Eating Madeleine with Whyte August

Index

italics are sometimes eggs

Screaming Mary

Around New Year '74, Mary and Angie came to a Planetarium disco at Warminster Assembly Hall. WA was playing and Mary had come to check out the band. Mary was in the band the moment Dave saw Angie, and realised that having Mary in the band would lead to seeing a lot more of Angie. And he did see a lot more of Angie. A lot. Perhaps Mary was impressed by the effect the band had on the audience; the audience seemed a bit dubious and John "Hard" Rodwell had shouted out "You're too fuckin' heavy for this lot!" Whatever, Mary decided to join, and luckily for the band, it turned out that she had the voice of an angel, if a little underpowered – but then the whole band were still learning at this stage – and anyway, but a year later, Mary's voice was an awesome thing. The inclusion of Mary led to WA2.

And now they really began to practice in earnest. Not solely for the music, for band practices had become a social event; not only were all the band members usually present, but Chris, as manager, Angie, as Dave's girlfriend,  and as other assorted friends all tagged along.

Mary, shaking her booty (she's holding it in her right hand). The vibes were not heavy. Note, again, the sinister involvement of the Planetarium.

Something must be said about the band's influences, for Chris once wrote a letter – to be posted various places in an attempt to secure gigs – that boasted of the band's disparate influences. And what disparate influences they were. While John was attempting to write lyrics like Pete Sinfield and Peter Hammill, Steve was influenced by Led Zeppelin, Yes and King Crimson, Dave by Jethro Tull and The Groundhogs, Martin by The Beatles, Genesis and Peter Paul and Mary, and Mary by various folkies and, increasingly, reggae.

Of course, most of these influences completely ruined the nascent Whyte August. Too many songs of Genesis, Yes and Jethro Tull were twelve minute epics that had non-traditional structures. Listening back to the old Whyte August tapes, what strikes me now is that few of these songs develop in the traditional sense. There are no bridges, middle-eights, or repeated choruses, apart from in The River and Dreams. This is, I believe, partly due to the band's influences. If the band had tried harder to emulate those bands among their favourites that wrote more traditionally organised songs – like Zeppelin or The Beatles – then perhaps WA's songs early songs would have more interest. What did interest me about these early songs, however, is that most had an interesting melody, and Mary had a very pure voice.

Martin and his Rickenbacker... copy
Martin, accepting his
inevitable fate.

By late 1975, Martin had accepted his inevitable fate and become a bassist. Mary could now sing more powerfully. John, at last, had his flute. Dave had a "proper" Telecaster copy. And Steve's drum-kit was falling to pieces.

Despite increasing technical proficiency, WA's gigs were sporadic, and never major. They usually played at parties, or at the odd disco. Earlier gigs had been memorable for various reasons. WA playing as a duo, for example, after Martin had gallantly lent Dave his guitar when Dave broke two guitar strings and didn't have any more. Crazy feedback solos by Dave. Crazy drum solos by Steve, where he would refuse to play the drums for minutes and only play the rims, the cymbal stands, and other hardware. How very avant-garde!

The Planetarium disco has a small but significant role in the development of Whyte August, either by providing gigs, or by loaning the erstwhile superstars lighting, amplification, speakers, and so on. The story of the Planetarium disco will one day be told. Studio 54 it ain't. As an indication of the technological sophistication of the Planetarium disco, and the ways in which this audio marvel promoted itself to the community, I offer this memento.
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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.

The popularity of certain elements of glam-rock fashion even filtered down to the streets of Warminster, resulting in Crad's home-made platform boots.

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Such was Crad's desire for a pair of platform boots at a time of impecunity that Terence, Graham and Crad set about constructing a pair, using a a brace of old Chelsea boots. Ah, great was the craftsmanship! Platform soles were lovingly created from lumps of wood. These were nailed to the boots. The boots were then sprayed silver.

Crad wore his new daisy roots to a Planetarium Disco, together with his drape. Towards the end of the evening, despite – or perhaps because of – Crad's new-found trendiness – after all, who could now match his street-cred – some rough boy pushed Crad over. Given the inflexibility of the aforementioned platform shoes, Crad was unable to get up again. Some sort of bundle ensued during which Terence's knee was dislocated (again). Street-fighting men!

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Whyte August 2
John Ries Lyrics/Flute
Steve Dewey Drums/Vocals
Dave Butcher Guitar/Vocals
Martin Hollands Bass guitar
Mary Cousland Vocals
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Dear Sir,

I, as the Manager of the group Whyte August, would like to inform you that they are available to play at any functions held at your establishment.

The group's music is a hybrid of disparate influences: Folk, Rock, and Jazz. The material is entirely self-penned and ranges from Soft Folk to Heavy Jazz with the accent on compositional and lyrical originality.

I will be pleased to forward you any further information your require.

Yours sincerely,

C. Tucker
Manager

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John, tooting his flute, nose-bleeds notwithstanding. And yes, he looked like that all the time. The funny thing is that, despite the passage of nearly thirty years, he could still go to Glastonbury and not be laughed at.

John is rootin-tootin at the Jack the Lad gig. Apparently, the flute sounded lovely from the on-stage monitors. Unfortunately, to the audience, while John might have looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, the flute sounded like it was a cat being dragged, by its tail, through a hedge, backwards. While being given a bath. Then combed for fleas. [hide]

The best information from some of the greatest minds in... well, Whyte August... indicates that they did the stunning total of 10 gigs over three years. For the completist or nostalgist, these were:

Pre-Crad & Mary:

With Mary:

With Crad:

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