I am an enthusiastic, if limited, musician. I’ve never been able to read music properly, I’ve never had a lesson and I am certainly no virtuoso. But playing music means a lot to me. Of course it would be nice to be able to play the guitar better and to have a stronger singing voice, but to be able to play at all is better than nothing. Despite arthritis and tinnitus I’m delighted to still be playing in a band.

You can find out more and listen to One for the Wall here.

Back story…

One for the Wall emerged from a duo formed by two architecture undergraduates at Bristol University in the mid ‘70s. Joanna Elford, a classically-trained singer, and singer-guitarist Bernard Hanaway performed in folk clubs and on local radio. Soon Bernard was writing songs for Jo’s soaring soprano voice. In 1977 he moved to Oxford, becoming part of a thriving music scene.

One for the Wall, Soho, London (1979)

I joined the following year, playing electric and 12-string guitar. After next to no practice, we entered the 1978/9 Melody Maker Rock/Folk contest, winning our heat and progressing to the final at Soho’s famously sweaty Marquee Club. The competition was won by Splodgenessabounds, who soon had a UK Top Ten hit with “Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please”. We came second, with Chris Welch apparently unable to convince his fellow judges that we were the only proper band to perform that evening!

Never mind, we carried on anyway

Four decades on (albeit with a career break of more than 30 years in the middle!), four of the band’s original members are still playing together, despite being scattered from Devon to East Sussex. We are still working on new, original material.

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And finally, a gig! With a whole album’s worth of new material we played Klub Kakofanney, at The Wheatsheaf, Oxford in January 2020. We were all set for a return in March when COVID-19 struck.

Andrew, Jo and Colin at Klub Kakofanney, The Wheatsheaf, Oxford (2020)

Plans had to change…

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Somehow we managed to finish and publish our long-awaited debut CD.

The Lover’s Song CD with lyrics booklet

The Lover’s Song was launched on 4 December 2020. To save the music press the bother, I reviewed it myself. And on 3 October 2022 we released a second CD, called Scent of the Moon, launching it at the Half Moon in Herne Hill.

“Cowboys and Astronauts”, with Jo on guitar

Now, joined by our new drummer Chris Ford, we’re working on a third album and enjoying ourselves more than ever. Here’s a work in progress (March 2023).

The rather beatle-y “Monkeys in My Veins”