We Silurians are blessed with a
great number of music venues in south Wales, in particular Cardiff with the
Millenium or Principality Stadium being the jewel in its crown. The stadium has
hosted a diverse range of events from football, rugby, boxing, WWE and of
course live music. Acts such as the Red-Hot Chili Peppers, Tiner Turner, Taylor
Swift, Manic Street Preachers, Lana Del Ray and recently Oasis, as well as many
other bands and artists have all rocked our venerable capitol. There are of
course a great number of smaller and more intimate venues that cater for live
music including many good clubs and pubs that regularly put on original and
cover bands. These things that we perhaps from time to time take for granted exist
in far lesser abundance in my adopted hometown of Norrkoping Sweden. Bands do
of course come and go but nothing on par with Cardiff or indeed south Wales. So,
when last year I heard that John Cleese was coming to town to put on a show at
the Louis De Geer concert hall, which is primarily used for classical music
concerts and plays, it signified an opportunity to attend a gig, of sorts. It
wasn’t live music, but John is a comedy legend and he did not disappoint. Even
at the advanced age of eighty-six, he still managed to squeeze-in a few silly
walks, much to the delight of the Swedish audience. It was partly this event
however, that got me thinking of south Wales music history, and in particular,
the hidden connections with rock history.
As much as we appreciate the hidden
gems of the Vale of Glamorgan, its history, ruined castles, myths, legends, sublime
coastline and topography, we thought it would be interesting to focus on a
different hidden aspect of our heritage for this article. That of rock n roll.
South Wales of course has a rich musical heritage and is well known worldwide for
producing global acts such as Tom Jones, Shirly Bassey, Manic Street Preachers,
Stereophonics, GLC, Budgie, Funeral for a Friend and Bullet for my Valentine
amongst many others, but it also has just as many fascinating hidden rock n
roll connections. A history not only found in the music venues of old, but in
our streets and even castles. Castles in south Wales, in particular Cardiff
castle, are synonymous with rock n roll!
An encounter with a drunken rock
legend
This realization all started one
afternoon in 2001 with a shout of, ‘Oh mate! What guitar have you got’!? I was
twenty at the time and was heading to a pub in the centre of Cardiff after
attending a guitar lesson in Canton from a guy called Michael Devlin. I was in
the middle of crossing the road near the old St David’s Hospital when I saw two
men staggering down the pavement on the side of the road that I had just left.
They both looked quite drunk. One had a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand.
They were a lot older than me, had long hair, and looked like caricatures of classic
rock n roll excess. One of them looked an awful lot like Lemmy from Motorhead.
Nah, I thought. It can’t be. Probably just a fanatical Motorhead fan who was
trying to emulate his hero. But still. I did a double take. I was close enough
to get a really good look, and this bloke absolutely looked the spitting image
of Lemmy; warts and all. The shouting continued, so I shouted back the name of
my guitar (which was an Epiphone) and walked on. The two men stood at the spot
for a short while longer and then went on their merry way. By this time, I was very intrigued and was
tempted to go back and see if it really was Lemmy, but my incredulity got the
better of me.
As I entered the Angel Taven pub, I related this strange tale to a number of my friends. ‘You do realize that Motorhead practice in Canton’ I was told. This was news to me. I am not sure about the veracity of this claim, but it is certainly true that Motorhead guitarist Phil Campell was a Welsh lad and that he did appear to have links with Canton. This would’ve given me some context for my strange encounter. Was it really Lemmy and Phil I saw that afternoon? I believe that it was. This is a tale that has greatly fascinated a number of my Swedish friends as such a casual encounter with a rock n roll icon would be more or less unthinkable in Norrköping.
Kurt and Courtney
There can’t be too many people who
are not aware of the urban legend of Kurt Cobain proposing to Courtney Love in Newport
one cold December evening in 1991, but it’s none the less a great place to
start. Hole had played a very low-key gig at one of TJ’S ‘Cheap, Sweaty, Fun’
events. TJ’S was widely regarded as a ‘toilet circuit’ venue, a ramshackle place
that up-and-coming bands could cultivate a following and hone their live
performances in front of a small but quite often enthusiastic crowd. It is one
club that the author sadly never got to play when busy gigging with bands in is
younger days but still attended a number of gigs and other events at this
legendary venue. And yes, the toilets were awful.
Courtney had arrived late with Kurt on this evening and had missed her soundcheck. Kurt was fairly well known at this time but was not quite the ‘voice of a generation’ that he was to become. Ever down-to-earth Kurt was happy to just mingle in the crowd and watch the bands play with everyone else. It is likely that the myth of Kurt’s proposal began right after the gig. Numerous places have been surmised where the proposal took place according to those who were there ranging from behind a fruit machine, on a bridge and even in the back of a Skoda. Most people seem to believe that the proposal had actually happened a few weeks before but whatever the truth is it transformed a low-key gig to an event that would become a part of rock folklore. The author remembers many people from his younger days talking of this event with awe with a good number of them making a modern-day pilgrimage of sorts to TJ’s just to follow in the footsteps of Kurt Cobain (although never Courtney Love-for some reason).
Barry’s Top Rank-the Memorial Hall
When people think of iconic music
venues in south Wales its usually Top Rank in Cardiff that comes to mind, but
the Memorial Hall in Barry was during the 1970s a similarly popular music venue
hosting a number of the biggest bands of their day. Many people might not know
that bands such as Hawkwind, Taste, Status Quo, Free, Slade, Ginger Baker’s Air
Force, UFO, Yes and many more have played at the Memorial Hall.
A chance encounter with Irish
guitar legend Rory Gallagher took place in the now demolished Vic pub in Holten
road. The author’s father was lucky enough to encounter Rory and his
crew/bandmates enjoying a pre-gig drink at this now vanished hostelry. Rory was
quiet but none the less very amiable and happy to talk to a fan. This encounter
meant a great deal to our father who has recounted it often. As fans of Rory
Gallagher, we were also intrigued by this encounter. Rory was the inspiration
for many of rock music’s most lauded guitarists including Slash and Gary Moore.
Rory sadly died relatively young at the age of forty-seven. The author’s father
also met, and hung out, with Lemmy too after a Hawkwind gig. The Memorial Hall
no doubt evokes many fond memories for those of a certain generation who were
fortunate enough to not have to travel far and wide to see their favourite bands,
but who for a time, could see them right on their doorstep. Perhaps its time
for the Memorial Hall to once again open its doors to bands as we have no doubt
that it could become a great live music venue once more.
Raglan Castle
Raglan castle is a must visit for
those with an interest in medieval history. Raglan sits picturesquely in
amongst the rolling fields of Monmouthshire and exhibits a tranquillity in the
twenty first century that belies the bitter sieges and fighting that occurred
here during the English Civil War, a conflict that would eventually lead to Raglan’s
despoilation or ‘slighting’. The great tower however was so well constructed
that not even multiple kegs of gunpowder could destroy it, so it was instead slighted
by hand with pickaxes leaving the hollow shell we see today. Despite the wanton destruction of the Civil
War period, centuries of subsequent neglect and pilfering by unsentimental
Georgian types, and weather-beaten decay, Raglan is still none the less a
mightily impressive ruin evocating all the romance of the high medieval period.
It is a place that the authors never tire of visiting.
It was this romance that attracted
the attention of Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant. Many younger readers will of
course be familiar with Led Zeppelin, but perhaps not so many familiar with Led
Zeppelin’s 1976 film, The Song Remains the Same. The video centres
around a terrific live performance from Madison Square Garden, with additional
footage of the band backstage, including footage of the band’s manager Peter
Grant giving a concert promoter a good telling-off (to put it mildly), and fantasy
segments featuring each individual band member. Raglan Castle was Robert
Plant’s choice of location.
Robert, sporting fantasy medieval
garb with cloak and a falcon on one hand, can be seen on horseback riding
around the peripheries of Raglan Castle. The segment culminates with a sword
duel whereby Robert’s adversary is cast into the moat surrounding the great
tower. So, if visitors to Raglan Castle perhaps fancy something different they
could do no worse than follow in Robert Plant’s footsteps and relive the epic
moments brought to us in The Song Remains the Same. It might also intrigue some readers to know
that parts of the 1981 film Time Bandits were also filmed at Raglan Castle.
Chepstow Castle
For those who appreciate the
heavier side of things Chepstow Castle will not fail to disappoint. Brazilian
death/thrash/Nu metal band Sepultura recorded the acoustic instrumental track Kiowas at Chepstow Castle. Whilst
recording their 1993 album Chaos AD at nearby Rockfield studios the band
had decided that for one track they needed a particular type of acoustic vibe that
seemingly only a medieval ribbed-groin vaulted room could provide. The
acoustics within the wine cellar of Chepstow Castle was deemed to make it the
perfect location. The track was recorded entirely live and is a departure from
the band’s usual heavy riffing instead featuring a hypnotic blend of drone acoustic
folk inspired guitars that would not sound entirely out of place on a Led
Zeppelin album, interspersed with tribal drum rhythms. If one listens carefully
to the intro and outro of Kiowas the squawking of nearby seagulls can be heard.
One wonders what Roger Bigod would have thought about four long-hared Brazilian
blokes jamming in his wine cellar. Incidentally, a number of the greatest rock
albums of all time were recorded in Monmouthshire at nearby Rockfield studio
including Oasis’s What’s the Story Morning Glory and Queen’s A Night
at the Opera, including Bohemian Rhapsody. These great albums and
many more were recorded here in South Wales.
Journey to the Centre of
Punk-Victimize
There is a great debate amongst
rock fans, in particular those who like punk, and that is, who actually
invented punk. Many older punks we’ve spoken to believe punk began in 1977 with
the Sex Pistols seminal Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
album. Many younger punks who follow American punk believe it was actually the
Ramones who were the real originators of punk with their landmark 1976 album Ramones
turning rock music on its head with its fast, energetic, stripped-down garage-rock
style. If you ask different people, you will get different answers. For our
two-pence worth into the great punk debate we think it is fair to say that both
bands played their part in that punk began as a genre with the Ramones and began
as a movement with the Sex Pistols. During the late 1970s however, in the midst of the so
called ‘first wave of punk, it was British punk bands such as the Clash, the
Buzzcocks, the Dammed, the Exploited and many more who dominated punk during
these early years, in the UK and Europe anyway.
Many might be unaware that the town of Barry is the home to one of the UK’s, and world’s, earliest punk bands. Victimize. Formed in Barry in 1977 with original lineup Bryn Merrick (RIP) on bass, Andy Johnson on guitars, Mike Rudman on drums and Andy James on vocals. Victimize soon gained a strong local following and played with a number of other well known UK punk bands such as Gang of Four, the Dammed and UK Subs. John Peel was also a fan. The band however only lasted a few years before disbanding but all continued to pursue music with Bryn Merick and Roman Jug eventually joining the Dammed. Incidentally, Bryn can be seen in action with the Dammed in the Young One’s episode Nasty. Guitarist Andy Johnson is regarded as something of a local legend and has been gigging more or less non-stop since 1977. Andy however in recent years has seemingly, musically anyway, mellowed swapping the overdriven crunch of rock for a more mellow vibe and now hosts the very popular Strictly Acoustic nite at the Earl Haig club in Whitchurch as well as organizing music events at Cubanas in Barry. Both nites are popular and certainly worth a look.
The Iron Maiden Connection
You never know who you might meet
in Barry. Actor Tom Hardy for example has been seen at Barry Island fun fair
within recent years. Tom in fact liked it so much, he returned the next day and
brought his family with him. Knight Rider actor David Hasselhoff was also
spotted on Barry Island a few years back. If, however, you happen to be a fan
of heavy metal and happen to be commuting on the train to Barry and spot a bloke
who looks remarkably like Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickenson, you might not
be entirely mistaken. The Iron Maiden legend has been spotted a number of times
commuting to Barry via train, but why would one of the greatest vocalists and
frontmen in the history of metal be on his way to Barry on an unreliable
Transport for Wales train? As well as
fronting Iron Maiden, Bruce is also a commercial airline pilot with business
interests at Cardiff Wales airport being the chairman of aviation maintenance
and repair firm Caerdav which has expanded its operations to south Wales. It seems that Bruce is more than happy to on
occasion commute to Barry via train, So, if you do happen to spot Bruce don’t
be afraid to say hi, he’s reported to be very friendly and happy to have a
chat. What a legend!
All this, and we haven’t even
mentioned Jimi Hendrix visiting Penarth.
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