THE FLYS

BAND INDEX

Singles

Love and a Molotov Cocktail / I can crash here / Civilisation – EMI 1978

Oh Beverley / Don’t moonlight on me – EMI 1978

Fun city / EC4 – EMI 1978

Waikiki Beach Refugees / We don’t mind the rave – EMI 1978

Name dropping / Fly v Fly – EMI 1979

We are the lucky ones / living in the sticks – EMI 1980

What will mother say / Undercover agent zero – Parlophone 1980

EPs

Bunch of Five (I can crash here / Me and my buddies / Just for your sex / Saturday sunrise / Love and a Molotov Cocktail) – LAMA 1977

Four from the square (Sixteen down / Night creatures / Lois Lane / Today belongs to me – Parlophone 1979

Others on You Tube –

More John Peel Flys.

I think Neil’s piece from the Flys My space describes them best –

“In the beginning there were three young lads from Cov in the UK. David Freeman, Joe Hughes and Neil O’Connor. Hazel O’Connor Molotov Cocktail Neil was slightly older than the other two and had made their acquaintance through David’s mum, Esther Freeman, a lovely lady who was Neil’s Yoga teacher. ( yeah he was a bit of a late flowering hippy….) Joe took up the bass, Dave and Neil, the guitars and voices and they started to try to do something. They gave themselves the name “Midnight Circus” and were probably bloody awful but, hey, it was a good laugh. In those days there was never a full time drummer The Flys formerly Midnight Circus except for one guy, Paul Angelopolis, an American guy from Florida, in the same age group as them who wasn’t half bad except for when he partook more than he should’ve. Sadly Paul abused too much and died of a barbituate overdose at the age of 24. And that was sort of the end of “Midnight Circus”. By now it was 1977 and there was a change in the air. So they dropped the name and reincarnated as “The Flys”. But still no drummer. Around this time they happened upon a guy named Chris King who started to take a managerial interest in the lads and, as luck would have it, had a younger brother, Pete King, who was a good drummer and so deserved an audition. 197872 Here was the guy they’d been hoping for years to meet. And so The Flys became Dave, Joe, Neil and Pete. Chris had a huge amount of belief in the band and proposed that he’d set up a small indie label and sign up the band to release a limited edition 7 inch EP and so they went off to Pathway studios, an 8 track in Islington where all the great Stiff recordings had been made, to spend a Saturday recording their repertoire of 14 songs, or so. 284373 Then 5 of the recordings were chosen, mixed, mastered and became the EP “Bunch of five” on Chris King’s “Zama” label which included the titles….”Love and a Molotov cocktail” “Can I crash here” “Civilisation” Eventually EMI were to sign the band after having heard the EP and seeing the band on stage 362246 opening for The Buzzcocks tour in the Autumn of ’77. A condition of the contract was that the “Zama” indie release had to be limited to 2,500 copies as EMI wanted to re-launch with the title “Love and a Molotov cocktail”. In the late winter of ’78, with EMI money, they went on a UK nationwide tour opening for John Otway and Wild Willie Barrett and as spring arrived moved to London and started to record their first album for EMI, “Waikiki beach refugees”. Maybe they’d been too long in each others company, it’s hard to know exactly why but rifts started to appear. The first casualty was Chris. The Flys were no exception to any other bands in that they were full of insecurity and that insecurity pushed Chris away. Pete continued to play with the band who, by now, were opening for “The Ruts” around the UK and playing shows in their own right around Europe but he was never totally happy without his brother around. Probably he felt torn in his loyalties, Which is no surprise and eventually he was offered the chance to join “After the fire” who, at the time, were about to tour with ELO. For Pete this became a dream come true as ELO’s drummer became to ill to play and Pete ended up playing drums for ELO for most of the tour. After Pete they recruited Graham Deakin, a lay it down Keith Moon type who came to the band from John Entwhistle’s “Ox”. And so with new drummer, Graham, the guys went down to a 16 track in Somerset to record their second album which was to be called “Own”. Although they continued to record more singles, EP’s, tour and make many TV and Radio appearances throughout the UK and Europe their time together started to unravel and in the spring of 1980 they called it quits. Neil went on to play guitar and record with his sister Hazel O’Connor. Eventually, in the mid 80’s, he moved into the field of recording and producing working mainly from Martin Rushent’s “Genetic studios”. David went on to follow a solo career securing a publishing/ development contract with Dave Stewart. Eventually Joe joined him, they called themselves “The lover speaks” and in the ‘90s they were rewarded with a huge songwriting success when Annie Lennox covered their song “No more I love you’s”. Sadly Pete succumbed to cancer before he could reach the age of 30. Graham was never heard from again. These days Neil lives in Montreal, Canada producing and performing still. Joe and his wife split their time between the UK and the States with their band “Cicero Buck”. David’s a bit of a hermit as of writing. “Die Toten Hosen” from Germany and “Duanne Peters” have both covered “Love and Molotov cocktail”. Hazel included it in one of her TV shows too. Photo L to R ( taken by Pete Vernon 1978 ) Neil O’Connor – guitar, keys, vox David Freeman – guitar, vox Joe Hughes – bass, vox Pete King – drums Managers and road crew were……….. Chris King -manager 77 to 78 Mark Rye –manager 78 to 80 Vance Anderson -tour manager 77 to 80Mick Anderson – backline 77 to 80 Record labels…………….. Zama-indie – 77 to 78 EMI – 78 to 80 See for miles – re-release in the 90s Captain Oi – re-release in 2K.

By Neil O Connor.

Review from Alternative Sounds – 1979

THE FLYS – NAME DROPPING / FLY V FLY (EMI)

Get ready for the next Flys single – as the chorus line of the song says, it is amazing! Featuring David on vocals, there’s some good lyrics for all you posers to sing-along to. There’s some nice juicy guitar playing too, and with a catchy tune like this, all I can say is – make way for a hit. The B Side is a novel little instrumental. The guitar work in it is most unusual – good if you’re feeling like a jerky dance. A single well worth adding to your collection.

Biography

This Coventry, England-based group enjoyed a minor league role in the new wave, but owed more to power-pop and astute songwriting than punk. Singer and guitarist Neil O’Connor (brother of Hazel O’Connor) met school kids David Freeman (guitar, vocals) and Joe Hughes (bass, vocals) in the mid-70s, and formed Midnight Circus, eventually recruiting Pete King on drums. A name change to the Flys coincided with the discovery of punk’s first tremors, but a demo in April 1977 brought an apathetic response from the usual channels. The band issued Bunch Of Five, an energetic EP, on their own Zama Records label in time for Christmas. Quick as a flash, EMI Records snapped them up, rushing out one of the EP tracks (and perhaps their finest ever moment), “Love And A Molotov Cocktail”, as a single. After a tour with the Buzzcocks and John Otway And Wild Willy Barrett came “Fun City”, recorded at Pathway Studios. Waikiki Beach Refugees (also the title of their next single) emerged in October 1978 to an enthusiastic response, while the band toured Europe. 1979 saw a flurry of singles – “Beverley” in February, “Name Dropping” in April and “We Are The Lucky Ones” – but internal quarrels led to the recruitment of a riotous new drummer Graham Deakin (ex-Frankie Miller and John Entwistle’s Ox). Flys Own, rawer than their debut, coincided with a tour with the Ruts in autumn 1979. The EP Four From The Square was released in February as the band transferred to Parlophone Records. This was followed by “What Will Mother Say” in May 1980. Internal pressures began to erupt and the Flys broke up soon afterwards. O’Connor joined his sister for two years and two albums before becoming a musical arranger, and then a producer and engineer. Freeman issued a cover version of the Supremes’ “Stop! In The Name Of Love”, took a degree, published his poetry, sang on Alison Moyet’s Raindancing and later formed The Lover Speaks with Hughes (after his spell with ex-Specials Roddy Radiation And His Tearjerkers). Pete King, meanwhile, joined After The Fire, but sadly died aged 26. In 1991 See For Miles Records compiled an excellent self-titled retrospective of the band.

Comment from the Hobo site from Stu Knapper (Lead singer with Riot Act)

“Got to tell you that I loved The Flys, In fact I am sure that I still have a few Fly’s badges still kicking around in a cupboard somewhere. I saw them in the early days a couple of times at Mr Georges as they always seemed either get the support slot or top the bill when the headline didn’t turn up. This happened a few times during ’77 I remember no shows from Eater, Elvis Costello and Generation X and on at least one occasion the Fly’s got the gig. I think they suffered at the hands of EMI who at the time where really pushing their top acts like Kate Bush and Queen. I was working in Virgin for some of the Fly’s releases and I can tel you that they never got the push that might just have broke them to wider audience. But lets not forget the great records and some good memories.”
Posted by: Stu Knapper | 02/29/2008 at 07:06 PM

Hazel doing Neil O Connor’s Molotov Cocktail (Neil did the music for this and wrote the song for the Flys originally)

Neil O Connor’s version of his sister – Hazel O Connor’s Will You

 Flying Machine

BAND INDEX

circa 1969 – Pop group. Sources  – Broadgate Gnome & Rex Brough – Dean Nelson

The bulk of the outfit started their musical career under the title of Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours.

Line up: Steve Jones (lead guitar, vocals), Tony Newman (vocals), Stuart Coleman (bass), Paul Wilkinson (drums) Sam Kempe – Vocals

Newman and Coleman previously in Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours, Wilkinson previously in The Peeps and Jones was in The Sabres (with Wilkinson).

“Songwriters Tony Macaulay and Geoff Stevens wrote their hit “smile a little smile for me” which was a smash, Stateside. In 1971 they played a final gig in the 40 thieves nightclub, the first lineup called it a day. Phil Clough and Mike Summerson replaced

Stuart Coleman became a BBC London radio DJ in the late ’70s, running first the rock’n’roll

show “Echoes”, later appearing on Capitol Gold. He produced hits Shakin’ Stevens, Kim Wilde, and Cliff Richard and lives and works in Nashville. A line up of Flying Machine exists to day, but ether’s change the name back to Pinkerton’s Colours.” Rex Brough

Dean Nelson tells us –

” This was a studio project of songwriters Tony Macaulay and Geoff Stevens. The touring group featured Tony Newman as lead vocalist. He and the other members (except Wilkinson) had earlier been in Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours (later known as simply Pinkerton’s). 

Sequel’s double CD retrospective Flight Recorder compiles everything that they recorded for Pye between ’67 – ’71, plus sixteen previously unreleased cuts including demos of their Decca hits as Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours.”

Singles:

Smile A Little Smile For Me (Tony McCauley & Geoff Stevens) b/w Maybe We’ve Been Loving Too Long 1969

(Dean Nelson tells us  it “Peaked at No 5 on US Hot 100 on Kapp Records’ Congress record label. By 12 December that year they had sold a million copies of the record, and it was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A.the record had no presence at all on the UK Singles Chart, despite its initial release there on Pye Records”

Baby Make It Soon b/w Smile A Little Smile For Me 1969 (First recorded by Marmalade) Dean Nelson tells us “It scrapped the US Top 100 the following year, but the group, somewhat ungratefully, grew frustrated with their pop-oriented style. A final single, “The Devil Has Possession Of Your Mind”, suggested a change of direction, but the Flying Machine split up following its release”

Send My Baby Home Again b/w Look At Me Look At Me 1969 

Hanging On The Edge Of Sadness b/w Flying Machine 1970

The Devil Had Possession Of My Mind b/w Hey Little Girl 1970

Yes I Understand b/w Pages Of Your Life 1970

Albums:

Down to Earth With The Flying Machine 1970

1. Smile A Little Smile For Me 00:00

2. Marie Take A Chance 02:56

3. Waiting On The Shores Of Nowhere 06:11

4. That Same Old Feeling 09:39

5. There She Goes 13:05

6. Baby Make It Soon 15:57

7. Broken Hearted Me, Evil Hearted You 18:51

8. A Thing Called Love 21:57

9. My Baby’s Coming Home 24:31

10. Send My Baby Home Again 27:32

Compilation appearances have included: Smile a Little Smile for Me on Paisley Pop – Pye Psych (& Other Colours) 1966-1969 (CD); The Flying Machine on Rubble, Vol. 7 – Pictures In The Sky (LP); Hey Little Girl and Smile A Little Smile For Me on Ripples, Vol. 7 (CD).

Flood at Arbury Hall – circa 1972 Nuneaton rock band.

BAND INDEX

In the words of Dennis Burns

“Flood was my first band which I formed with Mick Warren (vocals) an old school mate of mine, Ozzie Warren (Mick’s older brother – now Principle of  Nuneaton Technical College or whatever they call it these days…), Mick Adler on bass, and later Leigh Dolphin (from Fresh Maggots) on rhythm guitar.”

(Photo Harts Hill Hayes, Nuneaton, 1971)

Played the Village (Colin Campbell in 1970 among the usual venues in Coventry.

Dennis Burns Typepad Blog – more music on this from his bands. https://dennisburns.typepad.com/blog/

Tracks by Flood via Dennis Burns.

Superstar

The 1st track is Superstar by Flood. This was recorded at a rehearsal for a reunion/ party at Stockingford Conservative Club in October 1978 (with Stiletto and Fresh Maggots on the same bill). This was the 1st time the band had been back together for 5 years as Mike Warren was living in Canterbury and Mick Adler was living in Birmingham. So here it, is

Classical Gas

Another Flood track recorded during rehearsals in 1978. This one is a Flood arrangement of the 1968 Grammy winner – Classical Gas by Mason Williams and features the deft acoustic guitar work of Leigh Dolphin. From Dennis Burns site –

A and R (Broadgate Gnome)
That warm box/envelope sound, so 70s has come through the digitization, wonderfully, What was the original equipment Dennis?
Posted by: A and R | 12/11/2007 at 12:19 PM

Isotope (Kevin Harrison)
Good live sound recording Dennis, I’ll resist the temptation to ask if you have any ‘baked’ fresh maggots? Oops!
Posted by: Isotope | 12/11/2007 at 05:31 PM

Dennis Burns
For backline – although we used to use mainly Marshall back line in ’73 (I had a Marshall 100 driving 2 Marshall 4 x 12’s and later added a Marshall 50 driving another Marshall 4 x 12; and Mick had a Hiwatt 100 driving 2 x Marshall 1 x 18″‘s). For this rehearsal recording however we borrowed Stiletto’s backline (I used Grahams Fender Bandmaster 50 driving a Marshall 4 x 12, Mick used Arun’s Fender Bassman 100 driving 2 Fender 2 x 15″‘s (I think) and Leigh used my Fender Pro Reverb 50.

The rehearsal was recorded on my old Sony TC630 reel-to-reel recorder which I sold years ago – I think I used Shure SM58’s for mikes..
Posted by: Dennis Burns | 12/11/2007 at 11:52 PM

Dennis Burns
Thanks Kev, It is surprising considering it was recorded just using a stereo pair in an empty club room… Re Baked Maggots – LMAO…
Posted by: Dennis Burns | 12/11/2007 at 11:54 PM

HOBO – Coventry Music Magazine
Fresh Maggots / The Flys – we have more insect bands than Liverpool!
Posted by: HOBO – Coventry Music Magazine | 12/12/2007 at 12:38 PM

Dennis Burns
FYI, Aorta Majors “rent-a-crew” live fan base were nicknamed “The Insects”……
Posted by: Dennis Burns | 12/12/2007 at 12:45 PM

…………………………

Dennis Burns has had a long association with FRESH MAGGOTS
Leigh Dolphin of Fresh Maggots played Rhythm guitar for Flood at one stage. Their music

was progressive. acoustic / electric and their RCA album from 1971 -Hatched  is now a cult album sort after by those into progressive rock. Check their Vox site out. Dennis was their sound engineer and roadie. Dennis also form a duo with Leigh Dolphin called DBXLD – 

Dennis has played with a number of Coventry or Nuneaton bands including Hunter, Flood, Dodo, Stiletto, Aorta Major The Mix, Urge. His son Nick plays now in JUB and his other son Matt plays in Simple Notion.

Dennis Burns in Flood

 

BAND INDEX

Genre: Grunge / Punk / Ska

From Rex Brough / Pete Chambers- Godiva Rocks / Alternative Sounds.

Line Up
Rod Goodwin – Bass & Vocals, Claire Ellis (later Panter) – Vocals, Arthur Jackson – Guitar, Rick Collet – Drums, Charlie Pullen – Drums. Chrissie Pew – Vocals, Replaced Claire Ellis, Ted Duggan – Drums

Reissue of this 3-track EP that was originally released by the Shapes’ Sofa Records back in 1980 and has been extremely scarce ever since. Catchy punk with female vocals from Leamington Spa, one of those great local one-off EPs that would get a spin on John Peel back in the day, brimming with an endearing and infectious energy that characterized the era.

Reissue comes with a 4-page insert including an old fanzine interview plus original live photos. 300-only
credits
released January 27, 2018

From Alternative Sounds

Released single on Sofa records in 1981 Cocktails at Six, (Produced by Johnny Rivers at Woodbine Studios) Tracks – Montague Jack Farmer, The king is Dead, Cocktails At Six.

Memories from Chrissie Pew

“I sang with Flackoff after Claire Ellis left the band, and stayed with the band until it’s demise, after which Rod Goodwin and myself formed ‘European Sun’. This line up stayed together for nearly eight years. I am finding it difficult to find anything on the net. about ‘European Sun’ which is strange, as we where very well known in local band circles, and
we also had an indie deal”

From Pete Chambers – Godiva Rocks

” ..Rod Goodwin was a kingpin on the Leamington music scene had been organising concerts in the area, generally shouting at people the apathy and do something about the lack of gigs. In 1980 livewire vocalist Claire Ellis joined the band and turned the whole sound and image around. She later married Horace Panter of the Specials. Flackoff members Ron Goodwin, Arthur Jackson, Rick Collet and Chrissie Pew formed European Sun. Claire Ellis (Panter) opened the Nerve Boutique in Coventry.”

c 2002 –

BAND INDEX

DAVE RYDER, 22, singer and guitarist, works at George Eliot Hospital, attended King Edward School VI College, and lives in Nuneaton.

PAUL WATSON, 21, bass player, works at Listers Volkswagen, in Coventry, attended Etone Community School, lives in Nuneaton.

ARTHUR GATFIELD, 21, singer and guitarist, office worker at Discovery Housing, went to Etone Community School, and lives in Nuneaton.

STEVE HARRIS, 21, drummer, works for Schenker-BTL Ltd, attended Etone Community School, and lives in Nuneaton.

“Are an earsplitting, slap in the face, wet snog of a rock and roll monster. All tousled hair, make-up and glam clothes – imagine Russel Brand and Vince Noir after a punch up with the New York Dolls – the band cite Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch nails, the Stooges and Marilyn Manson as major influences.”

Despite their young years, Nuneaton and Hartshill boys Fiori have been at the top of the region’s musical tree for years now. That’s set to soar to new heights, with the band currently courting serious label interest in the States

And it’s not hard to see why.

Every time they take to the stage it’s a runaway freight train of a performance. Guitarists Arthur and Dave swap the lead vocals like latter day glimmer twins, and are backed brilliantly by Paul on bass and new member Luke on drums. They’re no strangers to the big stage and Fiori believe they would do the region proud at the Godiva Festival.

Manager Stewart Craner said: “The lads would feel like it would be a sort of homecoming if they got to play the main stage at Godiva. “They absolutely love the festival.”

From Coventry Telegraph 2008

In Godiva Rocks, Pete Chambers wrote ” Fiori won The Godiva Battle of the Bands in 2002. No amount of make-up and posturing can hide the talent this 4 piece have. Arthur Gatfield, Dave Ryder, Steve Harris and Paul Watson

create something gritty and good.”

Fiori – Black Reaction

Fiori @ Covstock 2008 – Stranger

3

DIS

 Firefly

BAND INDEX

Andy Rothwell Guttercat, Mick Cashin – bass, 80’s band with the DaVoil family. (Source – Rob – Cook Williams.)

Andy Rothwell – Guttercat says

 FISSION

BAND INDEX

FISSION circa 1973-5

Line up – 

Johnny Adams (lead/rhythm/acoustic guitars/vocals/songwriter),

Al Varney (bass), Rick Thawn (lead guitar). 

Simon Lovegrove (drums), (later Mick Lynch and Steve?)

Ant Callaghan (lyricist/vocals)

Fission, who at one stage gained the interest of Island Records, had their unique brand of rock music influenced variously by Hawkwind / and Johnny Adam’s classical / medieval guitar playing and Rick Thawn’s jazz rock playing.

They mostly wrote their own songs by Johnny Adams and also with with lyricist Ant Callaghan.

Johnny Adams was the key member and founder and had played with a range of rock

and commercial bands including the Mick Green Blues band / Flying Circus and later played with the Blue Jays and pink band Squad (after Terry Hall left for the Specials c.1979) and many more as well as playing his songs solo.

Al Varney started out as a DJ at the Coventry Arts Umbrella Club in 1970 – 72 running alnight Progressive Music sessions with his brother Steve Varney, and Fission was his first band after mastering the bass guitar. Later he played with Johnny Adams in The Blue Jays (a commercial band) and Colt 77 and many more over the years.

Rick Thawn formed a new jazz rock band with Paul Samson (not Paul Sampson (notice the spelling difference) who produced the Primitives) c July 1974, called Trigon. 

“When asked by Q Artistes why they don’t play Slade and Rolling Stones, they replied ‘because Slade and the Rolling Stones play Slade and the Rolling Stones!” That told ‘em! 

By 1974, through the efforts on drummer Simon Lovegrove, there was positive interest in Fission from Island Records. Sadly the band was falling apart from inner disputes and excesses and finally they split up. A great shame.

From Hobo Magazine – Edited by Trev Teasdel

INTRODUCING FISSION – Hobo Feature

Below with Rick Thawn on guitar

Simon Lovegrove on drums

Simon Lovegrove in 2007

Above and below Al Varney

Fission at the Hobo Workshop gigs Holyhead Youth Centre `1974

Fission supporting Budgie at the Royal Naval Club

Johnny Adams

Fission at the Hobo Workshop gigs

Johnny Adams and Rick Thawn were in the above band.

Johnny Adams and Al Varney were in this band after Fission.

Rick Thorn played lead in the Trogon – Jazz Rock after Fission.

BAND INDEX

“Emma’s voice is her chosen weapon, strong and loud, exciting but always in control. Her stark, often disturbing lyrics are compounded by the two way audio assault courtesy of Jez on drums and Martin on guitar. How can this be just two instruments and a voice I ask myself? Loud and proud, in yer’ face driving rock!”
Pete Chambers – Coventry Music Historian / Telegraph Columnist…

YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ZkxUZV9wKnc0za90kXTdw/featured

Spotify Album https://open.spotify.com/album/1XXzAPDOhI5u0cqwbCPx3E?fbclid=IwAR3YosRen-7yQEz5PjNvvAVkUCfpz8dKOiz2wSVlaeem4frbJK7HVj3_eOU

Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/FilthyCake/?ref=page_internal

It Doesn’t Make it Alright by Filthy Cake.

Hlt – Filthy Cake

Give it up

A lot more on their YouTube channel 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ZkxUZV9wKnc0za90kXTdw/featured

https://www.facebook.com/mainspikemusic

Midlands based record label showcasing underground / undiscovered eclectic & electric sounds. Experimental retro rock with soul & swagger.
Coventry City Of Culture 2021

“Those of you who have be paying attention will know that Filthy Cake came up trumps at the recent BBC Coventry & Warwickshire 2-Tone gig when they recorded a thrash-metal version of The Specials’ classic It Doesn’t Make It Alright.

It was featured on the live broadcast and did the band no harm in their attempt at world domination and this show was yet another step onwards through the exciting lifetime of a band that have more focus than the Hubble Telescope.

When the band took to the stage anticipation was high and there was no doubt that something very special was about to happen.

As a front-person Emma Sayers ticks all the right boxes. Not only does she posses a superb voice and bucket loads of charisma but this lady towers over most men in the audience and the stage belongs most definitely to her! It becomes her place of work and she knows how to work it – she was surely made to rock n roll.

Emma Sayers of Filthy Cake
Emma is the perfect front person
There again, it does help when you have a couple of musicians like Jez and Martin backing you. Martin Lynch is of the heads-down-and-boogie school of guitar playing, delicious power chord followed by another delicious power chord all topped off with – you’ve guessed it – another equally delicious power chord.

Then we have Jez White at the back beating the skins in a relentless attack of audio assault. This gig was powerful as it was exciting, yet we are talking about guitar, drums and voice – no bass, no keyboards, just three people hungry to rock.

We all loved it tonight, the audience, the band even the people at the back too frightened to move any closer. Filthy Cake staples like Marmapuke and the glorious Done Before all featured tonight, along with the aforementioned It Doesn’t Make It Alright now a set regular done to perfection.

No FC performance is complete without a step further into the dark-side with what has become their own classic Give It Up, and tonight Emma gave her all to the song and its delivery, bringing another dynamic performance of one of the City’s hottest tickets to a close. Now more cake anyone?!”

…………………………..
From the Coventry Telegraph 2006

Get a big slice of Filthy Cake.
By Kate Stanton

” I END up crawling across the floor,” says Emma Sayers, keen to get across that the band are best experienced live.

“We all go a bit loopy and go off into our own worlds. I don’t even feel like I’m performing, I’m just on my own and screaming.

“There’s nothing more liberating – it’s like a fit of hysteria,” she explains. “Then you come off stage and you think, ‘What was I doing?'”.

“Yeah, the old grannies love us,” confides Martin Lynch. “It’s definitely dramatic.”

The band’s name came from the slightly more sedate activity of eating cake, strangely enough.

“I was sitting in a café where there was lots of cake behind glass,” recalls Emma. “It looked so tempting, and I was just imagining a big Mississippi mud cake… just sticking your face in it, and getting filthy. That’s like the music, you just get stuck in and don’t hold back.”

Struggling to pigeonhole their sound, Emma offers: “Someone called it female-fronted garage rock.” “Maybe it’s funky rock,” suggests Martin.

“You can dance to it,” Emma explains, “but I do a fair bit of screaming as well. Someone once described it as PJ Harvey vs Rage Against the Machine. It’s just whatever comes out really, we just jam and see what happens.”

Filthy Cake got together in May 2004, but have been gigging since last June. “Me and Jez were jamming, and decided it would be nice to have a female singer,” says Martin.

“My friend saw an ad in Bubble shop window and gave me the number,” adds Emma. “She was the first one we auditioned – and then we just couldn’t get rid of her,” Martin laughs.

“I was also the best,” Emma states, firmly, “and I stopped all the others from going into the auditions anyway.

“I beat them up,” she says, though she’s (probably) not serious. “It was the first proper band I’d been in, I wanted to get into one for 10 or 15 years but hadn’t had the courage or the means to do so.

“My first gig… all that pent-up let-me-out anger was allowed to come out at last, it just sort of exploded.”

Unusually, the three-piece outfit have no bass player, but they insist it doesn’t create a problem. “People always say it sounds like there is one,” says drummer Jez White. “They ask if he’s hiding backstage because he’s too shy to come out.”

As for the future, Filthy Cake have plans to gig around the country, and are shortly to record an EP. But they don’t plan to exhaust themselves in a quest for world domination.

Martin says: “Fame would be nice but we’re not fighting for it. But I think we’re damn good and most people who hear it – their jaws are on the floor.

“Usually because Emma’s knocked one of them out,” he adds.

“We’re certainly not just in it for the money, but I think we’d like some recognition,” says Jez. “It would be nice to give up our jobs.”

Emma nods, wistfully: “My ambition is to travel the world and speak lots of different languages. Maybe this could be my way of doing that.”

EMMA SAYERS, singer, 29, works as an interpreter and classroom assistant, lives in Stoke Caludon, and was a student at Coventry University.

MARTIN LYNCH, guitarist, 33, is a landscape gardener, lives in Radford, and attended Coventry Centre for Performing Arts.

JEZ WHITE, drummer, 37, does grounds maintenance and lives in Fenny Compton. He went to Dormer School in Leamington.

IT’S A SCREAM… Lead singer of Filthy Cake Emma Sayers, guitarist Martin Lynch and drummer Jez White, say the band are best experienced live.

BAND INDEX

Bob Tibbitts, vocals and guitar, Derek McConkey, bass, Steve Buckley lead guitar,  Roger Mann lead guitar) Jeff Wilson (Original drummer) Iain MacDonald as vocalist when Bob Tibbitts left and they became The New Fanatics and at this stage Steve Buckley and Derek McConkey left the band to be replaced by John Duggan bass and Ted Duggan drums.

The line up changed, following several name changes including The New Fanatics, Purple Haze, Sabina, Rogation Sunday, Acorn

THE FANATICS Here is a brief history of The Fanatics. My band from the sixties! It all started in a garage (yes, really). There was me, my friend, and a girl that lived in the entry (that is a place at the back of houses where the garage usually sits). She didn’t actually live in the entry, by the way. Music all began when my dad bought me an acoustic guitar for my 14th birthday. I taught myself how to play listening to the Kinks, Yardbirds, Animals, Beatles and the like. I was already musically inclined as I was taught classical piano by an old lady in our street (playing an incorrect note garnered a stroke across the back of the hand with a knitting needle!). I also played the trumpet and e-flat bass in a brass band. My friend had a plastic guitar. This I broke while trying to tune it. He then bought a ‘proper’ one. The ‘entry girl’ was Susan, a very tall-for-her-age girlfriend (I was required to stand on a house brick in order to kiss her!) accompanied our attempts at singing Peggy Sue and other standards using a baby’s plastic rattle! Then one day ‘electricity’ entered our lives and my friend acquired a bass guitar. We knew a kid who thought he was Hank Marvin and he had a real Fender! His dad had a van and all we needed was a drummer Ð Sue couldn’t quite ‘make it’ on the rattle! I bought a Japanese guitar (I think it was an Arbiter or something like that). This I played through a box that had an electric tremolo which was always ON. We practised. The ‘Hank Marvin’ kid (I recall his name as Gerald Mann) left the group and his dad and van went as well. We acquired a new lead guitar attached to a chap called Steve Buckley. He was the guy who looks like Bert Weedon on the right of the photo. Derek McConkey on bass (at the back of the photo), Geoff Wilson on the drums and myself, were by now playing in pubs and clubs on the north side of Coventry and in Bedworth and Nuneaton. Our manager (John Morley) came with a bigger van and a drum kit that our drummer utilised quite niftily! We played a lot of Kinks, Beatles, Yardbirds and Animals numbers plus a few that I wrote. I used to sing ‘The House of the Rising Sun’ with passion. I was told I did it well!! One bar staff lady at a club commented that she couldn’t understand how I could reach the low notes like Eric Burdon (Animals) being that I was such a ‘skinny runt’! We did make a reel-to-reel tape recording at The Grapes pub at the time but that has long since turned to dust. My lingering memories involve me always trying to play louder than the lead (much to his disgust) and flicking the two pickup switches on the guitar on and off (a la Pete Townshend), while inducing howling, morse-code feedback while we did one of our own numbers. (A sort of ‘Yardbirds’ freakout based on the chord D). Psychedelia was just being born. I also remember during one experimental frenzy, our bass player forcing his bass signal through a tower of small radio speakers, just to relish the sight of the cones popping out and distorting! The photo shows us at the New Inn pub in Longford, Coventry, sometime in 1965/66. We used to play a weekend – Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday lunch and Sunday night for about £25 between us all. Not a lot and most of the monies went on paying back loans on our equipment. The chap on the left of the pic was a guest. He used to show up at our gigs and sang with us. He worked in a circus as I remember. He performed acrobatics up and down the floor in front of the stage while we played. Great times. Sometimes there were fights on the floor, (The Navigation Pub was one particularly nasty one) but we just played on. Blood on my shirt and bits of glass all over the floor! I ‘lost’ my voice on several occasions probably due to most venues being smoke-filled! Can you imagine how embarrassing it is to loose your voice when you were the principal singer and you had the rest of you set to finish! On one occasion the second half of a set in an Ansty pub had to continue by inviting people to come up and do the singing! So we auditioned a front man to take my place. We got one after several applied at the Radford Social Club, Iain McDonald, – soon after I left the band. The Fanatics later became The New Fanatics, Purple Haze, Acorn, Rogation Sunday and then The Drops of Brandy, who played around the Birmingham area. I am aware now, that at the time there was a band in the US using the same name and also, later in the 80s, a band from Solihull called the Fanatics that became Ocean Colour Scene (if I am correct). We did have an audition booked for the TV on ‘Opportunity Knocks’ (Hughie Greene’s show), but sadly that fell through after I left. Some of the venues I remember playing are: The Navigation Pub, The White Lion (Bedworth), The Rose & Crown in Ansty, The Furnace, The Grapes, The Cedars, The Radford Social Club, ROAB Club, Parkstone Club, Unicorn WMC, The Plough on London Road, The New Inn, Stoke Ex-Servicemen’s Club, and many others that I can’t quite remember. We played an outside gig once at a fete. I also remember being approached by a chap from Roach Enterprises who offered to get us bookings but we declined, opting for our own manager to get us work. Great old times. All gone now, I am afraid. But fond memories. 

Also the mention of Neil Richardson and Loz Netto rings a bell. I’d written some lyrics for the Mick Green Blues band – with Tony Morgan on bass and Steve Harrison on drums. The band split up but by May Steve Harrison was in a new band called Nack-ed-en and Steve invited me down to the Queens pub in Hillfields, to their rehearsals one Sunday and asked me to bring my lyrics. I did so but Steve was no longer the drummer by then, replaced by John Bradbury – some 10 years before he joined the Specials. The band was a 3 piece with Loz Netto (later of Sniff n the Tears,) on lead guitar and Neil Richardson (later of Drops of Brandy) on bass. they were a tight rock blues band. After they finished we went to the Dive bar and met up with blues guitarist Chris Jones. John Bradbury had a look through my lyrics and Loz expressed interest in putting some music to some and so did Chris Jones. Nothing came of it though but I became friends with Loz Netto for a while before he left Coventry to join Moon. He was studying drama at Brooklands Annex. 

  Bob Tibbetts also writes poems and lyrics and has sent a few for this page.

A CRAZY SKY

Curiously ripe on a planet of mistakes
She touched her belly, smiled
Then pointed to the crazy sky
She gave birth to a blue-skinned child
A web-footed baby that nobody wanted to buy

Her little pet dog was found later
Something had taken its eyes
And the sheep up there had little holes
Drilled into their heads
No-one knew why

It was ’67—
In a distant world that NASA proudly owned
Where lost children were already growing old,
This was nowhere close to heaven . . .

Trying to capture what had been
And what was to be
Those haunting words from yesterday’s dreams
Like a manitou growing . . .
Stretching for the light from that distant star

She gazed down at her newly-born
And sang a mournful lullaby
Of a fresh and safe life
On a bright blue world — La La La . . .

RWT 2004