KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS PLAY THEIR FIRST UK BIG BAND GIG FOR YEARS AT THE FRIARS AYLESBURY CHRISTMAS PARTY ON

FRIDAY NOV 27-TOGETHER WITH
EIGHTIES ICONS CHINA CRISIS

Straight out of New York, Kid Creole exploded onto the UK scene in 1982. Their 1982 hits ‘Stool Pigeon’ (July) and ‘Annie I’m Not Your Daddy’ (October) coincided with their two Friars appearances. Many rate those euphoric nights as two of the best Friars Aylesbury gigs of all time and not without reason. Taken from the album ‘Tropical Gangsters’ ‘Annie’ reached No.2 in the UK and was only held off the top spot by Culture Club’s ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?’

August Darnell aka Kid Creole was brought up in the Bronx where he absorbed multiple musical influences which manifested itself as Kid Creole & The Coconuts. Kris Needs wrote the best piece ever on the band for MoJo magazine in 2007. Talking about the KC gig at Friars in October 1982 he says “The stage show was like Busby Berkeley choreographing a gang of Manhattan disco hedonists aboard George Clinton’s Mothership en route to the Caribbean. Darnell’s intricately-orchestrated mini-soap operas mixing big band swing, merciless funk, disco, salsa, calypso, reggae and classic musicals. His incisive vignettes of street life, social issues and relationships dug deeper than any disco exhortation.”

Influenced by Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, David Bowie and Brian Eno, Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon, first arrived as China Crisis in 1982 when they released their first single ‘African and White’ on the Inevitable label. They then signed to Virgin and released 5 albums ‘Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms: Some People think its fun to Entertain’, ‘Working With Fire and Steel: Possible Pop Songs – Volume 2’, ‘Flaunt the Imperfection’ (produced by Steely Dan’s Walter Becker) ‘What Price Paradise’ and ‘Diary of a Hollow Horse’. Then there were the big singles, ‘Christian’, ‘Wishful Thinking’, ‘Black Man Ray’ and ‘King in a Catholic Style’. Gary Daly and Eddie Lundun are superb songwriters and performers….. Liverpool’s best!

Tickets are £20 and are available from WeGotTickets.com, ticketweb.co.uk or from the Aylesbury Civic Centre Box Office. Tel: 01296 486009 or at the door on the night (if available).

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www.Aylesburyfriars.co.uk

Hobble on the Cobbles – best year yet….

…as the “Goo” Times rolled..!

Sunday 23 August saw Aylesbury town centre come alive once again, as, for the fourth consecutive year Aylesbury Showcase organised and promoted their annual Hobble on the Cobbles festival – which has been dubbed “the largest free all-day music festival in Buckinghamshire”.

‘Local band’ (originally from Leighton Buzzard) Kajagoogoo headlined the event in front of several thousand screaming fans, giving Aylesbury yet another major coup, as the original 5-piece had recently reformed after a break of 25 years.

A new album will be released shortly, and their first tour in 25 years starts next month.

Organiser and managing director of local events company Aylesbury Showcase Stuart Robb explains; “we’ve all worked extremely hard this year organising Hobble on the Cobbles – which we do for the people of Aylesbury, and on behalf of the Town Centre Partnership. We have a fabulous team, and once again Class Act produced and ran both the main stage and acoustic stage in Market Square for us – as they always do such a terrific job”.

Stuart continues “…the sound was, once again absolutely fantastic, the whole day, and the atmosphere was electric with excitement, and this is probably the best year yet, as the whole day seemed to gel well, and just flow, both with the organisation and management, and with the variety of specially selected and chosen music and bands, and once again Hobble on the Cobbles was a trouble-free event”.

HOBBLE ON THE COBBLES RETURNS TO AYLESBURY THIS SUMMER

This AUGUST the ‘Hobble on the Cobbles’ free music festival will take place in Aylesbury Market Square & Kingsbury on Sunday 23^rd August, commencing at midday and running through till 7pm.

HOTC will be headlined this year by popular local 80’s electro-pop band Kajagoogoo, who have recently reformed with their original line-up after 25 years, and are set to embark on a full ....UK.... tour in October.

Another band to reform this year, who will be appearing at HOTC are The Original Sinners, who have recently performed at the Hard Rock Calling Music Festival in Hyde Park, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of approx 40,000 new fans, having won a recent competition courtesy of Absolute Radio!

Other amazing bands to make this year’s exciting line-up are, amongst others; Claire Batchelor, David Saw, Old Country Union, and making a welcome return for the second year running are The Red Bullets.

HOTC is now in its fourth consecutive year, and this popular event (known as "Buckinghamshire's largest free all-day music festival"), keeps growing from strength to strength, with other previous headliners being John Otway, Fish (with a special exclusive, one-off guest appearance featuring Marillion), and last year; Eddie & The Hot Rods. Other notable bands to have performed at Hobble on the Cobbles are: Scouting For Girls, Francis Rodino and Slashed Seat Affair to name but a few.

Make sure you pick up the latest issue of The New Roxette, (the August edition) which details the full HOTC Programme, plus all the latest News, Reviews, & Interviews, and variety of Special Offers & Discount Vouchers!!!

Also this year HOTC will be helping to raise money for two local charities: The Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust, and the Florence Nightingale Hospice. Donations can be made quickly, easily, and are totally secure via the official fundraising website:

justgiving.com/HobbleOnTheCobbles

For full details and all the latest information visit: AylesburyShowcase.com  &  theNewRoxette.com

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THE SECOND 40^th ANNIVERSARY YEAR  FRIARS AYLESBURY PARTY CONFIRMED

FRIDAY OCTOBER 23^rd 2009 7.30pm

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS & PENETRATION

Following the success of the first Friars Aylesbury gig for 25 years on 1^st June of this year with Pretty Things, The Edgar Broughton Band and The Groundhogs, the second in the series of shows is now confirmed for Friday 23rd October with Friars legends Stiff Little Fingers and Penetration.

Tickets will go on sale on Saturday 25^th July at 11.00am (£20) and will be available from the Civic Centre Box Office or from www.ticketweb.co.uk.

Whilst the first gig on 1^st June of this year focused on the early Phase One/Phase Two ‘hippy period’ of Friars, this second date focuses at the core of the ‘Phase Three’ Friars Punk Period.

Stiff Little Fingers first appeared at Friars as support to The Tom Robinson Band on 12^th October 1978. They went down a storm and were voted “Best Support Band” in the 1979 Friars Poll. They then headlined no less than 6 times, all of which sold out, 3^rd Feb 78, 2^nd June 79 (The Friars Aylesbury 10^th Birthday Party), 25^th July 80, 2^nd May 81, 30^th Jan 82 and finally on 5^th Nov 82 a mere 27 years ago.

The gig on 25^th July was recorded and went out as their live album ‘Hanx’. All but one track on the album was recorded at Friars.

SLF were also voted ‘Best Friars Band of All Time’ in the 1981 Friars Poll.

Formed after seeing The Clash in Belfast in 1977 Jake Burns formed Stiff Little Fingers and released two of the most iconic singles of the punk period ‘Suspect Device’ and ‘Alternative Ulster’.

Released on the ground-breaking Rough Trade label their first album ‘Inflammable Material’ rocked the British album chart by coming straight in at 14, which was a first for a band on an independent label.

For a great interview with founding members Jake Burns and Ali McMordie about Friars, go to the Official Friars website at www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk.

Penetration were another real Friars favourite in the same period.

Whereas SLF formed after seeing The Clash in Belfast, Penetration formed after seeing the Sex Pistols in Manchester.

When it comes to pure punk spirit they were regarded as one of the best. Hailing from Newcastle and lead by the iconic Pauline Murray, Penetration released their first single ‘Don’t Dictate’ late in 1977, which was followed by a second single ‘Firing Squad’ and their debut album ‘Moving Targets’. Pauline still fronts the band together with original bass player Robert Blamire.

It is hoped that there will be one or two further Friars dates before the end of the year.

Go to www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk to join the mailing list and to keep up to date on all the latest news and information.

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The debut single by local band LOST MINUTE is released this week.

The double-A-side single “ANYMORE” / “DECISIONS” is available for download from iTunes and all major digital stores.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD (iTunes):

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=319140191&s=143444 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD: (Play Digital)

http://www.play.com/Music/MP3-Download-Album/4-/10592573/Anymore/Product.html