69th Year! 
69th Year!
The Whole Story of The Kinema Ballroom Dunfermline
(Includes the Cinemas of Dunfermline & Rosyth)
69th Year! |
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| Biogz 'I' Here you will find some short biographies (biogz) of solo artists whose surname commences with this letter or bands with names commencing with this letter (omitting any commonly used prefix such as 'The'). Click on the name below or scroll down the page at your leisure. Ian van Dahl
You’d be forgiven for assuming I've got this biog listed incorrectly under 'I' rather than 'D' for Ian's surname, however ‘Ian van Dahl’ isn't a male soloist, in fact nothing could be further from the truth. ‘Ian van Dahl’ is a project name fronted by beautiful vocalist Annemie Coenen, who co-writes most of the songs, backed-up on stage by two great dancers from the Belgium danceschool 'The Move'. Annemie Coenen was born in Herk-de-Stad, Belgium, on 14th July 1978 and even as a young girl she had ambitions to attend fashion school in Antwerp. To finance this goal, Annemie began several part-time jobs, including gigs at a carwash, a factory and in a doctor's office. A couple of hard-earned holidays with friends in Ibiza, Spain resulted in a change of musical tastes from Lenny Kravitz and Prince to dance, house and trance! Returning home she recorded a demo and an A&R exec at a Belgian music label was arranged for her to record a vocal track written by the fledgling ‘Ian van Dahl’. ’Castles in the Sky’ was released in summer 2001 and was an instant hit with a #3 UK chart position in July 2001. The debut album, ‘Ace’, (June 2002) went ‘gold’ in the UK in only three weeks and included eight tracks written by Annemie. Two more UK top ten singles followed with ‘Will I’ & ‘Reason’ facilitating tour dates in many diverse countries. Awards followed though their second album ‘Lost and Found’ (2004) failed to make a UK chart appearance. A third album is planned and extensive touring continues throughout 2005 & 6 with dates in the USA and in the UK in 2007.
Personnel included: Geoff Whitehorn - guitar, vocals Seven piece Jazz fusion outfit formed in 1969 and fronted by J.W.Hodkinson. Comparisons have been made with with Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Extensive European and American tours were undertaken. Two studio albums were released: 'If' (1970) & 'If2' (1970) and now two live collections: 'Waterfall' & 'Europe '72'.
Dave Amos - vocals Ignatz rock / soul outfit toured throughout the UK. Repertoire included: 'Breakfast At Tiffany's', 'I Don't Care', 'Emergency', 'Go Out & Get It'. Info from Dunfermline fanzine 'Kingdom Come' Issue No6 January 1978.
Hamish Imlach was one of the greats in the Scottish folk scene of the 1960s to 1980s. Although he was born on 10th February 1940 in Calcutta, he was a Scotsman and a Glaswegian of note. He had a huge reputation for generosity and is fondly remembered by all who met him. According to Ewan McVicar, Hamish Imlach was "...one of the founders of the Folk Revival in Scotland, a raconteur who taught Billy Connolly, a singer who taught Christie Moore, a blues guitarist who taught John Martyn". He died on New Year's Day 1996. Info courtesy of: www.nigelgatherer.com At age sixteen, the legendary folk/rock singer/songwriter John Martyn carried Hamish's guitar to gigs in return for guitar lessons!
John 'Twink' Alder - drums, vocals UK group who had Keith West (Keith Hopkins) as their lead singer. They later changed their name to Tomorrow and went psychedelic recording “My White Bicycle” among others. Keith West continued to work with producer Mark Wirtz and two years after his 'In Crowd' hit he was in the charts as a solo artist. Info courtesy of: iwasateenagechartfreak.com Twink joined ‘The In-Crowd’ in 1966 (before they became ‘Tomorrow’) and later formed ‘The Pink Fairies’ with Steve Peregrine Took (following Steve’s sacking from ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’) before collaborating with Syd Barrett in ‘The Stars’. (John Alder had adopted the nickname ‘Twink’ as a result of receiving gifts of a home perm product of the same name for his long curly hair).
Mike Heron - The Incredible String Band was formed in 1965. Palmer left after the first LP. Mike and Robin carried on as a duo. Mike's 'Painting Box' from 5000 Spirits is now a club standard. They produced a sequence of hippy influenced folk albums until 1974. Info courtesy of: www.piper-kj.demon.co.uk
'Matt Vinyl & The Decorators' formed in 1977 in Edinburgh. Matt Vinyl (Mathew Black) - vocals Formed in Edinburgh in 1977, 'Matt Vinyl & The Decorators' recorded a 7" flexi disc 'Useless Tasks' on 'Housewife's Choice' in the same year. They played 'The Roxy' (London) on Sunday 26th February 1978 with 'Muvvers Pride' / 'The Plague' / 'The Public' & 'French Lessons'. Their self-penned song 'Love, Forgiveness and Deception' was a regular live set piece. Other songs included: 'Sex & Violence' & ' Working For The JCP'. They would later rename as 'Insect Bites'. Matt Vinyl (Mathew Black) - vocals Later: After Insect Bites split sometime in 1980, Joe Telford went on to play in 'Epsilon' with Drew Farmer and John ? of the Cheetahs and Robert Sandall from a band called 'London Zoo' who went on to be a VH1 presenter and a music journalist for the Sunday Times. In late 1979 Matt was the singer in a band called 'Fun City' with Ronnie Mackinnon of 'The Valves' - guitar, Gary (later of 'The Exploited') - bass and Callum (Plastic Mac) MacKay from 'The Scars' on drums. Mike Baillie would later turn up in The Skids. I'm indebted to Kirstine Burnett for much of the above.
Bob Maggiora - accordian, keyboards, vocals The Internationals perform traditional dance music from: Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and from their base in America, even including a little rock ‘n’ roll. Bob, Steve, Portor and Jan yodel and sing in several different languages while wearing authentic European costumes. Bob and Portor began performing together professionally while still in high school in 1967. They went on to win the California Talented Teen contest in 1969, winning a recording contract and cutting their first records at Action Recording. Steve joined in 1973 and Jan is the most recent addition. They have performed on stages all over the USA and Europe. The Internationals are the nucleus of the ‘Chico Bavarian Band’ a 21 piece Oktoberfest style brass band who also play ‘big-band’ style music from the ’30s and ’40s. They have recorded several albums.
Born ‘Anthony Henry’, ‘Tippa Irie’ was instrumental in developing the fast talking style chat now used by rappers like Busta Rhymes. He toured extensively with his DJ friend Pato Banton throughout the 80s, both going solo in the early 90s and reuniting again 10 years later. Tippa’s late sister was MC Miss Irie. Tippa has produced more than 15 albums though none have charted here in the UK, though his singles have faired better, ‘Hello Darling’ (1986) at #22 being his first and most successful. His US career has been much more fruitful with several #1 hits. He hosts his own weekly London radio show & he remains one of the most respected & requested Reggae entertainers.
Clive Burr - drums Iron Maiden's impressive discography includes more than: 35 singles (one #1 and 13 other top ten) & 32 albums (3 #1s and 18 other top ten). A traditional heavy metal band, Iron Maiden were originally formed in London by Steve Harris, Paul Day, Dave Sullivan, Terry Rance & Ron Mathews on Christmas day 1975, however some months later the line-up was: Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Paul Di'anno & Doug Sampson. Their first recorded outing was 'The Soundhouse Tapes' EP cassette which led albeit indirectly to a deal with EMI in 1979. Clive Burr replaced Sampson and Dennis Stratton replaced Tony Parsons and their debut single 'Running Free' reached #34 in February 1980 followed by their eponymous debut album which saw #5. Bucking the trend of interest in punk, they led a new wave of British heavy metal. By the time the #1 album 'The Number Of The Beast' (1982) had been released, Di'anno had been replaced by Bruce Dickinson & they were joined on stage by their mascot 'Eddie'. Massive worldwide tours and many successful releases have followed. In 1992 hilarious paranoid controversy followed the release of 'Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter' amongst the moral guardian fossils of England which of course only fanned its popularity. Dickinson left for a solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bailey. At their gig at the ballroom on 17th May 1980, they were accompanied by DJ Neal Kay and support band Praying Mantis. The set list was a follows:
Stuart Harper - vocals Iron Virgin were an Edinburgh prog rock band who hardened up their original moniker 'Virgin' with the addition of the prefix 'Iron' to reflect a harder image. They released two Deram singles: 'Jet' / 'Midnight Hitcher' & 'Rebels Rule' / 'Ain't No Clown' both in 1974. They played at the ballroom twice in 1972 and once each in '73 & '74.
Iain MacKintosh Jim and Nancy Craig, who seem to have been the main members of The Islanders, lived in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Jim being a University lecturer. They started out with a concert party ran by Charlie Sweeney in Pollock Community Centre in Glasgow (they returned in 1969 to play in a benefit concert). Nancy left the group when she became pregnant. When The Islanders started in about 1964 they included a very young Iain MacKintosh, who went on to a successful solo career. The bass player was Pete Furnish; he drove a Mini Cooper, and to get his double bass into the car he had to take out the front seat, while his girlfriend had to sit in the back. Pete was in the group "...from the time that the banjo player left because his pawnbroker business was keeping him too busy..." Pete left in 1968/9 to a job in motor sport, moving to Northern England. After a stint as a chartered accountant, Pete has now retired, but still plays bass, mainly in jazz combinations. Other members of the group included guitarist John Noble, who worked for the civil service in London from the mid-60s-mid-70s. He continued to play guitar and gave lessons. John was replaced by Eddie Pollard. By 1968 Iain MacKintosh had left, and subsequently Alex Hutton was an active member. The Islanders featured in a BBC television series called 'The Making of America' (or something similar) in the mid-1960s. The series was presented by a University history professor and each week they performed one or more songs related to the unfolding story. Info courtesy of: www.nigelgatherer.com
John Carter Tony Burrows Birmingham born John Carter and Ken Lewis had previously been the inspiration behind the uncharted Carter Lewis And The Southerners (an early 1960s, rock band). The pair were skilled songwriters who had first tasted success with Mike Sarne's 'Will I What' which featured Billie Davis. There is no doubt that their ear for a good pop song had at least as much to do with their success as their experience as singers. They had developed a close harmony style similar to that adopted by the Hollies and always put on a good vocal performance. In fact the group became a vehicle for publishing the songs that stemmed from the Carter-Lewis partnership along with competent contributions from Perry Ford. They wrote and performed for the BBC's "Easy Beat" and "Saturday Club" and provided backing vocals on such hits as The Who's 'I Can't Explain'. However, John Carter decided that he'd had enough and was replaced by a friend called Tony Burrows following the release of their fifth single. Tony Burrows had previously sung with the Kestrels in the company of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. This enabled the group to keep going until Ken Lewis too decided to pull out. The Ivy League had one further hit without their two accomplished songwriters before being transformed into the 'Flowerpot Men' in 1967 (whose memorable hit 'Let's Go to San Francisco' reached number 4 in the UK singles chart) with Messrs Carter and Lewis working purely as songwriters, arrangers, producers and studio based musicians. The new group was almost as short lived as 1967's 'summer of love' and soon disappeared. Carter and Lewis then pursued their careers as writers of songs and jingles, never emerging again into foreground 'pop'. Lewis & Carter wrote several 1960s hits including Herman's Hermits' 'Can't You Heart My Heartbeat', Brenda Lee's 'Is It True?', the Music Explosion's 'Little Bit o' Soul', and Peter & Gordon's 'Sunday for Tea'. Later successes included 'Beach Baby' (a #13 UK chart hit for First Class in 1974). Many thanks to www.45-rpm.org.uk & David Adamson of Paradox. |
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