John Dowie was an innovative artist / alterative comedian of style and wit. I first saw him at Streetpress gigs in Birmingham and he was involved int he Birmingham Arts Lab where Streetpress was produced. He went down well on the student circuit.
Contact Disco advertised half page in Hobo and some of their ads are on this site in the disco collection. This is just one of their cards - others are in the colection already. I seem to recall them doing disco at the Butts Tech Student Union Discos if my memory is not playing tricks here.
Clouds Disco also advertised half page in Hobo and were popular in the mid seventies.
Silk Disco team were amazing creative, professional and entertaining. Here one of their ads resembles a famous match Box! (albeit yellowing with age!).
This was Fission's great chance to play alongside a name band of the time - Budgie. Fission was led by Johnny Adams (later in punk band Squad ( which earlier had included Terry Hall before he joined the Specials) and featured on the Sent From Coventry album in 1979. Fission were more of a Hawkwind type band with original material. Their other guitarist Rick Thawn later formed Trigon with Paul Samson - later of Reluctant Stereotypes and producer of the Primatives. It was a great gig and I got in free because i knew the band! (and they were hoping for a write up in Hobo!).
I probably saved this cutting because I'd always like Pete Brown as a poet and author of Some of Cream's lyrics like White Room / Sunshine of your Love. Also Bob Jackson (of Indian Summer) was playing with Pete Brown and Piblokto in the mid seventies. Bob used to tell me about his work with Pete Brown while I typed Hobo at the Sunshine Music Agency in Gulson Rd. in fact at one stage he suggested he might show some of my lyrics / poems to Pete. Nothing came of that but I enjoyed the thought of it at the time! Both Can And Grimms also played at the Lanch Poly Student Union in the early / mid 70's.
I seem to have a vague idea that New Pence were a middle of the road pop outfit popular in Coventry at the time but not a band that would greatly interest me at the time but none the less I would go and see a wide range of bands and musical styles with an open mind even if they weren't top of my personal tastes.
Back to Bo - or John Bargent (former co-editor of Hobo) with an Ad for Roguestar. Before we did Hobo John used to promote bands and even myself for a while, letting me practice through his PA, using his guitars and even a Bowie Style stylaphone which he fed through the PA while I was playing adding in reverb. John Alderson lived near in Lorenzo close and came round and jammed sometimes - totally outclssing me of course! Normally I would hitch to Birmingham to play at Streetpress gigs but when I teamed up with John we went in a taxi from Birmingham Station - that was luxury for one who walked everywhere when funds were low! He would sit at the back promoting and the band I hadn't even formed. Well that's what promoters do - think ahead! So it was a great suprise when someone came up and asked about my band - I had to think quick and realised John was promoting ahead! Alas our energy went into creating Hobo and then John got a job with Khyaam while I continued to develop the magazine and the workshop and continue to do floor spots in folk clubs or inbetween the sets of my mates bands.
Pugma-ho were from Derby also but settle in Coventry around 1974, promoted by Sunshine Music agency and changed their name to Smack! The band featured Ollie Oliver (Dr Mustard) later of Hot Snacks and Margo Bucannan Smith who later became a backing singer with Mud and a range of other artists and is a fine singer songwriter herself and now has a My Space with some great tracks on it.
Mid 70's the Bagington Oak began to hod gigs and discos. Wave was the original formation of Jazz Rock band Khyaam. There is material relating to Direct Enterprises and the Cosmic Music Club on this site.
That's it for now!
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