Nottingham new wave group 1978-1979

Party 1
Steve Blackburn – lead guitar
Peter Anderson – bass guitar/ vocals
Andy Smith – vocals
Mark Sansom – guitar/ vocals
Stuart Hinson – drums

Party 2
Steve Blackburn – lead guitar
Peter Anderson – bass guitar/ vocals
Andy Smith – vocals
Mark Sansom – guitar/ vocals
Dave Clark – drums, percussion

Party 3
Steve Blackburn – lead guitar
Peter Anderson – bass guitar/ vocals
Dave Clark – drums
Mark Sansom – guitar/ vocals
Chris White – vocals/ 12 string guitar

Aug 2024: Mark Sansom told me the story of this short lived group.

The Party 1978 – 1979

By the summer of 1978, the UK musical landscape was changing rapidly. The Sex Pistols had split (well … Johnny Rotten had quit and was now plain old John Lydon), the Buzzcocks (minus Howard Devoto) were creating ‘pop’ hits whilst Devoto himself began exploring new ‘arty’ territories with Magazine. Erstwhile ‘pub rock’ bands like the Motors were now fashionable & charting with hybrid pop/ punk songs such as Airport and Dancing the night away. ‘Post punk’, ‘new wave’ and ‘power pop’ were the new bywords of the day. Not wishing to miss out on this new genre opportunity, having completed their A levels, the Bollards were now fully re-energised and ready to mutate (musically speaking that is) into something new. Firstly, they needed a new name and after a little brainstorming they soon settled on ‘The Party’. To complete the metamorphosis, the old punk flavoured material had to be shelved and so began a frenzied rush to write more sophisticated songs that would mirror the changing times.

Nearly 50 years on, no one can actually recall whether Nick Adcock jumped or was pushed off the drummer’s stool. Whatever the truth, the remaining four members, namely, Andy ‘Biff’ Smith (vocals), Pete Anderson (bass & vocals), Steve Blackburn (lead guitar), Mark Sansom (guitar & vocals) needed a new drummer, and quickly. Adverts were placed in The Nottingham Evening Post and after hastily auditioning and recruiting Stuart Hinson (on the basis he was a fine drummer and had a massive kit) it was agreed by all that the drummer they actually needed was Dave Clark (his playing style was great, his personality slotted right in and of course he had the best drummer’s name!) Thus, by September 1978 the re-branded Party was now in full swing.

As the band became more musically proficient, their new songs were influenced by music from the previous decade, by bands such as The Beatles, The Kinks and The Yardbirds ….. in fact, two Yardbirds songs, For your Love and Shapes of Things were incorporated in the new set. New original compositions included; I must be mad, Rita, TV Games, Silas Bros, One Way out, Disco Crazy, Who the hell (do you think you are?), Average Man and Are you going to the sun? With this wealth of new material, a short list was drawn up with the idea of taking a first stab at some proper studio recordings. So, like all Nottingham bands of the day, a slot was booked at Paddy Flynn’s recording emporium, Rainbow Studios (conveniently located only a few short yards away from the Imperial). From memory, the guitars and drums to the three chosen songs (Silas Bros, One Way Out & Rita) were recorded live on to an eight track machine with only vocals and minimal overdubs added separately. The resulting recordings were heavy in vocal harmonies and even heavier on flanged/ phased guitars – as can be heard on the accompanying track ‘Rita’. With the mastered tapes now being enthusiastically plugged by their new manager (Andy’s elder brother) Ian Smith (i) a new residency was secured at the Hearty Goodfellow.

With momentum growing, the band members were interviewed (and the songs aired) on both Radio Nottingham and Radio Trent. They were greeted like prodigal sons when making a triumphant return to perform at a mini festival at their old school (Rushcliffe Comprehensive) alongside Loosehouse, FT Index and Split Personality …. Some Chicken were scheduled to headline but for some reason, cancelled at the last minute.

A charity gig was arranged with Gaffa at the Frank Wheldon School and another residency commenced at The Bodega. In true ‘Spinal Tap’ fashion the upward trajectory was never destined to last and the first cracks appeared during an ill-advised and poorly scheduled gig at the Nottingham Forest Jubilee Club (ii) with the band being unceremoniously ‘paid off’ after their first 25 minutes set. After a similarly misguided attempt to crack the ‘deep South’ (with a badly received gig at Dartford Polytechnic) the band began contemplating the idea of adapting themselves into some kind of pop/rock, club-land covers act …… after all, brimming with copious amounts of youthful arrogance and bucket loads of self-belief, how difficult could that be?? The working men’s clubs were still massively popular at the beginning of 1979 and the lure of potential ‘mega bucks’ and bountiful gigs rapidly turned the young musician’s heads! Perhaps the only member who came out of this period with any musical integrity was Andy who decided to quit and continue in bands that performed their own material (iii)

So, yet another Evening Post advert led to the recruitment of singer/ guitarist, Chris White who already had a few years’ club-land experience under his belt. Chris mentored and guided the band through a short ‘career’ around the Notts/ Derbys/ Yorks/ Leics working men’s clubs. The first booking was at a rather upmarket ‘country club’ but reality soon came crashing in when subsequent gigs necessitated (a) nimble manoeuvring to side-step the local kids pissing on the band/ road crew/ equipment as they tried to gain access into a typical grim, run down Miners Welfare and (b) the constant need to keep a close eye on the group’s somewhat unreliable Commer Van (affectionately known as the “Blue Blob”) to ensure that no parochial scallies were given the opportunity to slash the tyres or ‘hotwire’ it!

Admittedly, to begin with it was all quite a novelty ….. young girls demanding autographs (iv), performing on proper stages, being able to change in half decent dressing rooms, having a reliable sound/stage/lighting crew to assist with the equipment and yes, the money was pretty good. It also instilled discipline i.e. learning to turn up on time, conforming and wearing terrible matching stage clothes, reluctantly accepting the un-written club-land law ‘Thou shall perform dreadful mind-numbing songs such as You’re 16, Let’s Twist Again & Hi Ho Silver Lining’ and graciously giving up the carefully selected mixing desk location to appease Reg and Mavis Braithwaite who’d sat at the same table, in those very same seats for the last 49 years!

Always having to play second fiddle to the bloody bingo machine and concert secretaries forever demanding that the newly acquired 100w Marshall amps be turned down below the compulsory ‘11’ setting, began to cause some disquiet within the band. The writing was on the wall. The club-land experiment was always only ever intended to be short term as both Pete (v) and Steve (having already secured their places at University) were three quarters of the way through a gap year. By the end of the summer Chris had joined another band, Dave sold his kit to help finance his forthcoming marriage and Mark returned to his original acoustic duo, Pilgrim’s Moon (with his old mate from school, multi-instrumentalist Simon Harrison …. occasionally assisted by bass guitarist/ vocalist, Glenn Parkinson). By July 1979 the party was over.

Like The Bollards, The Party never set the local scene on fire. However, they had a great couple of years amassing countless new and unforgettable experiences and, more importantly, forging friendships that have lasted a lifetime … it really doesn’t get much better than that!

i Ian Smith, to those in the know, went on to run the massively successful Nottingham based ‘Television Workshop’

ii The Forest Jubilee Club was basically a glorified Working Men’s Club – the music the punters actually wanted to hear was current chart stuff; Boney M, disco, Abba, ‘Yacht rock’ ….. definitely not a bunch of rowdy, post punk originals!

iii Together with fellow ‘Ruddingtonian’ Russell Woodward (guitar) and Andy Sheppard (bass), Andy Smith went on to form the arty/ spiky Silicon Chips. Shortly after the Chips were fried, he and Andy Sheppard joined up with Rob Birch (yet to find fame with the Stereo MC’s) in a short lived band called Trauma. In the mid 80’s, Andy and Mark re-established contact and went on to form ‘The Rhythm Method’ with fellow ex Silicon Chips guitarists Russell Woodward and Andy Sheppard (plus a drummer named Matt – surname unfortunately long forgotten). Andy has also composed songs with Rob Birch’s elder brother, Dave (ex Blitz Kidz, Vibrators & Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club). He is currently working with Dave and Bruce on a 3 disc Bruce Woolley anthology (due to be released on Cherry Red in Autumn 2024).

iv Even the novelty of autograph signing quickly wore off ….. this task was soon delegated to the trusty road crew – John Wainman, Alan Buckby and Brian Sharp!!

v Whilst studying at university Pete auditioned for and became a member of The Fantastics touring band (their 1971 big hit being ‘Something old, something new’).