Welcome to the webpage for The Oral Exciters
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email: mail@timsoulmusic.com
The Oral Exciters
Single sleeve from 1980
Tim Soul - Vocals and Korg MS20 Synthesiser
Tony Fewkes - Guitar
Gary Hawkins - Drums
John Walpole - Bass Machine
Alan Rolfe - Keyboards
It seemed that a change in musical direction was required after
the demise of Tricky switch and so, in 1979 Tim and Tony
decided to go back to the drawing board and start again. Tony
and Tim carried on writing and after a brief recording project
with Pete Bown in his Eltham studio, Rooftop, as The
Futuristics and Alphabet, where we first started using
synthesisers, we started auditioning for new band members and
so we formed The Oral Exciters, with John Walpole joining
on bass and Gary Hawkins on drums, both previously from Clive
Pig and The Hopeful Chinamen.
We carried on recording all the new material with Pete
Bown, in which synthesisers had become an integral part of
the sound. Tim was so impressed with the synthesiser sounds
from The Futuristics session that he went straight out and
bought his own, a Korg MS-20 a patchable semi-modular
monophonic synthesiser (cutting edge technology of the day)
and using that on all the recordings and gigs from
November 1979 onwards. He's still got the receipt.
Elton John's champagne
We spent from 27th to 31st December 1979 recording at
Abbey Road studio 2 with Pete Bown and I took my own camera
in with me and have various pictures as a result. The picture with
Elton John's champagne was taken in studio 2 control
room at Abbey Road studios on new years Eve 1979. Elton
had come in to see the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra record to
his piano backing track - but nobody could find it and
studio engineers were running round in a panic, so Elton just
sat down at the piano and played it again, in one take (class)
then the orchestra did their bit and he went off to party (mind you
he had brought his own small party with him - I remember seeing
a young man in a large fur coat who appeared to be unable to
walk on his own being being supported on either side by two of
his friends) and we were left with the rest of Elton's Champagne
and Hennessy XO cognac - result. Cheers Elton.
Tim Soul singing - Abbey Road studio 1
Early on in 1980 we auditioned Alan Rolfe on keyboards and
he joined the band and was on all of the recordings from
February 1980 onwards. Along with Alan also came his
brother, John who became the bands roadie and live
sound engineer.
Alan initially had a Fender Rhodes electric piano and his
own monophonic synthesiser, so Alan and Tim started
playing synthesiser harmonies together.
Alan soon sold the fender Rhodes and replaced it with a
brand spanking new Roland Jupiter 4 polyphonic synthesiser,
which brought a whole new range of sounds to the band.
We then started gigging in 1980. In fact the first gig of the
full lineup including Alan Rolfe was a heat of Rock '80 competition,
a competition for live bands, which we entered when Alan
brought an entry form to rehearsal one day. We thought it would
be useful to help tighten up the band. We won our heat at
The Kingsway, in Luton, apparently the toughest heat.
We also won the semi-final at the same venue and
subsequently won the final at St Albans City hall in June 1980 out
of 81 bands, with a first prize of £1200 worth of Yamaha
equipment, plus recording and video recording at
Wopalong studios in Luton. We also released our first
single to coincide with the competition final, with one side
recorded at Abbey Road and the other recorded at Pete
Bown's studio in Eltham. We also signed
with a manager /agent Mike Malley Enterprises and started
gigging extensively, supporting acts like Ace,
Showaddywaddy, Peter Green, Splodgeness Abounds,
touring with Darts and doing the London circuit, Dingwalls, 100
Club, The Greyhound etc....
Watford Observer July 1980
The country's biggest live music competition has- produced
a Garston-based pop group, The Oral Exciters, as the winners.
The band were the last on stage at the finals of the Herts and
Beds Rock Competition on Tuesday and they left to
rapturous applause and shouts of more.
Sadly there was no time for an encore, that happens at the
Verulam Arms pub in
Exciters, whose keyboard player, Alan Rolfe, lives in
their fans were not disappointed with the band's performance.
Stylish
With not a pair of denim jeans in sight The Oral Exciters
played classy contemporary pop as stylish as their stage
gear. Lead singer, Tim Soul, 23, led the four other band
members through their set, which was almost perfect visibly
and audibly. It included their new single, It's A Holiday / Tonight,
which has been released on the Three Elms label.
Herts and Beds Rock was staged by the owner of Vox-trot Music
in
from Yamaha. Throughout the competition and during the. at The
City Hall,
For winning, The Oral Exciters were presented with £1,100 of
gear and £I00 of recording or video time. The Walkie-Talkies,
from
trio made an immediate impact when their drummer, Mick
Carter, 29, cycled on stage in shorts. For their last song, the
band were joined by a robot!
The
fifth. They also won the prize for the best original song in
the competition. Mr E were faced with the ominous task of going
on first but they coped well — which is not surprising as three of
the line-up are professional musicians.
A live album was recorded at the final, which Ian Harrison hopes
to market through one of the major record companies.
Competition results:
I The Oral Exciters;
2 WalkieTalkies;
3 Toad The Wet Sprockett;
4 Turbos;
5 Mr E and the Imaginations;
6 The Beez;
Best original song, Mr E and the Imaginations.
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