If you came looking for Onionhead, you've just missed them. We split up in 1991 after putting out 3 singles and playing with the likes of Galaxie 500, Blur and Lush. A quick scrub up later and a new drummer and guitarist and we became Tenderloin . You've also missed them as we called it a day in 1994. We're pretty much all still in touch though, although we did lose Dave Heimbecker for 15 years
The golden age of Onionhead was between 88 and 91 when our heroic guitar toting 5 piece stumbled about the country and released three 12 inch singles. You may have seen us stumble.
The story starts in 1984 when Sean and I met after starting a Sociology degree at Birmingham Poly. We both started a week late, me because I applied late and Sean because he had been on holiday. I knew hed been on holiday because he showed me his holiday snaps with the cheery commentary "heres one of my girlfriend and heres one of my cock".
Sean lived in the next street in Alum Rock. After an unfortunate pubic hair in porridge incident, one closet fascist moved out of my shared house and Sean and his guitar moved in. Seans repertoire at this stage consisted of Simon and Garfunkles The Boxer as he believed that being able to play this made him sensitivetherefore he would always play it on the off-chance that girls were in the room, in the house, or just walking past. Over the next year we played and wrote simple direct songs, whose titles reflected their lyrical concerns. So a song about Julie Christie was called Julie Christie Song and Hey Red Bus was a song about being transported out of one place and into another. This was not Haight Ashbury it was Alum Rock.
Jules was in the last year of an English degree and midway through a full blown music obsession. He lived in a nasty flat with Bill. According to Bills girlfriend, Bill was the owner of a Thrillhammer. Jules was the owner of a harmonica and some vocal talent. For a long time we did not know any drummers, until we happened upon Ralph Pukin McGuicken. Wed also struggled with names, or at least struggled to come up with good names. Bad names were easy. More Tea Vicar and Ralph's favourite The Far Canals. The latter only seemed to work with The Pukemeisters Irish accent. Even then it didnt work that well.
Which brings us to Birmingham Poly, May 86, an anti apartheid benefit with us higher up the bill than our meagre talent demanded. Still struggling with a name, until our future manager Nicks copy of Halliwell's film guide threw out Onionhead., we giggled like loons, had another beer and then played a mighty set of kick ass rock 'n' roll. Actually no. But the stage show compensated. After 4 or 5 songs of bedroom quality had proved that our pursuit of academic excellence had not been compromised by band rehearsals it was time for Seans sensitive song. Cynics in the crowd and Eagles fans might have recognised the stolen chords from Hotel California. We didnt recognise them though as we were too busy watching the snot globule that was forming under Sean's nose. Sean didnt dare stop playing (members of the audience pleaded and would for years to come) and took to shaking his head, but was still unable to shake off the snotty stalectite. Finally with the speed and finesse of a guitar picking tree frog Seans tongue darted out to pluck that emerald. The crowd loved it and we left the stage bathed in love, drenched in rock but vowing next time we would do it with music alone. Next time we would also do it without Ralph. We also wouldnt play live again for over a year.
In 1987 We were still years away from the era of Cadillacs in swimming pools and riding Harley Davidsons through restaurant windows (actually we gave our share to Motley Cru) but the band were lucky to survive a 22 mph horror smash (copyright) in a tiny DAF 33 on the way to rehearsals. The give way sign just appeared out of nowhere on a pole by a road junction. So Bill (although given the size of the car and the skill of the driver, wed have been better off with Noddy), unsure of how to react to this unexpected turn of events chose to drive straight onand into another car. As our compressed limo turned over I was able to give Jules a sneaky elbow and a heroic black eye. Sean needed to be cut freehis seat belt was OK, it was the trousers that were the problem.
Ed was Jules schoolmate from North Yorkshire, he had learnt to play guitar by listening to The Byrds and Television. He was about to embark on further education. Instead, trustingly, he moved to Birmingham to another of Jules nasty flats without hearing us play. Barney became our new drummer and the whole Onionhead experience started to improve. Sadly the improvements were not noticeable by our second gig, which was in the hallowed halls of Aston University in the Vauxhall Dining Centre. Onionhead at the VD Centre, looked great on the posters and sounded great as long as you werent there. We were there though, in our own metaphorical rock n roll clap clinic. Embarrassed, in pain and pretending we didnt know each other. Which is how we played that night.
Autumn 1987 and we went into the studio for the first time recording Nicks Pockets, Ruminating and Pedestal.at Rich Bitch in Birmingham. Over the next year we played frequently around Birmingham at Synatras, Cod Club, Hare and Hounds and Irish Centre with bands like The Fantatics (Later to become Ocean Colour Scene), Raw Herbs and The Man from Delmonte. We recorded more demos in summer of 1988 including Smoking Joe and Let it Go.
We played an outdoor gig outside (funnily enough) Birmingham Rep with the Fanatics and Monkey Messiah. As it was the 19th anniversary of Woodstock our set would celebrate the festival vibe. What actually happened was we took to the stage bare of foot and chest, and as the first chord rang out, the power failed. What an entrance. We stood around like Rock Gods of the Apocalypse clutching our guitars and nipples until eventually when the power returned we played to our biggest crowd so far. Some of whom were even to come back to other gigs. We tried our best to put them off though by playing Born to be wild.with drum solo.
We saw the Sandkings as a 3 piece with Glenn (guitar) singing. That night they were terrific and sounded like Husker Du. They had a deal with London and we learnt a lot through them. Terry (drums) also lived with us in several hygiene challenging houses.
As a band we had some basic rules. Employ your friends, live with them and apply the Lyndon B Johnson approach to management. "I'd rather have him inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in." Nick "The Figure" Early's initial management qualification was owning the copy of the film guide that we got our name from. For a time we were also helped by Steve Morris who brought contacts and a fine set of teeth (he was also a useful Bingo from The Banana Splits look alike ). He was unable to manage the residential qualification though so Simon Parker "The Anal Barker" was drafted/wafted in from another fetid bedroom. The heavyweight management team was now in place and any campers walking past our tent had better wear wellies. Anyone walking past our kitchen though needed full chemical warfare kit.
We started to play further afield at the Camden Falcon, Hamstead White Horse, and also Windsor Old Trout with the Inspiral Carpets.
In the summer of 89 we played in London at Fulham Greyhound. We got a parking ticket and also got a publishing deal with CBS which was to fund our first 3 singles which we put out on our own Fairweather label.
Just before we signed the CBS deal we were summoned to meet the head of Polygram who was keen to sign a hungry young act with a taste for both sales and bad behaviour on a massive scale. As the rentacar sped towards London, in our heads, Onionhead were now rock 'n' roll demons with companies fighting over them and the renta car was a Pimpmobile towing a trailer load of girls. Unfortunately once in the office the band settled into job interview mode. So when Mr Polygram asked what our favourite part of the demo was, no doubt expecting the cock sure arrogance of righteous rockers, he actually got the reply in (polite) pitch perfect unison (better than our backing vocals then)"Where the acoustic switches to the electric guitar in Ruminating." Not apparently the correct answer for bad boys of rock. We were the politest men in rock, a band who would tidy up hotel rooms and maybe flick between channels rather than chuck TV's out of windows. On the way back home the Pimpmobile turned into a sensible family saloon towing a caravan and our career at Polygram went down the chemical toilet.
The day we signed the CBS deal became the stuff of legend in our own heads. One of the CBS staff turned out to be the son of the man who turned The Beatles down, and then the fridge doors were opened. Yes CBS did maintain a champagne fridge, which we started to make an impression on. Official photos were taken which show the motley collection of facial hair, cardigans and hiking boots. I can accept responsibility for only 2 of these crimes. Let loose on the streets of the capital we drank more champagne and moved onto a Covent Garden restaurant with Mr CBS and his credit card. This was obviously going to be the start of a whole new and extravagant lifestyle for us and we were going to make some music as well. Sean phoned his Dad and told him he was calling from a Covent Garden restaurant with two bottles of Champagne in an ice bucket by his side. Sean cant remember his exact wordsit was either Im watching The Bill or Im watching The Bill you tosser.
Nick flushed with success and hammered on champagne demanded We need more champagne now. CBS felt theyd invested enough already, so Nick explored the cheaper option. We need beernow. If most band stories end with the record company squeezing the group dry our story at least started with the boot on the other footor the testicles in the other hand. While the rest of the band and Mr CBS shook hands, slapped backs and swore multi platinum success I drunkenly wrestled Mr CBS to the ground and squeezed his plums. I like to think this did not affect the professional working relationship we had with the company from that night, until (like testicles) we were dropped.
We didnt bother with a limo that night preferring to get the train to Borehamwood.
We recorded the first 4 songs at Redditch Workshop which were used on the 12 inch For Niceness. Search Party, Ruminating, Mind the gap, Pipeline. Mike Edwards did the artwork for all the singles and the cover star was Vince Pellagrino who was able to use this experience of being photographed with his mouth filled with snooker balls, nipples in clamps and a trappers hat in his acting career. He was a regular on Casualty, Where the heart is and is also in The Fifth Element. You might recognise him. Hes not Bruce Willis and hes wearing a mask.
We toured with Galaxie 500, playing Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bedford, Canterbury and also more dates with the Sandkings.
The second 12 inch single Ming also recorded at The Workshop included Level X-ing, Ruminating, Funny Way Of Showing It and Onionhead
Level X-ing was going to be our feel good hit of the summer, so Summer 1990 seemed the appropriate time to release it. It was also a good time for the World cup. We toured with the Katydids. They had some great songs, an lp produced by Nick Lowe, Susie Hugg was the saucepot female vocalist and in Adam Seymour they had a great guitarist who had all of Kimberley Rew's moves. He later took those moves to The Pretenders. We played gigs in Bath, Oxford, Stoke, Cambridge, whilst in Italy it was the World Cup and England, against all odds, were making progress. Audiences voted with their TVs and local fire chiefs could rest easy knowing that there was going to be no overcrowding at Katydids and Onionhead gigs.
Still we had a cunning plan. Nudity. The cover of third single Electric Ladland featured a tasteful tribute to the naked women cover of Jimi Hendrixs Electric Ladyland featuring Onionhead, Sandkings, managers and assorted exhibitionists. Again recorded at The Workshop it featured Honest To God, Half An Ark and a cover of the Rolling Stone's Monkey Man. The cover got lots of interest, the single itself got lost. We felt though that nudity was integral to the plot, vital to the role and we did not feel we had compromised our artistic ideals. We did learn a valuable lesson though. It is surprisingly easy to persuade blokes to get their kit off.
Our cover of Gentle On My Mind came out on 1967 Through The Looking Glass (Imaginary Records), an lp consisting of covers of songs from....1967. Our version boasted a 6 minute running time and was a subtle blend of our favourite bits from both the Glen Campbell and Elvis version.
What we needed was more money to release a fourth single. What we had though was a publishing deal that had come to the end of its initial term with CBS and the feeling that since the A and R who had signed us had left the company, no one else there liked us. It was true we had sold less records than Bon Jovi and possibly less than Bogshed, however we were still writing, still playing and still getting better. We proved this spectacularly to CBS when we played some of our new material. Catharsis was our speed metal audience frightener. Fast, loud and disturbed. We threatened it as a potential single. Maybe the lyrics "Catharsis, catharsis its a fucking catharsis" distracted Mr CBS from the sound of ringing cash tills. What we definitely heard though was the sound of his car driving off..... Bugger.
We recorded another 2 tracks at The Workshop in the summer of 91. Keep Me In Touch and It Comes Around. Sean and Barney left soon afterwards. So the last gig as a 5 piece was in Birmingham. It wasnt a Rock n roll megabowl enormodome but Kings Heath Hare and Hounds. We salute you. It was actually a great gig and felt to us like one of the best we'd played. We covered Fire Engine by The Thirteenth Floor Elevators and also I Touch Myself by The Divinyls. Members of the audience were probably not surprised at that revelation.
Mike designed the sleeves for all 3 singles and is also credited with being short, ginger and a phenomenal drummer. So when Barney left, The Red Dwarf, (strangely enough Mike preferred to be known as The Ginger Ninja) picked up those drumsticks and ran. And when he stopped running he started drumming. Seans rock 'n' roll trousers were generously cut and no else could have filled them (well none of the pint sized pot noodle eaters we knew) so that meant more room in the van for us. We played as a 4 piece at Camden Falcon and then again in London with the Rockingbirds before our last ever gig as Onionhead at Birmingham Hare and Hounds. Roostervelt (staunch chaps) were also on the bill. Nirvana's Never Mind lp had come out and bands were no longer claiming "Theres always been a dance element in our music." Guitars were back on the agenda. We even played Smells Like Teenspirit and gave Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl a bit of a kicking.
We still loved guitars and it seemed like the rest of the world was starting to feel the same way again, but next time would be different, next time we would be Tenderloin. But thats another story, high in big dreams, bigger cock-ups and some thunderous tunes that not enough people heard.
Tenderloin
After the final Onionhead gig in November 91 the four of us had no intention of stopping. We hadn’t finished with Rock even if Rock thought it had given us the slip.
We wanted to re-launch ourselves as a completely new band, new name, new members…same pants. The name Tenderloin came from one of San Francisco’s less salubrious districts and also crops up in a William Gibson book. More importantly though, filth fans…it included the word "loin". So now that the four politest men in rock had a suitably sleazy name, we needed a guitarist who could help us live up to it. We also needed someone who knew which way round to hold their instrument.
Audition number 3 turned up Dave Heimbecker, a 17-year-old Canadian who had wound up in Dorridge (which was not even the rock n roll capital of Solihull) as part of his multi national corporation executive Dad’s relocation package. A few seconds into what would turn out to be an unfeasibly long version of Neil Young’s Down By The River it was apparent that Dave had mastered the "trap door" guitar sound. He played like he was struggling to keep the zombies in the cellar, you could hear they were there, they’d bang on the cellar door, a ragged arm might appear, or a head but, he’d wedge the trap door again…but they’d still keep bursting out causing guitar mayhem before he’d force them back in.
He loved the Grateful Dead and (bizarrely) The Police, army surplus trousers and colour change T shirts.
We developed really quickly as a band. We took two Onionhead songs with us (It Comes Around and Landlocked) but the song writing and gelling as musicians was natural and came easily. Jules, Ed and I had been playing together for 4 years and had known Mike for a similar length of time, although he had only been drumming with us for 6 months. The songs we were working on were deliberately harder than the Onionhead material, making much more use of the guitars bouncing off each other and Dave’s Trap door guitar sound. I was playing simpler bass lines and Mike was going for a less is more but make it loud style. Hit it hard and make it count. The Country flavour had gone and the cowboy boots were back under the bed. We were listening to Nirvana, Sugar, The Pixies and Big Star. Jules’s tender love affair with The Beach Boys had become a frankly unpleasant bunk up with Black Sabbath.
Our first gig was Wolverhampton with Roostervelt and an acoustic duo featuring Trish Keenan from Broadcast
Two months later we recorded a session for Paul Flower's Radio WM Show at the BBC studios at Pebble Mill, that proved just how far we’d come. The engineer listened to us warm up, chose the mikes to suit the sound (including a 1950’s mike), we recorded it live in a couple of takes, vocals, and a guitar overdub or 2 and back the next day to mix. And that was it…easy. As far as I was concerned we had three and a half (well you’ve got to be picky, haven’t you?) well recorded, well played and arranged songs. We were utterly confident that Tenderloin would go further than Onionhead. Oooh missus…we were going all the way. A few more gigs, some label pestering and then success and choice of American or Japanese girlfriends would be ours. This was a plan so foolproof that we would even manage ourselves.
The session went out over the airwaves across the nation (well from Stoke to Coventry) and the tapes went out in jiffy bags to A and R staff who would hopefully not be able to resist the nipple tweaking cover designed by Mike or the musical delights within.
Happy Trails started with all of us hammering on the same beat, a falsetto doo doo doo doo vocal intro and then off it went…with a great poppy feel and a frantic final verse.
Coming up for Air. Deliberately grungy, great vocals from Jules and some inspired lyrics "Lady Luck drives a pickup truck" and Dave’s opening chords sound like he’s so eager to join in that he’s run across the room and kicked some chairs over on the way.
Everything is in it’s place. This song captures Ed’s style to a tee. He’d learnt guitar by listening to Beatles and Byrds records and when I first heard the guitars on Big Star’s 1 lp I was struck by how similar they were to the linear chord progressions that Ed liked to use. Everything Is In It’s Place has a Big Star/psychedelic feel to it with Dave playing a Grateful Dead type acoustic solo that mutates into a Captain Beefheart style cheese wire guitar solo.
Bridge Song. Pixies type circular riff which sounded fantastic but the vocal line was still a bit work in progress…. it was also a bit Bob Dylan and also generally, a bit rubbish. There was a great bit at the end though, where it sounds like the guitars couldn’t keep up. They probably couldn’t, but it actually works better for it. Towards the end of Otis Redding’s Try a Little Tenderness the song breaks down and Otis does his trademark "Gotta gotta gotta" trick. It’s a classic soul moment, which everyone knows and loves. When Percy Sledge recorded his version it sounds like when he came to that same section, he doesn’t know whether or not to try and outsoul the soul man. So he ends up squeezing out a "Gotta, gotta "or two before giving up with such a heartfelt groan that it actually works better. Obviously I’m not claiming that Tenderloins unloved Bridge Song should be standing in the same bus queue as those two soul masters…all I’m saying is…"Sometimes I like the mistakes better."
Our first London gig was at Camden Falcon supporting Peter Astor. They needed the soundcheck as a rehearsal and reckoned that they were more popular in France. The Spinal Tap translation would be "Becoming more selective in their appeal". They were popular enough in Camden though.
We played frequently in London (usually Camden Falcon or Bull and Gate with the likes of Subjagger, Mother Earth and Hooten Three Car) whilst in Birmingham we played at Moseley Jug of Ale and Pen and Wig. We did once stray as far as Bradford Alhambra with Monorail who had a really good pop soul sound and were last seen on the National Lottery show. The night ended in tears though, and an empty petrol tank.
We could still not resist a cover version though. We definitely could not resist American Trilogy complete with Dave doing his trap door guitar sound on the star spangled banner section and all of us trying to do Elvis karate moves whenever our limbs didn’t actually need to be in contact with our instruments. The comedy cover that completely eluded us though was Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. We’d got really confident musically and so it was a shock to us to find we couldn’t actually play it in a recognisable form and although Jules could do the Freddie strut with a short mike stand, he didn’t have the same vocal range, or the dwarfs with trays of coke balanced on their heads following him around, or the backstage blow job tent for the pre encore pick me up. More’s the pity.
We used to do a really good version of Who’ll Stop The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival, which we gave a London Calling era Clash type feel. I remember playing this at the Jug of Ale, with Jules dressed to impress in mascara and smoking jacket.
Mike and Ed built some of the outsize living room furniture that Blur used as part of their stage set in 1993. Blur had been playing a new song, which Mike told them, didn’t work. Obviously that song was their career reviving Girls And Boys. We later supported them at Birmingham Irish Centre. Their Tour manager Ifan Thomas wanted to get involved with the band but sadly the record buying public didn’t agree with Mike’s critical assessment of Girls and Boys. Blurs career picked up. Ifan got busy…we went back to plotting in the pub.
Things started picking up at this time, Peter Paphides who (unknown to us at the time) had been an Onionhead fan was writing for Melody Maker. The logic was simple…play a great gig…get a great review…we could give up our paper rounds. Andy Hackett from The Rockingbirds always came to our gigs and wanted to help. One night after a gig at the Falcon we were all due to stop at Onionhead’s long lost manager Nick’s Clapham love nest, but the hire van was due back early morning. The signs were not good as Dave and Ed disappeared into the night with Andy Hackett and a member of Primal Screams entourage. Obviously a night of restraint and temperance was not on the cards but miraculously angels delivered them back to us next morning. It must have been angels, as no taxi would have stopped for our two dribbling guitarists. And the hire company got their vehicle back. (Purveyors of all forms of Transit to Ruby Turner, FM and ELO 2, with the promo pics on the Portacabin wall to prove it) We supported The Rockingbirds at Islington Powerhaus the night before one of Dave’s exams. All our good intentions about getting him back early and exam ready fell by the wayside as he lurched across the dance floor to The Black Crows. The damage had been done.
We played at Wolverhampton Poly supporting the Tansads. Just as we were going on stage the Ents officer said that one of the guest list places had been taken by an A and R man who hadn’t (as far as I knew) seen us in London but had been interested enough to make a trip to the midlands. We all played brilliantly that night, Jules’s stage performance and vocals oozed star quality and we rocked with a capital ROCK. At one point Dave just pogo-ed round and round in circles, pulling off a great piece of guitar WANG but stopping just before the lead that had wrapped round his legs, pulled off his amp. As we played and realised just how good we were that night, we all knew that no one who saw us would be able to resist. A recording contract would be ours before the post gig beer. After the gig I looked round for Mr A and R. The Ents Officer had described him as wearing as baseball cap…the only person I could see matching that description was Steve The Hat, friend of The ‘Loins, bald headed and be-hatted and as it turned out…. Guest List Impostor. We’d played the best gig of our career for our mate from the pub.
Andy Wicketts had been in the original Duran Duran line up but in 1993 he was singing with World Service. He was a very clever songwriter and really engaging frontman. Jules, who had plenty of great moves himself, was actually quite in awe of him as a performer.
We recorded 4 tracks at Andy’s home studio set up at his house in Erdington. Feels Good To Know, It Comes Around (an Onionhead song), Moonshine Hollow and Re-aligned (a re-written version of Bridge Song recorded at the BBC the previous year). The sound of the tracks we did with him though couldn’t shake off the sound of an Erdington bedroom. Within earshot of Spaghetti Junction doesn’t have the same romance as The sound of the Westway.
Things were coming to a head with the band though. We played with Elizabeth Jane at Birmingham Exposure (suitably enough it’s now a lap dancing club) on the night of Dave’s last exam. He brought a whole new level to the concept of drunken guitar playing and heroically staggered home with…an older woman. But his exam results hit him like the inevitable hangover. In Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Ted was threatened with Colonel Oates military academy in Alaska, Dave, however, was shipped back to engineering college in Canada. Most Heinous.
His last gig with us was at Dudley JB’s. Once again…we were great and we finished with a thunderous version of The Rocker by Thin Lizzy.
"Down at the juke joint me and the boys were jumpin’
Bippin and boppin’and tellin’ a dirty joke or two
In walked this chick and I knew she was up to something
So I kissed her right there, out of the blue"
I’m sure you did Phil Lynott…I’m less convinced you did Julian Gray.
Tenderloin were in a tailspin. We’d heard promising sounds from the A and R at Radioactive. In the following year they would put out the first Black Grape Lp and a single by Cooler Than Jesus (one of whom ended up in Menswear). But then Radioactive stopped returning Tenderloin phone calls and instead concentrated on Traci Lords. Just why would they choose to work with kit off US female porn star when they could develop a musical relationship built on respect and mutual understanding with the by now 75% bearded, generally clothed and 100% male Tenderloin? What could she do that we couldn’t…apart from three men at a time? We were baffled and stunned.
We started playing acoustic gigs as local promoters had realised that as audiences for live bands were reducing, smaller PA’s meant lower costs. Acoustic gigs were fun at the time because it was an excuse to learn and play new covers. We used to play Velvet Underground’s Who loves The Sun, Scott Walker’s Duchess, Neil Young’s Look Out For My Love, Gram Parson’s Brass Buttons, Beatles Two of Us, Pete Townsend’s Mary Ann with The Shaky Hand, Squeezebox by The Who and The Beach Boys I’d Just Once Like To See You (In the nude). Yes musical scholars will have noticed that we didn’t need to be asked twice to play a song with a double entendre.
We played at an acoustic gig Birmingham Que Club in March 94 with Dean O’Loughlin (who’d later show up on Series 2 Big Brother). This was one of a handful of gigs we played with Steve The Hat on guitar
Mike had moved to London and shared a flat with Guy Massey who was an engineer at Abbey Road (and also Vince Pellegrino who was an Onionhead cover star and an actor in his own right). This led to our biggest and best adventure and the recording that I’m most proud of. Studio 2 (yes those Beatles and yes that staircase) had been block booked by Cliff Richard apparently for recordings related to Heathcliffe the Musical. Mind boggling stuff. The most famous Christian in pop was not likely to be working over the Easter weekend…so we did. It apparently took Paul Weller 17 years to get to record at Abbey Road and we were doing it without a deal.
We recorded Feels Good To Know, which Steve The Hat had added some detuned Stones chords to and Mike came up with a great piano part which could not have been more seaside sounding if it had worn a kiss me quick hat and had sand and dog shit between it’s toes. The song had developed from an AC/DC type riff that Ed had come up with as a band intro over a stuttering, changing time signature beat. (Not quite as Prog Rock as it sounds) The first few times we played the riff we just used to giggle at our audacity and I definitely remember us playing just the opening riff as an intro at the Blur gig at Irish Centre. By now though Jules had got a great vocal line, I took my bass line walkabouts towards the end of the song and Mike did the absolute drumming business.
Underneath The Stars had a Kinks vocal influence and a soul/rock feel like Groovy Times by The Clash. The vocals were sped up to give Jules a younger, breathless, eager sound. It was a song about young love after all.
The next band due in were Radiohead. Guy was really excited about it. This would eventually (and elsewhere) turn into The Bends. At the time I didn’t share Guy’s enthusiasm (Mike and I had similar talents when it came to misreading the zeitgeist). That time I was definitely wrong.
Despite the fact that they were both strong songs and the best quality recorded work we’d done, we couldn’t raise any interest from anybody. Brit Pop was just surfacing and we still didn’t fit in. In fact I’d seen Oasis at The Jug of Ale in Moseley 3 months earlier, playing in a pub to 150 people who left as soon as they’d finished. I thought Oasis were excellent, but unlike the other 149 peoples, I have to report that it was the headline act that I’d gone to see. The Faces meets Jimmy Krankie sound of…Whiteout. Once again I’d missed the Zeitgeist and the bus.
Our last gig was an acoustic night at the Birmingham Flapper and Firkin. Our costs were minimal, the share of the door negligible. I put the fiver straight in the pinball machine.
And that was it…Tenderloin fizzled out, no tantrums, or walkout’s, no musical differences…if anything it was musical indifference as we just couldn’t find any one who loved the band as much as we had. Jobs, houses, children, wives, girlfriends (all in varying combinations) took over. There were still bands and music though…Mike played with The Fleapit Orchestra; Jules formed Parachute with ex members of L Kage and issued 3 singles on the Fortune and Glory label. He now performs solo and has put some tracks out through Oporto. Ed and I played stripped down "Punk Rock Northern Soul" covers with sax, drum machine and a female vocalist. Ed played bass in Special Needs with Steve the Hat and The Dirty Old Folkies.
I’m not playing at the moment, but that‘s OK…after all, I was the bassist in two of my favourite bands.
