Читать книгу Buzzcocks - The Complete History - Tony McGartland - Страница 18

McNeish buys a Starway electric guitar, which he had seen in the shop window of Magnall’s Music store in his hometown, complete with a cardboard case, for £18. Sometime later, he buys his first amplifier.

Meanwhile, in his fifth year at Leigh Boys’ Grammar School, Dave Peters and his brother Paddy are trying to form a band. Dave persuades his best friend Garth Davies to become the bass player, but he isn’t keen. Garth recalls, ‘I protested that I knew nothing about the bass, but his answer was that it had two strings less than a guitar.’

Garth pesters his parents and finally they buy him a second-hand Framus bass guitar on the ‘Pru’ (the Prudential finance company allowed you to spread the cost over weekly payments).

‘That’s when I discovered that playing bass was a whole different kettle of fish from classical guitar. Anyway, I learned a few basic runs and we formed a band. Dave on lead guitar/vocals, Paddy on rhythm guitar/vocals, me on bass/vocals and an old primary-schoolmate of mine called Neil Taylor played drums. We called ourselves Solid Gold.’

They play several gigs doing rock’n’roll, several Beatles songs and one or two original songs by Dave and Paddy at local workingmen’s clubs, at a church fête in the village of Culcheth and at a local school and youth club.

Garth’s time with Solid Gold is short: ‘Dave and Paddy fired me from the band because I didn’t sing loud enough, but really they had a good mate who they wanted in the band! I never bore a grudge, though, and am still good friends with Dave and Paddy to this day.’