Memories of another NNB gig-goer:
I was lucky enough to live about 5 minutes walk from the Horn Of Plenty in St Albans
from 1978 to 1980, and was a regular gig-goer. The NNB was my personal favourite.
Catchy songs backed by the great tunes of Paul "Polly's" MultiMoog (...polyphonic
synthesiser), which in itself was a fairly new sound at the time. I was hooked and
saw NNB many times at the HOP, and also at a couple of other venues but can't remember
where - could have been the Corn Dolly. I didn't know the band personally, so when
the HOP gigs stopped, I hunted around in vain for any news. Looking at the posts
here it seems that I wasn't the only person wandering around in a coma wondering
where my next NNB "fix" would come from. Soon after I had to leave the London area
anyway, heading out West where a new job was calling.
Time passed, and with the invention of the web I occasionally and hopefully typed
the band's name into a search engine, turning up ... nothing ... until just recently!
Congratulations Phil on taking the initiative to set up this website. I've waited
29 years to hear these recordings again. The songs have stood the test of time and
are still great today. Thanks again for flushing the band back out of the hedgerows
and into the open.
I don't have any more memories specific to NNB, but here are some for anyone who
lived in or near St Albans then:
There were lots of other great bands doing the North London circuit at that time
and I can only remember a few names: Streetband, of course we all know Paul Young
sang but the Band was really good too: Q-Tips with brass section: Backlash: 64 Spoons:
a rare visit by Gaffa from Nottingham: vague recollections of Max Speed and the Dials:
and many others - if anyone would care to add to the list?
Other St Albans nightlife memories include table-top Space Invaders and Galaxians
at the HOP, other pubs such as the Midland across the road, the Goat, Peahen, Upper
and Lower Red, Fighting Cocks, Crooked Billet, out of town the Wicked Lady, the Barley
Mow... all supported by the recently founded CAMRA with its HQ just by the HOP.
And for eats: the New Gulshan just opposite the HOP served up Vindaloos with the
warning "sir you will end up in hospital if you keep eating these": the Garibaldi
opposite the Crown, a small Italian family-run cafe/restaurant with a small but cheap
menu including whole pizzas, unheard of in those days (Pizza Hut gave you a slice
with peas and chips): the Adelaide Wine Bar just down an alleyway off the High Street
- never mind McDonalds quarter-pounders, here you got half or full pounder burgers
with a choice of about thirty different fillings!
And then there was Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy to provide some mental relief
during the days.
Memories uncannily overlap with a certain other name on this website - yes Simon
P - so I see you're in Sydney now?
Alex P
Nottingham
