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On this day, 6 September 1983, rock ‘n’ revivalist band Showaddywaddy played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.
The band was formed in 1973 by the amalgamation of two groups, Choise (Dave Bartram, Trevor Oakes, Al James, and Romeo Challenger) and the Golden Hammers (Buddy Gask, Russ Field, Rod Deas, and Malcolm Allured), the latter often known simply as The Hammers.
They both played at the Fosse Way pub in Leicester, and soon discovered shared musical tastes. After playing together in jamming sessions, they joined together permanently, and Showaddywaddy were born.
This led to an eight-member band, with the unusual feature of having two vocalists, two drummers, two guitarists, and two bassists. The band's gig as professional musicians was at the Dreamland Ballroom in Margate, Kent, on 1 September 1973. although the first gigs under the Showaddywady name were in 1972.
They had most of their biggest hits with covers of songs from the 1950s and the early 1960s. These included "Three Steps to Heaven" (originally by Eddie Cochran in 1960), "Heartbeat" (originally written and recorded by Buddy Holly), "Under the Moon of Love" (originally a US hit for Curtis Lee in 1961, again co-written by Tommy Boyce), "When" (originally by the Kalin Twins), "You Got What It Takes" (originally by Marv Johnson) and "Dancin' Party" (originally by Chubby Checker).
These six singles were all produced by Mike Hurst (a former member of the Springfields). On the South African chart, "Three Steps to Heaven" reached number 6 in 1975 and "Under the Moon of Love" number 6 in 1977
