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

On This Day 23/09/1987 Motorhead

On this day, 23 September 1987, heavy rockers Motörhead played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on the group’s Rock ‘N’ Roll tour.

The band had recently released their eighth studio album Rock ‘N’ Roll, released in August 1987. It is their last album with the GWR label, as more legal issues embroiled the band with yet another label. Reaching only No. 34 in the UK Albums Chart, Rock 'n' Roll was, in that respect, the worst performing of all of Motörhead's top 40 chart hits.

It would see the return of 'classic line up' drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, albeit only for a few more years before being fired.

Also in 1987, Motörhead appeared in the Peter Richardson film Eat the Rich, which starred the regular cast of The Comic Strip and Motörhead frontman Lemmy himself in a small part as "Spider". The band supplied six songs for the soundtrack as well. As the band was about to film their cameo, however, drummer Pete Gill was fired and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor rejoined after having quit in 1984. In his autobiography White Line Fever, Lemmy states the sacking of Gill was a long time coming.

"Peter was his own worst enemy, he was another one who wouldn't just be content in the band. He went up against me on a couple of decisions, and he was making Phil and Wurzel upset too. I got tired of him moaning, so when he kept us waiting while he hung around in the lobby of his hotel for twenty minutes while he read the paper or something, that was the proverbial last straw. I know it sounds trivial, but most flare-ups in families are, aren't they? And a band is a family."

Rock 'n' Roll was produced by the band and Guy Bidmead at Master Rock Studios and Redwood Studios in London. In the Motörhead documentary The Guts and the Glory, guitarist Phil Campbell states, "I like it. It's not a great album but... there's things on there I like, a lot of good things I like."

Campbell adds that the studio manager informed them that the studio they were recording in was owned by Michael Palin, and Motörhead – who were all huge Monty Python fans – invited Palin to come down and do a recitation for the album. Palin showed up dressed in a 1940s cricketer outfit, with a V-necked sweater and his hair all brushed to one side. Lemmy remembers Palin walking in and saying, "Hello, what sort of thing are we going to do now, then?" and Lemmy answering "Well, you know in The Meaning of Life, there was this speech that began 'Oh Lord — .'" Palin replied "Ah! Give me some cathedral!" and went in and recorded the 'Oh Lord, look down upon these people from Motörhead' speech.

On This Day 22/09/1974 Roxy Music

On this day, 22 September 1974, pioneering art rock band Roxy Music played the last of two nights at Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. Support was provided by the Jess Roden band.

The tour took them around Europe, Australia and USA where they were seen on USA TV's Midnight Special perfroming 'A Really Good Time' & 'Out Of The Blue'.

The band were about to release their fourth studio album Country Life, which peaked at number three on the UK albums chart.and was the first Roxy Music album to enter the US Top 40, albeit at No. 37.

Country Life was met with widespread critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone referring to it "as if Ferry ran a cabaret for psychotics, featuring chanteurs in a state of shock".

The cover image was controversial in some countries, including the United States and Spain, where it was censored for release. As a result, early releases in the US were packaged in opaque shrink wrap; a later American LP release of Country Life (available during the years 1975–80) featured a different cover shot. Instead of Karoli and Grunwald posed in front of some trees, the reissue used a photo from the album's back cover that featured only the trees. In Australia, the album was banned in some record stores, while others sold each copy inside a black plastic sleeve.

Author Michael Ochs has described the result as the "most complete cover-up in rock history".

Jim Miller, in a 1975 review for Rolling Stone, wrote that "Stranded and Country Life together mark the zenith of contemporary British art rock."

Tour Musicians

Bryan Ferry - Vocals & Keyboards

Phil Manzanera - Guitars

Andy Mackay - Sax & Oboe

Paul Thompson - Drums

Eddie Jobson - Violin & Keyboards

John Wetton - Bass

On This Day 21/09/1983 Level 42

On this day, 21 September 1983, jazz funk band Level 42 played Cardiff’s Top Rank. The band had just released their fourth studio album Standing in the Light.

The album peaked at No. 9, being the group's first top 10 showing in the UK Pop Albums Chart. Standing in the Light has also been certified Gold in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry.

Standing in the Light was produced by Larry Dunn and Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire. On the final track "The Machine Stops", the lyrics are inspired by E. M. Forster's 1909 science fiction story of the same name.

The first single, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind", peaked at No. 41 on the UK Singles charts. The second single, "The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)", gave the group its first top-ten hit in the United Kingdom. The third single, "Micro-Kid", peaked at No. 37 on the UK Singles Chart.

After they were seen jamming together, Level 42 were invited to sign to Elite Records (a small independent label) in 1980. They were also encouraged to branch out into vocal music. Having considered recruiting a singer, the band eventually settled on giving King and Lindup the vocal role. The two men developed a complementary style, with Lindup's falsetto frequently used for harmonies and choruses while King's deep tenor led the verses (although Lindup would also sing entire songs on his own). Lyrics were generally written by the Gould brothers while King, Wally Badarou and Lindup concentrated on Level 42's music.

The Elite Records single "Love Meeting Love" brought the band to the attention of Polydor Records, with whom they signed their second recording contract. In 1981, they released their first Polydor single, "Love Games", which became a Top 40 hit. They then cut their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, which was an immediate success throughout Europe.

On This Day 20/09/1996 Johnny Mathis

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On this day, 20 September 1996, American singer Johnny Mathis played Cardiff International Arena.

He had recently released his album All About Love which paired him with producer Phil Ramone for his first venture into contemporary material since 1985's Right from the Heart. The two albums share the fact that they do not include covers of songs associated with other artists, which makes them unique entries in the Mathis catalog.

Starting his career with singles of standard music, Mathis became highly popular as an album artist, with several of his albums achieving gold or platinum status and 73 making the Billboard charts.

Mathis has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for three recordings.

Mathis is the third best-selling artist of the 20th century, selling 360 million records worldwide. Although frequently described as a romantic singer, his discography includes traditional pop, Latin American, soul, rhythm and blues, show tunes, Tin Pan Alley, soft rock, blues, country music, and even a few disco songs for his album Mathis Magic in 1979. Mathis has also recorded seven albums of Christmas music.

On This Day 19/09/2002 Converge

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On this day, 19 September 2002, American metalcore band Converge, played Cardiff’s Coal Exchange.

Formed by vocalist and artist Jacob Bannon and guitarist and producer Kurt Ballou in Salem, Massachusetts in 1990.

While recording their landmark fourth album Jane Doe in 2001, the group became a four-piece with the departure of guitarist Aaron Dalbec and the addition of bassist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller. This lineup has remained intact since.

The members have also been involved in various side-projects and collaborations, including the bands Supermachiner (Bannon), Old Man Gloom (Newton), and Mutoid Man (Koller). With their extremely aggressive and boundary-pushing sound, rooted in hardcore and heavy metal, they are pioneers of metalcore and its subgenre mathcore.

On September 4, 2001, Converge released their fourth studio album, Jane Doe. It was met with immediate critical acclaim, with critics praising its poetic lyrics, dynamic range, ferocity and production. The album was a commercial success in comparison to Converge's previous outings, and both the band and the album have developed a cult following since its release.

It is the band's first studio album to feature Newton and Koller, and the last to feature Dalbec, who was asked to leave the band due to his devotion to his side project Bane.[28] Converge's first tour in support of Jane Doe was in September 2001 with Drowningman and Playing Enemy,[29] however Drowningman later dropped out of the tour to work on a new album.

In 2002 a music video was released for the track/tracks "Concubine/Fault and Fracture" from the album Jane Doe; the music video was directed by Zach Merck.

On This Day 18/09/2004 Babyshambles

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On this day, 18 September 2004, rock band Babyshambles played Cardiff University.

In the early summer of 2004, Pete Doherty found himself cast out of The Libertines because of his drug use. As a result, Doherty brought Babyshambles to the fore with Patrick Walden on guitar, Gemma Clarke on drums and Peter Perrett's two sons, Jamie and Peter Junior, on guitar and bass respectively.

Doherty organised several gigs and the band began to gain respect in their own right, even though Doherty missed a number of appearances. The band's lineup underwent several changes before stabilizing during the late summer of 2004 with Doherty on vocals, Patrick Walden on guitar, Gemma Clarke on drums and Drew McConnell on bass.

In September and October 2004, Babyshambles embarked on a British tour that culminated with two shows at the London Scala. Despite fears that Doherty's performance would not be consistent, the tour sold out and received critical acclaim.

The band's second single, "Killamangiro", was released 29 November 2004 on Rough Trade Records, reaching number 8 on the UK singles chart. The band embarked on another tour in December 2004, among growing concerns regarding Doherty's drug dependence.

During a gig in Blackpool, the band walked off the stage when it became clear that Doherty was too intoxicated to perform, and a riot broke out at the London Astoria after Doherty failed to appear, with 150–200 of the audience invading the stage and damaging the band's equipment, including the destruction of Gemma Clarke's drumkit,

On This Day 17/09/1978 The Stranglers

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On this day, 17 September 1978, punk/rock band The Stranglers played Cardiff’s Top Rank. The support band that evening were The Skids.

Formed as the Guildford Stranglers in Guildford, Surrey, in early 1974, they originally built a following within the mid-1970s pub rock scene. While their aggressive, no-compromise attitude had them identified by the media with the emerging UK punk rock scene that followed, their idiosyncratic approach rarely followed any single musical genre, and the group went on to explore a variety of musical styles, from new wave, art rock and gothic rock through the sophisti-pop of some of their 1980s output.

The band had recently released their third studio album Black and White. As with the Stranglers' first two albums, Black and White was produced by Martin Rushent. The album sees the Stranglers adopting a more experimental approach to song structures and time signatures (for example, "Curfew" features 7/4 time).

The band recorded a version of "Sweden" sung in Swedish, called "Sverige", and released it in Sweden. The song was partly inspired by Cornwell's PhD placement at Lund University in the early-1970s. In an anecdote related in the Swedish online magazine Blaskan, it is stated that the song was inspired by a disastrous visit to Sweden during a European tour, when a gig was violently interrupted by a gang of "raggare" (greasers).[4]

The song title "Death and Night and Blood" is taken from a line from Yukio Mishima's novel Confessions of a Mask.

The song "In the Shadows" had previously been released as the B-side to the band's 1977 single "No More Heroes".