Alan suggested we might get together with a friend of his (Neil) and mess around with some stuff of our own, loosely based on the tunes we were then listening to.

So from there, Andy and Terry got involved and we began playing either in the living room or at the cottage with a home-made bass (Alan), lead guitar/saxophone (Neil), rhythm guitar/vocals (Terry), melodica/percussion [much of it home-made] (Andy), and hi-hat and snare/vocals (yours truly), plus a WEM Copycat and a spring reverb unit (with Pete Ladd coming in soon after to oversee the echo/mixing side of things) – and as was noted, most of our stuff was recorded, even back then, although I’ve no idea where any of the tapes are now, if they even still exist.

At this time the notion of a band proper hadn’t really been in the frame but as these things always seem to take on a life of their own, the point duly arrived in early 1978 where this began to take shape, essentially through a link with the Executives (I think I have that right), who offered us support slots at their gigs in Brighton – and if my memory serves me correctly, our debut was at the Alhambra sometime around March.

Needing a name for the band, Andy used to have a piece of card in his hat with Ijax written on it, which Lee Perry had scrawled on the wall of his wrecked studio (Black Ark) amongst other bizarre stuff, and which seemed wholly appropriate – Allstars signifying that we were essentially an instrumental band (aware, however, that vocals were still needed to some extent in order to maintain audience interest, and which Terry and I used to share, although AT would add a few toast-type bits here and there). It soon became necessary to practice

more often than once a week, and the basement at Davigdor Road was eventually put into use by fixing carpets to the walls and ceiling, as much to lessen the impact for dear old Miss Saxby as anything else, although it did prove useful insofar as our sound was very echo orientated, and thereby eliminated any feedback together with improving sound recording. It was also around this time that Lou began to get more involved with the band, even on occasion adding flute into the mix, as well as some vocal harmonies and the odd lead.

Towards the end of 1979, we returned to the studio and recorded a demo track, based on an old Lee Perry rhythm, which was then presented to a number of labels but without success – although after the tape had been reluctantly given to a then leading label (which shall remain nameless), a subsequent record (which shall also remain nameless), with a suspiciously similar bass line, reached Number 1 early in 1980. It was around this time that Terry decided to quit the band, while later in 1980 I also decided to call it a day, from whence the band, in name at any rate, more or less ceased to exist – although the later but short-lived Sole Destroyers did include Alan, Neil, Lou and myself.

So there you have it in a nut-shell, or at least as best as I can remember. While I apologise for any glaring omissions I may have made, any discrepancies are the result of the mists of time (and herb) but I think that’s pretty close to the actuality. Furthermore, it remains one of the most interesting and enjoyable periods of my life, with heartfelt thanks going out to all those who supported us during that time, and wish you all the very best both now and for the future. Peace and love. Hoppy