On This Day 30/04/2006 Ordinary Boys

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On this day, 30 April 2006, indie rock band Ordinary Boys played Cardiff University.

Originally a hardcore outfit named Next in Line, they are influenced by punk rock and Britpop music, as well as the bands the Clash, the Specials, the Jam, the Kinks and the Smiths. Their name derives from a Morrissey song, "The Ordinary Boys".

In 2004, the Ordinary Boys released their debut album Over the Counter Culture preceded by the single "Maybe Someday". The title track "Over the Counter Culture" was featured on the soundtrack for the video game Burnout 3: Takedown. In support of the album, they embarked on tours supported by the Kaiser Chiefs, the Cribs and Hard-Fi.

In 2005, they released their second album Brassbound along with the single "Boys Will Be Boys". The single become a hit the following year, when the band's popularity grew while Preston participated in Celebrity Big Brother UK. During this time, "Boys Will Be Boys" was re-released and reached no. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and no. 1 on the UK Download Chart. That year, Simon Gold-ring replaced original drummer Charlie Stanley.

Following this, they released singles "Nine2Five" and "Lonely at the Top" to further top 10 success. In October 2006, they released their third album, How to Get Everything You Ever Wanted in Ten Easy Steps, which marked a change of sound, with more of a commercial pop feel, featuring synthesisers and samples. "I Luv U" was released as the final single from the album and became their fourth consecutive top 10 hit.

Yahoo! UK reported that "The Ordinary Boys" was the fourth most searched for keyword of 2006 in their annual top ten search results.

The song "Boys Will Be Boys" featured in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The band was also referenced in the episode "Smoke and Mirrors" from the second series of The IT Crowd.

On This Day 29/04/1997 Billy Bragg

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On this day, 29 April 1997, singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist Billy Bragg played Cardiff University.

His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His activism is centred on social change and left-wing political causes.

Bragg released the album William Bloke in 1996 after taking time off to help new partner Juliet Wills raise their son Jack. (There is a reference to him in the track "Brickbat": "Now you'll find me with the baby, in the bathroom.") After the ambitious instrumentation of Don't Try This at Home, it was a simpler record, musically, more personal and even spiritual, lyrically (its title a pun on the name of 18th-century English poet William Blake, who is referenced in the song "Upfield").

Around that time, Nora Guthrie (daughter of American folk artist Woody Guthrie) asked Bragg to set some of her father's unrecorded lyrics to music. The result was a collaboration with the band Wilco and Natalie Merchant (with whom Bragg had worked previously). They released the album Mermaid Avenue in 1998,[33] and Mermaid Avenue Vol. II in 2000. The first album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category. A third batch, Mermaid Avenue Vol III, and The Complete Sessions followed in 2012 to mark Woody Guthrie's centennial.

A rift with Wilco over mixing and sequencing the first album led to Bragg recruiting his own band, The Blokes, to promote the album live. The Blokes included keyboardist Ian McLagan, who had been a member of Bragg's boyhood heroes The Faces. The documentary film Man in the Sand depicts the roles of Nora Guthrie, Bragg, and Wilco in the creation of the Mermaid Avenue albums.

Setlist

She's Got a New Spell

The World Turned Upside Down

(Leon Rosselson cover)

Goalhanger

The Man in the Iron Mask

To Have and to Have Not

Levi Stubbs' Tears

Accident Waiting to Happen

The Boy Done Good

Greetings to the New Brunette

The Saturday Boy

Brickbat

Upfield

Sexuality

Between the Wars

Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards

There Is Power in a Union

A New England

(Father's version)

On This Day 28/04/2004 Duran Duran

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On this day, 28 April 2004, 80’s pop band Duran Duran played Cardiff International Arena on their Reunion tour.

Duran Duran celebrated their homecoming to the UK on their Reunion tour with fourteen stadium dates in April 2004, including five sold-out nights at Wembley Arena. The British press, traditionally hostile to the band, accorded the shows some very warm reviews. Duran Duran brought along band Goldfrapp and the Scissor Sisters as alternating opening acts for this tour. The last two shows were filmed, resulting in the concert DVD Duran Duran: Live from London which was released in November.

Formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of bassist Simon Colley and drummer Roger Taylor the following year, the band went through numerous personnel changes before May 1980, when they settled on their most famous line-up by adding guitarist Andy Taylor and lead vocalist Simon Le Bon.

According to Billboard, Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records. They achieved 30 top 40 singles in the UK Singles Chart (14 of them top 10) and 21 top 40 singles in the US Billboard Hot 100. The band have won numerous awards throughout their career: two Brit Awards including the 2004 award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, two Grammy Awards, an MTV Video Music Award for Lifetime Achievement and a Video Visionary Award from the MTV Europe Music Awards. They were also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The band were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

Setlist

(Reach Up for the) Sunrise

Hungry Like the Wolf

Is There Something I Should Know?

Union of the Snake

Come Undone

A View to a Kill

What Happens Tomorrow

The Chauffeur

Planet Earth

I Don't Want Your Love

Tiger Tiger

Night Boat

Beautiful Colours

Ordinary World

Save a Prayer

Notorious

The Reflex

Careless Memories

The Wild Boys

Encore:

White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)

(Grandmaster Melle Mel cover)

Girls on Film

Rio

On This Day 27/04/1973 Alex Harvey

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On this day, 27 April 1973, iconic Scottish rocker Alex Harvey and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band played Cardiff University.

Although his career spanned almost three decades, he is best remembered as the frontman of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, with whom he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the era of glam rock in the 1970s.

SAHB produced a succession of highly regarded albums and tours throughout the 1970s. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band had top 40 hits in Britain with the single "Delilah", a cover version of the Tom Jones hit, which reached number seven in 1975, and also with "The Boston Tea Party" in June 1976.

The band never achieved acclaim in the United States the way it did in Great Britain, but it had a cult following in certain US cities, especially Cleveland, where the group first played at the Agora Ballroom in December 1974. Thanks to airplay from WMMS, songs like "Next" and "The Faith Healer" became very popular. Cleveland remained a city where the Sensational Alex Harvey Band had a devoted following. However, they were unable to replicate that popularity in most other US cities.

After Harvey left the group in 1976, the other members continued as SAHB (Without Alex) producing the album Fourplay. Harvey re-joined the group for 1978's Rock Drill. SAHB with Alex toured the UK in Autumn 1981 with the last gig at Workington's Carnegie Theatre on 1 November.

On This Day 26/04/1994 Tori Amos

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On this day, 26 April 1994, American singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on her Under The Pink tour.

She had recently released her second studio album Under The Pink with the album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", and peaked at number 12 in the US.

The singer-songwriter continued to offer piano-driven rock songs dealing with religion, gender, and sexuality. In addition to featuring more cryptic lyrics and experimental song structures, Amos invited in reggae influences on the single "Cornflake Girl", prepared piano on "Bells for Her" by John Philip Shenale, and Debussy-inspired piano lines on "Yes, Anastasia".

Amos performed the Under the Pink tour from February through November 1994, encompassing many of the same stops as on her previous world tour. A limited edition release of the album commemorating the Australian tour included a second disc entitled More Pink, a collection of rare B-sides like "Little Drummer Boy" and a cover version of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You", was issued in November 1994. During this period, she also contributed the song "Butterfly" to the soundtrack for the 1994 movie Higher Learning, as well as a cover of the R.E.M. song "Losing My Religion".

The original track listing included the B-side "Honey", which was left off the album at the last minute. Amos has since voiced great regret for this:

"There were certain songs that were supposed to be on the record that got kicked off. 'Honey' was supposed to be on the record and, in retrospect, I wish it had been. I kicked it off for 'The Wrong Band'. Under the Pink wept when 'Honey' wasn't on, and she still is angry with me about it."

The album was recorded in Taos, New Mexico in a hacienda. The album artwork features several Native American and New Mexican references in the photography. The album is also notable as the last Amos album to feature the production of Eric Rosse as they split that year.

Setlist

Precious Things
Pretty Good Year
Crucify
Leather
Icicle
God
Silent All These Years
The Waitress
Happy Phantom
Bells for Her
Me and a Gun
Baker Baker

Encore 1:
Cornflake Girl
A Case of You

Encore 2:
Past the Mission
Smells Like Teen Spirit

Encore 3:
Mother

On This Day 25/04/1987 Julian Cope

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On this day, 25 April 1987, singer/songwriter Julian Cope played Cardiff University on his Saint Julian tour. Support was provided by The Faith Brothers.

Cope's family resided in Tamworth, Staffordshire, but he was born in Deri, Glamorgan, Wales, where his mother's parents lived, while she was staying there. Cope was staying with his grandmother near Aberfan on his ninth birthday, the day of the Aberfan disaster of 1966, which he has described as a key event of his childhood.

He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side projects such as Queen Elizabeth, Brain Donor and Black Sheep.

Cope had just released his third solo album Saint Julian in March 1987 It has a very strong pop sound compared to other Cope releases, and spawned several of his best known tracks (including "World Shut Your Mouth" and "Trampolene", which were both hit singles).

Encouraged by his new manager Cally Callomon, Cope cleaned up and changed his image: cutting his hair, wearing rocker's leathers and embracing a "Rock God" perspective, as well as investing in a bizarre climbable microphone stand with integral steps.

To record and tour the album, Cope put together a new backing group, informally known as the "Two-Car Garage Band". This featured lead guitarist Donald Ross Skinner and former Waterboys drummer Chris Whitten (both of whom had played on Cope's previous album Fried), plus bass player James Eller (who'd played alongside Cope on the second Teardrop Explodes album, Wilder) and Cope himself on vocals and rhythm guitar.

On This Day 24/04/1964 Dave Clark Five

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On this day, 24 April 1964, sixties legends the Dave Clark Five played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre headlining a stunning bill that included The Kinks, Mark Wynter, The Mojos, The Hollies, The Treble Tones and Frank Berry.

Formed in Tottenham in 1958. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten single, "Glad All Over", which knocked the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the UK Singles Chart. It peaked at No. 6 in the United States in April 1964.

Although this was their only UK No. 1, they topped the US chart in December 1965, with their cover of Bobby Day's "Over and Over".

The DC5 was promoted as the vanguard of a "Tottenham Sound", a response to Liverpool's Mersey Beat sound. Dave Clark struck business deals that allowed him to produce the band's recordings and gave him control of the master recordings.

They were the second group of the British Invasion to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States (for two weeks in March 1964 following the Beatles' three weeks the previous month). They would ultimately have 18 appearances on the show.

The group disbanded in early 1970. On 10 March 2008, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On This Day 23/04/2004 Magenta

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On this day, 23 April 2004, Welsh progressive rock band Magenta played The Point, Cardiff.

Formed in 1999 by ex-Cyan member Rob Reed. Reed takes his influences from artists such as Renaissance, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, Yes, Eurythmics and Björk.

Although heavily influenced by progressive rock, Reed is a professional songwriter and has done many other projects for both film and television. The most successful of these projects was called Trippa, featuring Christina Booth on vocals and Rob Reed on guitars and keyboards. Reed asked Christina to be lead vocalist for a progressive rock project he had in mind, and the initial ideas for Magenta were born. Booth previously was guest on a number of Cyan albums providing backing vocals.

In late 1999, Reed started writing for what would become Magenta's debut release, Revolutions. Reed wanted to do something new, bigger and more conceptual. "Current prog bands are always scared and shy about admitting the influences of the great bands of the 70's, and I wanted to come clean and admit and celebrate those influences, and hopefully create something as worthwhile as those classic bands" said Reed. "To do this, all I had to do was to give priority to melody rather than technical showmanship, something I have always tried to do with all my work." Revolutions was named "Best New Album" in 2001 by Musical Discoveries, an online resource for female vocalists in the music industry.

Magenta's second album, Seven was released in March 2004 and sold out of its first pressing within four weeks. The band's first single, "Broken" was released in June 2004 – from the EP Broken. While shorter than any of the epic tracks on Seven, Broken retains the classic prog rock sound of Magenta, with a slightly more modern edge.

In 2004, Magenta received the Classic Rock Society Award for "Best Female Vocalist" and "Best Live Band". The Classic Rock Society (CRS) honours groups or artists who are popular with the public, but whose music remains unpublicised by national media and radio station programmers. Other past contributors and recipients have included Pallas, IQ, Spock's Beard, Flower Kings, Mostly Autumn, Karnataka, Pendragon and many others from the progressive rock genre.