ARTICLE ABOUT Yes FROM Record Mirror, April 29, 1972

I really liked this interview with Steve Howe – the journalist, Val Mabbs, did a very good job here.
You`re gonna enjoy this one a lot if you are a Yes fan!

YES – NO PLACE TO PLAY

Steve Howe talks about the venue problem to Val Mabbs

FOLLOWING an extensive tour of America, Yes returned home to find that not only had the Rainbow Theatre, where they had made several appearances, closed, but also London`s Royal Albert Hall had imposed a ban on pop and rock groups.
Two events that only illuminate the growing problem in Britain, where many excellent bands continue to emerge, but the work circuit continually decreases.
Steve Howe sat relaxing in his cosy Hampstead flat, pondering the difficulties of working in Britain, and the comparison to America.
“It’s getting to be much more tricky,” says Steve. “The failure of the Rainbow Room was really a shame, because to me it was the nicest and best gig to do and I was looking forward to going back there. I don’t like the idea of playing in a ‘swimming pool’ like the Empire Pool much — it’s a little cold.
“The last tour we did in October was of city halls, and we packed it out, but though we loved it I don’t think we’d like to do that again. We’d like to play where we can get more people together for more of an event.”

PERFECT

The latest idea among the group members is for Yes to appear at the Crystal Palace, following their return from a further American tour which is planned to begin in July.
“To me Crystal Palace seems the perfect venue because it’s very organised, you can get a lot of people there; there are trees and grass and a nice bank to sit on.
“We’ll definitely do a British concert probably there, and I’ve got a fascination for playing at the Roundhouse,” Steve told me, but admitted that a tour of Britain is not a lucrative prospect for any group. “From a group’s point of view you have to work very hard and not get much back — it’s not a nice way to look at England but you can’t make money here.
“This idea for Crystal Palace could turn into a small tour, but we’ve got to have a strong act with several other groups to see. We really hope to get Jonathan Edwards — a folk rock star yet to be ‘born’ in England! — and at least two other bands, but not out and out heavy rock groups.”
For six weeks, with only four days’ rest, Yes have toured America, and due to the vastness of the country and the abundance of colleges and halls to cover, could continue for years to return constantly. But despite the enjoyment they obtain from touring there, Yes have no intention of moving permanently to that vast country.
As they plan to go into the recording studios throughout the entire month of June, and will be spending a month prior to that in rehearsal however, Yes will not be appearing in Britain until their September concert.
The idea is to do an album with an American tour to run in the new songs and then to come back for the show in England,” Steve explained.
When I queried if Yes might not be interested in appearing on one of the festival bills he told me, “In a way they seem a little old-fashioned to me. A festival lasting three days induces so many bad spirits I think. They’ve been a success and I’m not wiping them out completely, but I like the slightly more reserved idea of putting on a show — when the sun is out!”
Mr Howe is greatly moved by the sun, and admits that although he wrote a large amount of new music during the first tour of America, which was in the summer, on the subsequent tours the flow has declined.

IDEA

“I’m glad this time though that I wasn’t using up more of my energy writing with the cassette, although sometimes when an idea comes I regret I’m not near a tape recorder, because it’s good to capture the song as it comes; just for your own amusement.
“The tour was hard work, particularly on the West Coast where the audiences are a bit more resistent. On the East Coast our reputation spread very quickly, now we’ve covered the West Coast supporting for the third time and there’s been a gradual build up.
“This time was the first they’d ever heard us in San Francisco, which is a whole England if you like, and you’ve got to get that from one show … !”
On stage Yes’ act is developing naturally, but following their American tour, Yes plan to use their recording engineer Eddy Offord permanently to mix their on stage sound.
“Originally he came over to help with the live recordings,” Steve explained. “And he helped with the PA and was turning out some incredible mixes — now we hope he can always mix our sound. The problem is he can’t record the set and mix it on stage, so we just let some guy loose in there to record us live.”

TAPES

Eighteen boxes of sixteen track tape are now waiting to be sorted through, when Eddy returns from the States, and it is planned to use two of them, along with two live tracks from the forthcoming tour, for a live Yes album. The Yes studio album, will consist of one piece of music on the first side, based on events in people’s lives, with a loose theme of leaving places.
Just one more recorded item to look forward to is an album which Steve and Jon Anderson are planning to record with MD Johnny Harris.
“One side will consist of Jon’s songs, which Johnny Harris will be working on, and we’re hoping to do ‘Mood For A Day’ with an orchestra. All this takes a lot of work, and it’s in the early stages, but we’re taking the first steps.”
In the meantime Mr Howe, having rested for two weeks, is already hankering after working again. “I wanna play,” he says characteristically. And therein lies the essence of Yes!

A fantastic product – or so it seemed?

The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!

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ARTICLE ABOUT Suzi Quatro FROM Record Mirror, May 13, 1972

A short, but early article on Suzi from the time when she released her debut single. The single was “Rolling Stone” and didn`t chart anywhere – except going to number one(!) in Portugal.

If you knew Suzi like the tattooist knows Suzi!

SUZI QUATRO is surely the ideal girl to take out.
She reckons one drink — top whack two — is enough to give her a friendly buzz. Doesn’t bother about eating. And needs only three hours sleep per night.
She’s also a hot tip from Mickie Most to become a positive superstar as from the release of her single “Brain Confusion”, which is out on the Rak label soon.
When Mickie speaks thus, most of us listen. Actually he discovered Suzi in Detroit when he was there to record Jeff Beck at the Tamla studios. He was pretty amazed to see the girls clamouring round Suzi when she was on stage.
He persuaded her to come to England seven months ago and has since recorded her, encouraged her to write songs. No public appearances as yet. But she’ll form a band.
In Detroit, she had her own all-girl band, Cradle. She’d been with them since she was fourteen. She went on to play bass, sing . . . and dance on a telly show as Suzi Soul.
Peter Frampton digs her vastly, after working on her single . . . “We wrote a song in the first twenty minutes we met,” said the talkative Suzi, who was performing in Vietnam when she was seventeen.
She currently has two tattoos on her person . . . a star on a wrist, a rose on a shoulder. “Where’s the nearest tattooist?” she asked me. I didn’t know.
“I wanna get something tattooed on my ass,” she said. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
Which is a funny message to have tattooed on your ass. Oh, I don’t know though!

The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!

1. Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Send it to: geirmykl@gmail.com
2. The offer should be 20 $ (US Dollars) to be considered. (This includes postage).
3. We conduct the transaction through my verified Paypal account for the safety of both parties.

ARTICLE ABOUT Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) FROM Record Mirror, May 27, 1972

To someone who didn`t know better at the time it would seem as Mr. Gillan was a Christian. First he starred in a very central role in the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” and then he produced the band “Jerusalem”. Funny business for a man who later composed a song called “No Laughing In Heaven”.
Oh, well, this is a treasure from those golden days at the start of the 70s and I`m off to a concert tonight with some other fans of Gillan`s main band Deep Purple, namely the incredible musos of Dream Theater.
Enjoy!

Svengali Ian Gillan tells of his first Purple Production

CAPTURING THE BIRTH

James Craig chronicles the progress of Jerusalem

POP MUSIC as someone once remarked is well left in the hands of youth and as some of our super stars totter towards the thirty plus signs it might be as well to offer some encouragement and help to those on the starting line.
Certainly that is the thinking behind Deep Purple`s vocalist Ian Gillan`s helping hand to four young men from Salisbury in a band with the unlikely name of `Jerusalem` with an even more unlikely titled single `Kamakazi Moth` (Decca) and an album just released.
Ian has just formed a new production company ‘Pussy Music’ and ‘Pussy Enterprises’ to which Jerusalem have become the first signings and last week he introduced me to half the group in the forms of Bob Cooke (lead guitar) and Paul Dean (bass) over a flagon of ale while he explained his involvement.
“My interest has been in an advisory capacity,” said Ian. “I didn’t so much produce the album as simply advise on a few technical problems and make some suggestions. I came across the band at a time when they were trying to get a record deal together and were in a state of confusion.
“In some ways its a nostalgic thing for me because I see them going through the same kind of problems and transitions that I did in the early days, before Episode Six even, when I was playing with little local bands in Hayes, Middlesex. I’ve always regretted that I never had any record of those early efforts because there was something about the brash enthusiasm of an early musical birth that you never recapture.
“I don’t want to give the impression that these boys are novices because they are not. They started playing almost as infants at school five years ago when Paul met up with Ray Sparrow and got a band together and later at college they met Bill Hinde and Bob Cooke.
“More recently they`ve brought in a new singer, Lynden Williams, and he has just the right kind of dramatics and vocal ability that convinced me that he had what it takes.”

Originally they started out as a `mean dirty blues band’ and moved through a phase they like to forget which was vaguely progressive which means everyone who came to see them sat on the floor like in-animate blobs and soaked up the vibes.
“Young people have just naturally got more energy than that and we want to see them moving about and enjoying themselves,” says Paul.
“Personally I feel that the ‘flashier’ a band is when they come on stage the better they look.
“I think people like Bolan have got it right – young audiences want to see something a bit exotic on stage. We are a flash band in that sense — a bit vicious and a bit sensual. We use a lot of volume but not as a cheap way to generate excitement.”
I think it was Paul who mentioned that the band had got a recent touch of ‘the support band blues’ playing second string to such formidable talents as Curved Air and Manfred Mann.
“Manfred has really got a very good little band together now,” said Paul. “He’s gone back to a basically pop format and it seems to be working. ” He was most impressed to witness the star playing chess in his dressing room prior to his appearance.
“The problem with playing in support of big name bands is that you know that they have come to see the headliners and you’ve really got to play your arse off to get any attention.”
Ian interjected to blow their own trumpet for them.
“Mind you,” he said. “I don’t care what anyone says it is the sole aim of any support band to blow the top of the bill off the stage and if anyone had got a ‘clapometer’ together I think ‘Jerusalem’ would have taken a few points off some of the bands they’ve worked with recently like Medicine Head.
“I don’t think we should give the impression that we go in with that attitude though,” said Paul guardedly. “I mean we found a group billed below us on a recent bill and I felt just a little embarrassed. It’s competitive without being cut-throat.”

Paul Dean – Jerusalem

Jerusalem have already suffered at the hands of word-slinging record reviewers who like to discourage new rock bands before they have managed to make their first tentative steps but overall they are winning recognition for their musical exuberance and crowd pleasing performance.
Ian hit out at some of those critics who do not seem to care about anything formative or cannot necessarily compare to the technical proficiency of more experienced and qualified musicians.
“I really feel some of these critics who cannot accept the fact that so called ‘heavy music’ has now become pop music by virtue of the fact that it is popular are writing with their heads in the sand,” he said.
“Why is it that some writers seem to adopt this postion that nothing can ever be any good if it is widely accepted and why is it that some bands like Black Sabbath seem so anxious to put down the young people who come to their concerts and refer to them disragingly as `teenyboppers’.
“How would you like to be called a ‘teenybopper’ just because you happened to be young and like bands that retained some essence of vitality. That’s just something else I can’t understand.
A band is hungry so it becomes good out of that hunger. It gets recognised and successful then throws the acceptance back in the faces of the people who made them. It just doesn’t make sense.
“Critics who are not prepared to encourage new talent and make some kind of allowance that no band becomes as good as those who are on top immediately are doing no good to themselves or the business that feeds them. They slam a show which maybe 5,000 people dug and the unfortunate thing is that maybe a quarter of a million people read the review!”
All bands like ‘Jerusalem’ want is a chance to prove themselves and Gillan is doing his bit to lend a hand. More established artists with his attitude would be no bad thing.

Would this ad be allowed in 2020? Not sure about that….

The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!

1. Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Send it to: geirmykl@gmail.com
2. The offer should be 20 $ (US Dollars) to be considered. (This includes postage).
3. We conduct the transaction through my verified Paypal account for the safety of both parties.

ARTICLE ABOUT ELO FROM Record Mirror, June 17, 1972

This article was just too good to pass up. It concerns trouble with the Italian police and in the middle of it all we find a guy called Don Arden, a famous manager of his time, known for his hard-ass attitude and father of the woman we all know and love as Sharon Osbourne.
Enjoy!

THE MOVE / Electric Light Orchestra manager, Don Arden, was arrested last Tuesday during the Electric Light Orchestra’s concert at Padova.
“The trouble had started a day earlier, when wildly-excited crowds in Arezzo had created a near-riot.
“As a result of that,” Don told RM, “the police in Padova were tipped off that they should expect trouble, and the concert hall was surrounded by police both inside and out a good three hours before the start of the show.
“In the middle of the fifth number, ‘Great Balls Of Fire,’ a man in shirt sleeves asked me something in Italian. When I tried to explain that I was English and didn’t understand, he became hysterical and grabbed my shirt, so I hit him. He turned out to be the chief of police, and he’d been trying to get me to call off the concert, thinking I was the manager of the concert hall.
“I don’t think there was any justification for stopping the show — the kids were very excited but they weren’t looking for trouble.”
The concert was duly stopped. Amid riotous scenes, Don was arrested and detained for two hours questioning at the local police station. After his release, he took the 7.30 a. m. plane back to London, and stayed in Britain until Saturday night, when he flew back out to take charge of the E.L.O.’s last two concerts, at Viarregio on Saturday, and Milan on Monday.
Don Arden was not the only manager to hit out at the attitudes of the Italian police this week: Argent’s Mel Collins condemned the use of tear gas by police at the Theatre Lyrico in Milan, after they had dispersed a 2,000 crowd following Argent’s concert there.
Towards the end of the concert, which attracted a capacity audience, 50 riot police were called in in an attempt to calm down the wildly demonstrative fans. The group had played five encores, and the curtain had been brought down, but the audience still refused to go until the tear gas was used.
Said Collins, “There were absolutely no signs of impending violence. As far as I could see, it was a clear case of unwarranted police interference. The fans were noisy and enthusiastic, but using tear gas just wasn’t on.”
A riot was narrowly avoided at Dusseldorf, when Nazareth played there on Sunday night.
After the group had played a normal length set plus one encore, the promoter pulled out the plugs, enraging the audience of 10,000. After 10 minutes during which time the audience threatened to get out of hand, the promoter asked Nazareth to go back on, and they did a further 20 minutes. Peace was restored.

The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!

1. Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Send it to: geirmykl@gmail.com
2. The offer should be 20 $ (US Dollars) to be considered. (This includes postage).
3. We conduct the transaction through my verified Paypal account for the safety of both parties.

ARTICLE ABOUT Slade FROM Record Mirror, June 17, 1972

There is no doubt that Slade were what we categorize as a rock band. Possibly in the glam variety, but still.. Today, the notion that a rock band would get in trouble for swearing on stage, would seem quite absurd. Not so in the conservative England at the start of the 70s… read all about it here. Enjoy.

They`re not rock or pop or anything else, they`re SLADE

Dave Hill talks to RM`s Val Mabbs

“OKAY”, says the hearty bellowing voice. “We want you all to clap along with us on this one, yes, everybody, let`s hear ya…”
The familiar kind of patter used by Slade on their live performances, building the audiences up to their almost frenzied height, when all the arms will stretch out to move in the mannerisms of Dave Hill, or Noddy Holder on stage, and the feet stamp relentlessly on polished ballroom floors.
They`ve long been the centre of a cult following, the heroes who provide the safety outlet for many a frustrated teenager, often pent up in a boring daytime job, just waiting for a chance to break out. And stomping along with Slade is better than smashing up trains, anyday!
But suddenly Slade are becoming accepted by a wider audience. They`re no longer thought of as an extension of a pop band – a description which never quite fitted anyway – and even the crowd at Lincoln`s Great Western Festival rose to their feet when the thundering little band hit the stage.
“It was the first big festival we’d done here,” explained the bouncy Dave Hill still happy despite having waited around for my arrival, following a muddle-up in communications. “We expected from your reports we’ve heard before that things would run late, but everything was very well organised, especially considering the bad weather they had to put up with.”
The group used the same on-stage act that they use regularly for their college and ballroom appearances, with one addition, “Move Over” by Janis Joplin. Apart from the obvious observation that Slade produced a good, controlled but rocking set, I wondered how Dave felt he might account for their victory (though he hates the thought of bands being put into a type of competition) on being tipped as the best group of the festival.

“I don’t think we played any better or any worse than we usually do,” he told me honestly. “But we’ve always gone out to get a mixed audience, and never wanted to be in any particular bag — we don’t want the rock label either, because we’re not a rock band, we only do one rock ‘n’ roll song.
“If you think about it we write our own numbers written through many influences, and I think where you’re brought up and the way you live influences things you write.
“I’d call our music beaty music, things you can dance to. I wish there was a new word, because when you say a rock band, to me that makes you think of the past, it’s attributed to Little Richard.
We aim to keep writing and keep fresh in our music all the time, we’ve got hundreds of tracks down in the studio now, and they’re nothing like what we`re doing on stage at the moment. We want variety in the act to appeal to many kinds of audiences. I really think that’s why we’ve won out because we can do that.”
From the outset of their career, Slade have always been individualistic. As Ambrose Slade, a quiet yet cheekily happy bunch of characters, they used violin on stage — an instrument that then was not as widely used as it has become today — and their title of being the first skinhead group, goes undisputed.
Even now, finding the correct words to apply to the group is difficult… they really can’t be labelled, except to say they’re Slade, and anyone who’s seen them work will know just what that means. Their live album “Slade Alive!” also gives an excellent indication of the band.
Slade are currently working in the studio recording tracks for a new album and single – all the tracks, Dave tells me, receive the same treatment, and are not recorded on a “this is going to be the single” pre-arranged basis.
Although being able to see the obvious shortcomings of recording all singles live, I echoed a reader’s view and asked Dave if he felt it could be beneficial for the group to record more live material.

“The album was recorded over three nights and an audience was brought in every night,” he told me, looking serious. “But it would be practically impossible to set that kind of thing up every time you wanted to record. Also you might not want an audience making a noise on the recording. All we wanted to do was produce a Slade live album showing how Slade are at present, not to get into any particular thing about recording live.”
Okay readers?
Slade themselves were particularly pleased with the outcome of their live sessions, recorded in the Command studios. But are certainly not so pleased about the current obscenity charge that they are faced with, following an appearance in Glasgow.
“As far as I know Nod didn’t swear,” Dave told me, leaning back and crossing his yellow clad knees. “We did the normal act that we do everywhere, so why all of as sudden, out of the blue, should someone come and pin that on us? I know there were a lot of hassles with people jumping on seats and running around, but nothing different happened on stage.
“The police just walked in to the dressing room and asked who was swearing, who was doing the announcing. I didn’t hear everything that was said when I was out on stage, but I don’t remember anyone swearing. We just don’t need that,” Dave’s anger at the whole situation was beginning to show, as he continued. “I might swear when I’m talking to you, it’s just part of speaking, people do swear. Girls in London swear, I’ve heard them, but if a group do they labelled as being obscene”

In the past, with their sometimes open talk on stage — Noddy occasionally will call for couples to get together, jokingly commenting “let’s see you having a fee” – the group have acquired the reputation for stepping out a little, and I pressed on to ask Dave if he felt they had been lucky in not being told to lessen their comments before.
“I’ve never thought about us being lucky, we don’t think about things like that. I hate people using the bit about being obscene, I couldn’t think of anything cornier, our music’s good enough.”
Indeed Slade are a highly successful and entertaining act who need no extra gimmicks.
“The way we are on stage is what we are,” says Dave. “I wear flashy clothes but I always wear flashy clothes, and Nod has always been the way he is. We haven’t gone out of the way to be anything different. We haven’t planned anything.”
Wouldn’t you agree that the members of Slade are good businessmen though? Dave gives a knowing grin, adding seriously: “We’re not out to con the public. We put out what we are. Now we’ll continue on as normal, we’ve always been the same.”

The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!

1. Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Send it to: geirmykl@gmail.com
2. The offer should be 20 $ (US Dollars) to be considered. (This includes postage).
3. We conduct the transaction through my verified Paypal account for the safety of both parties.