aolstudios
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- #81
We were mostly well underage, I think
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[Brighton] Bob Grover dead
- Thread starter aolstudios
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Ironically I posted a Venus in Furs track on the music thread earlier this week. They were the last band to play the Alhambra
Not Andy Naylor
Well-known member
A lot of days, gigs and venues that we old-timers look back on with nostalgia, but were probably really horrible if we admit it, although they didn't seem so bad at the time! The Alhambra was legendary (the basement was a club called the Inn Place at one point?) and on a good night it was amazing. But on a cold, rainy night when nobody was in the mood to brave the elements ...In the early days bands used to rehearse at the vault, but a couple of dodgy shed doors with a padlock over a couple of side crypts weren't enough to stop your gear getting nicked.
And I do remember in the later days, one or two of the 'occupants' there being dug out of the walls. Probably just as well it closed when it did
I have to confess that I didn't really allow myself to share the love for Piranhas, because, as for a lot of people in bands, they were the competition. But I had a sneaky regard for The Executives, because they proved that you didn't have to be particularly young or good-looking (or have a full set of teeth) to be in a band. And I loved Dick Damage and his various incarnations, especially the Dick Damage Big Band. I was in one of his acts for one night only, at The Richmond. He tried crowd-surfing and landed flat on his face.
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Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 72,963
Does anybody remember The Anti-Piranha League? Bunch of losers that used to congregate at the Windsor Tavern. Their gripe with the Piranhas was that a local band had dared enjoy a little bit of commercial success and had therefore sold out and were to be despised. Wankers
Not Andy Naylor
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Ian was a great Zap compere and let me try a few things out on those open mic nights! I bumped into Angie in Eastbourne a few months ago and asked if she was still living the life. She said "I'm a granny now", which shook me a bit. But of course we're all ancient - if we're still here, that is.Ditto - So many from that era now gone. Ian Smith, ( Birds with Ears) a very dear friend of mine - gone far too soon.
aolstudios
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Yep, they decided the Piranhas weren't 'punk' enough any more
Not Andy Naylor
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Very much the mood of the times!Yep, they decided the Piranhas weren't 'punk' enough any more
Not Andy Naylor
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And a great mention there of Keith Hurley, who played a big part in the background of those times. He did the PA at the Old Vic and the Hare and Hounds in the 80s and 90s.
- Jul 10, 2003
- 28,220
It was the Inn Place downstairs, playing the famous 'southern soul'. I had a couple of mates who were in there regularly so would often go between there and the Alhambra. The doorman in the Inn Place was a little guy called Les from Mile Oak with loud shirts and a penchant for huge stacked boots.
And the article from Harry above reminded me of Keith Hurley, the deaf sound engineer from the Alhambra. We used to use him sometimes for bigger gigs as he would turn up with ridiculously huge PAs and pound the audience into submission
*edit* Just seen the Keith post above. I seem to remember he had a stunning Swedish wife. Could never work that out
When I saw them at The Buccaneer all the others I went with were all still at school
- Jul 10, 2003
- 28,220
When I saw them at The Buccaneer all the others I went with were all still at school
You took your pupils
Yes they had APL badges made up, think there is a badge on the punk Brighton site.
Some of the punks in Brighton were right up themselves and didn’t like some of us kids that went to gigs in the late 70s, I was too young in 76 and 77.
Probably the same ones that didn’t like The Piranhas
Anybody here in this pic?
Not Andy Naylor
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Keith lived in Sweden for a time, didn't he? He probably seemed quite exotic to the locals. Especially with his tales of Jonny & the Lubes and the Molesters. (Was it just me who always thought of them as the Mole-sters?)Just seen the Keith post above. I seem to remember he had a stunning Swedish wife. Could never work that out
aolstudios
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Who we also lost in November, sadly
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aolstudios
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So was I. All still at school when we played all the venues mentioned tooWhen I saw them at The Buccaneer all the others I went with were all still at school
attila
1997 Club
Reposting my FB tribute. Lovely bloke: knew him for nearly 50 years. One of the very first Brighton punk bands in 1977, part of the legendary Vault scene and on the first Vaultage album: saw them there, then many times at their legendary Alhambra 'residency', followed them to the Marquee in London, booked them at Kent Uni and decades later the new version for Glastonwick.
Great, fun band, with some serious messages too: their first album was an absolute classic.
And, of course, I rewrote the lyrics of their 'Tom Hark' hit as a rallying call as part of the campaign for our new stadium at Falmer, and as 'Seagulls Ska' we (my band Barnstormer, Too Many Crooks, actor Ralph Brown and a choir of BHAFC activists including the legendary Paul 'Out Of Tune' Samrah) got to Number 17 in the charts on January 15 2005 with 'Tom Hark (We Want Falmer) and would have been on Top Of The Pops if Busted hadn't split up. We raised a lot of money and awareness for our campaign.
RIP, Bob.
Great, fun band, with some serious messages too: their first album was an absolute classic.
And, of course, I rewrote the lyrics of their 'Tom Hark' hit as a rallying call as part of the campaign for our new stadium at Falmer, and as 'Seagulls Ska' we (my band Barnstormer, Too Many Crooks, actor Ralph Brown and a choir of BHAFC activists including the legendary Paul 'Out Of Tune' Samrah) got to Number 17 in the charts on January 15 2005 with 'Tom Hark (We Want Falmer) and would have been on Top Of The Pops if Busted hadn't split up. We raised a lot of money and awareness for our campaign.
RIP, Bob.
Kevin Keegan in the middle holding a beer can
aolstudios
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Keith moved to Sweden in the 90s. He'd come back every few years for a catch up
Here you can see the bay window at the Alhambra.
And more interesting stuff here: https://www.historypin.org/en/explo...252,37.848706,-122.35058/paging/1/pin/1006330
And more interesting stuff here: https://www.historypin.org/en/explo...252,37.848706,-122.35058/paging/1/pin/1006330