Article
Fumble
flies off to fame and fortune
(by Peter Patston)
FUMBLE,
a four-man rock band from Weston-super-Mare, is all set to plunge
into the big time at the deep end.
The outfit has played together
for five years. It’s toured in the North of England and
on the Continent; appeared on BBC2‘s Old Grey Whistle Test;
and an album, Fumble, on the Sovereign label, has been selling
steadily since release in November.
But the four boys‘ biggest break
comes in a few weeks, in the shape of a six-week, 20-date tour of
America with David Bowie and The Spiders.
Des Henly, who playes lead guitar
and sings lead vocals, told me how the band came to team up with
Bowie.
"He heard the LP,
liked it and asked us to play a set before him in Manchester.
We went on with him to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle and
Preston, and he ended up by inviting us to America."
said Des.
BALOONS
It’s our first tour of the
States, and it’ll be tremendous going with Bowie. It’ll mean playing
before audieces of between eight and 10,000."
The other members of the band
are Barry Pike, on drums, Sean Mayes, piano, and Mario Ferrari,
bass. They started out five years ago as Baloons.
"In those days we would
take anything we could get," said Des.
"We went to Switzerland
eight times, and ended up just by skiing and playing tennis."
The band saw a lot of Rumania
and Bulgaria. These iron Curtain countries are restricted to two
tours a year. Des told me.
Fumble was lucky enough to make
a couple of visits.
And eastern Europe was a good
stomping ground for the band to get into a strong rock act, which
it still uses today.
NAIVETY
"I hate the term rock
revival," said Des. "But we do a lot of the old songs,
as well as new ones we write ourselves.
What we’re not trying to do is
revive anything. If there’s a message, it’s something to do with
the naivety and innocence of the tone of those old numbers.
All we want people to do at a
Fumble concert is smile."
You can see the band before it
rushes off across the Atlantic, and then incidentally returns to
some strenuous recording sessions for a second album, at the Bristol
Granary on Saturday.
Fumble played there more than
a year ago with Slade, and made a second appearance some months
back.
"We like the Granary,"
said Des. "It’s one of the few places in this part
of the country where we can play. And it’s also nice to
perform somewhere closer to home."
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More
articles:
Success for Weston Group in beat championship
(Local paper, 1967)
Baloons flying
high behind Iron Curtain (Local paper, 1968)
Fumble (Record Mirror,
1971)
FUMBLE (Beat Instrumental,
1972)
American Press (1972)
Fumble gain a firm hold (1972)
Nancy
finds out all about....
(date unknown 1973)
There's no flies on Fumble (NME,
1973)
Fumble flies to fame and fortune
( 1973)
Rumble, rumble...here comes
Fumble (Record Mirror, 1973)
Fumble begin to feel good (Evening
News, 1973)
Fumble US Tour (Record Mirror,
1973)
In a class of their own
(Sounds, 1973)
Under the influence: Des
Henly (NME, 1973)
Rollin' and Fumblin'
(Melody Maker, 1973)
The Raver
(Melody Maker, 1973)
Back
in time - Nutrockers! (Reading Rock 73)
Accident Prone (Music Star,
1973)
An
interview with Barry Pike (Drum Magazine 1974)
Rock'n'Roll band signs up (St.
Albans Midweek Recorder, 1974)
Record and Popswop Mirror (Record
& Popswop Mirror, 1975)
Robin Katz talked to Sha Na
Na and Fumble (Sounds, 1975)
Pop goes GLC decibel dosage
(Daily Telegraph, 1975)
Concert reviews:
Playhouse Theatre
(supporting Bill Haley) (date unknown)
Newcastle,
City Hall (supporting David Bowie) (Jan 7, 1973)
Philadelphia,
Tower Theatre (supporting David Bowie) (Feb 17, 1973)
London,
Greyhound (May 17, 1973)
Paris
(May 31, 1973)
London,
Speakeasy (June 7, 1973)
London,
Marquee Club (July 14,
1973)
London, Rainbow Theatre
(supporting Chuck Berry) (Sept 7, 1973)
London, Marquee Club
(March 1974)
Bristol,
University (Apr 27, 1974)
London, Kings Road Theatre (Dec
15, 1974)
Burton-on-Trent,
76 Club (Mar 29, 1975)
London,
Roundhouse (supporting Dr. Feelgood) (Apr 20, 1975)
Festivals:
The Reading
Festival 1973
Alexandra Palace
Music Festival 1973
Roskilde
Festival, Denmark 1973 (Sounds)
Roskilde
Festival, Denmark 1973 (NME)
LPs and Singles:
Fumble
(Sovereign) 1972 (Melody Maker)
Poetry In Lotion (RCA) 1974
(Disc, Melody Maker)
Alexandra
Park (Sovereign) 1973 (Disc Magazine)
Million
Seller (Sovereign) 1973 (Melody Maker, NME, Disc, Sounds)
Not Fade Away (RCA) 1974
(Record Mirror, Melody Maker, NME)
Don't
Take Love (RCA) 1974 (Sounds)
German / Danish articles:
 Fumble
ride the oldie-wave (fans magazine, 1973) translated
Fumble
- Nostalgischer Pomaden-Pop (Flash magazine, 1973)
Success through persistence (BRAVO
magazine, 1973) translated
 FUMBLE
(GO, 1972)
Sjoveste LP i lang tid (Some
Danish paper, 1972)
Kendt
beatgruppe i Diskotek Limelight (Danish paper, 1973)
Roskilde-festival en stor succes
(Berlingske Tidende, 1973) |
