Paul Carroll
Just a brief bit of my own personal Cyanide experience.
I first saw cyanide on their 2nd ever gig, at a school hall in 1976. I had only just started playing guitar and was struggling with ideas when I saw them - I'm sure that for many 18/19 year olds around York it was like seeing the 'Sex Pistols' for the first time. Punk was only just getting started and 'Cyanide' weren't quite a punk band at that time (covers of 'AC/DC and 'UFO) but the inertia was definitely there. I cant stress how great that band was live!!! It was such a shame that they couldn't get anything like it on record - without exception, cyanides records were below average, but live? they were the sort of band that could go and play anywhere and bring the house down. They were all pretty good musos for young lads. (Jock did occasionally play fretless and sing!!) and they had cool guitars and haircuts!! I remember being very impressed with Zeph Stewarts retro basin cut, only to find out years later that it wasn't retro!!! If ever there was a "local " band that was going to be big it was Cyanide.
They duly got management (a sore point for many) and signed a deal. It was all plane sailing so it appeared, but the album was a disaster. There were tales of mis-management - of producers stealing band funds etc. (I'm sure Mick Stewart can tell you more about that). Jock hadn't wanted to turn pro (he was a bit of a proto IT whizzkid) and he was replaced by a 'Dave Thompson' because perhaps of the delay caused by changing bass players the band seemed to loose momentum. They had been on the cusp with the first wave of punk but found themselves shellacing around on tour as the second wave (Subs/Angelics/Rejects etc) were coming along. By 1979 Dave had quit along with drummer Mick and they were replaced by Steve Roberts on drums and his mate (I cant remember his name) on bass. Steve was a bit of an old stager - pre punk muso and slight child prodigy. His drumming was superb and he was always going to be in work because of it. Problem was he showed himself to be a bit of a loony (not a bad thing in itself in a punk band) and a one with an eye on the next move. His mate ??? quit after the first subs tour and I came in on very late notice.
I was playing with a local band called 'The Section' when Zeph saw me and happened to bump into me in a fish and chip shop after the gig (such hi-life!!) he asked me to join for the next tour which started in a week!!
My first gig was at 'St Georges hall' in Bradford (which is absolutely fucking massive) with the Subs. I remember Bob throwing up backstage just before we went on (that did my nerves a load of good) and before we had been in this dressing room somewhere in the bowls of the hall and got the shout to go on. It was EXACTLY like that scene in Spinal Tap where they cant find the stage..
we had a great laugh on tour - not always for the reasons you might think. e.g.; we didn't always have a hotel and slept a couple of times in the van (not good) the Subs were great though and used to blag us into there hotel rooms to sleep on the floor. Going in late at night was easy enough but in the morning - with more staff about it was hard getting out the front door. We devised lots of methods of getting past the lobby. In Carlisle we had to tie sheets together and climb down from the second floor into a busy main street, with passing shoppers all looking up asking where the fire was!! We went down fire escapes and out over roofs etc.. We stole booze from behind bars during sound checks, we even stole cans of food that we cooked on a open fire and ate off plates made from copies of the NME. ahh happy days!!
Anyway, Enough of this rubbish for now,
©Detour Records