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that they never worked out any of it in
advance and nothing was contrived.
Whether it was the morris tune Shepherds
Hey, a souped-up version of the traditional
standard List For A Sailor, the old school
assembly chestnut Dashing Away or a rig-
orous blast of old school ska, they each just
played what came naturally to them.
Which did sometimes lend itself to the odd
comment about a folk band occupying
one side of the stage while a reggae band
grooved away on the other, but the mira-
cle was that they always managed to find
somewhere to meet in the middle.
When I ask Glen if, after all his years in
pure reggae bands, he found it difficult to
adapt to singing folk songs he says “No,
I’m basically just singing reggae with
melodeon over the top”. Jon Moore
immediately pipes up: “That’s the thing,
though… for you it’s reggae with
melodeon over the top, but for Simon it’s
melodeon with reggae over the top.”
T
hey rarely planned, evaluated
or questioned the fusion, they
just did it and that’s why they
believe they pulled it off. The
musical conflicts that inevitably
arose helped forge their unique sound,
while the force of their personalities and
the shared enjoyment they self-evidently
felt on stage did the rest. So busy they
rarely had time to rehearse, they tended
to work out new material by osmosis at
soundchecks. If it wasn’t a disaster, they’d
Photo: John Ingledew
retrieve it and play it again at the next
Edward II & The Red Hot Polkas, circa 1987. Rear: Steve Goulding, Dave Haines, Tom Greenhalgh, soundcheck; and if it continued to show
Danny Stradling, Barnaby Stradling. Front: Jon Moore, Rod Stradling, John Gill. promise they’d work it into the live set,
where it would evolve a bit more until
anything like it before; I didn’t know it ern’ era of the Edward II story. An animat- ultimately they felt ready to record it.
existed. I just thought… what is this? I had ed side debate instantly breaks out as John That’s how their blinding version of the
to go back with the band and see some Hart announces that the forthcoming Gregory Isaacs classic Night Nurse gradual-
more and I gradually got used to it. And Definitive Collection will be separated into
ly became such a pivotal part of their act
when they wanted a singer they asked me two eras: one to be called The Polka Years
and for a couple of years they even played
to join. But it was very strange. It still feels and the other Wicked Men & Ting. Glen
Bob Marley’s immortal Redemption Song.
strange. But I’ve learned so much from looks shocked to hear it and then bursts “There was an element of tension
being in the band, travelling around the into laughter. “Oh, so that’s what it’s because of the limited number of keys
world and meeting different people. You going to be called, is it?” John Hart looks available on the instrument that Simon
learn something about humanity…” like a man caught with his hand in the plays, whereas over on our side of the
cookie jar. “Well, it’s only a working title.”
stage we were always trying to push it into
T
he origins of the band were
much earlier, of course, in Chel-
He laughs again, “That’s the trouble with
different areas,” says John Hart. “Especial-
tenham in the mid-eighties as
democracy – it never works.”
ly Neil, who is red hot on his jazz and is
an adventurous dance band, Wicked Men was the 1991 album
always trying to go somewhere different
whose first reggae-fuelled which effectively marked their birth as a
with it, whereas I’m a bit more of a rocker.
album Let’s Polka Steady! in 1987, was song band, kick-starting a new era with a
Those tensions create the sound.”
produced by dubmeister Mad Professor. feel-good all-singing all-dancing live “The only debates that went on were
They were a band of big personalities, appeal that swiftly took them on to bigger musical. If somebody musically wanted to
including the sainted Rod Stradling on stages and made them a natural festival push it somewhere they’d do it by playing
melodeon and the late John Gill on bass. attraction. This was also the line-up that where they wanted it to go. We’d never
The only remaining member from those
Simon Care – morris dancer, melodeon discuss it first. It was trial and error. I don’t
early days is guitarist Jon Moore, always a
player and Albion Band stalwart – joined ever remember any arguments about
free musical spirit who’d previously
as replacement for Rees Wesson. Not that musical direction, it just happened.”
caused a bit of a fuss with the rampaging
it was an easy transition.
They headlined all the major folk fes-
Jumpleads and the current incumbents “I remember seeing Edward II & The
tivals, went on British Council tours all
still find themselves being introduced for Red Hot Polkas doing a ceilidh and I was
over the world and became a dancey flag-
the first time to musicians they subse- horrified. I went on BBC Radio Northamp-
ship for a brave new multicultural Britain.
quently discover to be previous members ton saying ‘The worst band I saw at Sid-
At one point they even appeared on the
of the band. mouth this year was Edward II & The Red
cusp of, shhhh, the big time as the main-
By the turn of the nineties they’d
Hot Polkas’. And five years later I was in the stream industry came courting them. As it
already been through a variety of line-ups,
band. I nearly left after the first few gigs invariably does, that little flirtation
at which point Alton Zebby and bass play-
because I couldn’t do it. I took over from ended in tears.
er T Carthy joined Jon Moore on guitar,
Rees Wesson and I was trying to duplicate
“We got offered a production deal
Rees Wesson on melodeon along with a
everything he did and found I just couldn’t
with Zomba Records and they did a remix
brass section that had initially worked
do it. Then John or Gavin said ‘Don’t try to
of us, which was a huge hit in a small
with them as session musicians – Neil Yates
be Rees, be yourself’ and that was the key.
province of Northern Italy. It was a really
(trumpet), Gavin Sharp (tenor sax) and
As soon as I did that I fitted into it. It was a
cheesy Euro dance remix and essentially
John Hart (trombone). That was when
natural evolution and that’s something
our experience of the mainstream was
they dropped the Red Hot Polkas part of
that’s always happened with this band.”
being completely misinterpreted and mis-
the name and, once Glen Latouche had The ‘natural evolution’ phrase comes understood. They tried to pigeonhole us
been resuscitated after that first traumatic up a lot in the conversation. They insist the into something in which we didn’t fit and
encounter with morris dancers in South reason their seemingly bizarre musical it ended up in a dispute because they
Petherton, he became the lead singer to fusion worked when all logic suggests it wouldn’t release anything because they
launch what they now regard as the ‘mod- should have been an unlistenable mess is couldn’t get the right playlisting.”
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