On This Day 06/03/1997 Peter Green

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On this day, 6 March 1997, English blues rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and founder of Fleetwood Mac played Cardiff’s Coal Exchange.

He began playing professionally by the age of 15, while working for a number of east London shipping companies. He first played bass guitar in a band called Bobby Dennis and the Dominoes, which performed pop chart covers and rock 'n' roll standards, including Shadows covers. He later stated that Hank Marvin was his guitar hero and he played the Shadows' song "Midnight" on the 1996 tribute album Twang.

Many rock guitarists have cited Green as an influence, including Gary Moore, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash,and more recently, Mark Knopfler, Noel Gallagher, and Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood.

Review - South Wales Echo

Green was The Black Crowes' Rich Robinson's pick in Guitar World's "30 on 30: The Greatest Guitarists Picked by the Greatest Guitarists" (2010). In the same article Robinson cites Jimmy Page, with whom the Crowes toured: "he told us so many Peter Green stories. It was clear that Jimmy loves the man's talent".

Green's songs have been recorded by artists such as Santana, Aerosmith, Status Quo,The Black Crowes, Midge Ure, Tom Petty, Judas Priest, and Gary Moore, who recorded Blues for Greeny, an album of Green compositions.

In 1995, the tribute album Rattlesnake Guitar: The Music of Peter Green was released, and subsequently was reissued in 2000 as Peter Green Songbook.

On This Day 05/03/1993 Tasmin Archer

On this day, 5 March 1993, singer Tasmin Archer played Cardiff University.

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Archer signed to EMI in 1990 and released her first single, "Sleeping Satellite," in September 1992, which went to number one on the UK Singles Chart. The single also enjoyed success in the US, where it peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album Great Expectations followed in October 1992. It reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart,[1] and achieved gold disc status by December for sales of more than 100,000 copies. Further singles from the album followed, and although they were Top 40 hits in the UK, they did not achieve the same level of success as her début.

Archer donated the royalties from her second single "In Your Care" to Childline. The song was about child abuse. In 1993 Archer won a BRIT Award for the Best British Breakthrough Act. She later joked that she kept her award in her kitchen cupboard and used it for cracking nuts and tenderizing steak.

On This Day 04/03/1998 Genesis

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On this day, 4 March 1998, prog rock superstars Genesis played the first of two nights at Cardiff International Arena on their Calling All Stations tour.

Genesis were supporting their 1997 album Calling All Stations with a 47-date European tour from 29 January to 31 May 1998, featuring shows in large arenas throughout Europe.
The core trio of lead vocalist Ray Wilson, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford were joined by Israeli musician Nir Zidkyahu on drums, percussion, and backing vocals and Irish musician Anthony Drennan on guitar and bass.
This was the only tour with Wilson, Zidkyahu and Drennan, as well as the first since the 1970s not to feature longtime singer/drummer Phil Collins or touring members Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson as part of the lineup.

Rehearsals took place at Bray Film Studios in Windsor and the Working Men's Club in Chiddingfold, England close to the band's recording studio. The tour concluded with spots at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park Festival in Germany.

A majority of the older songs were transposed in a lower key to accommodate Wilson's lower vocal range. Midway through the set included an acoustic medley of songs from their 1970s output.

Review - South Wales Argus

Setlist

No Son of Mine

Land of Confusion

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Calling All Stations

Carpet Crawlers

There Must Be Some Other Way

Domino

Firth of Fifth

Congo

Home by the Sea

Second Home by the Sea

Acoustic

Dancing With the Moonlit Knight

Follow You Follow Me

Supper's Ready

(Lover's Leap)

Not About Us

Mama

The Dividing Line

Invisible Touch

Turn It On Again

Encore:

Throwing It All Away

I Can't Dance

On This Day 03/03/2005 Electric Six

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On this day, 3 March 2005, American rock band Electric Six played Cardiff University.

Formed in Detroit in 1996, they are known for combining elements of rock, disco, garage rock, metal, new wave, and punk rock.

Since achieving widespread recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar", they have released 20 studio albums, two rarities albums, one live album and one live DVD. Each band member is given a unique stage name; the line-up has undergone changes over the years; co-founder, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter Dick Valentine has been the only constant member.

The band's second album, Señor Smoke, was released in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2005. Since the band had been dropped from their previous American record label, a North American release of the album was delayed until February 7, 2006, when it came out on Metropolis Records.

The first single from the album put the band at the center of controversy with Queen fans, following a cover of the hit Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". The controversial music video showed lead singer Dick Valentine portraying the ghost of late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and performing with a backing band of poodles. Queen drummer and "Radio Ga Ga" writer Roger Taylor said that he was "unimpressed" with the video, though Queen guitarist Brian May reportedly liked it.

Valentine addressed the controversy and said, "Some have claimed this video portrays me dancing on Freddie Mercury's grave, but that wasn't the idea. Actually it's more like we are resurrecting Mr. Mercury for the duration of the song and his grave is the logical starting point. [...] I guess a video like that can be taken the wrong way, but we hadn't looked at it like that. [...] Everyone knows we disliked the fact that we had to put this song on our record, so this ridiculous video took a little bit of the sting out of it for us and made it somewhat bearable. [...] I definitely respect Freddie and his work."

On This Day 02/03/1973 Labi Siffre

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On this day, 2 March 1973, British singer, songwriter and poet Labi Siffre played Cardiff’s Cory Hall. Support was provided by Magna Carta

Claudius Afolabi Siffre (born 25 June 1945), better known as Labi Siffre. Siffre released six albums from 1970 to 1975 and four from 1988 to 1998. His compositions include "It Must Be Love", which reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971 (and was later covered by the band Madness), "Crying Laughing Loving Lying", and "(Something Inside) So Strong"—an anti-apartheid song inspired by a television documentary in which white soldiers in South Africa were filmed shooting at black civilians in the street—which hit number 4 on the UK chart. The latter song won Siffre the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and it has been used in Amnesty International campaigns.

Siffre has published essays, the stage and television play Deathwrite and three volumes of poetry: Nigger, Blood on the Page, and Monument. In 2022, his life and work was explored in the series Imagine, under the title, Labi Siffre: This Is My Song.

Multiple parts of Siffre's 1975 track "I Got The..." were sampled in popular hip hop songs in the 1990s, most notably in the 1999 Eminem single "My Name Is". As a result of the song's newfound fame, it was finally released as a single in 2003. The track was also featured in the Better Call Saul episode "Bagman".

Siffre's 1972 track "My Song", the 10th track on his album Crying Laughing Loving Lying, was sampled by rapper Kanye West on the song "I Wonder" on his third album Graduation.

In February 2022, the BBC broadcast Labi Siffre: This Is My Song, as part of the Imagine series, in which Alan Yentob presented a film exploring Siffre's life and work.

On This Day 01/03/1997 Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci pictured at the Coal Exchange 1 March 1997 - Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, St David’s Day, 1 March 1997, psychedelic folk and alternative rock band Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci played Cardiff’s Coal Exchange on their Barafundle tour. Also on the bill were the Stereophonics.

The band were about to release their fourth album Barafundle. The album's title comes from the name of a beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Songs are often sung in both Welsh and English, and the album's influences range from twee-pop to traditional folk music. Lynn Childs, father of singer Euros and violinist Megan, plays shawm and other traditional instruments on the album's occasional medieval interludes (for example, on "Starmoonsun").

Two singles were released from the album. The first single, "Patio Song", was released in late 1996 and became the band's highest-charting single in the UK, peaking at #41 in early 1997. The song also ranked #8 on John Peel's 1996 Festive Fifty countdown.

The second single, "Diamond Dew", reached #42 on the UK Singles Chart in mid-1997. A contemporaneous non-album single, "Young Girls & Happy Endings", was also released in 1997 and appeared as a bonus track on some American copies of the album.

While in the band, Childs said that one of the most frequent questions he was asked was about the origin of the band's name. After struggling to come up with one, they decided "we might as well stick with the most ridiculous crap name we could think of."

Gorky's came from the word "gawky"; Lawrence says that "gork" was school slang for a dimwit.

Zygotic was "hijacked from GCSE biology"; it refers to the state of being like a zygote – a fertilized egg cell.

Mynci is a spelling of the word "monkey" using Welsh spelling rules, rather than a direct Welsh translation (the actual Welsh word is "mwnci") and is pronounced like "monkey".

On This Day 28/02/2000 Alber Lee and Hogan’s Heroes

On this day, 28 February 2000, legendary guitarist Albert Lee and Hogan’s Heroes played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

In 1987, Lee was invited by Gerry Hogan to headline at a steel guitar festival in Newbury, Berkshire. Lee was at first intimidated by the prospect of having to front a band; however, the gig was successful and he toured as Albert Lee & Hogan’s Heroes on a regular basis until 2015.

The lineup of the band included British musicians Peter Baron on drums, Gerry Hogan on guitar and Brian Hodgson on bass. Pete Wingfield was the original keyboard player, before leaving to be replaced by Elio Pace and later Gavin Povey.

They were renowned for attracting celebrities to their gigs. Stars such as Eric Clapton, Tommy Emmanuel, Lonnie Donegan, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Marty Wilde, Willie Nelson, Nanci Griffith, Don Everly, Emmylou Harris, Sonny Curtis and Rodney Crowell have all jammed with the band at one time or another. In 1988 Lee toured Australia along with Vince Gill, then a comparative unknown, and has returned to tour the country on several subsequent occasions.

In the early 2000s Albert Lee toured with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. In 2002, Lee appeared at the Concert for George [Harrison]. Also in 2002, Lee received a Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" from the CD Earl Scruggs and Friends. In September 2006 Lee took part in Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar, a documentary about the history of the guitar.

Lee appeared at the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival on 28 July and performed with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings at the Ahmet Ertegun tribute show at The O2 in London on 10 December. A new album entitled Like This was released in spring 2008 to coincide with their European tour. He lives in Malibu, California.

On This Day 27/02/2002 Alexander O’Neal

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On this day, 27 Feb 2002, American R&B soul legend Alexander O’Neal played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

In a music career spanning more than 40 years, O'Neal is an accomplished R&B and soul singer. O'Neal came to prominence in the middle of the 1980s as a solo artist following the release of his self-titled debut album under the production of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

In 2002, he released an album on Eagle Records, Saga of a Married Man, his seventh album with the album produced by former Prince drummer, Bobby Z.

Review - South Wales Argus

O'Neal was honoured with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue,recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue.

Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis," according to journalist Steve Marsh.