Old Man Riva

Girl had that rock ‘n’ roll swagger that I associated with the bands that left me spellbound as a kid - Bowie, Rod, Bolan, Sweet etc. I only saw them supporting UFO (in early 1980?) but they were terrific - and, as I recall, the bass player played a Music Man, which was something you didn’t see much of at the time. My Number was such a good single. I think I said on a separate thread (EVH?) that I went to see Black Sabbath at Cov Theatre in ‘78 with Van Halen supporting. Wasn’t a fan of Sabbath but I’d try and see any band I could scrape the money together to see (and my dear departed dad always looked to help me out!) and the Sabbath gig was a big draw. If you’re talking about rock ‘n’ roll swagger then Van Halen bursting onto that Cov stage, all bright, shiny and brilliantly ridiculous, with their incredible musicianship and superbly catchy songs felt like music from another dimension. Theirs (and UFO) was definitely more my kind of thing but in terms of inspiration, being a working class kid from the Midlands and seeing others from a similar background like Def Leppard and Iron Maiden taking the route they did definitely had a huge impact, even if I didn’t particularly like the music. The music wasn’t really for me, but the attitude/ethos of the formative period of NWOBHM was one I found massively inspiring...

They had an indie single out (I Survive) in the early 80s - B-side (Gimme the Money) was superb. I think they then signed to a major and it all went a bit stale from there. Early on though, I thought they sounded great. Especially the singer...

Came along later, but I saw their (the singer and guitarist) earlier band, Terraplane, in the early 80s at the Lanchester Polytechnic in Cov, and they were superb. They did the most amazing version of River Deep, Mountain High...

That would be my choice too...

A big draw with UFO for me was how cool (I thought) Pete Way was. A definite posturing fop-dandy!! You’re right, being labelled a ‘poser’ was a bit of a thing back then, a proper put down - don’t ask me how I know! Anyway... Billy Apple one, Julian Trought (“it’s pronounced ‘True-ert’”) nil!!

I’m with you on UFO, but from experience knew hard rock fans who were suspicious of them - “poseurs” etc. Again, purely to my ears at least, the early Iron Maiden stuff I heard was bordering on punk in its sound. Running Free had brilliant energy, and hearing it on Radio 1 at the time it really came across brilliantly. I remember reading about their approach in Sounds and it really did feel like the punk ethos, insomuch as their approach felt truly independent and driven by the same approach as a lot of the punk bands - a bunch of mates getting together and having a go at forming a band. The same with Def Leppard and their Bludgeon Riffola EP. As a movement I wasn’t a fan of (much of) the music but loved the fact it was happening...

Being a Coventry City fan I definitely had to suffer the ‘punk’ rather than ‘glam’ football route - it was probably actually akin ‘bad pub rock’! Even though I didn’t dig the music I really liked the ‘indie’ approach of a lot of the NWOBHM bands. I had mates who were into punk music and were inspired to pick up an instrument because of it, and feel that must have been the same with young kids being inspired by the NWOBHM bands’ approach. It was also rare to see heavy bands on TOTP until Iron Maiden, Saxon etc. came along...

Even though I’m not really a Sabbath fan I have to say I love that album!!

With UFO I think better management would definitely have helped. The late 70s/early 80s constant treadmill of album/tour/album/tour/etc. was never addressed. You're right about the personalities in the band but they rarely spent time away from each other, so never had a proper opportunity to take stock and recharge the batteries. A good manager, working with the record company, could definitely have done things differently. Had they looked at the medium/longer term rather than merely milking the album/tour model in the shorter term, who knows, maybe Schenker would/could have stayed and things could have been different. Add to this the copious amounts of drugs being used (and not just the band) it's little wonder it all eventually came crashing down, with no money to show for the years of sold out US arenas etc. Even if the above had been different I'm still not sure they would have had the success in the UK they deserved. Around the time of NWOBHM Def Leppard found success in the US before the UK audiences would properly take to them, and I think UFO would have found themselves in the same boat with that particular audience. I think a lot of the NWOBHM audience found the likes of UFO a bit 'flash', and 'rock star-ish' (which they were!), whereas the bands that formed much of the NWOBHM scene were the opposite of that. I often think it was the heavy rock version of the punk model/ethos - DIY, unfussy, not flash, lacking pretention, where bands took control and issued the records themselves. Despite being a fan of rock 'n' roll and guitar bands in general the NWOBHM scene passed me by as the bands (with the exception of Girl) were, to my ears at least, closer in sound/style to Sabbath, Purple et al, who really weren't my cup of tea. As a kid I really liked the bands who looked like rock stars - Bowie, Bolan, Mott, Roxy Music, Rod and the Faces etc. - and UFO definitely fell into that category!! Interestingly enough, in 1978 I was lucky enough to see AC/DC with Bon, and UFO with Schenker. Those two gigs are probably the best hard rock gigs I've seen. I still get goosebumps today just thinking of the gigs. One band went on to achieve huge global success with the help of heavyweight management, and the other one...

Based on the serial number alone the Guitar Dater Project website dates it as a 2007-2008 instrument made at the Corona plant. So, based on the pics alone, it could be an American Standard with a changed pickguard and added bridge cover? That’d be my tuppence worth, and there are some great heads on here that I’m sure will add further thoughts.

Saw that too! I was a fan of the first Montrose album so that was reason enough to go. I remember Def Leppard being okay, but Sammy Hagar and his band put on a brilliant rock ‘n’ roll show. His voice was amazing. He also had a bassist who did a solo on a Precision Bass - being very impressionable I was very impressed! I think Quartz were another Brummie band. They did a cover of Nantucket Sleighride, which I remember buying from a place in Brum called Reddington’s Rare Records - spent many a happy Saturday in there going through all the records! It was signed, due, I think, to them having a connection to the shop... Good times...

Didn’t Def Leppard support Sammy Hagar there?

I once auditioned for Diamond Head in Birmingham (in the early 80s) - they were after a bass player and drummer at the time and my mate (a drummer) wouldn’t go by himself so I said I’d go with him. I didn’t know anything about them beforehand and on hearing their stuff it really wasn’t my kind of thing at all, but my mate was desperate for the gig so I said I’d go. Needless to say it wasn’t a crushing blow when they ventured I/we were “too funky”, and, most importantly, I do recall them being both really nice guys, despite everything being delivered in that wonderful monotone Brummie way! His previous band, Girl, are worth a listen. They were lumped in with the NWOBHM bands of the time but were so far away from them in terms of sounds and style they may as well have been from a different planet. They did a good cover of Do You Love Me, by Kiss, that Geoff Barton championed at the time. They supported UFO on their No Place to Run, and were excellent...

In the quest to find flatwound happiness I’ve spent (wasted!) so much money over the (recent) years on strings - back when I were a lad it was Rotosound Swing Bass or nothing (well not exactly nothing, as the other alternative was their flatwounds, which I just couldn’t fathom at all)! The La Bella Low Tension Flats are one of the few I’ve really liked - and you describe them far better than I could! Enjoy!

I’ve used Bass Direct to sell basses on a commission basis ranging from expensive vintage instruments to sub £1000 ones and they’ve done an excellent job every time - on a few occasions managing to get me more money than I’d requested/they’d advised they could. Based on my experience I can’t recommend Bass Direct highly enough...

Mani should’ve been more careful, too...

Looks lovely, sir! May it bring you many years of fun and fulfilment..! How do you find the Low Tension Flats?

Really enjoyed it (seeing Wreckless Eric on TV is always a bonus!), though, as Frank referenced, Noddy was a bit on the (over) enthusiastic side. I seem to recall there was a programme on BBC Four a while back along similar lines, though not sure if it’s still available. Freeview does the job for me - any service that gives me access to The Sweeney, The Professionals, Columbo, Kojak, a bit of 70s footy and the Friday evening music stuff on BBC Four can’t be bad! The recent addition of Sky Arts is a real plus - it’s the one Sky channel I wished I had previously but now it’s part of Freeview all’s good...

From a bass perspective there are some really good Tim Lefebvre interviews on YouTube where he discusses his work on Black Star... well worth a watch.

Adam Buxton is a big Bowie fan - his podcasts/radio shows are well worth a listen re. Bowie. It might be unfair but I always tend to think of Visconti being like he’s portrayed in the Adam Buxton/Warszawa clip!

Love that! (live performance). Thank you so much for posting/sharing...

A mate sent a link to this, which I’d not heard before (the band or the track). In a parallel universe Hawkwind, Neu, Bowie, Buzzcocks and their associated mates all met in a field, plugged in and got on with things...

I really like that! It sounds like the end credits to some obscure 1970s US (West Coast) cop show... Thanks for sharing...

I concede..! I agree. It’s not for everyone, it has to be said! I think Pete decided very early on in his career to focus on throwing shapes and the rest would follow... which it did!

None as low as Mr Pete’s..!