The Story

Biography

Stackridge MCA Biography

Stackridge - formed in a Bristol club on Christmas Eve, 1969 - have really hit the British rock scene between the eyes during 1972, with consistently exhilarating and imaginative live performances which have gained them a massive cult following and an enviable reputation.

In the past year they have made their mark on unwary audiences at the Bickershaw and Reading Festivals, have been one of the few English bands to take their music to the colleges of Northern Ireland and Eire, have played regular dates to packed crowds at London's Marquee Club, and starred in their own BBC West TV series "Stackridge And Friends".

Reviewers find themselves struggling for descriptions, for comparisons. They've been likened to the Bonzos, the Goons, the Kinks, Fairport Convention, Pink Floyd, Lindisfarne, the Sgt Pepper-era Beatles and King Crimson.  Their music has been variously described as "Pastoral Rock", "Rural Soul", "West Country Rock", "Music Hall", "Wurzel Rock"and "Good-Time Music".

Quite plainly, they are not an easy band to categorise. On stage, they are likely to switch from "Amazingly Agnes", a reggae tune about a cow, to "Let There Be Lids" (a duet for violin and dustbin lids on "Orange Blossom Special") and then to a classically influenced instrumental like "Purple Spaceships Over Yatton" (Yatton being the Somerset village in which two members live).

In the early Bristol days, the band was known as Stackridge Lemon, but the name was soon abbreviated. Founder members were Jim "Crun" Walter and Andy Davis, who had played together in a Bristol blues band. They also wrote two of the songs that were to become indelibly linked to the name Stackridge over the next three years - "Slark" and "Dora The Female Explorer".

Flautist Mike "Mutter" Slater was discovered by the band's manager Mike Tobin playing in a folk duo in Glastonbury, while drummer Billy Sparkle and guitarist James Warren both played in Bristol pop bands and answered advertisements to join Stackridge.

As for Mike Evans, he met the others in a Bristol pub on Andy's 21st birthday, and as he happened to be carrying a violin under his arm at the time, was invited to join the band the next night, which he did.

1970 was a year spent almost entirely in the West Country, with few gigs and even less money. The band's London debut was in February 1970, and the first of many dates at the Marquee Club came in the autumn of that year.

Mutter recalls, "None of us saw the band at that time as a long-term thing. Apart from local bookings, we'd only get maybe one a fortnight in London. We were in Bristol just kind of lazing around because there wasn't any heat on us to go out and play gigs.   Most of us were on the dole." The first real incentive to make Stackridge a full-time band on the road came in January 1971 when they signed with MCA Records.  It led to a steady increase in their volume of work and in May, to their first single, the hoe-down favourite, "Dora The Female Explorer", which, although not a hit, received heavy airplay.

In June they played their first concert tour, supporting Wishbone Ash. It forced the band to think about stage presentation for the first time and they began to get great audience reaction.

Pressures on the band to move to London were considerable, but they resisted them and remain one of the few major acts who have retained their provincial base.

Their music is so indigenous to the West Country in its influences and lyrical references that it is hard to imagine their succeeding in that same feeling and regional colour if they were to move to an urban base.  "None of us is attracted to London, and we don't find it a handicap not living there", says James.

The first Stackridge album was released by MCA in August 1971, to unanimous critical acclaim.  Sounds hailed it as "musically one of the best debut albums to have appeared from a British group in some time because Stackridge are a group who have not forgotten the importance of the surprise element in music".   Songs on the album concerned such diverse characters as Percy The Penguin, Slark the medieval monster and Marzo Plod, a 408-year-old man whose strange rural habits included plodding around thrashing his rhubarb. The Stackridge fan club, formed early in 1972 is now known as the "Stackridge Rhubarb Thrashing Society".

In the Autumn of 1971 the band made their first trip abroad - a very successful tour of Denmark.  They returned to England to prepare a unique "Christmas Party Tour" of their favourite clubs and colleges. It was a jokey affair, with free presents distributed to audiences and violinist Mike Evans as Father Christmas and a special Yuletide repertoire. The tour was a riotous success and Mutter believes it was this that marked the real beginning of the Stackridge ascendancy.

In January the band made their television debut in a pop special on Belgian TV and in February they became one of the few English acts to venture to play university dates in Dublin, Londonderry, Belfast and Coleraine.  The Irish students warmed to them, and Andy recalls that countless students came up after gigs to thank them for going through with the tour despite the intensity of the bombing and violence at that time.

In the Spring, Crun rejoined the band, having left to pursue a career as a bricklayer. His return brought new songwriting strength back to the band, and, on stage, his use of a pair of dustbin-lids, acquired from an unwitting Somerset City Corporation, added a new trademark to Stackridge's performance. As a result, by the time the band played the Camden and Bickershaw Festivals in May - where they emerged as one of the most popular acts - Crun's "Let There Be Lids" opus was already a firm audience favourite.   As a counter-attraction Mike Evans was featured in a talent- competition spot singing "She Taught Me How To Yodel". He has since switched his vocal attention to a raving treatment of the Beatles' hit "Twist And Shout". And this from a man who claims his musical influences as traditional song and dance music and ecclesiastical choral music!

"Slark", the monster, a 15-minute highlight of the band's stage act, with amazing echoing flute playing and vocal percussion by Mutter had long been a much-hummed ditty with audiences leaving Stackridge gigs, and in May it was issued as a single.

In the Summer, the band played the Reading Festival, accompanied by a bevy of attractive "St Trinians" schoolgirl dancers. It was a perfect opportunity to get their unusual repertoire across to a wider audience, and the band scored a huge triumph.

Since the recording of their second MCA album, "Friendliness" in August - released in November 1972 - there have been further developments in the evolution of Stackridge.  A pair of buxom young ladies known as the "Stackettes" have on occasion appeared on stage with the band, and Mutter has invented a new dance craze and is inviting audiences to "Do The Stanley". The 1972 Stackridge seasonal offering is to be a pantomime based on Treasure Island, touring 20 clubs and colleges throughout December.

Committed to wax on the "Friendliness" album have been a number of songs performed on stage by the band for six months or more, among them the tale of "Syracuse The Elephant," the twenties'-styled "Anyone For Tennis?" and a reggae tune about a cow called "Amazingly Agnes".

Early in 1973 will see the release of a new Stackridge single, a Scandinavian Tour, and, in all probability, the band's first visit to America. Autumn, 1972

Slark single release

New Release: Single - Slark IS a Monster

Over the past 18 months the stage act of West Country band Stackridge has been highlighted by an eminently hummable, singalong ditty called "Slark" about a dragon-like monster.

Audiences come away from Stackridge gigs whistling it.  Critics rarely fail to be impressed by it.  And when the group performed the full 14-minute version of the song on John Peel's Top Gear recently with Peel joining in on the final chorus, the programme received a flood of mail asking for it to be broadcast again.

Although they had been planning to record several new tracks for their next single, Stackridge and MCA could hardly ignore that it was "Slark" the public wanted.

And so, a few weeks ago, Stackridge went into the studio to re-record "Slark" for a single - a new 41/2-minute version, compared to the unabridged 14-minute treatment on their debut album, issued last summer.

Featuring the flute of Mutter Slater and Mike Evans' jaunty violin playing, "Slark" has an appeal that transcends the normal pop age-bracket.

Stackridge, who appear at two major festivals during the first week of May - London's Camden Festival on May 3 and the Bickershaw Festival on May 6 - are set to appear in a BBC television series devoted to different styles of music from the West Country. They record their segment of the series in June.

They were recently joined by bass guitarist Jim "Crun" Walter, from Bath, an original member of Stackridge when they were semi-professional two years ago. He co-wrote "Slark" and the band's first single, "Dora The Female Explorer".

Stackridge live in the tiny Somerset village of Yatton, near Bristol.  And the flipside of the single is their bid to put the village on the map - an epic instrumental, nearly eight minutes long, entitled "Purple Spaceships Over Yatton", which has the band augmented by a 30-piece orchestra.

Again, like "Slark", this has long been a favourite in the Stackridge repertoire, but has never been recorded.

"Slark", we are convinced, will be a monster hit.

Stackridge:  Slark/Purple Spaceships Over Yatton (MCA MKS 5091)
Producer: Tony Cox
Release date:  May 5, 1972

Further information: Peter Robinson, MCA Records press office

The yoyo years 1973 - 1976

Upheaval and Change

For those of you who've been slouching at the back not paying attention, we've now reached Autumn 1973. "The Man in the Bowler Hat" is completed but upheavals in the band see the departure of drummer Billy Sparkle (to be George Martin's PA) and flautist and front-man Mutter Slater.   In come Rod Bowkett (keyboards) and Keith Gemmell (saxophone, clarinet and flute).   Ex-Audience instrumentalist Gemmell was recommended by Mike Tobin after Andy Davis (now erstwhile 'leader' of the band) had the idea of having a sax player, "To get away from the old image of the group." So it was that Davis (now on drums). Warren, Walter, Evans, Bowkett and Gemmell took to the road at the end of 1973 promoting the still unreleased "Man In The Bowler Hat" as well as playing brand new material.  A review of their Rainbow concert enthused, "The new group is quite simply excellent musically with scope for even better things ... the world needs groups like Stackridge."

Unfortunately, by the summer of 1974 it looked as if Stackridge might not need the world, as Crun Wlater, James Warren and then Mike Evans left the band (Don't ask ... recriminations, ruminations and other darkly suggestive words beginning with "r" could take us well into the next millennium to explain!) However, in came Paul Karas (ex-Rare Bird) on vocals and bass and Roy Morgan on drums, who provided a strong and technically competent rhythm section. Mutter, who'd left the band depressed at his supposed musical shortcomings found life as a petrol pump attendant even more depressing and returned to the band. Confused?   Well, sit up straight and pay close attention because in the immortal words of Mr Bachman, Mr Turner and Mr Overdrive, "You ain't seen nothing yet!"

At the end of 1974 Sire Records in the USA released "Pinafore Days", which used eight of the ten tracks from "Man In The Bowler Hat" and added the newly recorded "Spin Round The Room" and "Highbury Incident (Rainy July Morning)" although the latter track was re-titled "One Rainy July Morning", the assumption being that Highbury was not a place that Americans could easily relate to ... .  It's not a place that Chelsea and Spurs fans can easily relate to either, but that's another story!  The front cover still sported Alistair Rainsford in transvestite mode but the colour-tinted group photo had Davis, Slater, Evans(!), Bowkett, Karas and Morgan all cheerfully lolling in deckchairs!

Extravaganza

Meanwhile ... back in England, Elton John was insistent that Stackridge should be signed to his own fledgling Rocket Records. On the back of the well-received "Man In The Bowler Hat" and seemingly non-stop touring, the band's fourth album "Extravaganza" was released in January 1975 amidst extensive press coverage.   It should have had chart success but the breakthrough failed to materialise despite favourable reviews. John Peel in his inimitable style called the album "A diverting offering from the eccentric combo," whilst 'Sounds' said, "Don't ignore something too good to be missed. Stackridge are back. And happy days are here again. Amongst the highlights were the outstanding "Highbury Incident (Rainy July Morning)" which revisited old glories; the somewhat risquΘ opener "The Volunteer", delivered with typical bucolic aplomb and featuring an uncredited Mike Evans fiddling away and "No-one's More Important Than The Earthworm". Written by ex-King Crimson bassist and vocalist Gordon Haskell, who had joined Stackridge for the briefest of stays in late 1973, the song originally appeared on Haskell's own solo album, "It Is And It Isn't". (No 24 in the ongoing series, "Obscure Pop Trivia For Pub Quiz Teams.) Rod Bowkett had a hand in writing six of the remaining seven tracks and therein lay a problem, for the unique qualities which had characterised the first three Stackridge albums had, in many people's eyes, disappeared altogether, The indefinable "Essence of Stackridge" that had been produced by the blending of Davis, Slater, Warren, Walter, Evans and Sparkle had drained away, to be replaced by a new concoction ... a group infinitely more professional and musically accomplished than the previous incarnation, but seemingly lacking the heart and soul that had endeared the band to thousands of people across the nation. This, in itself, created another problem, for the "hard-core" fanbase who had followed the band through thick and thynne had their own image and expectations of "their" band, and "Extravaganza", with its plethora of new personnel, didn't fit the mould. But make no mistake, "Extravaganza" is a good album, full of nefarious delights which have worn well with the passage of time. Had the album been released by a group free of audience preconceptions and rigid press stereotyping, the outcome may have been very different.

The commercially-tinged "Spin Round The Room" backed by "Pocket Billiards" (both Bowkett compositions) was released as a single in January 1975, but no-one seemed to be listening and critics were unsure what to make of it even though John Peel referred to the single as, "... entertaining stuff with frivolity topside."   Undeterred, the band hit the road again and on the Extravaganza tour, the band played 44 concerts in 2 months, performing in front of 30,000 people and covering 20,000 miles in the process.

Rocket Records

A Stackridge concert at this time would have also included some gems which were never to be recorded in a studio such as "McGregor/Zorgan's Daughter", (which contains the peerless line, "In the showers after hockey I eat radio-active monks"); "After The Tetracycline", "Lyder Loo", (originally mooted as a potential single), and "February In Shropshire" (variously sub-titled, "Enjoying The Pig", "Amanda Steps In", and "Paint The Wall Before It Rains"). Readers keen to divest themselves of a few groats may be interested to know that a version of "February In Shropshire" can be found on the latest Stackridge release, "Pick Of The Crop", recorded at Cropredy 2000. In the USA, Sire released "Extravaganza" but had to remove "Spin Round The Room" and "Highbury Incident (Rainy July Morning)" because they'd already used them on "Pinafore Days"! Perversely they put in the strikingly poignant Andy Davis/Graham Smith composition "The Indifferent Hedgehog" (which the more astute amongst you will remember they'd removed from "Pinafore Days") and the parochial "Do The Stanley" ("God Only Knows" what Americans made of that!).

MEANWHILE ... Back in England (again) the band got an enormous break when Elton John added them to the bill of the "Midsummer Music" concert he was headlining at Wembley Stadium on 21st July 1975. Also on the bill were The Beach Boys, The Eagles, Joe Walsh and Rufus - all for the princely sum of ú3.50!  Years later in a concert retrospective "Q" would refer to the line-up as "misbilling of monumental proportions as the eccentric, some would say bucolic Stackridge rubbed riffs with both The Beach Boys and The Eagles." However, despite being nervous to the point of distraction, the band acquitted themselves well as concert openers, living up to M.M.s description of them as "one of the elite gigging outfits in the country" and "an exceptional group with a style of their own." The future looked bright (although not necessarily orange) but as all cynics of advancing years know ... every silver lining has a cloud!

A Concept Album ...

The 'cloud' burst, and by September 1975 Bowkett, Morgan and Karas had left, but the redoubtable Crun Walter had rejoined. Peter Van Hooke, formerly in Van Morrison's band and later to be part of Mike Rutherford's chart-topping band Mike and the Mechanics was drafted in on drums. (Van Hooke was also to set up his own label, MMC, which released Andy Davis' solo album, "Clevedon Pier" in 1989.) This line-up was augmented by ex-Greenslade keyboard expert Dave Lawson for the tour in the spring of 1976, the band's first concerts since the Wembley appearance of the previous year. In February 1976, prior to the tour, a single was released - a reggae-tinged version of Lennon and McCartney's "Hold Me Tight" backed by the brooding instrumental "Breakfast With Werner Von Braun" (an appropriate title for a release on the Rocket Record Label!). Despite radio airplay and the enthusiastic raving of John Peel (a champion of the band from the early days) the single failed to chart, but it was the forthcoming album that was drawing attention, for word was circulating that ALL WAS NOT WELL with the band's concept album, "Mr Mick". Andy Davis said at the time, "On "Extravaganza"  we relinquished control and Rod Bowkett took over to a certain degree.  He wrote lots of intricate things and it got a bit out of hand.  So with "Mr Mick" we were trying to get exactly what WE wanted to do. Mutter and I talked for a long time about doing a story with music, roughly akin to "Tubby The Tuba". We started work on it with Steve Augarde, who's written a lot of children's stories and he came through with the idea of Mr Mick. He's an OAP and he's bored, but he's also a rebel.  Augarde's "Mr Mick" surfaced as a children's book in 1980 but Stackridge took Augarde's framework and developed it into something altogether darker, Mr Mick being a lonely old man uncaringly dumped in some undefined institution and left to die.  (Whether it's an Old People's Home or a mental institution is left to the listener to decide). Chance takes him to the town rubbish dump and there he has imaginary conversations with other 'discarded' objects like a pair of old ballet shoes, a broken radio and a cotton-reel, each one telling of 'better days' in their respective songs. In the end Mr Mick hears the applause of his new 'friends' and becomes a 'superstar' of the rubbish dump. On one level, the story appears to be a whimsical throwback to earlier Stackridge recordings and the imagery appears simple ... Mick is seen as human "rubbish" to be discarded when his useful life is over. But on another level, are these the ramblings of a senile old man, destined to spend the rest of his days talking to rubbish on the town dump?

Mr Mick ...

Parts of "Mr Mick" were performed live at the back end of 1975 and as Andy graciously said at the time, "It was more or less a conscious effort to show off Mutter's best points. On stage the audience always fixes on his face and he is their idea of Stackridge.  ... It's not for me to change that." From the early days when the band hardly exchanged a word with the people who came to see them, Mutter had developed an onstage persona using repartee to involve the audience in what was going on in classic pantomime tradition. Mutter explained his "transformation" in his usual self-deprecating way: "At first I felt embarrassed to be up there.   All the attention was on me. I'm not a dazzler so I'd go on, trip over, lift my hat, make funny noises, growl and scream. Now it's something that happens as soon as I go on stage. It feels so natural.  I'm no Harold McNair after all, so flute playing isn't enough.  With "Mr Mick" all these bits of dialogue give me the chance to put on silly voices, walk around like an old man, dance or spin around like a cotton-reel." Ah yes, the dialogue.The dialogue was supposed to link together all the musical pieces into a seamless whole, making"the first true concept album" according to Andy.  .... At least that was the idea, but things hadn't gone well from the start ...Andy takes up the story: "We all started off at Rockfield, but by the end of the first week it was obvious the producer was going in a totally different direction from us and despite our protests to Rocket Records, it looked like we were going to be stuck with him. So in the middle of the night we did a moonlight flit back to London!  Rocket said they'd let a member of the band produce it (i.e. me), with an executive producer and a good engineer.  Danny Bridges was the engineer, who was absolutely brilliant and deserved a co-production credit really. The executive producer sat through the whole proceedings (about three weeks) and went along with everything we did.  He liked it all and at the final playback champagne was drunk. But then we were called into the Managing Director's office and he said, "Listen, this has got to go and that has got to go." We couldn't believe what he wanted to do with it and even when we offered to go back and re-record parts of it, he said no ... a flat refusal. All he could talk about was the wonderful pair of jeans he'd bought in Kensington Market while we were sitting there trying to defend this album we'd done."

... The Sad Story Concludes

To make the recording of "Mr Mick" more "commercially accessible", Rocket Records insisted on changes. Out went large chunks of the linking dialogue and incidental music and in came "Hold Me Tight" to open the album ... a fine track but absolutely nothing to do with the concept of Mr Mick. As Andy later said, "The whole thing was to open with Alan Freeman knocking on the door and "Breakfast With Werner Von Braun "... that's why it's called breakfast for God's sake ... what other reason? But Rocket forced us to put "Hold Me Tight" on Mr Mick at the beginning. Mutter and Steve Augarde spent a dispiriting day at AIR Studios scribbling new pieces of dialogue on the backs of envelopes and hurriedly recording them in order to try and give some kind of continuity to their "hijacked" conception of "Mr Mick". The result?Sounds called it, "One of the most bastardised albums to hit the market in some while," NME referred to it as "a compromise," and commented that it was "a shame that the concept of "Mr Mick" has been so disadvantageously tampered with". Mutter in particular was bitterly disappointed and Andy believes that record company interference "rendered the story completely meaningless and precipitated the band's final demise,"

However, despite the horrendous tampering by Rocket, critics still recognised quality and depth in the music.  NME said, "Musically the album stands up very well with strong melodies and an excellent production," whilst Sounds claimed, "Davis' melodies and Mutter's character-acting have never been heard in more attractive combination," and called the album "beautiful," and "deeply satisfying," with "a sound full of wit and understanding." The press adverts for Mr Mick employed a quote by Phil Sutcliffe: "It isn't 10CC or Pilot that have the nearest to the sound and spirit of The Beatles, it's they there turnip-heaving Stackridges," High praise indeed, but praise which still reminded readers of the band's "yokel" image at a time when they wanted to be taken a little more seriously. In addressing the problems of old age, Stackridge had taken a difficult and unusual theme for a youth-oriented rock culture, and managed to empathise with it, releasing an album of quality and distinction which contained some outstanding music, in particular "Fish In A Glass" the stunning and compelling finale.

But "finale" it was, for in June 1976 the press reported that the band had "probably split up," after a Rocket Records spokesman announced "the group is in abeyance. They are waiting to see what happens to their new album which is about to be released in the States on Sire."  The band went to America to discuss their future with Seymour Stein of Sire Records, who had expressed an interest in releasing a live "uncut" version of "Mr Mick" (which was ironic considering Sire Records had been responsible for chopping and changing previous Stackridge releases in the USA!) but returned to find that their management office had disappeared. It was the final straw and the band disintegrated.

MCA recognised the party was over and released a 14 track compilation entitled "Do The Stanley" in late 1976 which brought together 6 single A-sides, 4 B-sides, one track from each of the first 3 albums and one previously unreleased track, "Let There Be Lids", a fiddle extravaganza and a great concert favourite. (The 6 "rare" tracks can be found on the CD releases of "Friendliness" and "Man In the Bowler Hat") In the words of the bard, "the rest is silence ..."  but of course it isn't, for the release of the all-new, all-singing, all-dancing "Something For The Weekend" in 1999 heralded the beginning of a fresh chapter in the band's history. ...............

Copyright: Chas Keep 2000

Discography

Aug 1971:  LP (CD release 1997): STACKRIDGE
(MCA: MDKS 8002: reissue LP/CD: Beat Goes On, BGOLP/CD 65;
reissue CD 1997: EDSEL:  EDCD 518)

Nov 1972:  LP (CD release 1996): FRIENDLINESS
(MCA:MKPS 2025:reissue CD EDSEL: EDCD 487)

Feb 1974:  LP (CD release 1996): THE MAN IN THE BOWLER HAT
(MCA:MCG 3501 :reissue CD EDSEL: EDCD 488)

Jan 1975:  LP (CD release 1995): EXTRAVAGANZA
(ROCKET: ROLL1/PIGL 11: reissue CD: Nippon Phonogram PHCR-4211)

March 1976:  LP (CD release 1995): MR MICK
(ROCKET: ROLL3: reissue CD: Nippon Phonogram PHCR-4212)

1976:  LP: DO THE STANLEY
(MCA: MCF 2747)

1992: CD: STACKRIDGE - LIVE IN CONCERT
(WINDSONG: WINCD 019)

1997: CD: STACKRIDGE - THE RADIO ONE SESSIONS
(STRANGE FRUIT: SFRS CD40)

September 1999: CD: UNEARTHED
(Compiled and produced by Elessar Tetramariner)

May 1999: CD: SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
(DAP RECORDS: DAP101CD)

November 1999: CD: JIM'S SPECIAL EDITION EASY LISTENING CHRISTMAS ALBUM
(DAP RECORDS: DAP102CD)

May 2000: CD: THE ORIGINAL MR MICK
(DAP RECORDS: DAP103CD)

October 2000: CD: PICK OF THE CROP
Stackridge LIVE at Cropredy 2000
(DAP RECORDS: DAP104CD)

Dap Records is Stackridge's own Record Label

Stackridge CDs can be purchased from the Stackridge website www.stackridge.com

The girls - by Jennie

The lasses played a significant role in Stackridge's spectacular rise....

It's so interesting looking back on Glasto '99.  The lasses were there for two reasons, as far as I was concerned.

1. To make the band relevant to '99

2. (And MUCH more important) to take journo's minds off the fact that this band had only done 10 gigs and no big festivals, so was BOUND to be a bit on the STIFF side....

In 1972, five of the secretaries from John Sherry's office created a real stir by invading the stage during "Let There Be Lids", dressed as St Trinian's schoolgirls.

It was all a very nefarious plot!

The lads knew NOTHING about it until it happened... before their eyes!

Here's what Melody Maker May 10 1972 said about THAT performance, back then...

"Stackridge blew a tremendous set, full of cornish humour and ripe with good music.  Flautist Michael Slater, the original yokel, had the crowd in stitches while banging dustbin lids and the group brought on five chicks dressed as schoolgirls to dance a jig to what sounded like "Orange Blossom Special". At the end, the chicks turned round, bent down,  and lifted their skirts to uncover the ten letters of Stackridge - one letter per cheek - on their strictly regulation navy-blue knickers.Violinist Mike Evans did some yodelling and the band finished with their best number, "Slark" in which Slater distinguished himself with a a selection of bird calls.  Stackridge undoubtedly won a lot of friends at Reading."

I gave MY five lasses a pretty free hand, and they picked out "Dora" from the first LP. Dora is about Amelia Erhardt, intrepid '20s aviator (nick-named Dora ....) . I think she was the first woman to fly round the world. Having diced with death on numerous occasions, she met a rather mundane end, sadly.... her plane was lost in the mist over the Thames estuary, and she was never seen again .....

So... the modern young woman's turn on "Dora" and "St Trinians"... and it HAD to be naughty but nice ...of course...

They took the mickey out of the "boy-band"-style dance routine, and very funny they were, too.

They decided they would "moon" (very tastefully...of course) at the end.

And we added the rhubarb...

(Cost me ú10.00 for a huge crateful from a market garden just outside Bristol... )

Worked a treat, didn't it?

Here's the review from NME 3 July '99.

It's in an article by David Stubbs entitled "GLAST-OAP" and here's his remit....

"He's ripped to the tits on scrumpy and the hallucinogens make him think it's still the early '70s. Who better to review Glastonbury Fayre's old gits than hippy throwback David Stubbs?"

Hmmm...

Not a good batting wicket.

Here's what he says about Blondie...

"...The chick tries to dance and I have an acid flashback to my mum at my cousin's wedding on a gin frenzy back in '66. But hey, this is the fayre, man. Express yourself through dance and don't worry if they laugh at you."

EEEK!

Well ... Here's what he says about US:

"STACKRIDGE: From the West Country, man, where all the best music, like the best cider is made. They've only been around since about '69 but already these guys dig the truth, that rock 'n roll ain't nothing without a flute solo and they give us plenty. At the end some chicks come on stage and do this freaky, sexy onstage thing with rhubarb sticks and I'm, like, making custard in my pants, man... "

Yes, well.....

Rhubarb thrashers

What makes a Rhubarb Thrasher?

Rhubarb Thrashers have many Stackridgean characteristics in common.

1. First and foremost, they have an underlying mischievous sense of humour that can turn even the most solemn occasion into hilarity.

2. They are ardently enthusiastic about everything in their lives - from the state of the planet to the colour of their wallpaper.

3. They are highly articulate, loquacious and organised - only problem is that often they don't know when to stop, so tend to go on and on when aboard a favourite 'hobby horse' - especially when waxing lyrical about a real long-term obsession like 'Stackridge'.

4. There is no upper or lower age limit.I've seen nascent Stackridgean tendencies in over-enthusiastic toddlers and I can think of at least one octogenarian who liked to dance on her walking sticks.

A sort of 'anorak with attitude'. Need I say more?

Where did the Rhubarb Thrashers come from?

You have to listen to 'Marzo Plod', to be found on the first Stackridge LP, (entitled 'Stackridge'), if you want to find out when and why rhubarb thrashing first entered the Stackridge agenda.  Bashing people over the head with rhubarb sticks has all the hallmarks of that inimitable rogue, Mr Crun Walter and he is, of course, the source for that particular piece of lunacy.

The blame for the other particularly silly fan activity - dustbin-lid bashing - must rest at his door, also, I'm afraid!

Theatricality, humour and audience participation were all part of the magic Stackridge formula and the audience was only too ready to join in pantomime-style, calling, shouting and stomping. The Stackridge brew was so potent, and the days so flat, waiting for the next show that Thrashers banded together to keep their spirits up between gigs - and even, in desperate need of a fix, organised trips to far away gigs. The Guildford Mob, The Leeds Lummy Days Society, The Leeds Syracuse, The Elephant Society, The Newham Thrashers and The Kingston Mob come to mind. Armed with dustbin lids, rhubarb sticks, tee shirts, hats and badges, Thrashers were always ready to give their all, in support of their favourite band. Thrashers were quite capable of organising their own brand of lunacy when the band was out of town. In 1973, The Leeds Lummy Days Society entered a float in the University Rag Procession: 30 bowler-hatted people, dressed up as Mutter, banging dustbin lids. 'Lummy Days' was played all round the town. To add to the atmosphere, the band lent them their giant gnome and never got it back. The lads wonder whether it is languishing, lost and forgotten, in someone's attic. If so, they'd love to have it back!

Better late than never .... what?

But it was a two-way relationship. Stackridge are the band who kept their own autograph book in which they collected the signatures of their own fans. And it was invitations back home for tea (and the football results) while Dad diplomatically mowed the lawn and Mum retired to the kitchen. If the band were lucky there might be a floor to kip on. Sometimes they stayed .... and stayed .... and stayed. Several years in the spare room, on the couches and on the floor of a flat in London is the record.

God bless the long-suffering lasses who put up with them for so long.

The Rhubarb Thrashers' Society on the Net

Jonas Warstad, interested in Stackridge as well as one of James Warren's other manifestations, The Korgis, began the Internet Rhubarb Thrashers a few years ago. Jan Petersen got involved and took over the hosting of the Stackridge site. The list of fans affiliated to the site grew and can be seen if you visit his site today.Jan provided an e-mail link so that fans worldwide could get in touch with each other. Meanwhile, Gerry Prewett independently created his own Stackridge Website. They discovered each other and decided to share mail and links. Elessar Tetramariner entered the picture in '97 and in his own words, he... " fast became one of the eager beaver project starting guys ", keeping in touch with many of the fans in Jan's mailing list. Elessar collected together recordings of radio shows and rehearsals that fans had lovingly saved over the years and made them available to other fans.

The Rhubarb Thrashers' Chat-Room

You'll find information about the Thrashers' Chat-Room at www.stackridge.com. It exists to facilitate communication between the fantastic and wonderful group of people who make up 'THE RHUBARB THRASHERS' SOCIETY', world-wide.

NEWSLETTER NO 1: JUNE 1999

Dear All,

Firstly a big hello to Thrashers near and far! A quick explanation is required, I feel, to all Stackridge Virgins. (A Stackridge Virgin is someone who has only just been introduced to the wonderful world of Stackridge). The Rhubarb Thrashers' Society is the fan club of that strange phenomenon that is Stackridge.  The Rhubarb Thrashers were a key element in the Stackridge experience in the early '70s. They were the active audience, the participating crowd. They passed the word from mouth to mouth; they coined a name for themselves. They organised The St Alban's Mob, The Leeds Lummy Days Society, The Guildford Mob. They came on foot, they hitched a ride, they came by the coachload. They dressed up, chanted, did 'The Stanley', hollered, whistled and above all, had a jolly good time.

In the lean non-Stackridge years from 1976 onwards, the flame was kept alive by Thrashers on the Internet. Look at www.stackridge.com to find out more. Check out the fan sites and join the Rhubarb Thrashers' Chatroom on the web. What makes a Rhubarb Thrasher? A keen sense of humour, a tendency towards loquacity and above all tremendous enthusiasm for all that is Stackridgean. Join the e-mail list or fill in the form below for the twice-yearly snailmail-out to be kept informed about the antics of our valiant heroes, as the live show re-emerges in clubs round the country and comes 'Back to Front' to headline on the Acoustic stage at this year's Glastonbury Festival. Catch an earful of the new CD "Something For The Weekend". Coming soon?

More live shows in the UK and another CD featuring live performance of old and new material. Keep in touch to find out more! ....................................

I WANT TO JOIN THE MAILING LIST
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Rhubarb Thrashers' Newsletter ...... Issue No 2

A good 1999.

The re-emergence of the live band? A series of increasingly ebullient gigs culminated in successful outings to both Glastonbury and Trowbridge festivals last year, complete with rhubarb and dustbin lids! The seamless mix of old and new material was just what the doctor ordered and the humour soon crept back in uninvited and unannounced. This is Stackridge, after all. Tom Jones MBE and Sir Cliff Richard just slipped in, I'm not quite sure how!

SFTW was very well received. Fans tell us that it carries on just where the first three LPs left off - which is very pleasing to hear. www.stackridge.com is growing - loads of info, pictures, sound files etc etc. Keep checking - there's always something new. We have a burgeoning international chat-room and CD sales over the web are growing. At gigs, it never ceases to amaze us just how far fans will travel - from France, Italy, Japan and even America, believe it or not!

....and an even better 2000 .

This year Stackridge are off to Cropredy Festival and we just can't resist looking in at Glastonbury again.... after all, it's just down the road, and we all enjoyed ourselves there so much last year. We have a wickedly funny and wonderfully musically adept new band, and lots more gigs lined up. Come the Autumn, we hope to be off round the whole of the UK. The live show is a real treat, so don't miss it. Do come and talk to us. We always love to meet you.

We have a new CD, to be released to the shops on May 22nd - it is 'The Original Mr Mick', carefully re-constructed from a cassette tape, taken from the mixing-desk as the material was being prepared. Crun found the tape in the attic... Mutter Slater and Steve Augarde have helped with the lyrics and poems and have been involved in the preparation at all stages. It's quirky, interesting and, above all, very English. It contains three very strong Walter-Davis songs - one of which was left off the Rocket Records release in 1976. We're sure you'll love it. It's now possible to purchase the first three Stackridge LPs from the early '70s (now re-released as CDs) from the website - also The Korgis re-releases. No self-respecting Thrasher would be seen dead in anything other than a Stackridge tee shirt, now would they? It's a tasteful dark blue with a white Stackridge logo, featuring the gnome, of course. Coming soon? We've been burrowing in Auntie Beeb's archives and have come up with some tasty gems from the early '70s, as yet unheard. Watch out for the definitive CD of Stackridge at the Beeb. It should surface into the stores around October. For those of you who are not yet Internet friendly, there will be loads of interesting developments in the coming months, so make sure you join the snail-mail list to keep abreast of the antics of England's worst-dressed men. .............................

Rhubarb Thrashers' Newsletter ....... Issue No 3

Cropredy success .

What can we say?The sun shone and the band blew a storm. By the end of the set, the whole field was converted. Missed it? Don't worry. Get your copy of the souvenir CD, "Pick of the Crop" from the website or at a gig. The biggest joy is the clear emergence of a living and breathing Stackridgean feel and energy in the new band. There's a fresh identity for the new Millennium. The gnome is on the move.

A strong presence on the internet has enabled The Rhubarb Thrashers' Society to become international. Global village 2000 has brought new friends world-wide. Keep coming to gigs . from America, Japan, France, Italy. It's a real privilege to meet all of you! Calling all electronic wizards - keep watching the web. Jennie is about to organise The Thrashers (God help them!). There will be special official bootlegs of gigs past and present available soon. And a definitive Stackridge History will be constructed,complete to the LAST DETAIL for genuine train-spotters out there! Keep an eye out for "The Rhubarbarian":- Issue 3 is coming soon. Compiled by that real Wonderfan, Ade Macrow, it's a true fanzine in traditional style. It will soon appear on the web ready to download and print. Hard copies of Issue 2 - a real collectable if ever I saw one - will be included with the first 50 orders of "Pick of the Crop".

A post-modern industrial revolution.

We all know that small is beautiful, but against today's megalithic multinational conglomerates, small seems like a speck only to be seen under a microscope. Stackridge stands for all things that matter about good old-fashioned family life, rapidly being sidelined by the onslaught of commercial fastfood culture which assaults our ears and eyes at every step of the way in this post-modern world. Bland, featureless, and as disappointing as a wonderfully wrapped Christmas present with nothing inside.

Well, we could give up and get depressed but we won't because we're ENGLISH! We just won't have it. The English don't take things lying down, they get out and do something about it. Answer back with a stick of rhubarb. Support all that's best about England, English family and community by bringing the whole tribe and friends to the Stackridge gig nearest you. From their side, the band are delighted to introduce the next Stackridgean generation at Cropredy. The Youth of Today have a lot to offer. More of that to come next Summer.Bring the kids to gigs! Stackridge stands firmly behind the English Folk Tradition of getting out, getting involved - whole families doing things together.

That's how a wonderful English past becomes a real positive future.

God speed the ploughshare.

Subversive guerrilla warfare is required to slay this dragon, armed with rhubarb and custard pies rather than swords. Jennie needs eyes and ears on the ground. Stackridge are off round England in the Spring and early Summer, and in the Autumn next year will be venturing further afield into the wilds of Wales and Scotland. Is there a family-oriented Arts Centre or Village Hall near you? Do you know of a venue that might be Stackridge-friendly? E-mail or telephone Jennie. A battle plan for the future will emerge. If you are conveniently placed near one of the upcoming gigs and would be prepared to put up posters or flyers, let Jennie know. If you've 'on the ground' info regarding radio stations and local news, get in touch. Fancy promoting a gig in your area, later in the year? Jennie will be delighted to hear from you. It's all about standing up and being counted.

So wave your rhubarb.

Stackridge for England .......... and St George!