On This Day 08/03/2007 Joan Baez

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On this day, 8 March 2007, folk legend Joan Baez played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

In February 2007, Proper Records reissued her 1995 live album Ring Them Bells, which featured duets with artists ranging from Dar Williams and Mimi Fariña to the Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

The reissue features a 16-page booklet and six unreleased live tracks from the original recording sessions. In addition, Baez recorded a duet of "Jim Crow" with John Mellencamp which appears on his album Freedom's Road (2007). Also in February 2007, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The day after receiving the honor, she appeared at the Grammy Awards ceremony and introduced a performance by the Dixie Chicks.

Joan Baez, St David's Hall, Cardiff. Review - South Wales Argus

By Alan Molloy

MENTION Joan Baez to people of a certain age and they think, folk singer, activist, civil rights marcher and they may even remember in 1967 her views saw her prevented from performing at America's Constitution Hall by the ultra-right Daughters of the American Revolution.

This legendary singer who toured with Bob Dylan in the 70s has lost none of her magic and still speaks and sings for solutions to violence in the Middle East and Latin America.

Was St David's Hall, Cardiff, ready for this rebel and would her haunting songs travel well across the years?

The answer is Yes' they were ready for her as the encores and applause testified and Yes' the songs are just as powerful.

"I can't believe I'm still doing this and I can't believe that you are still there,'' said Joan and the audience certainly were as they cheered their way through this thoughtful repertoire.

Her effortless performance included Wildwood Flower from her first album, Joe Hill, With God on our Side, Diamonds and Rust, Lily and There but for Fortune.

Accompanied by guitarists Graham Maybe and Eric de la Pena, her songs were interspersed with anecdotes and comments on politics in Washington.

The audience went home having been transported back to a time when talent was recognised and one-hit wonders and tribute bands were in the distant future.

On This Day 07/03/2002 Ian Brown

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On this day, 7 March 2002, former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown played Cardiff University.

He was the lead singer and the only continuous member of the alternative rock band the Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the band's initial split in 1996, he began a solo career.

Since the break-up of the Stone Roses in 1996, Brown has released six solo albums and fourteen UK Top 40 singles. He has sold out seven UK tours and appeared three times at the Glastonbury Festival, including headlining the Other Stage in 2005.

He has appeared five times at V Festival since 1998, along with regular appearances at T in the Park and Oxegen festivals, and played the Move festival in 2002 at Old Trafford Cricket Ground as well as two tours of Australia in 2006 and 2008.

At the 2006 NME awards, Brown was presented with the "Godlike Genius" award and in 2007, was given the Q "Legend" Award.

In September 2007, Brown released his fifth studio album, The World Is Yours. The album represented a more political approach[citation needed] in his music, particularly the anti-war track "Illegal Attacks", which featured Sinéad O'Connor. The album also featured former Smiths bassist Andy Rourke, Paul Ryder of Happy Mondays, and Steve Jones and Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols.

On This Day 06/03/1997 Peter Green

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On this day, 6 March 1997, English blues rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and founder of Fleetwood Mac played Cardiff’s Coal Exchange.

He began playing professionally by the age of 15, while working for a number of east London shipping companies. He first played bass guitar in a band called Bobby Dennis and the Dominoes, which performed pop chart covers and rock 'n' roll standards, including Shadows covers. He later stated that Hank Marvin was his guitar hero and he played the Shadows' song "Midnight" on the 1996 tribute album Twang.

Many rock guitarists have cited Green as an influence, including Gary Moore, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash,and more recently, Mark Knopfler, Noel Gallagher, and Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood.

Review - South Wales Echo

Green was The Black Crowes' Rich Robinson's pick in Guitar World's "30 on 30: The Greatest Guitarists Picked by the Greatest Guitarists" (2010). In the same article Robinson cites Jimmy Page, with whom the Crowes toured: "he told us so many Peter Green stories. It was clear that Jimmy loves the man's talent".

Green's songs have been recorded by artists such as Santana, Aerosmith, Status Quo,The Black Crowes, Midge Ure, Tom Petty, Judas Priest, and Gary Moore, who recorded Blues for Greeny, an album of Green compositions.

In 1995, the tribute album Rattlesnake Guitar: The Music of Peter Green was released, and subsequently was reissued in 2000 as Peter Green Songbook.

On This Day 05/03/1993 Tasmin Archer

On this day, 5 March 1993, singer Tasmin Archer played Cardiff University.

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Archer signed to EMI in 1990 and released her first single, "Sleeping Satellite," in September 1992, which went to number one on the UK Singles Chart. The single also enjoyed success in the US, where it peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album Great Expectations followed in October 1992. It reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart,[1] and achieved gold disc status by December for sales of more than 100,000 copies. Further singles from the album followed, and although they were Top 40 hits in the UK, they did not achieve the same level of success as her début.

Archer donated the royalties from her second single "In Your Care" to Childline. The song was about child abuse. In 1993 Archer won a BRIT Award for the Best British Breakthrough Act. She later joked that she kept her award in her kitchen cupboard and used it for cracking nuts and tenderizing steak.

On This Day 04/03/1998 Genesis

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On this day, 4 March 1998, prog rock superstars Genesis played the first of two nights at Cardiff International Arena on their Calling All Stations tour.

Genesis were supporting their 1997 album Calling All Stations with a 47-date European tour from 29 January to 31 May 1998, featuring shows in large arenas throughout Europe.
The core trio of lead vocalist Ray Wilson, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford were joined by Israeli musician Nir Zidkyahu on drums, percussion, and backing vocals and Irish musician Anthony Drennan on guitar and bass.
This was the only tour with Wilson, Zidkyahu and Drennan, as well as the first since the 1970s not to feature longtime singer/drummer Phil Collins or touring members Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson as part of the lineup.

Rehearsals took place at Bray Film Studios in Windsor and the Working Men's Club in Chiddingfold, England close to the band's recording studio. The tour concluded with spots at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park Festival in Germany.

A majority of the older songs were transposed in a lower key to accommodate Wilson's lower vocal range. Midway through the set included an acoustic medley of songs from their 1970s output.

Review - South Wales Argus

Setlist

No Son of Mine

Land of Confusion

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Calling All Stations

Carpet Crawlers

There Must Be Some Other Way

Domino

Firth of Fifth

Congo

Home by the Sea

Second Home by the Sea

Acoustic

Dancing With the Moonlit Knight

Follow You Follow Me

Supper's Ready

(Lover's Leap)

Not About Us

Mama

The Dividing Line

Invisible Touch

Turn It On Again

Encore:

Throwing It All Away

I Can't Dance

On This Day 03/03/2005 Electric Six

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On this day, 3 March 2005, American rock band Electric Six played Cardiff University.

Formed in Detroit in 1996, they are known for combining elements of rock, disco, garage rock, metal, new wave, and punk rock.

Since achieving widespread recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar", they have released 20 studio albums, two rarities albums, one live album and one live DVD. Each band member is given a unique stage name; the line-up has undergone changes over the years; co-founder, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter Dick Valentine has been the only constant member.

The band's second album, Señor Smoke, was released in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2005. Since the band had been dropped from their previous American record label, a North American release of the album was delayed until February 7, 2006, when it came out on Metropolis Records.

The first single from the album put the band at the center of controversy with Queen fans, following a cover of the hit Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". The controversial music video showed lead singer Dick Valentine portraying the ghost of late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and performing with a backing band of poodles. Queen drummer and "Radio Ga Ga" writer Roger Taylor said that he was "unimpressed" with the video, though Queen guitarist Brian May reportedly liked it.

Valentine addressed the controversy and said, "Some have claimed this video portrays me dancing on Freddie Mercury's grave, but that wasn't the idea. Actually it's more like we are resurrecting Mr. Mercury for the duration of the song and his grave is the logical starting point. [...] I guess a video like that can be taken the wrong way, but we hadn't looked at it like that. [...] Everyone knows we disliked the fact that we had to put this song on our record, so this ridiculous video took a little bit of the sting out of it for us and made it somewhat bearable. [...] I definitely respect Freddie and his work."

On This Day 02/03/1973 Labi Siffre

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On this day, 2 March 1973, British singer, songwriter and poet Labi Siffre played Cardiff’s Cory Hall. Support was provided by Magna Carta

Claudius Afolabi Siffre (born 25 June 1945), better known as Labi Siffre. Siffre released six albums from 1970 to 1975 and four from 1988 to 1998. His compositions include "It Must Be Love", which reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971 (and was later covered by the band Madness), "Crying Laughing Loving Lying", and "(Something Inside) So Strong"—an anti-apartheid song inspired by a television documentary in which white soldiers in South Africa were filmed shooting at black civilians in the street—which hit number 4 on the UK chart. The latter song won Siffre the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and it has been used in Amnesty International campaigns.

Siffre has published essays, the stage and television play Deathwrite and three volumes of poetry: Nigger, Blood on the Page, and Monument. In 2022, his life and work was explored in the series Imagine, under the title, Labi Siffre: This Is My Song.

Multiple parts of Siffre's 1975 track "I Got The..." were sampled in popular hip hop songs in the 1990s, most notably in the 1999 Eminem single "My Name Is". As a result of the song's newfound fame, it was finally released as a single in 2003. The track was also featured in the Better Call Saul episode "Bagman".

Siffre's 1972 track "My Song", the 10th track on his album Crying Laughing Loving Lying, was sampled by rapper Kanye West on the song "I Wonder" on his third album Graduation.

In February 2022, the BBC broadcast Labi Siffre: This Is My Song, as part of the Imagine series, in which Alan Yentob presented a film exploring Siffre's life and work.

On This Day 01/03/1997 Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci pictured at the Coal Exchange 1 March 1997 - Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, St David’s Day, 1 March 1997, psychedelic folk and alternative rock band Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci played Cardiff’s Coal Exchange on their Barafundle tour. Also on the bill were the Stereophonics.

The band were about to release their fourth album Barafundle. The album's title comes from the name of a beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Songs are often sung in both Welsh and English, and the album's influences range from twee-pop to traditional folk music. Lynn Childs, father of singer Euros and violinist Megan, plays shawm and other traditional instruments on the album's occasional medieval interludes (for example, on "Starmoonsun").

Two singles were released from the album. The first single, "Patio Song", was released in late 1996 and became the band's highest-charting single in the UK, peaking at #41 in early 1997. The song also ranked #8 on John Peel's 1996 Festive Fifty countdown.

The second single, "Diamond Dew", reached #42 on the UK Singles Chart in mid-1997. A contemporaneous non-album single, "Young Girls & Happy Endings", was also released in 1997 and appeared as a bonus track on some American copies of the album.

While in the band, Childs said that one of the most frequent questions he was asked was about the origin of the band's name. After struggling to come up with one, they decided "we might as well stick with the most ridiculous crap name we could think of."

Gorky's came from the word "gawky"; Lawrence says that "gork" was school slang for a dimwit.

Zygotic was "hijacked from GCSE biology"; it refers to the state of being like a zygote – a fertilized egg cell.

Mynci is a spelling of the word "monkey" using Welsh spelling rules, rather than a direct Welsh translation (the actual Welsh word is "mwnci") and is pronounced like "monkey".