 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
As with most bands, the history of Relay is littered with a long list of different names and personnel, but perhaps unusually, two of the original members, Bob and Steve, are still going strong after nearly 27 years. |
The initial concept for the band was formed way back in early 1975 by Steve (guitar) and Paul Guidotti (drums) while still at Stepney Green Comprehensive School in the East End of London. Steve had taken up the guitar in 1972, influenced by what is nowadays termed "classic rock", Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull etc and had long been an admirer of the twin lead sound of Wishbone Ash and a second guitarist, John Clements, was duly drafted in. John lived closeby to Steve in Poplar and was also a relative beginner but he had gear ! None of the band knew any bass players but there was a kid at school who had the same musical interests but couldn't play and didn't have any equipment. After a quick shopping expedition to Hutchins, local music shop in Poplar, to buy an Audition bass and amp, and a few lessons from Steve, Bob completed the line-up ! Lead vocals were shared by Steve, Bob and Paul.
The band's first gig followed shortly after in July 1975, playing to a group of mum's in Toynbee Hall in Aldgate ! The audience was treated to a set of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Bad Company cover versions and clapped politely at the end of each song !
John Clements departed from the band and the second lead vacancy was filled by another Stepney Green kid, Mickey Bronziet. This line-up lasted for several local gigs, mainly open air festivals (E2 and E1) in Stepney. Mickey had a mate, Jeff Phillips, who used to turn up to rehearsals in All Hallows Church in Bow, and tried out as the band's vocalist. No records exist that shows Jeff actually gigged with the band at any time. Memories are vague but it seems the band was known as Stacey at this point but no-one seems to remember why !
Mickey was notoriously unreliable, nearly always late for rehearsals, and, on some occasions, missing them altogether ! Inevitably Mickey was sacked. (Auditions followed and one of the applicants was a guitarist called Lee who, much later, was a bass player in a band Chris joined). Paul knew a local guitarist, Kerry, who was brought in temporarily. In the hot summer of 1976, another school friend, Mark Moody, was brought in on guitar and vocals. Still known as Stacey, the band was starting to build up a following and in June 1976 got a Tuesday night residency at the Bombay Grab, a pub in Bow (near the flyover). A second residency, on a Thursday night, followed at the Windsor Castle in Silvertown. The band was busy in this period, playing the residencies, The Londoner and various other pubs and festivals (one memorable occasion supporting Iron Maiden).
 |
In the June of 1977, the
beginning of the Punk era, the band got a support slot to the Jam at the Poplar Civic
Theatre, Bow. This was an infamous event for the band, which saw Mark casually put
his guitar onto it's stand mid-way through the closing song (Rock Bottom), then taking a
running leap from the stage into the audience. You have to remember this was before
stage bombing was even invented ! So Mark flew into the stunned crowd, kicking a
punk in the mouth - lots of claret. The whole incident made the local newspapers. (Picture shows Steve, Paul Bob and Mark Moody) |
| In the September
of 1977, the band got a great break; an audition at the Bridge House, Canning Town.
At the time, the Bridge House was the premier rock venue in the area and the band
regularly went early to see their heroes (RDB, Roll-Ups, Wedgwood, Powerpack) setting up
and soundchecking. The audition was a success and the band was invited back for a
mid-week spot (the whole gig was taped and Paul has still got his copy !) For some reason, Steve and Mark swapped sides for this gig. Just as well the band weren't in it for the money; this gig paid £25 + a tray full of hot sausage rolls and meat pies at the end of the night. (Picture is of Paul, Bob and Steve) |
 |
The incident with Mark at the Jam gig caused unexpectedly deep divides within the band and sometime in late 1977, Mark left. At this point, the band decided to experiment with adding a keyboard player instead of guitar and a guy called Dave (Sooty Show) auditioned and rehearsed with the band in Walthamstow. This was a brief experiment and Pat Steeles, a friend of a friend, was drafted in to replace Mark on guitar, and vocal duties went back to Steve, Bob and Paul. In the August of 1978 the band did another open air festival, this time at the Shadwell Basin and was the one and only time Pat appeared live with the band. (See Photo Album).
Auditions for a replacement for Pat went on through 1978 when John Carvell joined on guitar and vocals. John was known to the band through connections at the Bridge House. After adding Thin Lizzy and UFO covers to the set, the band re-launched themselves in August 1979 and got a residency at the Magnet and Dewdrop pub on the Isle of Dogs. (See Photo Album). Steve's brother Dave was brought in as live sound mixer for these gigs.
By this time Paul was in another band playing a different sort of stuff to the hard rock Stacey was doing. By mutual consent Paul left to devote more time to this project around the end of 1981. An advert was placed in Melody Maker and numerous drummers were auditioned, a guy called Steve got the job but didn't last long so on re-posting and auditioning, Garry Randall was drafted in. Garry brought not only drumming capability but also an interest in writing lyrics. This triggered the band into writing much more of its own material.
At this point the band felt they needed a vocalist to front the band and another advert was placed in the Melody Maker and auditions duly commenced. Martin (Hound Dog), Eve (with paper-reading husband Steve), Stuart (Robert Plant) and Jim (bad hair day) were just some of the singers to humiliate themselves (the tapes still exist to prove it !)
 |
Tanith Jones got
the job. No-one knew anything about her, as far as the band were aware she didn't
even have experience with other bands but she could sing and there was a big novelty
factor in having a female frontperson at this time in the early 80's. The band
re-launched again as Fallen Angel and, after a few one-off gigs at the Bridge House,
notably supporting Paul Dianno's Lone Wolf and Tour De Force, the band got a residency
which lasted for a few months (See Photo Album) when the owners sold up and the venue
converted into a hotel. In August 1982, the band bought some recording time at Forrest Studios, a 24 track facility in Leytonstone, drafted in the production expertise of Kieron Bowker, and recorded a 2-song demo with Cant Hold Me Down and Rock and Roll Or Me. More gigs followed but by the end of 1982 the strain was telling; all the band had day jobs which were paying mortgages and by the end of 1982, Fallen Angel had folded. |
By March 1983, Steve, Bob and Garry had started to get together to experiment with a new direction, much more influenced by Rush and inclusion for the first time of synthesisers. Chris Looker was brought in as frontman/vocalist and occasional keyboard plonker . Chris was well known to Steve and Bob from his days as Stacey's Number One Fan (with wet armpit, see pic) ! After a boozy session one night in the Carpenters Arms in Ben Jonson Road, the band was named Relay. The long-awaited live debut of the band was at the Duke Of Wellington in Bow on May 13, 1983.
(Picture shows Garry Randall, Chris, Bob and Steve rehearsing in the basement of Cayley School, Stepney) |
 |
In the period from 1983 to 1993 Steve gradually equipped the recording facility now known as Soundmagic Studio, where all subsequent recording of the Relay material took place.
June 1993 saw the reunion gig with the old members getting together as The FOG (The Five Old Gits), a one-off gig at The Standard in Wathamstow (See Photo Album) with friends Kirsty and Dave on backing vocals and guitar respectively. Since then Bob, Steve and Chris have been writing and recording material as Relay.
|
The period from 1990 - 2000 was the most prolific in the band's history with the production of 3 albums of original material (Prime Mover, Seconds Out and Chapter III) and a covers album (Undercover). In May 2000 with Chris leaving the UK to pursue a singing career in Lanzarote, Bob and Steve were looking for a replacement vocalist.
|
 |
 |
In July 2002, Alison Taffs was recruited as the band's lead vocalist bringing a powerful, controlled edge to the band's vocal presence and provides a new signature to the band's sound. The band are now writing songs around vocals as well as guitar!
|
All images and words © Relay 2000,2001,2002,2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
