UKC

The first “proper” band I ever saw, at the Glasgow Apollo, in 1979.

They fekin rocked !
 

I discovered recently that the bass player in my current band . . . . Was also at the gig !

Small world and all that.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/oct/22/rise-and-fall-of-thin-lizzy-n...

I never did get to know fully how it was that Phil Lynott died. I just remember the shock of it at the time.

Probably the same tour I saw at Newcastle City hall.  Phil had a bit of a cold but it was a brilliant gig. I've always been in awe of Bassplaying frontmen. The most I can manage without losing track of my fingers is a bit of harmony backing vocals.  

Basically years of drug and alcohol abuse caused his body to give up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Lynott#Illness_and_death

I remember at the time thinking he was a bit young to die but looking back now, from the other side of that age, 36 seems ridiculously young.

I’ve played a few gigs as bass / vocals but my bass lines were never even close to the quality of Lynott’s.

His bass on “ Still In Love With You” is my favourite 

So who played keyboards in TL's former keyboard player's band, Dare?

That would be Darren Wharton

Having seen a documentary about him years ago I thought it was hastened by the end of his marriage which left him heartbroken and his prodigious appetite for drink and drugs went into over drive.

Love Thin Lizzy, but I'm a bit weird as I really love Nightlife, which isn't one of their most celebrated albums, but I really love the soulful vibe on it.

For a while it was prof. Brian cox!!

My thin lizzy story:  Newark palace theatre 1977/1978, I think.  We went to watch the solo support act, who was mediocre at best.  At the interval went for a pint, and who should be at a table in the shabby bar -  Thin Lizzy, so pint in one hand I got their autographs on something.  Sadly no idea where that scruffy piece of paper is now.  Great band, great night.  Saw greenslade at the same venue for my first live band, Thin Lizzy were second.  Greelslade won the day over seeing the glitter band!

You been on Twitter today? I knew the answer to your question, but only because Prof. Cox had retweeted something about it.

Yes!

Just came accross this profile of Phil Lynott which explains some of his descent  to ultimate self destruction. It might be behind a paywall but I think you can read a few articles for free first.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/phil-lynott-addiction-destroyed-i...

I was lucky enough to see Thin Lizzy at the Reading Festival in 1983, their last festival performance aparantley.

I must have seen one of Phil Lynotts'  last live performances before he passed away, he guested on the Gary Moore tour to sing Parisienne Walkways (September 1985).

Saw Thin Lizzy twice at Preston Guild Hall. Must have the late 70s. Really good live band.

I miss the big fella.

I queued for hours for a ticket at around the same time ('79?) in Manchester. I think 'Live and Dangerous' had recently come out? It's still considered one of the finest live rock albums. Sadly, I got fed up of queuing and gave up. Never saw them in the end and then it was too late of course. I read a bio of him last year which was very illuminating. Apparently, he was very shy in real life, not like his stage persona. I found a brill YouTube video of the Eric Bell Lizzy incarnation playing 'Things Ain't Working Out Down on the Farm' (no, I hadn't heard it before either!) live to a German audience. It's fantastic - especially the audience reaction! Check it out.

Saw them in  1972 on a memorable night at the Lanchester Poly annexe in Rugby

They'd just broken big with "Whiskey in the Jar" & it was the original lineup with Eric Bell

It was a memorable night as TL were the 1st band on, followed by Medicine Head then the final band were Status Quo

The Quo were absolutely rubbish, way too loud for the size of the hall with terrible sound quality; everybody seemed to be crowding to the back to get away from it

To the one genius guitarist Thin Lizzy had - Brian Robertson (seen him twice) who was the sound of Thin Lizzy and Phil knew it. 

youtube.com/watch?v=oi74n-LCW3o&

youtube.com/watch?v=cSo9CC2wKVI&

Personal favourite - 

youtube.com/watch?v=2rUOxSAR8Sw&

As well as being the sound of the later 70s for me as a kid a crazy ex - con coke dealer bf of mine used to play it for me. Says I was his wil one. 

I was at that too.  If you went to that one then I guess we also shared going to a whole bunch of others - AC/DC, Motorhead, Judas Priest, etc.  For a couple of years I more or less lived at one of The City Hall, The Mayfair, or (my favourite) The Handyside Arcade (the Card Bar and Corbetts Coin and Stamp dealers! (kept my numismatic predilections secret from my fellow "hairies")).

Must have looked a lot like this:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4azfME8C5LU/T6a1xGyNniI/AAAAAAAACVI/94-XAqsqxjQ/s...

 Kard? Possibly the only place in town to find 8 x 6 in Mati Klarwein postcards, as I recall.

Small world. Yep, I was a hairy frequenter of the handyside arcade (there's a facebook page for it) and the mayfair. 

Surprisingly I didn't see any of those bands in the 70's (didn't see lemmy till he supported Alice cooper in Glasgow 10(ish) years ago and I was never a big enough acdc fan to spend money on them.   Mid to late 70's I saw the likes of Rush, Yes, George Thorogood, Clapton (clappedout more like - he was too stoned to play well),  BB king,  SKynyrd (before the plane crash), Slade, The Quo and so on.  

Did you ever get down to Mingles in Whitley Bay?  I was a Blyth lad so easier to get on public transport than Newcastle.

great photo.  One of the musicians from Junco Partners owned the clothing shop opposite the Kard bar and there was a decent hi-fi shop round the corner - still have dozens of TDK90 cassettes bought from there. We'd spend most lunchtimes wandering along from the Poly to clog up the Kard bar entrance. Those were the days

Yes, Kard, usual autocorrect issues.  Bit of a sad ending to a famous place I seem to recall (both the arcade and the shop, especially).

Any idea when that photo was taken?  There's someone who looks like he's just come out of the shop who is the spit of how I looked then, complete with derigeur brown dessie boots.  Would seem more than a bit of a coincidence, I'll have to check with my wife who would know for sure.

I started with The Strawbs and T-Rex, and continued with (in no particular order) Deep Purple, The Scorpions, AC/DC, Motorhead, Eric Clappedout, Gillan Band, whatever crap Ozzie  Osbourne was in, Sammy Hagar, Girls School, Skye (girl friend's idea), Moody Blues, Ted Nugent (liikes!), Dio, that other German band that wasn't the Scorpions, and probably a whole bunch of other stuff I was too wasted to remember. 

That I didn't.  I did survive the Mad Mouse at the Spanish city (possibly one of the few who did).  

The general hairy vibe strikes me as late 1970s. The only solid visual clue I can see is the rather indistinct Rush lettering on the jacket of the guy in the group on the right. This looks like the A Farewell to Arms font, which would place it as 1977 and thereafter.

I found the photo here; there are other photos from the 'shoot':

http://oldnovocastrian.blogspot.com/2011/08/images-of-arcadia.html 

The woman's T-shirt here might provide some clues as to the date, but I can't recognise it.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wdCKb-Yizks/T6a1tXtfbPI/AAAAAAAACU4/88n-0xfdM8c/s... 

Well about the right date, but I guess we tended to look pretty similar !  Some great memories stimulated by those photos.

City hall to UKC! The lot of us. My first "proper" gig was Rainbow in 76 or 77? Having previously been dragged around the north east and beyond by my dad to see my uncle play.......then spent waay too much time there watching bands various, also frequented the mayfair (obviously) Trillians (or whatever it was called then......) and indeed the handyside arcade. we used to wander down there from the rgs at lunchtime, and were amazed when a not kool lad suddenly became almost the koolest kid in school when he got a saturday job in the kard bar. I always felt a bit odd in the handyside as i'd turned into more of a punk by then, and missed out on a lot of patchouli soaked saturdays by taking up climbing and trying not to die climbing John Earl and the Hutchinson and Smiths latest northumberland epics.......

The hi fi shop was hi-fi opportunities, which i think predated wild trak, who's first premises was the same shop.

He was excellent ( great talent wasted ) . I saw him also play with Motörhead at The Apollo. His bemused parents were in one of the boxes, looked as though they were praying that the upper circle wasn’t going to collapse!

I think you need to update the age in your profile then (unless you went as a toddler )

My bro went to RGS and so did his best man. I wasn't quite bright enough to pass the entrance exam so I ended up at Kings in Tynemouth. 

Ah, I would gave killed for such a gig. Beats working as  pot boy at the local working man's social club, which was distinctly uncool (if lucrative for a 16/17 year old).

I remember wanting to see Rainbow, but not fancying sitting out all night for tickets.

Your Bro was Barry Jackson?

Profile duly updated..........anyway, there's nowt wrong with taking toddlers to gigs - my youngest saw New Model Army at age 3.

I worked in a shoe shop in town, then got a summer job at a pub in northumberland. That was a great summer!

It was well worth it!

I saw them with Brian Robertson and he was mostly sensational, but there were a couple of times when he was concentrating more on trying to stand up than play the guitar but Scott Gorham kept it all together. Brilliant guitarist anyway. I think Gary Moore fits into the ‘genius’ Guitar player category too. Brian Downey was a hugely underrated drummer.

I ended up at the Pineapple, just off the Bigg market.  Hated it!

I bet!  Wish I hadn't been such a wuss about staying up.

Then there is no way we could not have seen each other at some point as we used to regularly go there or meet up there before a night out........it wasnt a great place, the pineapple, was it.....

No, it was a bit rough around the edges.  Even the bouncers tended to end up pissed and causing trouble.  

About par for the course in the very early 80's.........different times........

Peter. He's 64 or 5 now. 

A good few years older than - there was a Barry Jackson in my class from up Blyth / Seaton Sluice way........didn't realise how many Jacksons there were from that neck of the woods at the RGS!

There was a Barry Jackson at the other end of my street I used to knock around with. Would probably be about the same age as you but I've no idea what school he went to.  had 2 brothers, Simon and Nicholas.