The Pretty Things

VAN MORRISON
“The Pretty Things? - one of the greatest R&B bands of all time - real wild.”

DAVE GILMOUR - PINK FLOYD
"The Pretty Things always made The Stones look tame, and the time has definitely come for their renaissance."

THE LATE JOHN PEEL
"The Beatles were cute, The Stones were students, but The Pretty Things were plain frightening, & much better at psychedelia than The Stones..."

Glenn Hughes

Vocalist/bass guitarist/songwriter Glenn Hughes is a true original. No other rock musician has carved such a distinctive style blending the finest elements of hard rock, soul and funk. That astonishing voice is Hughes' calling card. He's known as a singer's singer. In fact, Stevie Wonder once called Hughes his favourite white singer.

The first important band Hughes was a member of that achieved notable success was Trapeze. The band's early '70s albums included Medusa, Trapeze and You Are The Music...We're Just The Band.

In 1973, Hughes joined one of the most popular bands in the world, Deep Purple. The trailblazing hard-rock legends had just weathered the departure of vocalist Ian Gillan and bass guitarist Roger Glover, but guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice continued with the addition of Hughes and David Coverdale. Any scepticism was squelched with the 1974 release of Burn which has since been re-released on its 30th anniversary. This stunning album rejuvenated the band and stands tall among Deep Purple classics.

Currently working on his latest studio album - due for release in Spring 2008 - the future looks ever more positive for Glenn; a highly acclaimed double CD career retrospective anthology released in August 2007, and a live DVD from Australia (released in November 2007) are a testament to this.

Make no mistake. The Voice of Rock never left the building.

Jon Lord

Founder member of Deep Purple

Jon’s solo CD “Pictured Within”, a return to a more piano-based and gentler style, was released to great critical acclaim in 1997. Since leaving Deep Purple, he has toured with his “Gemini Band” and had a piano concerto called “Boom of The Tingling Strings”. Jon’s most recent solo CD “Beyond The Notes” was released at the end of 2004 to further critical acclaim. Commissioned by Durham University, another full scale work for orchestra and soloists, “Durham Concerto”, was recorded in July 2007 by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and premiered in October ‘07 in Durham Cathedral. The recording was released in January ’08, going straight into the Classical Music Charts, and The Classic FM charts.

He is currently working on several projects including pieces for orchestra, music for his next solo CD, and the world tour which will accompany it.

Uriah Heep

The critics have scoffed and generally poured derision on Uriah Heep over the years, but the band have sold over 30 millions records and have had five US Top 40 albums. A technically brilliant heavy rock band, they deserve most credit for continuing.

In June 2008 Uriah Heep released the first studio album in almost 10 years. Wake The Sleeper is set to herald an exciting new phase for the band, taking their classic sound right into the future. The album see’s Uriah Heep back to their very best and ... is set to become a future classic: sure to please their dedicated worldwide fan base and fans of Progressive Rock in general. Recorded in 2007 the album was produced by Mike Paxman (Status Quo, Judie Tzuke). This is the band's first album without their long-standing and original drummer, Lee Kerslake who sadly had to leave the band due to ill health in January 2007. Filling the drum stool for the very first time is the hugely well respected Russell Gilbrook.

Thunder

Thunder, the five strong band who can lay claim to one of the most loyal rock followings ever, have joined the line-up for ChildLine Rocks.

Once described (by themselves) as being as the biggest rock'n'roll band you've never heard of, Thunder are one of the great British rock acts (they sound like a cross between Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones and Bad Company - it's true). Having toured the world extensively since 1989, and released a huge body of records (both studio and live), they've notched up 18 top 40 UK hits. How? Not with massive Radio and TV support, no far from it, their success has been down to a combination of their reputation as a phenomenal live act, and the fanatical support of their ever growing fanbase. Thunder have toured with acts such as Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Status Quo, Deep Purple, Bryan Adams, ZZ Top, Metallica, the list goes on. They've won awards galore, including best Rock Vocalist (Danny Bowes - Burrn magazine Japan) and Best Live Rock Act by readers of Kerrang magazine UK.

Moreover they are also providing their services as house band for the night and, for one night only, will be joined by legendary drummer Andy Newmark.

Thunder formed in 1989, and released their debut album Backstreet Symphony in 1990, which went Gold. The follow-up Laughing on Judgement Day (which also achieved gold status), peaked at number 2 in the UK album charts. Their legendary appearance in 1990 at Monsters of Rock at Donington cemented their place in the hearts of British rock fans. Twenty years later, after twenty top-50 singles and 9 studio albums Thunder have announced their retirement so this will be one of the very last times to see them EVER!

Further info: www.thunderonline.com

Sons Of Albion

London-based rock act Sons of Albion are barely 18 months old as a band, and have spent the last year earning their stripes up and down the clubs of the UK, as well as opening some of the UK's biggest festivals (Download, T in the Park, V Festival) and for acts like Velvet Revolver, Lenny Kravitz, Black Stone Cherry, The Hot Melts and The Who. Everywhere they go, Sons Of Albion blow away fans and critics with their hard-driving brand of rock, which has been drawing comparisons to Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Rage Against The Machine.

SOA just kicked off in the U.S. with a series of shows at SXSW in Texas, and NYC - and received a huge reaction from statewide press, national radio, and rock fans alike.

With their debut full length album in the works, plans to return to the USA in late spring, a summer of shows planned across UK, USA and Europe, and even Japan on the cards, 2009 promises to be a breakout year for Sons of Albion.

Hot Leg

Hot Leg is a powerful new supergroup spearheaded by Justin 'Dave' Hawkins, former lead singer/lead guitarist/lead songwriter of The Darkness.

Hot Leg are an entirely hairier beast, and they make really really brilliant rock music. Hawkins' familiar patented 'Truth Larynx' is the perfect foil to the 6-stringed rapier of Pete 'Liquid Guitar Hands' Rinaldi of Anchorhead, Headspace and Pete Rinaldi's Vancouver. Samuel SJ Stokes cut his teeth with 6 gruelling tours of the USA as part of legendary pre-man rockers the Thieves, during which time a special bond that cannot be broken has been forged between he and drummer Darby Todd, whose drumming credits include Protect The Beat, Buddy Whittington, Gary Moore and Dennis Rollins.

Together, these four men armed with at least one machine apiece operate in pitch-perfect harmony to create something very special indeed. A new genre that we call…Man Rock.

Steve Balsamo

Steve Balsamo shot to prominence in 1997 after playing Jesus to great critical acclaim in the West End revival of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar‘. After winning a Variety Club Award for the role, Steve decided to return to his first love, writing and performing his own music, and signed to Columbia Records soon after. In 2002 he released his debut album ‘All I Am’ which reached the top 40 in the UK.

In 2004, Steve formed ‘The Storys’, a West Coast influenced harmony country-rock band. Their highly acclaimed debut album came to the attention of Elton John who after publicly declaring it was ’Fantastic!’, personally called Steve and invited the band to tour Europe with him - twice! The band have also toured and played with the likes of Joe Cocker, Katie Melua, Celine Dion, Santana, Runrig, Sinead O’Connor, Daniel Lanois and Tom Jones to name-drop but a few.

Their songs have been featured in the US teen drama ’One Tree Hill’, and the new hit Brit-flick ‘The Bank Job’, in which they make a cameo appearance playing two of their own songs.‘The Storys’ released their new album ‘Town Beyond The Trees’ in the UK in 2008, again to great reviews.

Aside from his work with the band, Steve tours as one of the singers in Jon Lord's band.

Steve is a prolific songwriter, having scored hits in Europe and Australia, with artists as diverse as Meatloaf, Anthony Callea, Jonathon Cerrada and Slash.

Steve is proud to have been asked to design the logo for Childline Rocks.

For more information please visit myspace.com/stevebalsamo

Bob Harris

Bob Harris is a legend, pure and simple.

Described by 'Radio Times' as 'one of the greats of British contemporary music broadcasting and an independent champion of great music' and by the 'Mail On Sunday' as 'a national treasure', Bob has been at the centre of the British music industry for nearly forty years.

Few people have broken as many bands into the mainstream consciousness as Bob Harris.through his work on Radio 1, the legendary 'Whistle Test' TV shows and his current programmes on Radio 2. He is passionate about music and his infectious enthusiasm permeates his work. Bob's guiding principle is the pursuit of excellence, and this is reflected in his broadcasting skills and his devotion to the best music. He is a trusted guide and mentor to millions who have music at the centre of their lives. When Bob gives his support to an artist, people listen and his shows have become the 'Holy Grail' for acts worldwide. His tireless promotion of new and cutting edge music is second to none.

He has been described as the 'John Peel of country music', and his unbridled passion and commitment to the genre (and its many sub-genres) has gained him the recognition of the Country Music Association, who honored him with the 'International Broadcaster of the Year' award in 2004. Bob has appeared on International panels at the Americana Music Awards in Nashville and in June 2008 will be the keynote speaker at NXNE in Toronto, Canada's most prestigious music festival. Bob and his wife Trudie recently founded the Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company, an independent production house, making documentaries for Radio and television and winners of 2 Sony Silver Radio Awards in 2008/09. He co-founded 'Time Out' magazine, has written books, newspaper articles and magazine columns. He has produced records, done 48-gig rock tours and interviewed a President. He has voiced television and radio documentaries, major advertising campaigns (including the Beatles USA campaign for 'Anthology 3') and appeared in movies. He has been given a Fellowship by the University of Northampton and was the penultimate subject of 'This Is Your Life'.

Bob's depth of understanding of popular music - its origins and influences - is immense. As a voice on the radio - reassuring, knowledgeable and enthusiastic - he is unique. Bob has been successfully fighting prostate cancer since diagnosis in March 2007.

Steve Harley

STEVE HARLEY was born in Deptford, south London, on February 27th 1951, the second of five children.

Due to a childhood illness, Steve spent almost four years in hospital between three and sixteen years, undergoing major surgery in 1963 and 1966. It was aged twelve years, while in hospital recovering from a major operation, that Steve first heard BOB DYLAN and realised that his life was likely to be preoccupied with words and music.

Close to Christmas 1964, during that same nine-months' hospitalisation at Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, Carshalton Beeches, Surrey, the ward welcomed the young ROLLING STONES who were on a goodwill PR visit.

"Charlie Watts spent quite a time chatting with us kids, but the others seemed more interested in knocking the huge poster of THE BEATLES we had pinned above the fireplace."

Steve was a pupil of EDMUND WALLER PRIMARY SCHOOL, in Waller Road, New Cross, London, a short walk from his parents' home at FAIRLAWN MANSIONS, New Cross Gate, between the ages of five and eleven.

He attended HABERDASHERS' ASKE'S HATCHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL, Telegraph Hill, New Cross until seventeen. He left school without completing his Advanced Level exams. Steve later took an A-Level in English in his mid-30s, gaining a B-grade.

"I was heartbroken not to get the big A, but I only had three hours of tuition a week for six months, so maybe it wasn't such a bad result, after all."

Steve was given private tuition for the course by his former English teacher at Aske's, and later his good friend, Anthony Harding.

Steve's first guitar was a Christmas gift from his parents when he was ten-years-old. It was a Spanish, nylon-strung instrument.

He took classical violin lessons from the age of nine to fifteen and played in his Grammar school orchestra.

"But I was a hopeless reader of music, so I must have been bluffing a lot of the time."

In the spring of 1968, Steve got his first full-time job, as a trainee accountant, at the DAILY EXPRESS newspaper in Fleet Street, London, in spite of gaining a mere 24% in his mock O-Level maths exam. But his heart was set on a career in Journalism, so being at the industry's heart was a useful stepping-stone for the nascent reporter. Interviewed by several newspaper editors, Steve finally signed indentures to train with ESSEX COUNTY NEWSPAPERS in Colchester, Essex. After three years working within the group, including stints at the Essex County Standard, the Braintree and Witham Times, the Maldon and Burnham Standard and the Colchester Evening Gazette, Steve moved back to London to work for the EAST LONDON ADVERTISER, then based in Mile End Road, in the heart of London's East End.

Among many of Steve's contemporaries who have gone on to successful careers in national Journalism are JOHN BLAKE (now Managing Director of BLAKE PUBLISHING) and RICHARD MADELEY, of daytime TV fame. It was Madeley who actually took over the desk relinquished by Steve at the ELA in 1972.

"So, if you hadn't given it up to become a rock star," Madeley has told Steve, "I may never have got my chance to become a reporter."

Steve began his singing career "floor-spotting" (singing for free as a member of the audience) in London folk clubs in 1971/2. He sang at LES COUSINS, BUNJIE'S and THE TROUBADOUR on nights featuring JOHN MARTIN, RALPH McTELL, MARTIN CARTHY and JULIE FELIX, all leading lights of the London folk movement at the time.

He later joined folk band ODIN as rhythm guitarist and co-singer, which was where he met the first COCKNEY REBEL violinist, JOHN CROCKER. However, the folk scene proved a little tame for Mr Harley and, as he was constantly writing songs, formed COCKNEY REBEL as a vehicle for his own work. It was here that Steve and STUART ELLIOTT first met and worked together. Stuart drums with Steve's band on record and on tour from time to time to this day.

The band signed to EMI for a guaranteed three album deal in 1972 and released THE HUMAN MENAGERIE early in '73. From this collection, a single, SEBASTIAN, became a huge European hit, staying at NUMBER ONE in HOLLAND and BELGIUM for many weeks. Other COCKNEY REBEL and/or STEVE HARLEY albums are: THE PSYCHOMODO, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, TIMELESS FLIGHT, LOVE'S A PRIMA DONNA, FACE TO FACE (LIVE), HOBO WITH A GRIN, THE CANDIDATE (all EMI), YES YOU CAN (1992), POETIC JUSTICE (1996) and THE QUALITY OF MERCY released in late 2005.

One Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel single, MAKE ME SMILE (COME UP AND SEE ME), reached NUMBER ONE in 1975 in the UK and many European countries and is regularly voted among the top singles in the history of the charts, which covers six decades of releases. The Performing Rights Society has confirmed it one of the most played records in British broadcasting.

The song has been covered MORE THAN 100 TIMES in seven languages and has been featured in several movies including THE FULL MONTY (whose soundtrack album went TRIPLE PLATINUM in the UK, and PLATINUM in the USA and Australia), VELVET GOLDMINE, BEST and SAVING GRACE. The song has also been used on more than twenty TV and radio advertising campaigns around the world.

Steve's other chart singles include, JUDY TEEN, MR SOFT, MR RAFFLES (MAN, IT WAS MEAN), HERE COMES THE SUN, LOVE'S A PRIMA DONNA, IRRESISTIBLE, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (with SARAH BRIGHTMAN) and A FRIEND FOR LIFE (a small hit in 2001).

During the eighties, Steve took time out from the rock world as his two children were going through their formative years but did perform on stage, albeit the legitimate stage. He starred as the C16th playwright Christopher Marlowe, in the musical-drama MARLOWE, which ran off-Broadway and in London. Steve's performance was described by one leading critic as "a major and moving performance."

Steve has written lyrics for several other artists, including his old friend ROD STEWART who has called him "One of the finest lyricists the UK has ever produced."

And Steve still plays between 70 and 100 live concerts on average each year.

"I love it more now than ever. I cannot imagine stopping it. It's what I do, play and sing."

The majority of the shows will be with his rock band, but many are in the STRIPPED TO THE BARE BONES format, an acoustic set with one or two other musicians accompanying him.

Among those who have benefited from Steve's charity performances have been HUNTINGDON HALL, Worcester; CHAILEY HERITAGE SCHOOL FOR HANDICAPPED CHILDREN; NORDOFF-ROBBINS MUSIC THERAPY Charity; THE BRIDGE PROJECT (for those with learning difficulties), SUFFOLK, and GUITARS AGAINST LANDMINES.

Now, mid-2002, Steve is preparing songs for the recording of another original album, provisionally titled THE LAST FEAST, after a narrative song written recently and performed many times Live, chronicling the writer's early life experiences and adventures. Steve has presented his own show for BBC RADIO 2, SOUNDS OF THE SEVENTIES, comprising classic tracks and rarities from the era and anecdotes from Steve himself, since 1999. The show airs weekly, Tuesdays at 10pm and has an (increasing regularly) audience of around 440,000. Steve has been involved in racehorse ownership since 1984 and racing is his main pastime.

"It's my therapy. My hobby. I only wish I could have ridden a big, good steeplechaser over the Cheltenham course just once in my life."

Steve was awarded a GOLD BADGE OF MERIT by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters in 2002.

Steve and his band continue to tour regularly, playing between 70 and 100 concerts most years. In recent times, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel have played Glastonbury Festival three times, the Isle of Wight festival in 2004 and many of Europe's major rock festivals.

Further info: www.steveharley.com