On This Day 03/05/1991 Bleach

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On this day, 3 May 1991, indie rock band Bleach played Cardiff University.

From Ipswich, the band is usually considered part of the shoegazing genre. The band was formed in 1989 by brothers Neil and Nick Singleton (guitar and bass, respectively) together with drummer Steve Scott and vocalist Salli Carson.

Their first release was the Eclipse EP in 1990, followed in 1991 by the Snag EP. The tracks from these two EPs were collected on an album in 1991.

They recorded two Peel sessions, in 1990 and 1991, which were broadcast on BBC Radio One.[3] 1992 saw the release of the full-length album Killing Time, and the single "Shotgun", a surprising mixture of shoegazing and rap.

In 1993 the band released two separate mini-albums, Hard and Fast. The group disbanded shortly thereafter.

On This Day 02/05/1962 Jerry Lee Lewis

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On this day, 2 May 1962, rock ‘n’ roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens supported by his backing band The Echoes. Also on the bill were, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, The Viscounts, The Bachelors, Vince Eager, Mark Eden, Danny Storm, Buddy Britten and Dave Reid (compere).

Often known by his nickname the Killer. He has been described as "rock n' roll's first great wild man and one of the most influential pianists of the twentieth century." A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis.

Review South Wales Argus

"Crazy Arms" sold 300,000 copies in the South, but it was his 1957 hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" that shot Lewis to fame worldwide. He followed this with "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless" and "High School Confidential". However, his rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin.

On This Day 01/04/2005 Tears For Fears

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On this day, 1 May 2005, rock band Tears For Fears played Cardiff International Arena on their Everybody Loves A Happy Ending Tour.

Everybody Loves a Happy Ending is the sixth studio album by English pop rock band Tears for Fears, released on 14 September 2004 in the United States and on 7 March 2005 in the United Kingdom and Europe.

The album marked Tears for Fears' comeback following a hiatus in the late 1990s, as well as the return of founding member Curt Smith. However, it performed modestly on the UK and US music charts compared to the band's previous records. The band focused primarily on touring in the years following Everybody Loves a Happy Ending's release, with a follow-up album not being completed until nearly eighteen years later.

Setlist

Intro - Famous Last Words

Secret World

Call Me Mellow

Who You Are

Sowing the Seeds of Love

Who Killed Tangerine?

Pale Shelter

Everybody Loves a Happy Ending

The Devil

Mad World

Quiet Ones

Size of Sorrow

Snow Hill

(Curt Smith song)

Closest Thing to Heaven

Break It Down Again

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Head Over Heels

Woman in Chains

Shout

On This Day 29/04/1993 Boney M

On this day, 29 April 1993, disco greats Boney M played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

Founded in 1974, the band achieved popularity during the disco era of the second half of the 1970s. The band was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter and singer.

Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the band's official line-up were Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett from Jamaica, Maizie Williams from Montserrat, and Bobby Farrell from Aruba. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with different members.

The band has sold millions of records worldwide and is known for international hits including "Daddy Cool", "Ma Baker", "Belfast", "Sunny", "Rasputin", "Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring", "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday", "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" and "Gotta Go Home".

1992 saw a renewed interest in Boney M.'s music with the Boney M. Megamix single returning the group to the UK Top 10 for the first time since 1980, and a subsequent Greatest Hits album, Gold – 20 Super Hits, reaching the UK Top 20 in 1993. While Marcia Barrett, by then living in Florida, had cancer and was unable to perform, Boney M. toured the world with a line-up of Liz Mitchell, Carol Grey, Patricia Lorna Foster and Curt Dee Daran (replaced by Tony Ashcroft in 1994). They released the single Papa Chico but failed to chart. Maizie Williams assembled her own Boney M. with an ever-changing line-up. Bobby Farrell also toured with varying trios of female performers.

Liz Mitchell was touring the world with her line-up of Boney M., which was the only line-up officially supported by Farian; the court ruling of 1990 stated that all four members are entitled to perform their own Boney M. shows. Bobby Farrell and Liz Mitchell have released solo albums containing their own re-recordings of Boney M.'s classic hits.

On This Day 28/04/1987 Curiosity Killed The Cat

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On this day, 28 April 1987, pop band Curiosity Killed The Cat played Cardiff University.

Formed in London in 1984, comprising singer Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot, guitarist Julian Godfrey Brookhouse, bassist Nick Thorpe and drummer Migi Drummond. The band achieved success in the UK in the late 1980s, with their debut album Keep Your Distance reaching No. 1 in 1987 and producing three top 20 hit singles in "Down to Earth", "Misfit" and "Ordinary Day".

Review - South Wales Echo

The band played soulful, jazzy and funky pop music, and was initially signed to Mercury Records. They first came to notice of the UK music press when they worked with Andy Warhol for the video of their 1986 single "Misfit". This featured the band in New York City and at one point featured frontman Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot dancing down a side street whilst Andy Warhol referenced Bob Dylan's 1965 long-form promotional film for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by dropping pieces of white card in time to the music.

The single was initially unsuccessful but the release of their next single, "Down to Earth", gave the band a top 3 hit in early 1987.

Review - South Wales Argus

The band's first album, Keep Your Distance, entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1 in April 1987, and stayed in the top ten for 13 weeks.[3] Further singles included "Ordinary Day" (UK No. 11), "Free" (UK No. 56) and a re-release of "Misfit" (UK No. 7).[3] "Misfit" was also their only U.S. charting single, peaking at No. 42.

On This Day 27/04/2005 Martha Wainwright

On this day, 27 April 2005, Montreal singer /songwriter and musician Martha Wainwright played Cardiff’s Barfly. She had just released her self-titled debut album. Support was provided by Jonathan Rice.

Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and the younger sister of singer–composer Rufus Wainwright.

The album earned Wainwright a nomination for New Artist of the Year at the 2006 Juno Awards. The album also reached number 43 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart.

Her debut album featured contributions from her mother, Kate McGarrigle, her brother, Rufus Wainwright, her cousin, Lily Lanken, as well as organ and saxophone from Garth Hudson of The Band. Pitchfork wrote that the album "proves Martha Wainwright has a strong, distinct, fully formed musical identity, which would be just as impressive by any other name."

On This Day 26/04/1958 Johnnie Ray

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On this day 26 April 1958, American singer, songwriter, and pianist Johnnie Ray played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

Born and raised in Dallas, Oregon, Ray, who was partially deaf, began singing professionally at age 15 on Portland radio stations. He gained a local following singing at small, predominantly African-American nightclubs in Detroit, where he was discovered in 1949.

In 1951, he signed a contract with Okeh Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. On the Billboard charts, he rose quickly from obscurity with the release of his debut album Johnnie Ray (1952), as well as with a 78 rpm single, both of whose sides reached the Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 chart, "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud That Cried".

In the 1950s, after both sides of the single "Cry"/"The Little White Cloud That Cried" ran their course, more hit songs followed. They included "Please, Mr. Sun", "Such a Night", "Walkin' My Baby Back Home", "A Sinner Am I", and "Yes Tonight Josephine". He scored a number-one hit in the United Kingdom with "Just Walkin' in the Rain" (which he initially disliked) during the Christmas season in 1956. He hit again in 1957 with "You Don't Owe Me a Thing", which reached number 10 on the Billboard charts in the United States.

Though his American popularity was declining in 1957, he remained popular in the United Kingdom, breaking the attendance record at the London Palladium formerly set by fellow Columbia Records artist Frankie Laine. In later years, he retained a loyal fan base overseas, particularly in Australia.

On This Day 25/04/1989 Salif Keita

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On this day, 25 April 1989, Salif Keita, the Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa" played Cardiff University. He had just released the album Ko-Yan which was recorded in Paris.

The album contains more influence from Western music, while still maintaining a traditional style. All the songs were written by Keita, including "Nou Pas Bouger", one of his first hits.

Album review - South Wales Echo

The New York Times wrote: "Synthesizers and Western horns perk along (sometimes sounding like Weather Report on Ko-Yan), but the underlying rhythms percolate in triple time, and it's hard for a Western ear to predict where Mr. Keita's vocal lines, and the responses of his female backup singers, will begin or end." The Edmonton Journal noted that Keita's music "injects the stirring traditional rhythms of Mali with nourishing contemporary textures—funk, soca, and soul."