Worcestershire’s
Virgin Star isn’t the band that comes first to your mind when you think of
NWOBHM. The band released a bunch of demos and one single before calling it a
day. Oh, yes, they managed to make it in the “Armed & Ready” section of “Kerrang!”.
But basically that’s it. The Simon brothers later went on to play in Ipanema
Katz and are now in the great band 3Sixty but I decided to get in touch with
the bass player Guy Titley (thanks to his brother Ralph) who was in Virgin Star
in the early days and here is what he had to say.
Hello, Guy! My typical
first question is about first steps in music: when and how did you get into
rock/metal? What band/albums influenced you to be a musician? Tell me about
your career prior Virgin Star: did you play in any band or were you just a bedroom
musician so to say?
I got into music at an early age. My older
brother Simon (two years older than me) was given an acoustic guitar aged
around 12, and taught himself to play. Our early influences were very mixed;
Johnny Cash and the Shadows from my father and English folky stuff from
friends. We started doing occasional acoustic folk gigs. First real rock
influences were Black Sabbath — I think “Paranoid” was the first album I
bought. I listened to all sorts of stuff on the radio and the first stuff I started
playing (on guitar) was mostly blues rock: Rolling Stones, Ten Years After, Wishbone
Ash, John Mayall, Eric Claptopn, Led Zeppelin, Caravan. When I left home and
moved to Birmingham I regularly went to local gigs — Steve Gibbons band and early Duran Duran. Later
on the whole prog rock thing was influential and I went through a Hawkwind, ELP
and Yes phase. I first took up the bass in Birmingham in a band (Helms Deep)
with my brother Simon on guitar and James Little (a friend from Hereford —
later in Spizz Energy) on violin, mostly because we needed a bass player... My
first bass was a Japanese Columbus jazz bass copy. We played a lot of Uni gigs
as Helms Deep and supported Doctor Feelgood, Shaking Stevens and others on the
Uni circuit at the time.
Tell me about the
scene in Malvern/Worcestershire back then. Were you friends with the musicians
of Cynic, Grim Reaper and Wrathchild? What are your best memories about such
places like Water Side or Herefordshire House?
Malvern had a very busy music scene — there
were lots of venues around about and lots of bands. I didn't personally know
Cynic, Grim Reaper or Wrathchild. Main Malvern band at the time was Monte
Cassino. I had just moved back from London, and had started work at Malvern
Instruments (a spin-off from the RSRE radar research establishment), working as
a test engineer, and found to my delight that several of my work mates were
musicians. My boss was Paul White (later editor of Sound on Sound magazine) who
had a studio on was gigging in several bands. That's how I met Russell Simon —
he worked downstairs in the metal fabrication shop (this allowed him to make
guitar bridges and scratch plates for his home build Frankenstrats). I was
doing some practicing with my younger brother Ralph and his friends bands and
had just spent Ј350.00 (a lot of money in the 1980s) on a new Musicman Stingray
bass, bought in Buzz Music in Hereford.
When and how did you
join Virgin Star? Who played bass in the band before you?
The previous VS bass player (Benj) had left and
the band were not gigging. As I was a bass player without a band we started
rehearsing their old set and wrote a few new numbers. I think our first gig was
the The Nag's Head pub in Malvern — this became a regular venue for us.
By the way, what was
the idea with the band’s name? Was it just a cool sounding moniker?
I don't know how the band's name came about —
it was Virgin Star when I joined.
As far as I
understand, you joined the band before the recording of the demo “Four More For
The Road”. Did you contribute anything to the demo “Day Dreamer”?
We recorded the "Four More for the Road"
EP at Paul White's Malvern studio, in his basement. We wrote “Giving it Up” for
the EP — the other three tracks were older VS material. Paul White did most of
the production as we were fairly clueless regarding recording. I think we had
100 cassettes duplicated and sold them at gigs.
What was your approach
to the band? Did you take it serious and rehearse a lot or was it just a hobby
or a fun?
We took the band seriously and rehearsed once
or twice a week at Russell and Mark's house. I was sharing a flat in Mavern
Link with Paul “Tates” Taylor at the time.
Would you agree that
the band was rather into punk/glam rock than heavy metal? Was it ok for the
fans at the time?
As a band we were a bit varied image wise. We
sounded like a heavy rock band but were trying to be a bit more sophisticated
musically. A bit more light and dark, not just riffing. Russell was into Gary
Moore and Van Halen and I had more bluesy roots. Our fan base was wide — from
heavy biker types to younger new wave kids. In some ways this was unusual —
most music fans were very tribal, but punk and new wave had widened many
people's tastes, even if they didn't admit it publically. We could get a decent
sized crowd in for gigs. I thought of us as a heavy rock band with other
influences.
“Kerrang!” printed an
ad about the band in 1982. How did that happen? Did you pay for that or did
they contact the band after hearing the demo?
We were getting good press coverage and had a
good review for the EP in the local press (attached). I think “Kerrang!”
contacted us after we sent them the tape, but I'm not certain.
Was there any material
which wasn’t recorded or released?
Yes, we had a set over an hour long, so we had
other material. I don't know if any of it exists still.
What are your
brightest memories about the shows with Virgin Star? What was the largest crowd
you played in front of? Did you support any famous bands?
We never played covers live, we did sometimes
during rehearsals and jams — some Van Halen I think. We tried to make an
impression as a live act. This was difficult in smaller, cramped, pub gigs, but
bigger venues like the Market Tavern (Hereford) and the new, expanded Nag's
Head let us do a bigger show. We were aiming for a US stadium rock show on a
budget of several pounds! We did start using a drum riser for Mark's largish
Premiere kit, and we had lighting and later even lasers (we did both work at
RSRE after all). I was using a bass stack with 2 x 15" W bins and 2 x
12" on top, and we had a decent PA system and a volunteer road crew. Russell
had a souped up Bedford CF van, with an Opel 2.3 liter engine and side pipes —
very A Team, and we also had Mark's transit and another van for the PA. The
biggest gig we did was Malvern Winter Gardens (1982?) supporting Diamond Head.
Tell me please about
the single “When The Reds”. You weren’t credited in the back cover. Did you
quit the band by that time? What happened basically to Virgin Star? Why did you
fail to get a record deal and split-up? Why didn’t you join Ipanema Katz?
Yes, I left the band before “When the Reds”.
I'd split up with my then girlfriend and had decided to move back to London. I
believe Benj rejoined the band on bass. We had just signed a two year record
deal with Hughes Brothers Entertainment so my timing wasn't great, however I
believe Benj rejoined the band on bass. No idea if it references Liverpool FC.
Tell me about your
achievements after Virgin Star. Have you played in any bands since then? How do
you view your experience with Virgin Star these days? Do you stay in touch with
the Simon brothers or Paul Taylor?
I basically drifted away and resumed working in
London in film and TV engineering. I have kept up my bass playing and done a
few gigs with various friends but nothing you could really call a band. I did
enjoy my time with VS, despite the grind of a full time job and late nights
carrying heavy cabs up and down stairs. Gigs were fun to do and I'd do more
with the right group of people and material I like. I have bumped into Russell
in Malvern a couple of times — my younger brother still lives and works there
and I visit regularly. He, possibly encouraged by my experiences, is in three
bands, has his own studio and organises gigs and festivals in the Malvern area.
Two of my nephews are also in bands (Nuns of the Tundra) and getting good
reviews and coverage.
It's weird — we never thought, at the time,
that we were part of a movement (NWOBHM), we were just doing something we
enjoyed.
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