Videos from 1985

[BrianD]

Isn't video a wonderful time capsule! From early 1981 till mid '87 I played lead in THE SHUDDERS - a Sussex based Shadows Tribute Band. At the time we formed we all played in various other cover bands but as fans of the Shads put the band together just for two charity raising concerts. The result was a great success and we had so many requests to play beyond the two initial concerts we ended up working regularly for six years before we finally knocked it on the head to do other things. Of course video was in its relative infancy at the time however, a neighbour of mine, a professional TV cameraman, borrowed my VHS Camcorder to record a dance concert we played in 1985. I recently came across this footage once again and have captured a few short clips onto YouTube.

Before anyone gets too critical remember this was a domestic cam-corder of the '80s and the audio is just what was captured through the cameras in-built microphone.

At the time I was using a Musicman amp, a Roland 301 Space Echo, a DeArmond volume/tone pedal and a custom built "Strat" which featured a scroll neck (yes, I was there long before the Burns Cobra!!) and an engraved scratch plate which was made for me by Eddie Cross and used the "Handcrafted by Burns" motif except that mine said "Soundcrafted for Brian" as the guy who made it was Graham Wheeler from Soundcraft in Worthing!!

Anyway, for those interested, I hope you like the clips -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wp-WiKP5-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLH3WwEGjWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYB_Pb3NTY4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihvAg2648SA

Brian

[SJB]

Brian,

Nice clips - seems recording has not degraded over time.
I used to use a Sony Betamax camcorder/video pack at this time for home video's. Mine have deteriorated - all now archived to digital.

I have tried to use my smartphone and a also recently bought HD video to record at our club and practice session. The picture is ok - but the sound level is trying to follow the drummer.
Seems the design of the auto level control was better in those days - now acting like a fast compressor - phone not so smart. There is no way to set the level release time.


These clips are are treasure.

SJB

[JimN]

Great videos and no doubt excellent memories, Brian.

Do you have any pictures of your "Soundcrafted for Brian" guitar?

And details of the spec, etc?

It sounds wonderful.

[Ian Miller]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for posting these vids. I remember The Shudders very well. I always made a point of going to your gigs whenever I could. I haven't seen Mark for a few years now since Drum N Strum closed, no doubt he is enjoying his retirement. I know Graham Wheeler quite well but again haven't seen him for a couple of years. Last time was at the new 'We Have Sound' guitar shop in Worthing.
Do you still have that guitar Brian?

Ian

[BrianD]

Thanks for the comments. No I don't have that guitar any longer. The Shudders disbanded in 1987 and, at the time, I had no intention of getting back into band playing as i was committed to yacht racing and that took up almost every weekend and prevented regular gigging. I sold most of my gear during the next couple of years. The guitar was bought by a "Shudders" fan who lived somewhere near Bognor, as far as I recall, but have no further trace of it. As the video shows it was essentially a Strat with a Burns style scroll headstock and a maple neck / fingerboard but this differed from a standard Strat as I wanted a set-neck guitar - a bit like a Les Paul joint. The pick-ups were Seymour Duncans and I think it had Grover machine heads and a brass Strat style them unit. The guitar was actually built for me back in the late '70s and I used it while playing in a couple of regular club / dinner dance function bands along with a Les Paul that was built for me by Peter Cook. In the videos you might just spot a white Marvin on a guitar stand. That was also built by Graham Wheeler using parts I bought from Eddie Cross and a neck I got from Jack Golder. I didn't use it much, at the time, because I had a lot of trouble with the trem arm which unscrewed itself with regular monotony during a number and was virtually unusable. Although unseen in the clips I also had a white Burns Bison - the scroll -neck version with Marvin style scratch-plates and Rez-O-Tube Trem unit. I had found that guitar in a shop in Denmark Street in the early -80s but it had been "upgraded" with two DiMarzio humbuckers so I had Eddie Cross make me new plates and had it put back to original "Burns" specification, but it also suffered from the same trem-arm issue. It was only after the Shudders split up that I found suitable washers to cure the problem but again I sold those guitars on and went six years without any electric guitar. In '96 I had to start all over again!!! But that's another story!

[BrianD]

Just posted three more clips of The Shudders in 1985 -

The Stranger - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zoyyPPw06Q
The Rise & Fall of Flingle Bunt - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sbZf6Kx8-k
I Could Easily Fall - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUWTA1VgdJA