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Introduction · Service Order · Big Country · Marillion · Steve Harley · One The Juggler
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As you may know, this is a special and sad weekend because with this event we say farewell to these splendid grounds alongside the River Thames. After thirteen happy years we have to leave because the Reading Council have plans to develop the site for Industrial and Leisure use. However, I am happy to say the Council is actively helping us to find another home in or near to the Borough so that "Reading Rock" can remain in the calendar of Thames Valley events. So, have a good time at our 23rd National Rock Festival and I look forward to welcoming you all again next August Bank Holiday at the 24th - wherever we may be! Be seeing you, Harold Pendleton CHAIRMAN SERVICE ORDER
Subject to alteration without prior notice BIG COUNTRY When Big Country's "Field of Fire' soared into the U.K. Top 10 in March 1983, it didn't simply herald the return of former Skid Stuart Adamson, it marked the second coming of the electric guitar as the sound to ring the real changes in comtemporary music. With it Big Country cut a broad and bloody swathe through soft-porn synthipop and faked-up funk in a way which did the heart good to hear. A rousing anthem from the throats and fingers of a band with warrior soul, it gave the lie to the motiuon that guitar music is dead and buried along with the music of the seventies. In 1982 fresh from studio stints with Pete Townsend and the Pretenders, Adamson & Watson shared Bib Country's pioneering spirit but also brought real skill and expertise to flesh out the inspiration. Throwing their weight fairly and squarely behind the beat, they transformed Big Country into an all-action, running, jumping, standing still extravaganza and helped the feast of fierce, flailing guitars into something with the kind of poise and precision which sorts out the men from the U2, Big Country's live show evolved from great to grand and then to magnificent. All errors as per printed content! MARILLION This Aylesbury-based quintet were originally known as Silmarillion (from J. R. Tolkein's novel) but the name was shortened to Marillion during a series of line-up changes which saw Fish - an ex-woodcutter from Scotland - join the band towards the end of 1980. They spent much of 1981 on the road supporting the likes of John Cooper-Clarke, Budgie, and Girl. By the end of the year they had begun to build a steady following by playing over 100 gigs around the UK. They also recorded a three-track demo (He Knows, You Know; Garden Party and Charting The Single) to send to prospective promoters. Copies of this tape - now a collector's item - were put on sale at concerts. In January 1982 Marillion played their first headline date at The Marquee. The first major articles appeared in Sounds followed closely by Kerrand! who tipped them as 'a band to look out for'. All errors as per printed content! STEVE HARLEY In 1972 Steve Harley resigned from East London Advertiser after 4 years to jion the dole queue. Wrote first songs in Hyde Park playing them at London folk clubs. Sebastian was a hit all over Europe with Cockney Rebel Mk.1 but a flop in England. 'Judy Teen' and 'Mr Soft' from the album 'Psychomods' got into the British top ten. Cockney Rebel break up and C.R. Mk.2 headline Reading Festival after 2 days rehersal. The one and only hit single 'Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)' from the album 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' came in 1975, but the follow up album 'Timeless Flight' produced no hit single. Jim Cregan decided in 1976 to join up-and-coming crooner Rod Stewart, so Britain, Europe and USA toured without him. By 1978 tired of trying Steve Harley moved to Los Angeles to join the swimming pool and brunch set, but a year later returned to Abbey Road with C.R. Mk.3. Still no major hit singles. In the next two years a lot of material was written but none was released. 1982 saw the release of 'I Can't Even Touch You' which to the disbelief of Steve Harley and Midge Ure flopped. At last a top 20 hit with "Ballerina (Prima Donna)' to be followed by a re-cut version of 'Sabestian', well back in the ratings. All errors as per printed content! ONE THE JUGGLER It's not many rock musicians who get their big start by exchanging two shovels and a roof-rack for a guitar. But that is the way Rokko took his first steps towards a new band you are going to find it impossible to ignore - One The Juggler. The band was put together by Lushi and Rokko, who chose the name because of their unusual background - they are both Romanies. The Juggler is the first card of the Tarot pack, a fact well-known to all travellers but perhaps not to the rest of us. Rokko says of their past: "We travel, we always have done. Lushi was born in Kent, he moved around that area, and I was born in the South of France and moved to Kent when I was about four and a half." One The Juggler have come to the stage where they have the benefits of both youth and experince on their side. They have progressed remarkably quickly to the stage where they have mastered both studio technique and live performance at a very young age. They are now ready for anything. |
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