|
 |
PLAYING OUT LOUD!
ARTICLES
Beverley Craven. Preview by Peter Ashton.
 Vocalist
Beverley Craven, probably best known for her tuneful hit “Promise Me” which
reached No 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991 has reappeared on the
music scene. She plays a gig at the newly enlarged Brook venue in Southampton on
Friday November 19.
Presumably her absence from the live scene is down to bringing up her three
children. Beverley herself was born in Sri Lanka in 1963, while her father was
working there for Kodak. Two years later Beverley and her mum and dad were back
in the UK, relocating to Hertfordshire. Music entered Beverley’s life five years
later when she began taking piano lessons, encouraged by her mum, an
accomplished violinist. But swimming was her main preoccupation and Beverley
swam in the Hertfordshire county championships.
Beverley bought her first single when she was fifteen, “Telephone Line” by the
Electric Light Orchestra, and soon got into singer/songwriters like Elton John,
Stevie Wonder and Kate Bush. After leaving school, Beverley moved up to London
and began writing her own songs.
Singer Bobby Womack was so impressed by Beverley’s demo tapes that he offered to
bring her to the USA and sign her to his own production company, but she
politely declined. But she did take up the offer to tour Europe as one of
Bobby's backing vocalists for several months, including a major AIDS benefit
concert at London Wembley Arena. Beverley was keen to meet the right people to
guide her career and handed out cassettes to anyone she met. One such tape fell
into the hands of John Glover, then manager of Go West, and he persuaded her to
sign a management deal with him.
Beverley's self-titled debut album was released in July 1990 and by the end of
her first tour the album was selling steadily. Her career really took off when
the single "Promise Me" reached number 3 in May1991. Her album reached the 1
million sales mark in January 1992 and turned double platinum in the UK. It also
reached also gold status in France and Ireland, and silver in Holland.
In February 1992, Beverley performed at the Brits Award show, being nominated in
three categories, Best British Newcomer, Best Female Artist and Best British
Album. She walked away with the Best British Newcomer Award.
Beverley was eight months pregnant when she sang at the Brits, and gave birth to
her first child, Mollie Megan on March 7, 1992. She resumed her musical career
the following year with her second album "Love Scenes" which reached number 4 in
the UK album charts.
She then took some time off to have two more children with her
songwriter-musician husband Colin Campsie in North London, before recording her
third album “Mixed Emotions,” which she produced herself in 1999. Presumably her
family has kept her busy over the last five years!
Tickets for the gig at The Brook are £14.50, available through
www.the-brook.co.uk
or by telephone via 02380 555366.
The Bills. Preview by Peter Ashton.
 The
Talking Heads music venue in Portswood Road, Southampton, continues to
provide some very eclectic musical fare. One of the attractions this month is a
Canadian folk-roots band called The Bills who play there on Friday November
12.
The band had its genesis as a living room workshop for international folk
music in 1996. In a small house in Esquimalt, British Columbia, when two
successful Canadian jazz and rock musicians, Marc Atkinson and Scott White,
decided to explore some new (for them) musical territory. They took up new
instruments, Marc the mandolin and Scott the fiddle, and used their musical
prowess to
embark on a tour around the fiddle music of Canada and the Old World. Soon
guitarists Ollie Swain and Paul Dowd joined them, and they all started jamming
and learning folk tunes from other corners of the globe. At one of these jams
they picked up guitarist and vocalist Chris Frye.
Still without a name the band continued performing and, at an environmental
law conference in November 1996, the name the name Bill Hilly Band was
conceived after a couple of beers (the primary form of payment in those
formative
days). The Bill Hilly Band was soon sawing out tunes at local Victoria clubs,
playing an impassioned mix of old-time Celtic, Caribbean, Eastern-European, and
Mariachi music. In early 1997 Scott White secured a gig with the Cirque du
Soleil show in Hamburg, Germany. At around the same time, the rest of the
Bills decided to take Europe by storm with a nine-week busking tour. Between May
and July of that year the remainder of the band (Scott was too tied up with
the show to travel anywhere but Copenhagen) ended up making music in Strasbourg,
Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, and Strasbourg again.
Staying with friends, getting clubs gigs where they could and busking in the
streets the Bills in quartet form learned lessons that only the road can teach.
It
was a defining period for the group: they tightened up their tunes and their
act.
Upon returning to Victoria, the Bills snapped up fiddler Calvin Cairns and
exploded onto Victoria's live music scene. Packed club dates were followed by
local festival successes. The band started a recording project, working at
Marc's house on an analogue 8-track machine. The Bills lost their second
founding member in the summer of 1998 when Ollie left for a new project in
Winnipeg. It was a blow for the band, as Swain had provided half of the lead
vocals and had been a great source of energy.
However, in walked the "Reverend" Bill Bass, Glen Manders, just when they
needed him, and the band went on to have great success in 1999 and early 2000,
playing to standing ovations at festivals and concerts in and around
Victoria. In June 2000 Calvin decided to step down and made room for the next
generation of Bills: the incredible Beau Klaibert (Bill Beau - fiddle/vocals)
and
Adrian Dolan (Bill Fiddle III - fiddle/piano/accordion). These two young
phenomenons leapt eagerly in and lifted The Bills musical standards to an even
higher
level.
In Autumn 2001 the band headed out on the road for their first highly
successful 10-week tour. In 2002 they released their second CD, the
award-winning
“All Day Every Day.” Since then they have quickly gained international
recognition as one of folk music’s most inventive, talented, and entertaining
acoustic acts. Drawing inspiration from a melange of European stylings, the
rhythms of Latin America, the melodies of the wandering Romany peoples, and
traditional styles from musical coast to musical coast of their own continent,
the
band now known simply as The Bills have forged a sophisticated down-home style
all their own.
Admission is only £5 for the Talking Heads gig on Friday November 12; the
band will be on stage around 10pm.
Hayley Westenra. Preview by Peter Ashton
 New
Zealand hasn’t exactly produced a plethora of international singing stars - in
fact, the only one I can think of is Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. But young
Hayley Westenra who plays a concert at The Anvil in Basingstoke on Friday
November 19, has had a meteoric rise to fame.
Still only 17, Hayley Westenra from Christchurch, New Zealand, has made history
in the music industry with her first international album “Pure. ” She became the
fastest-selling classical artist of all time in the UK when the album hit the
Top 10 UK pop charts, reaching gold status in under a week, turning double
platinum soon afterwards. Her album has also gone platinum in Australia and gold
in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The past year has been a whirlwind for Hayley. Highlights have included
performing for Her Majesty the Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair and President
Bush at a private concert at the US Ambassador's residence in London, performing
with Bryn Terfel and José Carreras at the Faenol Festival in Wales, and again
with Carreras at the Royal Albert Hall in London, performing at the Royal
Variety Show alongside Pavarotti in Edinburgh, leading the Amnesty International
Christmas concert in London's Trafalgar Square, and duetting with Aled Jones at
last year's prestigious Classical Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall.
Hayley’s involvement with music began when she danced and sang the lead in her
school Christmas play at the age of six. A teacher approached her parents after
the performance and told her that Hayley was pitch-perfect, and suggested that
she take up a musical instrument to encourage her talents, so Hayley began
violin lessons. It was the beginning of a relationship with music that's been
the driving force in her life ever since.
In 2000 Hayley recorded a demo album, mainly as what she called a "memento".
This personal souvenir - just 1000 copies were pressed - unlocked the key to her
future. On the day the recording was completed, Hayley and her younger sister
Sophie busked in Christchurch. The pair quickly drew an enthusiastic crowd. A
woman asked them if they had recorded anything. The young buskers' fan was a
journalist with a local television station and Hayley soon appeared on air. The
appearance captured the attention of a leading New Zealand concert promoter,
Gray Bartlett, and a deal with Universal Music New Zealand soon followed.
Hayley's self-titled debut recording for Universal New Zealand featured an
eclectic mix of show tunes and classical pieces going straight in at No.1 in the
pop charts (where it remained for four weeks), turning triple platinum and
making Hayley the fastest-selling local artist in New Zealand's history. This
was followed by the Christmas album "My Gift To You" which turned Platinum.
Hayley soon attracted the attention of the Decca Music Group in London who, in
co-operation with Universal New Zealand, signed her to an international record
deal. The result was “Pure,” Hayley sees herself primarily as a classical
performer, but does not wish to put herself into a stylistic corner; on her
album she explores the worlds of pop, traditional Maori choral singing, and
gives a new freshness to a well-known classical repertoire. The album's producer
Giles Martin enrolled a number of people to help Hayley achieve this, including
his father, legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin, all of whom
contributed to achieving the album's unique appeal. Hayley's extraordinary
"pure" voice has attracted the attention of many established artists from the
worlds of pop and classical alike, incluidng New Zealand opera diva Dame Malvina
Major, who has become Hayley's tutor and mentor.
Hayley kicked off 2004 with her first ever headlining world tour of New Zealand,
Australia, Japan and the UK. But before Hayley conquers the rest of the world
she still has to sit her GCSE school exams towards the end of the year!
Tickets for The Anvil concert are £21.50 via 01256 844244 or through the website
www.theanvil.org.uk
Motorhead. Preview by Peter Ashton
 Motorhead,
who play Southampton Guildhall on Friday November 19, have come a long way in
their nearly 30-year history. The band was formed by Lemmy Kilmister
(hereinafter referred to as Lemmy!) after being fired from Hawkwind in 1975.
Eschewing the name Bastard on the advice of his manager for the slightly more
legitamate name Motorhead, the original line-up was Lemmy on bass and vocals,
Larry Wallace on guitar and Lucas Fox on drums.
Let’s take a look at some key dates in the history of Motorhead:
1976: Motorhead's then-label doesn't like the recordings (the company releases
them as “On Parole” three years later when the group start hitting it big!) The
guys decide a second guitar player is needed, so they ask "Fast" Eddie Clarke to
try out. For reasons unknown, Larry Wallace quits during the audition, but Fast
Eddie stays, thus completing the trio that sees Motorhead through its
ground-breaking early years.
1977: “Motorhead (Chiswick)” is the band's first album to see the light of day.
The guys' fan base builds and they start earning a reputation for being very
loud, raw, dirty and all those good things heavy rock 'n' roll should be.
1978: After changing record companies twice and recording with The Damned,
Motorhead go into the studio with producer Jimmy Miller and releases "Overkill".
1979: “Overkill” is an over-the-top success. The guys tour all over England and
get thrown in jail over some a rumpus at the Finnish Festival. They then go back
to the studio and release "Bomber" which is even bigger than "Overkill" and more
touring follows.
1980: After a long European tour and several TV appearances the band get
producer Vic Maile for their best known release, "Ace Of Spades". The record
goes to #4 on the UK charts. Overall, it's a good year until Phil breaks his
neck larking around with a large Irish fan.
1981: During Phil's convalescence, Lemmy & Eddie make an EP with Girlschool
called "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" that produces the hit "Please Don't
Touch". Later that year, Motorhead makes it's first trip to the US on Ozzy's
"Blizzard of Oz" tour. While they are there "No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith" is
released, entering the UK charts at #1.
1982: "Iron Fist" is recorded, the first Motorhead-produced release. Then the
touring starts again. Fast Eddie leaves the band during their 2nd US tour not
long after Lemmy records "Stand By Your Man" with Wendy O. Williams. Eddie is
replaced by Brian "Robbo" Robertson from Thin Lizzy.
1983: "Another Perfect Day" (the only release with Robbo) is recorded. Robbo
leaves the band at the end of the year.
1984: Two new guitarists are added Phil Campbell & Wurzel, but Phil leaves, and
is replaced by Pete Gill (Saxon). They tour Australia and New Zealand and
release "No Remorse" a Greatest Hits compilation with 4 added new tracks.
1985: 10 years after forming, Motorhead spend the year touring and appearing on
TV & radio in England, Scandinavia, and the US.
1986: "Orgasmatron" is released. A massive tour starts including an appearance
at the Monsters of Rock concert in Castle Donnington.
1987: Motorhead appears in the black comedy "Eat The Rich" and record the
soundtrack. Just before they start filming Pete Gill quits and Phil returns.
They then record "Rock 'N' Roll".
1988: On the road to start the year, Motorhead appear in the US with Alice
Cooper. Another Live release "No Sleep At All" comes out. Lemmy co-writes "can't
Catch Me" with Lita Ford. They finish up the year with another US tour.
1989: Motorhead play Brazil and Yugoslavia, new stomping ground for them to
start the year.
1990: Lemmy moves to West Hollywood and Motorhead begins to record yet another
release.
1991: "1916" is released to rave reviews. They then start the "Operation Rock
'N' Roll" tour with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper. Lemmy writes lyrics for
Ozzy's "No More Tears" album.
1992: "1916" is nominated for a Grammy Award, but loses to Metallica. The band
then records "March Or Die" and change drummers. Phil goes, but Mikkey Dee
arrives.
1993: "Bastards" is recorded. It gets more play than either "March Or Die" or
"1916" even though it has no official label behind it.
1994: "Born To Raise Hell" with Ice T and Ugly Kid Joe's Whitfield Crane is
recorded for the movie "Airheads". Later that year, they release "Sacrifice".
1995: s’ 20th anniversary Motorhead starts with Wurzel leaving the band, and the
guys are back to trio status. CMC signs them and "Sacrifice Stateside" is
released. An end-of-year party celebrates the band's 20th year and Lemmy's 50th
birthday.
1996: "Overnight Sensation" is released.
1998: "Snake Bite Love" is released.
1999: “Everything Louder Than Everyone Else" is released.
2000: Motorhead enter a new millennium rocking harder than ever.
Gilbert O'Sullivan. Preview Peter Ashton
 A
performer who got his first big break when the late disc jockey John Peel gave
him a slot on his radio show Top Gear in 1969 plays a gig in Dorset later
this month. Gilbert O’Sullivan, whose hits included “Alone Again Naturally” and
“Nothing Rhymed” plays Mr Kyps music venue in Poole on November 30.
Gilbert was born Raymond Edward O'Sullivan in 1946 in Waterford in Ireland, but
moved to Swindon in Wilshire with his family in 1958. He attended St. Joseph's
Comprehensive School where he developed an interest in music, beginning with the
guitar and progressing to the piano. He was also a keen amateur boxer and had
nearly 50 bouts. Meanwhile his painting and drawing had won him a place at
Swindon Art College where he studied graphic design from September 1963.
He discovered yet another talent whilst at art college, playing drums in his
first group The Doodles, whom he left to join The Prefects. While at college
Gilbert had started writing songs and sending off demo tapes to record companies
without success. Gilbert moved to London in 1967 to try and further his musical
career, taking a part-time job as a salesman at the C & A department store in
Oxford Street. A colleague, Mike Ward, who also worked there had a contract with
CBS and Gilbert went with him one day and played his tapes for some CBS
executives, resulting in a five-year publishing contract with CBS which called
for one single a year. Two unsuccessful singles were released and a
disillusioned Gilbert signed with the Major Minor label and released “I Wish
I Could Cry” in 1969.
Around this time that Gilbert formulated his 'Bisto Kid' image: short trousers,
flat cap, school boy tie, etc and sought a manager. He sent some demo tapes to
Gordon Mills, an ex-pop singer and himself a songwriter who had successfully
guided the careers of Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck. He recognised
something unique in young Gilbert and signed him to a management and songwriting
contract.
Gilbert soon scored with “Nothing Rhymed,” his first Top 10 hit. Signed to
Mills’ MAM Records and produced by Gordon, he enjoyed four years of major
success, with a dozen more hit singles and four Top 5 albums. In 1972 the singer
jettisoned his "Bisto Kid" image in favour of a series of collegiate-styled
sweaters embossed with the letter "G". As quickly as his career had ascended, so
it just as quickly spiralled with Gordon notching his final Top 20 hit with
1975's “ I Don't Love You But I Think I Like You.” After a two more albums in
1976 and 1977, disagreements over future direction led to a bitter split
between O'Sullivan and Mills, which effectively sidelined him as a recording
artist for five years. A gruelling court case between O'Sullivan and Mills
finally gave Gordon control of his own recordings and the copyright in his
songs, although it exacted an inevitable toll on his energy and his creativity.
Gilbert returned to CBS in 1980 and released “Off Centre” (1980) and “Life &
Rhymes” (1982) but maintained a low profile during much of the 1980s, recharging
his batteries and moving to Jersey, where he still lives with his wife and two
children. “Off Centre” provided his 13th UK Top 20 single, “What's In A Kiss?”
after which legal proceedings monopolised his time. However, he continued
writing songs and in 1989 had his first hit in almost a decade with “So What.”
Since then he has recorded five more albums and return to live performances in
the early 90s, playing regularly in both Europe and Japan. A 1992 single,
“Tomorrow Today” topped the Japanese charts for nine weeks leading
to a tour of Japan in early 1993 and the Japanese-only release of “The Little
Album” (1992) and Rare Tracks (1992). 1993's critical acclaimed “Sounds Of The
Loop” included a duet with the legendary Peggy Lee on “Can't Think Straight.”
Gilbert released three more albums in the 90s - “By Larry,” ”Every Song Has It's
Play” and “Singer Sowing Machine.” The Album “Irlish,” a combination of the
names English and Irish was released in 2000. Gilbert continued to tour in
Ireland and the UK in 2001 and 2002 to promote the “Irlish” album. A new studio
album “Piano Foreplay” followed in 2003, and earlier this year Rhino Handmade
Records released a 3-CD anthology in the USA of Gilbert's music between
1967-2001 entitled “Caricature: The Box.” A B-side collection entitled “The
Other Sides of Gilbert O'Sullivan” was released in Japan in 2004, and a concert
tour followed last June.
Tickets for the Mr Kyps gig are £20 via 01202 748945 or email
tickets@mrkyps.net .
Fee Waybill. Exclusive Interview by
Peter Ashton
 FEE
WAYBILL is alive and well and living in Los Angeles. I caught up with the manic
Tubes frontman by phone to talk about the highs and lows of life on
the road with The Tubes, the rock world’s most controversial and theatrical band
during the 70s and 80s, his songwriting and acting careers, and his
forthcoming British tour with The Tubes.
I started by suggesting that The Tubes never actually made any money in their
heyday between 1975. and 1986. “We made shit loads of money,” said Fee
good-humouredly, “it’s just that we spent it all! We were just enjoying
ourselves - we’d go out on tour and make $4 million, then find the tour had cost
$5m. We were putting on a show; at one time we had 28 or 30 people on the road
with the seven band members -seven dancers, a choreographer, a pyrotechnics guy,
a backdrop technician - it just got bigger and bigger. But we didn’t care, we
were having a good time. Finally it just came to a crashing end - we released
the album “Love Bomb” - a disaster record - and came back off the road with just
our dicks in our hand! Our record company dropped us and it was time to call it
a day.”
Fee relocated from San Francisco to Los Angeles - “I had to get out of town
fast, man,” was how he puts it - apparently the rest of The Tubes were not too
happy about his walking out on them. Once established in Los Angeles, Fee
started another career as a songwriter. He began collaborating with Canadian
singer Richard Marx who was married to former Tubes dancer Cynthia Rhodes, with
considerable success. Richard Marx also co-wrote and performed on Fee’s second
solo album, “Don’t Be Scared Of These Hands” in 1996. Fee went on to write for
other performers and even enjoyed an entry in the US country charts not too long
ago with Richard Marx on “Last One Standing.”
But the charismatic Mr Waybill also had other irons in the fire. He had already
made his acting debut playing a rock singer in “Xanadu” in 1980 and in “Ladies &
Gentlemen,The Fabulous Stains” in 1981. Returning to the screen in a cameo role
in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” in 1989, and also appearing in three more
films as a singer it looked like a movie career beckoned. It didn’t but a stage
acting career did. “I seemed to get psycho parts mainly,” laughed Fee, “I played
in John Godber’s “Bouncers” at La Lamarada Theatre in Orange County, and back in
1999 I played Frank ‘N’ Furter in “The Rocky Horror Show” at The Barn Theatre in
Michigan, the oldest for-profit theatre in
the USA. That was great - it was so much fun playing for a bunch of blue-haired
old ladies! It’s a really waspy community, very prejudiced, and it was great to
see the looks on their faces.”
The Tubes eventually got back together in 1997 and their spectacular rock
burlesque act has been welcomed back all over the world. Old favourites like
“White Punks On Dope” and “Mondo Bondage” are as popular as ever, and the band
have started writing new material for a new album to be released early next
year. “We’ve been working on the album since January,” says Fee. “We’re
producing it ourselves and It’s nice to be able to take our time over it - we
never got to do that before. We’ll also be playing four or five songs from the
album on the UK tour. We’re calling the tour The Wild West Tour, and the concept
of the show is full of unexpected surprises and fun, and UK audiences will
be in for a treat. The show kicks off with an overture of Spaghetti Western
movie themes hosted by me as MC Wild Bill Fee, and other onstage personas will
include a Mexican bandito/Mariachi singer, a Mad Cow Auctioneer/Chainsaw
Butcher, and a Snake Oil Salesman called Diamond Dick." Fee is also planning to
bring back his popular stage personas, Mondo Bondage Gimp, and the infamous drug
induced British rock star Quay Lewd.
When not working in his roles as songwriter, frontman for The Tubes and stage
actor, Fee relaxes by playing polo. “I was brought up with horses in Nebraska,”
said Fee, “and my brother got me into playing polo some years ago after I quit
playing softball. I’ve got two polo ponies, but I don’t play too aggressively, I
love my ponies too much. But I have been hurt severely several times. One time I
was flipped and pinched a nerve in my neck - I was completely fucked for about
two months!”
Before signing off to attend a meeting at Sony (Fee is hoping they will be
producing a DVD of The Tubes date in London) Fee was patient enough to answer a
question that had been on my mind for years - where did the name Fee Waybill
come from? “Waybill is my real surname,” he explained (a website I visited had
said his surname was Waldo) “and Fee is a nickname. When I first started singing
with The Tubes one of the guys saw a photo of the King of Fiji on the front of a
National Geographic Magazine and thought I looked like him. So all the guys
started calling me Fiji and it eventually got shortened to Fee.
Waybill, in fact has UK connections - my father’s forebears came from Brighton
in Sussex, and I think Waybill is a seafaring name, a waybill is a receipt for a
cargo, so Fee and Waybill seemed to go together.”
For full details of The Tubes tour in December see our News section.
Looking for a different Article?
Click here for our archive |
Featured artists:
see POL Articles
Beverley Craven The Brook, Southampton November 19
The Bills
The Talking Heads, Southampton November 19
Hayley Westenra The Anvil, Basingstoke
November 19
Motorhead Southampton Guildhall
November 19
Gilbert O'Sullivan
Mr Kyps, Poole November 30
POL EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Fee Waybill / The Tubes
December Tour |
|
