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| Jeff Munday "guesting" with The Fallen Leaves - Photo by Steve Worrall |
DJ and dapper Man-about-town,
"Chelsea Jeff" Munday, celebrated his birthday in style last week at the
William Morris in South Wimbledon with a great line-up of bands that bore close resemblance to the last
Retro Man Blog Night at the Half Moon in Putney. The evening kicked off with
The Past Tense, who played their danceable little garage pop nuggets to perfection. Drummer Warren Samuels and bassist Ken Halsey are getting a reputation as the best rhythm section on the circuit, and tonight Warren had the crowd's mouths agape at one particular point in proceedings with some tremendous drumming. They ended on the Quadrophenia tribute "Jimmy's Love Song" from their excellent debut album "Take Three" and singer and guitarist Andy Norrie-Rolfe performed a perfect Pete Townshend leap to round it all off, captured here by Paul Slattery...
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| Andy takes off! The Past Tense by Paul Slattery |
Next up were
The Legendary Groovymen, who are one of those perfect party bands, with their mix of catchy originals and a choice selection of cover versions including songs from The Jam, The Strangeloves and a cheery "You Need Wheels" by local heroes The Merton Parkas.
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| The Legendary Groovymen - Photo by Paul Slattery |
It was my first time to see
The SuperMinx '70 and they were a pleasant surprise - off stage I'd always seen singer and guitarist Paul Osborn dressed to the nines, perfectly suited and booted, so I was expecting their sound to be more of the Mod persuasion. However, the band are refreshingly different - on stage Paul was more casual - wearing a Mott The Hoople T-Shirt that gives a slight clue to their sound. They play brash South London street-tough tunes nicely augmented by Sax and Trumpet. There's hints of the rougher bovver-boot end of British Glam Rock such as The Hollywood Brats and Jook. If you've ever heard the early demos of the Sex Pistols where Glen Matlock plays his melodic bass lines then you might get an idea where SuperMinx are coming from. Paul's a great singer and his lyrics are also original and amusing. Unfortunately, the band have not yet been in the studio, but I am eagerly awaiting their first recordings and look forward to seeing the band again.
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| The SuperMinx '70 - Photo by Paul Slattery |
The Fallen Leaves close the show with their usual brilliant set, I've already waxed lyrical about The Leaves so many times on the Blog, but they really are the best band out there playing now. Tonight they wow the crowd with their Punk Rock for Gentlemen! Jeff Munday gets the ultimate birthday present, he gets to join in on backing vocals on "Trouble"...money can't buy a gift like that!
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| The Fallen Leaves - Photo by Steve Worrall |
In the audience were spotted members of
The Aadvarks, The Onlookers and
The Transients and Ray Gange, star of the Clash's "Rude Boy" movie, was also there. So, a great night of music in celebration of Jeff Munday's birthday, brilliantly organised by Paul Osborn, Paul Philips and Tony Holton. Cheers Jeff! Here are a few more photos from the evening.
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| The Past Tense - Photo by Steve Worrall |
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| The Legendary Groovymen - Photo by Steve Worrall |
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| The SuperMinx '70 - Photo by Steve Worrall |
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| Rob Green of The Fallen Leaves - Photo by Steve Worrall |
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| Bill Lewington & Matthew Karas of The Fallen Leaves - by Steve Worrall |
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| Rob Green of The Fallen Leaves - by Steve Worrall |
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| Rob Symmons of The Fallen Leaves - by Steve Worrall |
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| Birthday Boy Jeff Munday with Rock Photographer Paul Slattery - by Steve Worrall |
Thanks and "hello" to all the bands, Jeff, Paul Osborn, Paul Philips, Tony Holton, Paul Slattery, Andy Norrie-Rolfe, Les, Albert, Emer, Adam, Ray Gange and Mark Leech.
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