“One of my favourite Paisley Underground bands of the time. They could literally lift you off your feet with the sound coming at you like waves. It was a great period for me with good bands from all over the place coming to Manchester every weekend it seemed. Big big kudo`s to Roger Eagles(?) for creating the venues to showcase loads of great underground and local acts.
“First met Craig when my band the Moochers were rehearsing to play at a converted cinema the Carlton in Salford. Craig was related to one of the guys who had bought the old cinema and was having his own rehearsal session. My God! was he awesome. He sounded better than the four of us put together. I knew he would go further than playing in an old picture house and he was soon signed up by Jeff Travis at Rough Trade where he went on to produce a brilliant first album that got the critics raving but barely chalked up any sales as a solo folkie/songwriter wasnt on the menu back then for the bright young things! Shame, really as Craig was truly talented and a lovelier bloke you couldn`t wish to meet..........modest and a genius!
“I was at the Heywood Civic gig in 1990 as one of my work colleagues called Colin used to occasionally do the mixing for the Turtles and he invited me along. At the time Colin was also doing some live mixing for my band the Moochers so I went to the Civic and was blown away seeing them live ( i had heard tapes of previous gigs in Col`s car on the way to work so thought I knew what to expect!) They were awesome and so much more exciting live. I still have a mint copy of "Pomona" and "Can you Dig it" was the soundtrack to Mancunian life for a while back there. My weirdest experiencience though was actually having a fledgling comedian called Steve Coogan (Martins brother) supporting the Moochers at the Boardwalk many moons back.
Great times and maybe its time for a Mock Turtles retrospective as they were ace!
“This man should be a Manchester legend based on "toothache" alone! I never had the pleasure of seeing John but from stories I have been told, John would go in a club straight from work in his postman clothes, berate whoever was playing and on some nights would get up on stage and wail like a banshee whilst delivering his magnum opus "toothache" which was basically John howling like a demented lunatic screaming "ooooooohhhh....i got toooothache!
On that basis alone we should build a statue to John and revere him for the god he truly was!
“I remember John was the guy who handed out joinery tools at Salford College of Technology when I was on block release stuying to be a joiner/carpenter from the construction company who sent me there. John was always reading in his little storage room, either the N.M.E or a poetry book. I used to stand and chat with him rather than make miniature staircases or windowframes instead discussing music. He was particularly interested at the time in George Melly lol! I also had the pleasure of playing support to him at Crystals in Bury in the late 70`s early eighties ( god my memory is crap on dates!) Top bloke our John, a true bard and great great man.
“The closest thing I ever got to experiencing how Jimi Hendrix might have sounded live!
I used to see the Hamsters at the Band on the Wall and they were complete Hendrix acolytes. Shut my eyes and they could have been him! Truly fantastic live experience (especially when aided by some chemical stimulants!)
“My God, I am showing my age now! I remember seeing Greasy Bear at Salford College of Technology when I was 15 or 16! They were very heavy/hippie but to my young ears were great.
Lord, was i young back then!
“Great article Phil. I used to watch Gammer at the Champion in Salford on a midweek night and well remember the headlight prop that was used to such good effect. Me and my mates rarely missed Gammer as they were one of the best bands around back then. Thanks for the memories.
“Always a great night out, used to go to the Gallery in Manchester where Ed used to play support a fair bit. He always got a rapturous applause from the crowd and his on ( and off!) stage antics were hilarious. Great band too although the line up was in constant flux as I recall lol.
“I had the good fortune to meet Chris on a train coming home from London to Manchester circa early eighties and had an interesting conversation with him about Mancunian bands and musicians. Thouroughly likeable chap and a great privilege to meet the man behind Frank.
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Les Murphy”