History -

Kick

Snare

Olympic

Cymbals

Background .....

The band was based in New Costessey, a village close to Norwich (Norfolk, Gt. Britain). Assembled from "School Mates" who lived in the same area and had therefore grown up together. The only exception was Andy (Vocals). Who lived in Lakenham, a suburb on the other side of Norwich. Andy was welcomed into the band, in reply to an advert placed in the "Local Newspaper", for a singer.

In the formative years, practice sessions took place in the band members homes, normally everybody and everything, being crammed into a small bedroom (Some things never change). However, as time progressed,  practice sessions were held in a "Function Room" adjacent to the "White Heart" public house in Old Costessey (now the "The Harte" of Costessey). This was a far better location, as there was much more space to set up the equipment and the band "Proper". Plus, of course, not disturbing parents and neighbors with the associated "Noise" generated during a practice session. The option of a "Swift Half" in the White Heart, was also possible after the practice.

"Set List"

A typical example of the songs that would have been played;

Jean Genie - Bowie

Proud Mary - Credence Clearwater

Can the Can - Suzie Q

Detective work .....

Whilst writing this web-page, I had the need to contact as many of the band members as possible, in an attempt to acquire their own "Recollection's" of that time, plus of course any pictures etc, that they might have kept.

I also turned to a "Long Time" friend, namely Graham Platt, for additional information about the band. As Graham and myself were associated with the band, one way or another, and I guessed that Graham would be able to remember some of the things that I had forgotten.

So ..... after doing some detective work, I finally managed to locate all of the band members. Fortunately, most of them still lived in Norwich and/or the surrounding area, thus making the task of finding them much easier. Alas one band member, Adrian (Keyboards), had moved away to Bolton (Lancashire, Gt. Britain), therefore being somewhat more difficult to locate. 

It was really good to catch up with the lads, after a gap of some 30+ years.

Many an old story to tell .....

Needless to say the band members, and myself, had great delight in reminiscing about the "Feedback" days. Many old stories were re-told .....

.....  like when a promoter/manager turned up to listen to the band.

A promoter/manager, was due to come and listen to the band during one of the weekly rehearsals. This was a set-up, and only Andy (Vocals) was unaware of the plot. So, Graham Platt (alias promoter/manager) turned up as predicted, looking the part, and sat down to listen to the band. However, Andy quickly caught on to what was happening, when he spotted Graham's method of "Transport" ..... a bicycle. Who has ever heard of a "Poor" promoter/manager, especially one wearing "Cycle Clips" !!!

 ..... and a "Shocking" story, with a lesson to remember !

I was also reminded of a "Sound to Light" (STL) unit that I had constructed from a design in Practical Electronics. I had decided to use the "Signal" from the Bass Guitar, to trigger the STL unit i.e. driving the STL unit directly from the bass amplifier loudspeaker output. There was be sufficient signal to trigger the STL unit, and all appeared to work well .....

Sadly, during a practice session, the STL unit went faulty, causing Paul (Bass Guitarist) to suffer an electric shock. Fortunately the electric shock was not serious, but it did cause Paul to fall onto the Drum Kit, whereby he received quite a bad a cut to his head. A far from ideal situation, but one that could easily have been far worse !

The casework/chassis of the STL unit was "Earthed" correctly, to the associated 13 amp mains plug via a 3-core mains lead. However the STL unit, together with the bass amplifier, and therefore the bass guitar, were floating at "Mains - 250v AC". In theory, when a fault occurs, the earth of the mains supply, should conduct the hazardous mains potential away from the casework/chassis etc. Alas, if the earth is disconnected somewhere, then this doe's not happen. As was obviously the problem here.

Looking back ..... it could have been an "Extension" lead fault i.e. disconnected earth, or it could have been a fault in the house wiring. Poor earthing, is a problem that many household wiring systems can suffer from if not checked regularly, especially on older properties.

One of my first recordings .....

I recorded one of the early "Feedback" gig's, back on the 22nd September 1973, in Gringleford "Youth Centre" (A village on the outskirts of Norwich). Using my home made FET "Hi-Fi" microphone together with my first Akai 4000DS tape deck. The recording was in Mono of course ! 

Hopefully, I still have the original recording somewhere in my collection. When I am lucky enough to find it, then "Sections" from it will be available to listen to.

That's all for now .....

Please Note - This page, is being "Up-dated" on a regular basis.