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| Yours Truly KJS was just four and a bit years old at the time ... |
#891: Hello ... Hello ... my old friends ... It's great to see you once again! Did you know that
The Electric Light Orchestra [ELO] made their live debut in Croydon some forty three [43] years ago today on
Sunday 16th April 1972? However, there does seem to be some
"Confusion" in some quarters as to whether the host for
ELO's first ever live outing was either
The Greyhound or
The [Old] Fox & Hounds or even
The Fox at The Greyhound - according to one gentleman who was actually in the audience that night!
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| "ELO IN PUB" ... but which one? |
The Official Jeff Lynne Facebook page stated today that the gig was at
The Fox & Hounds in West Croydon whereas several other sources including
Wikipedia, press tour adverts of the time [see below] and personal recollections etc. state that
The Greyhound is the widely accepted actual venue. There have always been contrasting reports of that very first
ELO gig out there in the
ELO fan base but the above press clip entitled
"ELO IN PUB" still brings a smile to my face as I imagine
Roy Wood jumping from guitar to oboe whilst trying to avoid the many trip hazards on stage!
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| This press advert states that the Croydon gig on 16/04/72 was at The Greyhound ... |
ELO Beatles Forever [ELOBF] wishes to extend a big
"THANK YOU!" to
Roy Wood,
Jeff Lynne,
Bev Bevan,
Richard Tandy and the entire ensemble of
ELO musicians then and now for birthing and/or contributing to such a magnificent band - wherever that first gig actually took place!
Until next "Time" in the ELO [and related] Universe ... KJS ... 16-Apr-2015
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It was definitely the Fox at the Greyhound - I was there. To clarify, the Greyhound was the venue and they had the Fox Club on Sunday nights. I saw many other bands there including Roxy Music, Mott the Hoople, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Thin Lizzy, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come...
ReplyDeleteCaptain Sensible claims he went up on stage, grabbed the cello, mocked it by pretending it was a guitar, got punched in the head...and, tossed out the back door. (EXTRAS - The Damned: Don'tYou Wish That We Were Dead)
ReplyDeleteI am "Frank G" as in the comment from 2017. I am still completely definite that it was the "Fox at the Greyhound" as I explained. It wasn't strictly in a pub, but in a massive ex-ballroom that belonged to the pub.
ReplyDeleteIt was the Fox at the Greyhound. I was there too.
ReplyDelete