Graham Hicks musical history goes back to the early 1960's.
"Susan and the Shivering Sands" formed in 1964 was my first band, in which I played drums. A short period after we disbanded, I joined "Lynne and the Travellers". Sadly I haven't been able to locate any photographs of this band. Lynne left the band in May 1965, so we disbanded. A month later I formed another band, "Five Shades of Black", who only played a few gigs before I formed the "League of Gentlemen who also only played a few gigs before disbanding. A couple of years later I joined "Western Union" in which I initially I played drums, but later progressed to lead guitarist. Some time after that I played with a band called "Dangerous Age", based in Wadebridge.
The 1970's saw my band "Hairy Magpie" playing most of the venues in Cornwall. Have a look at the book "Queen - The Authorised Biography". In it you will will see an advert for Queen at the "Driftwood Spars" in St. Agnes. We are listed as playing on the Thursday evening. Queen played the following Monday. Roger Taylor of Queen played drums on 2 songs with Hairy Magpie during one of our residencies at the "Driftwood Spars".
After "Hairy Magpie" along came "Safron", more photos in the "Photo Album" link.
Another band I was associated with was "Pageant". There is a wonderful photo of us wearing our ultra-wide white flares.
During my period with "Pageant", I also played with a newly formed band that performed on the ATV program "New Faces". This program was televised throughout the UK on Saturday nights. The band was called "Shaneda".
Of all the bands I have been associated with, "Coconut Grove" was the most special. I spent two era's with this band, the first being in the 70's and then when we reformed in the 80's. We had the privilege of playing at the Beach Boys convention in 1989. The previous year Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was the special guest. How do we follow that. This gig, in London, was a fantastic success.
We also recorded a cover of a Beach Boys song, "Problem Child", which was released on a compilation CD in Japan.
Coconut Grove decided to disband in 1991. Our last gig was playing support to the Merseybeats at Roche Victory Hall. Another successful gig. This one will always be very special to me as this final gig, was also one of our best performances. Here is a photograph of our last gig. The venue was Roche Victory Hall. We recorded a Coconut Grove CD of our "live set" at a major studio. One of the tracks on the CD was officially released on a CD in Japan.
During my second era with Coconut Grove, I also formed a duo with my good friend, Ian Crane. This duo, "Two Lane Highway", were very successful and we played many venues throughout Cornwall. During this period we entered a song contest entitled "Song for Cornwall". We won this contest and were invited to play at a festival in Southern Ireland. In August 1984 I decided to pursue a solo career fitting in dates between Coconut Grove and Two Lane Highway. My first solo gig was at Carnmoggas Holiday Park, near Polgooth, St. Austell on Sunday 5th August 1984.
After Coconut Grove and Two Lane Highway, I decided to continue with my solo gigs. One of the high spots of my solo career was the privilege of being selected to perform a solo set at a Brian Wilson tribute concert in South Kensington in London. I also played with two other bands at this concert. I performed "Be My Baby" with the "Surfonics" see video clip below. The "Surfonics" features on keyboard Chris White who had a U. K. top 20 hit with a song called "Spanish Wine".
The other band I performed with at this concert was "Gidea Park" featuring Martin Lawford. This band had uk top 20 hits with "Beach Boys Gold" and "Seasons of Gold".
Also in attendance at this gig was Bruce Welch of "The Shadows". A photo of me, Bruce and Tony Rivers can be found on this site.
"Juliana", "Lake Harmony" and "Angelina" were recorded at Roche Recording Studio on Thursday 24th June 1976. One of the musician's on this session was Al Hodge.
"More Than Just A Friend", "Do I Have I The Right To Say" and "The Way It Used To Be" were recorded by Coconut Grove at Roche Recording Studio. Another song recorded at this session entitled "Where Do We Go From Here" was written by Alan Martin of the Coconut Grove.
"Music Makes My Day" and "That's Because, (I Love You) were recorded at Plymouth Sound Studio. These songs were also played on the Plymouth Sound afternoon radio show for several weeks.
Many of my other songs have been recorded over the years, but the songs above are the most significant.
I intend to include some of these songs on this site in the future.
