The early days of Busted Fender were probably the most significant in that the later
success of the band relied upon the groundwork that the original line-up laid down.
During this period the band would often find themselves travelling miles to play
gigs and play to virtually no one. Gordon Robinson recalls: “We used to play a place
called The Smugglers Arms at Milford-on-Sea, just west of the New Forest. We’d booked
ourselves back to back gigs at the Smugglers on the Saturday night and the Bell Inn
on the Sunday night. When we arrived at The Smugglers we discovered it was Carnival
in the village and the pub was packed to the rafters with people having fun. We offered
to set-up but the landlord decided it would be better value for him if he paid us
not to play. However, the following night at the Bell Inn we had a terrific night
and took over £400.00. I almost felt like a proper rock ‘n’ roll star that night.”
Tim Dunn recalls a different night at a different location when the band used to
play to almost no one at the Blues Loft in High Wycombe, just off the M40 near London.
However, this hard work was to pay off several years later as the promoter at the
Blues Loft ended up working for Big Bear Music in Birmingham, and it led directly
to a booking at the Birmingham Blues Summit in 1993. All that early travelling ensured
maximum coverage of the band on the Blues circuit and enabled the later line-ups
to play the many gigs per year they were known for. There weren’t that many gigs
local to Portsmouth to be had and there were many bands wanting to play them. It
also made playing in Portsmouth such a joy and the band drew big audiences when they
did return as the punters were curious to know what changes the band had made to
their material. Mick Arloe recalls the reaction Busted Fender received at the Wedgewood
Rooms in Portsmouth having not played Portsmouth for quite a while. “A friend of
mine Kathy ( who later became my partner ) was in the audience that night, sat at
the back. We were the last band on and so I sat with her for a while to listen to
the other bands. I remember the manager of the Wedgewood Rooms, Cliff, was talking
to a friend of his who was wondering why, on this particular night, the place was
so packed. I think Cliff was a little bemused himself, but that was the kind of reaction
we would get when we ‘came home’. You have to give credit to our loyal friends and
followers for that particular night.”
So thanks to all the hard work put in by the early Fender (and not forgetting
Caricature and Hold Back The Tide), in the early nineties Busted Fender expanded
rapidly to playing anywhere from Birmingham southwards. Often they would travel and
stay in B&Bs while playing gigs in Banbury, London, Bristol, Yeovil and Bath. Long
boring hours travelling were broken up with games, such as pub cricket and confession
sessions, whereby members of the band would take turns to confess some dark secret
from their past. Needless to say Tim Dunn and Andy Mills made theirs up but Kevin
got caught out by confessing a true incident. The rest of the band aren’t at liberty
to divulge the content of his confession, but let’s just say they were quite shocked
and found the whole thing hilarious. It was around this time that Busted Fender recorded
one of their personal favourite albums Nothin’ But Trouble.
Possibly one of the most enduring of memories was the night Fender supported
the late, great John Campbell at the Boars Head Blues Club near Wickham. John Campbell
looked and played like the Devil incarnate on stage, but backstage he was one of
the nicest people one could ever wish to meet. Fender were due to support him again
a year later and all the band were looking forward to it. The man was a star and
everybody was sure to have a great night. Unfortunately, shortly before the gig,
Fender received the news from Mick Meach and Mick Johnson that John had passed away.
He was only 44 years old. Everyone was shocked. Just when he’d finally made the big
time he was taken. Nobody knows for sure the reason for his death to this day. His
last words to Mick Arloe were “Hey! We must play another show together sometime.”
Regrettably, it just wasn’t to be.
The story of Busted Fender runs parallel to the story of the blues in the UK in the
nineties. The big blues revival of the early nineties should have been a great time
for Busted Fender, and to some extent it was, but ultimately it was the beginning
of the end for the band. True, the revival created more places to play and more opportunity
for people to hear what they hadn’t been hearing since the sixties. It brought live
music back to the older generation and sparked an interest in some of the younger
generation also. On the other hand there was the overkill factor. Bands that hadn’t
previously been blues bands were popping up everywhere under the banner of the blues
and totally misrepresented this genre of music, and although there were more places
to play, bands like Fender who had been true blues bands for several years previous
couldn’t really get a look in at some venues; Fender weren’t rocky enough for some
tastes. By the mid to late nineties people had had a belly-full of the blues . Pubs and clubs that had been featuring
the blues for years were turning away from it and many were closing down their live
music entertainment. It goes a long way to explaining why, by 1996, I myself had
had enough of the blues, not so much the music, but of the increasing mute response
to it. This website is a dedication to Busted Fender. It’s only right that they should
have a web presence now (websites weren’t that common when they were around) to pay
homage to probably one of the finest bands that Portsmouth ever produced, blues or
otherwise. They were the only blues band to get a mention in Tony Rollinson’s excellent
book Twenty Missed Beats; the story of the Portsmouth Indie Music scene from 1977
to 1996. There’s even a quote from me in there. For that to happen only reinforces
my belief of the high regard that commentators of the Portsmouth Music scene held
for Busted Fender. Of course, the above is not the only reason for the demise of
Busted Fender. All good things must come to an end sometime. There are, fortunately,
those stalwarts of the blues (ex-Fender members among them) who are still performing
today, and those true followers who are still prepared to leave the comfort of their
homes to go and see them live. To this end I salute you all. As they would say in
New Orleans: “Laissez les bon temps rouler” - Let the good times roll!
Mick Arloe.
