History of The Standards

JOHN RECALLS THE EARLY DAYS

Mark moved to Beeston from Belle Isle in the early to mid-seventies. I always knew of him, but being older he moved in different circles. We became mates in the winter of 1979 while I was recovering from a broken leg, following a scooter accident. Mark was out of work. His dad had bought him out of the Navy after he’d gone AWOL from Portsmouth. He’d been in a band called the ‘Page 3 Girls’. They had recently split, so he was looking to form a new outfit. We had an uncanny interest in the same music – Punk, New wave and 60s bands such as The Who. Consequently, our friendship and the seeds of a new group began to grow.

Darren joined next. Both Mark and I knew him from growing up as kids. I regularly used to go round to his house to listen to music (McCartney & Wings) and play Cricket. We also did a bit of train spotting for a while. He’d recently been in a band called ‘Art School’ who had just folded, so he was recruited by Mark. We now had our bassist. The three of us practised in a damp cellar in Barkly Parade and spent most of our afternoons in the Cross Flatts Club (known locally as the Klondyke) or the White Hart on Beeston Town Street, writing songs. The name ‘Standards’ was lifted from the title of an early Jam album track.

We bumped into Richard in the White Hart in the summer of 1980. Despite his craving to play heavy rock, he didn’t take much convincing that our style of music was the way forward. He’d acquired a set of drums from locally established drummer Kev Cassidy and was soon up to speed with the songs.

Now a four-piece band, we were eager to play our first gig and did so at the Klondyke on 30^th October 1980.

KEYBOARDS

To fill out the sound and extend the range of the band, it was decided that a second guitarist or a keyboards player could be the answer. The lads were on the lookout for a fifth member and soon found one, in the shape of Dave Rhodes.

In mid-1979, bored and lacking direction, Dave had attended a local gig featuring school chum Phil Gibson, thrashing out guitar chords with a raw outfit calling themselves ‘Rough Dog’. It was at this point that he decided he would join the band, even though he couldn’t play an instrument at the time.

Dave promptly purchased an electric piano and spent three months locked away in his bedroom learning basic chord structures from information contained in an old school exercise book and some Kate Bush song sheets, emerging to join Rough Dog and play two gigs, before the band split in March 1980. Dave continued to work on his piano technique until approached in the autumn of that year by Mark in The Broadway pub on Dewsbury Road. “Do you play keyboards?” asked Mark, to which the answer was “Yes”. “Get down to Darren Briggs’ garage, 1.30 on Sunday afternoon.” said Mark.

“I used to know Darren at Beeston Infants”, recalls Dave.” He had this trick where he Karate-chopped pencils in half on the edge of the desk. I also remember Mark from Parkside High School. He used to hide in the trees during cross-country runs, then jump out and whip the younger boys’ legs with a stick. I can still feel it”.

Dave knew vaguely where Darren lived, but not the exact address. He followed his ears, dragging his piano in an old shopping trolley to his first rehearsal with The Standards.

“I’d seen them before”, recalls Dave, “practising in St Andrew’s Church Hall on Cardinal Road. I wasn’t sure about the Fred Perry T-shirts, but I was impressed that they could play ‘Down in the Tubestation at Midnight’ by The Jam and that it was recognisable. Some of the stuff we did in Rough Dog was atrocious – you couldn’t tell one song from another!

I remember setting up the piano in Darren’s Dad’s garage and trying to play the songs. I was a bit nervous as John’s sister, Carol was standing behind me, watching.

At the end, Mark gave me a load of songs and told me to learn them by next week. I took it that meant I was in the band”. Dave did indeed learn the songs and played his first gig with the band at The Broadway, in November.

CONSTANT GIGGING

“As the band took off and word spread, we built up a good local following”, says John. “I can still see the band, instruments and around a dozen other lads, squashed into the back of a transit van, trying to hold the back doors shut without spilling their pints. I think somebody fell out at some point and was left behind”.

Most of the gigs were in Leeds and surrounding areas, the most memorable of which being in the beer garden of The Broadway on Royal Wedding day, Tiffany’s and a dodgy night in Damiens Night Club, surrounded by a ring of bouncers during some trouble. “We also crossed the Pennines for what was termed the ‘Macclesfield and Manchester Mini Tour”, remembers Dave.

Among our early supporters were Dave Carr, Andy Rawling, Ian and Paul Overfield, Eric Gabbott, Elaine and Karen Slater, Tina Brown (also our official hair designer), Janet Senior, Paul and Carol Metcalf, Spanner, Barney, Julie Hickinson, Bob Crosby, Mark Gomersal, Mark Briggs, Ruth, Simon and Tim Devlin and John Lenahan to name but a few (please let us know if we missed you out).

The level of gigging increased throughout the coming year (at one point to 5 a week) and it became a bit heavy going. Some of the pubs paid next to nothing and boredom began to set in. The Standards played some 50 or so concerts between October 1980 and November 1981, at which time Richard stated that he was leaving the band. He apparently needed to sell his drums to buy a car (a Hillman Avenger if my memory serves). The remaining members now had other interests too (mainly drinking), so it was decided to shelve the project for a while.

FIRST REFORMATION

Towards the end of 1984, Mark and Darren were hinting at re-forming. John and Dave agreed to this, but Richard was not available. John’s brother Paul (who had been playing above the White Hart with a three-piece instrumental outfit calling themselves the Diesel Stickers) stepped in and serious rehersals began. There was apparently a bet on that the band would not be ready to play by the end of January, but play they did, on the 17^th (ready or not). This time the gigs were reduced to a steady one or so a month. Richard took over on drums sometime in the summer of 1985 and the band continued to play throughout that year.

LEAN TIMES

Between the end of 1985 and 1990, there were only four ‘one-off’ concerts. Changes of personnel saw Darren’s brother, Mark on drums and Reg Wannan (formerly of the Diesel Stickers and The Tykes) on guitar. Family and work commitments had become too great and the next gig at the Co-op Club on Gelderd Road was to be the last for some 13 years.

2003 TO 2010 - BETTER THAN EVER

“The first I knew that we were to re-form yet again, was when the phone rang as I was getting out of the shower”, recalls Dave. “It was Darren. He asked if I was interested and, to be honest I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t have time to play in a band. When he said that it would be all 5 original members I was amazed. I never thought we would play again after all this time. I said I would go to the first practice and the date was set. Rehersals began in early 2003 and at first, it was all over the place. We all still played at home, but it took around 6 months to sharpen up. Darren and Mark had now swapped instruments, which also took some getting used to. Gradually though, the sound improved to the point where we were tighter and more musically cohesive than ever before”.

The re-formed band played their first gig at the Cross Flatts Rec Club (Klondyke) on Saturday night, 13^th December 2003 and continued to go from strength to strength. Their final concert was the Leeds Central Scooter Club Annual Do at the Leeds Irish Centre in January 2010. They had played an amazing and hugely successful 128 gigs between those dates and 194 in total as a band.

Some of their notable achievements during the last reformation include -

Playing most of the music venues in the Leeds area
Being privileged to be chosen for many wedding functions
Becoming the band of choice for many of the area’s Scooter Club events
Recording Modern Man, an album of their own songs and selling all 200 copies manufactured
Making a number of videos including a full promo for the song Between the Lines, from the album (see the Standards Links page)