Pete Chambers – Two Tone Trail / Plaques / Walk of Fame / Books / Music Museum | Coventry Discos, Venues, Music Shops, Agencies

While doing the Hobo Vox blog on Coventry Music c 2007 – 9, I was in regular contact with Pete

Pete Chambers

Chambers who was doing some outstanding work for Coventry music (and still is). We put on quite a number of posts relating to his work. That site has now been closed by Vox but most of the posts have been relocated on this series of Hobo bloggers and the Hobo A to Z of Coventry music. Many of the posts for Pete Chambers were current at the time but now out of date but here I will try to illustrate some of the work that he did back then. His time and effort now goes in to the Coventry Music Museum on Ball Hill, Coventry as described in another post on here.

Pete’s work included writing the Backbeat Column on Coventry music for the Coventry Telegraph, the Pop into the Past programme for BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire with Bob Brolly, writing a number of books on Coventry Music and Two Tone, designing the Walk of Fame, The Two Tone Trail and Plaques and creating the Two Tone Central and the Coventry Music Museum.

I’m not sure who took all the photos but you can e mail me if you know and I will give credits.

Stop Press September 2015 – “Pete Chambers has been writing the Backbeat column in Coventry Telegraph for over ten years, and has been awarded A Coventry Music Wall office plaque and Citizen of the Month Award for his promotion and celebration to Coventry music.” His articles can be read here http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/authors/pete-chambers/

The book that started it all off for Pete Chambers in 2005 – no longer available as far as I know but sold really well and established him as a leading authority on Coventry Music.

These two books were part of a wider programme of establishing the Two Tone Trail, along with the Walk of Fame and the series of Two Tone plaques on the relevant buildings that hadn’t been demolished!

Next Pete enlightened us on the visitations and influence of the Beatles on Coventry, including their early meeting with Pete Waterman and John and Yoko‘s planting of Acorns for Peace in the grounds of Coventry Cathedral.

Godiva Rocked to a Backbeat was a more visual history of Coventry’s top bands from the 60’s through to the 80’s and the launch of the book was a great gathering of Coventry musicians and music.

Following the More than Two Tones Exhibition of Coventry Music at the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery 2009. Pete created the 2 Tone Central museum at Coventry University and the Ball Hill – now the Coventry Music Museum – a must visit!

Pete signing one of his books

Pete Chambers with Roadent (of Sex Pistols and Clash fame) from Coventry – Steve Connelly or Scon as he was known in the early 70’s to his friends. They are establishing the 7th Two Tone Plaque at Mr George’s Night club. Roadent introduced the Specials to the notorious Bernie Rhodes at Mr Georges!

Pete Chambers and Horace Panter at the Lanch (Coventry University) establishing a Tow Tone plaque.

More than Two Tones Exhibition 2009

Two Tone Plaque at the Lanch (Coventry University)

Pete Waterman and John Bradbury outside the former Coventry Virgin Records with Pete Chambers establishing the Two Tone Plaque. John Bradbury worked at Virgin records and Pete Waterman ran the Soul Hole Record store upstairs – Northern Soul imports with DJ Tilly Rutherford.

Photographer John Coles and John Bradbury with the Virgin Plaque.

51 Albany Road, base of the early Specials with a Two Tone plaque above the window!

The Holyhead Youth centre had long been a base for pop music in the 60’s, a rehearsal space for the Belgrade theatre, Youth Club and in 1974/5 the base for the Hobo Workshop gigs, giving first gigs to bands who later reformed as The Reluctant Stereotypes / Neil O’Connor‘s Midnight Circus (later the Flys), Dave Pepper’s first band Phoenix and many more. In the cellar in 1974, Charley Anderson was the youth worker and some of the musicians who formed the later Two Tone bands rehearsed there. Neol Davies came along to the Hobo Workshop to organise a jam session for us and we wanted to include Charley’s musicians in the cellar so Neol went down to talk to them and ended up jamming with them down there – by 1977 he was playing Chapter 5 with Charley and his musicians. The Holyhead later played host to the formation of the Coventry Automatics – later the Specials and much else – a centre with huge Coventry music importance including the involvement of the legendary Ray King whose Soul Band had a huge international reputation in the 60’s and 70’s. Here Pete Chambers is organising yet another Two Tone plaque and the Holyhead Youth Centre in Coventry.

The usual suspects with the Virgin Two Tone Plaque

The Hand in Heart – scene of Rod Felton’s Rude Bare Folk Club and of other relevance to the Coventry music scene and of course The Specials – hence yet another Two Tone plaque being established.

Inside the Holyhead Youth Centre with Pete Chambers, Ray King and Neol Davies etc.

Analog playing at the Holyhead Youth Centre 1974 – with Paul Brook (drums) and Steve Edgeson later of Reluctant Stereotypes etc. Also in this picture Trev Teasdel and Bob Rhodes who organised the Hobo Workshop and Phil Knapper (elder brother of Stu Knapper – later leader of the punk band Riot Act). Paul Sampson (another Reluctant Stereotype and later producer of the Primitives etc) also played there with jazz rock band Trigon. (Photo by Coventry Evening Telegraph 1974)