On This Day 10/06/1980 Toyah

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On this day, 10 June 1980, singer and actress Toyah played Cardiff’s Top Rank. She had just released her second album The Blue Meaning.

The album was recorded at the Parkgate Studios in Battle, East Sussex and mixed at the Marquee Studios in London. The album's title comes from blue being one of Toyah's favourite colours, which the singer finds deeply spiritual, with multiple cultural associations.

The album cover features a photo taken by Gered Mankowitz at night in front of a Gothic mansion Wykehurst Place, located in Bolney near Brighton. It pictures Toyah Willcox dressed in a maid outfit and wearing ballet shoes, tied to one of the entrance pillars. Other band members are pictured on the mansion's balconies

Between 1977 and 1983, Willcox fronted the eponymous band Toyah, before embarking on a solo career in the mid-1980s. At the 1982 Brit Awards, Willcox was nominated for British Breakthrough Act, and Best Female Solo Artist. She was nominated a further two times in this category in 1983, and in 1984. Her hit singles include "It's a Mystery", "Thunder in the Mountains" and "I Want to Be Free".

Relocating to London, Willcox lived in a place called "Mayhem", a converted British Rail warehouse serving as a studio.[citation needed] It was here the band Toyah recorded their first demos. For the lack of proper bed she slept for a while in a "second-hand" coffin, reportedly used by the French Red Cross to transport victims of fatal accidents.

Citing her role in Quadrophenia as a boost to her musical career, with growing audiences Toyah signed to Safari Records,[citation needed] releasing a debut single "Victims of the Riddle", which topped the UK Indie Chart. This was followed by the Sheep Farming in Barnet EP, produced by Steve James and Keith Hale. Initially released in Germany, in 1979 it was re-released as an LP, comprising the original six tracks, "Victims of the Riddle" A and B sides and three tracks that were previously unavailable on vinyl.

Her second album, The Blue Meaning, went to no. 40 in the UK Albums Chart in June 1980. By this time, she is reported as announcing she had severed all ties with punk aesthetics.

On This Day 04/06/1980 Iron Maiden

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On this day. 4 June 1980, heavy metal giants Iron Maiden played Cardiff’s Top Rank

The Iron Maiden Tour was in support of their eponymous debut album. The band's first solo headlining tour, it followed the co-headlined Metal for Muthas Tour from earlier in the same year.

Although Iron Maiden have since criticised the quality of the album's production, the release was met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number four on the UK Albums Chart and helping the band achieve prominence in mainland Europe.

The tour commenced with a British leg from 1 April to 23 August, although this included one concert in Finland, before the band supported Kiss on their Unmasked Tour from 24 August to 16 October, immediately following which guitarist Dennis Stratton was sacked and replaced with Adrian Smith.After Smith was hired, the band decided to undertake another British tour, taking place from 21 November to 21 December.

Setlist

The Ides of March

Sanctuary

Wrathchild

Prowler

Remember Tomorrow

Killers

Running Free

Another Life

Drum Solo

(Clive Burr)

Transylvania

Strange World

Charlotte the Harlot

Phantom of the Opera

Iron Maiden

Encore:

Drifter

On This Day 27/05/1977 The Stranglers

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On this day, 27 May 1977, Punk/New wave legends The Stranglers played Cardiff’s Top Rank on the band’s Rattus tour. The had just released their single Peaches, taken from their debut album Rattus, issued the previous month. Support was provided by punk band London.

The Stranglers' early sound was driven by Jean-Jacques Burnel's melodic bass, but also gave prominence to Dave Greenfield's keyboards. Their early music was also characterised by the growling vocals and sometimes misanthropic lyrics of both Burnel and Hugh Cornwell.

Over time, their output gradually grew more refined and sophisticated. Summing up their contribution to popular music, critic Dave Thompson later wrote: "From bad-mannered yobs to purveyors of supreme pop delicacies, the group was responsible for music that may have been ugly and might have been crude – but it was never, ever boring."

From 1976 the Stranglers became associated with the burgeoning punk rock movement, due in part to their opening for the first British tours of American punks the Ramones and Patti Smith. Notwithstanding this association, some of the movement's champions in the British musical press viewed the band with suspicion on account of their age and musical virtuosity and the intellectual bent of some of their lyrics. However, Burnel was quoted saying, "I thought of myself as part of punk at the time because we were inhabiting the same flora and fauna ... I would like to think the Stranglers were more punk plus and then some.

During their appearance at the University of Surrey on the BBC TV programme Rock Goes to College, on 11 October 1978, and aired on the 19 October, the group walked off stage because an agreement to make tickets available to non-university students had not been honoured.

On This Day 24/05/1977/ Subway Sect

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On this day, 24 May 1977, punk band The Subway Sect played Cardiff’s Top Rank supporting The Clash on their White Riot tour. Also on the bill were, The Slits and June Buzzcocks.

The core of the band was singer-songwriter, Vic Godard, plus assorted soul fans, who congregated around early gigs by the Sex Pistols until Malcolm McLaren suggested they form their own band.

Subway Sect were among the performers at the 100 Club Punk Festival on Monday, 21 September 1976 – sharing the bill with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash and the Sex Pistols.

The first line-up of Godard on vocals, Paul Packham on drums, Paul Myers on bass and Rob Symmons on guitar lasted for four gigs before Mark Laff replaced Packham. Laff himself then left for fellow punk group Generation X after the White Riot tour.

A third drummer, Bob Ward, was recruited, and it is this line-up that can be heard on the band's first John Peel session and also on the single "Nobody's Scared". This was the first and only release on Braik Records, a label owned by Bernie Rhodes, who managed both Subway Sect and The Clash.

Rhodes subsequently supervised the recording of their debut album at Gooseberry Studios in London, with Clash sound man and producer Mickey Foote at the production helm. At that time the band toured extensively with The Clash and others.

Joe Strummer…..

“Number One for me at the moment are the Subway Sect. They've got some good ideas. The Slits are good, too. Palmolive on drums! She's the female Jerry Nolan. But like everyone, they need to do thirty gigs in thirty days and they would be a different group. Then they'd be great. The same with us.”

On This Day 18/05/1982 Altered Images

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On this day, 18 May 1982, Scottish pop band Altered Images played Cardiff’s Top Rank. The band had just released their second album Pinky Blue.

The album reached No. 12 on the UK Albums Chart, while the singles charted well, with "I Could Be Happy" peaking at No. 7, "See Those Eyes" at No. 11 and "Pinky Blue" at No. 35 on the official singles chart. This was to be their highest placed album in the charts

Their hits included "Happy Birthday", "I Could Be Happy", "See Those Eyes", and "Don't Talk to Me About Love". mainstream pop music, having six UK top 40 hit singles and three top 30 albums between 1981 and 1983. Their hits included "Happy Birthday", "I Could Be Happy", "See Those Eyes", and "Don't Talk to Me About Love".

Former schoolmates in Glasgow with a shared interest in the UK post-punk scene, Clare Grogan (vocals), Gerard "Caesar" McInulty (guitar), Michael "Tich" Anderson (drums), Tony McDaid (guitar), and Johnny McElhone (bass guitar), were all members of the Siouxsie and the Banshees official fan club.

When they learnt the Banshees were going to play in Scotland, they sent a demo tape to Billy Chainsaw, who managed the official Siouxsie fan club, with a note asking "can we support them on tour?" The Banshees gave the band a support slot on their Kaleidoscope British tour of 1980. Altered Images's name referred to a sleeve design on the Buzzcocks' single "Promises", and was inspired by Buzzcocks vocalist Pete Shelley's constant interfering with the initial sleeve designs.

Prior to finding fame with Altered Images, she had appeared in the 1981 film Gregory's Girl.
Bassist Johnny McElhone went on to perform with Hipsway and eventually Texas.

On This Day 22/04/1981 Tygers of Pan Tang

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On this day, 22 Apri 1981, heavy metal band The Tygers Of Pan Tang played Cardiff’s Top Rank. Also playing that night was rock band Magnum.

Part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. They formed in 1978 in Whitley Bay, England, and were active until 1987. The band reformed in 1999 and continue to record and perform. The name is derived from Pan Tang, a fictional archipelago in Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné fantasy series whose wizards keep tigers as pets.

The Tygers of Pan Tang were formed by guitarist Robb Weir (born Robert Mortimer Weir, 1958), Richard "Rocky" Laws (bass), Jess Cox (vocals) and Brian Dick (drums). They played in working men's clubs and were first signed by local independent label Neat Records before MCA gave them a major record deal. After several singles, they released their first album, Wild Cat, in 1980. The album reached No. 18 in the UK Album Chart in the first week of its release.

Subsequently John Sykes (formerly of Streetfighter, later in Badlands, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, and Blue Murder) was added as second guitarist. Jess Cox had a falling out with the others and quit, to be replaced by Persian Risk vocalist Jon Deverill.

This lineup released Spellbound on the 10 April 1981, their second album which peaked at 33 in the UK album charts.

On This Date 03/04/1967 Booker T and the M.G’s

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On this day, 3 April 1967, soul greats Booker T and the MG’s played Cardiff’s Top Rank. They were part of a soul revue, headlined by Otis Redding and also featured Sam and Dave, Arthur Conley, Eddie Floyd and The Markeys.

Booker T. & the M.G.'s were an American instrumental R&B/funk band that was influential in shaping the sound of Southern soul and Memphis soul. The original members of the group were Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums).

In the 1960s, as members of the Mar-Keys, the rotating slate of musicians that served as the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King.

They also released instrumental records under their own name, including the 1962 hit single "Green Onions". As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of its era.

In 1965, Steinberg was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn, who played with the group until his death in 2012.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee in 2008, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2019.

Having two white members (initially Cropper and Steinberg, later Cropper and Dunn) and two black members (Jones and Jackson Jr.), Booker T. & the M.G.'s was one of the first racially integrated rock groups,[4] at a time when soul music and the Memphis music scene, in particular, were generally considered the preserve of black culture.

On This Day 02/04/1969 Led Zeppelin

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On this day, 2 April 1969, legendary rock band Led Zeppelin played Cardiff’s Top Rank. Support was provided by Kimla Taz and Eyes of Blue for what was promoted as a ‘Progessive Blues Night’.

Review: It all went a bit pear-shaped when Led Zeppelin did a benefit gig in Cardiff back in 1969.

The Progressive Blues Night at the Top Rank was in aid of the Biafran Relief Organisation. Unfortunately only 450 people turned up to watch and the charity event actually lost money to the tune of £100.

However, those who did go were treated to a technically brilliant performance. Opening number Communication Breakdown demonstrated why Led Zep's debut album was riding so high in both the US and UK charts.

Robert Plant's vocal virtuosity and Jimmy Page's nimble fingers whipped up the faithful into a tumult.
The show continued in the same pompous rock-god vein until How Many More Times.

This 15-minute epic was meant to be the evening's highpoint showcasing Page's incredible guitar skills. However, an engineer accidentally activated the revolving stage causing jack plugs to be wrenched from their sockets whilst others were snapped off completely.

The gig ended at that precise moment. For several seconds afterwards though arguably the greatest rock band in history stood on a revolving stage in Cardiff mutely playing to a bemused and constantly shifting crowd. (by Anthony Brockway)

Zep fan John Hughes recalls the gig ( taken from Zep fan site)

I was at that show too, having seen Led Zep in Mothers Club in Birmingham a few days before this show. Memories of the night are spot on, and not romantically tinged, as I vividly remember the stage turning and the PA starting to get dragged over.

I knew someone organising the show and he told me afterwards that Peter Grant had run-up to the balcony where the stage control box was and very nearly threw the poor engineer out of the window down to the dance floor!

I have to say however that I believe there were far more there than 450 there, as mentioned in the original review, but maybe the passage of time.

And strangely enough, I moved to the Midlands a few years later and in something like 1990 I was queueing at my local W H Smith and I thought the guy in front of me looked familiar ... it was Robert Plant, who lived not far away from me (ie his village wasn't too far away from my village).

Never one not to seize the moment, I mentioned to him that the last time I as close as this was in 1969, at that Cardiff show.

He became suddenly cautious, obviously thinking "I've got a right one here", and I mentioned the infamous PA incident - and a bit to my surprise, he sort of paused - looked like he was giving it some thought - and said, "yeah, I remember that."

I like to think he wasn't humouring me ; - )