Nottingham group 1975 – 1979

A five piece progressive soft rock band who were named after Neil Tatum. They came from Buxton and made their home in Nottingham. Neil, Martin, Bryan and Douglas were all from Manchester and Buxton and possibly moved to Nottingham as students.

Neil Tatum had been a member of the group Elias Hulk in 1969-70, recording an album that is now required listening for fans of the late sixties, early seventies progressive hard rock scene. Hear it here.
This is an extract from the Elias Hulk page on Bournemouth Beat Boom.

“Back in Bournemouth, Napier’s unwillingness to commit to the band long term paved the way for Neil Tatum to leave his home in New Mills near Stockport and head south after answering an advertisement in the Melody Maker. The new quintet set to work, creating riffs and jamming endlessly, gradually forming a foundation on which Pete could add lyrics and construct fully formed songs. Over time, the hard graft paid off, and their repertoire of mainly covers gave way to a new and original body of heavy, muscular rock songs. When discussing a name, all five members agreed The Hulk epitomised the power and aggression of their music perfectly, but fearing a possible lawsuit over a trademark breach from Marvel Comics, home of the fictional superhero the Incredible Hulk, somebody suggested Alias the Hulk. Shortly after, the name was shortened to Elias Hulk.

Neil Tatum moved back to the East Midlands, where he formed the self-titled outfit Tatum, before moving to Cumbria, where he played in local pubs as part of a duo with Michael Byard. For thirty years, he gigged around the Kendall area in a succession of bands, including Big Amongst Sheep, The Cuckoos, and the Front Room Blues Band. Neil sadly died in December 2022“.

TATUM

Line up *1:

Neil Tatum: Guitar
Martin MacGillivray: Keyboards, Bass
Brian Walwyn: Vocals
Douglas Gyte: Guitar, Bass
Snuff: Drums

They wrote their own material but also played songs by artists that influenced them: John Cale – Barracuda, Jimi Hendrix – Little Wing, Steely Dan – My Old School and Wishbone Ash – Where were you tomorrow. Tatum could play rock and roll but also slow numbers with a lyrical strength. Their songs included “Monday Morning”, “Sunday Morning Sunshine”, “The Show Goes On”, “Tango”, “College Kid Catastrophe”, “It Just Might Happen”, “The Diplomat”, “Unamerican Blues”, “Altitude” and “The Boatman”.

Part of the lyric from “Sunday Morning Sunshine”:

I’ll still smile at things I’ve never seen before,
Drink from the cup of life and ask for more,
Walk down roads and you’re close to me,
Escaping nightmares of reality

They first played the Town Arms on Trent Bridge and then got a residency at the Test Match in West Bridgford. By 1977 the line up changed.

Drummer Phil Anderson was from Nottingham. Neil Tatum was eventually replaced by Martin Pasek who had previously been with Colin Staple’s Staple Diet. They entered the Melody Maker rock contest in 1976 and made the area finals but didn’t get any further. In 1977 they went one stage further by winning the Nottingham heat and getting to Birmingham for the semi-finals. They played a lot of the usual rock venues in mid seventies Nottingham: The Imperial, The Town Arms, The Test Match, The Brit and The Boat.

Line ups:

May 1975-77
Neil Tatum: Guitar
Martin MacGillivray: Keyboards, Bass
Brian Walwyn: Vocals
Douglas Gyte: Guitar, Bass
Phil Anderson: Drums

Sept 1977-79
Brian Walwyn: Vocals
Douglas Gyte: Guitar, Bass
Martin MacGillivray: Keyboards, Bass
Martin Pasek: Guitar
Phil Anderson: Drums

maybe Paddy Flynn later

Way Ahead article written by Fred Roper

1975

Ian Shellard who was in “Stepping Out” around 1975 remembers Tatum as good friends.

“This ticket must have been 1975. Tatum were good friends of ours, who lived in adjacent flats up near Sherwood Rise. When Stepping Out started, and we were short of gear, Tatum kindly lent us some of theirs, especially when we supported them. Tatum was Broz Woolwyn – vocals and acoustic guitar, Martin “Haggis” McGillivray – piano, bass and vocals, Neil Tatum – lead guitar, Dougie Gyte – guitar, bass, backing vocals, and “Snuff” on drums. I never learned Snuff’s real name. By a co-incidence, I was in Music Inn on Alfreton Rd in 1991 looking for a Stratocaster, after mine was stolen in a burglary (I got it back two weeks later, thanks to smart work by the Leicestershire Police). Dougie Gyte’s 1961 Strat, which was in pretty much perfect original nick except for having been stripped back to natural finish, and which I’d done a minor repair on back in the 70s, was up for sale for £1500. That was way out of my league at the time. Now wish I’d borrowed the money – a good 1961 Strat can fetch at least £10k now, even more down South”.

John Pailing also remembers Tatum with affection.

“In 1975 I was branch manager for a Power Transmission distributor that had opened up premises in Hyson Green. We needed a van driver and Bryan Walwyn applied and was given the job. I noticed one lunchtime that Bryan was very involved in writing in a notebook. I was intrigued and he informed me he was writing lyrics for a new song. To cut a long story short my wife and I ended up visiting the Test Match many times, enjoying the sounds and new songs from Tatum. We saw them win a local competition held in Nottingham and travelled on an old rickety bus they hired to travel to Birmingham to take part in a regional competition. Sadly their sound system let them down on the evening. I moved from Nottingham and lost touch with Bryan and the rest of the band. However, I still listen to their music from a tape Bryan kindly gave me. Listening to the lyrics and the instrumentation it shows that Tatum were, in my mind very much ahead of their time.

I have several good memories of Nottingham music 60’s and 70’s.  I regularly frequented the Union Boat Club in the late 60’s and remember seeing bands such as Traffic, Cliff Bennet and the Rebel Rousers, Jimmy Cliff, Chris Farlowe, Simon Dupree and the Big Sound etc., the most expensive as I remember was Traffic at 11shillings and sixpence the others about 10shillings! I remember seeing Steve Winwood arrive individually in a Rolls Royce, the inside of which had psychedelic upholstered ceiling, bright paisley patterns.  I lived in Newark at the time and would travel to Nottingham on my Lambretta and park it down a side street.

There was another music venue that I also went to, that was called The Ad-Lib situated in the Lace Market. You knocked on a large wooden door, a small slide opening would appear and you would show your membership card, you were then allowed entry. Occasionally they had a live band but it was mainly a disco club with a bar, playing Soul and Tamla Motown Music.  The atmosphere was wonderful.  There was also a brilliant record shop on Arkwright Street called Selectadisc that sold American Import Albums, you could spend hours there just browsing”.

NEWSPAPER CUTTINGS

1976

1977

1978

1979