7 posts tagged “alternative sounds”
MIDNIGHT CIRCUS / THE FLYS 1974 - 81
This was Neil O'Connor's band. Originally called Midnight Circus in 1974 and after punk they were known as The Flys.
I came across Midnight Circus through singer songwriter Phil Knapper (Stu knapper's brother). Phil had hitched around Finland with Neil, Alex Murphy (whom Neil sings about on his solo site) and John Gravenor of Wandering John a few years earlier. As a result we gave Midnight Circus a gig (I think it was more than one) at the HOBO WORKSHOP at the Holyhead Youth Centre and they proved to be quite a popular band. By 1978 the band had shed their hippy image for a punk one and changed their name to the Flys. Neil''s sister is of course the celebrated Hazel O'Connor. They performed their single Molotov Cocktail on the Old Grey Whistle Test and appeared on John Peel show a few times.
I think Neils piece from the Flys My space describes them best -
In the beginning there were
three young lads from Cov in the UK.
David Freeman, Joe Hughes and Neil O’Connor.
Neil was slightly older than the other two
and had made their acquaintance
through David’s mum, Esther Freeman,
a lovely lady who was Neil’s Yoga teacher.
( yeah he was a bit of a late flowering hippy….)
Joe took up the bass, Dave and Neil,
the guitars and voices
and they started to try to do something.
They gave themselves the name "Midnight Circus"
and were probably bloody awful but, hey,
it was a good laugh.
In those days there was never a full time drummer
except for one guy,
Paul Angelopolis, an American guy from Florida,
in the same age group as them who wasn’t
half bad except for when he partook
more than he should’ve.
Sadly Paul abused too much and died of a barbituate
overdose at the age of 24.
And that was sort of the end of "Midnight Circus".
By now it was 1977 and there was a change in the air.
So they dropped the name
and reincarnated as "The Flys".
But still no drummer.
Around this time they happened upon a guy named
Chris King who started to take a managerial interest in the lads
and,
as luck would have it, had a younger brother,
Pete King, who was a good drummer and so deserved an audition.
Here was the guy they’d been hoping for years to meet.
And so The Flys became Dave, Joe, Neil and Pete.
Chris had a huge amount of belief in the band
and proposed that he’d set up a small indie label and
sign up the band to release a limited edition 7 inch EP and so
they went off to Pathway studios, an 8 track
in Islington where all the great Stiff recordings had been made,
to spend a Saturday recording their repertoire of 14 songs, or so.
Then 5 of the recordings were chosen, mixed, mastered
and became the EP "Bunch of five" on Chris King’s
"Zama" label which included the titles….
"Love and a Molotov cocktail"
"Can I crash here"
"Civilisation"
Eventually EMI were to sign the band
after having heard the EP and seeing the band on stage
opening for The Buzzcocks tour in the Autumn of ’77.
A condition of the contract was that the
"Zama" indie release had to be limited to 2,500 copies
as EMI wanted to re-launch with the title
"Love and a Molotov cocktail".
In the late winter of ’78, with EMI money,
they went on a UK nationwide tour opening for
John Otway and Wild Willie Barrett and
as spring arrived moved to London
and started to record their first album for EMI,
"Waikiki beach refugees".
Maybe they’d been too long in each others company,
it’s hard to know exactly
why but rifts started to appear.
The first casualty was Chris.
The Flys were no exception to any other bands in
that they were full of insecurity and that insecurity
pushed Chris away.
Pete continued to play with the band who, by now,
were opening for "The Ruts" around the UK and
playing shows in their own right around Europe
but he was never totally happy without his brother around.
Probably he felt torn in his loyalties,
Which is no surprise and eventually he was offered
the chance to join "After the fire" who,
at the time, were about to tour with ELO.
For Pete this became a dream come true as
ELO’s drummer became to ill to play
and Pete ended up playing drums for ELO for most of the tour.
After Pete they recruited Graham Deakin,
a lay it down Keith Moon type who came to the band
from John Entwhistle’s "Ox".
And so with new drummer, Graham,
the guys went down to a 16 track in Somerset
to record their second album which was to be called "Own".
Although they continued to record more singles, EP’s,
tour and make many TV and Radio appearances
throughout the UK and Europe their time together started to
unravel and in the spring of 1980 they called it quits.
Neil went on to play guitar and record with his sister
Hazel O’Connor.
Eventually, in the mid 80’s, he moved into the field
of recording and producing working mainly from
Martin Rushent’s "Genetic studios".
David went on to follow a solo career
securing a publishing/ development contract with Dave Stewart.
Eventually Joe joined him, they called themselves
"The lover speaks" and in the ‘90s they were rewarded
with a huge songwriting success when Annie Lennox
covered their song "No more I love you’s".
Sadly Pete succumbed to cancer before he could reach the age of 30.
Graham was never heard from again.
These days Neil lives in Montreal, Canada
producing and performing still.
Joe and his wife split their time between
the UK and the States with their band "Cicero Buck".
David’s a bit of a hermit as of writing.
"Die Toten Hosen" from Germany and
"Duanne Peters" have both covered
"Love and Molotov cocktail".
Hazel included it in one of her TV shows too.
Photo L to R ( taken by Pete Vernon 1978 )
Neil O’Connor - guitar, keys, vox
David Freeman - guitar, vox
Joe Hughes - bass, vox
Pete King - drums
Managers and road crew were………..
Chris King -manager 77 to 78
Mark Rye –manager 78 to 80
Vance Anderson -tour manager 77 to 80
Mick Anderson - backline 77 to 80
Record labels……………..
Zama-indie - 77 to 78
EMI - 78 to 80
See for miles - re-release in the 90s
Captain Oi - re-release in 2K.
By Neil O Connor.
Review from Alternative Sounds - 1979
THE FLYS - NAME DROPPING / FLY V FLY (EMI)
Get ready for the next Flys single - as the chorus line of the song says, it is amaaazing! Featuring David on vocals, there's some good lyrics for all you posers to sing-along to. There's some nice juicy guitar playing too, and with a catchy tune like this, all I can say is - make way for a hit.
The B Side is a novel little instrumental. The guitar work in it is most unusual - good if you're feeling like a jerky dance.
A single well worth adding to your collection.
.............................................
THE FLYS(Coventry)
7 inch singles
|
Bunch of fives ep, ZA 10 EP, ZAMA |
|
Love and a molotov cocktail, EMI 2747, EMI |
|
Fun city, EMI 2795, EMI |
|
Waikiki beach refugees, EMI 2867, EMI |
|
Oh Beverly, EMI 2907, EMI |
|
Name dropping, EMI 2936, EMI |
|
Living in the sticks, EMI 2979, EMI |
|
Sixteen down, R 6030, PARLOPHONE |
|
What will mother say, R 6036, PARLOPHONE |
Long play vinyl
|
Four from the square ep, R 6063, PARLOPHONE |
|
Waikiki beach refugees, EMC 3249, EMI |
Biography
This Coventry, England-based group enjoyed a minor league role in the new wave, but owed more to power-pop and astute songwriting than punk. Singer and guitarist Neil O'Connor (brother of Hazel O'Connor) met school kids David Freeman (guitar, vocals) and Joe Hughes (bass, vocals) in the mid-70s, and formed Midnight Circus, eventually recruiting Pete King on drums. A name change to the Flys coincided with the discovery of punk's first tremors, but a demo in April 1977 brought an apathetic response from the usual channels. The band issued Bunch Of Five, an energetic EP, on their own Zama Records label in time for Christmas. Quick as a flash, EMI Records snapped them up, rushing out one of the EP tracks (and perhaps their finest ever moment), "Love And A Molotov Cocktail", as a single. After a tour with the Buzzcocks and John Otway And Wild Willy Barrett came "Fun City", recorded at Pathway Studios. Waikiki Beach Refugees (also the title of their next single) emerged in October 1978 to an enthusiastic response, while the band toured Europe. 1979 saw a flurry of singles - "Beverley" in February, "Name Dropping" in April and "We Are The Lucky Ones" - but internal quarrels led to the recruitment of a riotous new drummer Graham Deakin (ex-Frankie Miller and John Entwistle's Ox). Flys Own, rawer than their debut, coincided with a tour with the Ruts in autumn 1979. The EP Four From The Square was released in February as the band transferred to Parlophone Records. This was followed by "What Will Mother Say" in May 1980. Internal pressures began to erupt and the Flys broke up soon afterwards. O'Connor joined his sister for two years and two albums before becoming a musical arranger, and then a producer and engineer. Freeman issued a cover version of the Supremes' "Stop! In The Name Of Love", took a degree, published his poetry, sang on Alison Moyet's Raindancing and later formed The Lover Speaks with Hughes (after his spell with ex-Specials Roddy Radiation And His Tearjerkers). Pete King, meanwhile, joined After The Fire, but sadly died aged 26. In 1991 See For Miles Records compiled an excellent self-titled retrospective of the band.
This is Jerry Dammer's diary from between 1976 and 1979 reproduced from issue three of Coventry's Alternative Sounds Magazine which was published between 1979 and 1980.
Here is the full copy of Martin Bowes Alternative Sounds Fanzine from (I think) May1979. Martin's magazine contains
documents well the lively Coventry Music Scene that developed in the wake of Two Tone.
(Note the letters page should be in this collection where the X Certs page has come up twice. Not sure how to get it back in sequence but you can read it here anyway!
SENT FOR COVENTRY - THE ALBUM
Martin Bowes, editor of the Coventry Alternative Sounds Magazine c 1979 / 1980 - in the midst of the Two Tone Period - was instrumental in getting together an incredible album full of the vibrant Cov bands of the time -many who made singles and supported many of the top bands of the day. Two of the bands featured on the album had had members of the Specials in their ranks - Machine's drummer was Silverton - drummer with the Specials until replaced by John 'Brad' Bradbury and Terry Hall had been lead singer with Squad. Kevin Harrison of Urge had played in the original formation of Selecter - The Transposed Man and had worked on the original draft of
(Featured on Kevin Harrison's musical history site - HERE
You can listen to excerpts and download the album here
The following bands were on the
album -
The Wild Boys - we're only monsters
The Clique - Mothers Never Know
The End - Panic in the Night
The Mix - With You
Machine - Character Change
Urge - Nuclear Terrorist
Protege - Protection
Solid Action - Message from a Loner
Wild Boys - Lorraine
Squad - Flasher
Homicide - Armageddon
Riot Act - Sirens
Vietnamese Babies - Donna Blitzen
Cherry Red Records / Kathedral Records.
Here are the pages of the special issue of Alternative Sounds that came with the album - in a collection - click to view the pages -
Yet another collection of pages from Coventry music fanzine Alternative Sounds from 1979 / 80 produced during the Two Tone period and reflecting and stimulating the Coventry music scene at that time. Edited by Martin Bowes of Attrition. Unlike the previous collections of Alternative Sounds, these issues are a bit scrambled owing to the fact that the staples came loose and the pages mixed up. They consist of pages (I think) from issues 12 and 7. Still there's is plenty to interst the reader who remembers the Cov Scene or who is curious about the Cov scene during the Two Tone period.
Here is the Collection
Another full issue of Coventry's Alternative Sounds magazine from the Two Tone period edited by Martin Bowes of the band Attrition. Albeit the cover may now be regarded as sexist, the contents are a good reflection of what was happening on the Coventry music scene while The Specials and Selecter were racing up the charts.
The full issue presented here as a Collection
Here is a round up of other Coventry Alternative zines and papers in the 70's -
ALTERNATIVE SOUNDS
Was a later Coventry music fanzine first published March 6th 1979 and reflecting the Coventry music scene around the rise of Two Tone - and the music scene was at that stage was totally buzzing! Martin will no doubt be writing his own history. I enjoyed reading Alternative Sounds. It was co-founded with Dill of God's Toys four years after the demise of Hobo, because "Coventry needed something to publicise and help the local bands and inform people of what's going on - in this way giving us a much healthier scene." Alternative Sounds had the usual problem of resourcing it - mainly, at first out of their own pocket. A grant of £100 from the Princes Trust helped them get it established and the Lanch Polytechnic Student's Union (Now Cov University) printed it for free and the lads colled / stapled it themselves. Getting the printing done for free was a great help and printing costs were always a problem for Hobo it would have come out more often otherwise! They also had a camera so there's some great photos in it. Alternative Sounds were behind the brill Coventry compliation album Sent From Coventry. Here is the cover of one of the issues - other covers will be found in the photo gallery on here.
Rexbrough, who was involved, has a Coventry band index, strong on the bands around in the late seventies early 80's but not exclusive to that period - unfortunately it seems to have gone off line. Will put the url on here if I find the new location!
The SENT FROM COVENTRY album featured the following tracks by Coventry bands c 1979.
Side 1
1. Wild Boys - We're only Monsters 2. The Clique - Mothers Never know 3. The End - Panic in the Night 4. The Mix - With You 5. Machine (later called Hot Snacks) Character Change
Side 2
1. Protege - Protection 2. Solid Action - Message from a Loner 3. Wild Boys - Lorraine 4. Squad - Flasher 5. Homicide - Armageddon 6. Riot Act - Sirens 7. V. Babies - Donna Blitzen.
Machine or Hot Snacks as they became wre one of my favourite bands - the bass player Ollie had been involved in bands like Smack earlier. I'd met him in 1974 at the Sunshine Music Agency in Coventry while typing Hobo and, in his own words, I was "one the people that got him doing things" musically when he arrived in Coventry. The drummer Siverton was ex - Specials. Although it wasn't typical of their music as Jackie wasn't singing - I liked the song on this album - Character Change - With lines like "You're behind one decade" and the chorus "You need a character Change!" underpinned by Julian's synth riff and Ollie's groundhog bass. I used to go see them at their residency at the Ryton Arms. Urge formed out of an earlier Cov band Whistler and the Zoastra (see the entry below on Zoastra (with a link to Urge's You Tube vid of their single Revolving Boy. Whistler will be featured in the Hobo Band Directory - yet to come.
Lead singer of the punk band Riot Act Stu Knapper was the younger brother of Phil Knapper - a talented singer-songwriter and firend who had been involved in the Hobo Workshop in the mid seventies. Squad's guitarist Johnny Adams has an entry below here.
The album was a great initiative and showcase of some of the musical talent around at the time.
Another initiative at that time -c 1970 was the a call for a Community Arts Music Venue. Although I'd been off the music scene for a few years, involved as a Welfare Rights Worker in community projects such as SHACK (Young person's drop in advice centre and Coventry Unemployed Workers Centre, I supported this initiative whole-heartedly. It was what we'd fought for with Hobo - to an extent we achieved it with the Hobo Workshop - but something with more resources and funding behind it was definately need in Coventry. Although Coventry had a thriving band scene, it was always inspite of a lack of facilities and support. Bands found it difficutl to find suitable and inexpensive places to rehease (where noise wasn't a problems), getting gigs to start off with was a problem (the Hobo Workshop and the Umbrella Club Band nights had provided that in some measure but they had finished), suitable community controlled central performance venues was needed to showcase bands and much more. I met Martin at the first meeting. However it was shortly after that I moved up to Teesside to do my degree 1980 so didn't follow through on that. Someone who moved to Teesside a year later told me things had moved on that after I left. Here is the letter I recieved from Peter Baker - Coventry Community Arts Association. This sounded very familiar. Coventry's music scene did deserve to be much better resourced.
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