Cowboys International

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Cowboys International
General information
Genre (s) New wave
founding 1978
resolution 1980
Website www.cowboysinternational.com
Founding members
Vocals, synthesizers
 Ken Lockie
guitar
 Alan Rawlings
bass
 Jimmy Hughes
Drums
 Terry Chimes
Later members
Guitar (1979)
Rick jacks
Guitar (1979-80)
Marco Pirroni
Guitar (1980)
Steve Shears
Bass (1980)
Pete Jones
Bass (1980)
Lee Robinson
Keyboards (1979-80)
Evan Charles Hughes
Drums (1979)
Brian "Dolphin" Taylor
Drums (1980)
Paul Simon

Cowboys International was the band of the English singer Peter Dellow (stage name Ken Lockie), which existed from 1978 to 1980.

Band history

prehistory

Peter Dellow, born in 1956, came to London with his brother from Gateshead at the age of 17 , where he first studied saxophone and then piano .

In early 1978 Dellow lived with Keith Levene (ex- The Clash ) in a squat at Regent's Park . He often accompanied Levene to a demo and rehearsal studio in Fulham , where both worked with the early slits .

Band founded, first demos and record deal with Virgin (1978)

He took along with Levene there on two days a demo tape on which among other things, "Nothing doing" contained song, according to Dellow "one of our best songs, at least he was good in the demo." The tape attracted the interest of several record companies who Offer studio time for professional test recordings. With the producers Mitch Mitchell (ex- The Jimi Hendrix Experience ) and John “Poli” Palmer (ex- Family ) some songs were recorded, on which Marco Pirroni from the band Rema-Rema (guitar) and Paul Simon from the band were guest musicians The Civilians (drums) performed.

In the fall of 1978 Terry Chimes (ex- The Clash ) got on as a permanent drummer and through the mediation of Keith Levene Dellow finally concluded a record and music publishing contract with Virgin Records in late 1978 . Chimes then declined an offer from the Pretenders because they were still without a record deal at the time. Pirroni decided to pursue his Rema-Rema project , so that a replacement was found with the guitarist Alan Rawlings. The bassist Jimmy Hughes (ex- The Banned ) completed the new band, which was named Cowboys International . Dellow: “Cowboys doesn't fit in with International. The terms do not belong in a context. Ergo confusion, ergo the name. "

Peter Dellow decided to use the stage name Ken Lockie, much to Terry Chimes' astonishment.

Debut singles, tours and first album (1979)

A first single, Aftermath , was recorded by Mick Glossop (who had just worked with Levene on the first PiL album) in London's Air Studios and was released on March 20, 1979, the music press praised it as a "strangely perfect pop record." The band began immediately afterwards with the work on the second single.

The band's first live concerts took place on a four-week tour of Great Britain in support of Penetration (23 appearances from April 20 to May 19, 1979). The music press sometimes attested the band a "lack of dedication and feeling" they found "entertaining" on other evenings, but attested Lockie, despite his clear talent, a "total lack of stage presence" On May 4th in Uxbridge there were tumult in the audience between the sets from Cowboys International and Penetration to a temporary ban on concerts at Brunel University .

On May 27, 1979, the band performed at the two-day Loch Lomond Rock Festival in Scotland. Record company representatives had traveled from London specifically to see the band, but the performance was cut in favor of the other groups by simply "turning the juice off".

The second single Nothing Doing was released on June 22nd, 1979, the Melody Maker reacted positively, while the New Musical Express spoke of a "weak song".

Despite Lockie's poor health (he had contracted viral pneumonia with pleurisy ), the band went on tour again after a concert at the University of Southampton on June 20, this time in the lead-up to Fischer-Z (8 concerts between the 2nd and 14th). July 1979). On July 16, 1979, Cowboys International recorded a studio session for Mike Read's Evening Show on BBC Radio 1 .

After that, the band took a break, as drummer Terry Chimes married on July 28, 1979 and went on a 14-day honeymoon in Crete. Guitarist Alan Rawlings was replaced by Rick Jacks and a keyboard player was added with Evan Charles Hughes.

The band then went to London's Advision Studios to record their debut album "The Original Sin". The befriended band Public Image Ltd. borrowed their Prophet 5 synthesizer , and Keith Levene made a guest appearance on a song on lead guitar. Virgin Records set a deadline by which the album had to be completed and did not allow a single day. The recordings went quickly, although the band had only prepared five finished songs and wrote the rest in the studio. Presumably during these sessions Lockie and Levene were working on an instrumental piece that later ended up in a revised form under the title Radio 4 on the Public Image Ltd. LP Metal Box .

Virgin Records tried to promote the band together with two other newcomer groups ( Fingerprintz and Local Operator ) and booked the London club The Nashville Rooms for two days (August 20 and 21, 1979) to celebrate a Christmas party there in the middle of midsummer. The guests were personally greeted at the entrance by label boss Richard Branson . A small tour followed, this time as headliner (5 appearances between August 28th and September 8th). On September 12, 1979, the BBC's In Concert series was recorded at London's Paris Theater , opening act for the punk band Chelsea , and on September 13, the band gave a concert at the prestigious Marquee Club .

Despite the fact that the record company considered Cowboys International to be "one of their most promising groups" and announced that they would put the album on the market at a reduced price of £ 3.99 instead of the usual £ 4.99, drummer Terry Chimes left before the LP Released the band due to the foreseeable lack of commercial success. Together with his brother, he helped in the fall of 1979 with the recordings for the album "What's The Matter Boy?" By Vic Godard & The Subway Sect .

Chimes was replaced by Tom Robinson drummer Brian "Dolphin" Taylor, who made his debut in London's Nashville Room on September 27th and was presented as an "almost certain new member".

The album "The Original Sin" was released in Great Britain on October 5, 1979, but due to an error in the mastering , the sound in the right channel was ruined for all pressings on the B-side (this error is with the Canadian and the US pressing unavailable). The music press reacted differently, while the Melody Maker praised the album, the NME saw the album as a Bowie plagiarism. In the list of “Critics Charts (Album of the Year 1979)”, the employees of the music magazine Melody Maker chose the album at number 11. The reactions in Germany, where the album was distributed by Ariola , also varied: the Musikexpress only heard “ flat-chested compositions ”and plagiarism of the style of other artists such as Roxy Music or Bowie, for Diedrich Diederichsen in Sounds the album was an“ interesting case ”.

After an appearance as the opening act for Steve Harley at Hammersmith Odeon on October 20, 1979, Cowboys International headlined the UK tour (20 appearances between October 24 and November 23, 1979). Then guitarist Jacks and drummer Taylor left the band.

On December 21, 1979, Peter Dellow submitted an official name change via deed poll to Ken Lockie, which became legally valid on January 8, 1980.

New line-up (winter 1979/80)

Lockie brought Terry Chimes and the guitarist Marco Pirroni (ex- Rema-Rema ) back into the band to record the next single. This time he produced it himself, as he later reported: “With the last single, Virgin refused my first mix. Then, pissed off as I was, I did this completely insane second version with violins and clattering timbales, and they took it. Really crazy."

Already at the end of January 1980 the single "Today Today" was released, the NME rejected the song as a "torturous mini-epic", while the Melody Maker judged more positively: "To publish 'Today Today' as A-side instead of the more obvious electro-pop from 'Fixation' to the B-side is a bold move, and it deserves a reward. ”The band appeared on the prestigious television show The Old Gray Whistle Test on January 22nd, 1980 and performed live the two songs“ Today Today "And" Pointy Shoes ".

On January 28, 1980 Marco Pirroni finished his guest appearance at Cowboys International and joined Adam & The Ants . Terry Chimes, on the other hand, had been rehearsing with Generation X for some time and became a new member there. Bassist Jimmy Hughes also got out to play with the Subterraneans , the band of journalist Nick Kent.

Last line-up and tour, the band split up (1980)

Lockie contacted the drummer Paul Simon (ex- The Civilians ), with whom he had already worked in 1978. Both formed a new band, this time with guitarist Stevie Shears (ex- Ultravox ) and a session musician named Lee Robinson on bass, who had played in the tour bands of Boney M. and Marcia Griffiths . A short European tour was planned, followed by a few gigs in the US and a second studio album.

In April 1980 Cowboys International played in the Netherlands (5 concerts between April 9th ​​and 13th 1980), with Pete Jones (ex- The Hots ) helping out on bass. The last live performance of Cowboys International, poorly attended due to lack of advertising, took place on April 16, 1980 in Berlin's Kant-Kino, the following day the band returned to London.

In Tony Visconti's Good Earth Studios in London, the band began recording a second album. Of these sessions, only one song, "Too Much & Too Little" was later released.

Ken Lockie decided to break up the band and instead record a solo album under his own name with changing session musicians.

Later solo activities

Ken Lockie's solo album The Impossible was recorded in various studios with various session musicians, guest appearances also had Jim Kerr ( Simple Minds ) and John McGeoch ( Siouxsie and the Banshees ). It was released on May 1, 1981, live performances were not planned.

Ken Lockie in turn contributed in April 1981. choral singing four songs ( "In Trance As Mission", "Sweat In Bullet," "70 Cities As Love Brings The Fall" and "Love Song") of the Simple Minds album Sons And Fascination with .

In August / September 1981 Lockie was at Britannia Row Studios in London, where he contributed cello and backing vocals to a song ( Fields ) on The Skids album Joy .

In the fall of 1981 Lockie moved with the befriended band Public Image Ltd. to New York and lived there for a while with John Lydon . In January 1982 Public Image Ltd. the music press with that Lockie had become a member of the band as a keyboard player, but in September 1982 he left the band again.

Lockie moved his activities as a producer to dance and hip-hop and worked on the successful Dominatrix single The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight in 1984 and on the Death Comet crew single At The in 1985 (at Unique Recording Studios in New York) Marble bar . He then left the music industry and moved to Atlanta . In 2003 he founded his own record label Pnuma Records and released almost all of the Cowboys International material on the Revisited CD . In 2004 a solo album followed under the name Cowboys International, which he recorded with befriended guest musicians and family members. On February 11, 2005, there was a single appearance under the name Cowboys International at the Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery in Atlanta.

Discography

Albums

  • The Original Sin (Virgin Records, Oct. 5, 1979)
  • The Impossible (Virgin Records, May 1981. Ken Lockie solo album)
  • Revisited (Pnuma Records, April 2003)
  • The Backwards Life Of Romeo (Pnuma Records, August 2004)

Singles

  • Aftermath / Future Noise (Virgin Records, March 1979)
  • Nothing Doing / Millions (Virgin Records, June 1979)
  • Many Times (Flexi-single supplement to the single Nothing Doing , Virgin Records, June 1979)
  • Thrash / Many Times (Revised) (Virgin Records, October 1979)
  • Today, Today / Fixation (Virgin Records, January 1980)
  • Today / Train Of Events (Virgin Records, February 1981. Ken Lockie solo single)
  • Dance House / Tenderness Of Fools (Virgin Records, May 1981. Ken Lockie solo single)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e Jan Libbenga: Cowboys International. Niet van deze wereld. In: Muziekkrant OOR No. 2/80, Amsterdam January 30, 1980, pages 10-11.
  2. ↑ a b c d John Orme: The Cowboys Of Cool. In: Melody Maker April 7, 1979, page 10.
  3. ↑ a b c d Martin Smith: Paul Simon (AjantaMusic) - Part 2. Part Two - Surviving the Fallout. In: Translatedbirdsong.wordpress.com website, June 5, 2014.
  4. ^ A b Colin Irwin: Midnight Cowboys . In: Melody Maker October 6, 1979, pages 22 + 59.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Terry Chimes : The Strange Case Of Dr Terry And Mr Chimes. Wilkinson Publishing 2013, pp. 45-48.
  6. ↑ Simon Frith: Singles Reviewed By Simon Frith. In: Melody Maker March 24, 1979, p. 29.
  7. ↑ Bob Edmonds: Singles . In: New Musical Express March 24, 1979, p. 27.
  8. ↑ News Flashes . In: Melody Maker April 14, 1979, page 3.
  9. ↑ Ignore At Your Peril! Penetration on tour. Tour advertisement in: New Musical Express April 21, 1979, page 12.
  10. ^ Paul Du Noyer: Penetration Middlesborough. Review of one of the concerts at Rock Garden, Middlesborough, April 21 and 22, 1979. In: New Musical Express April 28, 1979, p. 53.
  11. ^ Penny Kiley: Penetration Mountford Hall, Liverpool. Review of the concert at Mountford Hall, Liverpool, April 27, 1979. In: Melody Maker May 5, 1979, p. 42.
  12. ↑ Maureen Patton: Penetration Rainbow, London. Review of the concert at the Rainbow Theater, London, May 9, 1979. In: Melody Maker May 19, 1979, p. 44.
  13. ↑ Penetration Trouble Leads To Student Ban. In: Melody Maker May 19, 1979, page 3.
  14. ^ Allan Jones: The Tartan Woodstock: Own-Goals In Extra Time. In: Melody Maker June 2, 1979, pages 13-14.
  15. ↑ Tour & Gig News . In: New Musical Express June 16, 1979, p. 46.
  16. ↑ Simon Frith: Singles Reviewed By Simon Frith. In: Melody Maker June 23, 1979, page 31.
  17. ^ Danny Baker: Singles. In: New Musical Express June 23, 1979, pages 34-36.
  18. ^ New Flashes. In: Melody Maker June 23, 1979, page 3.
  19. ↑ Tour advertisement in: New Musical Express June 30, 1979, page 58.
  20. ↑ Ken Garner: In Session Tonight: The Complete BBC Recordings. BBC Books 1993, 19.
  21. ↑ Biography ( Memento of the original from August 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: EvanCHughesMusic.com website.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.evanchughesmusic.com
  22. ↑ a b c Michael Ruff: Acquisition of knowledge. Ken Lockie from Cowboys International. In: Sounds July 1980, pages 44-46.
  23. ^ John Orme: Cowboys International / Fingerprintz / Local Operator Nashville, London. In: Melody Maker September 1, 1979, page 30.
  24. ^ Cowboys Riding Into Town. In: New Musical Express October 6, 1979, page 4.
  25. ↑ Virgin Cut Price Of New Albums. In: New Musical Express September 15, 1979, page 4.
  26. ^ LP review by John Orme, in: Melody Maker October 6, 1979, p. 22.
  27. ↑ LP review by Harry George, in: New Musical Express October 20, 1979, page 47.
  28. ↑ LP review by Ingeborg Schober, in: Musikexpress December 1979, page 49.
  29. ^ LP review by Diedrich Diederichsen, in: Sounds December 1979, page 58.
  30. ^ News round-up. In: New Musical Express October 20, 1979, page 4.
  31. ↑ Tour advertisement in: New Musical Express October 20, 1979, page 8.
  32. ↑ Change Of Name . In: The London Gazette Jan. 14, 1980, p. 666.
  33. ^ Paul Morley : Singles . In: New Musical Express February 9, 1980, p. 22.
  34. ↑ Chris Bohn: Singles Reviewed By Chris Bohn. In: Melody Maker February 9, 1980, page 23.
  35. ^ Adam & The Ants Catalog . Supplement to Adam & The Ants LP "Kings Of The Wild Frontier" November 1980.
  36. ↑ Nick Kent: Gen X: Then There Were Two? In: New Musical Express February 2, 1980, page 13.
  37. ↑ But We Do Have A Cowboy. In: Melody Maker March 1, 1980, page 14.
  38. ↑ Rodeo Time . In: Melody Maker March 15, 1980, page 3.
  39. ↑ Watched. In: Muziekkrant OOR No. 6/80, Amsterdam March 26, 1980, page 45.
  40. ↑ Scott Murphy: Pete Jones Interview . In: The Filth And The Fury-Fanzine Issue 13, pp. 16-20.
  41. ↑ Data Control Record News. In: New Musical Express March 28, 1981, p. 32.
  42. ↑ discography: recordings, productions and other collaborations . In: KenLockie.info (Ken Lockie Personal Homepage)