Forgotten Pop Bands of Leeds

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Sat 12 Nov, 2011 7:38 pm

Yes I think I'd gone to see The Ukrainians at The Duchess when I spoke to Peter Solowka, I didnt realise he was a teacher these days, god, I wonder if the young uns he teaches know about his rock n roll past? I've not really followed the doings of Gedgy post-wedding present mkI, I didnt particularly enjoy any of the Cinerama stuff and this latest incarnation of The Wedding Present is a pale imitation of what they once were and its almost embarassing to admit that The Wedding Present were the most inspiration band of your youth if you point someone in the direction of the current line-up / output. I'd rather remember the band as they were. Another odd moment ala Dave Gedge was I met him in the queue for a jumble sale in Bramhope several years ago. Hard times maybe? heh heh heh!

franco · Post by **franco** » Sat 12 Nov, 2011 8:11 pm

Nobody's Twisting Your Arm is a classic. "What about those secret smiles you were giving him oooooooooh". Age of Chance cropped up on some old compilation the other day. I remember back in the 80's thinking they looked revolutionary in their tour de France clobber. Sadly. now they just look daft.

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Sun 20 Nov, 2011 7:58 pm

Yeah, 'You Should Always Keep in Touch with your Friends' was one of my favorite Wedding Present songs. http://youtu.be/GWPk7OOcHLQI had all of the albums - George Best, Tommy, Bizarro, Seamonsters etc Plus most of the singles on 12" vinyl and all the hit parade 7" I bought twice cos I thought they might be worth something in a few years. Likesay I was storing them all at my mums house for safekeeping and without me knowing about it she threw the whole lot into a skip along with my original Sex Pistols records and loads of other punk vinyl and a lot of Madchester vinyl - over 300 records in total, I cant believe she did it, her response was "...well nobody bothers playing records anymore!" FFS! WTF! Awww MUMMMM!!!! Its gonna haunt me for the rest of my life all my precious formative years vinyl consigned to the tip... I'd rather she'd given them to the charity shop, then at least someone else would have been enjoying them. What a waste...

anthonydna · Post by **anthonydna** » Tue 22 Nov, 2011 5:05 pm

There's a lot of Indie landfill around !

Bluemax · Post by **Bluemax** » Wed 23 Nov, 2011 12:51 pm

Good thread with alot of interesting notes, here goes with a few of mine, The Sneakers..... Brilliant, underage drinking on a Friday night at the Haddon Hall with my old mate Andy Smith who was a roadie with the Sneakers throughout there career.What about Dedringer, singles such as Sunday Drivers, Maxine and a classic album that was recognised by Radio 1 and NME, again sadly broke up and went the seperate ways, saw JJ Hoyle in a couple of other ventures after the break up, still got the album and singles, all signed by the band.AWWB... ( Above Average Weight Band ), a great night out listening to these guys, i specially recall a number of the gigs at the Duck n' Drake on Thursday nights.The Bilkos.... Sunday lunch times with the old ( great ) license law of 12 while 3 ( ish ), Chaz were are you now mate, a take on may classic songs with hysterical results, try "Joe Johnston's, Is there anybody going out with her", they inserted lines such as " there a fella on Armly Town Street" etcc...The Names Irrelevant, complete with Jon the Fiddle, Nige and lads.Ah I could go on, and on.........Bluemax

franco · Post by **franco** » Wed 23 Nov, 2011 1:52 pm

Does anyone remember Leeds solo artist Surfing Dave?. A slightly built, balding guy in an Hawaiian shirt. He played the guitar through a tiny amp. This was around the early 80's. Always supporting one band or another. Last sighted fleeing the Futurama 83 stage under a avalanche of pint pots.Oh and Pink Peg Slax. Rockabilly was really popular in Leeds at that time.

Chrism · Post by **Chrism** » Wed 23 Nov, 2011 5:57 pm

franco wrote: Does anyone remember Leeds solo artist Surfing Dave?. A slightly built, balding guy in an Hawaiian shirt. He played the guitar through a tiny amp. This was around the early 80's. Always supporting one band or another. Last sighted fleeing the Futurama 83 stage under a avalanche of pint pots.Oh and Pink Peg Slax. Rockabilly was really popular in Leeds at that time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A3IDJl6P5U

Bruno · Post by **Bruno** » Thu 01 Dec, 2011 6:40 pm

Well, I've spent a month now trying to remember a few specifics about the Sneakers, but it hasn't been easy. All I can remember really well is the fuzzy warm glow of total enjoyment that their music used to bring on. This may have been down to the under-age drinking......I note from my list of gigs that I first saw The Sneakers in April 1978 at Haddon Hall. This means that I was only 15 at the time and still in the 5th form at high school. Things have obviously changed a bit since then when it comes to selling alcohol, because I can't remember ever, in my entire life, being asked how old I was, or refused a drink, or being turned away from a pub on the door. I must have been plundering my Post Office account at the time for spending money, because I didn't get my first Saturday job until I was 16 (Sealand Foods, Row A, Kirkgate Market, since you ask, but I digress).Over the next year I saw the Sneakers another 7 times, at Haddon Hall, The Victoria (York Road), The Fforde Grene and Brannigans (bottom of Lower Briggate), before attending what I noted as their Farewell Gig in July 1979 at The Victoria (later to become The Trotters, now the pet shop) where they were supported by Agony Column.The lead singer was quite a character, I believe his real name was Russ but I think he liked to be known as Vince (more Rock 'n' Roll, eh?).Their music was a hybrid of pop, pub rock, rock n roll and R&B - much of it was, as Salt and Pepper mentioned in an earlier post, written by Dave Parkinson, but they also did quite a few cover versions. Songs I remember in particular were 'Boffin in the back room' with its catchy chorus of "Boff boff, boffin in the back room", also Link Lady which was their single, 'Valkyrie of Love' which Dave Parkinson wrote for his 'prodigy' band Cuba, and the absolutely storming rendition of '(All the way to) Memphis' which they used to play at the very end of every gig.You can hear Cuba's recording of Valkyrie of Love here, I have to say the Sneakers did it better in my view, they used to camp it up a bithttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKV1OD15k7ASadly there are no Sneakers songs on Youtube that I can find.One other thing I remember was that you could usually tell if a pub was hosting the Sneakers because of the funeral car(s) parked outside.The Sneakers had a group of fans known as The Kippax Hearses who travelled to all the gigs in this particular type of vehicle. I've no idea why, but it was certainly an unusual sight to see a hearse parked up in a pub car park, I can't remember if they had a coffin in the back but maybe somebody else's memory will be jogged?

johnnyg · Post by **johnnyg** » Thu 01 Dec, 2011 8:04 pm

Thanks Chrism for the link to the Surfin Dave clip on YouTube. I was interested to see the album cover - it is a photo of the barber shop on Montreal Parade. Phil, real name Norman, relocated the shop from where his father had it at the bottom of Chapeltown Road. His father's shop was where the sign was first used. It is a well known sign in Chappie for the last 50 years.The original sign does appear on Leodis but my quick search a few minutes ago could not turn it up.

BJF · Post by **BJF** » Sat 03 Dec, 2011 3:06 pm

Pink Peg Slacks had a reunion gig at the Chemic recently