Outstanding, Henry! I had the yellow one, but it's long gone now. There were some great gigs at the Poly.
There certainly were, i can remember seeing, Stray Hawkwind Edgar Broughton Band Daryl Way (curved Air) Pink Fairies and quite a few more.
Saw Glen Cornicks band 'Wild Turkey' down there........ Glen who had just played with the mighty Jethro Tull. The word got about that the "tull" were playing down there...... Glen turned up, but I am afraid it was more Turkey than Wild. I think this was 1970. Glen died earlier this year. Apparently Anderson did not want to play Woodstock as he wanted not be be type cast as a 'hippie'......
Nico played there in the 80s. I might try and put together a Thames Poly Spotify playlist to stream from the article.
Amazing the entertainment that was put on in Woolwich in the 70s and 80s. All the more reason why Woolwich needs to keep things like the Woolwich Grand going.
Amazing the entertainment that was put on in Woolwich in the 70s and 80s. All the more reason why Woolwich needs to keep things like the Woolwich Grand going.
And lets not forget The Tramshed as well as the Poly, these two venues put on Great Bands and Great Comedy.
A friend of mine Mary Anne Morgan used to play the Tramshed with Hale and Pace in Fundation.
My old boss George Plemper used to take a lot of photo in there at the time, he posts them on Flickr. You find some that you know people in them.
God lad is George, a Sunderland fan he moved down south to teach. He took a lot of photos when Thamesmead was just beginning, he had a book published not so long ago.
Ah yes, the Harrow Inn, Abbey Wood. Pink Fairies. My favourite band, Camel (Bardens, Ward, Ferguson, Latimer), supported the Fairies at the Harrow Inn on one of their very first gigs, autumn 1972.
First proper band you saw? Atomic Rooster, end of term gig at my school, aged 15, 1971. Vincent Crane caning the Hammond organ... Marvellous!
A friend of mine Mary Anne Morgan used to play the Tramshed with Hale and Pace in Fundation.
My old boss George Plemper used to take a lot of photo in there at the time, he posts them on Flickr. You find some that you know people in them.
God lad is George, a Sunderland fan he moved down south to teach. He took a lot of photos when Thamesmead was just beginning, he had a book published not so long ago.
A friend of mine Mary Anne Morgan used to play the Tramshed with Hale and Pace in Fundation.
My old boss George Plemper used to take a lot of photo in there at the time, he posts them on Flickr. You find some that you know people in them.
God lad is George, a Sunderland fan he moved down south to teach. He took a lot of photos when Thamesmead was just beginning, he had a book published not so long ago.
Spent a lot of time going to gigs at Thames Poly between around 1980 and 85, after which the scene there seemed to die. Somewhere I've got this: http://www.discogs.com/Various-Communicate-Live-At-Thames-Poly/release/580100 which is a fair enough record of those days - think I saw the majority of these. I have a couple of others made by the promoters who used the place in the years before. You could turn up on Tuesday nights for a disco or Fri/Sat for a gig. You might have known who was playing, you might not. Often it was local acts like Vex, Praxis or glam-rock tribute Sexagisma. I was at the TV Personalities gig which the track on the LP was recorded at - the singer is arguing with a load of Conflict fans who had turned up thinking it was an anarcho-punk night featuring the Eltham outfit. I tell younger people now who talk about how happening New Cross is that it used to be dead and the real interesting stuff was in Woolwich. They don't believe me.
For those interested, I have added a Spotify playlist featuring bands people remember seeing at Thames Poly in the 70s and 80s, right down the bottom of the page.
It features, Paul McCartney & Wings, Hawkwind, Strawbs, Edgar Broughton Band, The Pink Fairies, Stray, Nico & Velvet Underground, Buzzcocks, The Slits, Penetration, Patrik Fitzgerald, The Adverts, The Lurkers, Sonic Youth, The Jesus & Mary Chain and The June Brides.
Really enjoyed listening to the Pink Fairies - I'd never heard them before.
The thing about the Fairies were they were soooooo much better live than on recordings. Mind you check out 'uncle harrys.....' Live recording from (something) Farm which you can find on Spotify.
Laura B adds the catchy chorus: "Woolwich town is the place to be, we've got market stalls and KFC. Woolwich town it's a royal place, we've got crackheads bruv all off their face."
Comments
Still got the badge they handed out too
Stray
Hawkwind
Edgar Broughton Band
Daryl Way (curved Air)
Pink Fairies
and quite a few more.
The word got about that the "tull" were playing down there...... Glen turned up, but I am afraid it was more Turkey than Wild.
I think this was 1970. Glen died earlier this year. Apparently Anderson did not want to play Woodstock as he wanted not be be type cast as a 'hippie'......
Amazing the entertainment that was put on in Woolwich in the 70s and 80s. All the more reason why Woolwich needs to keep things like the Woolwich Grand going.
And lets not forget The Tramshed as well as the Poly, these two venues put on Great Bands and Great Comedy.
http://www.joestead.com/
http://www.joestead.com/ramblings/Volume 152_May 2013.htm
God lad is George, a Sunderland fan he moved down south to teach. He took a lot of photos when Thamesmead was just beginning, he had a book published not so long ago.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/plemper/sets/72157634229032860/
Anyway.
Another venue that was more than interesting in those days was the Harrow Inn Abbey Wood.
First proper band you saw? Atomic Rooster, end of term gig at my school, aged 15, 1971. Vincent Crane caning the Hammond organ... Marvellous!
I tell younger people now who talk about how happening New Cross is that it used to be dead and the real interesting stuff was in Woolwich. They don't believe me.
Good to know there is a decent selection of pubs on offer, haven't explored that far yet.
http://deserter.co.uk/2014/12/woolwich-rides-again/
It features, Paul McCartney & Wings, Hawkwind, Strawbs, Edgar Broughton Band, The Pink Fairies, Stray, Nico & Velvet Underground, Buzzcocks, The Slits, Penetration, Patrik Fitzgerald, The Adverts, The Lurkers, Sonic Youth, The Jesus & Mary Chain and The June Brides.
Really enjoyed listening to the Pink Fairies - I'd never heard them before.
I see edgar broughton is still going strong(ish). http://www.edgarbroughton.com/
http://m.newsshopper.co.uk/news/12953823.VIDEO___Rap_battle___two_songs_about_the_wonders_of_Woolwich_but_which_is_best_/