| Let's Rock | |
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| Years active | 2009–present |
| Website | www.letsrock80s.com |
Let's Rock is an annual family-friendly, 1980s-oriented music festival held throughout the United Kingdom. Since the first festival in 2009, it has grown every year to become the UK's largest festival for 1980s music, expanding to 14 locations.
The first Let's Rock The Moor! festival was held in Cookham Moor on 4 May 2009 and featured Nick Heyward. [1] It closed the Cookham Festival and was attended by 1,200 guests. Other acts on the bill were Soul’d Out, Temposhark, and The Plants and Burdock. Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo played bass guitar. [2]
The second Let's Rock The Moor! festival was held on 22 May 2010 and was attended by about 2,000 festival goers. [3] The headlined acts were Howard Jones and Haircut 100.
Haircut 100 reunited for this performance. [4] Other bands on the bill were High School Musical, Girls Alouder, Soul'd Out, The Quotes, The Mean Red Spiders, Burdock, RedRoots and Distant Origins. [5]
£7,600 was raised for local charities along with £6,000 for the Wooden Spoon charity. [6]
The third Let's Rock The Moor! festival was held on 21 May 2011. The capacity of the event increased to 4,500 and was a sell-out. [7] Headlined acts for the festival were Rick Astley, T'Pau, The Real Thing and Curiosity Killed the Cat.
Other bands on the bill were The Mean Red Spiders, The Quotes, Who Are You?, The Stereosonics, Sintax, Izzi Stone and Hustle & Cuss.
The fourth Let's Rock The Moor! festival moved to a new larger site on Marsh Meadow to accommodate an increased capacity of 6,500 and was also a sell-out. [8] [9] The festival was held on 13 May 2012. The headlined acts were Billy Ocean, Go West, [10] Heaven 17, Boney M, Toyah, China Crisis, Nick Heyward and Modern Romance.
Other bands on the bill were The Fortunate, Paul Child Band and The Mean Red Spiders.
The new larger site saw an increase in the amount of entertainment on offer for children which included a circus and indoor cinema, as well as rides such as bumper boats, bubbles of fun, chair-o-planes, banana boat, the big slide and dodgems. Dave Benson Phillips (CBBC/CITV/Disney Channel) performed his Guitar Music Set on the main stage. Pat Sharp introduced the evening headline acts. [11] Up to £20,000 was expected to be raised for the festival's nominated charities, Wooden Spoon [12] and The Link Foundation. [13]
The festival was listed at number 3 in The Telegraph's guide to The Top 100 music festivals of April–September 2012. [14]
The fifth Let's Rock The Moor! festival in Cookham took place on 18 May 2013. [15] The line-up included Tony Hadley, [16] Bananarama, Howard Jones, Midge Ure, Five Star, Rozalla, Imagination, Altered Images and Brother Beyond. An additional second stage called The Paddock Stage featured local bands.
A new Bristol portion was added which took place on 8 June. This venue had Billy Ocean, Altered Images, Howard Jones, ABC, Nick Heyward, Go West, the Real Thing, Modern Romance, Brother Beyond, and Owen Paul.
Due to the Cookham and Bristol concerts being sell-outs in the previous year, the 2014 year of the Let's Rock festival added two more locations: Leeds and Southampton . The Bristol portion also moved to a larger venue–Ashton Court Estate–and increased to a three-day event. [17]
The Leeds portion took place in Temple Newsam on 21 June. The line-up was Bananarama, Kim Wilde, Howard Jones, ABC, Alexander O'Neal, Nick Heyward, the Real Thing, Nik Kershaw, Altered Images, Brother Beyond, Jaki Graham, and Then Jerico.
In Southampton Common on 12 July, the line-up was Billy Ocean, Bananarama, Howard Jones, ABC, Go West, Nick Heyward, the Real Thing, Heaven 17, Altered Images, Brother Beyond, Jaki Graham, and Then Jerico.
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The line-up included Big Country, Alexander O'Neal, Then Jerico, Doctor and the Medics, T'Pau, Sonia, Nik Kershaw and ABC before Kim Wilde performed as the headline act. [17]
The seventh Let's Rock festival introduced concerts in Exeter and London .
This festival took place in Powderham Castle on 4 July. [18] The line-up consisted of Tom Bailey, Billy Ocean, Bananarama, ABC, Howard Jones, Midge Ure, Go West, Five Star, Nick Heyward, Nik Kershaw, the Real Thing, Altered Images, Brother Beyond, and Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers.
The first Let's Rock London! was at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 27 June. [19] Performers included Bananarama, Rick Astley, Kim Wilde, Howard Jones, Go West, Nick Heyward, Five Star, Sinitta, Sonia, Brother Beyond, and China Crisis.
Capacity for 2015 increased from 6,500 to 9,999 but the organisers withdrew an application to make it a two-day event. [20]
The line-up included Samantha Fox, Bucks Fizz, The Christians, The Blow Monkeys, The Selecter, Odyssey, Betty Boo, Hot Chocolate, Roland Gift and Rick Astley before Level 42 performed as the headline act. [21] [22]
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Other events took place in Leeds and Southampton.
The eighth Let's Rock festival announced a new venue: Birmingham .
On 11 June at Sandwell Valley Country Park, the line-up was Holly Johnson, Kim Wilde, Jimmy Somerville, Tiffany, ABC, Go West, Midge Ure, Nik Kershaw, Five Star, Fuzzbox Altered Images, Doctor and the Medics, Brother Beyond. [23]
This was once again a three-day event from Friday to Sunday.
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Other festivals took place in Cookham, Leeds, Exeter, Southampton, and London. The line-up included acts such as those above and Johnny Hates Jazz, Black Box, Aswad, Belinda Carlisle, and the Human League. [24]
The ninth Let's Rock festival year added two new locations: Shrewsbury and Norwich .
Taking place in Quarry Park on 27 May 2017, the event hosted Billy Ocean, ABC, Tony Hadley, Heaven 17, Nick Heyward, Nik Kershaw, T'Pau, the Real Thing, Clare Grogan of Altered Images, Brother Beyond, and Jaki Graham. [25] [26]
On 1 July, Earlham Park in Norwich welcomed Chesney Hawkes, Boney M, Bananarama, Howard Jones, Captain Sensible, Jaki Graham, Belinda Carlisle, Nik Kershaw, Go West, Midge Ure, and Kim Wilde. [27] [28] [29]
Let's Rock the Moor 2017 took place in Marsh Meadow on 20 May. [30] The event sold out of its 10,000 tickets available. The line-up included A Flock of Seagulls, Howard Jones, Living in a Box, From the Jam, The Beat, the Blockheads, Go West, and Sister Sledge [31] before OMD performed as the headline act. [32] A portion of the proceeds went to the Link Foundation, Child Bereavement UK, and Wooden Spoon charities. [30]
This event at Ashton Court Estate was a three-day event from 2–4 June. This was the first time a line-up included a day of only 1990s-oriented music. [33] The line-up was as listed: [28] [34]
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Temple Newsam, on 17 June, hosted the Human League, ABC, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Technotronic, Hue and Cry, Hazel O'Connor, Imagination, Dr and the Medics, From the Jam, Roland Gift, Howard Jones, Tony Hadley, and A Flock of Seagulls. [35]
Powderham Castle featured Big Country, Toyah, Jaki Graham, Tony Hadley, Howard Jones, Belinda Carlisle, Jason Donovan, Chesney Hawkes, Imagination, From the Jam, Hazel O'Connor, Katrina Leskanich (of Katrina and the Waves), and Level 42. [36]
This location had the Human League, Living in a Box, Katrina, Tony Hadley, Howard Jones, Hue and Cry, Hazel O'Connor, Imagination, Belinda Carlisle, Nick Heyward, Chesney Hawkes, and Kid Creole and the Coconuts. [28] [37]
The final date was in Clapham Common on 15 July. Performances were by the Human League, Chesney Hawkes, Boney M, Sister Sledge, Howard Jones, T'Pau, Roland Gift, Matt Bianco, Hazel O'Connor, Katrina, Jaki Graham, Toyah, and Heaven 17. [28] [38]
The tenth Let's Rock festival introduced two new venues: Sunderland and Scotland.
This event took place in Herrington Park on 9 June. [39] The line-up included Tony Hadley, Kim Wilde, ABC, Heaven 17, Midge Ure, Go West, Nick Heyward, Five Star, Nik Kershaw, the Real Thing, Altered Images, and Modern Romance.
In Dalkeith Country Park on 23 June, [40] performers included Billy Ocean, Marc Almond, Tony Hadley, ABC, Nick Heyward, Heaven 17, Midge Ure, Go West, Nik Kershaw, Katrina, Altered Images, ABC, Annabella Lwin, Fuzzbox, Go West, Hazell Dean, Katrina, Nick Heyward, Peter Coyle, Black Lace, Brother Beyond, and Modern Romance.
Other performances took place in Cookham, London, Leeds, Southampton, Exeter, Bristol, Shrewsbury, and Norwich. Along with those listed above, performers also included Wendy James, Clare Grogan, Heather Small, Kim Appleby, Tom Bailey, and Adam Ant.
For the 10th anniversary, the Let's Rock festival introduced four new locations: Liverpool , Wales , Essex , and Belfast.
The event took place at Croxteth Hall on 27 July. The line-up consisted of the Human League, Tony Hadley, Marc Almond, Midge Ure, Go West, Nick Heyward, Five Star, Nik Kershaw, Roland Gift, T’Pau, the Real Thing, China Crisis, Altered Images, Belouis Some and Sonia. [41]
In Tredegar Park, the line-up was Billy Ocean, Tony Hadley, Go West, Midge Ure, Jason Donovan, Nik Kershaw, Nick Heyward, Toyah, From The Jam, Heaven 17, Altered Images, the Real Thing, Brother Beyond, Belouis Some, Owen Paul, Jennie "Belle Star" Matthias, Musical Youth, Westworld, and Black Lace. It took place on 1 June. [42]
On 7 September, Hylands Estate will host Status Quo, Jimmy Somerville, Tony Hadley, Go West, Midge Ure, Nick Heyward, Nik Kershaw, Heaven 17, the Real Thing, Betty Boo, China Crisis, Sonia, Brother Beyond, Belouis Some, Jennie "Belle Star" Matthias, Owen Paul, Westworld, Black Lace and Musical Youth. [43]
Located at the Boucher Playing Fields on 3 August, the performers held were Billy Ocean, Tony Hadley, Marc Almond, Tom Bailey, Midge Ure, Go West, Nick Heyward, Nik Kershaw, Heaven 17, Cutting Crew, Altered Images, Sonia, Brother Beyond, Owen Paul, Belouis Some, Jennie "Belle Star" Matthias, Owen Paul, Westworld, Black Lace and Musical Youth. [44]
Other events will take place in Cookham, Norwich, Sunderland, Scotland, Leeds, Exeter, Southampton, and Shrewsbury. Acts included those listed above with Shalamar, Belinda Carlisle, Hot Chocolate, Snap!, Chesney Hawkes, Kim Wilde, Kim Appleby, Thomas Dolby, Limahl, Hugh Cornwell, Jaki Graham, Captain Sensible, and Johnny Hates Jazz.
Bananarama are a British and Irish pop group, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Their success on both pop and dance charts saw them listed in the Guinness World Records for achieving the world's highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 30 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
Band Aid was the collective name of a charity supergroup featuring mainly British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, and was released in the UK on Monday 3 December. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release. Three re-recordings of the song to raise further money for charity also topped the charts, first the Band Aid II version in 1989 and the Band Aid 20 version in 2004 and finally the Band Aid 30 version in 2014. The original was produced by Ure. The 12" version was mixed by Trevor Horn.
Deep Sea Skiving is the debut studio album by British vocal group Bananarama, released on 7 March 1983 by London Records. The album peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Buckinghamshire. The town is situated 27 miles (43 km) west of Charing Cross, London and 13 miles (21 km) east-northeast of the county town of Reading. The town differs from the Parliamentary constituency of Maidenhead, which includes a number of outer suburbs and villages, including villages which form part of the Borough of Wokingham such as Twyford, Charvil, Remenham, Ruscombe and Wargrave.
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Nicholas David Kershaw is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer.
Katrina Elizabeth Leskanich is an American musician and the former lead singer of the pop rock band Katrina and the Waves. Their song "Walking on Sunshine" was an international hit in 1985. In 1997, the band won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom with the song "Love Shine a Light". Both of those songs were written by her long-term bandmate Kimberly Rew.
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of popular British and Irish musical acts at the time. It was recorded in a single day at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, in November 1984.
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"Wouldn't It Be Good" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released on 20 January 1984 as the second single from his debut studio album, Human Racing (1984). The release was Kershaw's second single, with the non-album track "Monkey Business" as its B-side; it was a bonus track on the 2012 re-release of the album. The music video was directed by Storm Thorgerson.
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