Simon Adams A.K.A. Bandwagon Sid, was a regular at the Bandwagon (Soundhouse), in the early days of the NWOBHM movement, even winning the "Headbanger of The Year" contest that was held there in 1979. Here you have some of his memories of pure rock n roll living.
Q. - Hello Sid, how did your
interest in hard rock and heavy metal music start?
Sid - For me it began at the age of 11. I was given a place at one of the English public schools through a scholarship (I was seen as highly intelligent) and 95% of the other kids at my school were sons of people in the armed forces or nobility as it was a fee-paying school. Virtually everyone there had a stereo so instead of hearing singles on the radio I got to hear albums. Zeppelin, Purple, Heep, Hawkwind, Sabbath and lots of other bands who were around at the time, too many to mention but you get the idea, right?
Q. - Did you start to go to the
Soundhouse in the late 70's? Do you think it was a mythical place?
Sid - I first went there in 1976 as I was working nearby and a there was a girl that I really fancied who said she went there on a Sunday night so I went there just to hang out with her for the evening. This was when it was a disco place and then Neal Kaye came along and totally changed it. To me, it wasn't a 'Mythical Place' as it was just the place that I used to go to. The thing that I loved the most about it was that people from all over London started to turn up there and I got to meet some great people who are still good friends to this day and through them I got into a lot of bands that I'd never heard before.
Q. - How would you describe the
enthusiasm of the fans? Do you remember the effort and dedication on the
cardboard guitars contest?
Sid - To be honest, at the first 'Headbanger Of The Year' contest the only person who had anything apart from fresh air was Loonhouse. He was without a doubt the man who started off the whole thing although I will point out that his guitars were made of hardboard and not cardboard as many people think. He used to build them in his garage as I can testify to, he made my gold 'Les Paul' which I used in my '15 minutes of fame' in the Living After Midnight video by Judas Priest (Loonhouse used his trusty red Flying V). I'll put the video clip on your fb timeline so you can see it, the 2 other guys were Dobbo on 'drums' and Clive Bassett on 'bass', (Loonhouse made the Rickenbacker as well). The first time that I ever saw multiple hardboard guitars was at the Headbanging Band contest in 1979 when all the 4 bands that took part had everyone 'fully equipped'. Normal nights at the Soundhouse nobody except Loonhouse had one, it was expected of him and I know for a fact that people came down there just to see this legendary guy with his red hardboard Flying V. He even used to take it to concerts for fucks sake!!! Everyone who came down to the Soundhouse for the first time always got a warm welcome from the regulars for the simple reason that they were rock fans the same as we were and we were seen as 'evil people' by 95% of society because we liked rock music (ask Jimmy 'Tee Rets' Norcott !!!). People who came loved the place because they met like-minded people and got into new bands by word of mouth or swapping cassette tapes, no internet or you tube in those days!!!
Q. - Do you know what ever happened to Rob Loonhouse?
Sid - Sadly Paulo. Loonhouse has apparently become a total recluse. He won't leave his house, won't answer the phone, nothing. One of my great friends from the Soundhouse days is award winning rock journalist Mark Blake and he was very close to Loonhouse. He told me about a year ago that Loonhouse was meant to turn up at a bar for a re-union of some sorts about 10 years ago, he didn't turn up and nobody that he knows has seen him since. I became very close friends with him after the 'Headbanger Of The Year' contest in December 1978 when we were voted best and second best in the competition (I won it by the way, will send you a picture of my trophy presentation later). He actually introduced me to the woman that I ended up marrying (she was his boss's daughter) and he was at our wedding as well.
Q.- What about the Music Machine
gig on May 8, 1979, with Samson, Angel Witch and Iron Maiden? Did you see it as
the re-emergence of the heavy metal movement?
Sid - The Music Machine gig in 1979? I'm sure that I would have been there but can't remember for sure. Did I see it as the re-emergence of the Heavy Metal Movement? Didn't even think about it to be honest Paulo, it was just another night for me in that I'd go to a gig, bump into the same people from all over London and rock out to some good bands. All I can remember is that slowly the venues that I was going to were now becoming clubs rather than pubs and there seemed to be more new faces appearing that all us 'regulars' had never seen before.
Q. - When you were frequenting
the Soundhouse in the late 70's, early 1980’s were there any bands that
surprised you or were you disappointed with?
Sid - What you have to remember Paulo is that while there were some really good bands emerging, there were also a hell of a lot of bands that were, shall we say to be polite, not so good. It wasn't a case of being disappointed with a band as I realised that some would be better than others, it was all about getting lucky and coming across the right band, usually by accident. Even if the band you went to see were not that good, you'd have a night out drinking beer with fellow rock fans and maybe make a new friend or two.
Q. - What bands most impressed
you at the beginning of the N.W.O.B.H.M.? And why?
Sid - The bands that I used to take an interest in at the very start (or before it even all began maybe) were Angel Witch, Iron Maiden, Praying Mantis and Urchin. They were the ones who, to me anyway, had the best songs and put on the best live shows and I have no hesitation whatsoever in saying that if all 4 bands were playing on the same night, I would be at the Urchin gig as they were my favourite.
Q. - Were there any bands that
you used to follow on tour, at that time?
Sid - Urchin. Living in London we saw lots of bands every week and getting around London was pretty easy via public transport so London gigs were never a problem. However, outside of London and within 100km distance, Urchin were my 'go-to' band. Being an Urchin fan made me a lot of new friends as it was the same people turning up for the gigs, we got to know each other well and a 'band of brothers' were born. One of the guys had a transit van so we decided to drive out to Urchin gigs outside London. We went to a lot of US Air Force bases for gigs as well as pub gigs and we became known as the 'Cockneys On Tour' (Cockney is the name used by non-Londoners to describe people from London although a true cockney is from East London). At the airforce base gigs, it was usually Iron Maiden SUPPORTING Urchin as well. I'm still in very close contact with a couple of the guys from COT, would you like me to hook you up for some of their memories from back in the day as well? There is also a Cockneys On Tour fb page if you want to check it out.
Q. - And what about the
"Friday Rock Show"? What memories do you keep from listening to Tommy
Vance?
Sid - This might surprise you Paulo but I never listened to it once. I heard copies of the show that my friends had taped and, from all the taped shows that I heard, I only heard 2 or 3 new songs that I didn't know. You must remember that I grew up in London, Friday was the start of the weekend after a week at work so it was time to drink a few beers with your mates and there was always either a good band on or a rock club night on somewhere. Stay at home on my own and listen to the radio where I might not hear a single song that I didn't know in two hours? No chance mate.
Q. – How did you get the chance to be on the “Living After Midnight”
video?
Sid - I remember it quite well,
this guy came down to the bandwagon looking for guys to be on the crowd for the
video clip.
We were a headbanging band and I
told him don’t look anywhere else, we’re here we’ll do it! We’ll do it as a
headbanging band and we got the job! We did the video! We went to Sheffield and
Iron Maiden was the supporting band, and we were friends with Maiden at that
time. Rob Halford is a down to earth guy, friendly, very nice guy, all the guys
were really nice, a bunch of nice guys.
We stayed there and watched the show and got merchandise for free, we were in the guest list for the whole tour. It will stay with me forever, a chance to hang out with guys I really like. I remember one night at that tour, I was watching Iron Maiden live and Adrian Smith came to me and told me that he was going to join the band. I was very happy for him because he was the right man for the job.
Q. – What do you feel when you look at yourself on the video?
Sid - I feel like I’ve been transported back in time. I’m single, free, and it takes me back to a magic time, I had some really fantastic friends, many people knows that I was part on that video, even here in the Netherlands, that’s something I’ll never forget, something I look back with lots of pride and happiness. My 15 minutes of fame.
Q. - Do you keep in touch with Neal Kay? Do you think he was very
important in the revival of heavy metal in the late 70's?
Sid - Yes, definitely, I spoke with
him two days ago and message him today, there is this guy that is writing a
book about Neal Kay, about his all career, and he is going to interview me
about the Soundhouse days, and what went on at that time. Yes, Neal was DJ
years and years, way back before the NWOBHM and he was extremely important,
there were some rock clubs in London and people from all London went to the
Soundhouse, we called it home, people went there to listen to new music. Many
bands brought cassettes to him, asking him to listen to their bands, that’s how
he knew about new bands and he play them, at the Soundhouse you could listen to
music that you couldn’t listen elsewhere, and another thing, when we were rock
fans in the 70’s, people didn’t like us, they thought we were devil worshipers,
Satanists, that was the reputation we had, this guy gave us a home where we
could meet together and everybody was equal. In 4 years, I went there I never
saw one fight, we were there to listen to music and I never saw any trouble there
it was fantastic.
He was basically the one who
built the Soundhouse, Geoff Barton wrote an article in the Sounds magazine, and
Neal convinced him to put a heavy metal chart in the magazine, after that it
completely took off, everybody knew where to go hanging with rockers and listen
to new bands, people started to come from further places, Sweden, Norway. He
played demo tapes from bands that we didn’t know, like Praying Mantis, and
people took interest about who were these new bands, that would not be possible
without Neal,
The worth night was when Neal had to play the standard bands. I was regular, I used to go 3 times in a week, I made a lot of good friends, I met my wife there in 79!
Q. - Did you try to play in some bands back then? Tell us a bit about it
please.
Sid - I did but I was useless!! It would be better if I played in a punk band, because it was easier. But I was a good sound engineer, I went to California, San Diego, and learned how to do it!! But never did it in England, only in America I was there for 10 years (89-99). People liked my job, I did hundreds of shows, mostly local American bands. Not because I’ve worked as a sound engineer but the sound guy is the most important guy in the building when a band is playing live, you can have the best band playing, but if the sound guy doesn’t know what he’s doing, it’s going to be shaite!! At one of those shows I’ve met Ice-T, very nice guy.
Q. - What do you think of this recent revival of the N.W.O.B.H.M., and
all these bands reforming?
Sid - To me some of them I think
they reform because they love what they do, they can’t resist it. For example,
Def Leppard, they do it just for the money and it pisses me off, another
example, Kiss, they have some great songs, but I would not see them live, they
asked for a bunch of money to meet them after the show on the farewell tour, they
are extremely rich, don’t need money, why do they not put cheap tickets for
their farewell tour, a way to say thank you for their fans! Even if they put
cheap tickets people would by merchandise and they would do lots of money.
I would not ever spend money to meet a band, that’s not going to happen. I used to see pub bands, the bands used to hang out after the shows for the fans. It brings me great memories from those days, bands were not there for the money, they were there for rock ‘n’ roll, and that’s what makes it relevant.
Thank you for your time, and wish you all the best for the future!
