But Pete said since Gadd was revealed as a paedo in the 1990s, they have been frozen out because of their association with him. RIP those no longer with us. Mike used to get in the studio on his own with the engineer and play the drums for 20 minutes trying out different drum things and then say: 'Right, roll the tape. to the engineer and then record a section that he would then he would make a loop out of and copy it onto the 24 track. At the time it was the worst performing UK Eurovision entry, which Shephard said was a badge of honour. It was reissued in 1985, again to no avail. Classic Disco, and Angel Face / You Wouldn't Leave Me Would You?. The Official Website for Pete Phipps and The Glitter Band, The Original Jukebox Heroes (Pete Phipps, drums), Never Too Young To Rock (1975 movie) Part 1 on YouTube. "Mike was brilliant, he played on every track - we just came in and did the brass parts. Brown, Mick (1985) "Days of Whine and Poses". The story of the Glitter Band begins in the mid 1960s. However, Leander needed a group to back his new star on Top Of The Pops and for live shows. Saw the Glitter Band at Margates Dreamland Ballroom when they were at their peak. On this particular evening one of his charges David Essex, who he was producing at the time, phoned in sick and in the downtime Leander invented the Glitter band sound. The Glitter Band's unique sound is well appreciated by the cognoscenti of alternative music makers. I read in one of glitters bios, he really did only regard them as employees the piss tho? All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. An utterly un-Glitter-like set, it was characterized by a truly audacious cover of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil." We never socialised.. The band then went back into the studio and recorded the Rossall/Shephard composition "Angel Face", which met with Leander's approval, but not without some changes. Even then he insisted on staying in a hotel whilst we had to share digs in bunk beds behind the stage. In 1976, as Gary Glitter announced his retirement, the Glitter Band cut their last sonic links with the old sound. The band include some Glitter songs in their set but Dominic said music producer Mike Leander was the real genius behind the Glitter sound. What people miss out on is the fact the whole Glitter thing comes from Mike Leander. The next year, Phipps played with the Legendary Purple Helmets a Stranglers offshoot. Ultimately, the Glitter Band became almost as successful, and certainly as well-known, as Gary Glitter himself. Later in the year, he recorded an album of material with Alan Merrill of the Arrows which was released the following year. However, at the end of 1974 Rossall took leave of the band to follow a solo career which unfortunately didnt result in any hit singles. The decision to launch the Glitter Band as a recording act in its own right was made in late 1973. Their next single, Goodbye My Love, was something of a departure from their earlier singles. He and Phipps also featured in the Identity Parade round in the first episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks in 1996. Pete Phipps still performs live as The Glitter Band. A new album, recorded live at the London Marquee Club, appeared in 1985, while a succession of hits collections (several featuring newly re-recorded material) kept their name alive on the record shelves. Pete Gill detoxed in 2004 after having a problem with alcohol for two years, and is unable to play anymore due to severe arthritis which "has spread to my hands and my legs and my back".[5]. Guitarist/vocalist Gerry Shephard, bassist/vocalist John Springate, drummers Pete Phipps and Tony Leonard, and horn players John Rossall and Harvey Ellison came together in 1972 . In short, he was a pop genius and should be lauded in the way that Joe Meek is. I was so in love with Gerry RIP. "), Buoyed by the massive success of "Goodbye My Love," the Glitter Band selected another soft rocker for their next single, "The Tears I Cried," following through over the next 12 months with the similarly styled "Love in the Sun" and "People Like You, People Like Me." Read Full Biography. He was always a prima dona really.". Its ironic that the advent of punk washed them away, as Angel Face must have influenced most of the punks who replaced them in the charts later in the decade. According to John Rossall, only he, Shephard and Leonard featured on the single, together with Brian Jones on sax. The B-side, You Wouldnt Leave Me Would You, a Springate/Shephard composition, carries on where Angel Face left off and the intro reminds me of a few punk and new wave tunes which followed just a few years later. The Glitter Men, as the group was originally known, was built around an idea that Glitter and Leander had first experimented with during the mid-'60s: a sprawling combo whose sound and visuals were based upon a core of two drummers and two saxophonists. Two further albums, Rock 'n' Roll Dudes and Listen to the Band, were equally courageous, with the group's ambition now so pronounced that they even brushed aside the first signs that their invincibility was cracking: the chart failure of the singles "Alone Again" and "Don't Make Promises.". Theyll now never get together again as sadly Gerry Shephard died of cancer aged just 51 in 2003. Playing hard-stomping glam rock with singalong choruses as well as more straightforward romantic pop, the Glitter Band were named for their association with glam idol Gary Glitter. no.4 in the UK charts, remaining there for 10 weeks. The Glitter Band are a glam rock band from England, who initially worked as Gary Glitter 's backing band under that name from 1973, when they then began releasing records of their own. In 2009, drummer Pete Phipps (who had taken ownership of the name "The Glitter Band") and original bassist and vocalist John Springate put together a new version of the group with the addition of Dominic Rodgers on guitar and vocals, and Eddie Spence on keyboards and vocals. The name of the other one escapes me.. I too had forgotten just how good they were. Please read all descriptions thoroughly before purchasing. As an experienced session drummer referred to as "The Human Timekeeper", the Memphis soul sensation performed with R&B legend Otis Redding (Try A Little Tenderness), nocturnal proto-funkster Wilson Pickett (In The Midnight Hour), blues idol Albert King (Born Under A Bad Sign) and seductive lothario Al Green (Let's Stay Together). After Rossall was taken to court in 1983, an injunction banned him from using Glitter in his band name; a second legal ruling in 1997, after Rossall had persistently breached the first order, resulted in him receiving a one-year suspended prison sentence which would come into force if he used the Glitter name again. It quickly reached No.4 in the charts, outselling Gary Glitter in the process. After learning to play drums, piano and guitar, his musical career took off at the age of 18, he has worked continuously since that time for a wide range of bands and artists. The potential is there and the talent is there- could the Glitter Band be about to use rock & roll to excise the ghost of Gary Glitter the bacofoil god with feet of clay? Guitarist/singer Gerry Shephard and drummer/pianist Pete Phipps (Eurythmics, XTC, reformed the band in 1987, and successfully performed in the UK and Europe, including tours with Gary Glitter, until 2001 when they split up. Written by John Rossall and Gerry Sheppard, their debut single, "Angel Face," was an obvious close relation to the Glitter sound, a pounding, stomping number that raced to number four in Britain in March 1974, but it unquestionably possessed a charm all of its own. It was written by Springate, Shephard and Eddie Seago, who also ran the bands management company. as "disco orientated rock", and by Nina Myskow in The Sun as a band to watch for as "Their music shows talent, menace, originality and brains. Bands With Two Drummers. In total, The Glitter Band had seven top 20 hits in the mid-1970s, including Angel Face which reached number four and Goodbye My Love, which went to number two in the charts. Angel Face was followed up by another Rossall and Shephard composition, Just For You, which also cracked the UK top 10. In March 1974, "Angel Face" was released on Bell Records, reaching number four in the UK Singles Chart, and outselling Glitter's "Remember Me This Way" that week, though this song ultimately peaked higher at #3. In 2014 the song "Angel Face" was included on the soundtrack of the hit Spanish film The Face of an Angel. John Robb investigates. The line-up was John Rossall (trombone & the bands musical director), Gerry Shephard (lead guitar & vocals), John Springate (bass & vocals), Harvey Ellison (saxophone), & keeping thumping tight time at the back the twin drummers Tony Leonard & Pete Phipps. [1], The Glitter Band had seven UK Top 20 hit singles in the mid-1970s, and three hit albums. The year 2000 saw the founding of Santanarama, a six-piece tribute to Carlos Santana, and Glitz Blitz, a three-piece tribute to the 1970s. "I've got loads of ideas for songs, we want to make something heavy, really tribal, really do something with our sound," he explains before starting to sing one track in the bar - it sounds fantastic. They originally came together in 1972, following Glitter's own breakthrough with the hit "Rock and Roll." Founder Glitter Band member John Rossall recalls: "We backed the likes of Susan Maughan and Mike Preston to name a few and we went on to form the Boston Show Band in Hamburg. He was working on a David Essex session and when David had rung in sick with a cold Mike started work on this instrumental. The band only played with Glitter for two years before going alone and scoring a string of top ten hits. Petridis, Alexis (2006) "Film & Music: Rock & pop reviews: Pop reissue: Denim Back in Denim", Band biography on official fan club website, The Official Glitter Band Website - The Glitter Band, The Official Website for Pete Phipps and The Glitter Band, John Rossall's Official Website + Detailed History of the Boston Showband/Glitter Band, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Glitter_Band&oldid=1137106185, Pete Phipps drummer, keyboardist (19731979, 1985present), Dominic Rodgers guitarist (2001present), John Rossall trombonist, saxophonist (19731974); died 2021, Harvey Ellison saxophonist, guitarist, pianist, backing vocals (19731977); died 2017, Gerry Shephard guitarist, lead and backing vocals (1973-1979, 19812001); died 2003, John Springate bassist, lead and backing vocals (19731979, 19811987, 20092019), Tony Leonard drummer (19731977, 19811985), Eddy Spence keyboardist (19811987, 20092019), This page was last edited on 2 February 2023, at 20:59. However, they had their final chart hit early in 1976 with the reggae disco-tinged People Like You, People Like Me and the instrumental, funky B-side, Makes You Blind, written by Shephard, Leander and Phipps; their only US success, becoming a bona fide club hit and also reaching the lower end of the US Hot 100. Who knew the Glitter Band could do disco? "It seems like every time we get a series of gigs together and some sort of comeback is on the cards, he will get arrested and we lose a lot of shows. The band also toured extensively in the time Gill was a member. I was never embarrassed that Id been a fan of theirs when I was so young, which wasnt the case with a lot of my childhood music idols. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Saxon and the Story of Denim And Leather", "PETE GILL (MOTORHEAD): "It was guitarist Phil Campbell who got me into Motorhead", BBC Sessions / Live at Reading Festival '86, Better Motrhead than Dead: Live at Hammersmith, Motrhead Live: Everything Luder than Everything Else, Classic Albums: Motrhead Ace of Spades, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pete_Gill&oldid=1074757936, BLP articles lacking sources from November 2015, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 2 March 2022, at 01:09. Running a mobile discotheque at the time I still have most of the Glitter Bands hit singles. Albums include Hey!, Disco Discharge. The Glitter Band spent five years backing up the singer until they split away under Leanders steady tutelage to have their own hits which of course meant that they fell out with the leader of the gang in 1977 and have never spoken to him since then but his ghost is ever present. Jamie Muir was a percussionist (although he occasionally played a mini-drum set, as some other percussionists like Ray Cooper or Ed Mann sometimes did). The band only played with Glitter for two years before going alone and scoring a string of top ten hits. Unfortunately, although the band had moved on, their fans hadn't. He would then go and overdub the bass, floor and small toms on one track; then the bass and the guitar. Finally Springate, Phipps and Shephard released "Gotta Get a Message Back To You" in September 1977, under the new name of Air Traffic Control. The album was recorded in Metway Studios, Brighton and produced by Mike Wilton and engineered by Jake Routham. Thanks for your article, the Glitter Band really and truly deserved so much more recognition,they alone were brilliant musicians and writers. Although the band was not physically present on any of Glitter's own hits (according to the singer, Mike Leander alone played every instrument himself), the Glitter Band not only accompanied Glitter on his tours and television appearances, they also racked up seven hits of their own, six of them making the Top Ten. He then put this amazing droning guitar sound on it. The Glitter Band regrouped under their old name in 1980, around the same time as Gary Glitter himself moved back into focus. Having performed and recorded regularly with jazz visionaries such as Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker and John Zorn, Sorey is clearly a far-sighted artist whose concept of music spans many levels. There is a band on Back From The Grave 4 called Beep Beep & The Roadrunners who were using two drummers back in '62/'63. 1979 saw Sheppard and drummer Pete Phipps hook up with former Sparks/Jet keyboard player Peter Oxendale for the album Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, credited to Oxendale & Sheppard and released in the U.S. only. In late 1977, the group transferred to Epic for one final single, a cover of the Bee Gees' "Gotta Get a Message to You," but by 1978, the band had all but fallen apart. In 2009, drummer Pete Phipps (who had taken ownership of the name "The Glitter Band") and original bassist and vocalist John Springate put together a new version of the group with the addition of Dominic Rodgers on guitar and vocals, and Eddie Spence on keyboards and vocals. I generally had terrible taste in music when I was a young child, favouring Donny Osmond and the Bay City Rollers, but I got my very first foray into a lifelong habit of buying records absolutely spot on. By 1977, the band had started to fall apart. Ophidian I drummer Ragnar Sverrisson picks out the finest drummers in tech death who have helped push the genre's boundaries, complete with drum-cam playthroughs . He was also influenced by Osibisas rhythms. Two further albums, Rock 'n' Roll Dudes and Listen to the Band, were equally courageous, with the group's ambition now so pronounced that they even brushed aside the first signs that their invincibility was cracking: the chart failure of the singles "Alone Again" and "Don't Make Promises." This does not detract, though, from Mike Leander who created these deceptively simple records, slowing down Burundi drums played in shuffling three fours and copying their tribal power with two drum kits and adding massive drones from the guitar bass and a brass section. i heard it was Mr Seago. In December 2013, John Rossall released a new single, a Glitter styled version of the classic "White Christmas". In 1974, Mike Leander reluctantly allowed the Glitter Band (as they were now known) to make a record as promised. Phipps was a founder member of The Glitter Band (originally known as The Glittermen), who started as Gary Glitter's backing band, and went on to success in their own right, having six top ten singles in the UK in the mid-1970s. I loved the Glitter Band and still do, was part of my teenage years, RIP Gerry. Things didnt stand still in 1975. In the 70s Leander created the Glitter Band and one of the decades biggest pop stars Gary Glitter. In 1985, Phipps recorded with Hugh Cornwell playing on the single "One in a Million". They were branching out towards a more soul and funk sound which was probably not the best move with punk bubbling under. As a wholly independent publication, we rely entirely on our ad bookings to keep The Quietus going. The music group originally came jointly in 1972, pursuing Glitter's very own breakthrough using the strike "Stone.". In late 1977, the group transferred to Epic for one final single, a cover of the Bee Gees' "Gotta Get a Message to You," but by 1978, the band had all but fallen apart. In 1973, Rossall approached Leander with the suggestion that the band record some material without Glitter. Great band, great music. Gill was one of the two drummers in The Glitter Band, then formed part of the original line-up of Saxon in 1978. In August 2020 he released his first solo album of original songs entitled Wherever You Are. And Rossall has gone on record to say if Leander could play brass neither he nor Ellison would have featured either. Sometimes Smith hits the nail on the head, and even if he is exaggerating to make a point, The Glitter Band had an amazingly unique sound, a sound that has gone on to inspire an unlikely cross section of musicians. Peter Gill (born 9 June 1951) is an English former heavy metal drummer, formerly a member of The Glitter Band, Saxon and Motrhead. It became their biggest hit in early 1975, reaching No.2. In December 1975, their third album Listen to the Band, saw Phipps for the first time on lead vocals on the self-penned "My First Mistake". ~ Dave Thompson. Co-written by Shephard, Rossall and Eddie Seago, its a fantastic throwback to their distinctive sound. [4] After years of absence Gill reunited with his former Saxon colleagues in a new band, named Son of a Bitch with bassist Steve Dawson and guitarist Graham Oliver. Looking to the future the newly invigorated Glitter Band are thinking big. Hiro_Noodles. Thank you Joyce. Its a strong pop song and was also covered by French singer Sheila (aka Sheila & B. But when we do play people really appreciate what we are doing. Broadcast on 31st January 2021 for Soul Radio USA's Virtual 70's and 80's New Year's Eve Party, this is an exclusive Interview with Pete Phipps lead drummer of The 70's Glam Rock Group \"The Glitter Band\".The Interview Includes an Insight of Pete Phipps career In music then and now, the history behind The Glitter Band (how It was formed and the progression to becoming one of the UK's major Glam Rock Bands of The 70's) and exclusive behind the scene bloopers and information that some listeners may not of heard before. Please whitelist our site in order to continue to access The Quietus. They are the last living link to the brilliant producer Mike Leander, who created the Glitter Band sound which has influenced so many people in pop from The Fall to The Smiths to Marilyn Manson, Adam And The Ants, Bow Wow Wow and Killing Joke and anyone else who cops that droning guitar over a tribal beat. 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