 'Rush'.
'Rush', along with Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Hawkwind, and others, were another 'Friday Rock Show' discovery, and I bought two albums by them in that year; namely 'Hemispheres' and '212', that would ultimately prove influential in my fledgling musical career; primarily through Geddy Lee's bass playing which stood out prominently on those albums.

That year, Rush took their 'Hemispheres' tour to the UK, and I saw them play at the Bingley Hall in Stafford. It was such a brilliant, memorable, and exciting experience. They replicated the records that I had, so expertly, and the whole live concert phenomenon became very important to me. To the point where I  went to several other concerts that year, including Blue Oyster Cult, AC/DC (on their 'Highway To Hell' tour), and also the one of the triad of the three most important rock bands of my life; MOTORHEAD.
'Blue Oyster Cult' were something of an experiment in that I only had just one their records beforehand, (the single: 'Don't Fear the Reaper'), and it was a disappointing experience. They were a band I never really got to like.  But I knew AC/DC from their live album 'If You Want Blood, You've Got It', and that year's album; 'Highway To Hell'. The latter live album being a particular favourite at the time, which introduced Angus Young into my pantheon of rock guitar heroes.

Needless to say, it was a fantastic concert, and certainly one the loudest and outright rocking concerts that I've ever been to. Yet less than a week later, it was surpassed on that level by an utterly storming Motorhead concert. I knew Motorhead in a small way from the previous year's 'Louie Louie' single, but I noticed them in a much bigger way after hearing tracks from their 1979 album; 'Overkill' on the Friday Rock Show, and in the fullness of time, I went on to buy all the albums of the classic 'Lemmy/Eddie/Phil' line-up.
For the moment, Led Zeppelin was still the big thing, but Motorhead had made their mark on me, and it would become more significant in the next year or so. Especially through Lemmy, whose hard rocking image and gutsy, unconventional, and impressively powerful bass playing would influence me hugely in a relatively short time to come.....

1978 - From Punk to Heavy Rock

My 'Year of Punk' which began in April 1977, turned into a year and a half of Punk, that continued on unabated for most of 1978. But throughout the year an increasing number of 'Heavy Rock' records had begun to attach themselves to my collection of Punk/New Wave records, and as the British Punk wave had begun to fizzle out from the mainstream of music, Heavy Rock began to slowly solidify itself into the music that wanted to be identified with.
But before that happened, there was to be a brief, but intense musical love-affair with the Tom Robinson Band, whilst still in the throes of 'punkmania'. The Tom Robinson Band, or TRB, weren't strictly a punk-band in the accepted sense, but their music had a unique fire and aggression, coupled with socio-political lyrics that definitely protested against the establishment, via the passionate and charismatic Robinson himself.
But as the year began, I was still avidly collecting punk/new records by The Stranglers, The Jam, The Buzzcocks, and many others.

But it was the Stranglers who still dominated my musical passions that year. And although they would have to share that domination with TRB, for me they reached their peak in 1978 with the release their third and best album 'Black and White', and potent singles like '5 Minutes', thus ensuring their continued high rank in my affections; particularly with J.J. Burnel continuing to dominate their sound with his snarling, overdriven  bass playing.

Amongst all this, TRB, who had hitherto only occupied a very small part of my musical consciousness in the form of their 1977 hit '2-4-6-8 Motorway', made a much more serious impact with release of live e.p. called the 'Rising Free' e.p. And soon afterwards they made even further impact with the release of a third single: 'Up Against the Wall', which was definitely my 'song of 1978', and propelled TRB to being deemed worthy of album-buying status. And with their debut album 'Power in the Darkness' that year; They became the only other band besides The Stranglers to achieve that status, partly because album buying in a big way would have to wait for another year until I left school.

This was the first time that a band had made an equal impact on me with their lyrics as well as the music. Previously, although the Sex Pistols and The Stranglers came high in my lyrical appreciation; It was always the actual music, and the guitar or bass playing which was at the forefront of that impact. The words were always a secondary phenomenon that were almost there to fill the gaps. TRB changed all that with their songs which were full of  social and political comment which highlighted racism and spoke up for minorities, and generally criticised the system and attacked the establishment. In my naive 15 year old way, I felt that these songs helped me to understand things I hadn't previously been really aware of, and make me feel connected to a wider world outside my bubble of existence.
TRB's association with Gay Lib', 'Rock Against Racism' 'Women's Rights', and the 'Anti-Nazi League' brought a new dimension to the importance of music in my life.
As the passionate and intelligent mouthpiece of this new dimension; I hero-worshipped Tom Robinson himself to a degree which never quite reached before. I wanted to look and dress like him. I wore a blazer and loose tie, like he did. I wore TRB, Ant-Nazi League, and Rock Against Racism badges, both on my school uniform (although I was repeatedly made to take them off) and my out of school clothes. I tried to style my hair as close to his as possible. I recorded their radio concerts onto cassette on my Dad's music-centre. I watched all their tv appearances and collected any music magazines with articles about them. I even got full-marks at school by writing an 8-page essay for my 'school project' that year.
And most of all, I listened to their songs repeatedly and learned the words. I would unashamedly sing along to 'Glad to Be Gay', even though I wasn't gay, because I thought it was great that they wrote such songs. Perhaps for the first time, I realised that you didn't have 'BE' something, whether it was black or gay, or whatever, to be able to feel a kind of empathy and understanding for people who were the underdog, or the bullied, or abused for no good reason other than they weren't the same as the you. All these things I got from TRB; One of the most important bands that I've ever listened to.

But as I mentioned at the beginning of this particular chapter, the end of 1978 saw the rise in my affections of 'Heavy Rock', the musical genre which would soon propel me to actually learning to play an instrument, and being associated with Rock music in the wider sense into the next decade and beyond.
And although my record collection had already been further infiltrated in 1978 with records like 'Rosalie' by  Thin Lizzy, and 'Louie Louie' by Motorhead, (a band whose future impact on me would be significant) and such rock records would soon see my punk records relegated to 'the past'; It took one of old-guard of blues-based, hard rock bands to truly smash through and re-shape my musical awareness once again.
Like Punk beforehand, It came via the radio. As well as the John Peel Show, there was now a new radio show to listen to as well. This was the Friday Rock Show hosted by Tommy Vance, which introduced me to two of the most important bands in my musical life. The first was HAWKWIND, whose music would take on a much greater significance for me in the early 80's. But in the meantime, I encountered the other of these two bands whose impact on me was more immediate. Whilst listening one night as a young 15 going on 16 year old, there was a repeat of an old BBC Radio 1 session from 1969, that introduced me to the raw, emotional power of LED ZEPPELIN....

1977 - The Year of Punk

1977 was the year in which I began to collect records in earnest, although my pocket money only really stretched to buying singles, and only very few albums at that time.
Strictly speaking, my personal 'Year of  Punk' lasted about 18 months from about April 1977, to about October 1978. Around that time, I'd started listening to the John Peel Show on the radio, which kept me up to date on the developments in rock and pop music, including hearing early Punk records like the infamous 'Anarchy in the UK' by the SexPistols; Although I didn't actually buy that record until later in the year, because I could only buy so many records at a time, and my immediate early interest in the Punk scene was dominated by The Stranglers, who released the single; 'Peaches' in April 1977.

Having turning 14 years old just a month before I really started getting into punk records, It was in hindsight the perfect music for me at the time. I was attracted to the raw energy and rebellious vibe that punk music had. Suddenly, I didn't want to listen to my dad's rock 'n' roll records. Punk felt like MY music, because I'd discovered it 'myself', so to speak. I felt that I identified with the music because it was sticking two fingers up at the established order. And the way I felt as a teenager was that I myself was losing my identification with that established order, in the sense that I was becoming bored and disillusioned with school. Both school and home life was beginning to feel authoritarian. It probably wasn't any different in real terms to the way things were before, but I had entered that 'difficult' teenage period of trying to find my own identity and independence, which always involves a certain amount of pushing against the shackles of the status quo, and I felt like punk music represented exactly how I was feeling at 14/15 years old.
Curiously, I didn't make much progress towards playing the guitar during this period, beyond daydreaming at school, that is. Collecting the records themselves and responding the energy of the music on a mostly internal level, seemed to be enough at that time, being the fairly intense teenager that I was. Or perhaps like most teenagers, I just imagined myself to be.
But collect those records I certainly did. Mainly centered around singles, I began to gradually build up a collection of my own, turfing out the rock 'n' roll records as I went along, considering them out of date with the way I was in 1977. The hard-edged sound of punk seemed very vital and real to me, especially the heavier sound of the Sex Pistols. And although the Shadows records and such like were deemed no longer valid, a few heavy rock records began to sneak their way in too, like Ram Jam's 'Black Betty', and 'Whole Lotta Rosie' by AC/DC, which was a precursor of the direction my evolving tastes would take me in a year or two's time.

But for the most part, it was records by the  likes of  the Sex Pistols, The Jam, and The Stranglers that attracted me the most. Especially the Stranglers, who were without doubt my favourite band of 1977, and the only band (with the exception of the Sex Pistols infamous 'Never Mind the Bollocks') whose albums I bought as well as the singles.
In actual fact, the thing that most attracted to me to The Stranglers music was not the guitar, but the bass. It's safe to say that in 1977 I'd never heard any bass playing that sounded remotely like the harsh, biting, growling attack of Jean-Jaques Burnel's most particular bass sound. Right from hearing the opening riff of 'Peaches', the first Stranglers record that I heard, I was hooked. And after buying that single and hearing the the double 'A' side 'Go Buddy Go', I knew that this was a band that I was going to be seriously into, and I went out and brought the album: 'Rattus Norvegicus' a month later in May 1977.

The album was a revelation. There was far more to this band that I expected, with Dave Greenfield's swirling organ solos on 'Down in the Sewer', and crisp, sharp guitar work of Hugh Cornwell on tracks like 'London Lady', and 'Princess of the Streets'. But that biting bass sound of J.J. Burnel was the most integral part. And when I listened to the record and projected my as yet unfulfilled musical fantasies in my imagination.... It was the bass that I was playing, not the guitar.
Luckily for me, there were more Stranglers singles, and their second album 'No More Heroes' that year, and I bought them all, along with the Sex Pistols long awaited 'Never Mind the Bollocks' towards the end of the year.

The heavier sound of the Pistols was not lost on me either, but there was another band who would become very important to me as 1977 segued into 1978. I had already bought their first single; '2-4-6-8 Motorway' in the autumn of that year, but in 1978, their debut album had a massive impact on me, and opened the door to my naive, fledgling political awareness. In the next chapter: the Tom Robinson Band.