Geordie (band)
Encyclopedia
Geordie were a British
rock
band
from Newcastle upon Tyne
, England, most notably active in the 1970s.
) (lead guitar
, vocals
), Tom Hill (bass guitar
), Brian Gibson (drums
) (born 6 March 1951, Newcastle upon Tyne
) and Brian Johnson
(vocals).
Their first single, "Don't Do That" broke into the UK
Top 40 in December 1972. In March 1973, Geordie released their debut album
, Hope You Like It on EMI
's Regal Zonophone
label
. Trying to compete with such British
glam rock
outfits as Slade
and Sweet
(Geordie supported the former on a UK tour, as well as the latter at a concert at the Rainbow Club, London
in March 1973), they had several UK Top 10 hit
, "All Because Of You" (April 1973) and several UK Top 20 hit, "Can You Do It" (July 1973) and several appearances on BBC Television
including Top of the Pops
in November 1972. But their second album, Don't Be Fooled By The Name (1974), including a cover
of The Animals
' "House Of The Rising Sun" failed to yield a hit. After their 1976 album Save The World, frontman Johnson left for a solo project. The band's final album, No Good Woman, in 1978 consisted of three unreleased tracks with Johnson and new material recorded by Malcolm with future Dire Straits
keyboardist Alan Clark
, vocalist Dave Ditchburn, bassist Frank Gibbon, and drummer George Defty. Johnson had meanwhile begun to perform as Geordie in a new line-up in which he was the only original member. The band signed a recording contract
in 1980, but finally folded that spring when Johnson became a member of AC/DC
to replace the late Bon Scott
.
.
In 1982, the original Geordie, but without Johnson, re-grouped as a quintet and went on to record an album titled No Sweat in 1983 with new singer 'Doctor' Rob Turnbull and additional guitarist David Stephenson. The album was released on heavy metal
independent record label
, Neat Records
, but had no major success. Malcolm left, and they later changed their name to Powerhouse, to release an eponymous album in 1986, before disbanding indefinitely.
At the end of 2001, during an AC/DC hiatus, Johnson had a one off reunion, for a short UK tour, with Geordie's 1977-1980 line-up, performing largely hard rock cover version
s.
Line-up for some tracks on No Good Woman (1978):
Line-up with Johnson ("Geordie II"), 1978–1980, 2001:
1982-1985 line-up:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
from Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, England, most notably active in the 1970s.
History
The original (from February, 1972) line-up included: Vic Malcolm (born Albert Victor Malcolm, 3 December 1946, Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
) (lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
), Tom Hill (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), Brian Gibson (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) (born 6 March 1951, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
) and Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson is an English singer and lyricist who has been the lead singer for the rock band AC/DC since 1980. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of the band....
(vocals).
Their first single, "Don't Do That" broke into the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Top 40 in December 1972. In March 1973, Geordie released their debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Hope You Like It on EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
's Regal Zonophone
Regal Zonophone Records
Regal Zonophone Records was a British record label formed in 1932, through a merger of the Regal Records and Zonophone Records labels. This followed the merger of those labels' respective parent companies - the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company - to form EMI.Originally Regal...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. Trying to compete with such British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
outfits as Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
and Sweet
Sweet (band)
Sweet was a British rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the most prominent glam rock acts, with the classic line-up of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker.Sweet was formed in 1968 and achieved their first...
(Geordie supported the former on a UK tour, as well as the latter at a concert at the Rainbow Club, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in March 1973), they had several UK Top 10 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "All Because Of You" (April 1973) and several UK Top 20 hit, "Can You Do It" (July 1973) and several appearances on BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
including Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
in November 1972. But their second album, Don't Be Fooled By The Name (1974), including a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
' "House Of The Rising Sun" failed to yield a hit. After their 1976 album Save The World, frontman Johnson left for a solo project. The band's final album, No Good Woman, in 1978 consisted of three unreleased tracks with Johnson and new material recorded by Malcolm with future Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
keyboardist Alan Clark
Alan Clark (keyboardist)
Alan Clark is an English musician who was the first and main keyboardist for the British rock band Dire Straits.- Biography :...
, vocalist Dave Ditchburn, bassist Frank Gibbon, and drummer George Defty. Johnson had meanwhile begun to perform as Geordie in a new line-up in which he was the only original member. The band signed a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
in 1980, but finally folded that spring when Johnson became a member of AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
to replace the late Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...
.
Post break-up
After AC/DC's lead singer Bon Scott died in February 1980, AC/DC chose Brian Johnson (whose vocal talent had previously been praised by Scott) to take over lead vocal duties. Johnson first appeared with AC/DC on their album, Back In BlackBack in Black
Back in Black is an album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It is the seventh Australian and sixth internationally released studio album by the band....
.
In 1982, the original Geordie, but without Johnson, re-grouped as a quintet and went on to record an album titled No Sweat in 1983 with new singer 'Doctor' Rob Turnbull and additional guitarist David Stephenson. The album was released on heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, Neat Records
Neat Records
Neat Records was a record label based near Newcastle, England. The label was established in 1979 by David Wood, who was the owner of Impulse Studios in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. The establishment of Neat coincided with the arrival at Impulse of Songwriter/Producer Steve Thompson who guided...
, but had no major success. Malcolm left, and they later changed their name to Powerhouse, to release an eponymous album in 1986, before disbanding indefinitely.
At the end of 2001, during an AC/DC hiatus, Johnson had a one off reunion, for a short UK tour, with Geordie's 1977-1980 line-up, performing largely hard rock cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s.
Studio albums
- Hope You Like ItHope You Like ItHope You Like It is the debut album of British glam rock band Geordie.-Track listing:#"Keep on Rockin" - 3:18#"Give You Till Monday" - 3:59#"Hope You Like It" - 3:39#"Don't Do That" - 3:00...
(1973) (Red Bus) - Don't Be Fooled by the NameDon't Be Fooled by the NameDon't Be Fooled by the Name is the second studio album by British glam rock band Geordie. Mick Rock was responsible for the cover art and photography.-Track listing:All tracks written by Vic Malcolm, except where noted....
(1974) (Red Bus) - Geordie - Masters of RockGeordie - Masters of RockGeordie - Masters of Rock was an album by glam rock band Geordie. It was released in 1974 by EMI.-Track listing:#"House of the Rising Sun"#"All Because of You"#"Can You Do It"#"Give You Till Monday"#"Red Eyed Lady"#"Don't Do That"#"Ride On Baby"...
(1974) (EMI) - Save the WorldSave the World (album)Save the World is the third studio album by British glam rock band Geordie.-Track listing:#"Mama's Gonna Take You Home" - 2:53#"She's a Teaser" - 3:15#"Goodbye Love" - 3:21...
(1976) (Red Bus) - No Good WomanNo Good WomanNo Good Woman is the fifth studio album by British glam rock band Geordie. It includes tracks that were recorded by the previous lineups as well as several new players.-Track listing:#"No Good Woman" - 4:00...
(1978) (Red Bus - Landmark) - No SweatNo Sweat (Geordie album)No Sweat is the final studio album by British glam rock band Geordie and the only one the band recorded after their original vocalist Brian Johnson joined AC/DC.-Track listing:All tracks written by Geordie.#"No Sweat" - 3:24#"This Time" - 2:51...
(1983) (Neat records)
Compilation albums
- Geordie featuring Brian Johnson (1980) (Red Bus)
- Strange Man (1982) (Red Bus)
- Keep on Rocking (1989) (compilation) (Anchor)
- Rocking with the Boys (1992) (Australian compilation) (Raven)
- A band from Geordieland (1996) (compilation - 24 tracks) (Repertoire)
- The very best of Geordie (1997) (compilation) (Arcade)
- The best of Geordie (1998) (compilation) (Platinum)
- Can you do it? (1999) (compilation) (Delta)
- The Singles Collection (2001) (compilation) (7T's records)
- Can you do it (2003) (compilation) (Pickwick - Holland)
- Unreleased Tapes (2005) (12 rare tracks) (OVC Media - Russia)
Singles on EMI
- "Don't Do That" b/w "Francis Was A Rocker" (EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, September 1972) - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#32 - "All Because Of You" b/w "Ain't It Just Like A Woman" (EMI, February 1973) - UK #6
- "Can You Do It" b/w "Red Eyed Lady" (EMI, June 1973) - UK #13
- "Electric Lady" b/w "Geordie Stomp" (EMI, August 1973) - UK #32
- "Black Cat Woman" b/w "Geordie's Lost His Liggie" (EMI, November 1973)
- "She's A Teaser" b/w "We're All Right Now" (EMI, August 1974)
- "Ride On Baby" b/w "Got To Know" (EMI, October 1974)
- "Goodbye Love" b/w "She's A Lady" (EMI, 1975)
Band members
1972-1977 line-up:- Brian JohnsonBrian JohnsonBrian Johnson is an English singer and lyricist who has been the lead singer for the rock band AC/DC since 1980. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of the band....
(vocals) - Vic Malcolm (guitar, vocals) 1972-1975
- Tom Hill (bass)
- Brian Gibson (drums)
Line-up for some tracks on No Good Woman (1978):
- Dave Ditchburn (vocals)
- Vic Malcolm (guitar)
- Alan Clark (keyboards)
- Frank Gibbon (bass)
- George Defty (drums)
Line-up with Johnson ("Geordie II"), 1978–1980, 2001:
- Brian Johnson (vocals)
- Derek Rootham (guitar)
- Dave Robson (bass)
- Dave Withaker (drums)
1982-1985 line-up:
- Rob Turnbull (vocals)
- Vic Malcolm (guitar)
- David Stephenson (guitar)
- Tom Hill (bass)
- Brian Gibson (drums)
See also
- List of glam rock artists
- List of bands from Newcastle, United Kingdom
- List of performers on Top of the Pops