Why are The Shadows SO important to you?

[andykombi]

i was lucky to see them for the first time in 1977

[neil2726]

I think there comes a time when you hear a piece of music or a singer and you think "WOW - what was that". Apache did that for me! The next WOW was "Runaway" (Del Shannon), just so different from what had gone before. It was a few years before the next WOW and that was ELO - Mr Blue Sky. John Barry's "Somewhere in Time" was next. Dont expect any WOW these days!

[tolo]

Growing up in the North East, my late brother - in 1978 - was having a bit of a tidy up.... In the bin I found 'The Shadows 20 Golden Greats'... As a 13 year old Trombone player - I rescued it, listened to it and thought right there that I had to learn to play the guitar... I saved and saved until I got an old Accoustic Guitar from a second hand shop and I learnt that whole record in less than a month... I went on to be in a band that signed to Columbia EMI in the late 80's and 90's and am still writing and recording today... I can only play the guitar because of these people. Simple. Its called inspiration. It is my greatest wish to sit with Hank and Bruce and chat about the Toon Army....(and other stuff)...

For me, as somone who came very close to being a professional musician, it is a whole bunch of reasons... Hank and Bruce are Geordies - so am I, our spirit and togetherness as a common folk is legendary - I do not think for one moment that they forget their roots.... My brother - who was so distracted by the Sex Pistols that his loss became my gain - I found that record.....God bless you Kevin....

For me - The Shadows represent the fact that Northern lads can do good and that you should never forget where you come from. Humility, Respect and Courtesy... Excellence thrown in.

Tony.

[RUSSET]

After hearing those first couple of hit singles, I saw them on TV on 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium' doing the famous steps to FBI & Frightened City, & that did it for me. With the matching set of Fiesta Gray Strats ( well, it was only Black & White TV in those days !) they looked so groovy (can you say that these days ?). I was only about 15 at the time; a very impressionable age. I actually saw them live about three years later at the Hippodrome, B'ham, with their brand new White Burns models & they sounded even better than on the records & TV.

Tony.

[Peter K]

I discovered the Shadows in 1962 when I heard " Guitar Tango " for the very first time. I knew " Apache " only from Joergen Ingmann's cover version ( which sold more copies in Germany than the Shad's original ). After getting " Guitar Tango " as a gift I discovered the other Shadows' singles and found out about the albums. The first album I ever bought was
" The Shadows' Beststellers " ( a German album, slightly different to " The Shadows' Greatest Hits " ).
The sound of the Shad's simply knocked me out, I had never heard such electric guitar sound before. I soon bought myself a guitar and started to have guitar lessons, but sadly without real success, my talent is simply too low.
I'm following the Shadows since 1962, heard them live in 1964, 1965, 1971, 1978, 1980 ( twice ) and in 2005. In 2007
I saw Bruce Welch's Shadows and enjoyed their sound, too.
I've collected all Shadows' records, also every record related to them like Marvin, Welch and Farrar and the records they made as individuals.
Many people think that I'm crazy when I'm talking about the group, but even if I'm crazy, I enjoyed their music all the time
and will ever stick to it.
I also like listening to the Spotnicks, the Tornados and the Ventures, but there's simply no group like the Shadows.

Peter K

[RayL]

When you are in your teens, you become very finely tuned to detecting the difference between what's new (and for your generation) and all the old stuff. The Shadows were for us, the new generation, and came with a new sound.

It's summed up by the 'Apache' single. On what was meant as the B side is a tune that the band had found themselves and was written by a someone of their own age. They made their own arrangement and had a lead guitar sound that was the template for a generation of new guitar players.

On the original A side is an old army singalong song pushed on them by their middle-aged recording manager which (as Bruce has told us) was designed to earn a bob or two for Norrie's music-publishing brother Alan. Our teenage tuning told us it was old stuff tarted up. I didn't like it then and I still prefer not to play it.

Although they didn't realise it at the time, by insisting that Apache should be the A side, The Shadows had struck a blow for freedom.

Ray L

[dave robinson]

''Tony's use of the tom-tom - intro to Apache'' (never been reproduced since) The reason that it hasn't been reproduced since is because it wasn't Tony and it wasn't a tom tom, it is well documented that it was a 'Chinese' drum and was played by Sir Cliff.

[keithmantle]

For my 12th birthday (1961) my mum bought me a Elizabethan duophonic record player and 'Shadows to the Fore' EP my first ever record , I still have both !!

[Martin Page]

''Tony's use of the tom-tom - intro to Apache'' (never been reproduced since) The reason that it hasn't been reproduced since is because it wasn't Tony and it wasn't a tom tom, it is well documented that it was a 'Chinese' drum and was played by Sir Cliff.

You beat me to it Dave!

Martin.

[Gary Allen]

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