Tarot

Tarot got some notoriety in 1980 with the song "Feel The Power", in the compilation "New Electric Warriors", unfortunately there isn't much information after that compilation. We had a chat with the lead singer Peter Allenby.

Q. - Hello Peter! When did Tarot start? Tell us a bit about the beginning of the band.

Peter - Tarot grew from two other bands back in the late 1970’s Modesty Blaise and First Base, Andy, Brian and myself previously played in MB and Malc joined from First Base, a friend suggested the name after watching a few rehearsals as the band had a past, present and hopefully a future, we started gigging the local clubs and music venues across Yorkshire.

Q. - Who would you cite as your major influences at that time?

Peter - The band were influenced by a lot of different artists and music generes, from Thin Lizzy, Bebop Delux, John Miles, Beatles etc etc. Personally My favorite vocalists at the time was undoubtably Roger Daltry and  Freddie Mercury.

Q. - Did you start writing your own songs since the beginning or were you most concentrated on covers?

Peter - We had written some original material prior to tarot, but started out with covers, and then introducing original material as we went along, until  99% of our set was original material.

Q. - In 1980 comes the compilation "New Electric Warriors", with the song "Feel The Power", how did that happen?

Peter - We were approached by someone from Sounds Magazine, after we started appearing in the Metal Charts most weeks.

Q. - After the release of the compilation album New Electric Warriors, there was a promotional mini tour, what other bands played with you? What memories do you keep from that tour?

Peter - We did a couple of gigs to promote the album Lowestoft Pier and Also Leeds University, there were 4 or 5 bands on each gig, I remember Streetfighter were on both gigs we had spoken to them at several gigs we both played at over a good few months (Andy Sykes was playing with them at the time, who later went to play with Lizzy) I believe the other bands were Jedadiah Strut, Rabstallion, Turbo, can’t remember the others

I remember the BBC came and filmed some of the Leeds gig, it was going to be part of a television programme but it never aired.

Q. - Did the song "Feel The Power" have airplay on Neal Kay's Bandwagon? Or did you play there too?

Peter - Not familiar with Neal Kay’s bandwagon.

Q. - Was it a big disappointment, having been close to sign a record deal with RSA but never ended up getting it?

Peter - It happens I guess, we thought we were on our way. But it wasn’t to be, it goes without saying we were all gutted.

Q. - Did you record some demos after New Electric Warriors?

Peter - The content of the new album is made up of the demo tracks recorded before and after NEW.

Q. - Tarot split up in 1982, what happened that lead to the split?

Peter - We had an incident in which all our lighting and PA rig was stolen, we did a couple of gigs with borrowed gear etc but it was never the same.

Q. - Did you remain friends after the band split?

Peter - The band have met up a fairly regular intervals over the years to remains over stuff, unfortunately we are down to three now.  Malc King passed away earlier this year.

Q. - Cult Metal Classics will be releasing a Tarot's compilation very soon, how do you feel about that?

Peter - It’s taken 40 years to become a rock star LOL I can’t wait to see how this pans out.

Q. - I presume that was an honour for you to take part of a movement as important as the NWOBHM, tell us a bit about those days and the impact it had in general?

Peter - We are talking about a world before mobile phones and the internet even MTV, it was a time when you had to gig to get your name around, we played with a lot of bands that made it from that time, Def leopard, John Parr, Tigers of Pan Tang, we all gigged extensively all trying to make that next step.

Q. - "Feel the Power" became a classic song for NWOBHM fans worldwide, how do you feel about that?

Peter - Obviously it’s fantastic that the song is considered a classic, we are all very pleased about that.

Q. - So what are you doing these days? Do you still play in any band, or are you still a heavy metal fan?

Peter - I still play in a covers band in Lancashire, it keeps me out of trouble, its less of sex, drugs and rock and roll and more early nights, pipe and slippers lol, but I still enjoy singing and getting up there. The rest of the band are all retired from playing, although we are all still fans of the HM scene.

Thank you for your time, and wish you all the best for the future!