Yes, indeed! As I played the Kershaw session, I was amazed I could remember the exact chord sequences for the opening of every song. Ron was a bigger influence on me than I realised! Thanks for watching and for commenting!
"Never liked the Who ," (Love you Jim!)...Supercharge look amazing! ,(If only...)...Pub Rock is really all i cared about, at 13 years old i liked TOTP stuff, after that it was pubs and clubs. When i moved to London and my band played in the "Bull and Gate ", i had achieved everything i ever wanted in music......love your Videos (as you know)...Wishing you all the best .👍
Wow... I used to see Supercharge regularly in Liverpool in the mid-70s as an underage teenager at places like The Sportsman and Mountford Hall. Very fond memories. Thanks for posting!
Yes Jim! At last: Howlin Wilf and the Vee Jays gets a bit of credit. James was (and is) one of the best harmonica players I ever heard with a beautiful soulful voice and they were a great little band to boot. Saw them many times back in the eighties, still play the cassette recording of their live set on GLR, still love that eponymous first album, fondly remember the gigs (every time James introduced the song 'Delilah' he had to explain it was 'not that one!') He certainly was a 'Brown eyed handsome man'. Boz Boorer did demos for Chrysalis, did two tracks for a band of mine once which were eventually given to Island Records for some reason (they hated them) nice bloke, even after he joined Morrissey's band. I once saw Jamie, the double bass player, busking in Plaza Real in Barcelona, another nice bloke. Saw Tommy Chase once or twice too. Brutal little drummer! Thanks for the memories Jim.
Thanks! I'm afraid my comments about Wilf/Neil's harmonica playing didn't make the cut. I agree with just about everything you say. Thanks for adding to the knowledge. That's the main reason I decided to make these videos: that period of music was so important and so exciting but very under-reported. I find it a scandal that acts like Howlin' Wilf (my favourite version of all the "James Hunter bands"), and Diz and the Doormen don't even get Wikipedia pages (nor does Diz Watson)!
Hey Jim, just subscribed! I've now watched a few of your videos, so will now catch up with all of them. Totally wonderful and so much great stuff. Did you ever get to know the great Ken Whaley, who played bass with Help Yourself and Man? He loved "The Only Ones" and he told me that he used to see them when he was on the door for The Hope and Anchor. I saw Supercharge just before lockdown in a small venue on the dock road in Liverpool, plus two of the brass section playing in a local "supergroup" busking in Liverpool at the end of lockdown. All money raised went to help a community group to feed kids from poor backgrounds. Total stars in my estimation. Keep up the great work.
Thanks very much for the kind words: I'll continue to do my best to make entertaining and informative videos. I knew Ken Whaley a little and I always enjoyed seeing him. I tried to book the band whenever they were around and I had a slot free. I still forget sometimes to speak about booking bands "in the past tense" as I realise I'm now out of the game and have been since my big show in Margate in 2019 - though I didn't realise it at the time.Cheers!
Fantastic Jim , what about a video on the 2 best pub bands of the eighties, Balham Alligators & Diz and the doormen ( argument starts here 😊) Thanks again
Thanks for the suggestion. I have about 40 acts (I wont say bands, some of them are solo performers) on my list of underrated Pub Rock era stars to include in future videos, and both of those names are definitely on it. Cheers!
Hi Jim, I, am from Deptford and used to watch squeeze at every opportunity, and Chris used to go to my school, and remember at every playtime, Chris playing his guitar in the playground. I even joined a band as a drummer called Gnasher in the late 70s. Great Times!!!!
Hey Jim, your vids are excellent and informative for us music treasure seekers! Love your use of live band clips and pics! I'm going to check out some of these under the radar artists. Huge Squeeze fan, never understand why they aren't HUGE! Smart, witty lyrics, hooks and melodies that other bands can only dream of, totally consistent catalog, loaded with gem after gem.......people have strange taste (except for you and I 😁) Thanks again and I'll be watching for more of your stellar vids.
Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoy the videos and find them helpful. Squeeze is definitely one of those fantastic bands that ticks every box and more. Thanks again, and thanks for sharing your thoughts! Cheers!
Good to see Howlin Wilf and the Vee Jays getting a mention. My son, who's a musician, was sifting through my battered vinyl collection, not that long ago, and out came their album, which I'd bought, straight after seeing them at a North London pub (think it was the Torrington in Finchley), as an impressionable teenager.
@@JimDriver Oh yes, it's a very good album, and quite the impulse buy, as I remember I was saving up for a new guitar at the time, so I must have been really impressed by them 🙂
always liked get up and dance, i actually had that first supercharge LP the independent one , yeah it was a big hit down here, get up and dance, gday from OZ
Greetings to OZ from a rather rainy Ramsgate (UK)! Yes, Supercharge were one of my favourite bands, even when it wasn't cool to like them. Same with Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band. I was told that the popularity of Supercharge and their sales saved Virgin Records "Downunder", which was about to have its plug pulled! Might or miught not be true… Cheers!
Goodbye to Love has a great solo, so unexpected on a Carpenters tune. I tried to work it out at the time. Squeeze started as a pub band, but I wouldn't categorise them as underrated, they made it pretty big, not quite as big as Elvis Costello, but up with Graham Parker and the Rumour and Joe Jackson from that era. A few years ago Glen did a collaboration with my favourite 80s pub band Nine Below Zero culminating in the album The Co-operative, that is underrated.
Indeed 'The Co-operative' is underrated, as are NBZ. At the time, Suzanne (Glenn's wife) was managing NBZ; not sure if she still is. Dennis and they are pretty much neighbours. Thanks foe commenting (I agree with just about everything you say) and for watching. Cheers!
Great band! After their initial Pub Rock phase, Supercharge were a mainstay of the college circuit. I can remember when no Freshers Bor May Ball would be complete without them. They were a lot cheaper than ELO, who were another but much pricier option. Cheers!
I was lucky enough to see Supercharge many times playing locally in Liverpool in the 70's. Albie (sax) had a wonderful sense of absurd humour, which was often risque. Check out "She moved the dishes first" if it's available anywhere.
Re. your 80s phone book - Dermott Hayes - Dublin frellance journalist? He wrote a book on Sinead O'Connor in the 90s and published a few features in Mojo magazine,
Thank you for sharing your experience! It’s great to know that Supercharge brought you so much joy and laughter. I'm assuming the laughs were intended. Cheers!
Yes totally guilty on that score! I made a video about about Frank/Chris and those days: ua-cam.com/video/RlN6tKYsgvs/v-deo.html Welcome aboard and thanks for the kind words!
I remember it happening but I didn't go. I usually don't like those kind of things. I think someone told me it was because the band had broken up and neither Glenn nor Chris could see any chance of them reforming. How wrong they were… 😄
Yes! I remember putting them on in 1973/74. Their manager lived in Bishops Stortford and subsequently became a very bi cheese in the music industry, unlike me! I wish I could remember his name…
I agree with Jim. Pub rock (in my opinion) was a kind of pivotal point in "rock" culture. There was a schism between what many of the original "prog" inspired musicians who had good intentions desired and a feeling of dis-enchantment from working class kids who thought that "musicianship" was only for the "posh". I grew up in a very working class environment and used to see NF grafitee scrawled on walls at the time. I hated it and was repulsed. Pub rock was, for me, a kind of bridge between being working class and dis-liking intolerance. Hope this makes sense!
Back in the 70s we went to see a band who performed in Leeds almost every week, they were brilliant and called Son Of A Bitch. They got so popular the venue struggled to get in. A bigger venue arranged and before long they were signed to a big label. Had to change the name to Saxon. Another band gigging the same venues in Leeds Ethel The Frog
There was plenty of Heavy Rock around in those days (and I remember seeing Saxon advertised) but in the London Pub Rock mainstream it wasn't particularly popular and tended to feature more in venues in the East End and beyond. I remember the Ruskin Arms in East Ham, aside from being the first regular gig for the Small Faces a decade earlier, hosted Rock Nights. And the Bridge House slotted in Rock among the Punk, Skin and other stuff… Thanks for watching and for commenting with your great stories. Cheers!
Yes, I used to play 'Cool For Cats' on repeat back in the day, though I think my copy was common or garden black vinyl. I used to have a pretty cool vinyl collection myself but my flat in Fulham was burgled back in the 1980s and everything, even the carpet was stolen! All they left behind was a single LP, the first 1968 album by Fleetwood Mac. I often wonder about that… 🌻😄
I think you're right, though I'd put it slightly earlier: maybe 1976-79. Although they had the energy of Punk long before it kicked off, I think they suffered from the backlash against "old style" bands that happened from 1976 onwards. Thanks for commenting!
Funny you should mention them. Both have been featured on previous videos. Here's a link to the Roogalator one: ua-cam.com/video/t8Tok-k3NzQ/v-deo.htmlsi=9aAt5MysycNLCjbk Cheers!
Thanks! Yes, I find it helps to include a band most people will have heard of and I did have some stories to tell about Squeeze. Plus, I thought they were way better than they were perceived at the time. Up there with The KInks and Small Faces, in my view!!
Ozzy (guitar) and Albie (sax) used to have me in tears of laughter. I remember Albie saying something derogatory to Ozzy (all good banter) on stage and Ozzy replied... "Shurrup Albie... you've got your head on upside down." Albie famously was bald, but had quite a beard growth!
Radio Caroline used to play 'She Moved The Dishes First' by Supercharge quite a lot, so I went to see them playing as a support act (as well as Steve Hillage & Kiki Dee) at a free concert in Hyde Park. I enjoyed all the support acts, but left halfway through the headliners' first song. They were, and remain, abysmal.
That was a weird bill to say the least! Sounds to me like it might have been a showcase for Virgin Records. Back in 1975, very few bands went on stage (especially at out-of-the-way places like the John Bull) and put as much energy into their music as Supercharge did that first night. The bands who did (Dr Feelgood, Eddie & The Hot Rods and so on) tended to stand out from the herd. I believe 'She Moved The Dishes First' was created to create space on stage when a guitarist needed to change a string and so on. It became an audience favourite and caught on, despite the slightly dodgy word. (It was a different time!) Cheers!
@@JimDriver The headliners weren't a Virgin act, though, Jim & I'm surprised you didn't ask who they were. Let's just say their opening song, during which I walked out, was a #1 in several subsequent decades and when I express my dislike of them I usually get the same response as you've had regarding The Who!
Yes, I'm always surprised when I remember I don't like them. I always thought their singles were never as good as anything by The Beatles, Small Faces, Kinks, etc, and my prejudice was confirmed when I met Rog in the 1970s in a very strange context… 😄😄😄
Agree with Jim always couldn't understand how the who where more popular than small faces I think the reason was small faces didn't tour the states, daltrey always looked miserable,
@@mikeowen1192 I liked Small Faces and The Who , it's possible to like both . How did Daltrey "looking miserable" affect the Small Faces not touring the States ? Illogical. Btw, he wasn't miserable, just not constantly grinning like Donny Osmond.
Yes, Alice and The Barflies were a good band (many a happy Sunday lunchtime show at The Cricketers), and largely forgotten today. I have a long list of bands I'll be covering over the coming weeks and months. The Barflies are on the list… 😄
I remember them! I saw them several times at a b00zer d0wn St0ckwell rd 0r st0ckwell park rd, cant remember what its called, anyway the 0ne fr0m st0ckwell r0undab0ut t0 brixt0n. They were very g00d.
@@JimDriver Yes! it was the Pl0ugh! Barflies were there regularly. My band (0h The G0ats) played in an0ther pub just bef0re the skate park by st0ckwell park estate where s0me bl0ke had been sh0t 0utside a few m0nths bef0re - I can c0nfidently say the tw0 events were n0t linked! Th0se were m0st definitely the days.
James Hunter - Jimmy to his friends in those days, not Neil, from what l remember - used to come and see my old band, Automatic Slim, at gigs in Colchester and north Essex. He would’ve been about 16 or 17 then and he would sidle up to me and ask if l had any old harmonicas he could have! Mean bastard that l was back then, I think l gave him a couple of broken ones from the bottom of my cable trunk. 😮 Next time l saw him was a couple of years later when l was mixing sound for a rock’n’roll gig in Maldon, by which time he’d reinvented himself as a very convincing leather-trousered reincarnation of Gene Vincent. You couldn’t take your eyes off him! Then a couple of years after that, l turned on the Tube and there he was - as Wilf. An amazing talent - in a world of mediocre talents I always reckoned Hunter and Ian Siegal stood head and shoulders above the rest. They still do!
Thank you for sharing that excellent story! It’s always great to hear personal anecdotes about that time and about people I met through different circumstances. His mother definitely called him Neil! Cheers!
Same deal wwith me. I met him when I was at college in Colchester in the early eighties, he seemed quite charming, but an ordinary chap, no big deal. Then a couple of years later I saw him on stage with the Vee Jays, the guy was brilliant! Best harp player I ever heard. Loved it when he made it onto The Tube! Still play that first album they did today.
Haha! I'm sorry, but I would totally disagree. 😄 Whereas I put on a whole range of acts from all over the world of many musical genres and avoided Dumpy's Rusty Nuts at The Cricketers, the Royal Standard put on Dumpy's Rusty Nuts and specialised in whatever British Rock bands were around on the circuit. At least, that's my perception. Thanks for your interpretation. Please keep watching my videos. Cheers!
What amazes me is that Springsteen tribute bands are playing large venues theatres ect and acts like the small fakers are working 52 weeks a year about 3 a week so full time, and springsteen now a billion air,
Never got Squeeze. Admittedly I didn't pay a great deal of notice, but their singles and telly appearences always seemed dull. I saw them at the 78 Reading festival and after 30 minutes l heard the rest from the toilet.
I'm guessing from your comment that you never lived in Southeast London. If you had, you know that liking squeeze was compulsory! 😀😎 Thanks for sharing your thoughts and please keep watching! Cheers!
Some did, for sure, but I used to avoid them whenever possible. I never had a decent pint in the Golden Lion in Fulham, and it was a bit hit and miss in my experience in The Kensington… 😉😄😎 Always a decent pint of London Pride whenever I visited The Nashville… Thanks for watching and taking part. Cheers!
Two great calls. Help yourself featured in a video I made that included John Eichler of the Hope & Anchor, about underrated Pub Rock bands. Only Ones will no doubt follow one day. Thanks for sharing!
Well, I know who they all are! But seriously, almost everybody would know Squeeze (they had some pop hits), but the others would be restricted to cult followings. Alias Ron Kavana was widely known in the Irish community, partly because of Ron's work with The Pogues. and for Irish charities Thanks for asking and for joining in. Cheers!
I've obviously heard of them but… Underrated you say? Cheers for watching and for commenting. Please watch my other videos. Maybe you'd like this one: ua-cam.com/video/JMmtZgYOY9M/v-deo.htmlsi=FfJKP-c84VXT4lmT
Hard to see much Velvet Underground in suburban balladeers Squeeze. The 1980s were the decade of reflection (or reflexivity if you want to get post modern), with bands recycling everything from bebop to zydeco, rockabilly to gospel. Pop had run out of ideas and nothing since has persuaded me otherwise. Sadly.
When I saw Squeeze at the Brecknock in about 1976, there was a lot more Velvet Underground in them than may be apparent in later days. And their debut EP sounds like Velvet Underground would have sounded if they'd lived in South-East London a few years later… 😎😄
Saw Squeeze supporting Eddie And The Hot Rods and Radio Stars in 1978. They were really good. Still got the Packet Of Three EP. Lost interest after the Bang Bang single.
You're dead right: the first time I saw Squeeze in that north London pub, I could see they had much more going for them than the average band. Essentially, it was Glen and Chris: Jools was always a lightweight in my opinion and surplus to requirements. Gilson was a great drummer but he was the drummer and didn't contribute any songs as far as I know. Cheers!
I saw Squeeze a couple of times at Woolwich Polytechnic back in the dream time. They were so tight and rocked the place. I remember being in the cellar bar at the Poly before a gig and John Cooper-Clarke lurched in, pissed as a fart, and made an announcement. "Has anyone seen a blue marblette notebook? A BLUE MARBLETTE NOTEBOOK." He didn't find it and had to do his set from memory. He was great.
Great stories - thanks for sharing them! I used to work quite closely with the booker at Thames Poly at that time: we used to share contacts and stuff. His name was Dave Wish I could remember his surname! I do remember that the first MacDonalds opened in Woolwich and even though we were both vegetarians we snuck in and tried the new product everyone was raving about. Haha! Thanks again…
@@JimDriver McD opened in 1974. Ed Stewpot Stewart cut the ribbon. The Kentish Independent and the Mercury had coupons that got you a free burger and fries. I was there as Woolwich was where I was born.
No, I didn't particularly like the Who's music because I didn't think it was as good as contemporaries like The Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Small Faces, etc. And I thought stuff like Quadrophenia and Pinball Wizard was predictable and manufactured. I didn't like the man personally because he was heavily involved with gangsters and was a poseur. The trout farming and his ill-informed Brexit comments served to illustrate my views. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
@@JimDriver Maybe explain your opinions in the video so he can sue you in court instead of hide behind accusations of wrongthink about the EU. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
@@trevorhoward2254 Not sure I have to explain something I said in passing but it's certainly something you should consider when you start making videos telling the "true story" of The Wonderful Who. Cheers!
I *REALLY* don't like Van Morrison! There is Jools Holland sneaking in again! ATV were another Deptford Fun City Records band he played with. There remains nothing fun about Deptford.
You should go and live with Roger and Nigel and see what they are really like. I'm sad, thinking of all the exceptionally average videos you are going to miss because of a single word.… 😄
@@JimDriver If it's any consolation, Jim, I'm profoundly critical of the European Union but can separate my political judgements from my enthusiasm for the history of popular music, and pub rock in particular. Differences of opinion used to be what one expected of people, now they are cause for condemnation and cancellation. Moreover, I was always critical of overtly political acts of any stripe. It seemed like an easy way of acquiring a tame audience for mediocre music. Shut up and play the guitar, like.
Ooops I think you just slipped up a little bit there by showing you true metropolitan elite colours with one little word. I couldn't care less wether or not you prefer the olympic sized blandness of Supercharge to The Who, personal opinion and all that but by allowing that naughty, awful word Brexit to slip out spoke volumes. Seems like you just couldn't help yourself. Why that was relevant as a factor in not liking The Who is a bit baffling due to the band having been around for over 50 years before Brexit was even thought of.
Re. your 80s phone book - Dermott Hayes - Dublin freelance journalist? He wrote a book on Sinead O'Connor in the 90s and published a few features in Mojo magazine,
Hi Jim, "Penny for the Black Babies" I remember it well. Fascinating times!🙂👍
Yes, indeed! As I played the Kershaw session, I was amazed I could remember the exact chord sequences for the opening of every song. Ron was a bigger influence on me than I realised!
Thanks for watching and for commenting!
Excellent videos because you've got some music, footage and adverts in there. One of the best constructed videos I've seen on UA-cam.
Thanks! I don't get a lot of say over the ads but every little helps. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Cheers!
Thanks Jim for another great video: nice to hear mention of 'Rent Party'.
Thanks for the kind words. I did mention Rent Party at greater length in the last video I did on this subject. Hopefully, you saw it. Cheers!
@@JimDriver That must have passed me by - will check it out - cheers!
Ah, great memories of Squeeze and Chris and Glen on their own over the years. Glen is a hugely underrated guitarist. Thanks Jim.
Thank you very much for the kind words and for taking the time to watch the video. Please keep watching!
"Never liked the Who ," (Love you Jim!)...Supercharge look amazing! ,(If only...)...Pub Rock is really all i cared about, at 13 years old i liked TOTP stuff, after that it was pubs and clubs. When i moved to London and my band played in the "Bull and Gate ", i had achieved everything i ever wanted in music......love your Videos (as you know)...Wishing you all the best .👍
Haha, thanks! Very kind of you to say so. Please keep watching and commenting!
Wow... I used to see Supercharge regularly in Liverpool in the mid-70s as an underage teenager at places like The Sportsman and Mountford Hall. Very fond memories. Thanks for posting!
My pleasure: thanks for watching and for commenting! I hope you enjoy some of my other videos. Cheers!
jim you know your stuff, keep them coming
Very kind of you to say so: I'll do my best to make more entertaining videos (and make them more entertaining!). Cheers!
Yes Jim! At last: Howlin Wilf and the Vee Jays gets a bit of credit. James was (and is) one of the best harmonica players I ever heard with a beautiful soulful voice and they were a great little band to boot. Saw them many times back in the eighties, still play the cassette recording of their live set on GLR, still love that eponymous first album, fondly remember the gigs (every time James introduced the song 'Delilah' he had to explain it was 'not that one!') He certainly was a 'Brown eyed handsome man'.
Boz Boorer did demos for Chrysalis, did two tracks for a band of mine once which were eventually given to Island Records for some reason (they hated them) nice bloke, even after he joined Morrissey's band.
I once saw Jamie, the double bass player, busking in Plaza Real in Barcelona, another nice bloke.
Saw Tommy Chase once or twice too. Brutal little drummer!
Thanks for the memories Jim.
Thanks! I'm afraid my comments about Wilf/Neil's harmonica playing didn't make the cut. I agree with just about everything you say. Thanks for adding to the knowledge. That's the main reason I decided to make these videos: that period of music was so important and so exciting but very under-reported.
I find it a scandal that acts like Howlin' Wilf (my favourite version of all the "James Hunter bands"), and Diz and the Doormen don't even get Wikipedia pages (nor does Diz Watson)!
Hey Jim, just subscribed! I've now watched a few of your videos, so will now catch up with all of them. Totally wonderful and so much great stuff. Did you ever get to know the great Ken Whaley, who played bass with Help Yourself and Man? He loved "The Only Ones" and he told me that he used to see them when he was on the door for The Hope and Anchor. I saw Supercharge just before lockdown in a small venue on the dock road in Liverpool, plus two of the brass section playing in a local "supergroup" busking in Liverpool at the end of lockdown. All money raised went to help a community group to feed kids from poor backgrounds. Total stars in my estimation. Keep up the great work.
Thanks very much for the kind words: I'll continue to do my best to make entertaining and informative videos. I knew Ken Whaley a little and I always enjoyed seeing him. I tried to book the band whenever they were around and I had a slot free.
I still forget sometimes to speak about booking bands "in the past tense" as I realise I'm now out of the game and have been since my big show in Margate in 2019 - though I didn't realise it at the time.Cheers!
Enjoy your videos Jim. Just subscribed! Keep them coming
Welcome aboard! I appreciate the kind words and hope we share many happy memories together. Cheers!
Fantastic Jim , what about a video on the 2 best pub bands of the eighties, Balham Alligators & Diz and the doormen ( argument starts here 😊) Thanks again
Thanks for the suggestion. I have about 40 acts (I wont say bands, some of them are solo performers) on my list of underrated Pub Rock era stars to include in future videos, and both of those names are definitely on it. Cheers!
Hi Jim, I, am from Deptford and used to watch squeeze at every opportunity, and Chris used to go to my school, and remember at every playtime, Chris playing his guitar in the playground. I even joined a band as a drummer called Gnasher in the late 70s. Great Times!!!!
Fantastic stuff! Thanks for sharing. I remember Gnasher and I also remember some venues couldn't spell the name. Happy daze indeed. Cheers!
@@JimDriver Hey Jim... Happy daze, note the spelling. Another Help Yourself/Man connection.
I saw Tommy Chase at the Wag in 1986 - amazing!
Indeed! I famously am not a fan of jazz but his shows were pumped full of energy and amazing. I still feel a buzz thinking about them. Cheers!
Hey Jim, your vids are excellent and informative for us music treasure seekers! Love your use of live band clips and pics! I'm going to check out some of these under the radar artists. Huge Squeeze fan, never understand why they aren't HUGE! Smart, witty lyrics, hooks and melodies that other bands can only dream of, totally consistent catalog, loaded with gem after gem.......people have strange taste (except for you and I 😁) Thanks again and I'll be watching for more of your stellar vids.
Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoy the videos and find them helpful. Squeeze is definitely one of those fantastic bands that ticks every box and more. Thanks again, and thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Cheers!
Right about anger man.
Yes, he was known to some as "Mr Tantrum"… 😄
So right about Squeeze.
Titans.
Indeed, they were! Thanks for watching and for taking part. Cheers!
Good to see Howlin Wilf and the Vee Jays getting a mention. My son, who's a musician, was sifting through my battered vinyl collection, not that long ago, and out came their album, which I'd bought, straight after seeing them at a North London pub (think it was the Torrington in Finchley), as an impressionable teenager.
Great story: that was definitely one of the best albums of its type of the time. It's a real shame they didn't get any further. Thanks for sharing!
@@JimDriver Oh yes, it's a very good album, and quite the impulse buy, as I remember I was saving up for a new guitar at the time, so I must have been really impressed by them 🙂
Squeeze rotherhive boozer
Yay, Howlin' Wilf! Cry Wilf! is a great album. 😄
Totally agree! I was playing it on my iPhone only yesterday. Thanks!
always liked get up and dance, i actually had that first supercharge LP the independent one , yeah it was a big hit down here, get up and dance, gday from OZ
Greetings to OZ from a rather rainy Ramsgate (UK)!
Yes, Supercharge were one of my favourite bands, even when it wasn't cool to like them. Same with Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band. I was told that the popularity of Supercharge and their sales saved Virgin Records "Downunder", which was about to have its plug pulled! Might or miught not be true…
Cheers!
Goodbye to Love has a great solo, so unexpected on a Carpenters tune. I tried to work it out at the time.
Squeeze started as a pub band, but I wouldn't categorise them as underrated, they made it pretty big, not quite as big as Elvis Costello, but up with Graham Parker and the Rumour and Joe Jackson from that era. A few years ago Glen did a collaboration with my favourite 80s pub band Nine Below Zero culminating in the album The Co-operative, that is underrated.
Indeed 'The Co-operative' is underrated, as are NBZ. At the time, Suzanne (Glenn's wife) was managing NBZ; not sure if she still is. Dennis and they are pretty much neighbours. Thanks foe commenting (I agree with just about everything you say) and for watching. Cheers!
Supercharge! Totally forgotten about them, saw them at some point, probably Sheffield student Union late '70s
Great band! After their initial Pub Rock phase, Supercharge were a mainstay of the college circuit. I can remember when no Freshers Bor May Ball would be complete without them. They were a lot cheaper than ELO, who were another but much pricier option. Cheers!
I saw Supercharge in '76, opening for Hillage, Queen , Hyde park gig .. they were excellent.
Yes, they were a great band. Wish I'd seen them more.
Thanks for commenting (and for watching)!
I was lucky enough to see Supercharge many times playing locally in Liverpool in the 70's. Albie (sax) had a wonderful sense of absurd humour, which was often risque. Check out "She moved the dishes first" if it's available anywhere.
Best pub band i ever saw was the "Wee wee on Mama band". Absolutely brilliant.
Thanks for sharing that! I'll have to take your word for it: I'm afraid I never caught them. Cheers!
Re. your 80s phone book - Dermott Hayes - Dublin frellance journalist? He wrote a book on Sinead O'Connor in the 90s and published a few features in Mojo magazine,
I saw Supercharge at Farnborough Tec, there were quite a few comedic, laugh out loud moments 😂
Thank you for sharing your experience! It’s great to know that Supercharge brought you so much joy and laughter. I'm assuming the laughs were intended.
Cheers!
Love the channel ! I saw lots of bands at the Cricketers and other pubs back in the day , did you put on Frank Sidebottom ?
Yes totally guilty on that score! I made a video about about Frank/Chris and those days: ua-cam.com/video/RlN6tKYsgvs/v-deo.html
Welcome aboard and thanks for the kind words!
Did you catch the musical Squeeze did about a pub that turned into a wine bar, it had Danny John Jules (cat from Red Dwarf) in it.
I remember it happening but I didn't go. I usually don't like those kind of things. I think someone told me it was because the band had broken up and neither Glenn nor Chris could see any chance of them reforming. How wrong they were… 😄
@@JimDriver there was a bit on the Tube, I found it on a resource
Pub Rock i been getting around to the "genre " in quotes"😅 sane thing with Kraut Rock. One of my Top Pub bands the the Motors.
Haha! There was so much to enjoy back then, wasn't there? I did mention The Motors in this video: ua-cam.com/video/t8Tok-k3NzQ/v-deo.html
Reading 76 looked great - unfortunately I was born about 10 years too late so I missed out on all the brilliant music of the 70's.
That's a shame! I sometimes think I was born at exactly the right time to enjoy the 1970s and 1980s. Thanks for commenting!
HI Jim, do you remember STARRY EYED AND LAUGHING, saw them a few times at the NASHVILLE.
Yes! I remember putting them on in 1973/74. Their manager lived in Bishops Stortford and subsequently became a very bi cheese in the music industry, unlike me! I wish I could remember his name…
Pub Rock is like Pub Food. Its good for a snack, but you can't make a meal out of it
Thanks for commenting. Personally, I loved the whole Pub Rock scene - with a few minor exceptions! 😄😉😎
I agree with Jim. Pub rock (in my opinion) was a kind of pivotal point in "rock" culture. There was a schism between what many of the original "prog" inspired musicians who had good intentions desired and a feeling of dis-enchantment from working class kids who thought that "musicianship" was only for the "posh". I grew up in a very working class environment and used to see NF grafitee scrawled on walls at the time. I hated it and was repulsed. Pub rock was, for me, a kind of bridge between being working class and dis-liking intolerance. Hope this makes sense!
Back in the 70s we went to see a band who performed in Leeds almost every week, they were brilliant and called Son Of A Bitch. They got so popular the venue struggled to get in. A bigger venue arranged and before long they were signed to a big label. Had to change the name to Saxon. Another band gigging the same venues in Leeds Ethel The Frog
There was plenty of Heavy Rock around in those days (and I remember seeing Saxon advertised) but in the London Pub Rock mainstream it wasn't particularly popular and tended to feature more in venues in the East End and beyond. I remember the Ruskin Arms in East Ham, aside from being the first regular gig for the Small Faces a decade earlier, hosted Rock Nights. And the Bridge House slotted in Rock among the Punk, Skin and other stuff…
Thanks for watching and for commenting with your great stories. Cheers!
Saw Supercharge at Reading as shown, can't say I remember them but it was a long time ago. The track sounded good though.
Yes, Supercharge were great: especially in the tentative pre-Punk London of the early to mid-1970s. Thanks for commenting and for watching!
First record I ever bought was Squeeze's 'Cool for Cats' - in pink vinyl, no less. Wish I still had it, like other records I bought over 40 years ago.
Yes, I used to play 'Cool For Cats' on repeat back in the day, though I think my copy was common or garden black vinyl.
I used to have a pretty cool vinyl collection myself but my flat in Fulham was burgled back in the 1980s and everything, even the carpet was stolen! All they left behind was a single LP, the first 1968 album by Fleetwood Mac. I often wonder about that… 🌻😄
@@JimDriver Heathen burglars! That's a great album they left behind. I still have it in the old analogue rotating format.
@@JimDriver big hit in Australia
Supercharge later played the College circuit around 79/80 as far as I can remember.
I think you're right, though I'd put it slightly earlier: maybe 1976-79. Although they had the energy of Punk long before it kicked off, I think they suffered from the backlash against "old style" bands that happened from 1976 onwards. Thanks for commenting!
Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, Roogalator.
Funny you should mention them. Both have been featured on previous videos. Here's a link to the Roogalator one: ua-cam.com/video/t8Tok-k3NzQ/v-deo.htmlsi=9aAt5MysycNLCjbk
Cheers!
funny to see Squeeze here, but everyone was a pub/bar /club band at one time
Thanks! Yes, I find it helps to include a band most people will have heard of and I did have some stories to tell about Squeeze. Plus, I thought they were way better than they were perceived at the time. Up there with The KInks and Small Faces, in my view!!
Supercharge legendary Ozzy played with my dad for years
Excellent! Thanks for sharing and for watching!±
Ozzy (guitar) and Albie (sax) used to have me in tears of laughter. I remember Albie saying something derogatory to Ozzy (all good banter) on stage and Ozzy replied... "Shurrup Albie... you've got your head on upside down." Albie famously was bald, but had quite a beard growth!
Radio Caroline used to play 'She Moved The Dishes First' by Supercharge quite a lot, so I went to see them playing as a support act (as well as Steve Hillage & Kiki Dee) at a free concert in Hyde Park.
I enjoyed all the support acts, but left halfway through the headliners' first song.
They were, and remain, abysmal.
That was a weird bill to say the least! Sounds to me like it might have been a showcase for Virgin Records. Back in 1975, very few bands went on stage (especially at out-of-the-way places like the John Bull) and put as much energy into their music as Supercharge did that first night. The bands who did (Dr Feelgood, Eddie & The Hot Rods and so on) tended to stand out from the herd.
I believe 'She Moved The Dishes First' was created to create space on stage when a guitarist needed to change a string and so on. It became an audience favourite and caught on, despite the slightly dodgy word. (It was a different time!)
Cheers!
@@JimDriver The headliners weren't a Virgin act, though, Jim & I'm surprised you didn't ask who they were.
Let's just say their opening song, during which I walked out, was a #1 in several subsequent decades and when I express my dislike of them I usually get the same response as you've had regarding The Who!
Learning that you never liked The Who was more surprising than your actual choices here tbh ! 😊
Yes, I'm always surprised when I remember I don't like them. I always thought their singles were never as good as anything by The Beatles, Small Faces, Kinks, etc, and my prejudice was confirmed when I met Rog in the 1970s in a very strange context… 😄😄😄
@@JimDriver Well now I'm intrigued! 😊
Agree with Jim always couldn't understand how the who where more popular than small faces I think the reason was small faces didn't tour the states, daltrey always looked miserable,
@@mikeowen1192 I liked Small Faces and The Who , it's possible to like both . How did Daltrey "looking miserable" affect the Small Faces not touring the States ? Illogical.
Btw, he wasn't miserable, just not constantly grinning like Donny Osmond.
The Barflies!
Yes, Alice and The Barflies were a good band (many a happy Sunday lunchtime show at The Cricketers), and largely forgotten today. I have a long list of bands I'll be covering over the coming weeks and months. The Barflies are on the list… 😄
I remember them! I saw them several times at a b00zer d0wn St0ckwell rd 0r st0ckwell park rd, cant remember what its called, anyway the 0ne fr0m st0ckwell r0undab0ut t0 brixt0n. They were very g00d.
@@wildskel6350 Was it called The Plough?
@@JimDriver Yes! it was the Pl0ugh! Barflies were there regularly. My band (0h The G0ats) played in an0ther pub just bef0re the skate park by st0ckwell park estate where s0me bl0ke had been sh0t 0utside a few m0nths bef0re - I can c0nfidently say the tw0 events were n0t linked! Th0se were m0st definitely the days.
James Hunter - Jimmy to his friends in those days, not Neil, from what l remember - used to come and see my old band, Automatic Slim, at gigs in Colchester and north Essex. He would’ve been about 16 or 17 then and he would sidle up to me and ask if l had any old harmonicas he could have! Mean bastard that l was back then, I think l gave him a couple of broken ones from the bottom of my cable trunk. 😮 Next time l saw him was a couple of years later when l was mixing sound for a rock’n’roll gig in Maldon, by which time he’d reinvented himself as a very convincing leather-trousered reincarnation of Gene Vincent. You couldn’t take your eyes off him! Then a couple of years after that, l turned on the Tube and there he was - as Wilf. An amazing talent - in a world of mediocre talents I always reckoned Hunter and Ian Siegal stood head and shoulders above the rest. They still do!
Thank you for sharing that excellent story! It’s always great to hear personal anecdotes about that time and about people I met through different circumstances. His mother definitely called him Neil!
Cheers!
Same deal wwith me. I met him when I was at college in Colchester in the early eighties, he seemed quite charming, but an ordinary chap, no big deal. Then a couple of years later I saw him on stage with the Vee Jays, the guy was brilliant! Best harp player I ever heard. Loved it when he made it onto The Tube! Still play that first album they did today.
I feel like the line up at The Cricketers ran parallel with the Standard in walthamstow.
Haha! I'm sorry, but I would totally disagree. 😄
Whereas I put on a whole range of acts from all over the world of many musical genres and avoided Dumpy's Rusty Nuts at The Cricketers, the Royal Standard put on Dumpy's Rusty Nuts and specialised in whatever British Rock bands were around on the circuit.
At least, that's my perception.
Thanks for your interpretation. Please keep watching my videos. Cheers!
What amazes me is that Springsteen tribute bands are playing large venues theatres ect and acts like the small fakers are working 52 weeks a year about 3 a week so full time, and springsteen now a billion air,
Never got Squeeze. Admittedly I didn't pay a great deal of notice, but their singles and telly appearences always seemed dull. I saw them at the 78 Reading festival and after 30 minutes l heard the rest from the toilet.
I'm guessing from your comment that you never lived in Southeast London. If you had, you know that liking squeeze was compulsory! 😀😎
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and please keep watching! Cheers!
I had Packet of 3, I liked Backtrack
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I'm glad you liked Backtrack.
Cheers!
I'm sure pubs use to get rid of their crap beer while putting on live music back in the 70's
Some did, for sure, but I used to avoid them whenever possible. I never had a decent pint in the Golden Lion in Fulham, and it was a bit hit and miss in my experience in The Kensington… 😉😄😎
Always a decent pint of London Pride whenever I visited The Nashville…
Thanks for watching and taking part. Cheers!
Did you ever work with SFX?
Only a couple of times. Their appearances at The Cricketers were mostly before my time. Cheers!
The Only Ones
Help Yourself
Two great calls. Help yourself featured in a video I made that included John Eichler of the Hope & Anchor, about underrated Pub Rock bands. Only Ones will no doubt follow one day. Thanks for sharing!
how popular were these bands over in the u.k.? i'm yankee and i never heard of any of them.
Well, I know who they all are! But seriously, almost everybody would know Squeeze (they had some pop hits), but the others would be restricted to cult followings. Alias Ron Kavana was widely known in the Irish community, partly because of Ron's work with The Pogues. and for Irish charities Thanks for asking and for joining in. Cheers!
@@JimDriver u betcha.
Dr Feelgood
I've obviously heard of them but…
Underrated you say?
Cheers for watching and for commenting. Please watch my other videos. Maybe you'd like this one: ua-cam.com/video/JMmtZgYOY9M/v-deo.htmlsi=FfJKP-c84VXT4lmT
Hard to see much Velvet Underground in suburban balladeers Squeeze. The 1980s were the decade of reflection (or reflexivity if you want to get post modern), with bands recycling everything from bebop to zydeco, rockabilly to gospel. Pop had run out of ideas and nothing since has persuaded me otherwise. Sadly.
When I saw Squeeze at the Brecknock in about 1976, there was a lot more Velvet Underground in them than may be apparent in later days. And their debut EP sounds like Velvet Underground would have sounded if they'd lived in South-East London a few years later… 😎😄
You have to remove Glen’s melodic vocals and remove Lou’s atonal vocals and just listen to the music.
Cale is still going strong I think he’s amazing
You think there was nothing good or original in 80s music?
That's a big disagree from me.
@@johncunningham9094 I didn’t say that i mean Cale is still going strong and is a remarkable musician
Saw Squeeze supporting Eddie And The Hot Rods and Radio Stars in 1978. They were really good. Still got the Packet Of Three EP. Lost interest after the Bang Bang single.
You're dead right: the first time I saw Squeeze in that north London pub, I could see they had much more going for them than the average band. Essentially, it was Glen and Chris: Jools was always a lightweight in my opinion and surplus to requirements. Gilson was a great drummer but he was the drummer and didn't contribute any songs as far as I know. Cheers!
Wasn't that Meatloaf as the thug, slave batterer in 'Roots' ?
It might well have been. Well spotted!
I saw Squeeze a couple of times at Woolwich Polytechnic back in the dream time. They were so tight and rocked the place. I remember being in the cellar bar at the Poly before a gig and John Cooper-Clarke lurched in, pissed as a fart, and made an announcement. "Has anyone seen a blue marblette notebook? A BLUE MARBLETTE NOTEBOOK." He didn't find it and had to do his set from memory. He was great.
Great stories - thanks for sharing them! I used to work quite closely with the booker at Thames Poly at that time: we used to share contacts and stuff. His name was Dave Wish I could remember his surname!
I do remember that the first MacDonalds opened in Woolwich and even though we were both vegetarians we snuck in and tried the new product everyone was raving about. Haha!
Thanks again…
@@JimDriver McD opened in 1974. Ed Stewpot Stewart cut the ribbon. The Kentish Independent and the Mercury had coupons that got you a free burger and fries. I was there as Woolwich was where I was born.
Interesting content, but that incessant, weird editing is very off-putting. Yeh, I'm not into the Who, either. Or the Stones much.
We agree on musical taste at least! Sorry the editing and annoy you, sometimes I think it's the only thing that keeps most people watching. Cheers!
Sorry Mate but you don't like The Who because Daltrey's a trout farmer and in favour of Brexit? WTF?
No, I didn't particularly like the Who's music because I didn't think it was as good as contemporaries like The Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Small Faces, etc. And I thought stuff like Quadrophenia and Pinball Wizard was predictable and manufactured.
I didn't like the man personally because he was heavily involved with gangsters and was a poseur. The trout farming and his ill-informed Brexit comments served to illustrate my views.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
@@JimDriver Maybe explain your opinions in the video so he can sue you in court instead of hide behind accusations of wrongthink about the EU.
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
@@trevorhoward2254 Not sure I have to explain something I said in passing but it's certainly something you should consider when you start making videos telling the "true story" of The Wonderful Who. Cheers!
I *REALLY* don't like Van Morrison! There is Jools Holland sneaking in again! ATV were another Deptford Fun City Records band he played with. There remains nothing fun about Deptford.
Jools certainly;ly gets around and has carved a career for himself from being a cheeky pub piano type guy who's mates with all the musicians. Cheers!
No Like and now Unsubscribed because of stupid Brexit comment.
You should go and live with Roger and Nigel and see what they are really like. I'm sad, thinking of all the exceptionally average videos you are going to miss because of a single word.… 😄
Hard to imagine still feeling so angry about Brexit comments after all these years of utter bollocks being spouted on the subject...by BOTH sides.
@@PWMoze 🥱
@@JimDriver 🥱
@@JimDriver If it's any consolation, Jim, I'm profoundly critical of the European Union but can separate my political judgements from my enthusiasm for the history of popular music, and pub rock in particular. Differences of opinion used to be what one expected of people, now they are cause for condemnation and cancellation. Moreover, I was always critical of overtly political acts of any stripe. It seemed like an easy way of acquiring a tame audience for mediocre music. Shut up and play the guitar, like.
Ooops I think you just slipped up a little bit there by showing you true metropolitan elite colours with one little word. I couldn't care less wether or not you prefer the olympic sized blandness of Supercharge to The Who, personal opinion and all that but by allowing that naughty, awful word Brexit to slip out spoke volumes. Seems like you just couldn't help yourself. Why that was relevant as a factor in not liking The Who is a bit baffling due to the band having been around for over 50 years before Brexit was even thought of.
I said, “I never liked The Who”. But thank you for spending all that time writing such a long and involved reply.
Re. your 80s phone book - Dermott Hayes - Dublin freelance journalist? He wrote a book on Sinead O'Connor in the 90s and published a few features in Mojo magazine,
Yes, thanks! I knew the name was familiar. He helped me a lot when I went to Dublin for Time Out. Cheers!