No Place Like Home
Home, to me, is Tonbridge in Kent, in the south-eastern corner of England - about thirty miles south of London and more or less between the capital and Hastings on the south coast.
Known as the "garden of England", the county of Kent is best known for its crops of hops for brewing (and therefore its beers and ales) and orchard fruits, as well as seafood and the kind of pastoral villages that often appear in movies and on TV as "typical English" villages.
Tonbridge is a town of around 50,000 situated on the river Medway. Its name - tunbridge - means "the town of bridges"; however, another reliable source reckons it's from "dun" meaning hill and "brid" meaning castle and derives from the nearby Iron Age fort remains at Castle Hill. Take your pick! The spelling of the name is also historically variable - the use of an "o" instead of a "u" was eventually decided for us by the Royal Mail, so as to avoid confusion with the nearby Tunbridge Wells.
The river flows from its source in the west on the edge of Ashdown Forest to its estuary at the city of Rochester on the east coast. Tonbridge castle, built by William the Conqueror to discourage that well-known French villain Norman Conquest from sneaking upstream and worrying the townsfolk, still overlooks the river and is a feature of the town's crest.
Its chief claims to fame seem to be its former cricket ball-making industry, having a kind of dartboard named after it and claiming as one of its own double-Olympic gold medal-winning athlete from the Athens games Kelly Holmes, although strictly-speaking she's from Hildenborough which adjoins the north end of the town.
The town's upstart offspring Royal Tunbridge Wells, built around a natural mineral-water spring up in the hills about 5 miles to the south-west, has eclipsed it somewhat in the national fame stakes, what with the royal patronage and all that (although this could easily mean that Queen Victoria went through the town on the train by accident once), to the point that Tunbridge became Tonbridge so as not to disappoint those searching for the wells when they "only" found a Norman stronghold and loads of pubs. It also probably gave a welcome boost to the guy who painted all the road signs.
For more details, you could do a lot worse than visiting the official Tonbridge council website, or even Tonbridge On The Internet (TOTI), both of which probably contradict everything I've just told you.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Review of Mark King Group at the Jazz Cafe (from my ex-website)
Mark King - live in London
Jazz Café, London - 26 November 1999
A noisy, international audience jammed themselves into the diminutive Jazz Café and went wild for the ever-popular Mark King and his band of ex-Level 42 sidesmen. They were treated to an enthusiastic rendition of songs from across Mark King's career, from the early-ish Level 42 song "Kansas City Milkman", through the stadium favourites like "Hot Water" and "The Chinese Way", and into the post-Level42 "One Man" album and the brilliant mail-order-only "Trash" demo collection.
Keyboard riffs, brass stabs, backing vocals and guitar solos were all sung by the audience, to Mark's clear amusement and, being the last night of a five-day residency, everyone onstage (such as it was, apperaing to be barely larger than a king-sized bed, no pun intended) seemed relaxed and in a mood to have a good time. Not even the announcement halfway through that the show was being recorded affected the relaxed performances and interactions, and as a unit the band were excellent. I was particularly impressed with Nathan King, who I'd not seen before and whose tone and skill on the guitar coupled with his stage presence were great, a disintegrating pedal-board notwithstanding.
All in all, a great night's entertainment, sadly in a small venue because more people should hear this fine, danceable, funky, rocky, infectious yet skilfully-crafted and intelligent music. I look forward to hearing the results of what was recorded.
If there's any justice, this will lead on to solid record company support for a man who is still one of this country's finest writer/performers, and who, although the wrong side of 40, commands a loyal and vociferous fan base that many a new fly-by-night act would never get.
The Songs (possibly not quite in order):
Just Like That, Stronger, Changing The Guard
Kansas City Milkman, Throwing Sevens, Something About You
Outstanding, Hot Water, Keep Climbing
The Chinese Way, To Be With You Again, Sooner Or Later
Love Wars, World Machine
The Band:
Mark King - Bass, lead vocals
Jakko Jakszyc - Guitar, vocals
Nathan King - Guitar, vocals
Lyndon Connah - Keyboards, vocals
Gary Husband - Drums
(c) Martin Best 1999
Jazz Café, London - 26 November 1999
A noisy, international audience jammed themselves into the diminutive Jazz Café and went wild for the ever-popular Mark King and his band of ex-Level 42 sidesmen. They were treated to an enthusiastic rendition of songs from across Mark King's career, from the early-ish Level 42 song "Kansas City Milkman", through the stadium favourites like "Hot Water" and "The Chinese Way", and into the post-Level42 "One Man" album and the brilliant mail-order-only "Trash" demo collection.
Keyboard riffs, brass stabs, backing vocals and guitar solos were all sung by the audience, to Mark's clear amusement and, being the last night of a five-day residency, everyone onstage (such as it was, apperaing to be barely larger than a king-sized bed, no pun intended) seemed relaxed and in a mood to have a good time. Not even the announcement halfway through that the show was being recorded affected the relaxed performances and interactions, and as a unit the band were excellent. I was particularly impressed with Nathan King, who I'd not seen before and whose tone and skill on the guitar coupled with his stage presence were great, a disintegrating pedal-board notwithstanding.
All in all, a great night's entertainment, sadly in a small venue because more people should hear this fine, danceable, funky, rocky, infectious yet skilfully-crafted and intelligent music. I look forward to hearing the results of what was recorded.
If there's any justice, this will lead on to solid record company support for a man who is still one of this country's finest writer/performers, and who, although the wrong side of 40, commands a loyal and vociferous fan base that many a new fly-by-night act would never get.
The Songs (possibly not quite in order):
Just Like That, Stronger, Changing The Guard
Kansas City Milkman, Throwing Sevens, Something About You
Outstanding, Hot Water, Keep Climbing
The Chinese Way, To Be With You Again, Sooner Or Later
Love Wars, World Machine
The Band:
Mark King - Bass, lead vocals
Jakko Jakszyc - Guitar, vocals
Nathan King - Guitar, vocals
Lyndon Connah - Keyboards, vocals
Gary Husband - Drums
(c) Martin Best 1999
A Potted History of "It Bites" (from my ex-website)
This post originally appeared as a page on my website before Yahoo pulled the plug on Geocities without warning me. It's out of date now but is still valid as a historical record of how It Bites began and what happened in those early years:
A History of It Bites
A History of It Bites
INTRODUCTION:
Single releases - The Big Lad In The Windmill:
All In Red
Calling All the Heroes
Whole New World
It Bites toured Britain in 1987 to showcase TBLITW, at which time the It Bites Appreciation Society was established to cater for the ever-increasing requests from fans for information about the Band and any up-coming gigs and recordings. Dick's sister, Maggie Ward, was its superb and tireless Secretary; Joanne Slater, John's girlfriend, ran the London office. The Band then booked into the Manor recording studios, Oxford, to record their second album, "Once Around The World". The rest of Summer 1987 was spent playing the major European outdoor festivals, including the Montreaux Jazz Festival, broadcast live across Europe by Swiss TV,
and a support slot for Marillion at Loreley, Germany.
On 31st August 1991, Navajo Kiss left the stage of the
Marquee, London, to an enthusiastic reception, not least from
myself because the set had been great and I'd been able to get some
decent photographs as well. They had survived the sudden departure
of their vocalist, front-man, guitarist, focal point and life-long
friend and were setting out on a new venture with good material and
a bright future. It Bites may have come to an end, but
Navajo Kiss was just starting out.
Personally, there ends the story of one of the most influential
musical influences on my life so far, and one of the most intimate
and enjoyable associations between fan and band that I have ever
known.
Some five-or-so years have gone by since that Marquee gig, but
the impact of It Bites is still as strong as ever, kept
vividly alive through their recordings and the lovingly-treasured
files of correspondence that I've kept safely up in my loft.
However much my life changes, and it has certainly changed a great
deal in those five years, It Bites are still there, giving their
all and never ceasing to make the hairs on the back of my neck
stand up with a potent mix of excitement at the music and the happy
memories it all brings back to me.
I know that somewhere out there the band members must be earning
their living, be it still in the music business or not, perhaps
launched on their way by the It Bites experience. It may
be just a fading memory to them now, or it may be the foundation upon
which they have built their careers since, but I suggest that I may
not be the only person to whom their lasting legacy is fantastic
music that continues to provide many hours of listening pleasure,
even all this time later. Backward-looking remeniscence this may
be, but it still has the ability to make the present day a lot more
fun! Here, then, is my summary of the life and times of It
Bites.
- Francis Dunnery - Guitar, Lead Vocals
- John Beck - Keyboards, Backing Vocals
- Dick Nolan - Bass, Backing Vocals
- Bob Dalton - Drums, Backing Vocals
Frank, Bob & Dick all come from Egremont, Cumbria, and have
known each other since an early age. Frank and Bob met at junior
school, later transferring together to the local comprehensive
school where they met up with Dick and found a common desire to
pursue music rather than their academic studies.
Frank's elder brother, Barry, had known success in the music
business as guitarist with Ozzy Osbourne and
Violinsky, a spin-off from 80's art-rock band The
Electric Light Orchestra. Dick, Bob and John all followed in
the footsteps of musician fathers, John having already got a taste
of the local club scene playing accordion with his father's Country
and Western act.
John himself hails from Whitehaven, five miles or so up the
Cumbrian coast, and joined the other three a short while after
they'd all left school. They spent their formative period in the
early 1980s as a covers band on the tough northern England club
circuit playing contemporary chart hits from bands like Level
42 and Haircut 100. The name they chose, It
Bites, makes reference to a dog owned by one of their
roadies.
The fledgling band re-located to London in 1984 to further their
chances of making a successful musical career, spending two years
squatting in Peckham whilst putting together demo tapes of their
songs to send to the big record companies. The all-important first
big break came in 1985, when they met the man who was to become
their first manager, Martyn Mayhead, as they tried to blag their
way into the offices of record label WEA. Mayhead listened to their
tapes, saw their potential and secured an eight-album deal with
Virgin Records plus a support slot with Go West on their
UK tour. The first album as It Bites, released in August
1986, was exotically entitled "The Big Lad in The Windmill".
All In Red
Calling All the Heroes
Whole New World
It Bites toured Britain in 1987 to showcase TBLITW, at which time the It Bites Appreciation Society was established to cater for the ever-increasing requests from fans for information about the Band and any up-coming gigs and recordings. Dick's sister, Maggie Ward, was its superb and tireless Secretary; Joanne Slater, John's girlfriend, ran the London office. The Band then booked into the Manor recording studios, Oxford, to record their second album, "Once Around The World". The rest of Summer 1987 was spent playing the major European outdoor festivals, including the Montreaux Jazz Festival, broadcast live across Europe by Swiss TV,
and a support slot for Marillion at Loreley, Germany.
Thames TV broadcast a specially-recorded gig for its "Meltdown"
Single releases - Once Around The World:
The Old Man and The AngelKiss Like Judas Midnight
As a thank-you to the ever-loyal and enthusiastic membership of the Appreciation Society, the Band played a one-off, membership-only gig at the Tabernacle, west London, on the 14th January 1988. An
appearance on the BBC1 "Wogan" TV show was broadcast on the 12th
February 1988. The Band played four gigs in February 1988 (Trent
Polytechnic, Nottingham; Warwick University, Coventry; Surrey
University, Guildford; The Marquee, London).
It Bites also secured a support slot as "special guests" on Robert Plant's "Manic Nirvana" tour in March-April 1988. Their own mini-UK tour followed late April-mid May 1988, then they played at
a two-day open-air music festival at the Nurburgring motor-racing
circuit, Germany in July 1988. At this time, Dick contributed bass
parts for three tracks on Genesis keyboard-player Tony
Banks' 1989 solo album Bankstatement.
Single releases - Eat Me In St Louis:
Still Too Young to Remember
Sister Sarah
Underneath Your Pillow
In Summer 1989, It Bites played European dates supporting The Beach Boys. They played three gigs in Tokyo, Japan, mid September 1989 then the USA and Canada in the support slot for Jethro Tull late October - early December 1989, plus six UK dates mid December including a first-time headliner at the Hammersmith Odeon, London. The first and only It Bites Appreciation Society convention took place at The Rock Garden, Covent Garden, London, on the 17th December 1989. Frank took time out from rehearsing for a gig at the Hammersmith Odeon to make an appearance, answer questions, play a couple of songs and demonstrate his new Tapboard guitar.
An eight-date UK tour from late March - early April 1990 showcased new EMISL material. The Band then travelled to Los
Angeles, USA, in June 1990 to start writing and recording the next album. At that stage, a producer had not yet been confirmed.
series, shown on the 18th September 1987. Channel 4 TV's "Equinox"
programme documenting the history of the electric guitar, "Twang,
Bang, Kerang", shown 20th August 1987, featured Frank, as an
up-and-coming young British guitarist, comparing his Japanese and
American Fender Strats, and also footage of It Bites
recording OATW at the Manor. The Band also toured as support to
Marillion on UK dates in mid-late December 1987.
The Old Man and The Angel
appearance on the BBC1 "Wogan" TV show was broadcast on the 12th
February 1988. The Band played four gigs in February 1988 (Trent
Polytechnic, Nottingham; Warwick University, Coventry; Surrey
University, Guildford; The Marquee, London).
a two-day open-air music festival at the Nurburgring motor-racing
circuit, Germany in July 1988. At this time, Dick contributed bass
parts for three tracks on Genesis keyboard-player Tony
Banks' 1989 solo album Bankstatement.
1988 also saw several tours cancelled; America, supporting Robert Plant, Japan, and Europe, supporting Brian Adams. The Band
also got a new manager, Brian Lane, who also managed Yes, Jon Anderson, Asia and GTR - the link with the Band's musical tastes and influences being clear. Not only this, but Frank managed to conceal two operations he'd undergone to fix a perforated ear- drum.
In early 1989, It Bites recorded their third album, "Eat Me in St Louis", at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, produced by Mack (who'd previously worked with Queen and
the Rolling Stones). B- sides for singles from the album were recorded at Town House Studios, London.
The Band made a brief promotional visit to the USA with Virgin Records staff. There followed a UK tour mid June - early July 1989
to promote EMISL, which was duly released on the 12th June 1989. The album reached the British Top 40. One of their more exotic and unusual gigs saw them play a 15,000-seater ice rink in Moscow, Russia.
Still Too Young to Remember
Sister Sarah
Underneath Your Pillow
In Summer 1989, It Bites played European dates supporting The Beach Boys. They played three gigs in Tokyo, Japan, mid September 1989 then the USA and Canada in the support slot for Jethro Tull late October - early December 1989, plus six UK dates mid December including a first-time headliner at the Hammersmith Odeon, London. The first and only It Bites Appreciation Society convention took place at The Rock Garden, Covent Garden, London, on the 17th December 1989. Frank took time out from rehearsing for a gig at the Hammersmith Odeon to make an appearance, answer questions, play a couple of songs and demonstrate his new Tapboard guitar.
Angeles, USA, in June 1990 to start writing and recording the next album. At that stage, a producer had not yet been confirmed.
However, news reached the Society membership in mid October 1990 that Frank had left It Bites the day before rehearsals were due to start in Los Angeles. Rumours about Frank's musical differences, his desire to be the sole band leader, love interests and other personal aspects have still to be satisfactorily cleared up. What is known is that he set up home with a female partner in LA. John, Dick and Bob stayed on and continued writing, with John taking on more guitar-playing than his usual keyboard role. Whilst still in the States they tried, unsuccessfully, auditioning for a new vocalist. On returning to England, without Frank, they recruited Lee Knott, singer from Innocence Lost, who had played support slots to It Bites on previous UK dates, and continued working on material for a new It Bites album initially scheduled for early 1991.
With John now focusing on guitar, leaving the bulk of the keyboard parts to sequencers, the music took on a harder edge and therefore something of a new identity, so the name It Bites was dropped in favour of a new one to reflect the change. The name they settled with was Navajo Kiss. In the Spring of 1991, they played their first gig as Navajo Kiss at the Cat Club, New York, USA, then played four UK dates in late August 1991 (Duchess, Leeds; King Tut's, Glasgow; Boardwalk, Manchester; Underworld, Camden, London). The Band also took the bold step of parting with Virgin Records to pursue a fresh, new record deal in their own right.
Virgin Records subsequently released a live album, "Thankyou and Goodnight", consisting, somewhat to the Band's dismay, of most of the Thames TV Town & Country gig. Whilst not a bad gig in itself, this meant rejecting much live material which may have better represented It Bites live in concert, even if it had not necessarily been recorded with a live album in mind.
THE FUTURE:
Frank has gone on to release three solo albums at the time of writing: "Welcome To the Wild Country", "Fearless" and "Tall Blonde Helicopter". John and Bob are rumoured to have supported John Wetton, formerly of UK and Asia, on a recent tour
to Japan. There is no evidence of Navajo Kiss having been recording or playing live since the Marquee gig of 31st August 1991. Further rumours suggest that the Band's name later changed again to Sister Sarah before they finally split for good.
In an interview with Guitarist magazine, Frank said that he'd
re-join the others as It Bites in the future, if they'd have him, but not for at least five years. Those five years have come and gone: those of us out here who are still fans can only wait and hope...
© Martin Best, 2-3.1.97
THE PRESENT:
July 2000: More can now be added to update the above.
John and Bob were indeed part of John Wetton's band and appear
on the LP "Chasing The Dragon". Now they have another band of their
own called Unicorn Jones, who have recorded one album to date - "Let's Go Do
A Million Interesting Things". Frank has released another solo
album, "Let's Go Do What Happens", and continues to gig around
America and Europe.
...and it doesn't end there!
Gradually, since late 2003, the four members of It Bites have begun to co-ordinate various tour dates to include appearances by other band-mates and performances of It Bites songs. The success of the release of a DVD and live CD via www.itbites.com has galvanised interest both in us loyal fans and the band themselves to the point where, sometime in 2005, they plan to get together and write new material and possible even go on tour again as It Bites.
April 6th (from my ex-website)
April 6th and all that!
I share my birthday with...
Oh, and before I go any further, may I wish you all a very happy...
Feast Day of:
...and who could ever forget;
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
New decade, same issues
I'm sitting at home watching live TV pictures of the repatriation of two more British servicemen killed in Afghanistan, their cars being covered in flowers, flags and football scarves as they make their way slowly past ranks of ex-servicemen through the town of Wootton Bassett - the nearest town to RAF Lyneham where these soldiers are now flown to.
I'm struck by how our reaction and attitude to our fallen soldiers has changed of late in the UK, no doubt influenced to some degree by the way America does it. We might not all agree with where and why we are fighting, and I count myself among these, but we have learnt to overlook this and see every fatality for what it is; an example of the ultimate sacrifice, a personal tragedy and yet, somehow, a source of pride for the family and friends, and a humbling example to the rest of us.
I'm struck by how our reaction and attitude to our fallen soldiers has changed of late in the UK, no doubt influenced to some degree by the way America does it. We might not all agree with where and why we are fighting, and I count myself among these, but we have learnt to overlook this and see every fatality for what it is; an example of the ultimate sacrifice, a personal tragedy and yet, somehow, a source of pride for the family and friends, and a humbling example to the rest of us.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
No diving!
Look, diving in Football ("Soccer") is a seemingly simple thing to spot. Why it needs some academic to appear on radio and TV to tell us about it, I don't know.
The human body has evolved over thousands of years into a remarkably resilient and adaptable piece of bio-engineering. If you've ever watched a contact sport like Rugby or American Football, you'll have witnessed many times the almost miraculous ability of athletes to stop themselves falling over when they need to. Other sports - baseline rallies in Tennis, evenly-matched Judo players, skiers, ice skaters, you name it - demonstrate time and again, almost to the point where we stop noticing and take it for granted, that if someone wants to stay on their feet it takes a heck of a lot to knock them over.
It's only when you add an area of a playing field that penalises foul play, like the penalty area in Football (and Basketball, come to that) which can be manipulated by an attacker to gain a tactical advantage over his opponents, that drawing a foul and/or deliberately going to ground as if fouled makes sense (to some...).
This is an open invitation to the unscrupulous, the unskilled, the frustrated and the downright crooked to play-act and fall about - cheat, in other words - and I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks it's easy enough to spot, albeit via TV cameras (but they have spare officials around who could look at those, if necessary). It needn't hold things up much, as play would have come to a halt anyway, or it could be looked at once it does.
We've all seen them and yelled at the telly - the swan dive, the I've-been-shot-in-the-back, the tuck-and-roll, the spin-and-twist, the shoulder-bump-and-collapse. You look at the replay sometimes and watch the culprit tuck in an otherwise unimpeded standing foot and belly-flop onto the turf, whilst already beginning to look round and appeal to the referee, and think "Has nobody else seen that?"
The worst of it all, though, is the hypocrisy of the pundits, ex-players all, who sit in their golfing sweaters on sofas and say things like "Well, there is some contact there. He had no choice but to go down." NO! He did have a choice, and that was to play better and get out of the situation properly.
Makes my blood boil...
The human body has evolved over thousands of years into a remarkably resilient and adaptable piece of bio-engineering. If you've ever watched a contact sport like Rugby or American Football, you'll have witnessed many times the almost miraculous ability of athletes to stop themselves falling over when they need to. Other sports - baseline rallies in Tennis, evenly-matched Judo players, skiers, ice skaters, you name it - demonstrate time and again, almost to the point where we stop noticing and take it for granted, that if someone wants to stay on their feet it takes a heck of a lot to knock them over.
It's only when you add an area of a playing field that penalises foul play, like the penalty area in Football (and Basketball, come to that) which can be manipulated by an attacker to gain a tactical advantage over his opponents, that drawing a foul and/or deliberately going to ground as if fouled makes sense (to some...).
This is an open invitation to the unscrupulous, the unskilled, the frustrated and the downright crooked to play-act and fall about - cheat, in other words - and I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks it's easy enough to spot, albeit via TV cameras (but they have spare officials around who could look at those, if necessary). It needn't hold things up much, as play would have come to a halt anyway, or it could be looked at once it does.
We've all seen them and yelled at the telly - the swan dive, the I've-been-shot-in-the-back, the tuck-and-roll, the spin-and-twist, the shoulder-bump-and-collapse. You look at the replay sometimes and watch the culprit tuck in an otherwise unimpeded standing foot and belly-flop onto the turf, whilst already beginning to look round and appeal to the referee, and think "Has nobody else seen that?"
The worst of it all, though, is the hypocrisy of the pundits, ex-players all, who sit in their golfing sweaters on sofas and say things like "Well, there is some contact there. He had no choice but to go down." NO! He did have a choice, and that was to play better and get out of the situation properly.
Makes my blood boil...
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Taking the advice of history
I listened today as an elderly man described a dispute he'd been having with a near neighbour. He sounded tired, sad, deflated. He'd seemingly done his best to resolve the issues with his nuisance neighbour but had been unable to do so by means of dialogue and persuasion.
The man was Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain, and his dispute was with Adolf Hitler, whose invasion of Poland was to have disastrous consequences for that generation and their men and women of fighting age.
A wag on the radio has since said; "A British Prime Minister fooled by a foreign dictator - it couldn't happen today...", referring to Tony Blair and Saddam Hussein. Well, it's easy to be smart after the event, but then that's the whole idea of looking to the past for guidance in avoiding mistakes in the present that will affect the future.
The man was Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain, and his dispute was with Adolf Hitler, whose invasion of Poland was to have disastrous consequences for that generation and their men and women of fighting age.
A wag on the radio has since said; "A British Prime Minister fooled by a foreign dictator - it couldn't happen today...", referring to Tony Blair and Saddam Hussein. Well, it's easy to be smart after the event, but then that's the whole idea of looking to the past for guidance in avoiding mistakes in the present that will affect the future.
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