An Unexpected Meeting

I was up at M2 Studios near Wolverhampton today, rounding off one of the bonus tracks for the Trinity album, when who should walk in, but none other than Slade bass player Jim Lea!

JIM LEA AND RODNEY MATTHEWS AT M2 STUDIOS

We had a chat and a photograph taken.  I mentioned that I'd played support for Slade with my band Squidd, somewhere in South Wales in the early 70s. But where? I couldn't remember!

It bothered me that I'd forgotten where we'd played, so when I got home I called Steve Webb (lead guitarist and singer of Squidd, who I know has a memory like an elephant) to put me out of my misery!  Straight out he said:

Glen Ballroom, Llanelli

While we were still talking Sarah did a bit of "Googling" and came up with this poster:

SLADE - GIPSY - SQUIDD AT THE GLEN BALLROOM, LLANELLI, 7 OCTOBER 1971

It was shown on the blog of Derec Jones, who organised the gig back in 1971!  That put things beyond all doubt.  

For anyone, who wonders what we looked like in those days, here's a photo:

(LEFT TO RIGHT) RODNEY MATTHEWS, JOHN MERRITT, STEVE SWINDELLS AND STEVE WEBB - EATING BREAD, CHEESE AND PICKLED ONIONS IN A FIELD

See you Sunday!