Guy Titley (ex-Virgin Star): "We were just doing something we enjoyed"

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.