Kirkcaldy Bands
The Kirkcaldy Bands of the '80s

Because music like ours shouldn't die

The Blazing Apostles / Locomotive Latenight

 

Blazing Apostles 28th November poster

 

Alan Liddell (guitar) tells up the story of the band, after he and Kenny Hutchison left Nationwide

After Nationwide split up, Kenny Hutchison took up the guitar and started singing. Kenny linked up with John Anderson on bass and later asked me to join on lead guitar and that was the start of The Blazing Apostles.

We did a couple of gigs under the name Funhouse (after the Stooges album). Graham and John started The Ghost Train about the same time and recruited Mark Nichol and Chas. We all still hung about with each other occasionally and I remember I played guitar on Walk On The Wild side live with the Ghost Train at an Abbotshall gig one night.

Gary on kit

(Gary Bonar on the drum kit, Adam Smith Centre)

We started off with a drum machine and later Kenny recorded drums which we played through a Revox reel to reel tape machine (like The Cocteau Twins did) Gary Bonar then joined us as our drummer which let us improvise more and extend the songs live when we felt like it.

We did a couple of self financed singles Day Of Descent / Arrival and It's So Easy / Comfort which got quite a lot of airplay on John Peel and Janice Long shows on Radio 1. Janice Long got us a Radio 1 session which we recorded at Queen Margaret Drive in Glasgow and it got aired then repeated.
We got a nameckeck in the book In Session Tonight (which listed all the bands who had ever done Radio 1 sessions)

 

Locomotive Latenight ticket


We were playing loads of gigs all over the place at this time and did a couple down in London at the Rock Garden and the Timebox which was a good trip.

We then changed our name to Locomotive Latenight (I can't remember why) and recorded the mini album you have on your site. John Anderson left the band and Mark Nicol ex Ghost Train joined us on bass and then later Danny Holland. (There are pics of us from that line up at a gig at the Adam Smith)

Loco Adam Smith

Things were looking good for a while but eventually not getting signed by a major label took its toll a bit and we eventually just split up.

Loco Adam Smith 2

 

MP3's of all the bands vinyl releases are below, together with copies of the covers -

 

Its So Easy front cover

Comfort

It's So Easy

(These are enhanced versions uploaded May 24 2008)

 

Locomotive Latenight So Easy Cover

 

Blazing Apostles Arrival

Arrival

Day of Descent

Blazing Apostles Arrival Cover Reverse

 

Centre Town Sunset

 

01 Castaway

02 Rain

03 Centre Town Sunset

04 Free For All

05 Let Me Sleep

Out Of Range

 

Centre Town Sunset Reverse

The underlined song names above contain downloadable MP3 files, if you click on the record covers with the blue borders, you can see a larger version of the cover.

(Locomotive Latenight Video, Corn Exchange Cupar, 1987)

 

Many thanks to Gary Bonar from the band for the scans and the music files of Centre Town Sunset (the bands mini album, which was a compilation of their earlier material) and Out of Range. Thanks to Ian Cargill for the music files of Arrival, Day of Descent, It's so Easy and Comfort. Thanks to Mark Nicol for the video. Thanks to Alan Liddell for all the remaining audio on this page.

 

Lids 1

(Alan Liddell)

The following MP3's come from the Charities Gig that took place at Balwearie High School on January the 28th 1985, this would have certainly been the first time I saw the band. In retrospect, this gig was a pretty amazing occasion, as featured so many bands at once. Nationwide actually played that night too, although this was essentially the debut of the line up that would shortly be re-named The Ghost Train. There is a picture of Nationwide playing there that night, but sadly both known copies of the audio of their set that night are missing. Shame, as the quality of this recording of the Blazing Apostles performance is pretty good here, the recording of Nationwide must have been good too. Alan Liddell (who provided copies of all the remaking audio on this page) remembers the organisers of the gig giving copies out of the tapes of the various bands performances out around a week after the gig. So maybe whoever organised the gig still has a copy of the whole evening? See the Treasure Hunt page, I'd love to recover more audio of this occasion. From what I remember and can work out, Days of 29, The Gimix, Scarlet Lies also played that night.

 KEN&MARK&ALAN

(L-R Kenny Hutchison, Mark Nicol, Alan Liddell)

Alan's tape of the Blazing Apostles performance has survived pretty well these past 23 years. If you listen to these MP3's on headphones, there is some pretty wild stereo panning, but I think this is caused by tape crease, rather than anyone trying to do a psychedelic mix! Despite being recorded from the mixing desk, the tape has some good atmosphere. I think there must have been a dedicated mic off the mixing desk, that was just designed to record the bands. Unfortunately, during one of the songs someone else must have wondered what this spare mic was doing, pics it up and starts talking into it! Disturbingly enough, as the mic is picking up a good deal of audience noise, I think i can hear the 18 year old me talking at the end of one of the songs!

01 Blazing Apostles, Balwearie - Comfort

02 Blazing Apostles, Balwearie - Arrival

03 Blazing Apostles, Balwearie - It's so easy

04 Blazing Apostles, Balwearie - Day of descent

05 Blazing Apostles, Balwearie - The Secrets

06 Blazing Apostles, Balwearie - Free for all

Download whole gig in one Zip file (40mb)

 

London Underground

The MP3's below are a first for this website, the first live recordings to be made outside of Scotland! The pics around the MP3's and the songs are from a gig recorded on the Timebox in London on May 26th 1986. I particularly like the moment at the beginning of the gig where Kenny Hutchison says to the audience "guess where we are from" and someone shouts "Argentina"! I doubt if they know where Kirkcaldy is in London.

Timebox 2

(Timebox: L-R - Alan Liddell, Kenny Hutchison, John Anderson)

 

01 Timebox - Speak out

02 Timebox - The secrets

03 Timebox - Threshold

04 Timebox - Instrumental

05 Timebox - Free for all

Download whole gig as a ZIP file 37Mb

 

John, Lids and Kenny

(L-R: John Anderson, Alan Liddell, Kenny Hutchison)

 

Lids in front of The Prisoner's house

(Alan Liddell)

Timebox_1

(Timebox: L-R - Alan Liddell, Kenny Hutchison, John Anderson)

 

This is the band recorded in Edinburgh's Frontline Studios on March 10th 1985.

01 Arrival

02 Comfort

03 It's so easy

04 The secrets

05 Wanted to say

06 What goes on

Download whole Frontline Studios set (40Mb)

Locomotive latenight Article

The band were also lucky enough to score a session with the BBC for Janice Long, MP3's of that session are below. They are excellent quality, sound as good as the day they aired, or better if you were listening on AM at the time!. Great set too:

Janice Long Session - The secrets

Janice Long Session - Speak out

Janice Long Session - World's apart

Janice Long Session - Threshold

Download whole session (22Mb)

Locomotive Latenight Cutting 1

The band also had airplay from the late great John Peel:

Blazing Apostles John Peel Radio Play June 3 1987

 

Locomotive latenight cover 1

01 Out of range

02 Threshold

03 Wanted to say

Download whole Out of Range 12" (14Mb)

Locomotive latenight cover 1 reverse

 

Some notes about the songs, from Gary Bonner (drums):

The first single ARRIVAL/DAY OF DECENT was recorded with a drum machine before I joined the band.

The second single COMFORT/IT'S SO EASY has Kenny on the drums. Before I joined the band.

Pics1. (below) This was taken at the Adam Smith Theatre. We supported Glasgow band THE THIEVES.

Out of Range was a 3 track 12" single, which was in vogue in those days.

The reverse of CENTRE TOWN SUNSET mini l.p. The pic was taken at a gig at the Abbotshall Hotel. Recognise the wallpaper?

There were 2 cover versions on that disc. David Bowie's - Let me sleep beside you & The Beatles - Rain

(Out of Range) This song is the re-recorded album version. It was recorded previously in a different studio for the out of range 12" e.p.


These songs are from a studio session at Edinburgh's Front Line Sudios, from the 26th of May 1988. Alan Liddell is playing marimbas on track 1. This is the line up of the band that featured Mark Nicol (ex Nationwide and Ghost Train) on bass:

1 Coca Cologne

1. Coca Cologne (Ogg)

1. Coca Cologne (FLAC - Lossless)

02 High and Dry

02 High and Dry (Ogg)

02 High and Dry (FLAC - Losless)


Locomotive Latenight Cutting 2


These songs are from the bands last studio session. Danny Holland (of The Receiving End) is on bass here. This is also the line up of the band that is pictured at the Adam Smith Centre.

01 Light Spark Ignition

02 Solar Dub

03 SolarTrip

Download whole Locomotive Latenight last session (22Mb)