On This Day 13/10/1998 Bernard Butler

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On this day, 13 October 1998, former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler played Cardiff University on his People Move On tour.

People Move On was Butler’s debut album. Music critics gave People Move On generally favourable reviews, though some of them criticized Butler's ability as a vocalist. The album charted at number 11 in the UK Albums Chart; all three of its singles charted on the UK Singles Chart, where "Stay" – the album's best-selling single – peaked at number 12.

He has been hailed by some critics as the greatest guitarist of his generation; BBC journalist Mark Savage called him "one of Britain's most original and influential guitarists". He was voted the 24th greatest guitarist of the last 30 years in a national 2010 BBC poll and is often seen performing with a 1961 cherry red Gibson ES-355 TD SV (Stereo Varitone) with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece.

He first achieved fame in 1992 as the guitarist with Suede, forging a songwriting partnership with Brett Anderson. He co-wrote and played guitars or piano on every recording until 1994, when he exited Suede.

Immediately after leaving Suede he formed the duo McAlmont & Butler with David McAlmont and they released two singles, "Yes" and "You Do". A compilation album, The Sound Of... McAlmont & Butler, was released after the collaboration ended.

On This Day 12/10/1990 The Men They Couldn’t Hang

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On This day, 12 October 1990, Folk/Punk band The Men They Couldn’t Hang played Cardiff University. The band had just released their fifth album The Domino Club.

The Men They Couldn't Hang came together in 1984 to perform at the alternative music festival in Camden Town alongside The Pogues and the Boothill Foot Tappers.

Paul Simmonds, Philip 'Swill' Odgers and his brother Jon, veterans of the Southampton-based pop-punk band Catch 22, met Pogues roadie Stefan Cush whilst busking in Shepherd's Bush in London. Their early line-up was Stefan Cush, Philip Odgers, Paul Simmonds, Jon Odgers and Shanne Bradley.

The band's name is inspired by "The Man They Couldn't Hang", and was originally coined by Shane MacGowan - with whom Bradley previously played in The Nipple Erectors - as a potential name for his own band, who eventually became The Pogues.

In August 1990, the band supported David Bowie in his concerts at the Milton Keynes Bowl, as part of his Sound+Vision Tour.

The band split in 1991 after releasing the live album Alive, Alive-O, a performance recorded at London's Town & Country Club that was later released as a DVD, The Shooting, by Cherry Red Records. Paul Simmonds and "Swill" Odgers then formed Liberty Cage who released an album, Sleep of the Just, in 1994 and an EP, I'll Keep It With Mine, in 1995.

On This Day 11/10/1977 Mink DeVille

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On this day, 11 October 1977, American rock band Mink DeVille played Cardiff’s Top Rank as support to Dr Feelgood. The band just had a UK hit with Spanish Stroll taken from their debut album Cabretta.

Mink DeVille was formed in 1974 when singer Willy DeVille (then called Billy Borsay) met drummer Thomas R. "Manfred" Allen Jr. and bassist Rubén Sigüenza in San Francisco. Said DeVille, "I met Manfred at a party; he'd been playing with John Lee Hooker and a lot of blues people around San Francisco. ... I met Rubén at a basement jam in San Francisco, and he liked everything I liked from The Drifters to, uh, Fritz Lang."

Willy DeVille occasionally sat in with the band Lazy Ace, which included Allen on drums and Ritch Colbert on piano. When Lazy Ace broke up, DeVille, Allen, Colbert, Rubén Sigüenza, and guitarist Robert McKenzie (a.k.a. Fast Floyd, later of Fast Floyd and the Famous Firebirds) formed a band called Billy de Sade and the Marquis.

In 1975, the band changed its name to Mink DeVille; lead singer Billy Borsay took the name Willy DeVille. Said DeVille, "We were sitting around talking of names, and some of them were really rude, and I was saying, guys we can't do that. Then one of the guys said how about Mink DeVille? There can't be anything cooler than a fur-lined Cadillac can there?" DeVille also remarked about the name, "What could be more pimp than a mink Cadillac? In an impressionistic sort of way."

From 1975 to 1977, Mink DeVille was one of the original house bands at CBGB, the New York City nightclub where punk rock music was born in the mid-1970s. "We auditioned along with hundreds of others, but they liked us and took us on.

On This Day 10/10/1979 Penetration

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On this day, 10 October 1979, punk band Penetration played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

Formed in Ferryhill as The Points, under which name they played their first gig, at the Rock Garden pub in Middlesbrough in October 1976, they changed the band's name after a 1973 song by Iggy & The Stooges. Their second gig was supporting The Stranglers at Newcastle City Hall.

Significantly, the band also played at the club The Roxy during its first 100 days. On 9 April 1977, the band appeared on the same bill as Generation X. They were also supported by Joy Division (then named "Warsaw") in May 1977, who were performing their very first gig.Early in their career, the band also supported The Vibrators and toured with Buzzcocks.

After the release of their second single, Penetration recorded the first of two sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1 in July 1978. Later that year, the band released their debut album. Moving Targets was number 6 in the Sounds Critics' albums of the year; and it made number 13 in the NME critics' chart.

In 1979, they toured Europe, the US and Britain but the grueling schedule began to take its toll. A disappointing reaction to Coming Up For Air, the second album, was the final nail in the coffin of the original band. After the band split in October an official bootleg album called Race Against Time was released, which was a collection of early demos and live tracks.

On This Day 09/10/1986 Christy Moore

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On this day, 9 October 1986, Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist Christy Moore played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

Moore had recently released The Spirit of Freedom his ninth solo album. The album is notable for featuring two songs written by Provisional IRA member Bobby Sands. The songs "Back Home in Derry" and "McIlhatton" were written by Sands while in prison at Long Kesh.

In addition to his significant success as a solo artist, he is one of the founding members of the bands Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, Paddy on the Road was recorded with Dominic Behan in 1969. In 2007, he was named as Ireland's greatest living musician in RTÉ's People of the Year Awards.

Moore is best known for his political and social commentary which reflects a left-wing, Irish republican perspective, despite the fact that his mother was a Fine Gael county councillor and parliamentary candidate in Kildare.

He supported the republican H-Block protestors with the albums H-Block in 1978, the launch of which was raided by the police, and The Spirit of Freedom.

He ceased supporting the military activities of the IRA in 1987 as a result of the Enniskillen bombing.

Moore has endorsed a long list of leftist causes, ranging from El Salvador to Mary Robinson in the 1990 presidential election. He has incorporated songs about Salvador Allende ('Allende') and Ronald Reagan ('Ronnie Reagon') into his repertoire.

Review - South Wales Echo

On This Day 08/10/1977 Camel

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On this day, 8 October 1977, progressive rock band Camel played Cardiff University. The band had just released their fifth studio album Rain Dances.

The band was formed in Guildford, Surrey, in 1971 by guitarist Andrew Latimer, drummer Andy Ward, bassist Doug Ferguson and keyboardist Peter Bardens. Latimer, Ward, and Ferguson had performed in the Guildford area as a trio named Brew, and in 1971 they auditioned to be the backing band for singer-songwriter Phillip Goodhand-Tait.

The three went on to appear on latter's album I Think I'll Write a Song, released in September 1971. After splitting with Goodhand-Tait, the trio decided that a keyboardist would expand their sound and advertised for one in the Melody Maker. Bardens responded and successfully auditioned with a Hammond organ that belonged to a mutual friend of the group. The four travelled to Ireland to fulfil outstanding contractual obligations Bardens had with his previous outfit On, after which they renamed themselves Camel. Their live debut with the name followed at Waltham Forest Technical College in London in December 1971, supporting Wishbone Ash.

The group began regular touring in January 1972, establishing themselves as a proficient live act. They soon signed with Geoff Jukes of the Buffalo Agency as their manager. By August 1972, Camel signed with MCA Records and their eponymous debut album Camel was released in early 1973.

The band's fourth album, Moonmadness (1976), was the last to feature the original lineup. Mel Collins was added to the band on saxophone and flute for the subsequent tour. Drummer Ward was pushing for a move into jazz, which caused bassist Ferguson to quit the band in early 1977.[6][10] Ferguson formed the band Headwaiter and later became a property developer.

Richard Sinclair (formerly of Caravan) replaced Ferguson, and Mel Collins joined the band in an official capacity. This lineup released Rain Dances (1977) and Breathless (1978).

On This Day 07/10/1990 Prefab Sprout

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On this day, 7 September 1990, County Durham rock/pop band Prefab Sprout played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on The Comeback Tour in support of their recently released fifth studio album Jordan the Comeback. Support was provided by The Trash Can Sinatras.

A 19-track album encompassing a variety of musical styles and themes, Jordan has been considered by the band and critics alike to be Prefab Sprout's most ambitious project. The album was produced by Thomas Dolby, who had helmed the band's acclaimed 1985 album Steve McQueen but had been unable to commit to the entirety of its 1988 follow-up From Langley Park to Memphis.

Frontman Paddy McAloon divided the album thematically into four segments – straight pop material, a suite about Elvis Presley, love songs and a section on "death and fate". Often touching upon religion and celebrity, the songs allude to figures including Jesse James, Agnetha Fältskog, God and the Devil. Upon release, the album received widespread acclaim with comparisons made to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, the Beatles' White Album, Prince's Sign o' the Times and the work of Phil Spector.

It was also a commercial success, peaking at number 7 on the UK Albums Chart. The album's singles were less successful – "Looking for Atlantis" and "We Let the Stars Go" peaked at number 51 and number 50, respectively, on the UK Singles Chart while Jordan: The EP peaked at number 35. The album was nominated for Brit Award for British Album of the Year at the 1991 Brit Awards.

Stuart Maconie of NME described the album as "riding a thematic railroad from nuggets of pure pop philosophy to weighty matters of the soul". Comparing the album's ambition to "other great pop jamborees from Sign o' the Times to the White Album", Maconie commented "to say it's the pop triumph of the year is to damn it with faint praise". David Wild of Rolling Stone said, "If Brian Wilson at the height of his creative powers had spent a year in the studio working up a concept album about love, God and Elvis, the result might have sounded like Jordan: The Comeback.

On This Day 06/10/1972 Electric Light Orchestra

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On this day, 6 October 1972, rock band the Electric Light Orchestra played Cardiff University.

Formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters-multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography.

It was during this tour that Roy and Jeff began to not get along. The problems were initially caused because of the attention Roy was getting over Jeff, especially with the press. Although Electric Light Orchestra was a completely joint venture with the two songwriters/producers/musicians equally splitting the tasks on the first album and during the tour, Jeff's songs were featured even more than Roy's songs. However, at the time, Roy was the much bigger star, having had big chart success as a songwriter and more with The Move. Jeff, on the other hand, had experienced no chart success with the Idle Race and little to no chart success as a songwriter when he joined The Move.

So at press events and many of the tour performances, it was Roy who was getting all the attention, with very little left over for Jeff. According to many sources, they nearly came to blows at times and would stand at the edge of the stage on performance nights and argue who should be the last to go on to the stage. There are specific reports of this in Italy, so that "getaway" leg of the tour did little to allay the problem. Roy claims, and probably accurately, that manager Don Arden fomented the rivalry, with the goal of getting one to leave the band and then he would have two bands with talented musicians to manage, rather than one band with two talented musicians.

The reason for Roy Wood’s departure was the subject of gossip columns for many years after it happened. The truth is, the band was having difficulties functioning with two leaders. Roy and Jeff were great friends, sharing a dream with the creation of the Electric Light Orchestra concept. Roy has stated that he was often troubled by the disagreements over the direction of his band while in The Move and would not go through that again. So when Roy and Jeff were apparently feuding in Electric Light Orchestra, the very thing he didn't want to happen was happening. There are some stories of them arguing over such miniscule things as who would go on stage first while at shows. Therefore, Roy left to form another band, Wizzard, where he was the sole leader. The problem was that Roy left without telling anybody. When the band came together in July to work, Roy was simply gone and Jeff and Bev learned about Roy leaving from the music trade papers.

After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.

Line up

Jeff Lynne: vocals, guitar

Bev Bevan: drums

Richard Tandy: keyboards

Wilf Gibson: violin

Mike Edwards: cello

Colin Walker: cello

Mike deAlbuquerque: bass, backing vocals

Jake Commander: engineer