Chapter 1 : The Early
Years
617 was originally formed way back in 1983 as a
five-piece rock band, playing a mix of covers and original material. The
various members came together from the "remnants" of other bands in the local
Nottingham area :
Around 1981, bass player Kev and
drummer Ady, were originally together in a Beeston-based 4-piece rock band
called Achilles, along with two other guys, Graham and Tim, completing
the lineup. This band played a number of pub gigs in and around the
Nottingham/Beeston area. Around the same period, vocalist Keri, along with
guitarists Geoff and Muz, were together in a rock band called
Excalibur.
As is common for many bands, Achilles was pretty short-lived
and so in 1982, Kev and Ady formed a new band called Blueprint, with a
guitarist that Kev knew, called Richard. This was to be a 5-piece band, so they
advertised in the local press for a guitarist and singer and as a result of
this, Muz joined on guitar and Keri came in on vocals. Shortly afterwards,
guitarist Richard was replaced by Geoff in 1983... and the band then became the
original 617 !
617 soon started getting gigs
around the Midlands area at various venues, including some outdoor festivals
and so began building a reputation. The band rehearsed at Monty Hind's Boys
Club in Beeston, Nottingham and because of this, one of the highlights for
this original 617 lineup was being asked to play at a big outdoor
festival at the South Bank in London, celebrating the Jubilee for the National
Association of Boys Clubs (see the Gallery section
for photos of this gig).
However, as is the way for most "original" rock bands even
today, unless you are really lucky enough to get "the big break" and get
discovered by a management Company or record label, it started to become more
difficult for 617 to find sufficient gigs/venues that promoted that kind
of music. So, the band gradually began to lose momentum. Because of this
frustration, towards the end of 1985, Keri and Geoff "baled out" and went off
to join another band.
This
left 617's remaining members, Ady, Kev and Muz, wondering where to go
from here. But undaunted, they soon came up with a plan to continue the band,
but to take it in a different direction in order to get more work..... on the
Club Circuit.
In order to do this, they immediately decided that
keyboards would be needed in the new lineup. With this in mind, the three
remaining members continued to meet and rehearse, at Monty Hinds Boys
Club, deciding on and trying out a whole new and different catalogue of
material - pop/chart covers, the "standard stuff" for club bands. So while this
was happening, they advertised in the local press for a keyboard player....
On to Chapter 2 :
Page 1 of
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