“Triangle Arts Centre in Birmingham, just after Steve McQueen was released – Paddy’s white suit & Gerry Adams beard phase – he did offer a huge theatrical wink in Wendy’s direction during ‘When Love Breaks Down’, immediately after singing ‘when love breaks down, you join the wrecks, who leave their hearts for easy sex’.
“But my most vivid memory of that concert remains Wendy giving Paddy a two-finger salute after he referred to her as ‘Wendy Harmonica Smith’ (she played harmonica on one number, can’t remember which one though). She had very tight white ski pants on – I remember that quite vividly as well.”
James Gibbon, Zorrophonic Mailing List
“I too was at this gig and remember the references Paddy made to Kevin and Neil having performed with Bowie the week before in front of millions around the world at Live Aid and, yes, he did seem rather proud.
“I also remember Paddy and Martin doing some ‘foot on the monitor’ ‘guitar hero’ posing during one number and then mentioning that they were taking part in some Kemp-esque on-stage brother bonding.
The Triangle was a small but great venue and this was an excellent gig.”
Alan Beale, Sproutology Comment
Hey there, James here whom you’ve quoted in this piece. This gig took place in July, about a week after Live Aid – not January. Paddy mentioned how proud he was that Kevin Armstrong (who played guitar at this show) had performed in Bowie’s set.
corrected, thanks – I knew that, I think it was a typo when moving from the old gigography
I too was at this gig and remember the references Paddy made to Kevin and Neil having performed with Bowie the week before in front of millions around the world at Live Aid and, yes, he did seem rather proud.
I also remember Paddy and Martin doing some “foot on the monitor” “guitar hero” posing during one number and then mentioning that they were taking part in some Kemp-esque on-stage brother bonding.
The Triangle was a small but great venue and this was an excellent gig.
Thanks for the comment, great stuff and will move it into the body of the entry. You do have a tape of the gig of course?
I was at this one. A Durham lad who was now a student in Birmingham and had become a fan of PS from the LIMOG release, while not even realising I’d been at one of their first ever gigs in Durham in 1980 (see Dunelm House, supporting The Members). Unfortunately, as in 1980, I have little to add in terms of memories, other than I recall a fellow student being very impressed with a line he’d caught in a song that we hadn’t heard before- “she really had the horniest eyes.” I hadn’t heard what he had heard but many years later when the t’internet arrived I found he was absolutely right.
I was at the front of this gig aged 15 and Wendy bent down and handed me a pink Prefab Sprout badge at one point. I am still chuffed
Hi
I made a post on FaceBook referring to your entry above. I worked at the Triangle from 1986 to closure in 1994. Hope you don’t mind. It’s in the ‘Birmingham Music Archives’ group. Do you have any more photos of events at the Triangle?
No, I’m afraid I don’t. No problem with sharing the material.
I was at this too. With my boyfriend and a female friend Ann. I remember Wendy’s ski pants but hardly anything else. Bizarrely I can remember exactly what I was wearing. Light blue tight Levi’s, black Chelsea boots and a bright pink shirt. Well I was young and skinny then!