COCONUT MAT
c 1970. I was introduced to Coconut Mat by Pete Waterman while we were both working for the GEC (General Electric Company) Stoke works Cov. Pete of course wasn't world famous then although he was already a centrifugal force on the Coventry music scene - as a former R & B singer in the 60's band Tomorrow's Kind and Coventry's top soul music DJ - 7 nights a week - on top of a full time job in wiring dept of the GEC! Pete certainly earned his success by hard work, the night shift of DJaying being the enjoyable bit!
Pete had just put music to my latest lyric A Lotta Rain is Fallin' I had written at the GEC (management and I had a difference as to what I was employed for!) and Pete then introduced me to Billy Campbell who was the bassist with Coconut Mat and also worked at the GEC. Coconut Mat was a heavy rock outfit at the time when bands like Black Sabbath, Free and Led Zepplin were arising on the national music scene.
I can't recall the full line up but Bill Campell played bass and Martin Barter played Keyboards.(Pic show Martin Barter as he is today playing keyboards with folk band Shkayla)
Bill Campbell lived in Grafton St, Gosford Green, near Indian Summer's keyboardist / vocalist - Bob Jackson (later of Badfinger etc.). There was an Organ shop over the road where, I think Bob would have bought his first Hammond. I didn't know Bill's background at the time until I read it on the Broadgate Gnome Music site but Bill used to play bass for the Eggy circa 1968 / 69 with Roger and Nigel Lomus of the 1965 hit group The Sorrows. Roger Lomus was later involved in the production side of some the Selecter records.
The Eggy produced a single which wasn't, as far as I know, a hit - called You're Still Mine/B: Hookey (Spark SRL1024 1969). The music was described by Broadgate Gnome as 'Freak Beat' and vocalist Bill Bates was formerly in The Boll Weevils.
Pete had liked my lyric enough to put music to it and repeat the line 'There's a lotta rivers flowin' but the sea's learned how to fly" in the song and on the strength of it asked me to write something for Coconut Mat.
I niether knew of their background or had seen them live but taking on board that they were a heavy rock band influenced by the current Black Sabbath / Led Zepplin genre, I thought I'd write an evil lyric about living in a rat-race city like Cov with it's pollutants and haste etc. And there was plenty of all that at the GEC (A Telecommunication firm who produced, at that branch, telephone componants and racks for the Telephone exchanges.
I heard a Led Zepp screaming vocal like in A Whole Lotta Lovin' in it. However Bill didn't like the lyric that much. He thought that you couldn't have a hit single with the word Beelzebub in it! I had no idea they were thinking singles - I didn't think they were at that stage but know knowing Bill's background, I can see why they might be thinking that way. Bill nicked named me Beelzebub afterwards but didn't use my song (but he did kindly lend me his PA once when I was trying out vocals with Mojo (Tony Morgan's band Railroad). 5 years later of course Queen had a huge No one with Bohemian Rhapsody and lo and behold - it had the forbidden word Beelzebub in it!! Ahead of my time again but obviously my effort didn't compare with Queen's operatic masterpiece!
Martin Barter went on to play in many bands from Mojo Morgan's short lived group Concert, to Just Jake, Trilogy and many more. An excellent keyboard player who is still going strong today in the folk band Shkayla. Martin worked at Rolls Royce (I think) - one of the car factories - I think in the office but I maybe wrong. He was well sort after as a keyboard player. I became friends with him early 1971 - he was friends with Silk Disco and hung out at the Sunday night Plough gig at the bottom of the London Rd. Elton John and Bernie Taupin had just emerged and Martin was inspired by Elton's music. We talked of a collaboration with Martin writing music for my lyrics and he took my song book away for a while. It would another year before I played guitar well enough to put music to my own lyrics. However this collaboration didn't work out - Coconut Mat split up and Martin moved on to other bands, sometimes more than one at a time. That's as far as I can take the story if you've any info on this band feel free to leave a comment- but here's the Coventry inspired lyric I wrote for them in a sort of Whole Lotta Lovin' Style!
The City Fires
Amidst the conflagrations
Living substances survive.
Squandering their energies
In the furnaces they thrive.
Making haste that’ll only guarantee
An early grave.
Chorus...
And the cities burn
And the cities burn
And the cities burn
You’re gonna die
You’re gonna slowly die
You’re gonna slowly die too young
In the city fires
In the city fires
In the city fires.
Preachers scream from the steeple
That we’re heading for hell
But tell me people if this place ain’t worse than hell.
Making waste that'll only guarantee an early grave.
Bridge..
The evil witch has cast her jinx
Beelzebub now rules.
Pandemonium’s the song he sings
As he swallows all you fools.
And he’s gonna drink your blood
As your bodies slowly burn
Chorus
As your bodies burn
As your bodies burn
As your bodies burn
You’re gonna die
You’re gonna slowly die
You’re gonna slowly die too young
In the city fires
In the city fires
In the city fires. etc..
By Trev Teasdel 1970
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