On This Day 05/06/1987 Suzanne Vega

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On this day, 5 June 1987, American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. Vega had just released her second studio album Solitude Standing.

The album proved to be most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album of Vega's, being certified Platinum in the US and reaching number 11 on the Billboard 200, number 2 in the UK albums chart.

"Tom's Diner" was included twice on the album; the acappella version was the first track, and the instrumental version was the last track. In 1990, a remixed version of the song featuring DNA reached number five in the US. The song was later used to test prototype MP3 compression software.

The album garnered critical and commercial success, selling over one million copies in the U.S. It includes the international hit single "Luka", which is written about, and from the point of view of, an abused child. (Not until many years later did Vega reveal the song dealt with the abuse she herself had suffered from her stepfather.

While continuing a focus on Vega's acoustic guitar, the music of her second album is more strongly pop-oriented and features fuller arrangements. Following the success of the album, in 1989 Vega almost became the first female artist to headline the Glastonbury Festival. Female fronted UK band "All About Eve" headlined on Friday night due to a short notice headline switch. Vega performed her set whilst wearing a bulletproof vest, her band having received death threats from an obsessed fan ahead of the festival.

Setlist

Tom's Diner

Straight Lines

Small Blue Thing

Cracking

Ironbound / Fancy Poultry

Luka

In the Eye

The Queen and the Soldier

Gypsy

Calypso

Undertow

Solitude Standing

Language

Left of Center

Neighborhood Girls

Wooden Horse (Caspar Hauser's Song)

Marlene on the Wall

Night Vision

On This Day 23/02/1986 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

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On this day, 23 February 1986, electronic pop band Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on the band’s Crush tour.

formed in Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin Cooper (various instruments) and Stuart Kershaw (drums); McCluskey has been the only constant member.

Regarded as pioneers of electronic music, OMD combined an experimental, minimalist ethos with pop sensibilities, becoming central figures in the late-1970s/early-1980s emergence of synth-pop.

Crush is the sixth studio album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released on 17 June 1985 by Virgin Records. It is the first of two OMD albums to be produced by Stephen Hague.

Aimed primarily at the US market, Crush is notable for moving the group toward a more polished sound, although elements of earlier experimentation are present on the record.

Tour Setlist

Crush

The Native Daughters of the Golden West

Messages

Tesla Girls

Secret

Julia's Song

Motion and Heart

White Trash

Talking Loud and Clear

Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)

La Femme Accident

Souvenir

So in Love

Telegraph

Locomotion

Enola Gay

Encore:

Women III

Electricity

Encore 2:

She's Leaving

The Romance of the Telescope

On This Day 04/02/1984 Gary Moore

On this day 4 February 1984, guitar legend Gary Moore played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on his Victims Of The Future Tour.

Influenced by Peter Green and Eric Clapton, Moore began his career in the late 1960s when he joined Skid Row, with whom he released two albums. After Moore left the group he joined Thin Lizzy, featuring his former Skid Row bandmate and frequent collaborator Phil Lynott.

Moore began his solo career in the 1970s and achieved major success with 1978's "Parisienne Walkways", which is considered his signature song. During the 1980s, Moore transitioned into playing hard rock and heavy metal with varying degrees of international success.

In 1983, Moore released the album Victims of the Future, which marked another musical change, this time towards hard rock and heavy metal.

The album also saw the addition of keyboardist Neil Carter, who would continue to push Moore in this new musical direction. For the supporting tour, they were joined by former Rainbow bassist Craig Gruber and drummer Bobby Chouinard, who were later replaced by Ozzy Osbourne bassist Bob Daisley and former Roxy Music drummer Paul Thompson, respectively.

SETLIST

Majestuoso E Virtuoso

Rockin' Every Night

Play Video

Wishing Well

(Free cover)

Murder in the Skies

Shapes of Things

(The Yardbirds cover)

Cold Hearted

Don't Take Me for a Loser

Victims of the Future

So Far Away

(Mo Foster cover)

Empty Rooms

Blinder

White Knuckles

(G-Force song)

End of the World

Back on the Streets

Encore:

Nuclear Attack

Rockin' and Rollin'

(G-Force song)

On This Day 01/02/1993 Van Morrison

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On this day, 1 February 1993, Irish singing legend Van Morrison played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

Morrison began performing as a teenager in the late 1950s. He played a variety of instruments such as guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for several Irish showbands, covering the popular hits of that time. Known as "Van the Man" to his fans, Morrison rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B and rock band Them. With Them, he recorded the garage band classic "Gloria".

Under the pop-oriented guidance of Bert Berns, Morrison's solo career began in 1967 with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl". After Berns's death, Warner Bros. Records bought out Morrison's contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks (1968).

While initially a poor seller, the album has become regarded as a classic. Moondance (1970) established Morrison as a major artist, and he built on his reputation throughout the 1970s with a series of acclaimed albums and live performances.

The early to middle 1990s were commercially successful for Morrison with three albums reaching the top five of the UK charts, sold-out concerts, and a more visible public profile; but this period also marked a decline in the critical reception to his work.

The decade began with the release of The Best of Van Morrison; compiled by Morrison himself, the album was focused on his hit singles, and became a multi-platinum success remaining a year and a half on the UK charts. AllMusic determined it to be "far and away the best selling album of his career."

In 1991 he wrote and produced four songs for Tom Jones released on the Carrying A Torch album and performed a duet with Bob Dylan on BBC Arena special.

Setlist

Foreign Window

I'm Not Feeling It Anymore

Why Must I Always Explain?

See Me Through / Soldier of Fortune

Cleaning Windows

Vanlose Stairway

Route 66

So Quiet in Here / That's Where It's At

Youth of 1,000 Summers

A Town Called Paradise

Did Ye Get Healed? / It's All in the Game / Make It Real One More Time

Moondance / My Funny Valentine

Brown Eyed Girl

In the Garden / Since I Fell for You / Daring Night

What'd I Say

Enlightenment

Have I Told You Lately

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Lonely Avenue

Gloria

On This Day 16/01/1999 John Cale

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On this day, 16 January 1999, Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer and founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

The previous year, Cale spent on tour with singer Siouxsie Sioux. In February, he was the curator of one day festival called "With a Little Help from My Friends" that took place at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with the presence of the Metropole Orchestra.

The concert was shown on Dutch national television and featured a song specially composed for the event and still unreleased, "Murdering Mouth", sung in duet with Siouxsie and her second band the Creatures.

Cale and Siouxsie then did a double bill tour in the US for two months from late June until mid-August, both artists collaborating on stage on several songs including a version of "Venus in Furs".

Cale's autobiography, What's Welsh for Zen?, was written in collaboration with Victor Bockris and published in 1999 by Bloomsbury Publishing.

To promote the book he tours Europe with the John Cale trio (with Mark Deffenbaugh & Lance Doss, starting at St Davids Hall, Cardiff - January 16.

John Cale: vocals, piano, guitar

Lance Doss:lap steel guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin

Mark Deffenbaugh: guitar , flute, harmonica, banjo, Jew’s harp

Setlist

Lament

On A Wedding Anniversary

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Buffalo Ballet

Chinese Envoy

Child's Christmas in Wales

Some Friends

Darling I Need You

You Know More Than I Know

Ship Of Fools

Set Me Free

Leaving It Up To You

Cable Hogue

Cordoba

Dying On The Vine

Heartbreak Hotel

Fear Is A Man's Best Friend

Style It Takes

Thoughtless Kind

Hallelujah

On this day 22/12/1983 Hot Chocolate

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On this day, 22 December 1983, soul/disco band Hot Chocolate played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

The band had just released their 8th album Love Shot.

Formed in 1968, the band initially consisted of vocalist Errol Brown, guitarist Franklyn De Allie, drummer Jim King (shortly thereafter replaced by the unrelated Ian King), percussionist Patrick Olive, and bassist Tony Wilson; with keyboardist Larry Ferguson joining the band in the following year.

The band was originally named "Hot Chocolate Band" by Mavis Smith, who worked for the Apple Corps press office. This was quickly shortened first to "The Hot Chocolate" and then to "Hot Chocolate" by Mickie Most.

Hot Chocolate started their recording career making a reggae version of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance", but frontman Errol Brown was told he needed permission. He was contacted by Apple Records, discovered that Lennon liked his version, and the group was subsequently signed to Apple Records.

The link was short-lived as the Beatles were starting to break up, and the Apple connection soon ended.

The band became the only group, and one of just three acts, that had a hit in every year of the 1970s in the UK charts (the other two being Elvis Presley and Diana Ross).

The band eventually had at least one hit, every year, between 1970 and 1984.

The band continued well into the 1980s, and clocked up another big hit record: "It Started with a Kiss", in 1982, which reached Number 5 in the UK. In all, the group charted 25 UK Top 40 hit singles. Their single "You Sexy Thing" became the only track that made British Top Ten status in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s

On this day 08/12/1982 Toyah

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On this day, 8 December 1982, Toyah, the band fronted by musician, actress, and TV presenter Toyah Willcox played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

The band had earlier in the year released The Changeling. The album peaked at number 6 in the UK and included the Top 40 single "Brave New World".

Toyah fronted the band between 1977 and 1983 before embarking on a solo career in the mid-1980s.

At the 1982 BPI/Brit Awards, Toyah was nominated for British Breakthrough Act, and Best Female Solo Artist.

Toyah was nominated a further two times in this category in 1983, and in 1984. Her biggest hits include "It's a Mystery", "Thunder in the Mountains" and "I Want to Be Free".

Band Members

Toyah Willcox vocals,

Joel Bogen guitar& backing vocals,

Phil Spalding bass & backing vocals,

Keith Hale keyboards & backing vocals,

Simon Phillips drums

On this day 06/12/1993 Deborah Harry

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On this day, 6 December 1993, American pop icon Deborah Harry played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall as part of her Debravation" Tour U.K.

Born in Miami, Florida, Harry was adopted as an infant and raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey. After attending college, she worked various jobs, including as a secretary (including at the BBC in New York), dancer, and Playboy Bunny, before breaking through in the music industry. Harry co-formed Blondie in 1974 in New York City.

The band released their eponymous debut album in 1976, and released a further three albums between then and 1979, including Parallel Lines, which spawned six singles, including "Heart of Glass". Their fifth record, Autoamerican (1980), afforded Harry and the band further attention, spawning such hits as a cover of "The Tide Is High", and "Rapture", the latter of which is considered the first rap song to chart at number one in the United States.

Harry toured the UK with Blondie bandmate Chris Stein, guitarist Peter Min, bassist Greta Brinkman, and drummer James Murphy.

The set list of the Debravation Tour featured an offbeat selection of Harry material including the previously unreleased track "Close Your Eyes" (from 1989) and "Ordinary Bummer" (from the Stein-produced Iggy Pop album Zombie Birdhouse, a track that, under the moniker Adolph's Dog, Blondie covered in 1997).

Tentative plans to record these shows and release them as a live double CD never came to fruition.

However, covers of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" and David Oliver's "Love TKO" exist as bootlegs. In early 1994, Harry took the Debravation tour to the US.[40] In the UK, Harry's long tenure with Chrysalis Records also came to an end after Debravation's lackluster sales, but the label released all of Blondie's albums and Harry's KooKoo album (for the first time on CD) as remastered editions with bonus tracks.

Setlist:

Faces,

Close Your Eyes,

Rain,

Go Through It,

Love TKO,

I Can See Clearly,

Lip Service,

Strike Me Pink,

Rifle Range,

Ballad of Cookie McBride,

Memo From Turner,

Shotgun,

Shayla,

Ordinary Bummer,

Dancing Down The Moon,

Heart Of Glass,

Lovelight,

Wild Horses,

Dog Star Girl,

The Fugitive,

Call Me.