As the summer nights draw in, all around the country, for the final time, technicians are starting to pitch their tents and load in the gear for the last music festivals of the season. Over my career I have played at various festivals right across Europe, but I suppose you never forget your first time. That’s why the Greenbelt Festival means so much to me. In fact we share an anniversary. This year we celebrate our Golden Jubilee, 50 years in the music business.
There’s an old saying about playing at the Greenbelt music festival. Every musician plays it twice in their career, once on the way up and…well…it’s going to be good to play there again this evening.
Mal chatting to the Stage Manager of The Canopy – The Bishop of Colchester.
I have in fact played at the festival a number of times over the years, but this will be only the second time I’ve played on my own. The first time, I have to say, was a complete disaster. At the time I was being managed by rock promoter Harvey Goldsmith and a man named Pete Brown who for a number of years had been the personal manager to the band ‘Queen’. Pete in particular was looking to find some new artistes to promote and together with Van Morrison and Billy Connelly I was part of their stable.
In the studio with Pete Brown.
Pete was working incredibly hard behind the scenes and had found out that Greg Lake was looking for a new writing partner. I had an early afternoon slot in a tent somewhere just behind the ‘back of beyond’. This was probably 1979 and the standard of equipment was rudimentary at best. When I took to the stage the pedal on the piano didn’t work and they couldn’t stop my guitar from feeding back. I soldiered on as best I could but eventually threw in the towel only to be greeted by Pete and Greg Lake’s manager. Safe to say, we never heard anything from Greg Lake again.
On leaving university I managed to pick up a gig playing piano for American Gospel artistes who came to Europe without their regular band. My first tour was a double header. I had been a fan of Randy Stonehill for years. He was part of that Californian Jesus Movement and he played proper West Coast rock music. The other artiste was singer songwriter Dave Edwards.
On the road with Randy Stonehill and Dave Edwards.
Dave was, as the Americans might say, ‘kooky’. At the end of the tour he sent every member of the band a thank you letter. It was a photocopied form with spaces for him to fill in the name of the musician. You know, Dear (space) thank you for playing (space) on my tour. (space) you really were the best member of the band.
Randy Stonehill was a headline act so went on last, just as the sun was starting to set. As a newcomer Dave was given an early evening slot. Both musicians only brought their guitars, so for the length of the tour they borrowed my VOX AC30 amplifier.
Greenbelt main stage just before U2 arrived and borrowed my Vox AC30.
As we were getting ready to play Dave’s tea time show we heard that an Irish band had arrived and wanted to play a short set, but they didn’t have any instruments.…and that is how I got to meet U2 and lend the Edge my amplifier.
I think that Greenbelt was the first time I got to meet Cliff Richard, although I’m sure he wouldn’t care to remember, and try as I might I really can’t forget. One of the advantages of being in the band for a headline act was backstage passes and access to the portaloos.
Before going on stage the loos can get a little busy. There I was minding my own business when I realised there was someone using the facility right next to me. Etiquette demands you stare straight ahead but the trouble was above the little bowls there were mirrors for the artistes to check themselves as they prepared to go on stage. I foolishly took a quick glance at the mirror and there was Cliff!
Celebrating Christmas in 1982 with Andy Piercy from After The Fire.
My next visit to Greenbelt was a few years later with a band called ‘After The Fire’. Well, not exactly ‘After The Fire’ but the former lead singer of that band. ‘After The Fire’ were Greenbelt regulars and favourites but after years of struggling had finally decided to call it quits. As the band had also been managed by Harvey Goldsmith I had got to know lead singer Andy Piercy quite well. He was looking for a new writing partner and as punk music had stolen my future I was only too pleased to get involved.
Music is a strange business. Out of the blue one of their old tracks started rising through the American charts. With ‘Der Kommissar’ entering the Billboard Top 10 everyone, including me, wanted the band to get back together. Sadly, too much water had passed underneath that bridge and so Andy and I took on their mantle. At the time Andy was working with an East End band called the ‘Baseball Boys’ and their demos were also starting to attract attention in the US. Andy asked them to join us on the main stage.
If I’m honest the Greenbelt crowd was a little disappointed that Andy wanted to play our new songs rather than the songs they knew and loved from his previous band. That all changed when we got to the encores, all of them ‘After The Fire’ hits.
The first song was called ‘One Rule For you’. It starts with a series of chords played on the Hammond organ and the song started with me on my own. As I played the first 4 chords 30,000 people all started shouting and screaming as they recognised the song and I nearly had a heart attack.
Sadly the album Andy and I were working on was never released and Andy was dropped by Sony CBS. Having said that, ‘The Baseball Boys’ changed their name to ‘The Outfield’ and went on to be multi-platinum artistes in the States. As I said, music is a strange business.
Mal Pope & The Jacks with Gray Lineker – The Best Band in the World???
I did return to Greenbelt in the 1990’s with the Jacks. At the time we were at the peak of Celebrity Party Notoriety. Hot from playing at parties for Joan Collins, Linda Luscardi and Simon Mayo we topped the bill with our set of high energy rock and pop covers. Great fun though it was it was around that time I decided that maybe being a covers band wasn’t for me.
For the next few years I toured as a solo artist with various bands and spent a whole summer playing outdoor festivals supporting Art Garfunkel. In East Germany most of the venues were amphitheatres in the forest. They had originally been built for gatherings of the Nazis and had been subsequently taken over by the Soviets. I did feel as if playing our music there did have some sort of redemptive quality for those beautiful locations.
Mal Pope & John Cale – The Rainbow Rooms, New York
We also played the big city festivals. I can’t remember if it was Berlin or Munich, but I do remember I walked off stage in a big top circus tent to be greeted by a very friendly American lady. She stopped me and told me how much she had enjoyed my set. It was only when I turned around to be introduced to her friend Lou Reed that I realise she was Laurie Anderson. Lou Reed was very generous as well and it wasn’t long before we started sharing stories about his former band member from Garnant, John Cale.
Anyway, after all these years it is great to be invited back and I’m really looking forward to seeing if I can improve on my last solo performance 45 years ago.
After Greenbelt I’m flying out for a few concerts in Pittsburgh and then its head down to our home coming concert at the Swansea Arena on 3rd October. It’s going to be a busy few weeks.