BrewsterW

ps: Colleen says hi Mick

Oh God the wife's got involved and has pointed out that Pete Jackson's band were of course, the brilliantly named 'Beautiful North' She also reminded me of One Stop The World and the wonderful Mysterons, who I once did backing vocals with for a night. Top gigs for me woud be almost any Midnight Choir gig when Dave was singing. He was a tragic loss. I actually preferred little Matty to Magnus on drums but there you go. I think overall, Dave's untimely demise notwithstanding, they were the group that should have made it - totally original and all with great individual strengths. Matty and Magnus were both great, Gilman's bass sound was terrifying, Mark was a truly inspired guitarist and Dave ranked close to true creative genius as both a lyricist and frontman. also... The Extras reunion gig at the Leadmill Dead By Friday at the Leadmill FCS at the Hallamshire (I think supporting us, tho' not sure) The Happening Men at the Leadmill The Bland at Take Two (if only I hadn't lost that pool game) and dare I add ourselves at the Yorkshire Arts Space? One of my personal faves... I must drop Gilman a text and get him involved in this all misty-eyed palaver

and how about some reminiscing for some of the more arcane venues? Rockwells (AKA The B-Hive) where the manager made us all sit in excruciating silence for forty five minutes while he played us Roy Chubby Brown, or upstairs at the Mail Coach? The take-your-life-in-your-hands electrics at the Hallamshire? The Take Two car park that looked an ideal venue for the Sopranos to whack someone? The Surrey Street Peace-Squat? (tho I guess if you still live in Sheff' a lot of that isn't quite so nostalgic). Just had a memory of the Nearly Band's one and only TV appearance. In true nearlies style, not the Oxford Road Show, or Something Else or The Tube... No... Panorama, playing a Right to Work demo outside the Manpower building. I remember leading a 'chant of 'Maggie Maggie Maggie Out Out Out' and the huge crowd all joining in, as Mick leaned over to me and said 'Well that's brought the government down'. After, I recall being approached by a very earnest chap from either the SWP or the RCP asking if we played benefits for political parties and Mick telling him 'For a crate of lager we'll play for the BNP mate'

And what was the name of Pete Jackson's kind of anarchist ska band? And have we mentioned Slug? And the utterly brilliant Husker Du/Pixies-alikes, Dead By Friday?

I just remembered Trolleydogshag storming onto the stage to the sound of 'The Business Boys' and Ian running on grabbing the mike and going straight down on the floor, murmuring something arcane about 'eight hot knives man!!!!!' - Clearly I have no idea what he meant. Steve Mackey was there of course with his then lovely flowing locks as opposed to his later Pulp wedge. Ian of the Trolleys was last seen by sticking bill posters for bands in London about 15 years ago. A couple of other names popped into my head - 'Into the Storm' and 'Like Ice Like Fire'. Some time last night I found a very feedbacky rehearsal room tape of of an untitled number by the short-lived, nay barely-formed, 'Federation of Love Orchestra'

PS: At the risk of hijacking this thread into Nearly Band news, we get a namecheck here too... http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=1865717#post1865717post1865717

The Fishwives were Paul Divine (real name) on vocal, I think Big Gil (of jack and Gil party comedy duo fame), Tank Commander Pidd and someone else on drums I think. They contributed two tracks to the Two Dozen Toucans cassette album (named after Tommo's Guinness Ad wallpaper if you remember) along with Hole in the Wall and the Bride... Jad and Johnny's spin off from the Mink Babies was the Jellyheads. Not sure if Clive Porter (who I'm still in touch with) was actually there at the conception of the Human League but he certainly was (and still is) close with them - I believe Phil Oakey painted their house back in the day. Sad to report the wonderful Jack Porter, (who let us use his garage and defended us to his snotty Dobcroft neighbours despite our hideous row) passed away this time last year but his funeral was a wonderful service, the casket disappearing behind the curtains to the sound of the Test Match theme. 'That Good Hallamshire Gig'???? We played thousands of them - there was only ONE good one?

Wahaaaaay! Si, erstwhile singer with the Nearly Band here - Good to get a name check among such illustrious company of other 'nearly' bands. Phil Murray and the Boys From Bury - what an act and still going strong... Up there with Half Man Half Biscuit on the genius comedy front. I can still recite whole songs of theirs.

PS: I got in touch with Nick Reynolds about eight years ago, when he was working for World Service. Having carried the guilt of ruining his first live band show for years, i was a bit disgruntled to find he had no idea who I was. If he's still at the BBC you could always try a punt with [email protected]

Good Lord - the 70's Nearly Band material? Pre-punk? When we accidentally wrote 'Public Image Ltd' three years before Lydon? (Not cos we were groundbreaking but cos we were crap). I'll be in touch over the weekend I reckon with a wish list, I reckon. There aren't many tracks I don't have but there's a few gaps. I DON'T want the Take Two tape that's for sure. For the initated, that was Nick's first 'live' recording for his radio show - we were playing with the Bland and two fatal errors were made. First Nick paid both bands up front in cash - I think it was a princely forty quid. Then, neither band wanting to hang around sober, both groups wanted to play the support slot so we played pool for it and I went 'in off the black' meaning we either stood around for three hours with forty quid burning a hole in our pockets or got drunk. No contest. Result - drunken singer demanding beer in the middle of songs, pulling woman in crowd and generally wailing like Ollie Reed. Can anyone remember who the third band were on the Dolebusters trip to Wales? There was us and the Detail and someone else... and the FCS naturally ran on after we'd headlined and did a set anyway, i think with Lou singing. And what about the Fishwives and The Bride Wore Black? Have they had a mention in despatches yet? Pete - I'm ignoring you cos I'm sure your off topic :-)

First up - big hello to Pete and Stu and a bigger hello to MickC. I'm guessing there's a few other pseudonyms in this thread who sound familiar, but I haven't nailed them accurately yet. Si from the Nearly Band here, awash with memories provoked by ploughing this thread and grateful for them on a wet wednesday afternoon with writer's block and deadlines looming. The Park Hill Flats gig I remember because certain members of each band actually ran away at one point after the sound check. I'm going to spare you a litany of memories of gigs, though there were some epic stories - the coach trip to Wales, Newcastle, the near riots onstage and in the crowd, the.... er.... 'gig fuel'. A few band names to throw into the mix that seem to have slipped thru the net thus far on the thread - The Enzymes, Nick Reynold's own 'The Masons', the Mink Babies, The Sweetie Boys (featuring our own Dave and Jez on band share detail), the Jellyheads, the Cunning Linguists (which was Crispin's first band, i believe).. and an oddly dull prog rock type trio called the Detail. A few updates - Simon Gilman of the Midnight Choir is in London and now has his own sound recording business for the TV, advertising and movies. Jez, drum legend and later slightly clownish oxygen thief, was last heard of in Liverpool shacked up with a woman and her kid. My last exchange with him went thusly: 'Jez! P*ss off and come back and talk to me when you're straight' 'No - you come back and talk to me when I'm straight'. Needless to say he didn't say that deliberately. I've got various bits of Nearly Band stuff on CD, thanks to one-time manager, number one fan, backer and good guy Steve Cadman who posted me a compilation from New Zealand where he's now in music retail. If I ever get my steam-powered laptop back in full working order, i'd be happy to post some stuff. I'd really love to get hold of our cover of Sugar Sugar in some condition or another. As for me - I'm no longer at Eastenders, had a recent disastrous stint on Torchwood and am now in regular work writing for The Bill (ah the years of research finally come to fruition) and developing new series for various TV networks. Shameless plug - my book 'Books of Magick - Life During Wartime' co-written with Neil Gaiman has almost certainly not quite been remaindered yet in all book stores and comic stores and I've got a new monthly title for DC Vertigo coming in the Fall (as those wily world dominators say) 'The Vinyl Underground'. So cheers for the memories - let's keep them coming. PS: Jarvis name-checks his Dolebusters days in this Months 'Word' magazine and if Mick's listening in, I'm hoping he was there in the Broadfield when a bunch of were discussing meeting up at the Goodwin fountain in the year 2000 and young Jarvis, who (as was frequent then) was on his own, butted in to ask if he could come too.