MOON
Cult soul / funk band – 1976 – 77
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Moon were not a Coventry band as such but at least three of its members were from Coventry. Possibly four with Bob Jackson – of Indian Summer – later Badfinger and many other bands – Bob Jackson has confirmed that he guested on Moon’s album.
Members – (at various stages as far as I can tell) John Shearer, Noel McCalla (vocals), Loz Netto (guitar, vocals), Doug Bainbridge (wind), Graham Colyer (guitar), Dave Dennis (vocals), Bob Jackson (keyboards) Bob guested on Moon’s album, Ron Lawrence (bass), Gary Moberley (keyboards), Nicky Payne (wind), Luigi Salvoni (drums) https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/moon/
About –
The group were short lived and didn’t become commercially successful, despite signing to Epic, a major record label but produced two albums and several singles between 1976 and 1977. The group did four sessions for Peel’s show during the 70’s.
Pete Clemons has some additional material about Moon Here https://coventrygigs.blogspot.com/2021/09/moon.html
Loz Netto – From Pete Chambers in Coventry Telegraph April 2009
Pete Chambers “You joined the band Moon who had a strong Coventry connection”
Loz Netto – ” I got a call from a friend Noel McCalla, also from Coventry. He had got a gig with a new band in London called Moon and they were holding auditions for a guitar player and bass player. So Ron Lawrence and myself went along, got the gig and started playing the London pub scene. We played pretty much every major town in the UK and Wales, travelling up and down the motorways in our bashed up Transit van. We also played The Butts College in Cov and The Lanchester Poly.
We were doing lots of live radio shows for John Peel, I guess all that helped us get signed
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| Moon supported War on tour via Nick Knibb |
to CBS records. We recorded two albums for the label. We were then doing bigger venues like The Hammersmith Odeon and The Fairfield Halls in London, The Glasgow Apollo, Odeon cinemas etc, supporting bands like War, Thin Lizzy, Boxer, Crawler, Gill Scot Heron and many others. I guess the band was together about three years before we called it a day. We played pretty much every major town in the UK and Wales, travelling up and down the motorways in our bashed up Transit van. We also played The Butts College in Cov and The Lanchester Poly.”
Moon’s Peel Sessions (From here https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/Moon)
1. Recorded: 1975-07-15. Broadcast: 28 July 1975
Lone Ranger / My Old Friend / Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight / You’ve Got The Love
2. Recorded: 1976-01-13. Broadcast: 20 January 1976. Repeated: 16 March 1976
My Kinda Music / Makin’ Love / It’s Getting Better / Don’t Wear It
3. Recorded: 1976-07-27. Broadcast: 23 August 1976
Too Close For Comfort / Day Dreaming / Cold Nights
4. Recorded: 1977-06-08. Broadcast: 20 June 1977
Only Sad Boys Cry / Name Of The Game / This Is Your Life (Take 2)
Records
1976
13 July 1976: Lone Ranger (7″ – Lone Ranger / Back To Your Old Ways) Epic
Too Close for Comfort (1976)
Turning the Tides (1977)
Lone Ranger
Too Close For Comfort
Cold Nights written by Loz Netto
Desolation Alley
Drivers Seat by Sniff n the Tears with Loz Netto lead guitar, Noel McCalla backing vocals
Below – Day Dreaming by Moon.
Broken Hearts at High School – Moon
Coventry Members of Moon
Noel McCalla
Born 4 November 1956 in London, is a British rock singer. He was the lead vocalist for
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band from 1991 until September 2009.
McCalla was born to Hubert Sylvester McCalla, a minister in a gospel church, and Elizabeth Victoria McCalla, North London, England. There were eight children. He attended Alexandra Park infant school in London, but was withdrawn at the age of nine, as the family moved to Coventry, where he attended Hillfarm Junior School and began studies at Barkers Butts Secondary School.
At 15, McCalla dropped out of school to work with a band called Black and White Notes. They gigged and eventually supported The Shadows. He then joined Moon, who were signed to Epic Records. After splitting from the band, he stayed with Epic Records, releasing a solo album. In 1972, McCalla left his family in Coventry to move to London.
From 1977, he worked as a backing vocalist for Sniff ‘n’ the Tears. During this time, he worked as a freelance musician. He sang on Mike Rutherford’s solo album Smallcreep’s Day and on Morrissey-Mullen’s 1985 This Must Be the Place. By 1981, he had decided to form his own band, which he had named Contact. They played a series of gigs, producing a cassette. In 1993, the band’s name changed to McCalla, and they released “Push and Pull”, followed by “Hot From The Smoke” in 1995.
Manfred Mann
McCalla first became involved with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in 1990, featuring on the Plains Music album, and thereafter toured extensively with them, also featuring on the studio albums Soft Vengeance and 2006, and the live album Mann Alive. From mid 2006, he collaborated with jazz band Dave Lewis 1Up.
His fifteen-year-old son Mali Michael-McCalla competed for a place in the fifth series of the UK talent competition X-Factor in 2008, but did not progress to the Live Final stages. Mali auditioned for the 2009 series, but did not get past the ‘bootcamp’ stage.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_McCalla
Ron Lawrence Played bass in Coventry bands in the 60’s including Monday’s Children and East Side Protection and April, a folk rock outfit
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| Ron Lawrence in April 1970 3rd from left |
originally with guitarist Roy Butterfield in the band who had played with the original Indian Summer and later wrote and played with the Tom Robinson band and even with Horace Panter in an early Pre-specials band Alive and Kicking. In the 70’s Ron played bass on the album of another Coventry area folk outfit Gothic Horizon – the album was called Jason Lodge Poetry Book 1971 – here https://coventryfolkclubs.blogspot.com/2013/04/gothic-horizon.html More about April here https://coventryfolkclubs.blogspot.com/2012/08/april-coventry-folk-rock-band-1969-70.html In the mid 70’s he joined Moon with Loz Netto and played on Fickle Heart album by Sniff n the Tears and went on to do session work including with the Kinks and Dave Davies – more on his discogs profile https://www.discogs.com/pt_BR/artist/1464622
Loz Netto Is covered by the Pete Chambers interview below but early Coventry bands
include Nack ed En 1970 – a three piece with Loz, John Bradbury – later of the Specials and bassist Neil Richardson later of Drops of Brandy. Loz also played in Al Docker’s 1970 bands Tsar and Love Zeus before leaving Coventry to join Moon etc. His website is here http://loznetto.net/
The Full Pete Chambers Interview with Loz Netto April 2009 Coventry Telegraph.
COVENTRY-BORN Loz Letto, was the man behind one of rocks most enigmatic songs Drivers Seat, although a huge hit in America for his band Sniff ‘n’ Tears, the song that failed to break the charts in the UK . PETE CHAMBERS caught up with him recently, and chatted to him about his extraordinary career in the world of music.
“So you were Coventry born, tell us about your formative years?
“I was born in Coventry. In my grandmother’s bed at Clifford Bridge Road, to be precise.
“I started playing guitar when I was 13. I eventually became quite fanatical and practised so much that my fingers bled.
“My father could not afford to buy me a guitar so he made one for me; a solid body electric with two pickups which he also made himself! “Literally the only thing that mattered in my life was music to the point where one day when I was 16, I was ushered into the headmaster’s study at Caludon Castle School and was asked to leave. I met the drummer John Bradbury (Specials drummer).
We used to rehearse above a pub, then later we were involved with a little four piece band. We did a couple of gigs but nothing much came of it. We were just mates really and I have some fond memories of that time”.
You joined the band Moon who had a strong Coventry connection I believe. How exciting was it to sign to CBS? “I reluctantly joined various showbands to earn some cash and it proved to be a very good musical education indeed.
“I eventually secured a job with Ben E King (ex Drifters) as his guitar player.
Then I got a call from a friend Noel McCalla, also from Coventry. He had got a gig with a new band in London called Moon and they were holding auditions for a guitar player and bass player. So Ron Lawrence and myself went along, got the gig and started playing the London pub scene.
We played pretty much every major town in the UK and Wales, travelling up and down the motorways in our bashed up Transit van. We also played The Butts College in Cov and The Lanchester Poly. We were doing lots of live radio shows for John Peel, I guess all that helped us get signed to CBS records.
We recorded two albums for the label. We were then doing bigger venues like The Hammersmith Odeon and The Fairfield Halls in London, The Glasgow Apollo, Odeon cinemas etc, supporting bands like War, Thin Lizzy, Boxer, Crawler, Gill Scot Heron and many others.
I guess the band was together about three years before we called it a day.” Sniff ‘n’ Tears, Drivers Seat, a superb song, does it bug you that it never did the business in the UK? What was the best part of being in the band? “I then got a job as house guitar player for a now defunct label called Imagination records. I did a bunch of albums before becoming one of the original members of a band called Sniff ‘n’ the Tears. The first single Drivers Seat became an international hit but the UK public were a bit sniffy, excuse the pun.
Despite Steve Wright continuously playing it and appearing on Top of The Pops, the single never took off here. The band also played The Old Grey Whistle Test. We did a fair amount of TV in Europe plus tons of touring in Spain, Franc , Germany and the US. We were managed at this point by Bud Prager who was also Foreigner and Bad Company’s manager.
So what is the Loz Netto up to at the moment? My main job at present, other than running my website www.loznetto.co.uk, is composing and recording soundtracks for film and TV..
Loz Netto trivia ONE night in Coventry Loz stumbled on a rock band playing at the TUC building to a rather unappreciative crowd. The band turned out to be Black Sabbath. However the Irish show band the TUC had actually booked that night, were wondering what they were doing playing at a Satanist convention. That’s agents for you.
Drivers Seat got to number 15 in the US charts in 1979..”
