0:00:02 > 0:00:03One, two, three, four, five, six!
0:00:03 > 0:00:07ROCK MUSIC STARTS
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Welcome to the golden age of British touring,
0:00:10 > 0:00:12when rock and pop bands roamed the land
0:00:12 > 0:00:16in a world before mobile phones, guidebooks and even motorways.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19A world that never seemed ready for them.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23This programme contains some strong language
0:00:24 > 0:00:25From the '50s to the '80s,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27these musical pirates could be glimpsed
0:00:27 > 0:00:30travelling the length and breadth of the country,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33changing the musical landscape as they went.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37Playing wherever they could get a gig, risking everything for us.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40This is the story of their journey.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Say hello to Mr Dodge,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53my wonderful 1984 Dodge Ram Van,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56which I bought on the Yes Union Tour in 1990.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I bought it because I was fed up with planes,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01fed up with getting to the airports,
0:01:01 > 0:01:03fed up with security at the airports,
0:01:03 > 0:01:05it was more of a hassle.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08You get a good, old tour bus and away you go.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11It was like going back to as it used to be.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15I mean, let's face it, who wants to fly Ryanair when you can ride Ram?
0:01:15 > 0:01:19So join me on my time-travelling, tour-bus adventure.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27The very first time rock and roll toured Britain,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30it was American and it took the train.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Here's a kiss-curled, portly Bill Haley on his way
0:01:33 > 0:01:36to Waterloo Station in 1957.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41More rock around British Rail carriages than the clock.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44He was followed by Buddy Holly in 1958,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48and, in the spring of 1960, by Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Backing them on their tour
0:01:50 > 0:01:53was British rocker Marty Wilde's band, The Wildcats.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55On drums, Brian Bennett.
0:01:58 > 0:01:59That was Bexhill Station.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02And in those days there weren't any road managers
0:02:02 > 0:02:04or people to help you with the gear.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07And we did that tour on British Rail.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10And that was it. We travelled third class.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14There was a third class on British Rail in those days.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Third class is scumbaggery -
0:02:16 > 0:02:19that's really the lowest you can get, you know.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23And Eddie and Gene travelled first class.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29They thought, well, we're just poor cousins
0:02:29 > 0:02:33and they knew that we'd borne the brunt of a terrible war.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37And we had. You know, the beer was different over here.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42The hotels were different, the style, the roads were different.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44And, also, the other thing which is strange for the Americans,
0:02:44 > 0:02:49they never used to swear much. We did. We all...
0:02:49 > 0:02:50As rock 'n' rollers, we always...
0:02:50 > 0:02:52You'd hear language in the coach all the time.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55This is the beat that started it all -
0:02:55 > 0:02:56it's The Shadows!
0:02:58 > 0:03:01When British rock and roll first started showing signs of life,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05it had to be shoehorned into traditional variety shows,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07which catered for all tastes,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09even those of the young ones.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15So you'd get a variety show, with Dailey And Wayne,
0:03:15 > 0:03:20a comedy actor, Doris And Her Disappearing Doves, you know,
0:03:20 > 0:03:22and a novelty act.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Rock and roll novelty act!
0:03:36 > 0:03:39We played lots of package shows, and sometimes not just for a night,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41sometimes over the course of a month.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47And not the worst occasion, but the most shameful on my part,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51was Mrs Mills, who was on,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54and the promoter had asked us if we could back her.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57# My old man
0:03:57 > 0:03:59# Said follow the van
0:03:59 > 0:04:02# And don't dilly dally on the way... #
0:04:02 > 0:04:09"We don't play Mrs Mill's stuff. No, we're not backing her."
0:04:09 > 0:04:13# I walked behind With me old... #
0:04:13 > 0:04:16She came to our dressing room, about half an hour later,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20and she was this lovely, little, round lady.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23And she apologised profusely for having put us
0:04:23 > 0:04:26in that terrible position of being asked to back her.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29And she was very, very sorry.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32And we all went, "Oh..."
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Bunch of horrible people.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Horrible or not, more and more bands were taking to the road,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44looking for new places to play their kind of music,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46to their kind of audiences.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49That meant travelling beyond their home towns.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52And that has always meant only one thing.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57You see, you weren't a proper band unless you had a van.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59And, in fact, if you were a guy with a van
0:04:59 > 0:05:03and weren't even a musician, the chances are you could be in a band.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Of course, every musician remembers the first band he was in.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09But they also remember the first van they had.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11A J4, new.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15It was a retired Post Office Ford Thames, 15cwt.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19A pretty beaten-up, blue 13cwt Bedford van.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23Ford... I forget what it was called, Thames, I think.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25It was a panel van, no windows.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28It was a red Bedford van and it had windows all the way around,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30which wasn't ideal to carry gear in.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32It was normally a Commer, they were...
0:05:32 > 0:05:35I don't know why, but they were very popular. Horrible things.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37They were cold and they were ugly, you know,
0:05:37 > 0:05:39and they had the sliding doors and if you put your hand out,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43this door would just slide right... So you have to be super careful.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48The Beatles, having started touring in this old Thames van,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51quickly graduated to a Commer in 1961.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54It cost their then road manager, Neil Aspinall,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56the princely sum of 80 quid.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00He in turn charged them five bob to drive them from one gig to the next.
0:06:02 > 0:06:03You drove a lot.
0:06:03 > 0:06:09I mean, you were driving a great deal of the time. It was precarious.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13The wipers wouldn't work in snow and the heater wouldn't work.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15But you had a camaraderie.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17People spot a Transit on the side of the road,
0:06:17 > 0:06:19and other Transits would stop.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Breakdowns were common. In fact, they happened every day.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25We, as bands, had no money to get the vans fixed
0:06:25 > 0:06:27and management certainly wouldn't give you any money for it.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30There's lots of punctures going on, you know.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35So you learn how to change wheels quite early on in your life.
0:06:35 > 0:06:36That was your home.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39That was your eating place, you know.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Where Mum sent you out with your sandwiches and you opened them up
0:06:42 > 0:06:45when you're travelling along, you know, along the A1.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48And, if you didn't stop, you didn't have time to stop.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53With the help of the hit parade,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56radio play and the occasional television show,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00British beat bands began touring more aggressively,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02on a campaign that was to see many of them rise
0:07:02 > 0:07:05from the bottom of the tour bill to the top.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10You know what? Back in the '60s, you'd play anywhere.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13You really didn't care, you just wanted to play.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16And some of the working men's clubs and some of the places we went to,
0:07:16 > 0:07:20to put it crudely, were shitholes. And that's upgrading them.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Some of the places we went to,
0:07:32 > 0:07:37they didn't actually believe that you would come into their social club,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41and so some of the committee members used to have to put the contract
0:07:41 > 0:07:46on the wall to prove to the people that we were actually coming.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50The Pontypridd Nylon Spinners Workers Social Club.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54Pontypridd? Where's that? In Wales some...
0:07:54 > 0:07:56In the Valleys somewhere.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01We thought, "Oh, it'll be coalminers waiting for a fight.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03"Nylon spinners, what sort of people are they?"
0:08:06 > 0:08:09And it was one of the best nights we'd ever had.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15By 1964, pop and rock bands were taking over the touring circuit
0:08:15 > 0:08:17from more established artists.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23Marty Wilde witnessed the regime change at close range,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25on tour with acts like The Rolling Stones.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32They were a very raw band, when I was on tour with them.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36They weren't as disciplined, in some ways, as we had been,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39and they were far more freer in their attitude.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Jeff Beck, I remember, was in The Yardbirds at the time.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46And he used to fascinate me,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50cos he used to turn around and thrust the end of his guitar
0:08:50 > 0:08:53straight through the speaker cabinet and get fabulous feedback.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57And I thought, "Why didn't I think of that when rock and roll started?"
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Beatlemania change everything -
0:09:04 > 0:09:07from being able to hear yourself play to planning your escape.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10As girls in audiences all around the country
0:09:10 > 0:09:11started to outnumber the boys,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15sometimes storming the stage to get close of these seemingly exotic,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17handsome, out-of-town rockers,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20touring started to become fraught with danger.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Now and again, you had a bad one.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34You know, Whitehaven springs to mind.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42It was quite near a nuclear power station.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45The general atmosphere was a bit dark.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49The beach was black with coal dust.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52And the audience...
0:09:52 > 0:09:55There were some girls there in this dance and they seemed to...
0:09:55 > 0:09:57"Oh, look, The Paramounts, they're nice, aren't they?"
0:09:57 > 0:09:59And they're digging it.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02The boyfriends didn't quite like that, really.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12They perceived us as a threat to their local female population
0:10:12 > 0:10:15and just, all they wanted was to beat the hell out of us, you know?
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Our roadie pulled a shotgun out of the car
0:10:17 > 0:10:21because we were getting jumped on by jealous boyfriends, basically.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25About 40, 50 very angry blokes trying to kick the shit out of us.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30Our roadie happened to have a shotgun in
0:10:30 > 0:10:31the boot of the car.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33SHOTGUN COCKS
0:10:33 > 0:10:34GIRLS SCREAMING
0:10:36 > 0:10:38# Yeah
0:10:38 > 0:10:40# Yeah, I'm a road runner, honey
0:10:40 > 0:10:42# Bet you can't keep up with me... #
0:10:42 > 0:10:44I remember The Pretty Things,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47they used to get beaten almost every night.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50# Bet you can't keep up with me
0:10:50 > 0:10:54They had to figure out ways to escape, every night.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56# I'm a road runner, lover
0:10:56 > 0:10:58# And honey, you'll agree
0:11:00 > 0:11:03# Yeah, I'm a roadrunner, lover
0:11:03 > 0:11:06# And Janey, you'll agree
0:11:08 > 0:11:11# Bye-bye baby, you
0:11:11 > 0:11:13# Baby you will see
0:11:13 > 0:11:14# Ow! #
0:11:23 > 0:11:27Not just once, lots of times. We had trouble getting out of theatres.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32A, for the screaming girls, and they would have pairs of scissors,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36cut pieces of your jacket off and things, and hair, and then also,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38then you got the blokes waiting for you.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42If there were armies of girls in the audience,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45they weren't much in evidence as performers,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48except for solo singers like Cilla Black and Dusty Springfield.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51But even female pop royalty could find the grubby,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55tin-can existence of the tour van strangely alluring.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59When up-and-coming band The Paramounts were backing Sandie Shaw
0:11:59 > 0:12:01on her French tour in 1965,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05she took her chances, riding in their Dormobile.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08Her manager, they had a Rolls-Royce.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11And, if I was Sandie, I would rather have gone with them
0:12:11 > 0:12:13in the Rolls-Royce than go with The Paramounts.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17But I think she just liked to live dirty sometimes.
0:12:17 > 0:12:25Permettez moi de vous presenter mes tres grands amis, Les Paramounts!
0:12:25 > 0:12:27A le Theatre de Olympia!
0:12:30 > 0:12:32She's from Dagenham, as well!
0:12:32 > 0:12:34The only person from Dagenham that could speak French.
0:12:36 > 0:12:37A-one, two, three, four!
0:12:37 > 0:12:41MUSIC: Tous Les Jours (See My Baby) by Sandie Shaw
0:12:42 > 0:12:44# J'ai besoin de te voir
0:12:44 > 0:12:46# Tous les jours
0:12:48 > 0:12:50# J'ai besoin de te voir
0:12:50 > 0:12:51# Tous les jours
0:12:53 > 0:12:55# Puisque tu m'aimes?
0:12:55 > 0:12:58# Ce n'est pas un probleme
0:12:58 > 0:13:00# J'ai besoin de te voir
0:13:00 > 0:13:02# Tous les jours
0:13:02 > 0:13:04# Quand tu m'embrasses
0:13:04 > 0:13:06# Je ne sais pas ce qui se passe
0:13:06 > 0:13:09# J'ai besoin de te voir
0:13:09 > 0:13:10# Tous les jours... #
0:13:11 > 0:13:14MUSIC: Stranger On The Shore by Acker Bilk
0:13:14 > 0:13:15Throughout the '60s,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19touring bands often had difficulties finding accommodation, which in
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Britain was still dominated by '50s style theatrical digs.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27Bed and breakfast, and seaside landladies with a spare room.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35Mrs Macks - it was like two and six a night, bed and breakfast.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38Doris, down the seafront, for tuppence a night, you know.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Go to bed in clothes, in all your clothes.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46They were so cold, there would be frost inside the windows in some of them.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49There were lots of them. We used to get to the stage door of the theatre
0:13:49 > 0:13:51and the first thing you would do is look up the book
0:13:51 > 0:13:53with the stage doorman and you'd say,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55"Bed and breakfasts - where are they?"
0:13:55 > 0:13:57"These are the top ten," you know.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04It was just some strange guys coming into town and playing a guitar
0:14:04 > 0:14:05and it was like the circus.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07The circus has come to town, you know?
0:14:09 > 0:14:12"Come and meet auntie Ethel, have a cup of tea." "All right, then."
0:14:12 > 0:14:15"Sleep on the couch, if you like, eh?"
0:14:15 > 0:14:16The circus has come to town.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22I've often been asked, why did we do it?
0:14:22 > 0:14:25First of all, the music came first. We loved the music.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27The wandering minstrels of our day, really.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29We wanted to go and play to people.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32You didn't want to just play in your hometown, your home village.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33You wanted to spread your wings.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36MUSIC: Keep On Running by The Spencer Davis Group
0:14:36 > 0:14:38But, as the music accelerated through the '60s
0:14:38 > 0:14:40and even long into the '70s,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43young bands crisscrossing the country in vans on tour
0:14:43 > 0:14:47would still find it difficult finding a decent bed for the night.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53I think we slept at one of these truck stops that they used to have
0:14:53 > 0:14:56in the North. And there were like ten, 12 beds in the room.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00But they had already been used and the sheets hadn't been changed.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02It was a case of, like, sleeping in your clothes
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and laying on the top, you know?
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Ugly stuff, ugly stuff.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10I'll never forget one in, I think it was Bradfield or somewhere,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13and there was literally no electricity. I mean, literally none.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15And they gave us candles when we walked in!
0:15:16 > 0:15:20In the early days we'd stay in what we used to call Mrs Bunn's,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23like a sort of guesthouse, bed and breakfast type thing.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25You know, you had a little old lady.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28You'd be feeling like shit and they wanted to talk, "Oooh!"
0:15:28 > 0:15:31And they would kind of mother you. They would think,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33"Oh, poor dear, out there, you know,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35"playing these gigs, what you call gigs."
0:15:35 > 0:15:38And they'd say, "Go on, have another egg, have another!"
0:15:38 > 0:15:40You know, "Beef yourself up!"
0:15:40 > 0:15:44"All right!" Cute. It was really cool, you know?
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Touring had been made a little easier by the opening
0:15:50 > 0:15:53of a first, short stretch of the M1 in November, 1959.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57But there was no speed limit.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00They would be doing speeds their cars had never done before.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04They were doing, like, 65mph! Incredible!
0:16:05 > 0:16:09So, when they came to a service station, like at Watford,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11they would come off at horrendous speeds
0:16:11 > 0:16:14and they'd be flying into things and crashing
0:16:14 > 0:16:17and braking and skidding, and no-one knew how to handle it.
0:16:17 > 0:16:18CAR SHUNT
0:16:21 > 0:16:26Basically, the English Route 66 was the Great North Road, the A1.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29There was a little bit of M1 that was open
0:16:29 > 0:16:32but very little other motorway at all.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Everything had to be done on small roads, on B roads.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37And nobody really knew, ever,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40how long any of the journeys was ever going to take.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Or whether you would hit one of those old-fashioned fogs.
0:16:47 > 0:16:48HORNS BLARE
0:16:50 > 0:16:53There were no late-night bars or restaurants to cater for bands
0:16:53 > 0:16:56travelling through the night, but the new M1 did boast
0:16:56 > 0:17:00the first 24-hour services, the Blue Boar at Watford Gap.
0:17:03 > 0:17:09Everybody that was playing in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool or
0:17:09 > 0:17:13the like, in the North, invariably would meet at the Blue Boar.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Shows would finish at 11, take the band to get their gear out
0:17:17 > 0:17:20and get on the road and get to the Blue Boar for about one,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23one-thirty, two, so a lot of people would be
0:17:23 > 0:17:26arriving at the Blue Boar pretty much at the same time.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29The Blue Boar would be something on a Saturday night
0:17:29 > 0:17:31if you were travelling back to London.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33I mean, I remember walking in there,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36I was with Chris Farlowe at the time, and I was really impressed
0:17:36 > 0:17:39because I remember walking in and seeing bands
0:17:39 > 0:17:42like The Tremeloes, you know, and The Searchers were in there.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47The Blue Boar happened to be strategically in the right place
0:17:47 > 0:17:49and it was one of the very first.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51The chips were very good as well.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Long journeys between gigs
0:17:55 > 0:17:58and services presented all kinds of problems.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03You'd try and insulate yourself from what's going on
0:18:03 > 0:18:07and you would try to coordinate your bladders so you don't have to
0:18:07 > 0:18:08stop six times,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12when six people can go at the same time, stopping once.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14These are the big issues when travelling.
0:18:14 > 0:18:15Oh!
0:18:15 > 0:18:16ZIPPER
0:18:16 > 0:18:17HE SIGHS
0:18:19 > 0:18:23Well, of course, you don't always have to stop to have a pee!
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Someone would say to you, "Is that true
0:18:25 > 0:18:28"that you had a piss hole in the bottom of the van?"
0:18:28 > 0:18:29But, yes, we did, yes.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40That was our JU van, with "The Birds" on the side.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46When Colin, our roadie, said, "No, we haven't got time to stop,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48"we've got two hours to get there",
0:18:48 > 0:18:50so, yeah, there was one in the floor, yeah.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Everything changed in 1967.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01The music was different, the clothes were different
0:19:01 > 0:19:05and attitudes were different. Touring changed too.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Suddenly there was an underground movement with its own
0:19:07 > 0:19:10clubs like Middle Earth, Mothers, in Birmingham,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13and London's UFO, where the house band was Pink Floyd.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22And it was revolutionary times.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Everything sort of suddenly popped up in a bubble in the space of
0:19:26 > 0:19:28about 18 months in the middle of '66.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33And all bets were off. You know, the establishment sort of stood back
0:19:33 > 0:19:35and let the children get on with it
0:19:35 > 0:19:39but they were slightly frightened of certain elements of what
0:19:39 > 0:19:42they perceived as kicking-over-the-traces behaviour.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50As the American hippy tsunami washed onto British shores,
0:19:50 > 0:19:55promoter Tito Burns put together a tour of Britain's hippest,
0:19:55 > 0:19:59chart-topping talent featuring Pink Floyd, The Nice, The Move
0:19:59 > 0:20:00and Amen Corner.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04This was variety, man, but not as it used to be.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07The music was more ambitious and so was the equipment.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11Headlining was The Jimi Hendrix Experience, seen here on that tour
0:20:11 > 0:20:16on November the 25th 1967, at the Blackpool Opera House.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34With that tour, the very first night it was supposed to run
0:20:34 > 0:20:35two-and-a-half hours
0:20:35 > 0:20:38but it...it was chaos.
0:20:44 > 0:20:45It ran on and on.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52The curtain, at some point, was pulled halfway through Jimi's set.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57You know, there was no rehearsal for it or anything else,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00so equipment... Trying to change all that equipment and fiddling
0:21:00 > 0:21:05about with new roadies and the people who do the equipment stuff...
0:21:05 > 0:21:07So we got together the following day and I said,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10"Well, surely we can all use some of the same equipment,"
0:21:10 > 0:21:13to which everybody said, "No way is that going to happen."
0:21:13 > 0:21:16So I said, "Well, why don't we get some risers on wheels?"
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Because we had six drum kits.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22I said, "Why can't we roll it on?" So, yeah, it was a very...
0:21:23 > 0:21:25It was great. A great tour.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Everyone made friends except for the Pink Floyd.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33They thought they shouldn't be there, they didn't like other bands.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37They only had 15 minutes to begin with, which they felt was an insult.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41At the end of the tour, obviously,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45people had practical jokes that they wanted to do.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49Jimi Hendrix had a track called The Wind Cries Mary.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51When it got to his first chorus...
0:21:51 > 0:21:55# And the wind it cries Mary... #
0:21:55 > 0:21:5936 people in the wings shouted, "Mary!"
0:22:07 > 0:22:11There wasn't a single woman performer on that tour in 1967
0:22:11 > 0:22:13but they had begun appearing in bands.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16If not playing, then singing out front.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24In terms of touring, that meant being jammed in a van with
0:22:24 > 0:22:26a bunch of blokes for long periods of time -
0:22:26 > 0:22:28not pleasant.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34But if you were Sandy Denny and the band were underground
0:22:34 > 0:22:38folk-rockers Fairport Convention, it was easy to out-bloke the blokes.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44There was no kind of... sexual apartheid going on.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47When Sandy was in the van, she's just a bandmate
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and one of the chaps and...
0:22:50 > 0:22:55you forgot that she was sort of manufactured differently.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02A London-based hippy folk-rock band WOULD think that.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07But if touring the music was difficult enough,
0:23:07 > 0:23:08try touring an attitude.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12I remember playing somewhere in Sunderland, got the sound check
0:23:12 > 0:23:14out the way and there was a pub on the corner, so we all went
0:23:14 > 0:23:20for a drink before the show and, of course, they wouldn't let Sandy in.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23It was unbelievable to me this, you know, in 1968.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27It was a men-only bar.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30BAR HUBBUB
0:23:30 > 0:23:32We walked in...
0:23:32 > 0:23:35SILENCE ..and the place went a bit quiet.
0:23:35 > 0:23:36COUGHING
0:23:36 > 0:23:39We were obviously from another planet with our long hair
0:23:39 > 0:23:42and, you know, kaftany clothes
0:23:42 > 0:23:47but when they realised one of us was a girl, hmm, we were not welcome.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52Curved Air's singer Sonja Kristina -
0:23:52 > 0:23:55part Essex, part Swedish - would approach touring
0:23:55 > 0:24:00and performing with an all-male band by embracing the joy of difference.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02MUSIC: Back Street Luv by Curved Air
0:24:04 > 0:24:07# Summer's coming
0:24:07 > 0:24:10# Time to dream the day away
0:24:10 > 0:24:13# And she's so sunny
0:24:13 > 0:24:16# Is the girl you met today
0:24:17 > 0:24:20# Will she make it?
0:24:20 > 0:24:23# Can she take it?
0:24:23 > 0:24:26# Like to try love
0:24:26 > 0:24:30# Such a shy love... #
0:24:30 > 0:24:33And I just wanted to break down any sort of barriers, you know,
0:24:33 > 0:24:35we all shared the same dressing room,
0:24:35 > 0:24:40you know, they saw me naked, and, you know, they didn't...
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I could cuddle them as mates, you know.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48# Try to see she didn't mean to
0:24:48 > 0:24:52# Make you feel so sad... #
0:24:52 > 0:24:55We used to sleep together all curled up together as, you know,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58as little sardines in the back of the tour coach.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04It's like a relationship with everybody without the sex.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08But what about sex without the relationship?
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Enter that mythical siren of the tour - the groupie.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Nobody really knows where the word came from,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16it's obviously an extension of the word group.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19I mean, back then we were either called a band or a group,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22so, I suppose, the word bandie wouldn't really work.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26You're leading two lives, definitely.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31Not that it has to be, you know...
0:25:31 > 0:25:34nice at home and naughty away.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41But the women weren't all at home any more,
0:25:41 > 0:25:45now they were band members on tour and witness to bad-boy behaviour.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52One of the band, who shall be nameless, used to...
0:25:52 > 0:25:56send the roadies into the crowd and say, you know,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59"Tell that girl and that girl and that girl and that girl, ask them
0:25:59 > 0:26:03"if they want to come up to my room for a party after the show."
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Who are these young ladies? Want to come in for a drink, do they?
0:26:08 > 0:26:09Wheel them in.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13You know, the men get their needs, there's nobody there,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16what do they do? This happens, of course it happens
0:26:16 > 0:26:17because they will take advantage.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Guys can be assholes, they can.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24And even when one has a partner who's going
0:26:24 > 0:26:26away on the road, you know it's going to happen,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29so you, you sort of...
0:26:29 > 0:26:33As long as you don't know about it, then that's fine, you know?
0:26:33 > 0:26:36- That's my wife, you know what I mean? - Yeah, all right. All right.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39- Your what?!- Well...future wife, you know what I mean?
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Oh, right, and where's the ring?
0:26:41 > 0:26:45And I'm sure that their partners must know that this goes on.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47They're stupid if they don't.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50You know, their right hand only goes so far.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53YAWNING
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Not many opportunities for sex when you're touring,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59mostly through the night, to get to the next gig to avoid
0:26:59 > 0:27:00having to pay for a bed.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Health and safety just wasn't on tour with you in those days,
0:27:07 > 0:27:08hence the odd accident.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Yeah, we used to hear of the accidents
0:27:14 > 0:27:17because we were dealing with them
0:27:17 > 0:27:19but they never made the press.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22I mean, I know lots of bands that had crashes, broken legs,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25you know, equipment smashed...
0:27:25 > 0:27:28But it wasn't pressworthy.
0:27:28 > 0:27:34That all changed in May 1969 when Fairport Convention's tour van
0:27:34 > 0:27:37crashed on the way back from a gig at Mothers in Birmingham.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Our driver had got a bad stomach
0:27:41 > 0:27:45and he'd been complaining of being tired and unwell all day
0:27:45 > 0:27:51and I did wake up in the van as it was somersaulting down the M1
0:27:51 > 0:27:54and then I was concussed, knocked out, and when I came to,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58I was the only person or thing left inside the vehicle...
0:27:58 > 0:28:01The doors had all burst open, the windows were out,
0:28:01 > 0:28:07everybody and all the kit was thrown out the back door.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Somehow or other I'd remained inside.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Everybody was on the ground either dead or out for the count
0:28:13 > 0:28:16or moaning.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20It was a terrible realisation of the risks that we were
0:28:20 > 0:28:22taking by just going to work.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28In truth, bands have always subscribed to
0:28:28 > 0:28:33the have-guitar-will-travel ethos, clocking up the miles in whatever
0:28:33 > 0:28:36direction their gig book or managers send them.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40- Are we... Are we... Are we there yet?- No.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43100 miles to go. CAR HORN BLARES
0:28:46 > 0:28:48A lot of those tours weren't...
0:28:48 > 0:28:49that very well routed.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51You know, they looked more like pentagrams.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54I mean you never get a gig... Hardly ever you get a gig, you know...
0:28:54 > 0:28:57I mean, you're always going that way and down here to go back up there.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59Over there, down there, no,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02now you've got the day off and it'd be, "Well, what are we going to do?"
0:29:02 > 0:29:04"Oh, it's easy, we'll just drive 300 miles."
0:29:06 > 0:29:09We played one night...
0:29:09 > 0:29:12in Portsmouth and the next night Glasgow.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16And it could've been the next night Southampton.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22Hence, I think, that was why a lot of drugs were...
0:29:22 > 0:29:25You know, speed became very popular with a lot of groups.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Initially, purple hearts and speed, you know, amphetamine,
0:29:30 > 0:29:33and then, I suppose, to save losing brain cells, you know,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36you smoked a bit of dope, calmed you down.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39And then you had acid, which, you know, didn't know what was going on.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41I mean, anything could have been going on.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55And then you had cocaine, which, you know, got you through anything,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58you know, for a limited amount of time.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02I can remember booking bands that were working over 300 days a year
0:30:02 > 0:30:06and they were grateful... They thought that was wonderful.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09That was... That was better than being, for them,
0:30:09 > 0:30:14working in a factory or pushing a pen in a stockbroker's office.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20In your 20s it's very easy to do all that stuff
0:30:20 > 0:30:24because that's the type of life that a young person wants.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28Indigent, feckless, unemployed...
0:30:30 > 0:30:32..and on a crusade to save rock and roll.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37As the '60s receded in the rear-view mirror,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40up ahead we could clearly see touring '70s-style.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46'Transit, the Supervan. More van for your money.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49'More features than any other van. Transit is the Supervan.'
0:30:50 > 0:30:53You can buy second-hand, or you certainly COULD buy,
0:30:53 > 0:30:55second-hand aircraft seats. You probably still can.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59And you put them in your van so you could have more comfort.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02You could have, you know, you could have a reclining seat.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05It was, it was frontier land, it was real frontier land
0:31:05 > 0:31:08but that was the evolution.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12And so there's lots of technology coming into
0:31:12 > 0:31:15the rock-and-roll business and the aircraft seats were a big thing.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17People would look in other people's van -
0:31:17 > 0:31:20"Oh, look, they've got aircraft seats."
0:31:22 > 0:31:26See, what you've got to remember as well is, everything was new.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28Bands on the road was new,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31the whole new equipment side of things was new.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36So we just had to adapt all the time and sometimes it worked
0:31:36 > 0:31:38and sometimes it didn't.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46It was a case of adapt or die as bands became more popular
0:31:46 > 0:31:49and the business became more industrialised.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53The music was no longer free or even cheap.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56The seas of the hippy dream of changing the world
0:31:56 > 0:31:59blossomed into a world that was changing anyway,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02one that we greedily embraced.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05For the late '60s, early '70s, we didn't have any proper
0:32:05 > 0:32:07monitoring or anything like that.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09The sound that you heard out the front was the sound that
0:32:09 > 0:32:11came off of the stage but this wasn't really good enough
0:32:11 > 0:32:14for us musicians, we wanted much bigger things,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16louder things, more control.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26So it was the musician that dragged
0:32:26 > 0:32:29the equipment manufacturers into the 1970s.
0:32:29 > 0:32:34MUSIC: Fanfare For The Common Man by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Phew, we've arrived just in time to catch the beginnings of true
0:32:46 > 0:32:49touring madness, the coming of supergroups, supershows
0:32:49 > 0:32:53and pantechnicon lorries full of state-of-the-art gear
0:32:53 > 0:32:56and elaborate sets making their way to the next stadium...
0:33:00 > 0:33:02..and the next expensive hotel.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06- See, look at this. This is a Hilton, is it?- Hilton.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Conrad, Conrad, if you're looking, look, one soft one, one hard one.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12What use is that? What's all that about?
0:33:12 > 0:33:14They used to call us sabre-rattling and over the top
0:33:14 > 0:33:17and too flamboyant but, really, it was nothing
0:33:17 > 0:33:19compared to what you see today.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23We were just laying down a blueprint for everyone to sort of follow.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25The music should be great but there should be some eye candy
0:33:25 > 0:33:28in there, there should be something for you to see.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39For some unknown reason, at that particular time,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42we were always thought of as being super pretentious.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44So whatever we did, we just inflated that
0:33:44 > 0:33:47and we just went along with it.
0:33:47 > 0:33:48Why not?
0:33:48 > 0:33:50"Why not?" indeed.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52During the early '70s, I was doing much the same,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55touring with Yes or journeying to the centre of the earth with
0:33:55 > 0:33:58increasingly elaborate music presentations.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05In the early days, it was band and van and one roadie.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08Erm, just used to plug things in, really. Got a cable,
0:34:08 > 0:34:10if there was an amp and a hole, you plugged it in, that was it.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13But as you got bigger, it meant more gear,
0:34:13 > 0:34:15more equipment and none of us knew how to work it.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18That meant you had to have a road crew.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21MUSIC: The Road Crew (We Are) by Motorhead
0:34:24 > 0:34:28# Another town, another place another girl, another face
0:34:28 > 0:34:30# Another truck, another race
0:34:32 > 0:34:35# Eating junk, feeling bad another drink, completely blind
0:34:35 > 0:34:38# My woman's leaving, I'm so sad
0:34:38 > 0:34:40# But I just love the life I lead
0:34:40 > 0:34:42# Another beer is what I need
0:34:42 > 0:34:45# Another gig, my ears bleed
0:34:46 > 0:34:49# We are the road crew
0:34:49 > 0:34:53# Another town left behind another drink, completely blind
0:34:53 > 0:34:55# Another hotel I can't find... #
0:34:57 > 0:35:00You're talking about a person who starts the day with
0:35:00 > 0:35:03a can of Special Brew and a spliff, you know.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06Yeah, they're fucking nuts. Yeah.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08Because, I mean, you've got to be mad to be road crew.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11Well, they just arrived, I saw them. They... Yeah.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14They were last seen looking at daisies
0:35:14 > 0:35:16on the hard shoulder of the M6.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20When you start out, you work with your mates.
0:35:20 > 0:35:21Your roadies are your mates.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25My first road crew and PA people were actually Robin Le Mesurier
0:35:25 > 0:35:29and his young brother Jake, that were Hattie Jacques' sons, you know?
0:35:29 > 0:35:33It was always much more fun to employ your friends than it was to
0:35:33 > 0:35:35employ, shall we say, specialists.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37But, the thing is, specialists are specialists for a reason,
0:35:37 > 0:35:41your friends are there just to get pissed with, aren't they?
0:35:41 > 0:35:43And they were just kind of around.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47People who had bands who had kind of capability in the abstract
0:35:47 > 0:35:50and, you know, were kind of suited to that kind of life.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56They're global nomads, they don't really have homes
0:35:56 > 0:35:57because they go from one tour to the next.
0:35:59 > 0:36:00They're a strange breed.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05I've got a beautiful lady and a nice mum and dad
0:36:05 > 0:36:10and here I am on the road, completely tired out and don't know where I am.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13- Stupid, isn't it?- You're not married by any chance, are you?- Used to be.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Had to give it up.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18You know, a band, generally speaking, has a two-year career.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21A roadie has one of 40.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23When I've unloaded this, I'll have to go back
0:36:23 > 0:36:24and do a little job for Yes.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26Come back, pick this lot up,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29take it to Stafford, back to Earls Court, I've got three dates
0:36:29 > 0:36:31in France with The Who, back to Earls Court again,
0:36:31 > 0:36:32load out and over to the Hague.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35They can go from one tour to the next, to the next, to the next and be
0:36:35 > 0:36:40on the road doing that every night for year after year after year.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42- Are you going to make it to 65? - No chance.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45I've got about two years left in me, I suppose, the way I boogie around.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48You know what I mean? Really. I'm surprised I'm here now.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52It's a miracle. Never thought I'd make it to this morning.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57# Is this the real life?
0:36:57 > 0:37:01# Is this just fantasy? #
0:37:01 > 0:37:04We did a recording in Monnow Studio in Wales
0:37:04 > 0:37:06and the guy was showing us
0:37:06 > 0:37:10the piano where Freddie Mercury did Bohemian Rhapsody and he said,
0:37:10 > 0:37:12"Yeah, they were a very strange group, Queen," he said,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15"When the crew turned up..."
0:37:15 > 0:37:18He said they all had sports cars and they all had girls with them
0:37:18 > 0:37:21and everything, like this lot, and he thought it was the band, this guy.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24He said, "Oh, are you the band? You don't look like the band,"
0:37:24 > 0:37:26and he went, "No, no, we're the crew
0:37:26 > 0:37:28"but don't tell the band that we've got sports cars
0:37:28 > 0:37:29"cos we've got our own crew."
0:37:29 > 0:37:33And the crew had employed their own crew to bring all the gear in while
0:37:33 > 0:37:37they were living the life of Riley and just said, "Don't tell the band."
0:37:41 > 0:37:44For those bands on the other side of the tracks,
0:37:44 > 0:37:47touring was making more modest progress in the '70s,
0:37:47 > 0:37:50even as the decade began to acquire a taste for something smaller,
0:37:50 > 0:37:52more up close and personal.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58- We didn't have a roadie.- No.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02- We'd hump our own equipment, put it in the van.- We had a van, yeah.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06He... Well, in fact, Wilko and the drummer used to hire a van,
0:38:06 > 0:38:10put all the equipment in from his garage, come and pick me up,
0:38:10 > 0:38:12go to...drive to the gig.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15- Take all the equipment out. - Set it all up, do the gig,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18then after the gig take it all down,
0:38:18 > 0:38:21put it back in the van, drive me home and then drive home.
0:38:21 > 0:38:26We would drive back to Southampton and have to take it all out again.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30- Back into his garage.- Me and... the drummer, we got it down to a...
0:38:30 > 0:38:31We could do it in five minutes.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34We were just sort of, you know, erm, we had a whole routine.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36HE PANTS
0:38:36 > 0:38:39You know, it's three o'clock in the morning.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Luckily, we were a three-piece.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46Bands like Dr Feelgood quickly graduated to newly established
0:38:46 > 0:38:48rock venues for acts on the way up -
0:38:48 > 0:38:51bands too big for pubs but too small for stadiums.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56There were a few great venues that you sort of aspired to play in
0:38:56 > 0:38:58when you were in a band in the early '70s.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02One was Friars in Aylesbury but a very iconic one is exactly
0:39:02 > 0:39:05where I'm sitting now, which is the Boston Gliderdrome.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08This place, absolutely fantastic.
0:39:08 > 0:39:09You could squeeze 1,200 people in here.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Sometimes, in fact, they squeezed a lot more in.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15It was a far cry from the old working men's clubs and pubs
0:39:15 > 0:39:17that you used to play in.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19If you played somewhere like the Boston Gliderdrome,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22you really felt you'd made it.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25MUSIC: You Shouldn't Call The Doctor by Dr Feelgood
0:39:29 > 0:39:32What is it? It's just showing off, isn't it?
0:39:37 > 0:39:40It's because you're standing in front of a crowd of people
0:39:40 > 0:39:41and they're all going, "Ah!"
0:39:41 > 0:39:44- Show them what you can do. - It's nice.- Yeah.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07I think I slept...
0:40:08 > 0:40:10..twice during the '70s.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:40:21 > 0:40:25By the mid-'70s, many more girls were making their own records
0:40:25 > 0:40:29and having their own brand of tour fun. And not just as vocalists.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33When Suzi Quatro strapped on a bass, she unwittingly inspired
0:40:33 > 0:40:37a generation of women rockers to take control of the wheel.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41I had to establish my boundaries right away.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44I didn't want anybody getting fresh or funny with me.
0:40:44 > 0:40:50I was very careful about being one of the guys, could tell the joke,
0:40:50 > 0:40:55they could swear to a point. Certain words were not allowed.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58And if they stepped over the line, they didn't do it again.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00MUSIC: Devil Gate Drive by Suzi Quatro
0:41:00 > 0:41:02# So come alive Come alive
0:41:02 > 0:41:06# Down in Devil Down in Devil
0:41:06 > 0:41:09# Down in Devil Gate Drive
0:41:09 > 0:41:13# Down in Down in
0:41:13 > 0:41:16# Down in Devil Gate Drive
0:41:16 > 0:41:20# Come on Ooh, come alive
0:41:20 > 0:41:23# Come alive, come alive
0:41:23 > 0:41:25# My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my... #
0:41:25 > 0:41:27One time a guy came dancing up close to the stage
0:41:27 > 0:41:32and he made this rude tongue-sticking-out gesture,
0:41:32 > 0:41:35so I danced a little bit closer and whacked him over the head
0:41:35 > 0:41:38with the end of my bass guitar. All by mistake, of course.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40And that's a heavy instrument. Bang! He was...
0:41:40 > 0:41:44# Are you ready now?
0:41:44 > 0:41:47- # Are you ready now? # - By 1976 the music had changed again,
0:41:47 > 0:41:49- and so had the venues. - # Are you ready now? #
0:41:49 > 0:41:52Punk now threatened to tour the country,
0:41:52 > 0:41:54and with it, all-girl bands like the Slits
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and the heavy metal punk foursome Girlschool.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00# Come alive Yeah, yeah... #
0:42:00 > 0:42:02We would play in, say, punk clubs,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05you know, getting changed in toilets with wee on the floor
0:42:05 > 0:42:07and all the rest of it, you know?
0:42:07 > 0:42:09CHEERING
0:42:09 > 0:42:12There was a lot of girls getting up and just doing stuff.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15Well, everybody was getting up and doing stuff, really, at that point.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18The boys that we knew that were playing didn't want to know.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20They didn't want girls in the band. It was as simple as that.
0:42:20 > 0:42:25The only way we could form a band was to find other like-minded girls.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28You'd just be like, going into the unknown, we'd go off in this
0:42:28 > 0:42:32Bedford van, with, of course, all the gear was laid out in the back,
0:42:32 > 0:42:34and we'd have slipping bags on the top
0:42:34 > 0:42:36and we'd all sleep on top of the gear.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39I mean, literally, we had about that much space between us
0:42:39 > 0:42:41and the ceiling, like this.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44It was a lot easier, especially when you were travelling, on top of gear,
0:42:44 > 0:42:47in the back of a Bedford van, that you were all girls.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52Our drummer, Denise, used to go... have all this pent up energy,
0:42:52 > 0:42:54and we used to literally have to stop the van
0:42:54 > 0:42:57and let her have a run around every now and again.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00Oh, but then, of course, with Denise, she's very lucky,
0:43:00 > 0:43:03because she can sleep anywhere. I mean, literally anywhere.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06All she does, she could be upright like this, in fact, she used to be,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08in the Bedford sometimes, up like this.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12Put a jacket on her head, that would be it. Out, gone - like a budgie.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14MUSIC: Please Don't Touch by Motorhead and Girlschool
0:43:14 > 0:43:17When ultimate tour monster Lemmy was looking for a support band
0:43:17 > 0:43:22for the first UK Motorhead tour in 1979, he chose Girlschool
0:43:22 > 0:43:26to share the tour bus, the booze and the backstage fun.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29A lot of people, in those days,
0:43:29 > 0:43:31would actually pay you to go on a tour like that.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33Of course, they used to come in with crates of beer for us,
0:43:33 > 0:43:35and look after us, and all that.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38I remember, one morning, knocking on Lemmy's door in the hotel.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41I said, "Oh, blimey, you're up early." "Haven't been to bed yet."
0:43:42 > 0:43:45Lemmy in his underpants and those goggle-eye things.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48# So much
0:43:48 > 0:43:50# Don't you touch me, baby cos I'm shaking so much
0:43:50 > 0:43:53# Don't you touch me, baby cos I'm shaking so much
0:43:53 > 0:43:56# You know I get so nervous when I see his eyes that shine
0:43:56 > 0:43:58# Don't you touch me, baby cos I'm shaking so much
0:43:58 > 0:44:01# He gets too close and a chill runs down my spine
0:44:01 > 0:44:03# Don't you touch me, baby cos I'm shaking so much
0:44:03 > 0:44:08# Please don't touch I shake so much
0:44:08 > 0:44:11# Please don't touch
0:44:11 > 0:44:15# I shake so much... #
0:44:15 > 0:44:17Now, poor drummer again, sorry, Denise,
0:44:17 > 0:44:20but, of course, her socks used to be quite smelly every now and again,
0:44:20 > 0:44:22and they'd just go out the window.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25And her shoes went out the window one day, as well.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27That's the trouble with being cooped up in vans
0:44:27 > 0:44:29and coaches with your bandmates,
0:44:29 > 0:44:33camaraderie becomes claustrophobia and friendships become fragile.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38It starts off with that, kind of, gang mentality,
0:44:38 > 0:44:40where it's you against the world, right.
0:44:40 > 0:44:45But then, it only takes one to crack and bring bad news aboard,
0:44:45 > 0:44:47and, of course, you're going to get friction.
0:44:47 > 0:44:49You've been sitting about in the bus,
0:44:49 > 0:44:51drinking a couple of bottles of tequila, or whatever.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54And old, sort of, little things, "Why did you do that?"
0:44:54 > 0:44:56And then it all starts, right.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02You end up, kind of, going,
0:45:02 > 0:45:04"Bastard's taken the last Rizla.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07"He did that three years ago in Munich.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10"Fucking... He's done it again, hasn't he?"
0:45:10 > 0:45:14But, of course, little niggle-ments, kind of, can tend to,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17sort of, like, get bigger, and bigger and bigger.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20- And, it's like...- "Who's eaten all the cheese sandwiches?
0:45:20 > 0:45:23"Oh, oh, really? Nice, were they?"
0:45:23 > 0:45:24And it's just kind of crazy.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27Next morning, it's like, "Oh, I'm sorry, man.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29"Let's have a spliff and forget about it." You know,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32I mean, that kind of deal, you know?
0:45:32 > 0:45:35So, it's just like that, you know? It's fun.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37MUSIC: Children Of The Revolution by T. Rex
0:45:37 > 0:45:40If you thought those early '60s tours were weird concoctions,
0:45:40 > 0:45:43guaranteed to scramble any discerning musical mind,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47have a taste of vintage 1977 tour madness.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51Unicorns in UB40 land, T.Rex and the Damned.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57Punk audience, my audience.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00I mean, it was three quarters Marc Bolan audience,
0:46:00 > 0:46:07and a quarter Damned, and it ended up 100% a rock and roll fan club.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09Marc was really cool, but I mean, I didn't...
0:46:09 > 0:46:13I'd heard all the stories about Marc being this way or that way,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16but he was totally, kind of, clean and fresh.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20And he'd be, sort of, jogging around the forecourts of a services
0:46:20 > 0:46:22and, in his little green tracksuit.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25And really open, I mean, he would talk to you about anything.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27He was really helpful to us.
0:46:27 > 0:46:28Punk's got to get away from
0:46:28 > 0:46:32all this terrible...on the streets. It's all wrong.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36They were constantly out trying to out-punk us.
0:46:36 > 0:46:41Getting fishing wire and tying it, so that people in the services,
0:46:41 > 0:46:44like, carrying the plates and stuff, would trip over it.
0:46:44 > 0:46:45All these kind of things, you know?
0:46:45 > 0:46:48MUSIC: New Rose by The Damned
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Punk them up.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54Be outrageous.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Rip your knickers off.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01Do whatever you're going to do.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03# I got a feeling inside of me
0:47:03 > 0:47:05# It's kind of strange like a stormy sea
0:47:05 > 0:47:08# I don't know why, I don't know why
0:47:08 > 0:47:10# I guess these things have got to be... #
0:47:10 > 0:47:13As it travelled deeper into the '70s, British touring began
0:47:13 > 0:47:17more and more to reflect the changing make-up of the nation.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19# I can't stop to mess around
0:47:19 > 0:47:22# I got a brand-new rose in town... #
0:47:22 > 0:47:25REGGAE MUSIC PLAYS
0:47:25 > 0:47:28But what was being played still had to do the same things.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32Unload a van, perform, load a van, drive.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35- VOICE ECHOES:- Unload a van, perform, load a van, drive.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39Unload a van, perform, load a van, drive.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43Unload a van, perform, load a van...
0:47:43 > 0:47:48My first thing in touring was with a sound system.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51Now, sound systems, to those who don't know, are really just,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54like, a portable DJ system.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57But, obviously, in reggae, you have, some boxes that have
0:47:57 > 0:48:01massive 18-inch speakers and you have a massive truck.
0:48:01 > 0:48:07So, I spent quite a few journeys up and down the motorway,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09in the back of a truck, lying on a speaker.
0:48:12 > 0:48:17There was no real tours. Tours didn't happen until, I think, later.
0:48:17 > 0:48:18I think, the advent of Bob Marley.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21MUSIC: Natural Progression by Aswad
0:48:27 > 0:48:30We had a show in Scotland, Lochmaben.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41We drove, actually, through the town and suddenly there was a...
0:48:41 > 0:48:44"Hold on, wait a minute, wait a minute, we've gone past it."
0:48:44 > 0:48:48We had to turn around and come back. And I remember, we'd got to the...
0:48:48 > 0:48:52We got to the gig and it was like, whoa, this is...
0:48:52 > 0:48:55You know, it's the middle of nowhere. You know, what's going to happen?
0:48:58 > 0:49:01Time for the show, and the place was absolutely...
0:49:01 > 0:49:03You know, it was corked.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06Fantastic gig, and then, as the gig finished,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08bang! Everyone was gone.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10It was...it's one of those.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16The ultimate tour cliche, which began in the '60s
0:49:16 > 0:49:20with legendary lunatics like the Who's Keith Moon,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23is that we all enjoy trashing hotel rooms.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26The ultimate expression of the true tedium of touring.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29STATIC HISSES
0:49:29 > 0:49:32I mean, Keith used to be well-known for throwing TVs out of the room.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36And that's basically because either, they'd been on to room service
0:49:36 > 0:49:40at midnight, asking for a cup of tea or a sandwich or a beer,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42or something. And they wouldn't answer the phone.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44So, he just used to throw the TV out the room...
0:49:44 > 0:49:46- GLASS SMASHES - ..and then they'd ring up and say,
0:49:46 > 0:49:48"Did you did you just throw the TV out the room?"
0:49:48 > 0:49:50He said, "Yeah, pick up the bloody phone next time,
0:49:50 > 0:49:52"I want a cheese and pickle sandwich."
0:49:52 > 0:49:58Let me tell you, room-wrecking is something that needs to happen...
0:49:58 > 0:50:01- GLASS SMASHES - ..in every band's life.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03I'm trying to say this with a straight face.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05It needs to happen.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07Things happen sometimes, like,
0:50:07 > 0:50:11- accidents, you know?- Accidents? - GLASS SMASHES
0:50:11 > 0:50:15But no, I've never chucked a telly out of a hotel window.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17Do you know how much fun it is?
0:50:17 > 0:50:20It's absolutely blinding.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23I guess the whole thing is, to leave it plugged in
0:50:23 > 0:50:25and see how long the TV plays for
0:50:25 > 0:50:27before it hits the ground. GLASS SMASHES
0:50:27 > 0:50:29But it's just the length of the lead, isn't it?
0:50:29 > 0:50:31You know what I mean? It's like...
0:50:31 > 0:50:33And you'll be with a bunch of people, going,
0:50:33 > 0:50:37"Yeah, wouldn't that be great? Hey, watch this, you!"
0:50:37 > 0:50:39And I've found that, it's a drag, man,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42because they...they don't break. GLASS SMASHES
0:50:42 > 0:50:45You know, you can throw them, and you throw them out,
0:50:45 > 0:50:46and they just bounce, man.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49And so, people talking about a television exploding, it won't.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51It doesn't break. It just bounces.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53Boring, it's just not worth doing.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55- 'Have you got the price? - What does it mean?
0:50:55 > 0:50:56'Is that included in the deal?'
0:50:56 > 0:51:01That was rock bands, and rock bands have had an earlier association
0:51:01 > 0:51:05with that, touring and throwing TVs out the window, and whatever.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07Remember, these were bands that had signed to companies,
0:51:07 > 0:51:11so, you know, they had some kind of backing.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15We were a young, black band and where the punks could get away with it,
0:51:15 > 0:51:17a young, black band couldn't.
0:51:23 > 0:51:28I've almost come full circle on my time-travelling tour bus.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32After 30 years on the road, here we are, back touring on British Rail,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35without Bill Haley, but this time we're stiff.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39Stiff Records, in fact, on its UK tour of 1978.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Happily, third class was now a thing of the past.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47In fact, according to this stunt, everyone was first-class
0:51:47 > 0:51:52and most importantly, this train didn't answer to British Rail.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54It was paid for by the record company.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05We hired a train from British Rail
0:52:05 > 0:52:08and put a big "Be Stiff" logo along the side of it.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11It was great. It was really good.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14The furthest north we get is Wick, which is near John O'Groats.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16I'm told, I've never been there. It looks interesting on the map.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19We've got a day off there, actually, just to excite everyone to death.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21We got those Pullman carriages.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24We could have had modern stuff, but we wanted the Pullmans,
0:52:24 > 0:52:28to have those little... first class with the sliding door.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32So, everyone was in their little compartment.
0:52:32 > 0:52:33It was fantastic.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40All the people who were on it, pretty much,
0:52:40 > 0:52:42except Wreckless Eric, I think, who didn't enjoy it.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46Everybody else thought it was, you know, the way to tour.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49They thought that was as sophisticated, you know,
0:52:49 > 0:52:52as, like, Agatha Christie. It was just fantastic.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58And, so, finally, to the modern tour bus.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02This was very much pioneered by the Americans in the 1970s
0:53:02 > 0:53:05and was the answer to every single touring problem.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08They were spacious, they were comfortable, they had all the
0:53:08 > 0:53:11mod cons, and they were designed for both living as well as travelling.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15Yeah, the music has changed, touring and some of the venues have changed,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18but thankfully, the behaviour hasn't.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21MUSIC: Loose Fit by Happy Mondays
0:53:29 > 0:53:32You're hearing people farting. You're seeing things you shouldn't see
0:53:32 > 0:53:35that fall out of people's underwear when they're getting up.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38And me, as well. When you're climbing out of your bed,
0:53:38 > 0:53:40you're not always dressed. And the beds are only that big,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42and you've got your life that is in the bed with you,
0:53:42 > 0:53:45your crisps and all that lot that you're hiding from everyone,
0:53:45 > 0:53:49your drink. And, in your little bunk, that little space is yours.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55It becomes like a travelling hotel room, doesn't it? So, if you're
0:53:55 > 0:53:57going to do what you do in a hotel room, you do it on the bus.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00There's very little sex on rock and roll buses.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02MUSIC: Souvenir by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
0:54:02 > 0:54:06There's too many people on the bus, you can't get any privacy.
0:54:06 > 0:54:11And your bed is six foot by two foot, by two foot.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13It's like trying to make love in a coffin.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16Where there's a will, there's a way.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21No, we were very, very, good, though.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24I mean, we weren't that rock and roll at all.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26He says... Is my nose growing?
0:54:28 > 0:54:30Has it gone out of shot?
0:54:31 > 0:54:35Now, it is true that some of us boys were very naughty way back then,
0:54:35 > 0:54:39but trust me, some of the girls could be even naughtier.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44I have taken a lad on the bus, but only to piss Shaun off years ago.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48But...and I left him in Wisconsin in the middle of nowhere.
0:54:49 > 0:54:54I'd just gone right off him. He was, he was like a proper vegan, though.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58No, you know, his shampoo smelt of herb...no.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00No, it smelt really herby.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03Really herbal-y. Ugh.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06I can still smell it now, no... Oh, yeah, as well.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08And then, when you've got films to watch on the bus,
0:55:08 > 0:55:11there was a choice - Dances With Wolves or In Bed With Madonna,
0:55:11 > 0:55:13and he went for the wrong one.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15He went for Dances With Wolves.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18My favourite tour bus story was with Primal Scream.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23There was a guy called Fatty Malloy, and they were at a gig somewhere.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26They were all very well juiced
0:55:26 > 0:55:29and Fatty said, "Oh, we've run out of beer."
0:55:29 > 0:55:33And he went, "I know, I'll go to the band bus,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35"they'll have loads of beer, and go and get it."
0:55:35 > 0:55:37So he goes to the door, opens the door, steps out.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39It was fucking going.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42It was doing 70mph on the freeway.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51It's a lonely, insular existence.
0:55:51 > 0:55:59Nothing exists except the drive, going to some dive,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02playing three or four sets a night, that was normal.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06It's a funny kind of world, a twilight world.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08You know, you get off the road, if you've been on the road
0:56:08 > 0:56:11for six months, that's the... You've been in this bubble.
0:56:11 > 0:56:12You know, I do remember once,
0:56:12 > 0:56:16wanting to pick up the phone in my own house to call room service.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20Thinking, "Oh, yeah, no, I'm at home."
0:56:20 > 0:56:23The only person that's going to bring me food is me.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28I used to find at about ten o'clock, I'd get twitchy.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30At gig time, showtime.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33And I'd be quite all right filling the day,
0:56:33 > 0:56:37and just be hanging out, and then it would get to ten o'clock...
0:56:37 > 0:56:38HE TAPS HIS HANDS
0:56:41 > 0:56:44"I think I'll have a glass of wine." You know?
0:56:44 > 0:56:47You have to do it. There is no other way.
0:56:47 > 0:56:52If I was told by my agent one day,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54"You can't tour for at least two years, anywhere."
0:56:54 > 0:56:57Why? Why, why?
0:56:57 > 0:57:00"Because nobody wants to see you."
0:57:00 > 0:57:01Whoa.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06There we go, good enough for an old boy. Woohoo!
0:57:06 > 0:57:09Knock them dead, boy, knock them dead.
0:57:09 > 0:57:14'And you can't just sit still. The competition is fierce.'
0:57:14 > 0:57:17You've got to be loved by everyone if you can, you know?
0:57:17 > 0:57:20You've got to reach into every home and every heart.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26Suddenly, there's a realisation
0:57:26 > 0:57:29that you have become what you set out to be
0:57:29 > 0:57:31and there's no turning back.
0:57:33 > 0:57:37Actually, you've overcommitted and now,
0:57:37 > 0:57:38what's going to happen next?
0:57:40 > 0:57:43In this discussion this evening, we've romanticised
0:57:43 > 0:57:47and brought back some of the memories of some of those hauls,
0:57:47 > 0:57:50and travelling around and some of the adventures that happened.
0:57:50 > 0:57:52And you think, "Oh, that was great."
0:57:52 > 0:57:55But I bet you, if I went back there now and had to drive that van,
0:57:55 > 0:57:57I'd go, "I can't do this."
0:57:57 > 0:58:03I think, looking back is better than being there, maybe.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13You know, it really wasn't uncommon to do two shows in one night.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15You'd do, like, an 8pm show somewhere like here
0:58:15 > 0:58:18and then get in the van and go off and do a midnight show,
0:58:18 > 0:58:21which is exactly what I'm going to do now.
0:58:21 > 0:58:25Where's the van?
0:58:25 > 0:58:28Come on, where's the van? I...
0:58:28 > 0:58:30Oh, come on!
0:58:32 > 0:58:34Come on, let me in!
0:58:39 > 0:58:40Where's the van?!
0:58:40 > 0:58:43MUSIC: Gotta Travel On by Billy Grammer
0:58:46 > 0:58:50# I've played around I've sleighed around
0:58:50 > 0:58:52# This old town too long
0:58:52 > 0:58:55# Summer's almost gone
0:58:55 > 0:58:58# Yeah, the winter's comin' on
0:58:58 > 0:59:02# I've played around and I've sleighed around
0:59:02 > 0:59:04# This old town too long
0:59:04 > 0:59:09# And I feel like I gotta travel on. #