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.....and when and where you saw 'em, how many have you forgotten?
Only last week I was thinking about The Zombies and realised that I had completely forgotten I've seen Colin Blunstone
Guess there's something to be said for those guys who keep programs of all the shows they've done - they are reminders. Trouble is, loadsa gigs I've seen, there were no such things as programs.
I was just looking at that list of gigs at the Top Rank yesterday and then fell into a worm hole. I remembered going to see the Skids one Sunday and then Joe Jackson the next at the Top Rank in I thought 1980. But I also remember going to that other bar around the corner from the Lexington where all the punks hung out and listening to Primary on the juke box which would have made it 1981. Anyway, I found a Joe Jackson gig on Sunday in 1980 but not a Skids one. And Maybe we were listening to A Forest and not Primary. I'll get to the bottom of it somehow.
I grew up in Pompey. There's a brilliant site about the local music scene with details of dates, venues and artists - a real trip down memory lane. Link: http://www.michaelcooper.org.uk/C/pmsindex.htm
Is there something similar for Cardiff, anyone know? If someone trawled the local newspapers, it would be do-able - tedious but do-able. I have been through the Pompey News for 1961 - 1965 to check the dates and bands I saw (very sad, I know) and it was by comparing this with Rock Family Trees that I confirmed I had seen Ritchie Blackmore in the Savages, for example.
My time was the Sixties and bands appearing atSwingin' Blue Jeans, the old Capitol have been talked about fondly on here a couple of times.
If you're old enough to remember, I recall seeing the following at the Capitol or Sophia Gardens:-
Beatles (twice), Stones, Gerry & Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer & Dakotas, Animals, The Who, Kinks, The Hollies, Freddie & Dreamers, Elton John (St Davids), Cliff & Shadows, Genesis, Status Quo, Santana, Cat Stevens, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Herman's Hermits, Ike & Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Yardbirds, Dave Clark Five, The Searchers, Peter & Gordon, Manfred Mann, Wayne Fontana & Mindbenders, Moody Blues, Cilla Black, Brian Poole & Tremeloes, Spencer Davis, Sandie Shaw, Georgie Fame, Swinging Blue Jeans, Merseybeats, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, Fourmost, Rockin' Berries, Lulu,
The Everly Brothers, Del Shannon, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Dion, Bobby Vee, Neil Sedaka, Gene Pitney, Chuck Berry.
Wow, what a time it was. I'm sure there are many other up and coming names at the time as in the early days you used to get about half a dozen acts before the top of the bill.
I did, I had an aunt who worked at the Capitol cinema at the time and she was always able to get best seats for anything I wanted. It was a wonderful time from 1962 (I was 16) as the Beatles emerged leading the way for a host of other new groups to follow and make their mark. The Americans didn't have groups at the time hence most of their visiting stars were individuals; in the list of US singers I realise I forgot one of my favourites at the time - Little Miss Dynamite, Brenda Lee. And Little Richard too.
I think I've told the story on this board before that pre-Beatles, my real favourite was Roy Orbison - 'Only the Lonely' was his biggest early hit. People have difficulty believing there was a Capitol show in which Roy Orbison was the headline act supported by both The Beatles and a new band, the Rolling Stones. The Stones had just released their first hit 'Cone On' I think it was.
The Beatles returned a couple of years later by which time they were the biggest band around on both sides of the Atlantic. My Aunt got me 3 of their autographs on the show programme (can't remember which one was missing) and, of course I kept it with all my other memorabilia. 30 years later, well after my first wife and I had divorced, I asked for the Beatles programme to be handed over only to be told she'd sold it years previously! Priceless in every respect.
So, it was a great time to live through although, being young, you don't actually realise the significance until years later.
Sorry for the typo - the Stones early hit I refer to is 'Come On'.