Birth Place & Year:
York 19blah blah!
First Major Band I Saw Live:
Slade in 1971
First Record Bought:
'Ride A White Swan' by T. Rex; 'Maggie May' by Rod Stewart; 'Get Down Get With It' by Slade.
First Album:
'Slade Alive' by Slade
The Beginning:
I learnt to play the guitar when I was 16 on a cheap £8 acoustic (the action was terrible!) The record that really changed my whole outlook on music was Paul McCartney's 'Band On The Run' album. I started buying, borrowing and begging all his previous work along with John Lennon's solo albums, which ultimately led to me buying everything by the Beatles, and started listening to their harmony work and arrangements.
1975
Began to write my own songs and formed my first band called Dutch Treat, playing covers and originals. Also discovered Paul Rodgers, Bad Company and Free, another big turning point…
1977
Formed Nerve Senta and continued to write original songs, 11 of which are included in the 12 track album by Nerve Senta, recorded at Fairview Studios in Hull and released in 1981.
1984
Joined progressive rock outfit Watch With Mother and made a rock video called 'Access All Areas' and released a 12" E.P. containing 3 tracks. Supported Gong at the Wolverhampton University, plus Imagination and Jo Boxer at the University of York. Disbanded in 1986 and 3 members of the band went on to form The Bogus Brothers who are very successful and still touring today.
1987
Played the dreaded W.M.C. circuit with Powergram but soon tired of that scene… Bingo and Committee men…! Formed Overload with 2 members of Nerve Senta and 2 members of Lyze. Recorded a 4 track tape called 'Pack Of Four'(I composed 2 songs and D. Sykes composed the other 2). It was a great 5 piece outfit – highlights of the band were playing the legendary Marquee in London (the Stones and Hendrix played there) and supporting Ruby Turner at the University of York.
1989
Had another stint on South Yorkshire W.M.C circuit with the show band called PLC but once again became quickly disillusioned with the scene and had already started forming The Underpaid, a rock covers band but adding to it a brass section called The Rocking Goose Horns.
1990
The Underpaid decided to write their own material and change their name to Jackson Cage, plus shedding The Rocking Goose Horns to become a 5 piece rock band once again. Released an album of original songs by D. Sykes and yours truly called 'Moving On' in 1991 and disbanded in 1992. The Rocking Goose Horns formed a band around their name, which include several line ups including Pat McGarry on vocals who went on to join The Bogus Brothers as lead singer. I also joined them as singer and enjoyed some great gigs with them till around 1994. Then I was asked to join a local outfit called the Ouse Brothers who had a 6 month residency in Rhodes, Greece. However, one of the provisions was that I would have to learn to play the bass, which I did (I wasn't gonna miss out on 6 months on a Greek island). The Ouse Brothers had already played the year before and had thoroughly enjoyed the lifestyle of sunshine, sea and sand, plus free food and drink. It was very enjoyable and I have wonderful memories of those times. After 3 seasons in Rhodes the Ouse Brothers went their separate ways.
1996
Life Support was formed with me on vocals and guitar, Liam Davison on Lead Guitar, Paul Gibbons on drums, and Al Hughes on bass. Life Support played rock covers by AC/DC, Cry of Love, Bad Company and Led Zeppelin and enjoyed local success until Liam Davison left to form Mostly Autumn with Brian Josh and went on to become very successful in Europe.
1997
Stone Cold Sober was a band with several line ups and a great reputation as a live act. We recorded 3 CDs featuring covers and originals, and saw several great musicians pass through its ranks including guitarists Col Elsworth, John Chambers, Sean McMullan and Mark Hopwood. Also Simon 'Waggo' Waggot on keyboards, Dave Hardy, Paul Gibbons, Trev 'Fatha' King on drums, vocalists Lisa Barrett, Lesley Chambers and Tony Jackson, with Sax player Chris Backhouse.
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