SB&Q On The Radio and On Tour

The following details have been provided by Tim Joseph, who has proved an absolute mine of information about the band. Back in the seventies, radio stations in the UK had an obligation to limit the number of records played in any one hour. This was known as "needle time", after the old-fashioned term for a record player stylus, or needle. It was imposed by the Musicians' Union as a way of ensuring income for their members. Initially, this was not meant to line the pockets of rock musicians, but to guarantee funding for the various orchestras that had traditionally provided music for radio & tv in the forties and fifties.

While some radio stations handled this by having a certain proportion of talk-only programmes, BBC Radio 1 needed to create an image of being a 24-hour pop music station. Their solution was to bring singers and bands into their studios to record tracks - usually exactly like the versions on their records - and then play them as "live sessions", thus managing to comply with needle time. Usually, these sessions were specific to one particular DJ's show and would be repeated once after original transmission.

The BBC does still have many of these recordings. There have been many other artists who have had CDs released that contain material recorded in this manner.  6 Music, the BBC's digital station, played a session version of Dream Kid twice in its first couple of months of broadcasting. Perhaps there is a possibility that if enough people write to the BBC, they may decide to release a CD of SB&Q at the Beeb. One thing they certainly have is a recording of one of the live concerts, because it was transmitted on Radio 2 a few of years ago. Now that really would make a great CD!

At The Beeb:

Items in red are believed to be still held by the BBC archive.

Television Appearances:

The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver appeared on The Basil Brush Show on 13 November, 1976, where they performed Secrets. 

The band appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test on 4 October, 1977, presented by Bob Harris, where they performed Ice in the Fire and Every Tear I Cry. Also appearing were Joan Armatrading and Harry Chapin.

They also appeared on Top of the Pops on 7 June, 1979, presented by Jimmy Saville, where they performed Easy Come, Easy Go.  Others appearing that night included The Tourists, The Skids, E.L.O., Elvis Costello, Linda Lewis, Roxy Music, Sister Sledge, Blondie, Nick Lowe & Eddie Grant.

On Tour:

Tour badge (bought on Ebay, 2005)

The data that follows came from David McCulloch, Nigel Penberthy and Glyn Harries. The photocopies of tickets are also courtesy of David McCulloch. Although incomplete, it gives a pretty good picture of events over a period of seven years (and then some). If anyone can provide further information, please let me know.

Quiver in 1972:

Sutherland Brothers in 1972:

Sutherland Brothers & Quiver - first ever gig:

1973:

20/1	Kingstone Polytechnic	with Badger. Advertised as Quiver.
24/2	Crewe College
28/2	Chelsea Bowl, Bournemouth
1/3	Town Hall, Cheltenham
2/3	Carnatic Halls, Liverpool
3/3	Alsager College, Stoke
9/3	South Parade, Portsmouth
10/3	Mid Herts College, Welwyn Garden City	Supported by Emma
13/3	Lady Mitchell Hall, Cambridge
15/3	Grimsby Technical College
16/3	Lancaster Polytechnic
17/3	Cromer
21/3	Cardiff Old Union
22/3	Dixieland Ballroom, Colwyn Bay
25/3	Shaw Theatre, London	Supported by Mark Allain
30/3	BBC Speakeasy
3/4	BBC Radio 1 In Concert recording
5/4	Marquee, London	Advertised as "Quiverland Brothers"
23/4	Caley Cinema, Edinburgh
24/4	Marquee, London
28/4	Winter Gardens, Malvern	Supported by Albert. Advertised as "Quiverland Brothers"
10/5	Warwick University
11/5	South Pier Pavilion, Lowestoft
12/5	Corn Exchange, Cambridge
18/5	King's College, London
19/5	Bede College, Durham
20/5	Caley Cinema, Edinburgh
21/5	Civic Centre, Motherwell
24/5	Dacorum College, Hemel Hempstead	Supported by Curly
27/5	Empire Pool, Wembley, London	Supporting Hawkwind
31/5	Malcolm's Club, Hull
16/6	Civic Hall, Dunstable	with Pink Fairies
17/6	Round House, Chalk Farm, London	Supporting Axis (formerly Steamhammer), Camel, etc.
?/6	Clitheroe Festival
2/7	Marquee, London	Supported by Ace & Jerry Floyd
7/7	Town Hall, St Pancras, London
28/7	Cheltenham Festival	Headline act
Melody Maker, on 4/8 reported that during a gig by Rod Stewart & the Faces, Kenny Jones had taken ill and was hospitalised. The article goes on: "Gavin Sutherland, a guitarist by trade, took over the drums for 'Twisting The Night Away'."
15/8	Alabama Mobile	Supporting Elton John
There then followed a US tour for nine weeks, supporting Elton John. The opening date was 17/8 in Mobile, Alabama. Thereafter, no dates are presently known, but some gigs were at: Cotton Bowl, Dallas; Madison Square Gardens, New York; Nassau Coliseum; Boston Garden.
9/11	Sussex University
10/11	Oxford Polytechnic
15/11	Portsmouth Polytechnic
17/11	Doncaster College of Education
21/11	Sheffield Polytechnic
23/11	Uxbridge Brunel University
30/11	Luton Technical College

1974 tour:

1975:

1976:

1976 Autumn tour, supported by Moon:

24/9	Bridlington Spa	Set list for Glasgow Apollo: On stage to the "Bluebell Polka" Love on the Moon You Got Me Anyway The Pie Secrets Wild Love Saturday Night Love on the Side High Nights Arms of Mary Real Love Sailing Dark Powers Dr Dancer Slipstream Never Get Away Dream Kid Encores: I Was In Chains Bluesy World
26/9	City Hall, Newcastle
28/9	Guildhall, Preston
29/9	Usher Hall, Edinburgh
30/9	Capitol Theatre, Aberdeen
1/10	Apollo, Glasgow
2/10	ABC, Chester
3/10	Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
5/10	Plaza Cinema, Bangor
6/10	Aberystwth University
7/10	Capital, Cardiff
8/10	Victoria Hall, Hanley
10/10	Fairfield Hall, Croydon
11/10	Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead
12/10	City Hall, Sheffield
13/10	Palace Theatre, Manchester
14/10	University of East Anglia, Norwich
16/10	Leicester Polytechnic
17/10	New Theatre, Oxford
18/10	Colston Hall, Bristol
19/10	Civic Hall, Guilford
20/10	Winter Gardens, Bournemouth
21/10	Odeon, Birmingham
22/10	Spa Hall, Bridlington
23/10	Leeds University
24/10	Empire, Liverpool
25/10	Dome, Brighton
26/10	Odeon, Hammersmith
And later in 1976:
10/12	Edinburgh University
11/12	Strathclyde University
12/12	Market Hall, Carlisle

1977, supported by City Boy and later by an unnamed solo singer/guitarist:

9/9	Belfast Ulster Hall
10/9	Dublin Stadium
18/9	Birmingham Odeon Cinema
19/9	Sheffield City Hall
22/9	Dunstable Civic Hall
24/9	London Rainbow
25/9	Bristol Colston Hall
27/9	Guildford Civic Hall
29/9	Glasgow Apollo
1/10	Edinburgh Usher Hall
2/10	Dundee Caird Hall
3/10	Aberdeen Capitol
6/10	Hanley Victoria Hall
7/10	Lancaster University
8/10	Leeds University
9/10	York Theatre Royal
12/10	Hull City Hall
14/10	Cardiff University
15/10	Southampton Guildhall
16/10	Plymouth Guildhall
17/10	Exeter University
18/10	Oxford New Theatre
19/10	Nottingham Albert Hall
20/10	Liverpool Empire
21/10	Croydon Fairfield Hall
22/10	Eastbourne Congress Theatre
26/10	Manchester Apollo
27/10	Swansea Brangwyn Hall

1979 as the Sutherland Brothers Band, with Steve Simpson (guitar), Mick Weaver (keyboards), Chrissie Stewart (bass) & Billy Rankin (drums). Support was Live Wire:

And then in 1986, the last ever Sutherland Brothers gig (unless you know differently):

9/8/86 Cropredy Festival (the annual Fairport Convention festival). Iain & Gavin appeared on the Saturday of this festival, performing a few numbers as a duo, before being joined by Jerry Donahue (guitar) and Dave Mattacks (drums).