Part 1: The records and music
As 1979 moved into a new decade, my passion for rock broadened still further. Heavy Rock was still the primary force, but in delving more deeply into the melting pot that forged the current rock scene, many discoveries were to be made; some elements of which remained at the forefront of my musical drive for many years to come.
It’s fair to say that even though Motorhead had made a significant inroad into my musical palette; for most of 1980, Led Zeppelin were still my favourite band, and along with Rush and Deep Purple; they were the main motivating influence towards learning to play music myself, which would finally become a reality this year. Other bands like Black Sabbath and Hawkwind were also on the ascendant, and I would further explore the music of Jimi Hendrix, who would have some influence in my musical direction, much later.
Although still there in the background, the Friday Rock Show would play an even smaller role in the music that I listened to, loved, and discovered. By 1980, going to ‘the Masons’ on a Friday night had become the thing to do, and especially exciting was the fact they frequently put on live bands, of which there were several on the thriving local rock scene that would enhance my desire to be one of them. There were also more gigs from big name bands that I went to see, like Rush and Motorhead; but as I became more interested in playing an instrument myself; the emphasis switched back more to records and eventually learning how to play.
No sooner had the year started when Rush released their new album Permanent Waves, which was my first album purchase of the year. I rated the album highly, although it didn’t topple Hemispheres and A Farewell To Kings as my favourite Rush albums. However, It kept them at the top of my main bands of interest at this point, along with Led Zeppelin; and it spurred me on to fill one of few remaining gaps in my Rush collection, in the form of Caress of Steel.
Other early goals in 1980 was filling the gaps in my Led Zeppelin collection and I remember buying Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti in the first couple of months of the year.
Not to be outdone; I had become quite enamoured with Deep Purple since buying Machine Head last year, and I bought their classic live album Made In Japan with my birthday money in March. Meanwhile, I had not forgotten the impact of Motorhead a few months earlier, and I bought their first album on the Chiswick label, at the same time.
It was around the time just after my birthday that I was browsing in the small section of records in Debenhams department store, when much to my surprise I pulled out a very modestly priced Hawkwind album. I wasn’t sure at first, whether or not this was a compilation album, but I came to realise that it was in fact their first album. I think this was the only record that I ever bought from Debenhams; whose record department seemed like more of an afterthought. I found the album very intriguing. This was only my third Hawkwind album, and it seemed different again to the albums I already had; albeit closer to ‘In Search of Space’ due to the similar sounding electronics. Although I liked Hurry On Sundown, and even more so; Mirror of Illusion at the time; the content in between was what really got me interested. I thought it somewhat reminiscent of Floyd’s A Saucerful of Secrets, but even more weird and spooky. And all the better for some rather good lead guitar work. This album was another notch in the steady ascent of Hawkwind, and once again I resolved to investigate them still further.
Meanwhile, that Easter I filled the last two gaps in my Led Zeppelin and Rush collections, with Presence, and the self-titled Rush debut album. I found Presence a bit patchy, but nevertheless my love for Led Zeppelin continued unabated, and I even investigated bootleg tapes and LPs when I started going to record fairs later this year. Also, the first Rush album was not as strong as their subsequent releases, partially due to Neil Peart not joining until their second album. But nevertheless, I was still very keen on Rush at this time, and they would be my first live concert of the year.
The following month, Motorhead blasted up the singles charts with the Golden Years Live E.P. Led by a raucous version of Leaving Here, reaching No.8 in May 1980. For me, this was the best Motorhead recording to date; and truly encapsulated the live experience I had the previous November; which would shortly be consolidated by another Motorhead gig a couple of months later.
I also bought the Rock File release of their previously shelved 1975 debut album at this point, but I was very disappointed. The album had been re-recorded in 1977, and this far superior version had been released by Chiswick, which I’d bought just a couple of months earlier. But at the time I wasn’t aware of these developments, and the Rock File album was offloaded to the second hand shop. By now, I had finally made the connection that Lemmy had previously been in Hawkwind. This seemingly obvious fact had previously escaped me, partly through not having heard Silver Machine since I was a nine year old boy, and the fact that I had three Hawkwind albums that did not feature Lemmy. But a further visit to my favourite second hand record shop yield this:
Although Roadhawks was Hawkwind’s first compilation album, All but two tracks were new to me, and at the time I was particularly intrigued to hear Lemmy in this ‘alternative’ guise; particularly notable on You Shouldn’t Do That, and that in itself was enough to raise Hawkwind up another notch on the level of importance.
Meanwhile, I had booked to see Rush live in concert once more. This time at the Manchester Apollo on June 17th. I was very excited about this event, but it was to be a disappointing experience. For whatever reason, the sound was terrible, and Geddy Lee seemed to be having an off night on the singing front. All in all, it was the first blow to their stature in my affections; but at least for now, Rush would continue to be one of my most important bands. The following month there was another big boost in my admiration for Motorhead when I went to the “Heavy Metal Barn Dance” at Stafford Bingley Hall on July 26th.
Throughout that summer I bought several key albums. Deep Purple were still high on my list of bands with albums to catch up on, and Deep Purple In Rock was one of the best. Also, I still maintained an interest in Pink Floyd at this point, and I bought what I still consider to be their best album: Dark Side of the Moon. Further still, I finally bought my first proper Black Sabbath album outside of the We Sold Our Soul For Rock and Roll compilation, in the form of 1975’s Sabotage.
Meanwhile, the second hand network also added some excellent albums to my collection that summer, including a fabulous Jimi Hendrix double album full of some magnificent live performances that definitely put this legendary guitarist on my radar. And whilst never really became a fan of ‘Prog’ I also came away with King Crimson’s classic first album. It’s fair to say that they never became one of my major bands, but I liked The Court of the Crimson King a lot, and certainly consider them to be the best Prog band, even though I only have a smattering of their work in my collection today. Then there was Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen was such a phenomenal talent that no Rock fan of the late ’70s/early ’80s could fail to be aware of them. Despite this, Van Halen for me were one of those bands that, much like AC/DC before them; I liked them for a year or so and owned a couple of albums; but they never became one of my important bands. Somehow, very few American bands ever really did it for me. Even so, Eddie’s guitar skills made them stand out. He was an incredible player.
By the time September came around I was on the verge of finally playing an instrument. I bought my first bass guitar that month; but before I take up that part of my story, there are a few more important albums to mention that I bought in the last months of the year. Back at the second hand record shop, I bought Black Sabbath’s classic Paranoid album, and Pink Floyd’s Meddle.
I also eventually followed up on investigating more Hawkwind albums featuring Lemmy, and once again the second hand network was on hand; this time providing me with Hall of the Mountain Grill.
This album wasn’t an immediate winner for me. It was intriguing once again to hear more of Lemmy in his earlier guise, but I found this version of Lost Johnny to be inferior to the Motorhead version, and although I liked the album well enough to keep it; I found it to be the weakest Hawkwind album of the four that I now owned, ironically despite the presence of Lemmy. It was the Lemmy of the present would take centre stage on in November, when Motorhead released their classic album: Ace of Spades. This was to become my favourite Motorhead album of all time; propelling them to their greatest heights in my affections over the next year or so.
Part 2: The local band scene, and learning to play bass.
In 1980, the live local band scene at the Masons Arms became an important addition to the Heavy Rock disco. I would see many local rock bands here, and a few other places; and also some bands who not local would travel a fair distance to play at the Masons. One band in particular became was integral to my own ambitions of becoming a musician. Savage featured a young guitarist called Andy Dawson, who I came to know via a mutual friend. They played their first gig at a local youth club, and a further gig in the school hall at High Oakham. Witnessing these early gigs was my first, fascinating insight into how a band works.
Previous to this, primarily enthused by Led Zeppelin; I had gone to my local music shop and bought myself a beginners book of basic guitar chords. I didn’t have a guitar yet, but my mother still had her ‘ornamental’ Spanish guitar, which I’d started to mess around with and try to play. It has to be said that my early attempts at playing the famous Stairway to Heaven intro chords were somewhat thwarted by this pretty awful guitar, and my big, shovel-like hands which seemed to have difficulty fitting my fingers into the required spaces. I eventually managed to work out only the first 2 or 3 chords by ear, as the book was of no help in this specific regard; although I did pick-up a couple of basic chords, though not without some difficulty! It would be a few more years yet before I learned the rest of Stairway to Heaven…. This was a slightly smaller-sized guitar, which I hadn’t really realised at the time, and it really felt as though there wasn’t room in between the strings for my fingers to fit. Plus I found that I liked the sound of the lower strings, which didn’t sound so tinny. Then there was the fact that I’d really noticed, and liked the bass playing on those Zep and Rush albums so much….. It eventually dawned on me that maybe I be better off playing bass.
In the meantime, my friend Martin and I had taken to visiting our local, big music shop which was called: ‘Carlsboro Sound Centre’, just look at, and dream over the guitars. One day they had a Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar in the window. Geddy Lee used one of these bass guitars, and so did Lemmy, and gradually I began to focus more and more on the idea of playing bass guitar, whilst gazing lovingly at those Rickenbackers, which I could never afford in million years at that stage. At that time, I had got my first job in a furniture shop soon after leaving school with no qualifications, and being sent off to interviews for any old job by my parents. I hated it.
Apart from the fact the wages were rubbish, I hated it because I worked on the shop floor, and I couldn’t grow my hair too long. But after paying my board, and buying a few records and going to the pub once a week, it demolished my £30.00 per week wage packet; let alone buying a Rickenbacker bass guitar…..
But one Saturday in September I was in Carlsboro looking at guitars, when I spotted a beat-up, battered looking, red-coloured Jedson SG copy which didn’t have a price on it. When I asked, I was told I could have it for £40.00. It wasn’t a Rickenbacker, and it would cost me over a week’s wages, but I asked my Dad to loan me the money, and he agreed. I rushed back, and it was still there, and five minutes later I walked out with a big smile on my face and a bass guitar! I didn’t have an amplifier yet, but I was on my way!
In the midst of all my first attempts to play and acquire an instrument, the biggest real-life inspiration was the local rock scene itself , with live bands playing at the Masons Arms and a few other places.
The so-called ‘New Wave of British Heavy Metal’ had shot up towards the end of the ’70s and there was quite a thriving little rock scene in the humble town of Mansfield. This was a time when Savage had recently got started and became one of the regular bands playing at the Masons Arms. I was present at many of their early gigs, and gradually got to know the band, whose guitarist Andy Dawson, as it turned out, didn’t live very far from where I lived at the time.
Soon I was going to as many of their gigs as I could, and ended up helping out as a roadie. This was a big inspiration to me to see at close quarters, the workings of a gigging band, from the rehearsals, and the composing of material, to the thrill of travelling around to gigs with them. I loved going around with them, and just to be involved in that scene was tremendously important in fuelling my desire to learn fast and hopefully be good enough to join a band. But they were such an accommodating bunch of lads, and I learned a lot from watching and listening to them.
Mansfield Heavy Rock band; Savage playing one of their early gigs at the Masons Arms. I can be seen ‘headbanging’ at the front, wearing a Led Zeppelin sweatshirt.
In the meantime, I was trying to practise with my cheapo Jedson bass. Still with no amplifier until Christmas that year, when mum and dad bought me a little 15w bass practise amp. I had been trying to play it through my stereo speakers, which made my early attempts to play along to a records that I was trying to learn, somewhat difficult. Especially as it was only a cheap copy with pretty rubbish pick-ups. At any rate, I distinctly remember the thrill of pleasure and achievement upon managing to learn the opening bass-line to Led Zeppelin’s Dazed and Confused. It’s a simple bass-line, but it was the first thing I could do properly, and I’d managed to learn it by myself. I thought I had arrived!
A lot of things seemed to snowball at that point. It was only three months after buying that first bass, that I had the chance to buy a much better bass guitar, when Savage’s bass player/vocalist, Chris Bradley upgraded to a Fender Precision bass, and gave me the opportunity to buy his red, Rickenbacker 4001 copy. This may not have been a ‘real’ Rickenbacker, but it was a good quality copy, and a far better instrument than my battered old Jedson, and Chris let me have it for only £60.00. I was as pleased as punch. As 1980 moved into 1981, I had a good instrument and a little amp of my own. From September 1980 I had worked hard to learn to play bass up to a standard where I might be able to join a band. And in 1981, I finally got my chance…..
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