Incredible Kidda Band
Encyclopedia
The Incredible Kidda Band (aka The Kidda Band) were a British
power pop band formed in Nuneaton
on 10 February 1976, and composed of Alan Hammonds (guitar/)
vocals), Graham “Kidder” Hammonds (percussion/
backing vocals), John Rollason (guitar/
backing vocals), Les Rollason (bass)
, Graham “Dick” Millington (drums). Later members of the band were Mark “Tarky” Bates (drums/ backing vocals), Keith Taylor (bass)
, Mick Rollason (guitar/
backing vocals) and Paul Gardener (drums).
on 19 January 1978 and their first powerpop
single was released
on 24 June that year. "Everybody Knows" backed with "No Nerve" were both written by Horden
born Alan Hammonds and were recorded in London
at Utopia Studios, and engineered by "Andy Brook Jackson".
Members of the band were unhappy with the work of producer
"Des Dolan" and so both tracks were remixed at Utopia Studios on 11 May at 1978. Without much evident quality improvement, the band remained unhappy.
The single was reviewed in Melody Maker
on 15 July 1978 by the producer
Tony Visconti
, famous for working with David Bowie
, Marc Bolan
and T-Rex as well as Thin Lizzy
, and he wrote "Great!! A good record at last. Good solid beat and the group actually sings in tune. This could chart (as they say in the biz). They sound young but aren't quite punk or new wave. I commend them for keeping their sound strong, simple and uncluttered." Other positive reviews appeared in Sounds on 5 August 1978 (By Geoff Barton
) and in Record Mirror
on 9 August 1978 (By Rosalind Russell).
Despite the favourable reviews, the single failed to sell in large numbers upon its release, however it was destined to become a collector’s item over 20 years later.
On 31 August 1978, the band was signed to Carrere Records by "Peter Hinton", later to become the Producer of Wheels of Steel
released in 1980 by heavy metal
label mates Saxon
. At the same time as the move of record company, the name was shortened to the Kidda Band.
The Kidda Band’s first live performance in London took place at The Rock Garden in Covent Garden
on 1 September 1978 and five coaches of fans travelled from Nuneaton to support them.
The band was already a very well regarded live act across the UK
and in late 1978 they were signed to Birmingham
based OAK music booking agency run by John Mostyn. "John Mostyn" later became the manager of many successful UK acts, such as The Beat
, Fine Young Cannibals
and Ocean Colour Scene
.
The band were always a favourite choice at Radio 1 live events, and they shared the stage with Peter Powell
, Paul Gambaccini
and David "Kid" Jensen in their career.
The debut single release for Carrere was released on 29 June 1979 and was a double A-sided single featuring "Fighting my way back" and "Saturday Night Fever". The latter was written as a direct attack on the motion picture Saturday Night Fever
which starred John Travolta
and featured the music of the Bee Gees and which heavily influenced the UK music charts and live music venues at that time.
Both songs were recorded at Radio Luxembourg
Studios on 14 and 15 December 1978 and both songs were once again written by "Alan Hammonds". The sessions were engineered by Peter Hughes and co-produced by "Graham “Kidder” Hammonds". The same team were to remix both tracks at the same studio on 1 May 1979.
During 1979, the Kidda Band were to support a number of established and emerging bands such as The Troggs
, The Pirates, the Radio Stars
and The Beat
as their reputation for powerful live performances continued to grow.
On 11 September 1979, the band signed to talent management company
"March Music/Fast Western Productions", founded and run by former Ten Years After
drummer Ric Lee
, prior to the release of their second Carrere single.
Muriel Young
invited the band to appear on Get it together to promote the debut single. Muriel, the shows Producer, was a strong supporter of the band and she was to use the band again later that same series to promote their second single. The band entered Granada TV Recording studios on 13 November to record the soundtrack before filming both sides of the new single the following day.
The bands TV debut was broadcast on Granada Television
4 December 1979. They were to appear regularly on the show thereafter until their demise.
The bands third single was recorded on 14 January 1980 at Chas Chandler’s
Portland Recording Studios
, previously a member of The Animals
, and manager of Jimi Hendrix
, Slade
and Nick Drake
, and home to Barn Records. The session was engineered by Andy Miller
and produced
by "Mark Robbins".
At the time, Portland Recording Studios was also home to George "Porky" Peckham’s
cutting rooms, whose master discs, and the records produced from them, were known as "Porky Prime Cuts". George was previously cutting engineer at Apple Records
for The Beatles
. Both sides of the single were subsequently cut by George, and the run-out groove on both sides of the single has his classic motto, "A Porky Prime Cut", etched into it.
Once again, on 29 January 1980, the band entered Granada Television’s
recording studio to re-record the single ready for their second Get it together appearance. The show itself was filmed on 30 January and broadcast on 19 February 1980.
On 31 January 1980, the band were offered the support slot on The Skids
1980 Tour and the prospect of wider recognition were heightened.
On 4 February 1980 the bands third single was released, and their second on Carrere Records, featuring "Get off the telephone" and backed with "Big boys don’t cry". Once again both songs were written by "Alan Hammonds".
On 13 February the support slot on tour with "The Skids" was cancelled as Carrere Records decided not to support it and relations with the label suffered as a result.
On 3 March 1980, "Mark “Tarky” Bates" replaced "Paul Gardener" on drums.
The band continued to tour the UK extensively and on 17 May 1980 a live review appeared in the first volume/second edition of the independent rock weekly New Music News in which writer Paul Bearer extolled the virtues of their live performance and song writing prowess. "One day some musicologist is going to light up "Alan Hammonds" songbook and it'll be rather like the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls because nestling in those pages are some of the best pop songs to have been written over the past few years. Direct, melodic, a rough hewn commerciality wrapped around incisive and sharp lyrics with more than a touch of cheek thrown in for good measure: those are the qualities of the compositions. The Kidda Band play with punch and panache, putting more media- mirrored bands such as The Jags
and the appalling The Knack
, well and truly in the shade."
On 9 September 1980, they made their debut at London’s The Venue alongside Jess Roden
.
On 1 October 1980, the Kidda Band left Carrere Records, with the alleged lack of record label
support and investment being cited as the chief reason. Despite label mates Saxon
gaining support slots on tour with more established bands such as Motorhead, no such tours were secured for the power pop band and their relationship with the record label rapidly deteriorated. The lack of plans for a debut album was also alleged to be a major contributory factor.
Just two weeks later, on 15 October 1980, the band were signed by Blue Chip/Cygnet Records, the new label run by record producer
Rodger Bain
, who had previously produced the single Paranoid
for Black Sabbath
which entered the UK Singles Chart
in July 1970 at Number 2.
1981 also saw the release of the bands fourth single, "If looks could kill" and "Don’t she look F-A-B" produced
by "Spencer Shiroda". The single was cut at Strawberry Mastering
which was owned by members of 10cc
at that time. Despite healthy airplay, the sales of the single were once again disappointing poor and the band left Blue Chip Records on 28 April 1981.
Later that year the band played Avery Hill College, which was incorporated into the University of Greenwich
in 1985, and the show was recorded for a possible live album
release, but to date this recording has never surfaced.
In September 1982 the band entered Alaska Studios with engineer "Pat Collier", previously of The Vibrators
to record several new tracks including "I want You".
The band continued to perform live and made regular studio visits, including to Denmark Street Studios
on 22 January 1984 to record several live favourites such as "Hold my head up high".
On 10 November 1984 the band performed live at University of Essex
in support of Orange Juice
featuring Edwyn Collins
.
Having played regularly at The Bridgehouse in Canning Town, the band hooked up with the owner/promoter "Terry Murphy’s" own Vinyl Cuts Record label in order to release their fifth single, "Hold your head up high" and "I wouldn’t treat a dog (Like you treat me) ", in June 1985. Murphy was also manager of Wasted Youth
and father to boxer turned TV actor Glen Murphy
.
The single was recorded at Village Recorders on 19 March 1985 with the session being produced by their own "Graham “Kidder” Hammonds" and engineered by "Gary Edwards". Both sides of the single were once again cut by George "Porky" Peckham
and the run-out groove on both sides of the single have his classic motto, "A Porky Prime Cut", etched into them.
The band experienced several name changes, beginning with the shortening of the name to the Kidda Band before changing name completely to "The Kicks" on 7 November 1979 and finally to "We’re Only Human" on 1 July 1981.
On 23 September 1985, the contract with March Music expired with neither Ric Lee nor the band taking up the option to continue working together.
In 1987 guitarist John Rollason took time out from the band to record the Dirty Strangers album with the Dirty Strangers and he was joined in the studio by Paul Fox
, formerly of The Ruts
, Keith Richards
and Ronnie Wood. The album was produced by Prince Stanislas "Stash" Kosslowski de Rola.
The Kidda Band finally disbanded in 1989.
In 1999 Record Collector
magazine
identified numerous record collectors willing to purchase the debut single "Everybody Knows" for as much as £400 and the record continues to be a collectors item , particularly in the United States
and Japan
.
In 2000, due to this public demand for their back catalogue, the debut album
, "Too Much Too Little Too Late" was released Detour Records. The double album
contained 29 tracks and featured both studio
and demo recordings. The album received favorable reviews from across the world, particularly edition 254 of Record Collector
magazine
in October that year.
In 2002 the first four singles were repackaged and re-released by the Japanese independent punk and power pop record label, 1977 Records. All four sold out quickly.
On 24 February 2006, "Alan Hammonds" and "Dave Lister" were featured on "Pop Into The Past" with "Pete Chambers" on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio
.
On 28 March 2007, "Pop 'til you drop", the lyric book to accompany the album "Too Much Too Little Too Late" was published by Lulu. The album itself was re-released on 20 June 2007 by the bands own "Black and Blue Records" label through "Detour Records".
In 2007, "Sign on the dotted line" was re-recorded by the "Teenage Frames".
In 2008, "If looks could kill" was re-recorded by New York based "Baby Shakes
" and the song continues to be part of their live repertoire. This was followed by "The Brothers Gross’ versions of "I'm gonna join the army" and "We’re gonna make it". Many other cover versions continue to surface.
During 2011, Last Laugh Records from New York began a series of releases of Kidda Band material including the unreleased "Radio Caroline" and "(Watch out) Thief" plus reissues of "Everybody Knows" and "Fighting My Way Back".
In late 2011, Red Lounge Records from Germany will release the vinyl version of the "Too Much Too Little Too Late" album in a repackaged format.
A new album of previous recordings is also due for release in late 2011/early 2012 on Black and Blue Records. The current working title is believed to be the "Black" album. Also in the pipeline is a live album which is rumoured to be due for release in early 2014. The live show is believed to be that which was recorded at Avery Hill College back in 1982.
In between there are rumours of a third original album plus an Anthology album, with these to be released in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
power pop band formed in Nuneaton
Nuneaton
Nuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...
on 10 February 1976, and composed of Alan Hammonds (guitar/)
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
vocals), Graham “Kidder” Hammonds (percussion/
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
backing vocals), John Rollason (guitar/
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
backing vocals), Les Rollason (bass)
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Graham “Dick” Millington (drums). Later members of the band were Mark “Tarky” Bates (drums/ backing vocals), Keith Taylor (bass)
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Mick Rollason (guitar/
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
backing vocals) and Paul Gardener (drums).
Career
The Incredible Kidda Band signed to Psycho RecordsPsycho Records
Psycho records is a UK record label that released the records of some artists such as Majors, The Foundations, comedian Jimmy Jones and Killermeters in the 1970s...
on 19 January 1978 and their first powerpop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
single was released
Release (music)
In the music industry, a release is usually a term referring to the creative output from an artist available for sale or distribution; a broad term covering the many different formats music can be released in, and different forms of pieces .The word can also refer to the event at which an album or...
on 24 June that year. "Everybody Knows" backed with "No Nerve" were both written by Horden
Horden
Horden is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated on the North Sea coast, to the east of Peterlee, approximately 12 miles south of Sunderland. Horden was a mining village until the closure of the Horden Colliery in 1987. Main features include the Welfare and Memorial Parks and St...
born Alan Hammonds and were recorded in 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...
at Utopia Studios, and engineered by "Andy Brook Jackson".
Members of the band were unhappy with the work of producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
"Des Dolan" and so both tracks were remixed at Utopia Studios on 11 May at 1978. Without much evident quality improvement, the band remained unhappy.
The single was reviewed in Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
on 15 July 1978 by the producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
, famous for working with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
and T-Rex as well as Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
, and he wrote "Great!! A good record at last. Good solid beat and the group actually sings in tune. This could chart (as they say in the biz). They sound young but aren't quite punk or new wave. I commend them for keeping their sound strong, simple and uncluttered." Other positive reviews appeared in Sounds on 5 August 1978 (By Geoff Barton
Geoff Barton
Geoff Barton is a British journalist who founded Kerrang! heavy metal magazine and was an editor of Sounds music magazine.He joined Sounds at the age of nineteen after completing a journalism course at the London College of Printing. He specialised in covering rock music and helped popularise the...
) and in Record Mirror
Record Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
on 9 August 1978 (By Rosalind Russell).
Despite the favourable reviews, the single failed to sell in large numbers upon its release, however it was destined to become a collector’s item over 20 years later.
On 31 August 1978, the band was signed to Carrere Records by "Peter Hinton", later to become the Producer of Wheels of Steel
Wheels of Steel
Wheels of Steel is the second studio album by heavy metal band Saxon. It was released in 1980 .Despite its lyric, "747 " does not appear to be based on any actual incidents....
released in 1980 by 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...
label mates Saxon
Saxon (band)
Saxon are an English heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. As front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, they had 8 UK Top 40 albums in the 1980s including 4 UK Top 10 albums. Saxon also had numerous singles in the Top 20 singles chart...
. At the same time as the move of record company, the name was shortened to the Kidda Band.
The Kidda Band’s first live performance in London took place at The Rock Garden in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
on 1 September 1978 and five coaches of fans travelled from Nuneaton to support them.
The band was already a very well regarded live act across 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...
and in late 1978 they were signed to Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
based OAK music booking agency run by John Mostyn. "John Mostyn" later became the manager of many successful UK acts, such as The Beat
The Beat (band)
The Beat are a 2 Tone ska revival band founded in England in 1978. Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics....
, Fine Young Cannibals
Fine Young Cannibals
Fine Young Cannibals were a British band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1984, by bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox , and singer Roland Gift...
and Ocean Colour Scene
Ocean Colour Scene
Ocean Colour Scene are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date.-Early days :...
.
The band were always a favourite choice at Radio 1 live events, and they shared the stage with Peter Powell
Peter Powell (disc jockey)
Peter Powell is a former disc jockey, popular on BBC Radio 1 in the late 1970s and 1980s, who has a second career in talent management.-Early career:...
, Paul Gambaccini
Paul Gambaccini
Paul Matthew Gambaccini is a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom...
and David "Kid" Jensen in their career.
The debut single release for Carrere was released on 29 June 1979 and was a double A-sided single featuring "Fighting my way back" and "Saturday Night Fever". The latter was written as a direct attack on the motion picture Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...
which starred John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
and featured the music of the Bee Gees and which heavily influenced the UK music charts and live music venues at that time.
Both songs were recorded at Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
Studios on 14 and 15 December 1978 and both songs were once again written by "Alan Hammonds". The sessions were engineered by Peter Hughes and co-produced by "Graham “Kidder” Hammonds". The same team were to remix both tracks at the same studio on 1 May 1979.
During 1979, the Kidda Band were to support a number of established and emerging bands such as The Troggs
The Troggs
The Troggs are an English rock band from the 1960s that had a number of hits in UK and the US. Their most famous songs include, "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You", and "Love Is All Around"...
, The Pirates, the Radio Stars
Radio Stars
Radio Stars are an English new wave group formed in early 1977. They released three albums and had one UK Top 40 single.-Biography:Radio Stars were formed by ex-John's Children vocalist Andy Ellison, Sparks exile Martin Gordon , and Ian MacLeod in 1977, following the end of their underachieving...
and The Beat
The Beat (band)
The Beat are a 2 Tone ska revival band founded in England in 1978. Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics....
as their reputation for powerful live performances continued to grow.
On 11 September 1979, the band signed to talent management company
Talent manager
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry...
"March Music/Fast Western Productions", founded and run by former Ten Years After
Ten Years After
Ten Years After is an English blues-rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart...
drummer Ric Lee
Ric Lee
Ric Lee is the English drummer of the British late 1960s to 70s rock group, Ten Years After.-Biography:...
, prior to the release of their second Carrere single.
Muriel Young
Muriel Young
Muriel Young was a British television continuity announcer, presenter and producer.-Early life:...
invited the band to appear on Get it together to promote the debut single. Muriel, the shows Producer, was a strong supporter of the band and she was to use the band again later that same series to promote their second single. The band entered Granada TV Recording studios on 13 November to record the soundtrack before filming both sides of the new single the following day.
The bands TV debut was broadcast on Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
4 December 1979. They were to appear regularly on the show thereafter until their demise.
The bands third single was recorded on 14 January 1980 at Chas Chandler’s
Chas Chandler
Bryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts....
Portland Recording Studios
IBC Studios
The IBC Recording Studios were recording studios in 35 Portland Place, London, England. After the Second World War it was the address of the leading independent studio in London and the British Isles...
, previously a member 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...
, and manager of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, 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 Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, and home to Barn Records. The session was engineered by Andy Miller
Andy Miller (record producer)
Andy Miller is a record producer based in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Miller is noted for his production on influential albums by Mogwai, Life Without Buildings, Arab Strap, The Delgados, Scout Niblett, Songs: Ohia, Sons And Daughters, De Rosa and Desert Hearts.He is freelance, but has mainly...
and produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by "Mark Robbins".
At the time, Portland Recording Studios was also home to George "Porky" Peckham’s
George Peckham
George "Porky" Peckham is an English record cutting engineer, widely recognised as among the most accomplished in the business. He has been responsible for producing the master discs from which countless vinyl records have been pressed over the last 40 years....
cutting rooms, whose master discs, and the records produced from them, were known as "Porky Prime Cuts". George was previously cutting engineer at Apple Records
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...
for The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. Both sides of the single were subsequently cut by George, and the run-out groove on both sides of the single has his classic motto, "A Porky Prime Cut", etched into it.
Once again, on 29 January 1980, the band entered Granada Television’s
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
recording studio to re-record the single ready for their second Get it together appearance. The show itself was filmed on 30 January and broadcast on 19 February 1980.
On 31 January 1980, the band were offered the support slot on The Skids
The Skids
Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson , William Simpson , Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson...
1980 Tour and the prospect of wider recognition were heightened.
On 4 February 1980 the bands third single was released, and their second on Carrere Records, featuring "Get off the telephone" and backed with "Big boys don’t cry". Once again both songs were written by "Alan Hammonds".
On 13 February the support slot on tour with "The Skids" was cancelled as Carrere Records decided not to support it and relations with the label suffered as a result.
On 3 March 1980, "Mark “Tarky” Bates" replaced "Paul Gardener" on drums.
The band continued to tour the UK extensively and on 17 May 1980 a live review appeared in the first volume/second edition of the independent rock weekly New Music News in which writer Paul Bearer extolled the virtues of their live performance and song writing prowess. "One day some musicologist is going to light up "Alan Hammonds" songbook and it'll be rather like the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls because nestling in those pages are some of the best pop songs to have been written over the past few years. Direct, melodic, a rough hewn commerciality wrapped around incisive and sharp lyrics with more than a touch of cheek thrown in for good measure: those are the qualities of the compositions. The Kidda Band play with punch and panache, putting more media- mirrored bands such as The Jags
The Jags
The Jags were a British rock band formed in London in 1978, and composed of Nick Watkinson , John Alder , Steve Prudence , Alex Baird , Michael Cotton and Patrick O'Toole ....
and the appalling The Knack
The Knack
The Knack was an American New Wave rock quartet based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona", an international number one hit in 1979.-Founding :...
, well and truly in the shade."
On 9 September 1980, they made their debut at London’s The Venue alongside Jess Roden
Jess Roden
Jess Roden is an English rock singer and guitarist.-Biography:Roden's first band was The Raiders followed by The Shakedown Sound which also included the guitarist, Kevyn Gammond, and keyboard player August Eadon ....
.
On 1 October 1980, the Kidda Band left Carrere Records, with the alleged lack of record 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,...
support and investment being cited as the chief reason. Despite label mates Saxon
Saxon (band)
Saxon are an English heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. As front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, they had 8 UK Top 40 albums in the 1980s including 4 UK Top 10 albums. Saxon also had numerous singles in the Top 20 singles chart...
gaining support slots on tour with more established bands such as Motorhead, no such tours were secured for the power pop band and their relationship with the record label rapidly deteriorated. The lack of plans for a debut album was also alleged to be a major contributory factor.
Just two weeks later, on 15 October 1980, the band were signed by Blue Chip/Cygnet Records, the new label run by record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Rodger Bain
Rodger Bain
Rodger Bain is a British former record producer, known for producing heavy metal albums by bands such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest in the 1970s.-Career:...
, who had previously produced the single Paranoid
Paranoid (song)
"Paranoid" is a song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, featured on their second album Paranoid . It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100...
for Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
which entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The 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 ...
in July 1970 at Number 2.
1981 also saw the release of the bands fourth single, "If looks could kill" and "Don’t she look F-A-B" produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by "Spencer Shiroda". The single was cut at Strawberry Mastering
Strawberry Studios
-Formation:The facility was originally called Inner City Studios and located above a music store in the town centre. In early 1968 it was bought by Peter Tattersall, a former road manager for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas. Tattersall invited Eric Stewart – then lead guitarist and singer of...
which was owned by members of 10cc
10cc
10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians -- Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme -- who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name...
at that time. Despite healthy airplay, the sales of the single were once again disappointing poor and the band left Blue Chip Records on 28 April 1981.
Later that year the band played Avery Hill College, which was incorporated into the University of Greenwich
University of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich is a British university located in the London Borough of Greenwich, London, England. The main campus is located on the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, a central location within the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:The history of the...
in 1985, and the show was recorded for a possible live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
release, but to date this recording has never surfaced.
In September 1982 the band entered Alaska Studios with engineer "Pat Collier", previously of The Vibrators
The Vibrators
- Early career:The Vibrators were founded by Ian 'Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice at the 100 Club when they backed Chris Spedding in 1976. On Spedding's recommendation, Mickie Most signed them to his...
to record several new tracks including "I want You".
The band continued to perform live and made regular studio visits, including to Denmark Street Studios
Denmark Street
Denmark Street is a short narrow road in central London, notable for its connections with British popular music, and is known as the British Tin Pan Alley. The road connects Charing Cross Road at its western end with St Giles High Street at its eastern end. Denmark Street is in the London Borough...
on 22 January 1984 to record several live favourites such as "Hold my head up high".
On 10 November 1984 the band performed live at University of Essex
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
in support of Orange Juice
Orange Juice
Orange Juice was a Scottish post-punk band founded in the middle class Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. Edwyn Collins formed the Nu-Sonics with his school-mate Alan Duncan and was subsequently joined by James Kirk and Steven Daly, who left a band called The Machetes. The band...
featuring Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Stephen Collins is an Ivor Novello Award winning Scottish musician, playing mostly electric guitar-driven pop. Collins formed the musical group Nu-Sonics in 1976, which later became Orange Juice...
.
Having played regularly at The Bridgehouse in Canning Town, the band hooked up with the owner/promoter "Terry Murphy’s" own Vinyl Cuts Record label in order to release their fifth single, "Hold your head up high" and "I wouldn’t treat a dog (Like you treat me) ", in June 1985. Murphy was also manager of Wasted Youth
Wasted Youth (British Band)
Wasted Youth was a punk / post-punk band from London, England, active between 1979 and 1982, which blended early Goth and post-punk with dark acoustic strains of the sort associated with Nick Drake and Syd Barrett. The line-up of the band was Ken Scott , Rocco Barker , Nick Nicole , Darren Murphy ...
and father to boxer turned TV actor Glen Murphy
Glen Murphy
Glen Murphy MBE is an English actor.He is perhaps best known as George Green between 1988 and 2002 on the television drama London's Burning....
.
The single was recorded at Village Recorders on 19 March 1985 with the session being produced by their own "Graham “Kidder” Hammonds" and engineered by "Gary Edwards". Both sides of the single were once again cut by George "Porky" Peckham
George Peckham
George "Porky" Peckham is an English record cutting engineer, widely recognised as among the most accomplished in the business. He has been responsible for producing the master discs from which countless vinyl records have been pressed over the last 40 years....
and the run-out groove on both sides of the single have his classic motto, "A Porky Prime Cut", etched into them.
The band experienced several name changes, beginning with the shortening of the name to the Kidda Band before changing name completely to "The Kicks" on 7 November 1979 and finally to "We’re Only Human" on 1 July 1981.
On 23 September 1985, the contract with March Music expired with neither Ric Lee nor the band taking up the option to continue working together.
In 1987 guitarist John Rollason took time out from the band to record the Dirty Strangers album with the Dirty Strangers and he was joined in the studio by Paul Fox
Paul Fox (musician)
Paul Fox was a British musician and singer, best known from his work with the UK punk band, The Ruts. The Ruts' style combined punk with dub reggae, a sound that owed much to Fox's guitar skills and earned him respect and admiration...
, formerly of The Ruts
The Ruts
The Ruts were a reggae-influenced British punk rock band, notable for the 1979 Top 10 hit "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was much played and highly regarded by the UK BBC Radio 1 disc jockey, John Peel.-Career:...
, Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
and Ronnie Wood. The album was produced by Prince Stanislas "Stash" Kosslowski de Rola.
The Kidda Band finally disbanded in 1989.
In 1999 Record Collector
Record Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
identified numerous record collectors willing to purchase the debut single "Everybody Knows" for as much as £400 and the record continues to be a collectors item , particularly in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
In 2000, due to this public demand for their back catalogue, the 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...
, "Too Much Too Little Too Late" was released Detour Records. The double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
contained 29 tracks and featured both studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
and demo recordings. The album received favorable reviews from across the world, particularly edition 254 of Record Collector
Record Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
in October that year.
In 2002 the first four singles were repackaged and re-released by the Japanese independent punk and power pop record label, 1977 Records. All four sold out quickly.
On 24 February 2006, "Alan Hammonds" and "Dave Lister" were featured on "Pop Into The Past" with "Pete Chambers" on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire is the BBC Local Radio service serving the City of Coventry and the county of Warwickshire. It broadcasts on 94.8, 103.7 and 104 MHz FM, DAB Digital Radio and is streamed on the internet via the ....
.
On 28 March 2007, "Pop 'til you drop", the lyric book to accompany the album "Too Much Too Little Too Late" was published by Lulu. The album itself was re-released on 20 June 2007 by the bands own "Black and Blue Records" label through "Detour Records".
In 2007, "Sign on the dotted line" was re-recorded by the "Teenage Frames".
In 2008, "If looks could kill" was re-recorded by New York based "Baby Shakes
Baby Shakes
Baby Shakes is a music group from New York City. Baby Shakes call their music rock, power-pop and punk, and mentioned also glam and rock'n'roll.- History :...
" and the song continues to be part of their live repertoire. This was followed by "The Brothers Gross’ versions of "I'm gonna join the army" and "We’re gonna make it". Many other cover versions continue to surface.
During 2011, Last Laugh Records from New York began a series of releases of Kidda Band material including the unreleased "Radio Caroline" and "(Watch out) Thief" plus reissues of "Everybody Knows" and "Fighting My Way Back".
In late 2011, Red Lounge Records from Germany will release the vinyl version of the "Too Much Too Little Too Late" album in a repackaged format.
A new album of previous recordings is also due for release in late 2011/early 2012 on Black and Blue Records. The current working title is believed to be the "Black" album. Also in the pipeline is a live album which is rumoured to be due for release in early 2014. The live show is believed to be that which was recorded at Avery Hill College back in 1982.
In between there are rumours of a third original album plus an Anthology album, with these to be released in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Singles
- "Everybody Knows/No Nerve" (1978) - Psycho P2608
- "Fighting My Way Back/Asleep at the Wheel" (1979) - Carrere CAR119
- "Get off the telephone/Big boys don’t cry" (1980) - Carrere CAR138
- "If looks could kill/Don’t she look F-A-B" (1981) - Blue Chip/Cygnet BC102
- "Hold your head up high/I wouldn't treat a dog" (1983) - Vinyl Cuts Records VC002
- "Everybody Knows/No Nerve" (2002) – 1977 Records S045
- "Fighting My Way Back/Asleep at the Wheel" (2002) - 1977 Records S046
- "Get off the telephone/Big boys don’t cry" (2002) - 1977 Records S047
- "If looks could kill/Don’t she look F-A-B" (2002) - 1977 Records S048
- "Everybody Knows/No Nerve" (Due August 2011) - Last Laugh Records HAW10
- "Radio Caroline/We're gonna make it" (April 2011) - Last Laugh Records HAW11
- "(Watch Out) Thief/You Belong To Me" (Late 2011) - Last Laugh Records HAW??
- "Fighting My Way Back/Asleep at the Wheel" (Late 2011) - Last Laugh Records HAW??
Albums
- "Too Much Too Little Too Late" (2000) Detour Records DRCD 023
- "Too Much Too Little Too Late" (Reissue) (2007) Detour Records DRCD 023
- "Too Much Too Little Too Late" (Repackaged) (Planned late 2011) Red Lounge Records RLR095
- 2nd album (planned late 2011)
- 3rd album (planned late 2012)
- Anthology (planned late 2013)
- Live album (planned late 2014)
External links
- The Incredible Kidda Band Official Website
- The Incredible Kidda Band on MySpace
- The Kidda Band YouTube Channel
- The Kicks on MySpace
- The We’re Only Human on MySpace
- The Mod Pop Punk Archives
- Avery Hill College Campus
- 45 Catalogue
- Kidda Band interview on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio
- The Babyshakes live in Tokyo
- Last Laugh Records Official Site
- Detour Records Official Site
- 1977 Records Official Site
- Red Lounge Records Official Site