Junkhouse
Judas Goat
JUDAS GOAT 1970
Trev Teasdel says “This was another band I booked for the Coventry Arts Umbrella club in 1970. They played for us on Friday Dec 11th 1970. The band came from a village called Sapcote north of Coventry in Leicestershire.”
Below, the piece that appeared in the Umbrella Newsheet.
JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME
circa 1968 – Source Broadgate Gnome and others
Line up: Ray Borkowski – rhythm guitar, Tony King – vocals, Terry Flanagan – lead guitar, Brian Froud – drums, Dave (Smiler) Cobb – bass guitar.
Ray told Broadgate Gnome : “In 1968 we played all over Coventry but had a virtual residency at the Navigation, Stoney Stanton Road, in the summer of ’68. We believe we were the first band in Coventry to use heavy makeup on stage, and the first band in Cov to use a custom built ‘Strobe’ (made by Don O’Brian – manager) comprising a record deck, a 150 watt bulb and a cardboard disk. It worked like a dream and was superior to later ‘electronic’ commercially available models!”
They used to hang out with Peppermint Kreem and other bands.
JOURNEY OF A LIFE TIME…..Changed name of band to MORNING FREEDOM according to Mojo
Ray says of the Photo “
I think this was taken at a camp site in Great Yarmouth 1968. We later met up with some ex class mates from Cardinal Wiseman and played soccer on the beach. Why do I remember hiding in some girls bathroom from a big GI (soldier), with Terry and Tony?”
Morgan. see the link also for Morning Freedom.
As the band card was taken from Paul Kennelly’s Peppermint Kreem Facebook site I suspect Paul was in this band too.
Memories from Ray Borkowski from Rex Brough site
“I’m Ray Borkowski, former rhythm guitarist of ‘Journey of a Lifetime’ which you call Jolt!
Terry on Lead guitar, Tony Vocals, and me on rhythm guitar.
JOALT at The Navigation Christmas 1968
The group played many venues around Coventry 1968 – 1969. It was at the Navi that we virtually held a residency. It was there that we tried out the first ever strobe used in Coventry. Our manager Don cobbled one together using a huge bulb a carboard disk and a record player! It worked to great effect and was much better than later electronic models.
We used to hang out with Peppermint Kreem and other bands.”
Tez on lead guitar, Tony vocals. Journey Of A Lifetime The Navigation Christmas 1968
Terry on lead guitar, Tony on vocals, and he’s obviously checking if I’m playing the right chords. The Navigation 1968
Part shot of ‘Smiler’ Dave on bass, me looking annoyed. The Navigation Christmas 1968
Terry Flanagan lead guitarist with journey of a lifetime 1968/69 with his Vox Marauder which he bought from Ray Haywood[lead guitarist of Peppermint Kreem]
The family who live for music to the Macs By Pete Chambers May 27 2008
ANDY MAC is a local musician, part of a proud musical dynasty.
Andy Mac says “Here’s a pic of my late Father ‘ Johnny Mac ‘ playing the residency at the Vauxhall club around the mid 70’s….The band was called the Barr, Mac trio….Eric Barr played a fantastic Farfisa organ, Kev Smith played a mean bass guitar….If anyone has any memories of my Dad, the band or the Vauxhall, please get in touch. Any photo’s would be a absolute bonus.”
For Andy’s father was the driving force of Johnny Mac and the Collectros, now Andy wants to step everything up a gear and is about to embark on his most ambitious musical project yet.
Today we look at the two generations of musicians and why music is so important in the Mac household.
JOHNNY MAC was born in Scotland in 1921, and served his country in the army during the Second World War. He settled in Coventry, met Andy’s mum Christine and they married in 1948.
Johnny began sitting in with bands around the town, and the attention his singing drew convinced him to form his own band.
Former band member Col Williams takes up the story: “I first met Johnny in 1956, at the Angel Hotel, Foleshill, I was 17 at the time. He was playing drums alongside a pianist named Bill Harrison. Johnny had a superb voice and sang all the standards of the 40s and 50s.
“Rock ‘n’ roll was just taking off and I had just learned to play guitar and sing all the pop songs of the day. I got up to sing with Johnny and Bill – this type of music was new and went down a bomb. It became a regular thing, Johnny singing ballads and me the rock ‘n’ roll. It was packed every night.”
By now the guys were a four-piece, with the inclusion of harmonica player and Johnny’s cousin Dennis Scally. That led to the introduction of a fifth player, guitarist Ray Gasgoine, and suddenly they were a five-piece band looking to get paid for their gigs.
“The Angel was paying Johnny and Bill,” said Col Williams, “but not the rest of us. When we asked for an extra 10 shillings to each of us extra musos, they said no, and after an almighty row we left as a band and went to the Coronation Club in Keresley.”
They dropped the name The Johnny Mac Band and became Johnny Mac and the Collectros. They were also the first local band to appear on TV when they appeared on the Carroll Levis Show, and later her radio show. This put them in big demand.
Colin said: “When we played the Central Ballroom in Coventry, during the 30-minute interval, we used to nip over the road to the Mayoresses Club and perform there for 20 minutes, then it was back on stage at the Central Ballroom.”
Andy says: “My dad and his band were always in demand. I think my dad’s fondest memories were playing to a packed Keresley Coronation Club in the early 60s. My memories of my dad was when he formed the Barr Mac trio in 1973. He played there for 10 years, as well as slots at the Weavers Arms on the Stoney Stanton Road.
“Something that will always stick in my mind is when he sang Bridge Over Troubled Water. I would look around and the audience were spellbound by his amazing voice. Sadly he died in 1987 aged 65. I remember the huge turnout for his funeral, I was only 17 at the time of his death. I was just starting to get close to him, approaching adulthood, sadly it was never to be.
“Soon after my brother Brian showed me some moves on the bass, I joined a couple of bands, and I was in and out of playing for 10 years. I started writing my own stuff and I’m now in the band Redfoot and we are about to unleash ourselves on the local scene.
“I have worked in factories for almost 20 years now, I have decided enough’s enough. I’m looking into starting my own rehearsal room business, so I can make a great contribution to Coventry’s great music scene, just like my dad did all those years ago.”
There is, however, another major project Andy is working on, and that’s to organise the Pinley Music Festival.
To say he has the ‘bit between his teeth’ is something of an understatement. He’s already got mighty Marshall Amplification on board as sponsor, an achievement in itself and testament to his commitment if it were needed.
The Pinley fete is a traditional slot in Wyken’s calendar.
“For the past three years I have organised the music, basically a band and a disco,” Andy reveals. “I have been songwriting for about 18 months now, Danny (Foulstone) and myself have played at many open mics – this is where I discovered this great scene. Joining myspace helped too, as I would listen to untapped talent and see their progression.”
Bands already confirmed are: The Pockets, Cofastree, The Shakletons, Betty Swallocks, The Session, Drag Queen Bingo, Redfoot and the Satin Dolls.
The festival itself will be a hive of activity, with a fun fair, beer tents, food, and market stalls. It will be held at Pinley RFC fields, Wyken Croft, Coventry in aid of the Snowball Appeal and Air Ambulance.
“I started to go to as many gigs as I could,” says Andy. “The Golden Cross, Kasbah, Hope and Anchor, Taylor John’s, Tin Angel, lots of places. I could hear and see a great vibe happening, that’s what inspired me to organise this fest and I think my enthusiasm is channeling through to other people, especially with all the messages of support.
“Coventry has a great music scene that can rival Manchester, Liverpool and London, we just need to get the message out. Why dwell on The Enemy’s success, why not use it as a tool to bring these other bands through, with all the messages of support and for tickets, I’m expecting quite a few people there.”
It looks like it will be a terrific affair, so not to be missed, and all for a good cause. If you can help, contact Andy below.
Pop Trivia – THE MACS
* IF you are wondering where the name the Collectors came from, well Coll is for lead vocalist Col Williams; the band were using electric guitar and electric harmonica, hence electros. ..TEXT * ANDY has only a few pictures of his father on stage, he is wondering if any readers may have some, or better still a cinefilm of him playing, as he would love to see him in his prime. ..TEXT * IF you can help any way with the Pinley Music Festival go to www.myspace.com/thepinleymusicfestival or e-mail: pinleyrfc@yahoo.com to contact Andy.
Thanks to John Docker for sending this information and to Rob Summerfield for writing it.
Vocalist and frontman Troy Forrest,
Bass guitarist Rob Summerfield,
Drummer Sean Murphy
Lead guitarist Ray Gower,
“The early incarnation of The Jolly Dwarfs was formed by myself (Rob Summerfield) and Ray Gower. Ray, always a decent guitarist, had previously been in Sons of Darkness, a goth influenced band, who flickered brightly but briefly in the early eighties. Seizing my chance, I brought a bass and spent a couple of years with Ray writing material in our houses waiting for the elusive “right” other collaborators to emerge.
We were regulars in The Bulls Head pub and right under our nose was Troy Forrest, a real character with the ear for a good tune. He began doing vocals for a well known heavy group called Chainsaw. Me and Ray quickly realised his potential as a charismatic front man. We cheekily wrote a couple of songs with his voice in my mind. Then we sprung the bait, we were rehearsing after the pub on Sunday’s and there was beer aplenty if he fancied a go at vocals.
Like the spider to the fly, we were in business and a handful of songs emerged from the boozy Sabbath sessions, mainly at Stoke Park school. But we needed a drummer, and in the Bull our patches crossed with Sean Murphy, a Jam fan who played drums. We were in business. Rehearsals intensified and more songs were born, enough for a gig.
The live debut was naturally at the Bulls Head. We were cocky sods and had tee-shirts printed before our first concert. They sold out and the gig was rammed too, a chaotic affair with awful sound. But it was like an event, we hyped it up and it worked. After that, more gigs followed and also two pretty well received demos, although professional studios gasped as our beer supplies matched the size of our equipment.
By now, we had got some press attention and this led to a defining moment. A drunken interview with Coventry Evening Telegraph journalist Chris Wilson, led to an article about, “The band who refuse to let music interfere with their drinking”. It did not go down well with the City’s authorities. The police labelled us, “Irresponsible.” The Telegraph ran the story.
Suddenly, we were local famous, if not notorious, you couldn’t buy such publicity. Initially this was a good thing. But it became harder to get gigs with us having a decent following and venues suddenly paranoid, that they would be playing host to load of drunken hooligans. We ploughed on, playing anywhere that would have us, even travelling to Great Yarmouth for the chance to play.
Then we hit a spell of bad luck. Our van, the graffiti covered Dwarfmoblie, was stolen, as were our speakers. Internal tensions surfaced, the live shows dried up. In another interview with the Telegraph, we verbally attacked Coventry’s hierarchy including the outdoor drinking ban in the City Centre. It led to brewery giants M and B banning us from playing from all their pubs in the area. Which was most of them.
We imploded. Troy announced our spilt, memorably citing alcoholic differences. He went on to front several bands to some acclaim, most notably punksters, Betty Swollocks. Ray now writes his own lush sixties’ influenced material. Sean still plays and is also a successful businessman, ironic as The Dwarfs made every mistake in the music business handbook. I do writing and still compose songs. But we all have fond memories of a madcap second half of the eighties.’
For a time, our star blazed bright. We never got to put out material out on a label. A love of Black Label and the killer quote saw to that. But in a special time where Coventry even won the FA Cup, we were part of the artistic landscape or should that be piss artistic landscape. The GhostTown was awaking. We raised a glass and hopefully the bar, for bands that do what they do, not giving a damn about image or consequence. I’ll drink to that.”
From the Coventry Telegraph 9 Jan 2007
“Dwarfs were more merry than jolly
THERE’S nothing new about a rock band courting controversy of course, but there’s one Coventry band that made a whole career out of it.
THERE’S nothing new about a rock band courting controversy of course, but there’s one Coventry band that made a whole career out of it. I speak about the one and only Jolly Dwarfs. Now you may be forgiven in thinking that the problem laid with their distinctly unPC name.
Well that wasn’t it. No, The Jolly Dwarfs’ problem floated at the bottom of a glass.
Vocalist and frontman Troy Forrest, bass guitarist Rob Summerfield, drummer Sean Murphy and lead guitarist Ray Gower, made up this potent force. They played hard and partied hard; problem was they did both at the same time.
The band was formed by Ray and Rob, who spent years as a duo, doing very little. They decided to “steal” vocalist Troy Forrest from heavy rock band Chainsaw using a bribe of free beer for every rehearsal. It worked, and with the inclusion of Sean a little while later the band were ready to face their fans.
“We became the most unorganised drunken band in Coventry,” Troy admits. “We played just about every venue in the city.” It’s worth mentioning at this juncture, that the Jolly Dwarfs were not a joke band – okay they never took themselves too seriously, but these guys could play and play well. This was a full-on rock band consisting of four guys who liked a drink.
By early 1988 they began picking up a reputation of being a boozy band that could pull in the crowds. That reputation was about to go into critical mass, when Troy announced in the Coventry Telegraph’s Street Talk column that they “never let the music interfere with their drinking”. “I have at least 10 pints of lager before a show,” Troy boasted. He went on: “At one concert I was so drunk I fell of the stage.”
He revealed that even their recording sessions were much the same: “We arrived at the studio with a crate of Breaker lager, it cost us #115 for the recording session and in the end we didn’t even bother to send the tape off to the record companies. “We are a drunk rock band playing for drunks and our motto is ‘carry-on with a carry-out’.”
It definitely lit the blue touch paper. Two days later the Coventry Telegraph printed an article that ran with the headline ‘Drinking boasts are slammed by police’. Senior police officer Bill Guest acting head of Coventry police condemned the Jolly Dwarfs attitude as ‘stupid and irresponsible’. He went on to say: “Obviously it’s a stupid publicity stunt, but it’s something that many of their fans could think is okay.”
He claimed that the band’s comments were at odds with the police’, magistrates’ and community leaders’ efforts to rid Coventry of violence and other alcohol-related problems of the time. He said: “Many youngsters do copy their idols. “Comments of this sort can encourage them to think drinking a lot is something to be admired.”
In response The Jolly Dwarfs said they were shocked by the comments, and only wanted to have fun: “We are not violent or a nuisance to anyone,” they said. Once the story hit, the band’s reputation as a hard-drinking band tended to over-shadow the great music they were very capable of creating. Yes the JDs could cut it with any band of the time. Troy, as well as being a great vocalist also had a natural humour about him.
His one-liners often had the audience in stitches. Less enthralling for the audience, however, was his frequent mid-song departures from the stage to either buy a drink or answer the call of nature. This wasn’t your average local band. The tit-for-tat comments continued when the band announced that they would never play Coventry again as a protest to the city centre drinking ban.
Singer Troy told the Telegraph: “We’ve been disillusioned with this city for a long time now. It’s a pitiful place to try to do anything creative like our music. “When the authorities imposed the ban last year (1988), it really brought home to us just how paranoid and paternalistic things had got.” They planned to play one last Coventry gig at The Bulls Head in Binley Road, that was just outside the city centre-drinking ban.
More column inches were created when the then manager of the Bulls Head, Paul Lyons, banned the band from playing at the pub, stating that he refused to be associated with the band, and that he supported what the police and the council were doing.
Even the head of Mitchells and Butlers got involved and called the band “Bloody stupid and irresponsible”. The band hit back as to be expected, saying: “It just hammers home what we said in the first place about the conservative attitude that exists in Coventry. That’s exactly why we are leaving.”
They finally managed to play the gig at The Lady Godiva, but the publicity had taken its toll and a month later the band disintegrated. Guitarist Ray went off to form Going Nowhere Fast and Troy joined new venture Shady Deal. The Jolly Dwarfs story is a good lesson to any new up and-coming rock band. That is; a little adverse-publicity is a good thing, too much, however, and you’ll be spending most of your time making newspaper headlines rather than making music.
Basically everything’s fine in moderation – anyway mine’s a short.” http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/lifestyle/nostalgia/dwarfs-were-more-merry-jolly-3117032
JESUS DELUXE
Alternative / Rock / Shoegaze
Members:
Martin – Vox. Matt – Guitar. Sean – Guitar. Speedo – Bass. Sean – Drums
From http://cnb-host2.clickandbuild.com/cnb/shop/matchbox?listPos=15&op=catalogue-products-null&prodCategoryID=56
“Jesus Deluxe are one of the U.K’s newest and best sonic noise pop bands. Blending leftfield Indie guitars and strong emotional vocals with melodic verve-like tendencies. Hailing from in and around Coventry this band ( now signed to Matchbox ) offer one of the most up to date and in your face E.P’s in a long time. Featuring “Twice as Good” with it’s very modern noisy distorted loops and powerful and direct Vocals, “Breathe” with it’s trancy Indie guitar wall of noise and melodic vocals and “Cabin Fever” which also features on our Exposed compilation. This E.P also comes with a remix of “Twice as Good”
Jesus Deluxe – E.P
1. Twice as Good
2. Breathe
3. Cabin Fever
4. Twice as Good (Earful Remix)
Available on above url.
Tracks on My Space were before it shut down – Alive / Sunrise / No Middle Ground
From My Space
” Bio:
Life is good for Jesus Deluxe. Their live performances have earned them support slots with bands such as Six By Seven, The Early Years, The Cooper Temple Clause, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Oceansize and Soulwax. Jesus deluxe are currently in the studio, putting the finishing touches to their debut album. Producing the album is Ric Peet, who has worked with Six by Seven, Muse, The Chemical Brothers and John Leckie. The album is expected to be released early next year. .”
