Interviews and articles on forgotten vintage bands c.1965-1980. Proto-metal, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock and heavy metal acts. Email: aftersabbath@live.co.uk
According to The Acid Archives, "Danney Alkana was formerly with Cock Robin, a California band that at times featured Misunderstood legend Glenn Ross Campbell. As something of a guitar maestro, he later had some success on the classical-inspired metal guitar circuit and released and album called "Rock the Bach" in 1999."
The Alkana album "Welcome To My Paradise" is an impressive array of inventive and textured hard rock / metal which can be as melodic and atmospheric as it can be fast and heavy. The production is great, Danney really let loose with his double-tracked guitars and his harmonised leads are all over it, but tracks like "Paradise" and "Montezuma's Sweet Revenge" are also speedy, chugging riff-fests. The rest of the band was singer Jack Rucker (later known as "Damien King I" in Warlord mk.1), Craig Williams (bass) and Don Mclaughlin (drums), they were based in San Bernardino, CA.
Q. Hi Danney. Why did you become a guitarist?
Danney: "I started playing piano at four years old, and I loved playing classical. After that, the Beatles came along, and I got heavy into drums and I kind of got lost in pop music. At age fourteen I was still a drummer but got into playing guitar. I was over at a friends house and I heard Jeff Beck's Truth album. I told my friend then and there I was going to get a guitar, there was just something about the album that I absolutely loved. I had a guitar within a week. I never forgot classical music. It's just something that's part of me, especially the Baroque era."
Q. How did you get Alkana band together?
Danney: "Craig Williams (bass) and I had played together in another band for two or three years. Don Mclaughlin (drums) we found 30 miles away from where we lived. The three of us rehearsed until we were tight and then put an ad in the paper for a singer and auditioned four or five before Jack Rucker joined".
Alkana rear cover
Q. The album sounds to me like impressively advanced heavy metal, more like the eighties than 1978. What would you say to that?
Danney: "The guitar riffs and the harmonized guitar parts I don't know where they came from to be honest. I had done a single perhaps five years before as a stand-in musician or better said studio musician. So when I got in the studio to do my own album I kind of felt like I should have free reign so I did whatever I felt. Why it sounds advanced for its time I don't know, it was just the mood I was in at the time."
Q. What bands in heavy metal and hard rock were you listening to at the time that might have been an influence to you?
Danney: "The bands I was listening to at the time were all English bands. Jeff Beck, Robin Trower, UFO, Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow."
Q. Seeing as the band is named after you, I guess you were the main ideas person/writer, is that correct?
Danney: "Yes that's correct, I wrote all the tunes on the album but the title track, I gave credit to Craig Williams who came up with the base line, and I wrote the music around it."
Q. How was the album received?
Danney: "The reception to Welcome to my Paradise was quite good. It had airplay in several cities in the US. I never knew the quantity of sales exactly. Obviously since we are playing to 3, 4 and 5000 seat venues and filling them every night I imagine it's sold fairly well. I was interviewed several times and enjoyed them all. Although it wasn't an interview I would have to say my favorite piece of press was for the time we played the swing auditorium which was a 10,000 seater. My father never saw me play but was so proud of the newspaper write up on the band he went out and bought several newspapers and sent me the clippings of the write up. I did have an extensive interview a few years ago from Greece, I think the interview lasted a good two hours but I don't know what happened to the write up."
Q. What happened with Alkana, did you play live much or play with any other bands? Why did it split up?
Danney: We played several venues, most of them as headliners and a couple as the opening act. I left the band because we got tied up in a lawsuit when my manager hit the president of our department in the mouth trying to renegotiate a contract with MCA. This was quite discouraging for the rest of the band and myself and I decided if I moved on and made a new lineup things would get better. The lawsuit lasted for years but eventually in my new band Excalibur we were offered a contract with CBS London, but my co-writer & collaborator left the band. I felt at that time I wasn't going to allow anybody else to deny me my destiny so I quit the music business and joined the straight world and became a businessman.
True to his roots, when Danney delved back into music fourteen years after Excalibur, he used his multi-instrumental talents on a neo-classical record called "Rock the Bach" (link), for which he was personally congratulated and praised by Steve Vai.
Squadran has a stunning track, "The Wall". The first time I heard it, from 1979, I was floored at how it presented a well-formed speed/thrash metal sound a few years before such things had appeared anywhere else, that I know of at least. Drummer Mike Gandia (links 1,2) was later in an unsigned New York band called Cathedral (link), which supported Aerosmith in 1984. He has been in many bands and a session drummer ever since, working with some of the best including Ozzy himself.
I managed to contact Mike recently and asked him about "The Wall", telling him it sounds like "Slayer in 1979" and asking him if he realised at the time that they were doing something very new.
He said this: "Ha Ha! We did that record in one session back when you had to actually play every part correctly. When we did that record no one had done that style yet and we had no clue that we stumbled into a new genre of music. We played locally and did very well but no one would sign the band because this style of music was not popular yet. We were told we had to be more commercial and we wanted no part of that so eventually we broke up and within two years Anthrax and Manowar were calling asking about me playing with them while I was on tour supporting Aerosmith, and Heavy Metal was born.
Squadran promo shot, 1984 lineup (l-r) Eric Klaastad, Mike Gardia Mike Ray, Keith Brazil
Squadran just missed the boat. We where ahead of our time. We were contacted by Ozzy to be his band after he was fired from Sabbath. We auditioned for him all day and he loved us but said we were too young and unknown for him. He needed known people. About a month later he found Randy Rhoads. We were always told we sound too much like Black Sabbath on speed. We had many slower songs also. We where all into Sabbath/Rainbow and Judas Priest before Priest was really famous.
Squadran to this day gets respect from all over the world from Australia to Greece to England and Germany too. The single is still selling.
Thank you for your kind words and interest in my favorite band I have ever played with… I was only 20 years old then and now I've played with over 30 bands. It make's us feel good to know people still like us. Thank You!"
Squadran at Gildersleeves in NY (link) (l-r) Eric Klaastad (bass), Mike (drums), Keith Brazil (vocals) and Randy Young (gtr)
Adrian and Paul Gurvitz had influential but largely unsung careers in British hard rock in the '60s and '70s. Here are some of the best tracks associated with them, from albums by bands such as Gun, Three Man Army, Baker Gurvitz Army and others that you may be less acquainted with. I have incorporated sections from the bio on Paul Gurvitz's page into this article to tell the story of the Gurvitz Brother's heavy bands along with the music.
The prime Gurvitz Brothers bands of interest for us here at TDATS were Gun and Three Man Army, being the hardest-rocking. I have used tracks from both those bands previously, so here I have tried to avoid repetition and picks from just those band's albums, there are so many good ones and it would be too easy! So, I have used a lot of non-album singles and related bands such as 'Parrish & Gurvitz', The Knack and The Buddy Miles Band. Hopefully there'll be enough of interest here to keep you listening, even if you already know Gun and Three Man Army well!
A small mp3 audio file of a recent radio interview with Paul Gurvitz is included with this comp. A written interview with Paul is also included at the end of this article, courtesy of ItsPsychedelicBaby.
TRACKS
01. Three Man Army - My Yiddishe Mamma (1973) from album 'Mahesha'
02. Three Man Army - Hold On (1973) from album 'Mahesha'
03. Gun - Runnin' Wild (1970) single
04. Three Man Army - What's My Name (1971) from album 'A Third Of A Lifetime'
05. Three Man Army - Travellin' (1971) single
06. Gun - Race With The Devil (1968) from album 'Gun'
07. The Knack - Who'll Be The Next In Line [Kinks cover] (1965) from album 'Time Time Time - The Complete UK Singles (and more) 1965-1967'
08. Gun - Drives You Mad (1969) single
09. The Buddy Miles Band - L.A. Resurrection (1973) from album 'Chapter VII'
10. Three Man Army - Jubilee (1974) from album 'Three Man Army Three' (released 2005)
11. Parrish & Gurvitz - Another Time Another Day (1971) from album 'Parrish & Gurvitz'
12. Gun - Situation Vacant (1969) from album 'Gun Sight'
13. The Baker Gurvitz Army - Hearts On Fire (1976) from album 'Hearts On Fire'
14. Three Man Army - In My Eyes (1974) from album 'Three Man Army Two'
Gun debut s/t LP 1968
Gun were an influential English hard rock band, and one of the very first. Everyone knows about their classic 1968 top ten single, "Race with the Devil" (youtube), it has been covered ever since by famous and underground acts, right up to modern bands like Church Of Misery. The Gun was a development of guitarist Paul Gurvitz's The Knack (prev. The Londoners, formed 1963). Paul's father was road manager for The Shadows so he had a good introduction to rock and The Londoners had already played in France and Hamburg's Star Club by the time they settled in London, becoming The Knack, then in 1966, "The Gun". Soon after they were playing at the UFO Club, supporting names such as Pink Floyd, Arthur Brown and Tomorrow.
Gun - Gun Sight 1969
By 1968 Paul's brother Adrian had joined on guitar, himself having already cut his teeth with acts such as Rupert's People (see Vol70) and pre-T2 bands Please / Bulldog Breed (see vols 27 & 74). Gun recorded two albums and they honed their hard rock elements further on the second LP, Gun Sight, which the track appearing here, 'Situation Vacant', is taken from. After Gun the Gurvitz brothers were in more bands together, including the excellent Three Man Army (prev. in Vol46) and Baker Gurvitz Army with Ginger Baker, as well as separate projects. Adrian and Paul also played on both Graeme Edge Band albums in the latter half of the seventies, with Paul on production duties too.
Adrian Gurvitz started playing guitar at the age of 8 and by age 15, he was touring in early bands like Screaming Lord Sutch, Billie Davis, and Crispian St. Peters. In 1967 he briefly joined Rupert’s People, who had a minor-hit single, 'Reflections of Charlie Brown'. It charted at 13 in Australia and made the Top 40 in the UK. Just before The Gun formed, Paul joined an even shorter-lived version of Rupert's people too.
Paul Gurvitz - Adrian Gurvitz - Louis Farrell
Adrian has gained notability as a lead guitarist, known for his screaming, intricate, hard-driving solos. He was placed at No. 9 in Chris Welch of Melody Maker's "Best Guitarist in the World" list. There's no doubt that he and his brother's powerful style heralded heavy metal right at its birth. Since playing in hard rock bands, Adrian (and brother Paul) were key players in the disco/funk informed soft rock of The Graeme Edge Band. The music, although well-played, is not suitable for this blog so doesn't feature in the comp. It pointed the way for Adrian's solo work from 1979 into the eighties. Adrian also continued as a producer and film score writer. He worked on the hugely successful soundtrack to the The Bodyguard and has recently worked with Ziggy Marley.
Paul Gurvitz in BGA
After the demise of The Baker Gurvitz Army, Paul produced and played on his brother's solo albums, and went to the US in 1985 to work as a songwriter / producer. He wrote for bands such as Five Star, Jody Watley, The Fat Boys, The Cover Girls, Stanley Clarke and others. In 2002 he returned as a solo artist and continues to record his own albums. He has started country-rockers The New Army band in recent years, where he now lives in Arizona. He did an interview with PsychedelicBaby in 2011, and his website is paulgurvitz.com (link).
You can listen to a recent US radio interview with Paul Gurvitz here:
The Knack becomes The Gun
With the departure of long time band mate Brian Morris from The Knack, guitarist Paul Curtis (aka Paul Gurvitz) made a radical change and The Knack became The Gun.
Gun went through many line up changes (Yes vocalist Jon Anderson was even with the band briefly) until they got their first break playing shows with T Rex and Pink Floyd on the London underground scene. "We were playing a lot at The Speakeasy which was a very fashionable club at the time," Paul recalls. "There you would stand shoulder to shoulder with people whose music is still played all over the world today, The Beatles, Brian Jones of the Stones, Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, Jimi Hendrix and Keith Moon of The Who, just to name a few".
By the middle of 1968, Gun became a power trio. Paul had taken over bass and left the guitar to his brother Adrian, who was by this time becoming quite a talent. The drums meanwhile were still handled by Louis Farrell (prev. in The Knack). Famous jazz musician Ronnie Scott, had just formed a management company and signed them as his first band. Shortly afterwards they were signed by CBS, and by the end of the year they were at the top of the European charts with 'Race With The Devil', included here. Although the single bares the hallmarks of psychedelic pop of the times, with it's big-sounding production and orchestration, there is also the beginnings of hard rock and heavy metal bubbling bellow the surface, powered by Adrian's blistering guitar leads.
A self-titled debut LP appeared the same year and a second LP came in 1969 called Gun Sight. Included here is a track from Gun Sight called 'Situation Vacant'. It has the searing leads and aggression of Race With The Devil, but not so much of the pop production, which also defines the heavier sound of Gun Sight in general. In my opinion this is a very early hard rock album that deserves to be compared with the earliest work of Deep Purple, Vanilla Fudge and Iron Butterfly as some of the very first heavy metal.
The Army Advances
After Gun had backfired, the brothers Gurvitz took time out in America. Adrian hooked up with Buddy Miles, while Paul worked with former Londoners band mate Brian Morris, who had changed his name to Brian Parrish. They began writing new songs and were introduced to legendary producer George Martin, who signed them to his label, Regal Zonaphone. They recorded the album Parrish & Gurvitz and toured in support of it throughout the US, according to Paul a second LP was recorded but never released. I have included the great opening track from the album here, 'Another Time Another Day'. The rest of the band included past and future members of bands such as Badger, Spooky Tooth, The Only Ones, Cochise, Roxy Music, Foreigner, Small Faces and Ian Dury's Blockheads. After little label support the project split and the backing band went on to join Peter Frampton.
Three Man Army A Third Of A Lifetime cover
Before Parrish & Gurvitz finished, Paul had begun working on new material with his brother. The brothers had only just returned to the UK in the early '70s when they teamed up again to write and record the debut Three Man Army album, 'A Third of A Lifetime'. This album was released by Pegasus Records in 1971. Most of the songs were rehearsed in the studio before being recorded.
The brothers had a predilection for working with first class drummers, and this album featured no less than three with Buddy Miles (Band Of Gypsys), Mike Kellie (Spooky Tooth) and Carmine Appice (Beck Bogard & Appice, Vanilla Fudge). I have used the track 'What's My Name' from this album. Three Man Army was clearly a development from Gun, Adrian and Paul's song-writing and playing was less psychedelic and decidedly more blues-based hard rock, the riffs are often heavy and fast but every song is infused with melody too, with a noticeable hint of southern rock. Maybe from Paul's love of Allman Brothers.
Two of my favourite tracks from their catalogue are Butter Queen (youtube) and Pole Cat Woman (youtube), which always go down well on the dance floor. The brothers set the blueprint with this album, all three released albums from Three Man Army are very consistent and I recommend them all equally, although they really turned the heaviness up to 11 for the third one, 'Three Man Army Two' (yes that is the name of the third LP, as explained later).
Mahesha
The band's second release, 'Mahesha' (In the US known simply as 'Three Man Arm'), came out on the Warner Bros-owned label Reprise in 1973. Drummer Tony Newman (Rod Stewart Group, May Blitz, Boxer, David Bowie), a sought-after session man who could be heard on many of the hit singles at the time, was added. Newman became a permanent member of the Army, which now allowed the band to play live and promote Mahesha in the US. "The first tour we did was with the Doobie Brothers and the second was with the Beach Boys. Not necessarily acts with which we had much in common", Paul recalls. "However, Warner Bros. thought it would be a good thing". From this album I have used the two opening tracks. 'My Yiddishe Mamma' is a stately instrumental build-up to 'Hold On'. This is not the same as the Hold On that Rupert's People played, but maybe it was an inspiration.
Three Man Army Two
A year later and the band were recording their third album. This one was heavier than the previous two and the title caused some confusion - 'Three Man Army Two'. Paul clarifies the reason behind the choice. "It was the second album for Warner Bros." Perhaps another interpretation could be that it may have been subconsciously influenced by the fact that it was the Second record to feature the line up of Gurvitz, Gurvitz and Newman. This would help to explain the subsequently titled release 'Three Man Army Three'. I have used the track 'In My Eyes' from this album, which is probably the heaviest album the Gurvitz bros ever made, and should be right at the top of your shopping list!
Buddy Miles - Chapter VII
Adrian lent his considerable guitar skills to other artists during these times. He recorded and toured with The Buddy Miles Band, for the album "Chapter VII" which was released in 1973.
Buddy's career began drumming for Wilson Picket when, at age 19, he was inducted into the original line-up of seminal Chicago blues soul rockers The Electric Flag. He also played in Hendrix's Band Of Gypsys.
The credits on Chapter VII were: Ron Johnson (bass and guitar), Adrian Curtis (guitar) and Buddy Himself on drums, vocals, organ, and guitar. As you probably guessed, Curtis is Gurvitz, the brother's real surname is Gurvitz but they would sometimes use Curtis, especially during their early careers and on various projects like Chapter VII, inspired to do so after their father had himself legally changed to it. Adrian's brother Paul explains: "When my parents divorced my father changed his name to Curtis from Gurvitz and at the time I thought that Curtis was more rock n' roll than Gurvitz". As mentioned earlier, Buddy and Adrian's friendship had started just after Gun finished, and Buddy played drums for some tracks on Three Man Army's first LP.
Three Man Army Three cover
Three Man Army had toyed with the idea of doing a rock opera (working title 'Three Days To Go') and they had recorded a few demos for the project. Paul recently rediscovered these demos and remastered them. From these sessions, nine tracks are featured on 'Three Man Army Three'. A collection of previously unreleased materials that has been captured with good sound quality and released in 2005. A good example of this is the track 'Jubilee', which is included here and features drummer Lee Baxter Hayes. When asked who this 'mystery' drummer was performing on the track, Paul laughs and says, "He was a roadie of ours with, let's say with average skills as a drummer, and we let him play. It was just for fun".
Tony Newman
When Tony Newman left the band to play with David Bowie, the brothers Gurvitz hooked up with Ginger Baker and changed their name to the Baker Gurvitz Army. Baker was considered the ultimate rock drummer at the time, known for his work with Blind Faith and obviously Cream. The band's three albums definitely sounded different to Three Man Army, and Baker's drumming was always impressive, but they do not do much for me and are more a display of good drumming and technically proficient but commercial soft rock. With that sound the band entered the US and UK charts in 1974. Two consecutive albums followed as the band expanded their line up from a trio to a quintet with singer Mr. Snips (aka Stephen Alfred Wilson Parsons - ex-Sharks and later new wave solo artist). When their manager Bill Fahelli died in a plane crash, a dispute with the management company forced BGA to part ways.
Baker Gurvitz Army - Hearts On Fire (1976)
Of the three BGA albums, my pick is the last one, 'Hearts On Fire' (1976). It is not as good as any of the Three Man Army LPs but it has more rocking tracks than he previous two and the title track which I include here is great, if a little short!
The last rock albums that the Gurvitz Brothers played on for a while were the pair of Graeme Edge Band LPs soon after, that were unfortunately rather more lackluster than Baker Gurvitz Army. Unfortunately for heavy-heads, that was the absolute end of the Gurvitz Brothers' forays into hard rock, but by all accounts they made a lot more money for themselves in later pursuits as writers / producers. We can't blame them for doing that and we can't complain about the great set of Gun and Three Man Army albums they left us!
Paul Gurvitz interview
Many thanks to Klemen Breznikar for allowing me to reproduce parts of his 2011 Paul Gurvitz interview here! Klemen runs a great blog/zine over at psychedelicbaby.blogspot.co.uk
Q. Hi Paul. Firstly I would like to ask you about your childhood. What were your main influences at that time, beside Buddy Holly and Elvis.
Paul: I used to listen to a lot of American artist's when I was growing up as there were only a few English ones that I found exciting, around the late 60's I would listen to Santana, Buffalo Springfield, Spirit, The Allman Brothers, Zappa.
Q. Your first band was called The Londoners. You played gigs around London and you also went to Germany.Can you tell us more?
Paul: Actually the Londoners never really played in London other than when we were the backing group for Gene Vincent, The Londoners played mostly in Germany and France.
Q. From Germany you went back to London. You were no longer called The Londoners. Changing your name to The Knack, were there also any changes in lineup? You recorded a few singles for Pye and for Decca. Your first release was 'Who'll Be The Next In Line / She Ain't No Good', right? Can you tell me more about The Knack.
Paul: The Knack was a continuation of The Londoners. There were a few different members, on bass was Gearie Kenworthy, on organ was Tim Mycroft (who is the first of the family tree to have passed away) and on drums was Topper Clay, and I played rhythm guitar. The Knack played mostly in London and around England.
Q. In early 1968 you started Gun. You released a debut album in the same year, which I think it is a true masterpiece and one of the first heavy albums from that era. You also had a mega hit called Race With The Devil. Can you tell me about it? Who made the cover art? I just love it.
Paul: The Gun was a continuation of The Knack with different members. The first Gun was Tim Mycroft on organ, Gearie Kenworthy on bass, Louie Farrel on drums, and I played rhythm guitar and lead vocals. Actually I started playing as The Gun in late 67. In early 68 there were more changes, Jon Anderson was the lead singer and my brother joined on guitar, then it changed again, Anderson left so did Tim mycroft, and then Gearie Kenworthy and that's when we became The Gun that made the albums. I was now playing bass and Adrian on guitar and Louie on drums.
Race With The Devil was our first hit and was recorded at CBS in London on an 8 track recorder. We were managed at that time by the famous jazz player Ronnie Scott and rehearsed in his club. During the time we were rehearsing there was a guy painting murals on the club walls and we asked him if he would like to do the artwork of the cover. His name was Roger Dean who later did all the Yes albums and many more but The Gun was his first. As far as touring we spent time in France, Germany, Italy and England.
Q. In 1969 you started to record a second album, called Gun Sight. There were lineup changes, right? Drummer Peter Dunton came from Bulldog Breed to join your band. Can you tell me more about that?
Paul: I don't remember much about that. I know Peter Dunton played on some tracks, but never really joined the band although there were some publicity pics with him. Most of the second album was Louie Farrell, later Goeff Britton played drums and toured with us. He later joined Wings.
Q. What went wrong with Gun after the second album? Your brother went to the US to record with Buddy Miles. After that you and Brian Parrish released one album called Parrish & Gurvitz. Slowly after that a new band was born. Three Man Army. What can you tell me about this legendary trio with you Adrian and Tony Newman on drums? You released 3 albums from 1970 to 1974.
Paul: I was recording a solo album for CBS and then decided to join up with Parrish. Three Man Army was an extention of Gun but with a lot of different drummers such as Buddy Miles, Mike Kelly (Spooky Tooth) and Carmin Appice (Vanilla Fudge). The band was just a recording band at the time as Adrian and I were playing in different bands but we intended to make Three Man Army a touring band later, when Adrian finished with Buddy Miles. Parrish & Gurvitz, after making 2 albums with George Martin (of Beatles fame), decided to pack it in and that's when Tony Newman joined and Three Man Army was born. The second album Mahesha and Three Man Army Two were both with Tony Newman.
We recorded often at the Who's studio and toured the US with The Doobie Brothers and The Beach Boys. We did some TV and there is an album of unreleased material called Three Man Army Three and can be purchased at http://wetworldmusic.com/
Paradise Ballroom
Q. During that period you started another project with The Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge. Soon after that two albums were released. Please tell me more about that project.
The two albums with Graeme Edge were just studio albums. The Moody Blues were taking a break and doing their individual projects. The artwork was by Joe Petagno (Motorhead sleeves etc.) also Three Man Army Two, the second album Paradise Ballroom was recorded in London and Memphis, they have both been reissued recently on The Acerteric label.
Q. Tony Newman left Three Man Army and you started a new band called Baker Gurvitz Army. How did you meet with Ginger Baker?
Paul: Three Man Army was back from the U.S. and Tony Newman was offered a gig with David Bowie and we suggested he took it. Three Man Army had an album ready to record, but no drummer. We met Ginger in The Speakeasy one night and he said he wanted to join the band and the rest is history. That album became the first BGA album. The band toured the UK and America and recorded somehow two more albums. There have been many live albums released since the demise of the band also on wetworldmusic.com. You will find BGA 'Still Alive' which includes a DVD.
Q. In 1976 you released the last Baker Gurvitz Army album, called Hearts on Fire. What happened next?
Paul: After the recording of Hearts On Fire our manager was killed in a plane crash and the band split. Adrian pursued solo projects and I produced them.
Q. Then came the 80's and you were involved with a lot of projects.
Paul: The 80's was a whole new era for me with my music. I went from playing and creating hard rock to writing pop r&b for many artists which you will find on my website paulgurvitz.com
Q. In 2002 you released the album 'No Gun - No Army' and in 2005 you released the 'Rated PG' album. What can you say about that?
Paul: No Gun No Army was just a release of demo's rated. PG was more a project than No Gun No Army. I make the albums more for other artist's to record the songs.
Q. In 2010 you released the album 'Sweetheart Land'. How do you feel about it?
Paul: I liked Sweetheart Land. Gave me chance to switch my style a bit to more country / rock.
This is the first part of a special on the Cardiff band, Universe. I downloaded their album some time ago (see vol40) and was immediately impressed with it, which I have previously compared to the earthy, blue collar rock of other one-album British heavy bluesrock bands, Leaf Hound and Stonehouse (see Stonehouse interview). During the band's life they supported such TDATS heros as Pink Fairies, Raw Material, Patto, Man and Writing on the Wall. Their original album was first released privately in only 300 copies, in Norway in 1971, so it's one of those mythical rarities that you'll probably never find in a lifetime. Luckily the now-defunct Norwegian label Colours re-issued it in a nice package back in 1991, which has now become very collectible itself.
The story of how this transient Welsh band came to release their only album in Norway is an interesting one, about which I was unable uncover anything other than hearsay and scant online comments, until I recently got a copy of the 1991 Colours vinyl. I was extremely happy to see it includes a great little booklet with photos and an interview with Universe guitarist / singer / harmonica player Steve Finn. The original lineup of the band was Steve, Mike Lloyd Jones (lead guitar), John Healan (bass), Mike Blanche (organ) and Rob Reynolds (drums). Steve Keeley replaced Rob Reynolds in 1970. Steve Finn was later in Sassafras, and Steve Keeley had been in Kimla Taz, which ties in nicely with TDATS volume 54 (Wales) as both those bands appear on there.
What I have done here is transcribed the full Colours booklet, and scanned the photos. I think it's important that this information is up on the net for all to see. I have also recently contacted Steve Finn, and he has agreed to answer some new questions about Universe and his own career, bearing in mind that the following interview is now almost 25 years old. In part 2 I will show the results of that, along with some info on the second Universe release from Colours just before it dissolved in 1993, The Wheel. If anyone has specific questions they'd like me to ask Steve, send me an email.
First, some more about Colours
Colours was a record label based in Skien, Norway, which existed between 1989 and 1994 .The first release was the local band Utopian Fields with BÃ¥rd Tufte Johansen on vocals. The releases were primarily prog rock, but the company also released records from folk rock band Shine Dion and the Deep Purple-inspired Disciples of Love, both being local bands.
Besides releasing new music from both Norway and Sweden, the label archived long-dead and forgotten bands like Universe. In these instances they went to special efforts to include posters, booklets and other historical tidbits. They were in very limited editions and today are coveted as collectibles.
The Colours booklet and interview, written by Jørn Andersen
Welcome on board, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the second journey of Colours Time Machine. My name is Jørn Andersen and I’m the Captain of this journey. This time we will take you back to the very early, and oh so legendary seventies. Right back to the time when the Universe was founded.
When I finally in 1990, after years and years in search of the Universe, could lay my greedy hands on a rather scratched copy of Universe's sole album, I was no less than happy. Come days later when I was down to earth again my mind was set up. If any privately released obscure album from those days deserved a legal reissue, this was it. The preparation for the journey started with getting in contact with Nils J. Øybakken who was the man behind Experience Records Ltd. (wiki).
In March 1971 he stumbled over Universe, one of the many times their van broke down during their freezy virgin-tour of the north of Norway. The year before he had set up his own studio in the basement of his father’s shop, and the now extremely rare and legendary first single with Prudence (see Norwegian volume 81) had just been released on his newly founded label: Experience. So what could suit better than a hungry English band to fill up the studio.
The original idea was to cut a single but the session was obviously inspiring because a full album was in the can before the tapes stopped.
“A Woman’s Shape” / “Rolling”
The single “A woman’s shape” backed with “Rolling” was issued with a picture sleeve (EXP 3002) in a total edition of less than 1000 copies. The A-side did not make it to the LP, nor the reissue, but will be included on a possible CD release on Colours later. The album, simply called “UNIVERSE”, was released in a total amount of 300 copies. The extremely few copies pressed, together with the fact that it was only on sale in the middle and north part of Norway, makes this one of the absolute rarest albums with any English group from the progressive area.
Colours are proud to present this album for the listeners all over the world, as it is now released for the first time outside of Norway.
To get some facts about the history of Universe I could not trust papers, magazines or books, as little or nothing is written or is saved in the archives. So after some expensive phone calls to England, with no result, I was quite relieved when a polite voice answered: “Steve Finn talking”. Even more relieved was I when he was positive to our idea of reissuing their album. He was willing to supply all information so I sent over a kind of an interview. He and the other members who are still alive came together and kindly took their time to help us to give Universe, from Cardiff in Wales, a place in the rock history which they highly deserve. So this is the story of Universe in their own words:
Q: When was Universe founded and who was in the band at various times?
A: We formed in 1968 as a blues band called “SPOONFULL”. The line-up was: Mike Lloyd Jones (lead guitar), John Healan (bass), Mike Blanche (organ), Steve Finn (vocals and harmonica) and Rob Reynolds (drums). This original line-up changed its name in 1970 to Universe and began writing and performing original songs as a change of direction from American blues music. Our musical influences at that time were Yes, Jethro Tull, Family, Eyes of Blue and Man (these last two being Welsh bands). A change of drummer occurred in December 1970, when Steve Keeley replaced Rob Reynolds.
Q: Apart from playing in Norway, did you play any other countries in Europe?
A: We played lots of tours in Europe. We played Copenhagen in Denmark and in Germany we played Kiel, Munich and Hamburg (at the Top Ten Club where the Beatles started out). We also did a tour of Denmark with Johnny Winter and Iron Butterfly.
Q: It seems like Universe is rather unknown in England. Is it because you never played there or what?
A: One reason might be that we spent most of our time gigging abroad. In UK we played at the Marquee and other London clubs and did many collage gigs supporting Yes, Fleetwood Mac, Rory Gallagher, Jethro Tull, Chicken Shack, Man, Black Sabbath and many other early 70s bands.
Q: About the tour in Norway, it seems like a lot of things went wrong. On the 16th March the newspaper “Adresseavisa” in Trondheim had an article about this English “pop group” who got only 5 kroner (about 50 pence) to live for a day and had to sleep at the railway station where their baggage was stolen. They wrote that the trouble started when you didn’t get the final message about the tour dates due to a post strike in England. You left for Norway anyhow, meanwhile the agent had found another English band in Demark, called Strange Fox, engaging them for your gigs under your name. But they regretted and the agent had to fabricate a story about a car accident as the reason for the delay. They also wrote that when you arrived it was only to experience that no working permission was arranged for you in Norway, and the police got involved. Finally they let you go further on after you had promised to report yourselves to the police at every new place you arrived! Seems like quite a tour! Did you play in the south as well, and did you play with any Norwegian bands?
A: We started the tour of Norway in Feb/March of 1971, but only played gigs in the northern part of the country as half way through the tour our agent Ragnar Hagen left us in Mo-I-Rana with no money, no food and no gigs. He returned to Oslo, and we have never seen or heard from him since. Then we met some very kind people who helped us to stay alive at that time by giving us food and somewhere to sleep. We will always be grateful to them even though we can no longer remember who they were.
We once spent 10 days at a club in Mo called Bleak House living and sleeping in the dressing room, but eventually got to Mosjøen and met Nils. The track on the LP was our way of saying thank you to Anton Solberg and his Bleak House, it was the only way we could (listen to the lyrics).
Nils and his parents were very good to us and gave us food. We stayed at a youth hostel and did some recordings with Nils for a single, which grew into an LP. I cannot remember meeting any Norwegian bands or musicians but 20 years is a fair time to go back. We eventually got enough money to get to Oslo, then Copenhagen where we played for 2 weeks at the Revolution Club and then returned to Hamburg for a month before getting home to Wales. It was an amazing time when we had a lot of fun and some hard times, and met some wonderful people.
Q: Nils told me some good stories about the session. When you were loading the equipment down to his studios the organ player tried to get his heavy L-100 Hammond organ down the stairs. Suddenly he cried “Look out!” and down the stairs went the organ. The steps were not good looking afterwards! You were also changing the speakers from the song-speaker to the guitar-speaker and back again all the time. You did also lose some equipment, didn’t you?
A: Mike Blanche remembers the van breaking down and us not having enough money to pay the garage. They took an amplifier and a speaker cabinet as payment and the police let us leave. Also recall breaking down late at night on a lonely road and Ragnar Hagen saying we only had 20 minutes to live as it was -20C! Then a lorry came down the road and gave us a lift to the nearest town. An old couple had a hotel that was closed for the winter and they gave us beds and food for free. Another time we slept the night in the waiting room of a railway station and when we woke in the morning the place was full of people waiting for the trains and none of them could sit down because we were sleeping straight out on all the seats.
When we returned to the UK, Nils sent us copies of the single and the LP, but no covers, and we always hoped to go back and meet everyone again, but never did.
Q: Did you do any other recordings as Universe ?
A: We recorded some stuff at Rockfield studios in Monmouth, which was used at the time by Dave Edmunds (who is from Cardiff). An acetate was pressed up with “Shadow of the sun” and “Waiting for summer” on it. We hoped to bring the Norwegian LP out in the UK, Track and Island were interested but wanted it re-recorded. Charisma too liked our songs.
Also possibly available may be some other recordings in 71/72 when we changed our style to be a bit more rock, and the songs were shorter and more commercial. Record companies in the UK always want hit singles.
Q: If those tapes can be unearthed and all parts can agree there is a possibility for a second Universe LP on Colours later on. But when did Universe split?
A: The group finally split in 72 when it was becoming difficult to carry on from a financial point – we were not making enough money to continue.
Q: What have the members been up to musically after the split?
A: Mike Lloyd Jones played with Shakin' Stevens from 74 to 78 and made several LP’s. Since then he has played with local bands in Cardiff and has songwriting connections with publishers in London. He is currently setting up a music production company in Cardiff.
Mike Blanche (known in Universe as Sponge) has produced recording sessions for the Cadillacs (former members of Racing Cars and Lone Star) resulting in 2 singles, also the Boys and Cartoon (Welsh band who toured Scandinavia in the late 80’s).
John Healan moved to Cornwall in South West of England in the mid 70’s and now plays Country & Western music. We are still great friends and see each other 2 to 3 times a year.
Steve Keeley did not play music after Universe. He got married and had some kids and sadly died of leukemia (blood cancer) in 1981, aged 31. It was very sad to lose a great friend.
Steve Finn continued song writing and solo performing in folk clubs and wine bars. Wrote songs for the first Sassafras LP “Expecting company” on Poloydor (2383 245). Was asked to join the band as bass player in UJune 74 – not my favourite instrument to play. Wrote most of the songs for the “Wheeling & dealing” LP on Chrysalis (CHR 1076), released April 75. Did UK tours with Black Oak Arkansas and Stackridge, tour of Holland with Ace and played France, Belgium and Yugoslavia. Month-long US tour supporting Ten Years After and Peter Frampton. The band was also featured on Chrysalis LP “End of the Rainbow” where they had two live tracks. Left at the end of 75 as I hated playing bass guitar. The band made a third LP “Riding high” before being dropped by Chrysalis (CHR 1100). I then made one LP with Southern Comfort (Country & Western, not to be confused with the ex-MSC band) in 76/77. I am still a solo performer and have released two cassettes of my own songs for sale at gigs. In Nov 89 supported Ralph McTell on UK tour and have a song-writing contract with Acuff-Rose Music Publishers in London and Nashville USA. I currently have songs with Joe Cocker, Kenny Rogers, Hank Williams Jr. and Bellamy Brothers.
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The Universe LP was also released by Swedish label Flawed Gems last year (2014) on CD, with a few extras that were not on the 1991 Colours vinyl, being the single "A Woman's Shape" recorded during the album session mentioned in the above interview, and the 1970 acetate, also mentioned. There's a short write-up on the back of the CD which gives nothing more away, and also omits to mention that the band was British, from Wales: "The music here is great guitar-driven hard-ish rock with some blues and progressive elements - similar to early Wishbone Ash, Thin Lizzy, Man and Hackensack". This is the description of Flawed Gems over at Discogs (link): "Deemed a bootleg / unofficial label by many, even though many of their releases have an address and barcode (but lack proper matrix or IFPI code). Most seem to be taken from vinyl. Flawed Gems releases should be marked Unofficial on Discogs". Last year saw another release of the album on a mysterious label called Nemo (NEM 1002) (link).
Thanks for reading and watch out for further questions to be answered by Steve. As I said before, if you have any specific questions please let me know by email, Rich.
Credits in the booklet
All songs EVER OPEN EYE MUSIC (except Cocaine)
All arrangements UNIVERSE
Produced by NILS J. ØYBAKKEN
Cover: BRAVE BIANCO – S.G.B. – TELSTAR
Recorded in a small Lydstudio in Mosjøen 1971.
Originally released in 1971 by EXPERIENCE RECORDS (EXPLP 2001)
Musical archaeologist: JØRN ANDERSEN
Captain of the Time Machine, 2nd journey: JØRN ANDERSEN
Reproduction of the cover: JOAN MENDEZ
Drawing of the Time Machine logo: ROALD FORSETH
Re-released by courtesy of EXPERIENCE / UNIVERSE
Thanks to Steve Finn, Nils J. Øybakken, Morten Jensen.
This release is a limited edition of 1000 copies on LP.
Ⓟ 1971 EXPERIENCE / 1991 COLOURS A/S
Ⓒ 1991 EVER OPEN EYE MUSIC / COLURS MUSIC PRODUCTIONS
COSLP 005
Welcome to TDATS #111. Now and again I come across bands that sounded great, but only made some singles and no albums. The first thing I always wonder is, "How come this obviously-talented band were around long enough to make a string of singles and get on a major label, but did not make an album?". It seems to be a question that arises regarding Dutch bands as often as any other nationality, if not more so, and the band that we are interested in for this episode is Cobra. They had an instantly likable brand of hook-laden rock which encompassed hard rock, pop, glam and blues in such a way that Dutch bands seemed particularly adept.
The Netherlands had a great pop scene in the '60s and '70s, and The Hague was the place to be. Bands which started there like Golden Earring, Q65, Supersister and Shocking Blue are still respected the world-over. I'd say it was second only to Hamburg as a go-to European city for aspiring musicians. Often, English names can be found in Dutch bands, such as singer Christine Holmes (ex-Family Dogg, later known as 'Kristine Sparkle') in California License and guitarist Ray Fenwick (The Spencer Davis Group, Tee-Set) who was a founder of After Tea. (Incidentally, I used a ripping Ray Fenwick track back on Vol103). Cobra had a British singer called Winston Gawke. Before his time in mainland Europe he'd already tried his hand in the UK as Winston G and had various backing groups, culminating in The Winston G Set (later called Fox & The Whip).For fact-fans out there, The Winston G Set was also an early band for Huw Lloyd-Langton of ├┤awkШind.
The Dutch quickly assimilated the popular hard rock sounds of the time, and one thing I like was their ability to mix these heavy sounds with a certain pop, almost glam sensibility, avoiding getting too cheesy, but remaining endearingly fun. Good examples of this were Blue Planet, Big Wheel, Panda, Inca Bullet Joe and many more. I hope to focus on some more of these names in later episodes...
Back to Cobra. They made five singles (including one under the name of Island), all of which are great. I have contacted the original guitarist of Cobra, who does an excellent job on all the singles, his name is Rob Vunderink. He still works successfully in music and has been a member of distinguished Dutch progsters Kayak since 2001. One of Rob's other notable successes was as a founding member the pop rock band Diesel, which had a number-one single in Canada from an album which was also popular in the US around 1980.
The other two main members of Cobra were Michiel Driessen (drums - later in Livin' Blues, Sun, Flair and Monte Carlo) and Paul Heppener (Bass - ex-Confrontation, later in Centaur, Drama, Shocking Blue, Fontessa and Belgian band Otger Dice).
Polydor 2050196 (released in Germany & Netherlands)
So Dissatisfied / What's Next
Polydor / 2050167
Rob Vunderink interview
Rob in Kayak (2014)
Rob (left) in The Counts
Q01. Hi Rob, Thanks for your time! Firstly, can you tell us about your beginnings in music? I was born in Nijmegen. The Van Halen brothers lived here, as did Nina Simone. I got my first guitar when I was sixteen, because I loved the Beatles. Why guitar? That's what they played. I never had lessons, I taught myself and I was in a school band. At a certain point I joined a local top band called The Counts[links: 1, 2] and they had a manager, who became my personal manager also.
Q02. What happened after The Counts? My manager called and said the singer of the Yardbirds was looking for a guitarist in Nijmegen. These had been a peculiar German version of The Yardbirds [a bogus, or 'tribute' version] without any real Yardbirds. The singer was Winston Gawke from the UK. I started a band with Winston which was first called Jasper Mule. At this point we also had Joop van Kesteren (bass, ex-Counts, who later went on to Grass) and John Lejeune (drums, ex-Corporation, later to Livin' Blues).
Q03. What music were you personally in to at the time? I liked Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and other hard rock bands.
Cobra
Q04. Can you tell me about Island's "Move Over / Super Woman" Single? I know it had some connection to you and Winston. It is fantastic, Super Woman sounds like a lost Led Zep song! I have only heard this side as it was included in a comp at the time called "Hey June", I've not heard the flipside. Winston attracted John van Setten as our manager. John had managed a band called Island previously, which had ceased to exist by this time. He arranged a recording session for us and the resulting songs, "Super Woman / Move Over", were released as an Island single. We had nothing to do with the old Island and it was a one-time occasion.
1. Michiel Driessen 2. Rob Vunderink 3. Winston Gawke 4. Paul Heppener I'm in Love single (1971)
Q05. How did Cobra come about? We moved to the Hague in 1969, Michiel Driessen and Paul Heppener then took the roles of drums and bass respectively, and the Cobra lineup was made. At one time Cor van der Beek (Shocking Blue - drums) had one or two rehearsals but didn't join. We got ourselves a record deal with Polydor and after my suggestion for calling the band Grizzley, Winston came up with 'Cobra'.
Q06. How did Cobra get signed to the Polydor label? We just went there and talked to Freddy Haayen, who was director and producer for Golden Earring. He produced us himself, including our first single, 'The War Will Soon Be Over (My Love)' which became a hit in Holland.
Q07. Was there a big rock scene in The Hague in the early '70s? The Hague was called 'beat city'. Lots of big Dutch bands were from the Hague, like Golden Earring, The Motions, Q65, Supersister and more. Every Tuesday evening musicians would hang out in a place called De Maraton[inc. Q65 and Golden Earring - wiki]. So yes, a big rock scene and a fun place too.
Q08. Did Cobra play many gigs or festivals? We played all over Holland, both clubs and festivals. We opened up for Ten Years After in Amsterdam in the early seventies. Alvin Lee was a star then because of Woodstock.
Paul Heppener (bass)
Q09. Can you tell us about the four 45s that Cobra released on the Polydor label? I think 'The War Will Soon Be Over' was recorded at the Phonogram studio in Hilversum. I remember it must have been early January 1970. Haayen produced us and Cees Schramaplayed keyboards[aka 'Crazy Casey', also of Golden Earring, Casey & The Pressure Group - wiki, RYM]. The second single was called 'I'm In Love' and it was a Haayen production too, record at the Soundpush Studio in The Hague. The third single was called 'So Dissatisfied', written and produced by Craig Bolyn from the US [ex-Nazz, prod. Ash Tray], same studio as the first one. The fourth single 'Don't Do Like I Do' was produced by former Earring drummer Jaap Eggermont, who would peak at Billboard #1 in the band 'Stars On 45' in the '80s. It was recorded at Soundpush also.
Q10. Do you have any favourite Cobra songs? Can you remember anything about playing any of them, like ones which were hard to play? I really like So Dissatisfied. I like the bass playing in I'm In Love. There was nothing hard about playing these songs.
Q11. I really like Cobra's music, and all the members put in a great performance. While it’s generally got an anthemic sing-along melodic style like 'The War Will Soon Be Over (My Love)', there's glam rock ('Don't Do Like I Do'), and couple of heavier rockers like 'Midnight Walker' and 'I'm in Love'. There's also some slow blues like 'Schoolgirl Blues'. Can you explain your thoughts on the band’s versatility and what influenced the sound of Cobra? Winston was the one who got the band together and he wanted a blues/rock band like Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple. He introduced me to the guitar playing style of Rory Gallagher. The War Will Soon Be Over was the odd one out, actually, but the combination of acoustic and electric playing intrigued some people. Later Winston proposed a style more like Mother's Finest, but that never came off. For blues influence we listened to BB King.
Q12. Who were the creative leaders of the band, if there were some? The song writing was done by Winston and me. No songs were written by Michiel and Paul. I think him and me were the creative leaders, if indeed there were any.
Q13. There is some extra orchestration on the song 'So Dissatisfied', which sounds like a mellotron/keyboard. Is this correct, and can you remember who played it, or was it put in later? Craig Bolyn experimented with the Moog synthesizer and he got it on board during the recording. He also added some low string guitar work during the guitar solo.
First Patricia Paay LP (1969)
Q14. 'Don't Do Like I Do' has some female backing vocals. Who did these vocals and how did that come about? It was Jaap Eggermont's idea. He hired Dutch singer Patricia Paay [radio host, glamour model and television personality - wiki]. We hated Eggermont's production, he fucked it up and didn't even put his name on the record, so he knew he fucked up. The single was a flop.
Q15. 'What Next' is a mini progressive epic. It talks about world war, racism, greed and other such issues. It's longer, more philosophical, and quite different to all your other songs. What's the story behind that? It also has a very nice emotive guitar solo at the end, is that you playing? That was Winston's work, those words. It was the time of hippies, peace and grass, so Winston was just exploiting the mood of the time, really. And yes, it's me on guitar.
Q16. What equipment did you use for your guitar sound in Cobra? At first I used a Fender Stratocaster, later a Gibson SG which I've still got and used when recording Diesel's 'Sausalito Summernight', which peaked at Billboard #25 and #1 in Canada in 1981. For amplification I used Marshall.
Q17. I've been told that it was particularly hard for Dutch rock bands to get label money/backing to record a whole album in their home country back then, and they were often encouraged to focus on writing radio-friendly pop singles, in search of a 'hit'. Because of this, many bands with great hard-rock potential like Cobra made singles which may have been aimed more at commercial acceptance than what the bands actually wanted to sound like, and unfortunately made no albums. What are your thoughts on this? Did these issues affect Cobra? It's the same everywhere: mainstream radio plays music for the average audience. If you want publicity you have to appeal to a large audience. We were moderately good in getting attention. It all went wrong when Eggermont overdid it with his pop song approach. By that time the band had grown tired of struggling. Myself and bass player Paul Heppener were especially unhappy with the situation.
Q18. 'The War Will Soon Be Over (My Love)' reached number 33 in the Dutch charts for two weeks. later-on 'So Dissatisfied' spent three weeks at #31. Did this encourage Cobra to aim higher? You must first score better with singles before a recording company will spend money on you to make an album, we never got that far.
Q19. Do you think Cobra had the potential be more successful? The band could have been bigger with some guidance and a better management.
Q20. How did the band end? Paul Heppener and I made the decision to leave. We didn't like the lack of development, we disliked the manager who was filling his own pockets. Then Pim van der Linden joined on bass simultaneously with Ben de Bruin on guitar. Cobra lasted for a couple more years without success.
Q21. Is there anything notable you can tell me about what happened to any of the other guys after Cobra was finished? Michiel Driessen made a living from having a duo with a keyboard player at parties. He bought his own apartment in the city of 's-Hertogenbosch so he must have been doing well. Winston went into business, he said. He must be a pensioner now, being 71 or 72 years old. Paul Heppener played in a group called Drama, and then later was in Shocking Blue, until singer Mariska Veres died. Ben de Bruin played with Rob Hoeke[and Herman Brood's Flash & Dance Band].
Q22. Do you have any final Cobra memories to share? No, except that we had a lot of fun and I would not like to have missed the experience.
So there you have an explanation for how an original band with some initial success and lots of potential could lose momentum and fade away in the harsh pop world. I will be getting some stories on equally good bands from the same period later, so keep TDATS book-marked.
I asked Rob some further questions regarding his career after Cobra.
Q23. What did you do after Cobra? Can you tell us a little about how you came to play for Maywood (Dutch pop duo)? After Cobra and an unsuccessful band called Centaur[also with Paul Heppener] I met guitarist Mark Boon who played in Smyle. Smyle's singer Bas Muijs sounded just like John Lennon and did the Beatles stuff for Eggermont's Stars on 45 later. Boon and me formed a band called The Hammer. Take a look here:
I play that red Gibson SG, as you can see. This was on a famous Dutch TV show around Sjef van Oekel. The Hammer had the same manager as Kayak. Pim Koopman was Kayak's drummer who later started producing artists like Maywood and Pussycat, for which Mark and myself were often hired as studio musicians.
Q24. It seems the band you started called Diesel had some great success, #1 in Canada! Can you tell me some more about them? Later Pim joined Mark and me to form Diesel. Diesel had two hits in the Netherlands and Belgium with Goin' back to China and Down in the Silvermine. We recorded an album, Watts In A Tank. The opening song is Sausalito Summernight, written by Mark Boon and myself. [Sausalito Summernight on youtube] Both the album and the single got charted in the USA and Canada. In 1981 we toured the States and Canada for seven weeks, about forty gigs. Already before the American hit guitarist/singer/composer Mark Boon and bass player Frank Papendrecht had left. Later drummer/producer/composer Pim Koopman left to. Before the tour Mark rejoined. After the tour we recorded another album, without Pim, which flopped. I left. In 1987 Pim and me got together again, singer Jeroen Engelbert joined (he's the singer on the live version of Sausalito Summernight with Kayak in 2010 [below]). In 1987 we had another hit with the song Samantha. Diesel disbanded again in 1989. In 2000 Pim, me and some other guys recorded an album of covers with three original songs. The album was called Diesel on the rocks, You can find it on iTunes.
Q25. How did you come join Kayak late in its career? Much later in 2001, when Kayak got together again, Pim asked me to join for one gig because guitarist Rob Winter had to play elsewhere. I never left. Here you can see Kayak playing Diesel's Sausalito Summernight during the Pim Koopman Tribute Concert at the Amsterdam Paradiso in 2010, one year after Pim's death:
Thanks for your time Rob, and thanks for the music!
As well as his musical career, Rob currently writes a weekly column for De Gelderlander newspaper, based in the Gelderland region of Holland. He gives special attention to healthcare, education, employment issues, and social absurdities. You can read his related blog here.
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