Manchester
Popular & Rock Music (11 of 11)
Around Manchester and the Northwest Region

Rick Astley

Rick Astley

(Born 1966)
Born Richard Paul Astley on 6th February 1966 in the small Lancashire mining town of Newton-Le-Willows near Warrington, he was the youngest of 4 children. He had sung in a local church choir and joined several emerging local bands during his early teenage years, including Give Way and FBI. He left school at the age of 16 and drove a delivery van for his family's garden centre business. While with FBI, the band contacted record producer and promoter Pete Waterman (of Stock Aitken & Waterman) and Rick was immediately brought to his London Studios to learn about the record industry - he was just 19 years old.
His debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up", soon followed in 1987, and immediately became a Number 1 hit, remaining at the head of the music charts for 5 weeks - Britain's largest selling single of that year. This was followed by "Whenever You Need Somebody", a Number 1 hit in 7 countries which sold over 15 million copies worldwide, making him the top selling British act of the year. At the 1988 BPI Awards (the UK's Grammy equivalent), he won Best Single Award for "Never Gonna Give You Up". He performed the song in front of an estimated television audience of 100 million viewers!
Other successful records followed in swift succession, including "When I Fall In Love", "My Arms Keep Missing You" and "Together Forever".
By now he was also a hit in the USA, where his single "It Would Take a Strong Strong Man" became a Top 10 single and the album earned him a 1988 Grammy nomination as 'Best New Artist'. The Guinness Book of Records entry shows him to have been the first male solo artist to have his first 8 singles reach the Top 10 in the UK, an achievement which has still to be beaten.
In the 1990s he disappeared from the public eye amidst rumours that he couldn't handle the fame. After living in Gloucestershire for a couple of years, Rick settled down in Richmond in Surrey with his Danish girlfriend Lene Bausager, with whom he has a daughter, Emilie.
In 1993, he made a comeback attempt with the album "Body & Soul", co-written with Rob Fisher and Lisa Stansfield. However, the album failed to achieve the success he'd hoped for and soon after Astley decided to retire from performances.
In 1998 he considered another comeback possibly in collaboration with Pete Waterman but it failed to materialise.
Nowadays he records his own music in his Fulham studio in Fulham, and in 2002 he released the album "Keep It On".

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Annie Haslam and 'Renaissance'

Annie Haslam was born in Bolton, the daughter of Annie and George Haslam, and was to develop into a notable singer-songwriter. It was in the early 1970s that Annie discovered a talent for singing, and with encouragement from her sister she took work at the Showboat in the Strand, a cabaret style dinner theatre in London.
Further encouraged by her professional debut she went on to audition in Surrey with a hitherto unknown band, Renaissance. Her unique singing style immediately impressed band members and she was offered the job as lead singer. This was the beginning of a musical adventure that took her across most of the world, and saw her performing in venues like London's Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York. She was to perform with orchestras like the Royal Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic.
During her time with Renaissance she was to record her first solo Album.
In 1977 she released 'Annie in Wonderland' which was written for her, produced, performed and recorded by Roy Wood, (of The Move, Wizzard and ELO). The couple later married.
Renaissance successfully produced music as a band from 1972 to 1987. Apart from Annie, the band consisted of Jon Camp on bass, guitars and vocals, Michael Dunford on guitars, Terence Sullivan on drums and percussion and keyboard player, John Tout. Their music was described as classically-oriented progressive folk rock, and, accompanied by the strong vocalisations of Annie Haslam they grew in popularity and attracted an almost cult following and fan base. After its demise, Annie continued with her solo career.
Renaissance successes included 'Opening Out', 'The Day of the Dreamer', 'Closer Than Yesterday', 'She Is Love', 'Back Home Once Again' and 'Kindness At The End'. But their outstanding hit single was unquestionably 'Northern Lights'. Albums included 'Novella' (1977) and 'Azure d' Or' (1979). One of the highlights of Annie's solo career was her 1985 album 'Still Life' in which she worked again with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she had already performed with back in her days with Renaissance.
Nowadays, Annie lives in the United States and works on her solo career, and has recently done work in South America, and developed a talent for art. Her work can be seen on her own website at www.anniehaslam.com.

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Tractor

Tractor were formed in Rochdale in 1971 from the remains of three-piece band 'The Way We Live' (originally formed in 1966 at Balderstone School Rochdale). The band comprised Jim Milne (guitarist, vocalist and songwriter) and Steve Clayton (drummer, percussionist and songwriter) who had teamed up in 1971 with their manager and sound engineer John Brierley, who later recorded many Factory and other bands at his Cargo Studios in Rochdale.
As 'The Way We Live' they made a 1971 album for Dandelion Records boss, the late John Peel. After the release of this album, "A Candle For Judith", Peel described guitarist Jim Milne as "...the man responsible for some of the most urgent flowing and logical guitar playing I've ever heard".
Their second album "Tractor Tractor" got to number 18 in the Radio Luxembourg album charts and was frequently played on the BBC by DJs like Peel, Bob Harris and Anne Nightingale. It was also in the Virgin top 30 selling album charts in 1972.
Later that year former Rochdale College Social Secretary Chris Hewitt became their tour manager and sound engineer and the band opened recording studios in Dawson Street in Heywood. They performed on the college and university circuit in winter 1972 and also released their third album "Worst Enemies".
By 1976 Tractor helped launch the Deeply Vale Free Festivals and were the main Festival band in 1976 and 1977. As it grew in reputation other Manchester artists appeared in the Festival alongside Tractor, including The Fall, Durutti Column and Crispy Ambulance, Nik Turner (of Hawkwind) and Steve Hillage.
During the 1990s Tractor issued singles on Dandelion Records, UK Records, Cargo Records, Roach Records including in 1998, "Before, During and After the Dandelion Year".
They played at Glastonbury in 2002 and the Canterbury Festival in 2003. In 2004 ITV made a documentary about the event - "Truly Madly Deeply Vale", which is to be released on DVD.

Tractor websites:

www.tractor-ozit.com
www.deeplyvale.com

Contact Manager:
Chris Hewitt at Ozit Morpheus Records
Tel: 01565 734066 or 07970 219701

Email: ozitrecords@which.net

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Kevin Parrott & Mick Coleman
(AKA Bryan & Michael - The Matchstalk Men)

Kevin Parrott and Mick Coleman first met at The Albion Hotel at Stalybridge in 1965. Mick joined Kevin's band 'The Big Sound' as bass player/singer, while Kevin played lead guitar. They were augmented with trumpet, tenor & baritone saxophones, and during the 1960's they were based mostly in Denmark, from where they regularly toured Europe and Israel. Mick Coleman was born in the district of Ancoats where he went to St Anne's school.
When eventually The Big Sound split up, Mick left the music business for a while, and Kevin joined Manchester rock group, 'Oscar', who eventually signed with DJM records, and continued touring the UK and Europe. They were also one of the few UK bands to play in Tehran, Iran.
Meantime, Mick joined a folk group and began to write what he called 'traditional' songs for the group to perform. Then during the early 1970s, just near to Johnny Roadhouse's music shop in the Manchester's All Saints district, (where he had bought his first guitar), he saw several L.S. Lowry paintings in a shop window, which reflected his own Manchester childhood, filled him with nostalgia and gave him the idea to write a tribute song to Lowry. He had just begun to make progress with the song when Lowry died in 1976.
He first sang the finished song at a folk club near Mosley Street bus station in Manchester. In the audience that night was Trevor Hyatt from Granada TV, with Anna Ford, who complimented him on the song and asked for several encores. During this time he had formed a comedy duo with work colleague Brian Burke, and they began performing as Burke & Jerk.
Kevin and Mick had remained friends throughout, and eventually borrowed £1000 to produce a record of the Lowry song at Pluto Studio in Stockport (upstairs from 10CC's Strawberry Studios). Peter Tattersall of Strawberry suggested a children's backing choir and they approached St Winifred's School in nearby Heaton Mersey. They also recruited Tintwistle Brass Band. The final song, "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs" was recorded over three sessions in September 1977. After being rejected several times, the song was eventually picked up by Pye Records and was released on 25th November 1977. By February 1978 the record made number 45 in the charts and Kevin and Mick made their first 'Top of the Pops' appearance.
'Matchstalk Men' went to number 1 in the UK charts in April, and stayed at the top for three weeks. The record soon went gold, and Mick was awarded the Ivor Novello award, one of highest accolades a songwriter can receive.
They continued working together as B&M (Bryan & Michael) until 1980, having made two albums for Pye, but without another substantial single hit. Despite this, Kevin produced "The Sparrow", a number 11 hit for The Ramblers in 1979. Mick wrote the Ken Dodd hit "Hold my Hand" in 1981. Together in their roles as writer/producer, they were responsible for "It's Horrible being in love when you're 8½" with Claire & Friends during 1986.
There was a stage reunion of the Matchstalk Men in 2002, when they appeared at the Plaza Theatre Stockport in April, and most appropriately at the new Lowry Centre at Salford Quays during October of that year. A month later, on the 2nd November, they were back at the Lowry at the Choir of the Year Competition, being reunited with the original children from the St Winifred's Choir.

Mick & Kevin are planning to start recording again with a view to more live performances sometime in 2005.

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Northside/Silent Partners

Northside were a somewhat short-lived Indie band formed in Manchester in 1989 by Warren (Dermo) Dermody, Cliff Ogier and Tim and Paul Walsh. They were quickly signed up by Tony Wilson to his Factory Records label, and were regarded as one of the most promising so-called 'Madchester' scene bands of that time. They gained a cult following and to some extent retain that status amongst a few who remember them.
Their first release, 'Shall we Take a Trip/Moody Places', met with critical acclaim and was soon followed by their single 'My Rising Star' and an album 'Chicken Rhythms' which were less well received. With the decline in the music of leading Manchester bands like the Stone Roses the Happy Mondays, Northside's style of music was, sadly, a little late in the day, as the genre fell out of favour, and their last single release, 'Take Five', in 1991, and even failed to reach the top 40, despite their live appearance on BBC1 Television's "Top of the Pops" show.
In 2003 Warren Dermody fronted a new band called Silent Partners who made several live appearances at clubs in Manchester.
We are reliably informed that Partners are still going strong and making a lot of apperances in and around Manchester as well as further afield ..

If you would like more information on Silent Partners, visit their website at www.silent-partners.info.

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John Mayall

(Born 1933)
John Mayall was born 29th of November 1933 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, the eldest of three children of a working class family. His father, who played guitar, had an extensive jazz and blues record collection that were to prove strong influences on him and by the age of 13 he had taught himself to play and had developed his own style.
He spent three years at Art College and then served in the British Army in Korea, after which he brought his first wife Pamela to live with him in a tree house! He went on to a successful career in graphic design, singing and playing blue music in his spare time. From 1956 until 1962, John was performing publicly on a part-time basis fronting 'The Powerhouse Four' and later on 'The Blues Syndicate'. Encouraged by Alexis Corner in the 1960s John moved to London where he soon turned professional under the name 'John Mayall's Bluesbreakers'. Later, he met Eric Clapton and the collaboration culminated in the first hit album for the Bluesbreakers and resulted in worldwide recognition.
Mayall became as well known for discovering new talent - his "discoveries" included Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood (who became "Fleetwood Mac"), Andy Fraser (who formed "Free"), and Mick Taylor (who joined the "Rolling Stones"). His 1969 album "The Turning Point", from which his song "Room To Move" came, was destined to become a rock classic and was awarded a Gold Album.
In the 1970's he developed many jazz/rock/blues innovations with such notable performers as Blue Mitchell , Red Holloway, Larry Taylor, and Harvey Mandel. He also backed the likes of John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, and Sonny Boy Williamson on their first English club tours.
Rock and Blues Music went into popular decline by the late 1970s and Mayall struggled to keep his career afloat. It was at this time that he met his current wife Maggie, herself a singer/songwriter from Chicago. Further, a brush fire devastated his Laurel Canyon home, destroying his personal diaries and those of his father, as well as irreplaceable master recordings, extensive book and magazine collections, Mayall artwork.
In 1982, together with Mick Taylor and John McVie, Mayall decided to re-form the original Bluesbreakers for a couple of tours and a video concert film entitled "Blues Alive". Later, Bluesbreakers would include guitarists Coco Montoya and Walter Trout, as well as drummer Joe Yuele.
The 1990s saw a revival of his fortunes with albums like "Behind The Iron Curtain", "Chicago Line", "A Sense of Place", and the Grammy-nominated "Wake Up Call".
More recently he has released "Blues For the Lost Days" and "Padlock On The Blues", which he co-produced with his wife Maggie, and which featured a rare collaboration with John Lee Hooker. In 2001 he released "Along For The Ride". In 2002 came "Stories", and in December 2003 the BBC broadcast an hour-long documentary on John Mayall's life and career, entitled "The Godfather of British Blues". In 2004 came the DVDs "Cookin' Down Under" and "Godfather/Turning Point" and the CD "The Turning Point Sound Track".
John Mayall is a father of six and grandfather of six, and shows no signs of slowing down.

John Mayall has a website at www.johnmayall.com

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Shayne Ward

(Born 1985)
Singer Shayne Ward was born on 15th October 1985 and lives and was raised in Clayton, Manchester. He is the youngest son, and a twin, of a large family of 3 brothers and 3 sisters, and was educated at St Gregory's High School. His career took off in 2005 when he won the ITV television "X Factor" competition.
He began by singing at a karaoke machine and in his bathroom. Singing is Shayne's main passion, but his second love is dancing. He's self-taught and believes that he could hold his own on most dance floors!
The nation voted for him in their millions to crown him winner of The X-Factor 2005, his record-breaking debut single "That's My Goal" went immediately to the top of the charts and was the Christmas 2005 No.1 record, a position it occupied for the next four weeks. Following this he released his second single "No Promises" in April 2006.
During Easter 2006 he performed a free live concert before the Town Hall in Manchester's Albert Square
His success has quickly brought financial rewards and he is reputed to have bought his mother her dream house. He rigopurously denies reports that he has a penthouse suite in the Beetham Tower and is currently seeking an apartment in London, because, as he says, "that's where most of my work is".

Shayne loves football and says that this keeps him fit

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(Born 1977)
Manchester-born Wayne Devlin lives in Davyhulme with his with wife Val and their two children. He's been described as "Trafford's Frank Sinatra" and has begun to make a name for himself on both sides of the Atlantic.
As a child Wayne was taught to appreciate good music and good diction by his father. He made his singing debut att the age of six in school.
It was during his first trip to New York that he started singing as Frank Sinatra in bars and cafes. "I was making more in tips than I was getting paid," said Wayne. He was actually singing in a bar in New York when he was spotted by Gary Anthony, an established Sinatra 'soundalike' and friend of Nancy Sinatra.
This encounter secured him a supporting act at the Flamingo Casino in Las Vegas; shortly after he was invited to sing at the Golden Nugget Casino and he appeared as part of a Rat Pack set with two other singers.
When his work permit expired and he was forced to return home to England it seemed for a while that all the notoriety and attention that he had got used to in Americas had completely disappeared. So, Wayne travelled to work in Europe, funding himself by performing in local bars and hotels. It was still a far cry from Vegas but after a few years working as a builder, barman and a short spell in the Army, his dream of making his way as a professional singer became a reality. He currently has dates around the UK and locally he performs at the Trafford Centre in Manchester.
Singer Wayne Devlin has been compared to other great jazz artists like Harry Connick Junior and Michael Bublé, as well as Sinatra himself.
His website is at www.myspace.com/waynedevlinjazz.

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