Mid seventies Nottingham band

Tim Gough: Guitar, Vocals
Robin Beurle: Hammond organ
Mick Swann: Bass, Vocals
Pete Stead: Drums
Robert King-Campbell Russell: Vocals
Martin Sheil: Sound / Lighting technician

I vaguely remember seeing them probably at the Imperial and the following bio is from a website now gone.

This track was on the website and is from a cassette featuring more although I haven’t heard them.

http://thestranded.co.uk/tim.html
(this website now seems to have gone , Dec 2018)

Tim’s biog. (Tim Gough)

I am quite lucky in that I have got an older brother who lived his teens through the 60’s. Like most male teenagers in the 60’s he owned a guitar but most nights he had gone out on his Lambretta to gigs such as The Who and The Small Faces at the Sherwood Rooms in Nottingham.

When I had finished playing football I used to play the guitar along to singles by such bands as The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Yardbirds, Spencer Davis and the aforementioned Who and my favourtie band of that time The Small Faces.

I became reasonably proficient on the guitar at quite an early age. We had also got a piano at home so I managed to learn basic blues formations.

I joined a group as second guitarist playing pop covers when I was about 14 and then formed a blues/rock band when I was at college. This band was called Storm and we played many of the local rock venues around Nottingham and the Midlands. Storm comprised me on guitar and vocals, Robin Beurle on Hammond organ (L102 plus Leslie), Mick Swann on base guitar and vocals, Pete Stead on drums and one Robert King-Campbell Russell on vocals. We also had a sound/lighting technician called Martin Sheil.

I thought that all tapes of Storm had long since vanished but a few weeks ago a CD dropped through my letter box with a note from Martin saying a blast from the past! From god knows where Martin had unearthed four tracks that we recorded eons ago. One of the tracks “On The Road Again” can be accessed here. Remember it was written and recorded circa 1976. I always thought that our singer Russ was the one with the real talent in the band. If you manage to get through to the end of On The Road Again listen to the awsome power of Russ’s voice on the final chorus. After I left Storm (!) they secured a residency at The Imperial on St James’s Street in Nottingham, joining such legendary local bands as Cisco, Spoonful, Wheels, Gaffa and Desparate Dann. I believe Russ carried on performing locally with several bands until recently. If he has got any voice left now it must sound incredible.

A couple of years later Robin and I formed another band called Castle.

This featured Ben Ross on drums and Paul Sneap on bass who had both played in the local band “Mensch”. Karen Walker was the vocalist. This band Castle specialised in Abba covers long before Bjorn Again. We made a lot of money because in the late 70’s you couldn’t go wrong playing Abba and Tina Charles. I made enough money to bring my exploits to the attention of the TAX MAN – be warned.

I have also played Fender Rhodes in another local covers band.

Although I was never a Punk I sympathised with a lot of what the movement stood for and attended a lot of the early gigs especially those at The Sandpiper in Nottingham. I was really into the 2 Tone movement and was priveledged to have seen the gig at Kimberley Recreation Centre as part of the very first 2 Tone tour. It was as part of this movement that my favourite band of all time emerged…… The Beat. They are probably best known for the singles Tears of a Clown and Mirror in the Bathroom but as a live band they were electric. I have never enjoyed a live concert as much as those of The Beat.

My first introduction to William Orbit was the single ‘Fascinating Rhythm’ by Bass-o-matic. I was knocked out by the production when I first heard the single but didn’t investigate it any further. I have to thank Mark Radcliffe who, a few years later, played a snatch of Strange Cargo on his legendary ‘out on Blue Six’ programme. ‘Strange Cargo’ is William Orbit’s alter ego and four volumes of Strange Cargo have now been released. Volume 4 entitled Hinterland is the ultimate CD of the ambient/groove genre. The music of William Orbit is the greatest single influence on my music, which has ultimately resulted in my studio work with Colin, culminating in Intermission, The Courtroom Boys, and more recently, The $tranded.

I’d like to thank the following DJs for the music they have introduced me to over the past 30 years:- Alan Freeman, John Shaw, Andy Kershaw, Mark Radcliffe and Ashley Franklin.

10 Favourite Singles

All Or Nothing – Small Faces
Move Over Darling – Doris Day
Louie Louie – The Kingsmen
In A Rut – The Ruts
The 10 Commandments Of Man – Prince Buster
Soweto – Malcolm Maclaren
With A Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker
Fascinating Rhythm – Bass-o-matic
Our Lips Are Sealed – Fun Boy Three
Baby I love You – Ronettes

10 Favourite Albums

Hinterland – William Orbit
I Just Can’t Stop It – The Beat
Chill Out – The KLF
100% Columbian – Fun Loving Criminals
Lifeforms – The Future Sound Of London
School’s Out – Alice Cooper
Aftermath – Rolling Stones
Led Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin
The Who Sell Out – The Who
The Free Story – Free

10 Favourite Gigs

Humble Pie – Sheffield City Hall, circa 1974. The only time I saw Steve Marriott live.
Stray – Nottingham University, Portland Building, circa 1978.
The Beat – King’s Hall Derby, circa 1981. The best live band ever.
Tourists – People’s College Nottingham, circa 1981. They’d just released ‘Loneliest Man in the World’.
Dip – Tap n Tumbler Nottingham, October 2003.
The Damned – Nottingham University, circa 1977. All a bit of a blur.
Storm – Gedling Miner’s Welfare Nottingham, circa 1974.
The Who – Lyceum Ballroom London, November 13th 1973.
Orphan – Beeston College Nottingham, circa 1971. Orphan also played at Moor Farm Inn in Bramcote, Nottingham, and were called back for so many encores the gig lasted several days.
Henley Farrell Big Band – Mapperley Plains Social Club Nottingham. 60th anniversary of D-day concert, June 2004.

10 Worst Gigs

Clannad – Nottingham Theatre Royal, circa 1989. Yawn – Rosie wanted to go.
Rod Stewart and The Faces – Sherwood Rooms Nottingham, circa 1971. Maybe I just didn’t appreciate what was going on.
Pogues – Rock City Nottingham, circa 1996. Apart from ‘Thousands are Sailing’ it was all a bit of a row.
Bad Manners – Rock City Nottingham, circa 1982. I was really looking forward to seeing them, but a riot broke out after the third song and the place got trashed.
Deep Purple – Sheffield City Hall, circa 1974. Never the same after Gillan and Glover left.
The Who – Empire Pool Wembley, circa 1976. The first and last ‘stadium’ gig I went to. Might as well have watched it on telly.
Yes – Leicester De Montfort Hall, circa 1974. This was when they previewed the ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’ album. People were falling asleep.
I’ll try and think of 3 more sometime.