History of The Standards
JOHN RECALLS THE
EARLY DAYS
Mark moved to Beeston from Belle Isle
in the early to mid-seventies. I always knew of him, but being older he moved
in different circles. We became mates in the winter of 1979 while I was
recovering from a broken leg, following a scooter accident. Mark was out of
work. His dad had bought him out of the Navy after he’d gone AWOL from
Portsmouth. He’d been in a band called the ‘Page 3 Girls’. They had recently
split, so he was looking to form a new outfit. We had an uncanny interest in
the same music – Punk, New wave and 60s bands such as The Who. Consequently,
our friendship and the seeds of a new group began to grow.
Darren joined next. Both Mark and I
knew him from growing up as kids. I regularly used to go round to his house to
listen to music (McCartney & Wings) and play Cricket. We also did a bit of
train spotting for a while. He’d recently been in a band called ‘Art School’
who had just folded, so he was recruited by Mark. We now had our bassist. The
three of us practised in a comfortable cellar in Barkly Place and spent most of our
afternoons in the Cross Flatts Club (known locally as the Klondyke) or the
White Hart on Beeston Town Street, writing songs. The name ‘Standards’ was
lifted from the title of an early Jam album track.
We bumped into Richard in the White
Hart in the summer of 1980. Despite his craving to play heavy rock, he didn’t
take much convincing that our style of music was the way forward. He’d acquired
a set of drums from locally established drummer Kev Cassidy and was soon up to
speed with the songs.
Now a four-piece band, we were eager
to play our first gig and did so at the Klondyke on 30th October
1980.
KEYBOARDS
To fill out the sound and extend the range
of the band, it was decided that a second guitarist or a keyboards player could
be the answer. The lads were on the lookout for a fifth member and soon found
one, in the shape of Dave Rhodes.
In
mid-1979, bored and lacking direction, Dave had attended a local gig featuring
school chum Phil Gibson, thrashing out guitar chords with a raw outfit calling
themselves ‘Rough Dog’. It was at this point that he decided he would join the
band, even though he couldn’t play an instrument at the time.
Dave promptly purchased an electric
piano and spent three months locked away in his bedroom learning basic chord
structures from information contained in an old school exercise book and some
Kate Bush song sheets, emerging to join Rough Dog and play two gigs, before the
band split in March 1980. Dave continued to work on his piano technique until
approached in the autumn of that year by Mark in The Broadway pub on Dewsbury
Road. “Do you play keyboards?” asked Mark, to which the answer was “Yes”. “Get
down to Darren Briggs’ garage, 1.30 on Sunday afternoon.” said Mark.
“I used to know Darren at Beeston
Infants”, recalls Dave.” He had this trick where he Karate-chopped pencils in
half on the edge of the desk. I also remember Mark from Parkside High School.
He used to hide in the trees during cross-country runs, then jump out and whip
the younger boys’ legs with a stick. I can still feel it”.
Dave knew vaguely where Darren lived,
but not the exact address. He followed his ears, dragging his piano in an old
shopping trolley to his first rehearsal with The Standards.
“I’d seen them before”, recalls Dave,
“practising in St Andrew’s Church Hall on Cardinal Road. I wasn’t sure about
the Fred Perry T-shirts, but I was impressed that they could play ‘Down in the
Tubestation at Midnight’ by The Jam and that it was recognisable. Some
of the stuff we did in Rough Dog was atrocious – you couldn’t tell one song
from another!
I remember setting up the piano in
Darren’s Dad’s garage and trying to play the songs. I was a bit nervous as John’s
sister, Carol was standing behind me, watching.
At the end, Mark gave me a load of
songs and told me to learn them by next week. I took it that meant I was in the
band”. Dave did indeed learn the songs and played his first gig with the band
at The Broadway, in November.
CONSTANT GIGGING
“As the band took off and word spread,
we built up a good local following”, says John. “I can still see the band,
instruments and around a dozen other lads, squashed into the back of a transit
van, trying to hold the back doors shut without spilling their pints. I think
somebody fell out at some point and was left behind”.
Most of the gigs were in Leeds and
surrounding areas, the most memorable of which being in the beer garden of The
Broadway on Royal Wedding day, Tiffany’s and a dodgy night in Damiens Night
Club, surrounded by a ring of bouncers during some trouble. “We also crossed
the Pennines for what was termed the ‘Macclesfield and Manchester Mini Tour”,
remembers Dave.
Among our early supporters were Dave
Carr, Andy Rawling, Ian and Paul Overfield, Eric Gabbott, Elaine and Karen
Slater, Tina Brown (also our official hair designer), Janet Senior, Paul and
Carol Metcalf, Spanner, Barney, Julie Hickinson, Bob Crosby, Mark Gomersal,
Mark Briggs, Ruth, Simon and Tim Devlin and John Lenahan to name but a few
(please let us know if we missed you out).
The level of gigging increased
throughout the coming year (at one point to 5 a week) and it became a bit heavy
going. Some of the pubs paid next to nothing and boredom began to set in. The
Standards played some 50 or so concerts between October 1980 and November 1981,
at which time Richard stated that he was leaving the band. He apparently needed
to sell his drums to buy a car (a Hillman Avenger if my memory serves). The
remaining members now had other interests too (mainly drinking), so it was
decided to shelve the project for a while.
FIRST REFORMATION
Towards the end of 1984, Mark and
Darren were hinting at re-forming. John and Dave agreed to this, but Richard
was not available. John’s brother Paul (who had been playing above the White
Hart with a three-piece instrumental outfit calling themselves the Diesel
Stickers) stepped in and serious rehersals began. There was apparently a bet on
that the band would not be ready to play by the end of January, but play they
did, on the 17th (ready or not). This time the gigs were reduced to
a steady one or so a month. Richard took over on drums sometime in the summer
of 1985 and the band continued to play throughout that year.
LEAN TIMES
Between the end of 1985 and 1990,
there were only four ‘one-off’ concerts. Changes of personnel saw Darren’s
brother, Mark on drums and Reg Wannan (formerly of the Diesel Stickers and The
Tykes) on guitar. Family and work commitments had become too great and the next
gig at the Co-op Club on Gelderd Road was to be the last for some 13 years.
2003 TO PRESENT DAY - BETTER THAN EVER
“The first I knew that we were to
re-form yet again, was when the phone rang as I was getting out of the shower”,
recalls Dave. “It was Darren. He asked if I was interested and, to be honest I
was a bit worried that I wouldn’t have time to play in a band. When he said
that it would be all 5 original members I was amazed. I never thought we would play
again after all this time. I said I would go to the first practice and the date
was set. Rehersals began in early 2003 and at first, it was all over the place.
We all still played at home, but it took around 6 months to sharpen up. Darren
and Mark had now swapped instruments, which also took some getting used to.
Gradually though, the sound improved to the point where we were tighter and
more musically cohesive than ever before”.
That’s the history, but the best is
still to come. There is an alternative to the tedious slime
churned out by the radio stations. The
Standards are back on the live scene……….
