RAPIERS ARE GO!

UPDATE: Cry for the New Piccadilly

08.31.07: Sniff! Here's a BBC report on the closing of the New Piccadilly. And a blog in mourning, aptly titled The Girl in the Cafe.

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Were I in London tonight looking for a cafe dripping with '50s Soho charm, a congenial host and atmosphere reflecting off the walls, I'd pop quick into the New Piccadilly on Denham Street right behind the crush of Piccadilly Circus.

"Chocolate cake and custard please!" would be my hue and cry.

With its neon-beckoning Eats signage, comfy booths, formica tables, pink-enameled espresso machine and white-clad wait staff, the New Picc stands as "a cathedral amongst caffs", according to its patron saint, Adrian Maddox of ClassicCafes.com.

In a photo diary, I once jotted this: "Stepping through its door is like stepping through a space-time contiuum back to the '50s when Italian eateries like the New Piccadilly ruled London, introduced expresso to the masses and welcomed rock 'n' rollin' teens, revolutionaries, beatniks and displaced Europeans looking for a bit of home."

Two springs ago, I met Colin Pryce-Jones there for breakfast. Admiring the decor, ambiance and grub, he pronounced it a "truly authentic English caff" and had a chat with propietor Lorenzo Marioni, proudly on the premises practically since his father opened the place in 1951.

But there's little joy on Denham Street this summer.

After years of defense against creeping coffee chain congomerates and faceless sandwich takeaways and "wrangling with cabals of developers, landlords and Westminster Council officials", the New Piccadilly closes for good—oh, the grief!—on 23 September, ironically the day after The Rapiers play the next Shadowmania. Mr. Maddox calls it "black September".

"Be sure to visit before the doors close forever", he exhorts. I second that emotion.

NB: A virtual book of condolences is forming on Russel Davies' beloved eggsbaconchipsandbeans blog.

Yours truly behind the New Picc counter with Lorenzo, spring 2005

OT Video Triple Play + 1: The Savage!

The Shadows do it in the film The Young Ones

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The Rapiers do it at a 2001 Rockers Reunion

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And now guitar1958 over a backing track

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Daniel and Friends at the Warwick Shadows Club

Birth of The Rapiers

Dave Lawes had a serious flashback this past weekend on the Isle of Wight. Let the memory begin...

"A piece of musical Rapiers trivia for everyone: Last Saturday we played at Nodes Point Holiday Camp. In the van on the way there, I said, 'I'm sure we played there years ago.' But I couldn't remember exactly when. Once we walked into the ballroom, I recognised it immediately as the venue where The Rapiers were really born.

"We played there in October 1983. I was with Bob Burgos in a band called Shotgun, Colin and Roger [Cover] were playing with Dynamite. Jonny and the Roccos failed to show for a Sunday afternoon slot and we were asked to fill in as The Rapiers (we had done some shows in London pubs the previous summer). We went on, stormed it and our other playing commitments were consigned to history!

"It was really weird to be back in the same venue after nearly 24 years. Nathan took this snap of myself and Colin on the very stage where it all started."

Post o' the Week: Chatja Salute

Dear Rapiers:

Great gigs in Jaala, Finland and Summer Jamboree, Italy!

Greetings from Finland,
Chatja and Piia

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Can't tell you 'bout her running mate Piia, but Chatja's a self-described 32-year-old Finish "Hi-Fi Baby" who loves swing, rock 'n' roll, motorcycles, dancing, tattoos and, from the looks of her photo gallery, traipsing across Europe in search of the Big Beat.

Book Early for Wyllyotts Theatre

A tip for in-the-know Rapiers fans: tickets for the 3 November Me and My Shadows show with special guest Mike Sarne at the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar are now on sale, even if the venue What's On listings reach only into September.

For the best seats, ring the box office on 01707 645005.

EMI Background

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Nathan J. Hulse quietly snapped this scenery sans extras, cast or crew on the film set of Telstar using his trusty mobile phone's camera. Love the black and white wireframe graphics and modest corporate boast, prime examples of mid-century moderne, no?

STOP PRESS: Rapiers in Shooting "Telstar" Film!

Dressing for success still pays dividends.

The Rapiers spent last Thursday as extras on the set of actor-director Nick Moran's upcoming biopic Telstar, based on his 2005 stage play chronicling the mad rise and fall of '60s producer Joe Meek. Our lads, one and all, were pegged to play "EMI executives" in several scenes, reports Nathan J. Hulse.

"We were asked on Wednesday if we could turn up Thursday in Bethnal Green by midday," Nathan says. "How could we say no? Wardrobe took our measurements but asked us to come in our normal '60s-styled gear as well. They were so happy with our appearance that we didn't need to be fitted!

"We were fed and sent to various places to wait while they filmed other scenes. It wasn't until 7:30 p.m. that we were called for our parts. I also got to play a photographer, you'll see my back [hopefully] when the film comes out."

Sometime in 2008, fingers crossed.

For Telstar, actor Con O'Neill reprises the title role he played in the West End, American actor Kevin Spacey plays Meek's banker. Others making appearances include British film icon Rita Tushingham, writer Jake Arnott, Meek's personal assistant Patrick Pink and '60s singers John Leyton, Jess Conrad and Mike Sarne.

NB: Mr. Moran's production for Aspiration Films is a completely separate project from Los Angeles-based Palm Door Film's Something I've Got to Tell You: A Life in the Death of Joe Meek documentary, now in post-production. Aspirations has spent the past two months location shooting around London, including outside Meek's flat on Holloway Road and in Soho at the famed New Piccadilly cafe, according to eyewitnesses. A casting call went out in June.

TELSTAR STARS: The Rapiers in their finest business clobber pose with cast members Collette Winter, Sarah Hannah, Ruth Wynne and Danielle Voller. Photo by Patrick Barclay.

Brackley Perspective

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Intrepid Rapierspotter Stuart Bailey braved a heaving dance floor of jivers at the Brackley and District Bowls Club in Northamptonshire Friday night to frame this cool grey, backs-to-front view of The Rapiers' front line.

"There was some good lighting [at the venue] but as soon as Colin and the lads came on they turned them off!" says Stuart, who wisely didn't forget his flash.

Press Clipping: Silver Anniversary in 2008

Joe Meek Society Newsletter editor Mark Newson name checks his favourite rock 'n' roll combo at the drop of a plectrum. So it's no wonder his group's latest A4 sheet (No. 144, July/August 2007) reminds us that next year marks a quarter century of Rapiers.

The Amersham plug is news to me. But it makes sense. Fellow Rapier fan Ralph Gowling holds court at this cozy Buckinghamshire club, organising rock 'n' roll parties like the upcoming '60s Gold Night Spectacular with The Honeycombs, Love Affair and Vanity Fare (20 October), Elvis & Shakin' Stevens Night with Ricky Aron and Good Rockin' Tonight (10 November), and a Christmas '60s and '70s Gold Show with The Fortunes and John Leyton (8 December).

Supporting live music "up close and personal with the artists" is this club's credo, as well as "drinks at club prices instead of high theatre prices!" Chin-chin!

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Guessing Game for Shadowmania No. 9

A: "A visual change."

Q: What Colin Pryce-Jones says—no more, no less—that fans can expect for The Rapiers' ninth straight appearance at Bruce Welch's Shadowmania, 22 September 2007.

Air, Echo and Airport

Colin Pryce-Jones chimes in with his two penneth concerning recent RAG! posts:

• Calais Downpour. "I'm not a fan of outdoor shows, even when the weather is pleasant. The air, especially near saltwater, affects guitar strings, makes them go clammy. We were only about 50 feet from the Calais docks."
  
  
• Meazzi Echo. "Thank you to Roger Allcock and Eric White, who put top workmanship into my unit. I'm still in the experimental stage, getting used to it. I'm not sure when I'll use it on stage. For one, it needs a protective case—I can't travel without one! By the way, my wife Janet thinks the whole echo business is 'incredibly silly'."
  
  
• Summer Jamboree. To lighten their travel load and avoid new airport restrictions, The Rapiers will leave their guitars and drums at home, trusting an Italian friend from Pisa to deliver the hardware for the 20 August show in Senigallia. "Travelling without our guitars overseas is a first for us," Colin says, "but I couldn't chance being forced to leave them unattended at airport security for any amount of time." Meanwhile, Senigallia resident Gary Hurst, designer of the legendary Tone Bender MKI, a British-made effects box used by no less than The Beatles, The Who and The Yardbirds, is "expected to attend" the show.

OT Video Triple Play: Supermarionated!

Dudley Moore and Peter Cook tackle Superthunderstingcar from Not Only... But Also

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Cliff Richard Jr. and The Sons of The Shadows do Shooting Star from Thunderbirds Are Go!

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Captain Scarlett TV theme song, later reprised by The Rapiers on You're Never Alone With

Post o' the Week: Kaiser Matt Surfaces

Good morning Rapiers!

I keep a very low on-line profile, but am delighted and honoured to welcome you to my MySpace friends.

The Rapiers playing Lies at Kaiser Johnny's wedding is one of my favourite musical moments ever—fantastic!

My 4-year-old just saw your picture and asked if it was The Beatles! I obviously need to expand his education. Thank you for keeping the beat alive, ah... guitars and pointy shoes, it doesn't get much better than that!

Kaiser Matt

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Mach schau! Words can't describe the uber Beat Cool The Kaisers exuded. So it's nice to see key members Matt, Johnny and George still satisfying the cravings of rock 'n' roll partisans in new combos (Felix Moment Power Trio) and via guest appearances with other hepcats (Los Straitjackets).

Mike Sarne on Elvis, The Beatles, Rock 'n' Roll

Entertainer Mike Sarne makes a rare guest appearance with The Rapiers, Jet Harris and Billie Davis on 3 November at the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar. Advance word has Mike and Billie recreating their 1962 Top 20 hit Will I What?, itself patterned after Mike's cheeky chart-topping Come Outside, also slated for the evening. Digging into his discography, Mike says he'll do Just Like Eddie, too, which producer Joe Meek had Mike record first before Heinz scored the big hit. Ralph Gowling recently caught up with Mike.

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RAG!: Mike, how do you see yourself in 2007?

MS: Billie and I are the old rock 'n' rollers because we were part of the rock 'n' roll era, the late '50s and early '60s. Here we are in our 60th year or whatever still carrying that teenage flame that Elvis Presley fanned when he burst on the scene and grabbed everybody.

RAG!: Who inspired you?

MS: Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis. I know Cliff Richard and Tommy Steele and were inspired by the American rock 'n' rollers, too, Elvis particularly. He was the king—he invented a form of music. People think he was just a singer. He wasn't just a singer, he was one the greatest musicians ever and taught us how to dance rock 'n' roll. Elvis was the inspiration from a fusion of that white trash neighbourhood thing with black music. That's what rock 'n' roll was.

RAG!: What about Merseybeat, The Beatles?

MS: I blame The Beatles actually for killing off rock 'n' roll because they got away from the rhythm of rock 'n' roll! This rather sophisticated thing they call rock now, ever since The Beatles, is very pretty, pretty. But something I can tap my feet to is what I call rock 'n' roll. I'm not anti-ballads, anti-Beatles or anti-Queen. In fact, I love The Beatles. But it's not rock 'n' roll.

RAG!: Why is the rock 'n' roll era still doing the business?

MS: People love that time, that vibe. As we've drifted away from it, people are saying let's get back to where we were and that feeling we had. Rock 'n' roll never dies, does it?

Just for Fun

YOU DON'T SAY! Our lads let their fingers do the talking at the Ashmount Club, Doncaster on 4 August. Photo by Nathan J. Hulse.

ORANGE ALERT! Nathan finds a silent partner at Mercedes-Benz World, Brooklands Weybridge, Surrey on 10 August. Photo by Steve Terrell.

Summer Jamboree at Velvet Beach

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Talk about having an extended wild weekend Continental style.

After a Friday run to Northamptonshire, then a Saturday night out at the Real Gone Rock 'n' Roll Weekender in Jaala, Finland, The Rapiers jet to Senigallia, Italy for a Monday midnight slot at the week-long Summer Jamboree along the east coast of the Adriatic Sea.

Senigallia, known far and wide as "velvet beach", sounds a ball, with none other than Jerry Lee Lewis on tap. Plus rockers, rockabillies and swingster combos galore like Los Terribles de Tijuana, P-51 Airplanes, Honolulu Hula Boys, Black Crabs, Domestic Bumblebees, Hellcats, Jive Romeros and more la dolce vida sounds.

Ticket, transport and accomodations information here.

Rapiers Light Up SPARKS Benefit

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"Rapiers" and "golf" rarely appear in the same postal code much less the same sentence, but an invitation to help out a good cause—The 12th Annual Rick Wakeman Celebrity Golf Classic—afforded our lads some afternoon playtime at Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands Weybridge, Surrey, then an evening performance at the Gala Dinner there Friday night.

"The gig was in aid of SPARKS," says Nathan J. Hulse.

That's SPort Aiding medical Research for KidS, "which is one of the foremost children's charities, supported by hundreds of celebrities from the world of sport, stage and screen and dedicated to improving the lives of sick children," says event spokesman Graeme Slocombe. "Last year we raised over £43,000 for SPARKS."

Adds Nathan: "We played about 15 minutes on our own—Shadoogie, Good Golly, Buckleshoe, and FBI—then 15 minutes with Wee Willie Harris."

NB: No doubt The Rapiers' performance at a May memorial tribute to the late singer Tommy Bruce impressed fellow guest Mr. Wakeman, the former Yes keyboardist, enough to have them over for his Golf Classic... Photos courtesy Janet Pryce-Jones and Nathan J.

Echoes of Perfection, Echoes of Perfection

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When Colin Pryce-Jones, a notoriously fussy obsessive after the nth degree of authenticity and subtlety, needs a craftsman nonpareil—sound recordist, amplifier boffin, badge maker—he knows whom to call.

Like echo expert Roger Allcock.

Last year, at the prompting of mutual friend Tony Chan, Roger fashioned one of his renowned, custom Vintage echo units for Colin's Vox AC30 amp. "These give the AC30 an additional channel that helps recreate the sound of the AC15, which The Shadows used early on in their career."

Roger built the unit with minor modifications, then fitted it to Colin's amp the morning of The Rapiers' Shadowmania appearance in September. "There were last-minute hitches but all worked out OK," Roger recalls. "I was relieved when Colin used the unit during his performance and later said he was very pleased."

Repeating the Magic

Fast forward to spring 2007. For an encore, Colin asked Roger to resuscitate an ailing Meazzi echo unit, more key hardware for reproducing the vaunted sound of early Shadows. Say Roger: "He told me that he had owned it for years, had it repaired once or twice but it had never worked properly.

"During several conversations, I learned the unit would not reproduce the echo patterns that Hank Marvin used during the early '60s. So various modifications were decided. One of the mods consisted of replacing the fixed speed motor in the unit with a variable speed one. That, in conjunction with changing the spacing of the tape heads, made the unit much more versatile and able to achieve echoes on the Shadows' early recordings."

The Badge Man Plateth

Mechanical work was carried out by Roger's mate Eric White, "whom you probably know as the maker of Shadows Badges for Vox AC30 amps. Eric made and fitted a flywheel to the new motor to stabilise the speed fluctuations that many Meazzis suffer from. Colin's unit originally had power amplifiers built in and the casing had been cut down in size very badly, leaving it in need of attention. Eric repaired the casing and had it powder-coated. He also chrome-plated all the fixings."

Here the debriefing takes an even headier turn for true gearheads.

"After connecting the motor with the speed control electronics and making sure that the other electronics were working correctly, the final job was to replace the left hand side of the control panel to allow individual switching of the tape heads."

Bravissimo!

"The unit is back with Colin," Roger says. "He tells me he is eagerly looking forward to using it 'in anger' at the next suitable Rapiers gig."

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Hearing is believing, especially for connoisseurs of particular echo patterns. Photos courtesy Roger Allcock.

UPDATE 08.12.07: Echo mania elicits candid commentary, as evidenced by these MSN Shadow Music strings here and here.

Post o' the Week: Working Memories of Skegness

Dear Rapiers,

I knew you guys (well, half of you, LOL) when you did a residency at Skegness Butlins about 20 years ago. Although I was on staff, I never missed a show and was always hanging around the stage.

Would love to catch you again, hopefully supporting John Leyton. Saw him a couple of years back in Halifax as part of a rock 'n' roll show with Marty Wilde and Joe Brown as headliners.

If you get a chance, pass on "Hi!" to Brad Dallaston.

Steve Ball
MySpace Home

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GO: Steve, re-connecting with Mr. Dallaston poses a challenge. Rapiers HQ says their former bassist keeps a very low rock 'n' roll profile nowadays.

Calais Channel Show en Francais

Just received this rather extensive clipping from a French periodical covering the very wet Rock Across the Channel gig with Le Rapiers and Monsieur John Leyton.

English translations welcome. Only bit I've deciphered is Papys du rock, roughly Grandfathers of the rock 'n' roll.

Ferneham Fun

Ferneham Hall in Fareham, Hampshire loves having The Rapiers over for a Saturday night. Very next chance is 1 September and the show A Fistful of Sixties, also starring Mike Berry, Jimmy Jemain and Suzi Jari.

For your £16 you'll enjoy:

"... tribute to Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Ricky Nelson and Elvis, hits from Brenda Lee, Connie Francis and Dusty Springfield plus live performances of Apache, FBI, Diamonds, Kon-Tiki, Wonderful Land and many, many more! Don't miss a great evening of nostalgia and laughs—a real feel good evening!"

Erm, not sure about that "and laughs" bit. I tend to take my Holly, Springfield, Wonderful Land, et al, quite, quite seriously.

The Man Behind the Basket

Are we witnessing an unusual food allergy emergency? P'rhaps a low budget, DIY fancy dress get-up for Halloween? You decide.

But at least one Rapier may have too much time on his hands between lashings of Apache and The Savage. Two if you count the photographer who set up this recent shot in Calais.

Real Gone in Finland

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British rockabilly giants Crazy Cavan and The Rhythm Rockers headline Friday night, The Rapiers earn those honours Saturday nite at the upcoming Real Gone Rock 'n' Roll Weekender in Jaala, Finland, 17-18 August.

Says the show website: "The Rapiers from England are bringing back the echoes from the early '60s. I don't think anyone can doubt their talent. Classy good old British rock 'n' roll!"

Tickets are 75 Euros. Call 358 40 8294347, ask for Eddie.

Neil Cuts It Close

Slowcoach Neil Ainsby almost missed last Saturday's 15:11 Eurostar to Calais for the Rock Across the Channel shindig.

"It was touch and go," says band mate Nathan J. Hulse. "Neil got caught in traffic and missed catching a ride with the rest of us to Waterloo—we thought we'd have to leave for France without him."

Neil made it with "about two minutes to spare," having run like the wind through the station and pounded up escalators. "Fortunately, Colin had thought our train left at 15:00 not 15:11. That bought Neil time."