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October 2011 |
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Mossley
Band on BBC Radio 2!
Mossley Band's recording of 'Londonderry Air' taken from their album 'Top Mossley' was featured on the 'Brassed Off' section of the BBC Radio 2 show 'Good Morning Sunday', presented by Aled Jones on Sunday 2nd October. At the end of the track Aled commented "Just perfect, beautiful". Praise indeed! This is a thrilling achievement for the band. The show regularly attracts at least 3.5 million listeners. If you would like to listen to the show, click here. 'Brassed Off' is at 0:15.32 on the iplayer. Thank you to Aled Jones and his team for the airplay.
“Mr. Sandman” does the trick! Mossley Band entered the Wychavon Contest in Worcestershire on Sunday September 18th 2011 and were drawn to play last, and so the No. 8 Arts Centre in Pershore was full when the band appeared on stage. Commencing with “Battle of the Planets”, followed by “Nessun Dorma”, the band then played the vibrant “Nibelungen March” and if that didn't get the audience's feet tapping, then the next item certainly did. Decked out in red and white striped blazers and wearing straw boaters Danny Catlow, Neal McNulty and Ian & Neil Riley sang, danced and played both hand and tubular bells in an arrangement of 'Mr Sandman'. The final number in the 20 minutes programme was another toe-tapper, 'Riverdance', and the reaction from the audience was just great. The Adjudicator was Dr. Robert Childs who awarded the band 1st Prize! Well done everybody and a special mention for the people connected to the Wychavon Festival – the organisation was brilliant.
New CD Recording Some of you will be expecting to read news about the next Mossley Band CD which we hoped would be available just before Christmas. Oh, how hard it is to fix diary dates when so many different people and venues are involved! The recording will now take place (fingers and toes all crossed) in March / April 2012 and, hopefully, copies of the new CD will be available from early summer – watch this space!
Whit Friday & Cholmondeley Success We had a fantastic Whit Friday night, competing in all 11 Tameside Contests, the last one being at Denton where we were the overall winners, and we also picked up prizes at eight other venues.
Our Concert at Cholmondeley Castle was
very successful, with many compliments
received. The weather on the day was
unbelievable - it rained all morning at
home, under threatening skies we
travelled to Malpas where there was fine
drizzle for 10 minutes and then we
didn't see any rain until we arrived
back in Mossley! How lucky was that?
Conducted by Duncan Byers, we had one of our most successful Contest outings of recent years when we were crowned Second Section Champions at Butlin’s Mineworkers Open Brass Band Festival on Saturday, January 22nd.
Our performance
of “Rise of the Duncan commented, “This is a fabulous result for the Band and it is testament to all the hard work that they have put in over the last 12 months, in what has been a period of rebuilding. We have welcomed several talented new faces within that period with the focus on youth and it paid dividends at Butlin’s. It has also given the Band an added confidence going into the Area Championships.” This victory was however tinged with sadness. Glenn Challenor, one of the Band’s B flat Bass players, sadly passed away on New Year’s Eve after a short illness. We would like to dedicate this win to Glenn.There is Nothin' Like A Dame!
Mossley Band enjoy
successful concert at Maryport, Cumbria
Mossley Band Look NorthWest
A look back at Mossley Band
Club's summer performances including Cholmondeley Castle and
appearances on BBCTV
Surprisingly, after a week of terrible weather, it managed to stay fine for the whole of the day. The Band played an early evening Concert commencing at 6pm and then it was time to relax, eat, drink and watch the fabulous fireworks. The following photographs were taken anticlockwise from the stage.
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On September 12th the Band played a Concert outside Uppermill Conservative Club. After a week of very heavy rain our luck was in again and it managed to stay fine for the duration of the Concert. There were solos from Mike Thackray (Soprano) who played “On with the Motley” (Leoncavallo, arr. Ray Farr from the Opera “Pagliacci”); Ian Wilkinson (Solo Horn) who gave a rendition of “Someone Like You” (F. Wildhorn/L. Bricusse, arr. Richard Rock, from the Musical “Jekyll & Hyde” ) and finally Neil Riley (Solo Euphonium) who played “Blaydon Races” (Traditional, arr. G. Langford). TV crews, radio stations and newspaper journalists had descended upon Uppermill ahead of a much-publicised legal battle when Labour’s former immigration Minister and Oldham East & Saddleworth MP, Phil Woolas, was due to face a rare legal challenge to his election victory by the defeated Liberal Democrat, Elwyn Watkins, over alleged corrupt practices. A photographer was seen taking photos of the Band, nothing unusual about that, but to our surprise the Band were featured on both editions of BBC TV’s “Look North West” during the evening.
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Ian Wilkinson (Solo Horn) unable to decide whether he’s in the “All Stars Funeral Band” or he’s a Cossack as he’s wearing both hats. |
Is this a member of the “Blues Brothers?” No, its just David Coy (“Decoy” - Flugel) preparing to lead the “All Stars Funeral Band” in “Just a Closer Walk”. |
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The remainder of the “All Stars Funeral Band” – Joe Stringer (Solo Trombone), Ian Riley (EEb Bass) looking like a double for Oliver Hardy!; behind him is his brother Neil (Solo Euphonium) and on Solo Horn, Ian Wilkinson. Hidden from view is Principal Cornet player, Kenny Pain. |
The final rehearsal in the Church Hall.
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At the end of August Mossley Band submitted an application to be considered for a “Blue Plaque”. This was to commemorate the MOSSLEY TEMPERANCE SAXHORN BAND who changed the sound and formation of brass bands for ever when, using a set of Saxhorns, they won the first Brass Band Contest which was held at Belle Vue, Gorton, Manchester on September 5th 1853. Using the list of criteria we were able to provide examples for each requirement listed (shown in bold). We stated that the winning of the first ever Brass Band Contest was certainly a unique occasion with a vast appeal to the general public. Most of the players taking part, if not all of them, were resident and all worked in Mossley. The achievements of the 1853 Band are widely reported on websites of major Brass Band journals, e.g. “4barsrest”, “The Bandsman”, “Brass Forum”, “Brass Band NW”, “The Mouthpiece” etc. Reports can also be found on other sites such as the Open University and on international sites, including Germany and China. In an area where Brass Bands are at the very heart of the community, a Blue Plaque for the Mossley Band, approaching their 170 years of music making next year, would be of interest to everyone connected in any way to the Brass Band world and would add further to the town of Mossley’s historical past. We engaged the help of Richard Evans and Derek Broadbent, both of whom sent letters of support to accompany our application, for which we are very grateful. However, on September 22nd when we hadn’t received any communication from the Committee, a Mossley Band representative telephoned the Department concerned and was advised that a letter had been sent informing us that we had been unsuccessful. Unfortunately the Band had not received this letter but the representative was told verbally that it had been a split decision and the final outcome was that the Committee “did not feel that we met the current criteria, lots of people could claim to be the first at something and, although it was a lovely story, the application was not strong enough, unique enough or outstanding”!
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