Havent a clue how this pic of Mick entered my collection; anyway someone asked for experiences of Mick Meetings. This is mine ... In 1973, I remember going to see David Bowie at Newcastle City Hall. I had seen him just before big fame arrived, at the Sunderland Locarno. Then Starman became a hit! Before Bowie hit the stage, the Spiders from Mars appeared. Woody Woodmansey, the drummer, sat at the kit holding a stick on each of his tom toms staring straight at the audience, like a being from outer space. The Spiders looked terrific. I turned to my then girlfriend and now wife, and told her that someday I would play with those musicians ... especially the drummer. They were at the peak of their world popularity at the time, and I was the singer in a local group, mainly playing social clubs and using other people’s songs. In 1975, my guitarist and friend, Dave Black, called me excitedly and asked me to visit him for a chat. He had recorded an album with his other band Kestrel, which unfortunately had not sold well, but had been heard and appreciated by the Spiders from Mars ... they were looking for a new guitarist and had asked him to join. What should he do? He asked me, because him leaving us would place our band in the awkward position of having to find a replacement as good as him at short notice. I told him to join as quickly as possible, which he did. They recorded an album and toured, but went the way of most groups and split in 1976. I was living in London by that time, but had returned to the North East for a weekend break. I bumped into my friend Dave as soon as I arrived, and he asked if the drummer from the Spiders had called me, as he was looking for a singer to form a new band with. I remembered my goal and got that excited feeling in my stomach. He hadnt called so I telephoned him ... that night! Following that call, I travelled back down south to London overnight, then onwards to East Grinstead the next morning. The drummer and I talked ... we played, and the band U-Boat was formed immediately with three other members. We made our first recordings at Trident Studios, London. We then toured and recorded an album. We became the best of friends. Just prior to another tour, which was to include some cities in Europe supporting Uriah Heep, we discovered that they were seeking a new bass player. We linked the band and Trevor and of course he got the job. We then toured together for six weeks. When we returned to East Grinstead, Mick Ronson, the original Spiders guitarist visited. We were playing in London the following night at The Marquee Club and the bass player and guitarist were coming to the gig. All three of them in one place ... Woody Woodmansey, Trevor Bolder and Mick Ronson; They agreed to perform with us … guess what happened? Well, we didnt play together! Something came up for Mick that prevented him from coming that night. That goal had become an epitome of the self fulfilling prophecy philosophy however ... with an energy all of its own. When the time arrived for it to reach its climax, my interest had diminished. My new goals for writing and performing successful songs had taken over in precedence. It was however, of more than a passing interest to me, when I saw just how far that goal progressed, and seemingly of its own accord. We began recording the second album, which was to have been called U2, the first having been called U1. We played the 1977 Reading Festival, completed a short tour of France and then following a few more university gigs we split. I then signed to Private Stock Records, onto a three year contract with Mickie Most and RAK Records as a singer songwriter called Blackie. (Mickie’s idea!) Ten years of acting, and 17 years of authoring human potential books for Hodder and Stoughton, I returned to my first love of live performance with a few incarnations of a band called the TiME trio, which morphed into Phil Murray’s Diamond Dogz, before resurrecting the idea of U-Boat. Phil Murray’s U-Boat is thus reborn for duty in 2015!
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 12:51:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015