Rod Clements Ray Laidlaw Simon Cowe Alan Hull Ray
Jackson
Ray Laidlaw, writing for the
Friars Aylesbury website in 2007 said:
'Bit
of a tall order this one. I can't remember much detail but I have very
fond memories of Friars, both venues, the first one being the most whacky.
I've got a feeling that the first time Lindisfarne played there we were a
last minute replacement for another band, it may have been David Bowie. I
remember a lot of disgruntled punters in the pub grumbling about having to
watch 'some bloody folk group'. As it happened a lot of them stayed and we
went down really well. I think David Stopps must have had close links with
Charisma records because all of the bands on the label, Genesis, Van Der
Graaf, Audience etc seemed to get booked at Friars on a regular basis. As
I said, I can't recall much detail, just lots of bonhomie, great audience
reaction, good crack in the pub before and after, interesting herbal
aromas and lots of bearded blokes and rustic hippie chicks. Happy daze
indeed'
Clive Whitelock,Occasionally
David, writing for the
Friars Aylesbury website in 2008 said:
I recall we were a very
late addition and so didn't make the poster. I would have loved to have
been on that. I think it was my favourite design of poster, it having
been used also in the 60s to advertise groups and bands appearing at
High Wycombe Town Hall.
Occasionally David was in
essence Me and Ray Bate. We wrote everything and we were the singers.
The rest of the band I think didn't feel the same about it as we did,
especially the drummers who came and went as if they were just visiting.
We had a skinhead following which didn't go down especially well with
the Lindisfarne crowd and my abiding memory is of this little clique of
potential hooligans doing an awful lot of yelling. We weren't skinheads
in any way, shape or form and I have to admit to being a bit miffed at
this odd turn of events. The leader of them was Dave Parsons who played
trombone on the single we had out at the time. In retrospect I think it
was a good thing ultimately.
It was good to get a
decent rider of beer and sandwiches although too much of it seemed to
disappear down the throats of said skinheads it seems. We were all a
little bemused that Lindisfarne charged us to use their PA. Stingey
buggers! As it turned out, this was the last gig of all. (Almost!) Ray
and I went on to record a cover version of Love's Forever Changes which
we released on cassette although there are some CD copies doing the
rounds. We intend to put it out on CD eventually. It has gained us a lot
of attention over the years. We also gathered together a lot of
Wycombe's musicians and recorded a CD of mine and Ray's songs called
Micklefield. This has also got around quite a bit. In July I started the
group going again. It's just me and my son on bass. He normally plays
guitar for the metal band This Dying Hour. It was great to play at
Friars, probably the biggest gig we ever played both in size and
prestige.If
anyone is interested in the further adventures of Occasionally David we
are on
www.myspace.com/OccasionallyDavid
and our
history is on the BigUntidy on-line magazine
By 1972, Lindisfarne were enormous with the
legendary 'Meet Me on the Corner' huge in the UK charts and a best seller
album By 1973 constant touring took its toll and the band split with
Laidlaw, Jackson and Cowe forming Jack The Lad who would become one of the
most popular bands ever at Friars making six headline appearance 1973-
1977. Alan Hull led the short lived Radiator along with Laidlaw and lasted
one album. Lindisfarne reformed and carried on, playing Friars in 1981 and
a reworked 'Fog on the Tyne' with footballer Paul Gascoigne yielded an
unlikely hit in 1990. Alan Hull died in 1995. Lindisfarne in its last
guise called it a day in 2003.
