Putting
Luxound Deluxe together after the Killjoys was an
absolute breath of fresh air, we were called Alternating
and then Out Of Nowhere during the 18 months or so the
band were together, before settling with Luxound Deluxe.
Me, Mark and Gill rehearsed every day in Marks garage
for weeks before deciding we needed to get some of the
songs recorded, so we went back Spaceward Studios in
Cambridge, (where The Killjoys had recorded Johnny, and
where the previous band I had been in Supanova had also
recorded some demos in 1977).
| It
was 24th June 1978 and we recorded 4 tracks -
Dancing for Someone Else, Five Years Ago, Well
are you Joking, and the brilliant Vermillion
Sands. We had a sax player Aiden, Dave Plested
did the vocal and Mick Billingham (who went on
to play with Dexy’s Mk 2) played Keyboards.
I think this demo went a long way to getting us
a management deal with Will Sproul (I think the
spellings right) who managed Ronnie Scott’s in
London at the time. A few gigs followed and we
decided we needed a permanent keyboard player
and recruited Pete Lee from a band called
Oberon, and the line up was complete. |
 |
We then
started to gig around the country as well as London. I
remember our first Marquee gig the van breaking down
just outside London and there was about ten of us in the
back so we all had to walk off the M1 to the nearest
tube to get to the gig, and the gear turned up literally
ten minute’s before we were due to go on.
We
were then put us into Pye recording studios in Nov 78
for more demos, Nights With The Boys, and Five Years
Ago. We also did a video for Five Years Ago, but I don’t
remember seeing the finished cut, more gigs, even Lemmy
started to come to some of the London gigs, the ones he
could get into that is, I understand from a press
cutting he couldn’t
get into the Rock Garden to see us one night.
Mark and
Gill got to know him quite well, but after recording
more demos in Aldershot in Dec 79 (Sister Sister, In
Love With Yesterday, and Dance With Me) we all got the
feeling the band was nearing the end. After a few more
gigs Aiden decided to move back to Somerset and the band
just seemed to fall apart. Mark and Gill wanted to move
to London and I decided to leave.
I think
maybe Lemmy played a big part in Gill joining Girlschool
with Motorhead being on the same label. It was at this
point I lost touch with all the band.
I just
want to say it was an absolute pleasure playing in this
band, and if you read this Mark I hope I got most of it
right.
