DATES | ||||||||||
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1980 | |||||||||
7th/ | ||||||||||
8th January | Alex Harvey Band - Rehearsals | |||||||||
14th January | The Ramones - Rehearsals | |||||||||
15th - | ||||||||||
17th January | The Boomtown Rats - Rehearsals | |||||||||
9th February | The Ramones, The Boys, Tenpole Tudor | ![]() |
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11th/ | ||||||||||
12th February | Filming of a commercial | |||||||||
17th February | Jerry Lee Lewis, , The Stamps, J.D.Sumner | ![]() |
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23rd February | Gillan, The Broughtons | ![]() |
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29th February - | ||||||||||
1st March | Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Rehearsals | |||||||||
8th March | Rainbow, Katchis | ![]() |
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Ritchie Blackmore - Guitar, Cosy Powell
- Drums, Roger Glover - Bass, Don Airey - Keyboards, Graham Bonnet - Vocals
Eventually Graham Bonnet was selected to become the new Rainbow vocalist, replacing Ronnie Dio.They were still looking for a bass player and Bonnet was reported to say "what the hell's going on here, why don't we get Rog to do it, it would be better?". Thus the new lin up of Rainbow was finalised! and 'Down to Earth' was recorded |
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10th March | Gillan, TheBroughtons | ![]() |
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Ritchie Blackmore joins the band for some of their set | ![]() |
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14th March | David Soul - Rehearsals | |||||||||
19th March | Joan Beaz | ![]() |
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23rd March | David Soul | ![]() |
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28th/ | Blood, Sweat | ![]() |
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29th March | & Tears, War | |||||||||
30th March | 'Greek' concert | |||||||||
31st March | Get in and 'build' for anniversary shows | |||||||||
ANNIVERSARY WEEK | ||||||||||
This was the week the theatre celebrated it’s 50th birthday, Levi Strauss & Co committed their total annual promotional budget to underwrite the 9 days of concerts (eight this week 1st - 8th April and one on the anniversary date, 29th September), and also paid for an exhibition, a new front-of-house illuminated sign, and a five album box-set of classic rock original recordings. (The cost was £11.99 for either vinyl or cassette - CD didn't exist then) | ![]() |
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1st April | Judas Priest, Iron Maiden | ![]() |
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2nd April | Whitesnake, Saxon | ![]() |
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3rd April | The Stranglers, UB 40, Monochrome Set, Hazel O’Connor | ![]() |
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4th April | The Stranglers, Joy Division, Section 25 | ![]() |
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This was a two night performance by The Stranglers. Their singer, Hugh Cornwell, had been busted and imprisoned and an all-star band was put together to play in protest. The artists of the day included John Ellis (Vibrators/Peter Gabriel Band) who filled in most of the guitar work. (He was later to become a permanent member of the band when Hugh left in coming years). Toyah Wilcox and Hazel O'Connor tried their best up upstage one another, with the more visual Toyah coming out just about on top. But it was Ian Dury who stole the show with great versions of 'Peaches' and 'Bear Cage', while Richard Jobson (The Skids) showed us that he really couldn't dance to save his life, but could sing 'Bring On The Nubiles'. Billy Idol came on stage with all the artists during the encore, after not contributing anyway, and was promptly put on his arse by JJ Burnel (bass and black belt judo). Two strippers were also called upon, and dressed as Policeman & Woman, the show came to an end. Stranglers Temporary line-up: |
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5th April | John McLoughlin, Steel Pulse | |||||||||
6th April | Average White Band, Billy Connolly | ![]() |
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7th / | ![]() |
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8th April | The Jam, The Records | |||||||||
12th - | ||||||||||
15th April | Average White Band - Rehearsals | |||||||||
22nd April - | ||||||||||
2nd May | Led Zeppelin - Rehearsals | |||||||||
3rd May | Dr. Hook | ![]() |
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9th May | Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - Rehearsals | |||||||||
11th May | The Cure, The Passions, The Au Pairs, Section 25, The Fall | |||||||||
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13th/ | ||||||||||
14th May | Iron Maiden - Rehearsals | |||||||||
16th/ | ![]() |
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17th May | David Gates. Gerald Kenny | |||||||||
18th May | 'Greek' Concert | |||||||||
19th - | ![]() |
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28th May | The Royal Shakespere Company - Set Build & Rehearsals | |||||||||
This was the production build for the stage set of "The life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" | ||||||||||
29th May | Chuck Berry, The Cruisers,Jim Brady's Crazy Caven Disco | ![]() |
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30th May | UK Subs, Angelic Upstarts, Liquid Stone | |||||||||
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31st May/ | ![]() |
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1st June | Thin Lizzy, The Lookalikes | ![]() |
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5th June | Average White Band | ![]() |
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6th June | Little River Band, Kevin Ayres | ![]() |
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8th June | Devo | ![]() |
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12th June | Marvin Gaye - Rehearsals | |||||||||
14th June | Saxon, The Tygers of Pan Tang | ![]() |
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15th June | Marvyn Gaye, Edwin Starr | ![]() |
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16th - | ||||||||||
19th June | Filming of 'Breaking Glass' | ![]() |
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The dramatic climax to the 1980 British film Breaking Glass was shot here. Directed by Brian Gibson, it starred Hazel O'Connor, Phil Daniels and Jonathan Pryce. | ||||||||||
Steve Strange recalls: | ||||||||||
"Casting
and directors were always coming down to Blitz looking for people to add
a bit of colour and exotism to their movies. I was asked to be in the crowd
scene in the hit movie Breaking Glass. A lot of the Blitz Crowd was used
as extras but I was treated a bit better than most. People like Boy George had to hang around all day, but after I had done my bit I was given an envelope with my money in it and I was able to go home" |
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20th June | Iron Maiden, Praying Mantis, |
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D.J.Neal Kay | ||||||||||
21st June | Joan Armatrading, Kim Beacon | ![]() |
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23rd / | ![]() |
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24th June |
Van Halen, Lucifer’s Friend | ![]() |
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Billed as The Invasion tour | ||||||||||
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28th June | The Vapors, The Chords, 3 Minutes | ![]() |
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6th July | Filming of a video | |||||||||
8th July | The Stranglers | ![]() |
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14th July | Get in day for Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy | |||||||||
15th -19th July 22nd - 26th July 29th - 30th July 1st/2nd August |
The Hitchhikers Guide to the
Galaxy A stage production of Douglas Adams Book |
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The third, and least successful stage show was held at the Rainbow Theatre in London, in July 1980. This was the second production directed by Ken Campbell. The Rainbow Theatre had been adapted for stagings of rock operas in the 1970s, and both reference books mentioned in footnotes indicate that this, coupled with incidental music throughout the performance, caused some reviewers to label it as a "musical". This was the first adaptation for which Adams wrote the "Dish of the Day" sequence. The production ran for over three hours, and was widely panned for this, as well as the music, laser effects, and the acting. Despite attempts to shorten the script, and make other changes, it closed three or four weeks early (accounts differ), and lost a lot of money. Despite the bad reviews, there were at least two stand out performances: Michael Cule and David Learner both went on from this production to appearances in the TV adaptation. The cast included : Roger Blake (the Narrator), Kim Durham (Arthur), David Brett (Ford), Jude Alderson (Trillian), John Terence and Nicolas D'Avirro (Zaphod) and David Learner (Marvin).
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The performances from 5th - 9th and 12th - 16th August were cancelled due to bad ticket sales | ||||||||||
20th July | Stiff Little Fingers, Weapon of Peace | ![]() |
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24th - | ||||||||||
29th August | Nina Hagen - Rehearsals | |||||||||
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10th/ | ||||||||||
11th September | The Allman Brothers | |||||||||
14th September | Gregory Isaacs | ![]() |
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15th - | ||||||||||
17th September | The Tourists - Rehearsals | |||||||||
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18th September | Gang of Four, Steel Pulse, Toyah, The Au Pairs, Chelsea, XTC, The Police | |||||||||
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20th September | The 'Mr. Universe' contest | |||||||||
22ndSeptember | Journey, Samson | ![]() |
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27th September | The Tourists, The Barracudas | ![]() |
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28th September | Get in day for Elvis Costello & The Attractions | ![]() |
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29th September | Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Stray Cats | |||||||||
“Happy Birthday Rainbow” 50 years today! | ||||||||||
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The day after the 50th Anniversary fears rose that the theatre would close! However the G.L.C. agreed to renew the theatre's public music licence after assurances that action was being taken to ensure that, at future concerts licensing rules and the G.L.C.'s code would be strictly observed. | ||||||||||
2nd October | Live broadcast of Larry Holmes v Muhammad Ali Boxing Match | |||||||||
Muhammad Ali came out of a 25-month
retirement and fought undefeated heavyweight champion Larry Holmes. During
Ali's retirement, he ballooned up to over 280 pounds. At this time, the
30-year old Holmes was in his absolute prime and had been champ for two
and a half years. Ali was two months shy of turning 39, and was an empty
package as far as a fighter goes. The only thing Ali had going for him prior
to fighting Holmes was his mystique. After the second round, that was gone
and Holmes proceeded to beat Ali up for the remainder of the fight (Ali's
trainer Angelo Dundee stopped the fight in between the 10th and 11th rounds)
in what turned out to be a very sad night in boxing history. |
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4th October | Secret Affair, The Step | ![]() |
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5th October | Gregory Isaacs | ![]() |
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12th - | ||||||||||
14th October | After the Fire - Rehearsals | |||||||||
16th October | Irom Maiden - Filming | |||||||||
Maiden are at The Rainbow filming a cover of Skyhooks "Women in Uniform" | ||||||||||
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17th/ | ![]() |
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18th October | Rory Gallagher, Rage | ![]() |
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20th October | MGM - Rehearsals | |||||||||
22nd - | ||||||||||
25th October | The Jam - Rehearsals | |||||||||
28th October | Grateful Dead "film" | ![]() |
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29th/ | ![]() |
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30th October | Saxon - Rehearsals for the 'Strong Arm of the Law' tour | |||||||||
31st October | Bow Wow Wow | |||||||||
One of their backing singers was Lieutenant Lush, aka Boy George | ||||||||||
6th November | Robert Palmer | ![]() |
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8th/ | ![]() |
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9th November | Kool & The Gang | |||||||||
10th - | ||||||||||
13th November | Yes - Rehearsals | |||||||||
14th November | After The Fire, The Fabulous Poodles, The Lasers | ![]() |
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15th/ | ||||||||||
16th November | The Jam, Department S, The Piranhas | |||||||||
20th November | Charlie Daniels - Rehearsals | |||||||||
21st November | Charlie Daniels | ![]() |
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22nd November | Ultavox - Rehearsals | |||||||||
23rd November | 'Greek' Film | |||||||||
25th - | ||||||||||
28th November | Dire Straits - Rehearsals | |||||||||
30th November | A 'Rock' Contest | |||||||||
2nd December | Live broadcast of Tottenham Hotspurs Vs West Ham United Football match | ![]() |
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This was a league Cup 5th round match.West Ham won the match 1 - 0 | ||||||||||
7th - | ||||||||||
10th December | Divine Light Mission - Guru Maharaji's Birthday Celebration | |||||||||
11th December | Burning Spear | ![]() |
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12th December | Huge Mundell | |||||||||
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14th December | Echo & The Bunnymen, | |||||||||
The Passions, The Sound | ||||||||||
17th / | ||||||||||
18th December | Yes |
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The Drama Tour | ![]() |
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19th December | Gary Glitter - Get in and Stage build | |||||||||
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20th December | Gary Glitter, Protex, The Revillos, Paris 9 | |||||||||
Billed as "Glitter over Christmas"
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This show was being filmed and The Revillos wouldn't come off, so the "management" phoned the Police with a bomb scare! the building was evacuated and Gary Glitter resumed the show once all the audience had returned!! | ||||||||||
21st December | Iron Maiden | ![]() |
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22nd - | ![]() |
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24th December | Dire Straits | ![]() |
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Copyright © Rick Burton 2011 | ||||||||||