Description

King Hammond and the Rude Boy Mafia are making their debut in Bideford this June

ex Bad Manners and The Selecter

Tickets - £10.00adv - £12.00otd

King Hammond is Grammy award winning musician Nick Welsh, and we're excited to host King Hammond and his band, The Rude Boy Mafia in the Grand Vault of The Old Courts for the first time.
In a career that spans four decades he has collaborated with some of Reggae and Ska's most legendary artists including Prince Buster, Laurel 'Godfather of Ska' Aitken, and not to mention Judge Dread & Lee Perry which in 2002 led him to win a Grammy award (Best Reggae Album) for his work on Scratch?s ?Jamaican ET? album.
Read on...

* Nick played his first professional gig in July 1977 at The Roxy Club in London with his band The Dead sharing a bill with Cocksparrer, Dead Fingers Talk & DJ Don Letts.

* The same week he was pictured on the front cover of the Melody Maker underneath the headline "Teds Versus Punks"!

* Between 1978-1980 he appeared on many post punk singles including cult classics from Cuddly Toys & Steve Treatment.

* Nick began writing & recording as King Hammond in 1986 at the same time he was the bassist in Bad Manners & Busters All Stars.

* The first 3 tracks released were "Skaville UK" that was used as the theme music for TV show "British Tribes" & later covered by Bad Manners as a single on Bluebeat Records & ?King Hammond Shuffle? & ?Right On King Hammond? that were both featured on Link Records ska compilation albums.

* In 1989 Nick collaborated with producer Longsy D on the hit single ?This Is Ska? a hybrid of ska and house music which the media dubbed ?skacid?.

* King Hammond's debut album
"Revolution 70" was also released in 1989 to great critical acclaim & today can occasionally be seen on E-Bay selling for a price of between £60-£80.

* Nick left Bad Manners in 1991 to join The Selecter producing 6 albums for the band and 2 for the offshoot Selecter Acoustic.

* He formed Big 5 with Jennie Matthias (Belle Stars) & John Bradbury (The Specials) in 1992 releasing 3 albums in their 5 years together.

* Trojan Records released a 25 track King Hammond compilation CD ?Blow Your Mind? on their Receiver label.

* Nick has worked with & produced music for some of the legends of Ska & Reggae music artists like Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Dave Barker, Susan Cadogan, Judge Dread, Rico Rodriguez & Lee 'Scratch' Perry.

* His work as M.D. (Musical Director) on Perry?s 2002 album "Jamaican ET" earned him a Grammy award that year for ?Best Reggae Album?.

* He continued in his role of M.D with Scratch on the "Alien Starman" album (re-released in 2015 as "Holiness Righteousness") & the live DVD "The Ultimate Alien".

* Nick produced 2 albums "Cleaning In Another Woman's Kitchen" & "Back To The Garage" for the 2-Tone era vocalist Rhoda Dakar (Bodysnatchers/Special AKA).

* You can hear Nick?s music on TV (The Osbournes, Peep Show, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty), Films (Domino, Magic Roundabout) & Computer Games (Smackdown Vs Raw) and says the highlight of his musical career was when his song "Hey You" was used as WWE's Brian 'Spanky' Kendrick?s entrance music.

*He was an original member of the ?acoustic supergroup? 3 Men & Black alongside Jake Burns (SLF), J.J. Burnel (The Stranglers), Bruce Foxton (The Jam) & Pauline Black (The Selecter) producing the outfits only album "Acoustic".

* Nick left The Selecter in 2006 to form his own band Skaville UK releasing 3 albums in as many years.

* In 2010 Nick decided to resurrect his King Hammond persona by writing, recording and releasing the album "The King & I" his first new music since Trojan Records issued the 25 track compilation CD ?Blow Your Mind? in 1991 on their Receiver label.

* Since then he has issued 10 (TEN!) King Hammond albums (over 100 new songs!) on his own label Jekyll Jive & has taken the King Hammond live show to (amongst others) America, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, France, Ireland & of course the UK.

* Nick is passionately involved with 'Specialized' an organisation who raise money & awareness for The Teenage Cancer Trust and in 2012 joined up with Jake Burns (SLF) & Roddy Radiation (The Specials) to record the single "Get Specialized! (A Rock & Roll Prayer)" produced by Grammy award winning producer Roger Lomas with all the proceeds going to the charity.

* Forthcoming King Hammond releases include ?Diggin? Love?Ditchin? Hate?? which takes the KH sound into new & exciting areas & a reissue of ?The Beat Is Blue? that has been remixed & remastered for this limited-edition vinyl (blue) only album on the Chicago based label Jump Up.

* Nick's autobiography "The Life & Times Of A Ska Man" was released in 2017 through Newhaven Publishing it?s also the name of his one man show that he?s been touring around the UK since 2009.

Description

Best live music venue in North Devon, hosting bands,comedy nights and club nights.

Aiming to supply you with High quality music on a regular basis

Lower Gunstone,

Bideford,

Devon,

England,

EX39 2DE.

01237 478 860