AC/DC, Gordon Giltrap, Wishbone Ash, Colosseum II, Split Enz, Stretch… great gigs in 1976; how many do you remember?

From the London college scene to large venues and small clubs – I was at a lot of gigs in ’76. Eric Clapton and Curved Air at Torquay Town Hall; Genesis and Caravan in London; John Martyn and Kevin Coyne at the London School of Economics.

---

4th February 2025

The following table is a ‘work in progress’ as there are a number of gaps at the time of writing. There is a story to tell behind many of these gigs and you may not recognise some of the artists/bands or perhaps, like me, you have forgotten them. I have provided brief summaries after the table below; please contact me if you remember being at any of the gigs – and would perhaps like to share your recollections – or would just like to know more than I have been able to share here.

Many of the gigs were organised by the LSE, King’s College or Bedford College Ents teams, so hopefully provide an idea of the London college scene at that time. Others were major events at large venues or exploratory – searching for bands that the Ents team might want to book for LSE.

Date	Band / artist	Venue	Notes
13 January	The Kursaal Flyers + Eddie & the Hot Rods	The Marquee	filmed for BBC2
23 January	Geoff Bradford	LSE OT	free lunchtime gig
6 February	Strange Days	LSE OT	free lunchtime gig
7 February	Ange	LSE OT	French prog-rock
12 February	Medicine Head	King’s College	Bandylegs support
13 February	Sassafras	Bedford College	Gun Runner support
14 February	National Health	LSE OT	Bill Bruford playing
20 February	Gordon Giltrap	LSE OT	free lunchtime gig
26 February	Julie Tippetts Butterfly	unknown
	Isaac Guillory	unknown
27 February	Nova	LSE OT	Italian prog-rock
11 March	Outrider	King’s College	in-house band
2 May	Gentle Giant	Theatre Royal, Drury Lane	support: Solution
4 May	Caravan	New Victoria Theatre	support: Stars
7 May	Racing Cars	Bedford College
10 May	Fatso	LSE 3 Tuns
12 May	AC/DC	The Marquee	1st UK gig
	Back Street Crawler	The Marquee
	The Count Bishops	Ronnie Scotts
14 May	Barry Reynolds	LSE OT	Composer, associated with Marianne Faithfull
	David Bromberg	LSE OT
1 June	Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias	400 Club, Torquay
13 June	Genesis	Hammersmith Odeon
17 June	Curved Air	Torquay Town Hall	SDTC gig
2 August	Eric Clapton	Torquay Town Hall
29 August	Colosseum II	Torquay Pavillions
8 October	The Funkees	LSE 3 Tuns
	Stretch	King’s College
9 October	Mike Chapman	LSE OT
	Kevin Coyne	LSE OT
15 October	Paul Brett	LSE OT
	Deaf School	LSE OT
20 October	Planet Gong	New Victoria Theatre	Guest list
	Matthews Southern Comfort	Rock Garden (Covent Garden)	Guest list/Harvest Records
28 October	Split Enz	King’s College	support Jack the Lad
29 October	Gonzalez	The Nashville	book for £210?
31 October	Burlesque	The Nashville	recording album
3 November	Racing Cars	The Marquee
4 November	The O Band	Paris Rooms	BBC In Concert
	Cado Belle	Paris Rooms
5 November	Wishbone Ash	Hammersmith Odeon
	Supercharge		Wishbone support
13 November	Colosseum II	LSE OT
25 November	Mike Collins Big Band	LSE
2 December	Meal Ticket	Rock Garden
3 December	Spiteri	LSE 3 Tuns
4 December	John Martyn	LSE OT
10 December	Decaying Vomit	Passfield Halls	in-house punk band
11 December	Mud	City Uni (LSE gig)	stage security….

Notes: LSE OT = Old Theatre; 3 Tuns was the Student Union bar; Paris Rooms a BBC venue in Lower Regent Street used to record ‘In Concert’ for Radio 1.

Background to some of the bands…

The Kursaal Flyers & Eddie and the Hot Rods @ Marquee

This was a gig filmed for BBC2 – only the 3rd to be filmed at the venue – with tickets priced unusually high at 85p – 60-70p was more usual! The Kursaal Flyers later played the LSE. I recorded in my diary that the show was very good – and with plenty of laughs – but I have to say I was never a fan of the Kursaal’s commercial pop. I liked Eddie and the Hot Rods though, having previously seen them supporting Dr.Feelgood. Interestingly, a member of the Kursaal’s – Graeme Douglas – left the band to join Eddie & the Hot Rods in November 1976, citing the over-commercialisation of the Kursaal’s as a reason.

**A bit of rock’n’roll history: later in 1976 Eddie and the Hot Rods headlined at the Marquee with the Sex Pistols in support, who smashed all of the Rod’s gear; this would be the first Pistols review in the NME – and no mention of Eddie & the Hot Rods!

Teenage Depression, Eddie & the Hot Rods – one of the great singles – and albums – of 1976.

Geoff Bradford @ LSE

A virtuoso blues guitarist playing with Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies et al from the late 1950’s. Bradford was a friend of younger musician Brian Jones, who asked him to join a band that he was forming; Bradford turned down the offer, which was taken up by Keith Richards – need I say the name of the band? He instead worked with a Cyril Davies band – The Hoochie Coochie Men – but were never as successful as the Rolling Stones and Yardbirds. As a musicians musician he was very much admired by the likes of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Ralph McTell, etc. To see him onstage at a free lunchtime gig in the Old Theatre was a real pleasure.

Ange @ LSE

I enjoyed this gig. In my diary I noted that I enjoyed quite a few bottles of Newcastle Brown (my favourite tipple at the time), and described Ange as being “quite impressive and even dramatic in places” with great music and a good light show. Ange were a French prog-rock band that formed in Belfort, France in 1969. You may never have heard of them but they have 29 LP’s on Qobuz (and probably on Apple/Tidal too). They gave their influences as Procol Harum and King Crimson – and opened for Genesis at the 1973 Reading Festival. They were touring endlessly until the end of 1977, but carried on until their farewell tour in 1995, although re-formed (in a manner of speaking) in 1999.

Gordon Giltrap @ LSE

An astonishingly good – and clever – acoustic guitarist that was a rare treat and another free lunchtime gig at the Old Theatre. Think Roy Harper, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, et al. He was big on the folk circuit but later formed a band and become, for want of a better term, a prog-rock/folk guitarist; I saw him live in 1976 supporting Wishbone Ash! Giltrap is still playing today and I heartily recommend buying a ticket if he appears near you. 25 albums available on streaming services.

Gordon Giltrap in Newton Abbot, Devon (2019)

AC/DC @ The Marquee

There was a lot of interest in this unknown band over from Australia for their first appearance in Britain – two nights at the Marquee. A few of the LSE Ents committee were at the gig to learn more about them – and if they might be a possibility for the Old Theatre one day. They were the support act for Back Street Crawler – formed in 1975 by ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff (other members of Free formed Bad Company). There is no doubt that AC/DC were very good, and upstaged BSC. For more background to this gig see my post:

https://colinjanderson.com/2021/05/17/from-caravan-to-ac-dc-in-one-day/

Sassafras @ Bedford College

I spent a lot of time at Bedford College in Regent’s Park – the first Higher Education college for women. It is now commonly known as Royal Holloway and remains part of the University of London. There was a student at the time – Jackie – that I was particularly fond of, but that is a different story. Sassafras – bet you’ve never heard of them – at the time were a sort of Welsh Fleetwood Mac/Eagles combo who, although they toured the US with Peter Frampton, Ten Years After and Fleetwood Mac, never had success in terms of album contracts/sales. If you listen to their albums you might be surprised by that; two albums are available on Qobuz but only one on Apple. I’m not sure if they are still performing; they were in 2022 and I would guess they are worth seeing.

David Bromberg @ LSE

Another astonishing coup for LSE! David Bromberg – born Philadelphia, USA, 1945 – is a multi-instrumentalist who has covered numerous styles from folk and blues to psychedelic and garage. I am aware of 18 albums available on Qobuz but there are more, and that is not counting 5 albums with Bob Dylan and others with The Eagles, Gordon Lightfoot, Carly Simon, Willie Nelson – and the list goes on. This was a rip-roaring LSE gig that was hugely enjoyed by the audience. I am going to make a point of listening to more of his recordings in 2025!

Curved Air @ Torquay Town Hall

I was home for the summer and working 12-hour shifts at the laundry in Torquay but that didn’t stop me going to gigs! This was a major coup for the Ents team from my pre-LSE/King’s days at South Devon Technical College. Curved Air were, in my view, unique – a strangely absorbing mix of folk, art-rock, prog-rock and electronica with a bit of classical lurking in the background. I was almost 20 at the time so, let’s be honest, I was there in good measure to see Sonja Kristina, the band’s sex symbol. Incidentally, Stewart Copeland – with whom Sonja was romantically involved – was the drummer with Curved Air until he left to join The Police in 1977. 20 Curved Air albums are available on Qobuz – and no doubt Apple and Tidal.

Decaying Vomit @ Passfield Hall, LSE

This was an in-house LSE punk band led by ‘Max and Naff’ (according to my diary) – and very good they were too! I knew them well and saw them play a few times. After a while they decided the name might put some people off (?!!) so they became The DV’s. Always great fun to have a completely unknown punk band as friends! I wonder where they are now…

**At this time a friend of mine (a fellow geographer at LSE) was the brother of the man better known as Captain Sensible, who played King’s College in a band that became The Damned. Those were the days!

Stretch @ King’s College

Stretch had been on Top of the Pops (13 November 1975) miming their hit single Why Did You Do It – which I liked. I have always leaned toward heavy bass, and bass was prominent in Stretch, with Elmer Gantry on vocals, Kirby Gregory (from Curved Air) on guitar. Excellent rock – and clever lyrics too; I can’t help but think that they should have been bigger… I taped their John Peel sessions – which have long-since disappeared – and I am not entirely sure but I think these may make up the album Live at the BBC – highly recommended on Apple/Qobuz.

Caravan @ New Victoria Theatre

Spiteri @ LSE 3 Tuns

This seemed a major coup at the time but perhaps even more so looking back from the present. Spiteri were Venezuelan and formed a band in London in 1972 described as ‘prog-rock’ – but they were much more than that. I would say they were a psychedelic rock/latin combo and were certainly a ‘new thing’ at the time. They were big on the London club circuit. They were big fans of Traffic and the wonderful Steve Winwood – as was I! Listen to their eponymous first album (they made others) on Qobuz/Apple and, when you do, try to imagine that phat psych/latin sound in the basement bar at the LSE. Glorious! (Not to be confused with Glaswegian Sharleen Spiteri).

I’ve just got started… more rock memorabilia to come!

Sign up to keep in touch and for additions/updates to this page.