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Charles plus light show
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Phil eventually left Dulwich College in December 1969. He got a job in a pokey little travel agent in the City. Reason? He was saving for a new guitar because, if you wanted to be taken seriously, your axe absolutely must be a Fender or Gibson – Hofner simply did not cut it. Then to everyone’s relief, Charles left the College in the summer of 1970 and we dragged him away kicking and screaming to be our new, old, drummer. So now we needed a keyboard player. Ideally, one who could play a very large number of seemingly unconnected notes in a very short period like Soft Machine’s Mike Ratledge. To our astonishment, just such a person replied to a Melody Maker ‘ Musicians Wanted’ advert in the small, and very long haired, shape of David Jarrett (57-64). David was considerably older than us lot but, and this made it feel just so right, he too was an Old Alleynian. This left us with a bass player to find. And we couldn’t. Frustrated, yours truly idly suggested that, to rehearse, I should learn the bass parts. After all, with only four strings, the instrument couldn’t be that difficult. Impressed, or simply desperate, the rest of the band agreed to the plan and Quiet Sun was born, struggled and, a year later, died – rejected by the entirety of the music business. But, however much you might like to, you cannot keep an OA down. Mr Manzanera replied to another Melody Maker ad and became a key player in the next big thing in 1972: a rocking little combo called Roxy Music. A decade’s worth of chart-topping singles and albums followed. At a less elevated (and well paid) status, I joined Robert Wyatt in Matching Mole, recording two somewhat strange albums before the band broke up. Then, in 1974, Phil started recording his own albums: a solo album Diamond Head and, bringing the old band back together, a Quiet Sun album called Mainstream. We collaborated on three more albums: 801 Live!, Listen Now and K-Scope, the title track of this latter album being sampled by Kanye West and appearing on his hit single ‘No Church in the Wild’ (for which the Targett-Adams pension plan is very grateful). I left the music business after three years with another band, Random Hold, which, once more, featured OAs; Simon Ainley (63-72), the sadly late David Ferguson (64-71), and David Rhodes (65-74) who, since 1981 has been Peter Gabriel’s guitarist. Those OAs, I just can’t get away from them.
Between rehearsals and fruit cake, Pooh conducted a tour of almost every conceivable potential venue Dulwich College offered. Supported by our intrepid light show artistes, Tim and Dave, we played the Great Hall, then a lunchtime gig in a science lab, turning it into a mid-day version of UFO/Middle Earth , minus the drugs. For the most part. We rocked Room 31 (Bottom of the North Block) and took the Bath’s Hall by storm – twice. These latter performances (including Pooh’s last at the school) were attended by a few hundred somewhat hysterical lads and lasses from Dulwich and neighbouring schools, Alleyn’s, JAGS and the since disappeared Datchelor’s. We later even managed a couple of (very badly) paid gigs outside the College. The evidence is attached below. For those of you too young to remember, 5 shillings is now 25p, a sum with which you can buy absolutely nothing nowadays but was several bags of Maynard’s Wine Gums or multiple cheese rolls in those days. That’s inflation for you. In late July 1969 my time at Dulwich College came to an end. Prior to that, I spent the summer rock and rollin’ and playing cricket for the 1st XI. Being awarded the College’s 1st XI colours gave me the chance to buy an expensive blue and black striped blazer, a fancy gold braid badge and, more importantly, allowed me to fool the ladies who served in the Buttery into believing that I was a prefect (I never was). This allowed me to jump the queue for much-needed, pre-lunch, carb-heavy, sustenance. On my final day I wandered the school grounds thinking: WTF happens now? I was technically an adult but, at heart, still sixteen-ish and not at all ready for the real world. I would have to get a job. Bloody hell. And, with Phil staying on for another term, there’d not be much action on the music front either. And, as for Charles, he would not be free for another twelve months. What was one to do? So, that was it for Pooh and the Ostrich Feather and our first tentative steps to rock stardom…
(L:R): Charles Hayward, Phil Manzanera, Bill MacCormick WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Phil Manzanera
Charles Hayward Charles has remained an active, some might say hyperactive, presence on the British experimental music scene. After a brief stint with Gong and the recording of Mainstream , Charles formed This Heat with Charles Bullen and Gareth Williams. Their eponymous album did not emerge until 1979, with a second album, Deceit , released in 1981. He later formed Camberwell Now with bass player Trefor Goronwy, which released two EPs before breaking up in 1987 . Charles then embarked on a solo career, building up a cult following in Japan. He has collaborated with too many musicians to mention over an extended career in which his energy, creativity, and desire to explore the outer reaches of music have never flagged. In early 2024, he went on tour with his most recent band: the extraordinary Abstract Concrete. Bill MacCormick (Me) The least interesting of the lot. I left the music business in 1980 and got into politics as any ex-bass player should. Forced to retire on health grounds in 1998, I have since written six books about the First World War under the name Alan Macdonald. And, in 2024, an account of my time in the music business: Making it up as you go Along . Makes sense somewhere.
Phil continues to be prolific both as a player and producer after Roxy Music broke up in 1982. He produced his fourth solo album, Primitive Guitars , and formed The Explorers with Andy Mackay, releasing two albums. In 1991, he was Musical Director of the extraordinary Guitar Legends festival in Seville. He has since produced numerous albums, many featuring artists from Latin America and Spain; David Gilmour’s solo album On an Island ; and recorded a series of solo albums: Vozero , 6 PM , 50 Minutes Later , Firebird VII , The Sound of Blue and, most recently, Caught by the Heart with singer Tim Finn. In 2001 he joined the re-formed Roxy Music on a 52-date world tour. Further gigs followed in 2003-04, again in 2011 and finally in 2022 when the band triumphantly wrapped up its career at the O2 . His autobiography, Revolución to Roxy , was published in 2024. Dave Jarrett After his flirtation with the music business, Dave returned to his first love: teaching and messing about with mathematics. Indeed, whilst recording the Quiet Sun album he was also doing a Statistics degree at the LSE going on to work for many leading organisations and companies. He still plays and is surrounded by keyboards in his home in Bournemouth. He has already written his new piece for the Quiet Sun 50th Anniversary album: ‘Arnold is Still in the Bath’. Those of you who have been paying attention the past fifty years will immediately get the reference.
P.S. Nor do they know when to shut up! Phil, Charles Hayward, Dave Jarrett and I are all back in the studio writing and recording material for a 50th anniversary Quiet Sun album to be released summer 2025. I bet you can’t wait.
Quiet Sun (L:R): Dave Jarrett, Charles Hayward, Bill MacCormick, Phil Manzanera
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