Steve Dewey - Whyte August 2

Acknowledgements

This potted history of Whyte August is a gift to old band members and friends.

Thanks now to: Dave, John, Martin, Crad and Chris for their memories and ephemera; to Phil for fishing out the old letters for use as historical records; Sally, Martin, Anthony, Mac and Dave for photos; to S. Carr-Gogh for these notes; and to Steve for Web space, and the whole project.

Thanks then to: the Planetarium Disco and Nigel Patterson for securing WA gigs; to the mothers and fathers who indulged us; to Dave's mum for filling us full of tea and cakes on Sunday afternoons; to Dennis at the Yew Tree for Wednesday evening hospitality, and almost becoming WA's spoons-player; to Mike Hale and Colin Inman for transport; to the residents of Bishopstrow for tolerating WA's noise, twice a week, for three years; and to the Tarot pack.

Boo hiss to Swansea for finishing us off when we'd only just got started.

Credit must be given to Cradle Hill, a hill outside Warminster, for painting a somewhat forgotten picture of true completeness which acted as an incentive to some of these musical statements.

This might seem pointless, but it was us, then, in the middle of belief and excitement. Which can never be a bad thing to remember.

Here we see Dennis, a nutty-boy before Madness, shaking his booty. You can see why Whyte August thought that Dennis might have been a natural addition to the line-up. The problem was – how to amplify the spoons?

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During the two to three years in which WA created their outlandish racket, the number of complaints made by residents of the sleepy village of Bishopstrow can be counted on one hand. However, it is suspected that said residents were Whist junkies, and were grateful for the complete replacement and increase in numbers of baize-topped card tables.

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Cradle Hill lies but a mile or two outside Warminster. In the 60s and 70s, it was a great temple for communing with our space-brethren.

Steve and John give ample consideration of the Thing in In Alien Heat.

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It would be foolhardy of me to omit the names of the perpetrators of this atrocity.

L-R: Colin Inman, Steve Dewey, Chris Tucker, John Ries, Graham Jones, Step Jones (hidden behind exploding ego), Mac, Deb nee Woollard, Nigel Patterson.

Younger members of the audience might wonder what reason lies behind this preposterous fancy dress? Well, settle back. The entry of this float into Warminster's grand carnival parade took place some time around 1974. The charts were full of glam-rock artists. The Planetarium only played the latest and grooviest music -- Wizzard, Gary Glitter, Slade, T. Rex. This carnival float is an iconography of the stars of the time. There is no doubt, for example, that Graham represents Marc Bolan, while Step is the very embodiment of Rod the Mod. Nigel is Roy Wood - hence fright-wig. Tucks is Alice Cooper. The identities represented by the other icons are left to the imagination. I can't decide.

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Eating Madeleine with Whyte August

Index

Acknowledgements