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Our History

Well it all began with.....

To be honest it probably began because of the enjoyment Les and Dave got out of playing with the Brendan Healy Big Band during the mid and late 90's.  Local actor/comedian/musician Brendan Healy had a top band including a brass section (the Mucky Brass) and backing singers (the Pop Tarts).   The band was made up of top notch musicians including our present drummer, Simon Ferry.  Les played keyboards in the band regularly, and Dave Whiffin filled Dave Black's boots on guitar whenever he was away on a solo gig.  

The Brendan Healy Big Band was all about playing incredible inventive arrangements of all kinds of songs.  From "Take Me To The River" to "Unchain My Heart" to "Circle Of One" the brass arrangements original and inspiring.  To top it off, Brendan was rarely less than hilarious.

The Les Watts Band

Les and Dave had played in the 4 piece pub based "Les Watts Band" for years but always fancied getting a bigger band together.   The lift a good brass section gives a band is hard to describe until you're playing in the band.  Trouble is, we'd played with the best musicians in the area - and we didn't want to settle for less...

Paying 7 musicians - how??

To pay a band of seven (mostly professional) musicians we had to consider what kind of venues and events we could play.  Pubs really couldn't pay enough to keep so many semi pro musicians so we decided that there was a definite gap in the market for a musically refined function band.  Pub bands occasionally play at weddings but they're not normally right for the occasion.  In 2000 we decided our band would be designed specifically for the private function market.

Early Band Members

We got some brass parts written and rehearsals started mid 2000.  Originally Roy Pearson, owner of Newcastle Drum Centre played drums, and Dave Lamb sang and played bass.  Dave Lamb had played with Dave in Crossroads and later The Gift.  The first brass line up consisted of Dave Hignet on Trumpet, Sue Ferris on Sax and an ex army bloke called John Milgate.  Within a few weeks Graham Hardy replaced Dave Hignet on trumpet and the brass section was established.  John Milgate was a new find in the North East music scene, and what a find...  John can knock you sideways with one note from that trombone!  John's enthuisiasm for the band was, and still is infectious.

Newcaste United

Very early on we managed to play at two Newcastle United Strip launches and have done every year since.

The good old Magnesia Bank...

Regular appearances at the Magnesia Bank led to the band picking up a big following, as well as plenty of private functions to play at.  Over the course of one year the bands popularity grew and we had a gig virtually every week.  We also had quite a reputation with wedding guests and venues. 

Band Member Changes...

After a few months Roy Pearson left the band and Simon Ferry joined us.  Roy still appears with us whenever Simon can't make it.   Shortly after John Dawson joined the band on bass guitar to replace Dave Lamb who was moving to Ireland.   John had worked with Jimmy Savage for a few years and this is where Les came across him.  John and Simon formed a formidable rhythm section and continued to provide the backbone of the band until December 2004 when Ian Halford joined the band on kit.

The web site

Dave Whiffin had started to get interested in web design and the band proved an excellent opportunity to hone his talents.  However within a few months gig enquiries were generated constantly via the website and the guestbook on the website had proved a great way of displaying the bands popularity.  Potential customers were downloading the songs and checking the set list.   We've had enquiries from Belgium, USA, France and Australia.  The website was proving to be a great asset.

French lady marries USA bloke, in Dorset...??

One notable gig in the bands history was when we played the Earl of Sandwiches residence in Dorsett.  An american had seen our website and decided that he wanted us to play at his wedding to a French lady.  A great gig followed (the Cream Tea's were also fantastic!).

Stanley Blues Festival

Yup - whilst we concentrate on songs for private functions, we do like to play some more obscure stuff occasionally.  So we ended up on a blues festival!  We weren't exactly blues but no one was complaining, indeed we got a brilliant reception from the 5000 strong crowd.

to be continued .....................