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Biog |
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A biography about Idiot which was Rob's first popular band
This article was taken from www.southendpunk.com - an excellent resource and well worth a visit
Idiot formed in 1977, at Westcliff High School For Boys which all the members where attending,
studying for their 'A' Levels.
The band existed until early 1979, when, accompanying a wait for a recently
recorded single and simultaneously undergoing a line up change, they moved in a more Mod direction and became known
as Speedball. Idiot though, were:
- Rob Paveley (a/k/a Beulo) on Vocals / Guitar
- Barry Godwin on Guitar
- Paul 'Blue' Dunne on Bass
- Dave Dyke on Drums
The photo (right) shows the band with, L-R: Rob, Barry, Paul & Dave.
Speaking about their first gig to Surrey Vomet fanzine, Rob said:
"It was at a Sunday School in front of these 10 -11 years olds, y'know little kids, and the singer,
who I'd already figured out was a bit of a nutcase, was screaming into the mike and lashing out with his foot into
the crowd! He had to go and I took over the singing!"
The group started playing around Southend a lot, especially with Deeno's Marvels, sometimes playing four
concerts a week. However, in 1978 Dave left to join Deeno's Marvels and so they got John Dee of
The Machines in on drums to help them record a demo, a track from which Ging Gang Gooley appears on the
Sonet Records Compilation LP Southend Rock, as compiled by Peter Eden in 1979.
Barry, Blue and Robin decamped to London, to Wood Green then Acton, in October / November 1978, and considered
changing the name of the group to The Bright Boys. Fed up with the squalor of their flat in London,
they moved back to Southend in December and Robin joined Deeno's Marvels on Bass, and was reunited with
repentant drummer Dave Dyke. This led to them reforming Idiot, leaving Deeno and ultimately forming a
new band - Speedball.
Many Idiot songs would go on to be used by Speedball, but the only officially released song under
the original name of Idiot was the aforementioned Ging Gang Gooley.
A biography about Speedball - Rob's second great band
This article was taken from www.detour-records.co.uk - also well worth a visit
Speeball came from Southend-On-Sea, Essex and were one of the earliest Mod
bands to appear on the London scene. They formed out of the ashes of a Punk band
called Idiot.
The group a three piece, consisted of:
- Rob Paveley (a/k/a Beulo) on Vocals / Guitar
- Dave Dyke on Drums
- Guy Pratt on Bass (now playing bass with Pink Floyd
Rob was the main song writer and brains behind the band.
Speedball were a well respected 79 Mod band and were one of the first groups to
have a single out. It was a double A side on 'No Pap Records', both songs were
written by Rob Buelo. Sadly there was a cock-up with the sleeve and the majority
of them were withdrawn. The label decided to call the band Speeballs instead
of just Speeball and down the side of the generic sleeve stated Speeballs
and the band weren't happy and asked them to ditch the sleeve with the spelling
mistake on. However, a few sleeves did get out and are quite rare.
On the release of the single, the band went about setting up their own tour ,
known as the "1000 Faces Tour" . The band were stunning live and they had a good
amount of original songs such as Sixties Girl,
Boys and Girls and their own
version of the scouts song Ging Gang Gooly
which they kept in their set from
their Idiot days! When ever the band played a gig, they had a bunch of
hardcore loyal fans known as "Quadropheniacs Faces" that used to travel around
watching them. This bunch of loyal Speedball fans appeared on the front cover of
the 'Observer' Sunday supplement on their Scooters in September 1979.
formed in their home town of Southend in early 1977 while studying for
their "A" levels. The band: Rob Paveley - Vocal/Guitar; Dave Dyke - Drums;
Barry Godwin - Guitar; Paul "Blue" Dunne - Bass. They played all the local
Punk gigs for the next couple of years always to sell out crowds.
Rob wrote all the songs & was well known in Southend as a very gifted singer-songwriter.
Their songs at the time included Ging Gang Gooly,
Don't You Know Love, Ambrose,
Boy's & Girls, No Survivors and
Is Somebody There?. All
to feature in their Speedball set list later on.
They recorded 2 tracks to be released as a single late 1978 (No Survivors &
Is Somebody There?) for a local record shop owner. The single was eventually
released in '79 as Speedballs (the extra "s" being a printing mistake. Also
there were some with a picture sleeve - very rare tho'!) after their name
change & move into Mod. They were followed around by a scooter club - the
Quadrophonics - who had formed in Feb '78 & had descended from the Sharks SC
formed in 1973. The Quadrophonics had their own Soul club "Barons" at the
Elms in Leigh (Southend suburb) where DJ's Chad, Del & Dick Coombes played
alongside local bands Speedball, The Leepers, No.6 etc.
Idiot changed their name to Speedball during the delay in the release of the
single early '79. They were still a 4 piece until Paul & Barry were arrested
for breaking into a local music store (Sound Sensation) to nick some
guitars. Idiot/Speedball were well known for never owning their own amps &
guitars!
After they were sent to Borstal for a few months Rob, now Rob Beulo, & Dave
held auditions at Alaska studios, Waterloo for a bass player. Guy Pratt came
in & got the gig straight away. He lived just up the road from Alaska & was
the son of Mike Pratt who was the Randall in "Randall & Hopkirk"!
Speedball were easily the most original of all the '79 Mod bands, Rob's
song writing was very strong. They never covered the usual '60's stuff but
their covers did included First Time by The Boys &
Come Back & Shake Me
by Clodagh Rodgers.
Speedball split in 1980 after Dave Dyke moved to Sweden to be with his
parents who lived there, Rob tried out with other bands before going back to
college. He moved to London before emigrating I believe to Australia or NZ.
Guy Pratt was in various other bands before joining Icehouse who at the time were
very big internationally. He went on to play with ex Duran Duran stars in
Power Station, Van Morrison and has been the bass player in Pink Floyd for the last 10 or 12 years or so.
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