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:
Blyth Power
Thank you. And Sleaford Mods.
Merton Parkas
Leighton Buzzards
Would you allow Hatfield and the North?
a) It's Leyton Buzzards, but that still counts.
b) Would I allow Hatfield and the North. Yes, grudgingly.
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.
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!
Portishead
Yes, Portishead. Thank you.
Devil's Dykes -- Sussex band which appeared on the punk compilation Vaultage 78.
Courtesy of my colleague Robert Larter: Ian Dury's first band, Kilburn & the High Roads.
Also, the Stranglers were originally called the Guildford Stranglers.
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