Eating Madeleine with Whyte August - Part 2

Gandalf 2 were still doing little, except forming a fantasy Gandalf. Phil End claimed he was going to learn to play the flute, join the band, and become the manager. However, he then left for Devon, aborting this particular incarnation before he had even bought his flute.

A little time later, with Gandalf 2 still becalmed, Steve befriended Dave Butcher, little knowing that Dave was a budding guitarist. When Steve did ascertain this, Dave was instantly mooted as a member of the band. About the same time, John had decided to give up the guitar, and take up Phil's imaginary flute. This led to Gandalf 3. This version of Gandalf soon exploded, however, as Steve's drums were as imaginary as John's flute. Sensing Gandalf 3's inability to perform, Dave left to form his own band.

At this point, the ever-gregarious Steve met Martin Hollands while playing football with Will "Hard" Townsend. As luck would have it, Martin also played guitar. This gave the band a firm foundation, offering a rhythm guitarist. John and Steve still dreamed of a multi-talented prog-rock-fusion ensemble, however, and soon created a new, imaginary Gandalf 4 which involved everyone who had said yes to, or had contemplated, being in Gandalf. Martin was into the concept anyway; but the imaginary additions would have enabled the imaginary Gandalf 4 to kick ass. Gandalf 4 lasted about five minutes, given that Steve didn't yet have a drum kit, John still didn't have a flute, there was no sign of a bassist, Dave B was theoretically in another band, and Step Jones had never officially said yes.

Steve did eventually get a drum-kit, Dave rejoined, John gave up the flute idea for a year or two, and stuck to writing lyrics, and Martin remained in the band. Chris gave up the keyboards entirely, and became the band's manager. This version of the band was the first real band. At a meeting in the pub, the band was renamed Whyte August. All the band now needed was a bassist. But Steve's luck had run out, and he never met another free musician in the life-time of Whyte August.

This was the era before cheap musical instruments, and the only incomes these erstwhile musicians had was that garnered from paper rounds and other odd-jobs. Steve's parents had bought him a second-hand drum-kit for £25, which he was paying back at a pound a week. The kit – the infamous Rhythm King – consisted of a snare, a mounted tom, a bass drum, and a cheap and nasty cymbal. Martin's equipment consisted of an acoustic guitar with an acoustic pick-up attached, and a cheap amplifier. Dave's equipment consisted of an Audition single pick-up Fender Stratocaster copy, modified with an additional acoustic pick-up. The leads from this contraption went to a suspicious looking box that served as his amplifier and speaker, and which seemed to have been salvaged from a radiogram. John's equipment consisted of a pen and his mighty rhyming brain.

Whyte August – who were the first mighty WA – started rehearsing and writing songs, and even, despite lacking a bassist, gigging. In lieu of a bassist, Martin would pick out (not very) bass lines on his guitar.

Martin was the first band member to go crazy and splash out some of his money on new guitar, buying himself a black Gibson Les Paul copy, and a new combo amp. Of course, had the begging letter to the hippie Wessex regionalist, Lord Weymouth (now Lord Bath) been successful, the whole band could have had shiny new musical instruments.

So the band continued practising, gigging at friends' parties, and looking for a bassist. However, Chris and John made a discovery that was to change the sound of WA. They met Mary at a Christmas party in Trowbridge at Christmas '74, where she had impressed them – and caused temporary hearing-loss – by doing Ian Gillan-type screams in their ears.