So the great day dawned and, though we didn't know it that sunny May 7th morning, it was to be the largest audience we would play for in our Monkee year. Two factors ensured this. One was the popularity of the Zodiac. New to the city we did not know it was Oxford's top venue and that weeks later we would be in the audience there, to watch one of our idols, Jonatahan Richman, strut his stuff on that very same stage. The venue itself ensured there would be a fair turnout, and this was boosted by our loyal friends who came along to cheer us on.
The second was the incompetent planning of the evening, which meant everything started very late. No-one bothers turning up for the first band of the evening, but by the time we came on it was 10pm and everyone who had come to see one of the main bands was already there. thus it was that while we played to 150 people, the main band, who got on at 1am, ended up performing for just 30.
Above: L to R:Aiden, Liam, Saul, Jimmy White, Katherine Norris
For a first gig it was a remarkable success.
These are the only 3 decent photos taken and there is no audio or video record of the event because we were so sure we would not go down well. In fact it succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. The whole event was the perfect lead in for...
The Monkees Convention : June 1st 1996,
Denmark Arms, London.
This was great fun to do as we had a totally captive audience, so there was no pressure on us at all. We had sent out a press release which brought us to the attention of Radio 1, who sent along a crew to interview us, and tape the show. An extract from the interview was later broadcast on their documentary 'Hey Hey It's The Monkees'. The show was expanded from the 9 songs we played in Oxford, to 21 including 2 acoustic numbers ('It's nice to be with you' and 'Ticket on a ferry Ride'). Saul's Dad even got up on stage to join in on Zilch. As shown in the picture above Mike Ulrich , one of the original Shorties , joined us on stage for Early Morning Blues and Greens and Star Collector. While the former had it's problems the latter was arguably the best Shorties live performance yet, and it was a real thrill to work with him again. While we had the odd technical hitch it was a major progression for us, and was recorded in full on audio and video. Left : Saul's father , an ex-skiffle musician, joins us on Zilch.
To try and maximise publicity
we had also sent a press release to the local paper , the 'Newham Recorder' whose reporter couldn't make it. He suggested I write an article and send a photo, which I did, and which were duly published.
