On This Day 01/10/1979 The Ruts

On this day, 1 October 1979, reggae-influenced punk band The Ruts, played Cardiff University.

The Ruts were formed on 18 August 1977. The band consisted of singer Malcolm Owen (vocals), Paul Fox (guitar), John "Segs" Jennings (bass) and Dave Ruffy (drums).

On 16 September 1977, the band made their live debut, playing three songs during a break in a set by Mr Softy (another Fox band) at The Target, a pub in Northolt, Middlesex. Ruffy moved from bass to drums after original drummer Paul Mattocks left, and the band was active in anti-racist causes as part of the Misty in Roots People Unite collective based in Southall, West London, playing several benefits for Rock Against Racism.

Although the band were often described as coming from Southall, Owen was from Hayes, Fox moved from Kilburn to Hayes in the 1960s, whilst Ruffy and Segs were based in South London. Ruffy had been born in York, but spent his formative years in the East End of London, whilst Segs grew up in Southend-on-Sea, having been born in the East End.

Their debut album The Crack was produced by Mick Glossop and released in September 1979, reaching number 16 in the UK Albums Chart. The two singles "Babylon's Burning" and "Something That I Said" were re-recorded for the album. Edited from the album, the band's third single for Virgin at the end of October 1979 was the roots reggae track "Jah War", about the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group's violence in Southall disturbances in April 1979. However, the BBC refused to play it, labelling the song as "too political".

On This Day 30/09/1995 Black Grape

On this day, 30 September 1995, rock band Black Grape played Cardiff University.

The band was formed in 1993 by former Happy Mondays members Shaun Ryder and Bez. It was Ryder's first musical project after the disintegration of Happy Mondays due both to his multiple drug addictions and to disagreements about revenues with other band members.

The formation of the new band was intended to draw a line between his past life and his new one. Ryder and Bez recruited rappers Paul "Kermit" Leveridge and Carl "Psycho" McCarthy, drummer Ged Lynch (like Leveridge, a former member of Ruthless Rap Assassins), and guitarist Wags (formerly of the Manchester-based group the Paris Angels) and Oli "Dirtycash" Dillon on ocarina. Recording of new material started that year, although the group was not under contract.

In 1995, Black Grape was signed by Radioactive Records (an imprint of major label BMG) and released its debut studio album It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah. recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, the album debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart, and spawned three top 20 singles. The album was certified platinum in the UK in April 1996.

The third single, "Kelly's Heroes" – a song lampooning society's obsession with celebrities and idols that had much to do with Ryder's own previous hero worship of people he now saw as wastrels – had its opening lyric changed before recording from "Don't talk to me about heroes – Most of these guys snort cocaine," to "Don't talk to me about heroes – most of these men sink like subs".

Another song on the album, "Temazi Party", mocked the then-current craze for abusing temazepam sleeping pills (a.k.a. 'jellies'), but was deliberately misspelt on the album sleeve as 'Tramazi' instead of 'Temazi' to forestall any legal injunction against the album's release.

On This Day 29/09/2010 Oceansize

On this day, 29 September 2010, rock band Oceansize played Cardiff’s Millennium Music Hall on their Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up Tour.

Formed in 1998 the band consisted of Mike Vennart (vocals, guitar), Steve Durose (guitar, backing vocals), Richard "Gambler" Ingram (guitar, keyboards), Mark Heron (drums) and Jon Ellis (bass guitar) for the majority of its career, with Steve Hodson replacing Ellis on bass guitar in 2006.

The band released four studio albums, in addition to a number of minor EPs and singles, displaying a wide array of influences from several genres including post-rock, math rock, psychedelic rock, and space rock. Following a twelve-year career, Oceansize announced their split in February 2011, with the members moving on to different projects.

The band started working on their fourth (and ultimately final) album, Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up in fall 2009. In January 2010, the band embarked upon a UK tour, showcasing new material. According to Mike Vennart's Twitter, the recording of the album was completed on 17 April, with Vennart stating "Recording is complete! Album 4 is go! It's all on Chris Sheldon now". Mastering was completed at Abbey Road Studios on 18 May 2010 by Sean Magee. On 22 July 2010, Oceansize posted one of the album's songs, "SuperImposer", on their Superball website, and made it available for download via Twitter and Facebook.

Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up was released on 6 September 2010. The album showcased a heavier side to the band, who stated that it probably was their heaviest studio album to date. However, Vennart claimed that the album still had the diversity found on other Oceansize albums. The band subsequently toured to promote the release.

Setlist

Part Cardiac

Build Us a Rocket Then...

Unfamiliar

New Pin

Music for a Nurse

It's My Tail and I'll Chase It If I Want To

Silent/Transparent

SuperImposer

Pine

Paper Champion

Trail of Fire

Ornament/The Last Wrongs

Encore:

Women Who Love Men Who Love Drugs

On This Day 28/09/1971 Slade

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On this day, 28 September 1971, Black Country rockers Slade played Cardiff University.

Slade had worked endlessly during 1970 without finding the elusive hit record that manager Chas Chandler was convinced they had in them. One of their most popular live tracks they were performing at the time was what they believed to be an old Little Richard record entitled 'Get Down & get With It'.

In an effort to capture the very essence of the band it was chosen as their next single and released in May with little fanfare or trumpeting from Polydor. Despite that the track slowly began to rise up the pop charts until finally on August 1st Slade had their first ever top 20 hit in the bag.

The single became a pan European hit which kept the band occupied there at various stages throughout the year appearing on various TV shows plugging their new hit record. Peaking at number 16 in the official UK chart 'Get Down With It' as it is correctly titled gave them mass exposure across the country on the new fangled colour telly box's which were now becoming commonplace.

Gone were the Skinhead haircuts and accompanying paraphernalia. Instead Slade were openly embracing colour TV broadcasts and making sure that they were colourful and loud, very loud as they joyfully marched into the fabric of the nation.

In October the band recorded the shows which were to be edited down into a single LP for future release as 'Slade Alive'

The highlight of their year came in November when 'Coz I Luv You' reached the top of the national singles charts to give the band their first number 1 record.

On This Day 27/09/1958 The Hi-Lo's

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On this day, 27 September 1958, American jazz/pop vocal group The Hi-Lo's played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. Support was provided by Vic Lewis and his Orchestra, jazz harmonica player Max Geldray and Anglo-American comedian Alan Clive.

The Hi-Lo's were a close-harmony vocal quartet of the 1950's and early 1960's who brought the arrangement and harmonics of popular song to a standard which has seldom been equalled and never surpassed. In their time, only the Four Freshmen have acquired a comparable reputation.

They were Gene Puerling, bass-baritone, arranger and leader of the group: Bob Strasen, baritone: Bob Morse, baritone and occasional soloist and Clark Burroughs, tenor. The group was formed in April, 1953 and took their name from the incredible vocal range they covered between them. It was also true that, while Puerling and Burroughs were five feet seven and five feet five respectively, Morse and Strasen topped six feet.

They brought imagination, technical accomplishment, daring, determination and integrity to their artistry when the model for groups of their kind was a safe commercial blend. Their superiority in every department ofarranging, recording and performance was down to the genius of Gene Puerling who, in later years, went on to form Singers Unlimited with replacement Hi-Lo Don Shelton. After disbanding in the midst of the early-sixties British pop invasion of the United States and pursing their various projects, they reformed with great success in the late seventies to perform live and to produce two further outstanding albums.

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, the Gatlin Brothers, Manhattan Transfer and Take Six were all awakening to their own musical ambitions at this time and cite the Hi-Lo's as a major musical influence. The group's personal appearances at this time are well remembered. They opened for Judy Garland on tour, sang at Madison Square Garden, the Hollywood Bowl and the Royal Albert Hall in London.

A critic who saw them at the Crescendo in Hollywood referred to their 'bright, well-scrubbed look and the highly humorous content of the act … accentuated by spokesman Puerling's comic patter, aided and abetted by cracks from the others' and to a routine in which the four Hi-Lo's wound up in a tangle of arms and legs on the floor. More seriously, they would find huge audiences breathless and captivated by their beguiling vocal performances.

On This Day 26/09/2007 Gwen Stefani

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On this day, 26 September 2007, American singer Gwen Stefani played Cardiff International Arena on her Sweet Escape Tour.

The tour began in April 2007 in support of her second solo album The Sweet Escape (2006). Performing for nearly a hundred concerts, the tour traveled to the Americas, Australia, Asia, and Europe.

The shows in North America ranked 23rd on Billboard "Top 25 Tours". The 55 reported shows grossed $30.6 million with 648,529 tickets sold.

Gwen Renée Stefani was born on October 3, 1969, in Fullerton, California, and raised Catholic in nearby Anaheim.[19] She was named after a stewardess in the 1968 novel Airport, and her middle name, Renée, comes from the Four Tops' 1968 version of the Left Banke's 1966 song "Walk Away Renée".

Her father Dennis Stefani is Italian American and worked as a Yamaha marketing executive. Her mother Patti (née Flynn) is Irish American and worked as an accountant before becoming a homemaker.

Stefani's parents were fans of folk music and exposed her to music by artists like Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris. Stefani has two younger siblings, Jill and Todd, and an older brother, Eric. Eric was the keyboardist for No Doubt before leaving the band to pursue a career in animation on The Simpsons.

She attended Loara High School, where she graduated in 1987. After high school, she attended Fullerton College and Cypress College. She then transferred to California State University, Fullerton, but dropped out to pursue her music career.

Setlist

The Sweet Escape

Rich Girl

Yummy

4 in the Morning

Luxurious

Early Winter

Wind It Up

Danger Zone

Hollaback Girl

Now That You Got It

Don't Get It Twisted / Breakin' Up

Cool

Wonderful Life

Orange County Girl

Encore:

The Real Thing

What You Waiting For?

On This Day 25/09/1979 The Cure

On this day, 25 September 1979 rock band The Cure played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens, supporting Siouxie and the Banshees on their Join Hands tour. The band had earlier in the year released their debut album Three Imaginary Boys on Friction Records.

The record company decided which songs were put on the album and running order, as well as the cover artwork, without Robert Smith's consent. For all Cure albums since, Smith has ensured that he is given complete creative control over the final product before it goes on sale.

The "Foxy Lady" soundcheck, with vocals sung by Michael Dempsey, was not supposed to be on the album, and was removed for the American release. Smith has stated that "songs like 'Object' and 'World War' and our cover of 'Foxy Lady' were [producer] Chris Parry's choice".

Despite Smith's displeasure with the record, Three Imaginary Boys was well received critically at the time of its release. Sounds' Dave McCullough praised it in a 5-star review and noted: "The Cure are going somewhere different on each track, the ideas are startling and disarming." McCullough noted the variety of the material and qualified "Grinding Halt" as a "pop song that reminds you of the Isley Brothers or the Buzzcocks." Red Starr, writing in Smash Hits, described the album as a "brilliant, compelling debut."

Setlist

10.15 Saturday Night

Accuracy

Jumping Someone Else's Train

Play For Today

Plastic Passion

Subway Song

Three Imaginary Boys

Boys Don't Cry

Fire In Cairo

Killing An Arab

Encore

Grinding Halt

On at his Day 24/09/1996 East 17

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On this day 24 September 1996, pop boy band East 17 played Cardiff’s International Arena.

East 17 began in 1991 when Tony Mortimer was promised a record deal with London Records after he presented his own material. The deal was granted under the condition that he form a group, which would be in the format that London Records were looking for. Mortimer recruited Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell.[citation needed]

The group was named East 17 after the postcode of their hometown, Walthamstow.

The group has released 18 top-20 singles and four top-10 albums and was one of the UK's most popular boy bands during the early- to mid-1990s, aided by strong tabloid interest in their 'bad boy' image, compared to the clean-cut style of rivals Take That. Their style blended pop and hip hop in songs such as "House of Love" and "Let It Rain".

East 17 has sold over 18 million albums worldwide and according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the group has been certified with sales of 1.8 million albums and 2.6 million singles in the UK. Their biggest hit, "Stay Another Day", was the UK Christmas number one in 1994.

The group was usually seen as a grittier, more political and hip hop or rap-aligned ensemble than rival boy band Take That, as noted by Guy Adams of The Independent:

They shaved their heads, and had tattoos, and were a lot, lot cooler than the nancy boys of Take That. In the great five-year battle that dominated British pop, East 17 were also on the winning side. Their music was sharper and more streetwise. It was infused with hip hop and sold by the bucketload: 18 million records across Europe, compared with Take That's paltry 17 million.

— Guy Adams