Old Man Riva

We had a similar venue in Coventry called The General Wolfe. It was a big old pub on the outskirts of the city and had a great venue room separate in the back of the pub. As well as the landlord giving local bands a chance to rehearse/gig there, they also had some excellent gigs on - including very early U2, Eurythmics, Thompson Twins, Hambi & the Dance, Steve Marriott's Packet of Three, and also a secret Robert Plant Honeydrippers gig. It's probably now luxury flats...

Apparently the story of the Fabulous Wealthy Tarts name was that they (along with Pino) were playing with Jools Holland (before Paul Young). Jools wanted to have a name for the band and especially the backing singers. They agreed as long as it didn’t make them “sound cheap”! Over to Jools...

I saw that band in 1983 at Warwick University. Pino was in full effect! I think it may have been his first solo tour so some of the venues were smaller like WU. He then went on The Tube and it all exploded from there (I think they were asked back onto the show the following week, such was the response to their performance). As I recall there were then a number of further shows booked in larger theatres so the tour was a bit of a mish-mash of club size venues and larger theatres. A really good band...

Mrs Riva feels suitable admonished. She now tells me that she’s listening to Peruvian techno-metal indie releases from 2021, but only those that quote Rimbaud (translated from French to German to Spanish to Quechua and/or Aymara), in an oblique way or not at all. Either that or X-Ray Spex...

Been listening to a lot of it (there’s a lot of music on there!) and some of the performances are superb. The whole band are right on it, but Mogg takes it to another level. Really makes me wonder just how big they could have been had Schenker stayed and they’d built on the foundations of SITN...

It is, isn’t it! He’s such a wonderful player. His version of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat is another one of his ‘moments’ for me...

Funnily enough one of the people I went to the gig was a guitarist who did the same! He was/is an accomplished player himself, though more rooted in blues/rock etc. He couldn’t get over how Geordie was getting the sound he did, especially with seemingly so little effort! I also think they are one of the most effortlessly cool bands I’ve seen - nothing contrived about them, and everything on their own terms (I’m sure they would have had their label challenges/input, but that’s how it seemed, at any road)...

When I saw them/him live it wasn’t so much the volume but the actual vastness of the sound - it was absolutely huge. It swarmed every inch of the venue. Backed by the driving rhythm section it was an incredible experience, and not one I’ve experienced since. And all played with the lightest of touches and minimum of fuss...

Great clip. Also remember them being on The Tube and ripping into Paul King (not sure if it was this episode or not as they did Eighties on an earlier show). Saw them at Lanchester Polytechnic in Cov on this tour and to this day it is the most intense and ‘electric’ gig I’ve ever seen. Geordie’s guitar sound was immense. It took me about a fortnight to get over it, and I was only standing at the back! Such a good band...

Bought a lovely MM Stingray off Victor. Such an easy, straightforward and pleasurable transaction. Excellent comms, and the bass arrived the next business day from the Netherlands safe, sound and securely packed. A great guy to deal with!

Slack jawed and a bit teary, if I’m honest...

If you did want to give them another listen then I’d always recommend How Soon is Now as a starting/returning point. Marr’s swampy/Bo Diddley riff/playing is top drawer, and the rhythm section tight as. I also think it’s one of the more listenable vocally for non Morrissey fans...

Fleabag posted this on the Guy Pratt Lockdown Licks thread - seems appropriate to share here also as it features Floyd, Saucerful of Secrets and Ashdown!

Not saying it’s right at all, and in a perfect world they’d hold their nerve and not be bullied/pander to outside influence, but as I say, given the unrelenting pressure they come under I can see how it’s happened... and therefore do have a degree of sympathy! Anyway, as you say, back to Morrissey... I once saw a band called Morrissey Mullen. The group didn’t actually feature the Smiths singer in any way shape or form. I didn’t enjoy them at all - not for the fact it wasn’t Morrissey the Smiths singer, it’s just that I found them really boring...

I agree in the most part, but I do have a degree of sympathy for the BBC as I feel their decision making is being dictated in part as a consequence of the seemingly constant attacks and accusations of bias from the Tories and elements of the right wing press. By attempting to please everyone they end up pleasing no one... Here’s a piece from a year ago - and, yes, I am aware that the piece is from a liberal viewpoint! https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/17/tories-bbc-line-of-fire-destroy

I’m diggin’ it, KP.... Now the good Dr. has a tale to tell!

If you’re going down that route, get on this...

Blimey! I’ve just finished listening to that for pretty much the same reason! (don’t think it was take 10, mind!. It always puts me in mind of this featuring Phil Chen on bass... Hope it does the job!

Will do. It’s booked in for next Tuesday!

The perfect adornment, practical too..!

Hi, thank you so much to everyone on this thread - what a marvellous bunch! The B-15 is booked in at Sickamps in Harlow (only 30mins away from me!) off the back of the recommendation above from jimmy23cricket, and after speaking with Chris there... Thanks again!

The amp was still on (powered up with the lights on) but with a growl and no sound (i.e. when I hit the strings nothing came through the speaker). I’ve had a look and there are four fuses...

You, sir, are a modern day saint! Thanks Paul, really helpful. I like the look of Leighton Jennings so may give him a call tomorrow. Hi Mike, it's the B-15N model. Looks great and sounds even better - to these ears, at least! Embarrassingly I've no idea whether a fuse blew or not - it was still on and making an odd growling noise after the 'pop', if that helps?!

I’ve an Ampeg B-15 Heritage which tonight went ‘pop’ and then ended up emitting an angry humming sound?! What I know of tubes, valves, repairs and such can be written on the back of a (very tiny) postage stamp so I’ve been scouring the internet for repairers in the Loughton/Essex area. I found a company called Essex Amp Repairs that look promising so wondered if anyone has used them at all? Thanks in advance, fellow BC-ers!

I think he’s a really good player. Back when Duran came out, the type of (unashamedly pop) band they were, his/their looks were referred to more than their music. It was lazily assumed that they weren’t particularly good players, which, IMHO, is neither right nor fair. The Taylors could all play well (John and Roger in particular), whilst Nick Rhodes would be the first to admit that he wasn’t really aspiring to be a great keyboard player, but then he didn’t really need to be, given what his/the keys role in the band was. I also think that Martin Kemp and Mikey Craig were viewed in a similar way, and were/are also both really good players...