LIVE!

Missed the Thursday night gig at The Bush Hall. Work got in the way. Gutted. But hopefully another time. And I hope the Liverpool gigs were (Fri) and will be (tonight) brilliant.

The band played Leicester Poly sometime in September 1976. Remember it so well it was my Freshers Ball. So exciting for a boy from the sticks of the Forest of Dean. 40 odd years later still a huge fan . Sorry I can't be more specific with the date.

Saw them last Friday 23rd at The Islington, excellent gig of course, great mixture of the new album and the old classics, met some other big fans that night. Hope the Liverpool gig last night was great and good luck for tonight Thursday 29th. Jealous I can't be in their City!

It was with some trepidation that I went along 2 shows at The Islington to hear the new album in full. Well it wasn’t quite in full, but I have to say the 8 or 9 songs from it blended in seamlessly with the old favourites. Roll on September.

When I started Art college in 1973 at Medway, Rochester, I made friends with somebody called Mike Ward. He told me his elder brother, Kevin, was also at art school,doing photography, but in Liverpool.
It was evident to me that Mike looked up toKevin a fair bit; he was constantly telling me about his brother. He would tell about his brother's girlfriend, Anne (I think he had a bit of a crush on her).
One day he announced that his brother and his girlfriend were involved with a new band; Kevin, more in the background, while Anne was actually a singer. I heard so much about this band over the next year or so. I knew everything about them, without actually hearing or seeing them - although I did meet Kevin and Anne on a couple of occasions, when they were in Maidstone. I knew the lyrics to many of the songs, I knew the names of all the band members and I was kept up to date regarding their progress in the Melody Maker competion, which, of course, the band eventually won. Mike would adopt many of the fashions of the band and I would fcopy Mike. I was a huge fan of a band I'd never seen or heard!
Mike and I were in a newsagents in Rochester, when I found some unusual toy sunglasses. They were brightly coloured and, insteart of having glass in them, they had slats like venition blinds I bought a pair and showed them to my friend Mike. He though they were 'flash' (to coin his phrase) and suggested we buy them all for the band to wear at their gigs, which did. Much later, in a rare national TV appearance, Anne was wearing a pair of the very glass we'd bought together in Rochester. I also furnished Mike with an original copy of the 'Fireball XL5' theme tune, because he said that the band wanted to cover it, but that no one could quite remember it (did you ever use it?).
In 1975, I finally got to see the band, when they played at Maidstone Art College. After all the hype and anticipation, they had a huge amount to live up to, but none-the-less, they blew me away. I was wearing a leather jacket and a trilby, just like my friend Mike, just like the singer (and it wasn't even Capaldi's Cafe)!
I dropped out of Art College in 1976 - I never got to be in the band I'd gone to Art College to be in - I thought that was why you went! I was kept informed still, by Mike, of the band's progess with details from recording sessions now, for the first album, including sending me some signed photos from the cover shoot. It seemed an eternity for it to be released. Mike anounced that Anne was no longer going out with Kevin, but with Steve, aka Enrico (Enrico and Bette ). Bought the album. Played it to death. Bought the second and third albums, likewise. Saw the band a couple of times more in London. The band split. I sadly lost touch with Mike. I haven't seen him in forty years.
I moved to Cumbria seventeen years ago. End of story... until Deaf School came to Solfest in 2014. Now I'm a fan again.

It's quite simple, the new album is sheer genius, just like the first 2.....can I send the band a road map to Glasgow? C'mon......you promised.......

Hi Joanne - that's a very moving story. We'll make sure you can say hello to the band at The Islington! It's about time you were able to!

Hi Paul - as you may have seen, you can download/stream the album at AppleMusic, Spotify and other places but unfortunately there is no 'free' download as a result of buying the CD or vinyl. Thank you very much for buying and we're glad you're enjoying it!

Hi There,

I purchased the new album on vinyl and the single - both fantastic! I was exepecting to be able to download the music digitally for my phone but did not find a way of doing this.

Have I got it wrong?

Thanks

Paul Morris

I was introduced to Deaf School by my French Tutor in late 1978.

I had failed my French O level in the summer and was having remedial classes with Miss Broadbent. She improved my French (just) enough to pass my exam resit which meant I could go University in 1980 as at the time you had to have a foreign language O level to get in.

But more interestingly, Miss Broadbent introduced me to some great music and bands. She played English Boys/Working Girls and I was blown away!
Miss Broadbent was a fan and had seen Deaf School play live, she told us great stories of the bands antics on stage. The one I remember most is one of the singers dowsing themselves with lager and proceeding to shake it all over everyone whilst singing ‘Golden Showers’.

For an impressionable 16 year old, growing up in Hull, this sounded incredible!

I immediately bought my own copy of English Boys/Working Girls and then tracked down 2nd Honeymoon and Stop the World. I have carried those precious vinyl LP’s everywhere I’ve been since then. Whilst I’ve lost / got rid of almost all my vinyl over the years, there was no way I was parting with my Deaf School trio. I was so grateful when the CD anthology came out! (The other band I kept the LP’s for was Flash and the Pan, another band no one else had ever heard of either.)

With the advent of the Internet, I found the band’s web site and hoped to go and see them, but they didn’t play wheelchair accessible venue’s and I wasn’t going to go and leave my partner behind.

I’ve since been widowed and it’s my time now, so nothing was going stop me this year!
So forty years late I finally got to see them, I even managed to get a front spot hanging on to the barrier.

And they didn’t disappoint, I was amazed at the energy, sheer verve and enthusiasm they all had. Simply brilliant. Wow. I loved it and sang along as best I could.

I’m now looking forward to more gigs and have booked for the show at Islington.

Well I’ve rambled on enough, hopefully I’ll get to meet you all in person at one of the gigs

Finally got to see Deaf School at O2 Academy on December 8th, 41 years after the first try to see them! Great gig. Totally starstruck when meeting Enrico and Bette and the encore special guest after! I imagine the Liverpool gig on the Saturday night was absolutely (oops almost drifted into F1 commentator mode there!) sensational. Love the new album, booked ticket for 23/03 gig. Looking forward to it!