Sunday, November 27, 2022

Lindisfarne: Meet Me on the Corner

Younger readers will know Lindisfarne, if they know them at all, for making a record with Gazza and for Christmas concerts that have a reputation for being a bit Jimmy Five Bellies.

But it wasn't always like that. At the start of the Seventies they were a highly regarded band with a talent for producing catchy singles with a folk rock tinge.

As well as Meet Me on the Corner there was Lady Eleanor and, though it wasn't hit, Fog on the Tyne, which came to be their best-known song (with or without help from Gazza).

English rock rarely celebrates English places, but not only is Fog on the Tyne inspired by local geography, but so is the name of the band itself.

The only other English bands I can think of who chose such names were Fotheringay (though the village name was chosen for its connection with Mary Queen of Scots and the modern spelling is Fotheringhay) and, sort of, The Merseybeats.

No doubt there are others...

12 comments:

tonyhill said...

Blyth Power

Jonathan Calder said...

Thank you. And Sleaford Mods.

tonyhill said...

Merton Parkas

Leighton Buzzards

Anonymous said...

Would you allow Hatfield and the North?

Jonathan Calder said...

a) It's Leyton Buzzards, but that still counts.

b) Would I allow Hatfield and the North. Yes, grudgingly.

Anonymous said...

I once heard that Stackridge Lemon (later abbreviated to just Stackridge) were named after an area of Bristol, but I can't find any authority for that.

nigel hunter said...

Fotheringay The great Sandy Denny's band
I recently missed a showing of Lindisfarne (main 2 still going with videos and stories) at the local concert hall
After all these years still fascinated by the thumping drum beat on Clear White Light . Ho memories!

John of Louth said...

Portishead

Jonathan Calder said...

Yes, Portishead. Thank you.

Phil Beesley said...

Devil's Dykes -- Sussex band which appeared on the punk compilation Vaultage 78.

tonyhill said...

Courtesy of my colleague Robert Larter: Ian Dury's first band, Kilburn & the High Roads.

John of Louth said...

Also, the Stranglers were originally called the Guildford Stranglers.