Mark Robertson profile picture

Mark Robertson

MANIAC DRUMMERS FROM HELL........

About Me

London escapee, played drums in various bands. Those I can (or want to) remember are : Meteors (& Clapham South Escalators), Theatre of Hate, Escalators, Chelsea, Deadbeats, Ruffhouse All Stars,Tall Boys, Big Bad Wolf (with Shanne & Barnet Mark), Johnson Family & Queen B's. Also "guested" with Boothill Foottappers and backed Bill Hurley (Inmates) for a couple of shows of Elvis covers in Paris. Jammed one night in Paris with the late & great Johnny Thunders & for a while with Wreckless Eric. Still have my cherished 1981 Black Ludwig kit (thank you Island Records ) and a 1963 Gretsch Champagne Sparkle kit. Recently dusted down my sticks and started playing again for fun. Last gig was about 6 -7 years ago, but might be tempted again one day. Happily married to Suzie and living in French countryside for 6 years. Working for a living, with a connection to music. When I'm not doing that I have a vineyard, make my own wine and am the proud co-owner of a flock of chickens. I started posting the METEORS story as a series of blogs in 2007. They seem to be quite popular - almost 11,000 views to date. Older blogs can be found in the BLOG ARCHIVE. Et en français : Evadé de Londres. Ancien batteur du Meteors, Escalators,Deadbeats, Tall Boys, Johnson Family et Queen B’s (et des autres groupes je prefere d’oublier !). Etabli en France (dans la campagne) il y a six ans. Marié à Suzie, je travaille avec un rapport de la musique. On a des poules et des vignes. Je faire le vin moi-même. Je joue la batterie pour mon plaisir, mais peut-être un jour …… ?


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My Interests

Music, film, wine, food & la vie francaise
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I'd like to meet:

I'd like to have had a drink with Hemingway, Ollie Reed, Keith Moon and John Bonham. And shared a burger with Elvis and smoked a few with Serge Gainsbourg.

Music:

Elvis, Gene, Hank, Eddie, Johnny Burnette, Sonny Burgess, Bob Luman, Jimmie Lee Maslon, Johnny Cash, Pirates, Stooges,Sonics, Doors, Johnny Halliday & Eddie Mitchell(50s - 60s),Francoise Hardy, Screaming Jay Hawkins,Serge Gainsbourg. Cramps, New York Dolls, Heartbreakers. Punk - partic. Clash, Pistols, Damned, Buzzcocks, X-Ray Spex, Penetration, Slaughter & the Dogs, Dead Kennedys. Ants (circa Dirk Wears White Sox), Bauhaus. Specials, Selecter and early Dexys. Plus weakness for early 70's hard rock (Zep, Sabbath etc.).Motorhead, Nick Cave (Murder Ballads),eels, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Queens of the Stone Age, Henry Rollins, Gossip, ......

Movies:

Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Island of Lost Souls, anything by Jim Jarmusch, Betty Blue,Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, French cop films of the 70's & 80's,Blade Runner, Leon, The Machinist, Usual Suspects, Black Hawk Down, Spinal Tap, Amelie, Chocolat

Television:

Black Books, Father Ted, My Name is Earl, Mighty Boosh,Iron Chef (original version),Anthony Bourdain, South Park, Match of the Day, repeats of OGWT, the Tube.

..

Books:

Bukowski, Burroughs, Carlos Castaneda, Philip K. Dick, Iain Banks (non-sci-fi)Auto/Biographies (recently Anthony Kiedis,Joe Strummer & Iggy Pop), Balzac, Edgar Allen Poe.

Heroes:

On drums - John Bonham, Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Ian Paice, Topper Headon, Nick Knox and Animal. Other musicians - Joe Strummer, Bryon Gregory, Link Wray, Johnny Thunders, Lemmy, Johnny Cash, Rev Tony (TS) McPhee, Screaming Jay ("he's my main man"). Film - De Niro, Scorcese, Coppola, Jarmusch, Beatrice Dalle. Winemakers - Didier Dagueneau, Claude Courtois Football - George Best, Eric Cantona

My Blog

Escalators on My Space

Thanks to the generosity of some kind people there's now an Escalators page. Lots of pics and some music, including Munsters Theme and a live recording of Flanders Fieldshttp://www.myspace.com/theesca...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:08:00 PST

Voodoo Rhythm - Dance with the Devil

Did a little solo show for France's national Music Festival on 21st June. As part of it I got another couple of drummers (one's a student of mine) to play my interpretation of Cozy Powell's "Dance wit...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:56:00 PST

Sideways drumming picture now moved

NOW MOVED TO DRUM PICS FOLDER  The pics were taken in September 2006 at the Baltic Mill gallery in Gateshead, UK. The drum kit was part of an installation by a Thai artist Surasi Kusolwong. It wa...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:40:00 PST

METEORS STORY - PART 18 THE ROYAL WEDDING

The 29th July 1981 dawned and bright sunshine lit the land. Prince Chas was to marry his princess Diana, but more importantly the Meteors would play two shows  headlining the Bromley Alternative Mu...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Mon, 19 May 2008 12:49:00 PST

METEORS - THE EARLY DAYS PART 17

25th July and the Meteors made a welcome return to Feltham football club. We loved this place. The crowd was fucking incredible, the guys that organised it really friendly and the beer/snakebite flow...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:48:00 PST

METEORS - THE EARLY DAYS PART 16 JOHN PEEL & THE MARQUEE

The day after the Hammersmith Palais show John Peel broadcast the Meteors session for the first time. We had recorded five tracks at the BBC's Langham Road 1 studio on the 16th of June. These were Vo...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Tue, 15 Jan 2008 07:25:00 PST

Drums and drummers

The moment I knew I had to play the drums was in 1970 at the tender age of 14. My dad took me to see the film of the previous year's Woodstock happening. The film features Santana playing "Soul Sacri...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:40:00 PST

METEORS - THE EARLY DAYS PART 15

After our return from the Cramps tour we recorded a session for the John Peel show. Four tracks in all including Love you to Death (a new song of Paul's) and Rockabilly Psychosis. The first broadcast...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:47:00 PST

METEORS - THE EARLY DAYS PART 14

After leaving the rocking scene the Meteors had picked up a following of rockabillies, punks and skins which was fairly unusual at a time when tribal divisions still persisted. Despite the obvious en...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:28:00 PST

METEORS - THE EARLY DAYS PART 13

26th May 1981 and we played Loughborough University. Can't remember too much about this one. The student's union gigs tended to be a bit chaotic in organisation, although the students we met were alw...
Posted by Mark Robertson on Mon, 29 Oct 2007 04:34:00 PST