The Era of the Super House Band
Part I - 1986
“There is no top of the bill”
The lineup for the 1986 Prince’s Trust Rock Gala / Photo by Terry O’Neill
During the 1980s and early 2000s, a distinct group of musical talent would provide the backbone for nearly every national celebration, variety show or benefit concert in the UK.
This usually comprised an eclectic mix of session musicians like Ray Cooper, Pino Palladino, Nathan East and Phil Palmer alongside Rock royalty Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Elton John and usually a Beatle or two.
In 1983, for the Ronnie Lane appeal for MS, the ARMS concert, a similar approach was taken in forming a supergroup of British rock talent, a concert we will explore in detail in a later post. It certainly shares some DNA with the Prince’s Trust concerts, in terms of every band member being from a major group themselves and forming a house band for different songs from each artist. Only Eric Clapton and Ray Cooper are present in both.
The three Prince’s Trust concerts (or Galas as they were positioned), in 1986, 1987 and 1988, there was a broader scope musically, with new artists playing a range of genres including pop music, alongside the established ‘Super House Band’ of mostly rock performers.
When it came to managing all the different performers for the Prince’s Trust concert, organisers turned to Midge Ure, fresh off the titanic success of Live Aid, in 1985.
“In 1986 the Prince’s Trust was celebrating its tenth anniversary with a star-studded concert at Wembley Arena. Chris Poole approached me to become musical director, but first he told me the band lineup: Elton John on piano, Clapton and Mark Knopfler on guitars, and Phil Collins on drums. Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, George Michael and Paul McCartney were confirmed to sing.
‘No way,’ I said. ‘This is obviously the job that everybody’s turned down.’ It didn’t take long to talk me into it. It might be a daunting prospect to be in charge of a band with all those luminaries in it, but how could I refuse? My job was to break the songs down, figure out how they all fitted together and oversee cups of tea, or something stronger, every ten minutes.”
One of the many unique aspects of this House Band approach (versus a collection of different bands who keep themselves to themselves) was that you would get a wonderful melting pot of artists, old and new, from a variety of backgrounds and different schools of music, like rock/pop/blues/jazz, all playing together.
And when the House Band includes virtuoso performers, they’d bring a fresh approach to the most established pop songs. Eric Clapton firing off epic fills for Spandau Ballet’s Through the Barricades or George Michael seemingly stumbling into Wembley to duet with Paul Young on Every Time You Go Away (because “It’s the only one we both know”) are just two examples where songs you know and love are elevated due to this collaborative environment, or at the very least provide a unique curiosity from the time.
Comparison of Spandau Ballet's 'Through the Barricades', firstly with the original studio version then the Prince's Trust version with Eric Clapton in support.
What sets these concerts apart from others?
No other Prince’s Trust concerts (or even other charity concerts, aside from Live Aid) have had such an output of cassettes/CDs/VHSs/DVDs as these three gigs have had over the years. The 1986 concert also has the rare honour of receiving a Grammy Award for Best Performance Music Video, which it received in 1988. There’s something uniquely special about this trilogy of gigs.
The above CD was something I bought in my early teens, and soon after, I got hold of these DVDs, which now go for £70+ on eBay. Some of the gigs, or parts of the gigs, are on YouTube & Daily Motion. None are exhaustive, with the odd performance from the actual gigs not present on CDs or DVDs. One of these rare-to-find performances is Mick Jagger and David Bowie’s Dancing in the Street, which was clearly only rehearsed sparingly before, so whilst it’s not the best rendition, it is still impressive to see this rare combination of talent all on stage together holding it together, and you truly see Jagger’s charisma drive the song forward. (And it’s certainly no ‘Led Zeppelin at Live Aid’ level of disaster).
(There’s a great website, Albums That Should Exist, that has the full setlist as MP3’s)
Some other key reasons I believe they have been elevated beyond a passing interest:
A Rock Concert created to raise public awareness and funds for a charity (a focal point to bring everyone together).
The charity is not as overt as many other charitable events, the Prince’s Trust supports several causes but none as visceral as a famine in Ethiopia, a refugee crisis in East Pakistan or global human rights. So naturally, the event has more of a relaxed ‘variety show’ feel, rather than having overtones of a serious cause. (Also no Bob Geldof commanding you to pick up the fucking phone and donate your money every five minutes).
Having Prince Charles and Princess Diana as guests at the event, brings an additional level of Royal glitz to the proceedings, as many of these occasions rely solely on the performers for the glamour, in addition to all the backstage pre-concert meet & greets.
Rock royalty as a house band, some of who, at that point in 1986, had over two decades of hit songs/albums/world tours/cultural impact in their careers and had all formed relationships with each other in that time. They’re relaxed. This isn’t their first rodeo.
World-class musicianship throughout the concerts (with the odd outlier)
Notable special moments, creating unique versions of songs and rare collaborations.
Special guests from outside the UK, like Tina Turner, Leonard Cohen, Bryan Adams, Ben E. King and Suzanne Vega, broadening the scope.
Inclusion of current pop/rock acts to balance old with new, including the house band playing with some of those artists.
Renowned session musicians filling in the gaps where needed.
Everyone having a laugh throughout and playing their hearts out.
Having Midge Ure as a musical director, who off the back of Live Aid and being a successful artist himself, adds a level of musical gravitas behind the scenes and not just a show run by a TV company or the charity itself.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, with some of the artists, cut a cake to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Prince's Trust - 1986
Salt of the Earth
“My main rule was: don’t bring your own trash – leave your management behind because that just screws things up. I’d said all that to them all, but secretly I was just waiting for the Ego to land.
It did in the shape of Rod Stewart. We were rehearsing at the Wimbledon Theatre when the doors flew open and a couple of heavies in suits and sunglasses came in first, casing the theatre for God knows what – popcorn assassins, maybe. In strutted Rod, all attitude, he came up to me and demanded, ‘Is my song ready?’ He ran through ‘Sailing’ a couple of times and stormed straight out again without even a thank you. It was totally unnecessary, especially in front of Clapton and Elton, mates he’d known for twenty years. I know him and Elton have got this camp game, calling each other Elsie and Doris or whatever, maybe it was that, and he was doing it to wind up Elton, but I just thought, What a prat, he’s been in America too long. Tina Turner had been sitting in the audience, watching what was going on for five hours. She didn’t say a dickie bird, just sat there waiting on her turn, the total professional. Was Rod’s entrance a wind-up? I don’t know.”
Midge Ure sums up his job in a truly down-to-earth way, and this approach is seemingly reflected throughout the whole event, including all the people involved (aside from the Rod Stewart ‘incident’). You’d be hard-pressed to find someone arranging the equivalent in this way now and with artists acting this way. Even the group photo looks like a load of mates gathered together after a kickabout in the park.
‘School Photo’ of the majority of the performers, for the Prince’s Trust 1986 Concert, after a rehearsal at the Wimbledon Theatre. Image via https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2024/02/various-artists-princes-trust-rock-gala.html
“Moments like that don’t often happen. I’ve been lucky. Other than Rod the Sod I’ve not been on the receiving end of any rockstar tantrums. Everyone says, ‘Don’t meet your heroes.’ Well, I’ve met most of mine, and I’ve not been disillusioned. They’ve all been good guys, and I haven’t seen the bad side at all. Be it Bowie, Eric, Townshend, Phil Collins, whoever, they’ve all been good, salt-of-the-earth people. Probably it’s because most of them are from serious working-class backgrounds.”
1986
10th Birthday Concert - Wembley Arena - 20th June 1986
House Band
Eric Clapton – guitar / vocals
Mark Knopfler – guitar / vocals
Midge Ure – guitar / vocals
Elton John – piano / vocals
Howard Jones – keyboards / vocals
Mark King – bass
John Illsley – bass
Phil Collins – drums / vocals
Ray Cooper – percussion
Support
Vicki Brown – backing vocals
Samantha Brown – backing vocals
Jimmy Chambers – backing vocals
George Chandler – backing vocals
Jimmy Helms – backing vocals
To celebrate the 10th birthday of The Prince’s Trust, they decided to celebrate with a Rock Gala at Wembley Arena, with Prince Charles & Princess Diana in attendance. I’m sure inspired by the previous year’s Live Aid, alongside the popularity of some of the UK’s best homegrown Rock royalty, it was the perfect way to connect with the public in a relevant way.
As mentioned above, bringing in Midge Ure to lead the house band was an inspired decision. A very happy and free-spirited concert, which undoubtedly comes from having a fellow musician at the helm. The first artists representing new talent, Big Country, Suzanne Vega and Level 42, get a chance to play several songs before switching to Elton John and Phil Collins, performing solo on their own songs, Your Song and In The Air Tonight, respectively. Then the house band joins them: Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Midge Ure, John Illsley, Ray Cooper and Howard Jones, to open up with Tina Turner’s Better Be Good To Me.
Watching this performance, you’re immediately struck by the relatively humble presentation; there’s no U2 level light show and certainly no massive screen with animated visuals or a camera feed - which is a staple of most concerts now. Again, this reflects the down-to-earth approach to the concert. It’s about the musicians and the music. That’s it. No need to dress it up to give the feeling of a performance to the crowd, there actually is one.
From the opening bars, the band feel locked in, and you can hear Clapton’s new Ferrari red Signature Fender Stratocaster tone all over it like a rash, whether during rhythm, fills or solos. Sonically, this sets the tone for the rest of the gig. Aside from the Jagger/Bowie performance, it feels like the band has been playing together for much longer, with a driving rhythm engine propelling it forward.
The camera work is also a sign of the time, with roving cameras on stage, up close to the performers. I love seeing the camera guys scramble around, getting different shots of the performers like panicked roadies. It all adds to the energy and gives a very intimate feel for the home viewer, compared to the natural distance you’d have at Wembley Arena if you were there. You catch all the artist’s interactions, little smiles at each other and what’s going on in the background, making it fun for the viewer and contributing to why these gigs have connected more with audiences than other concerts. (One cameraman near Phil Collins seems to love to spin his camera about, too).
“It’s so nice to have Elton in my backing band, at last!”
Rod Stewart on stage before performing ‘Sailing’ at the 1986 Prince’s Trust Rock Gala in 1986
Full Set List
01. Wonderland - Big Country
02. Fields Of Fire - Big Country
03. Look Away - Big Country
04. Chance - Big Country
05. In a Big Country – Big Country
06. Tom's Diner - Suzanne Vega
07. Cracking - Suzanne Vega
08. Small Blue Thing - Suzanne Vega
09. Marlene On The Wall – Suzanne Vega
10. Lesson In Love - Level 42
11. Leaving Me Now - Level 42
12. Something About You - Level 42
13. Hot Water – Level 42
14. Your Song – Elton John
15. In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins
16. Better Be Good To Me – Tina Turner
17. Tearing Us Apart – Eric Clapton and Tina Turner
18. Call Of The Wild – Midge Ure
19. Money For Nothing – Mark Knopfler, Sting
20. Everytime You Go Away – Paul Young
21. Reach Out – Joan Armatrading
22. No One Is To Blame – Howard Jones
23. Sailing – Rod Stewart
24. I’m Still Standing – Elton John
25. Every Time You Go Away – Paul Young and George Michael
26. I Saw Her Standing There – Paul McCartney
27. Long Tall Sally – Paul McCartney
28. David Bowie & Mick Jagger – Dancing In The Street
29. Get Back – Paul McCartney, Paul Young, Tina Turner And The All-Stars
I love the Level 42 section, floods of nostalgia hearing those tracks, but the musicianship of Mark King is incredible, a slap bass to rule them all, and quite rightly he gets his moment in the sun when he’s subbed on for Dire Straits’ John Illsley after Paul Young’s Every Time You Go Away, to play with the house band for the rest of the gig.
I assume Tina Turner was at this gig due to her recording with Eric Clapton that year on one of his most commercial albums August, on the song, Tearing Us Apart, (which went on to be a concert favourite of Clapton’s for decades). She brings such a joyous energy to the party and changes up the dynamic from a very male group on stage. It’s a very rare live performance of this song with the two of them together. Clapton performed it with Turner on her 1987 tour when she was in London, and there was a cancelled music video in 1986 to accompany the single release (where Turner was unavailable, and an attempt at rescuing the shoot with a lookalike failed), so it’s a standout for Clapton fans to see them perform together.
If you like the song, you should look up any 1992 live gig on YouTube from Clapton where it was an established part of his set at that point and at times, he’ll wander around the stage mid-solo, which is very unlike the usually static Clapton. There is an incredible version below in Hartford ‘92 with a standout moment at 6mins where the band picks up the pace mid EC solo. Headshakes.
The introduction to one of the biggest songs of the 1980s could well take the title for the most understated intro ever. Midge Ure introduces Mark Knopfler and John Illsley to perform, “We’re going to slow things down a wee bit just now, with a very intimate little number”. Whilst setting up the mic, Knopfler says, ‘Nice and gently now, lads’ whilst the mic falls back into his face. When the infamous riff to Money for Nothing starts, Sting walks onto the stage without fanfare or intro. If this was in America, there would’ve been fireworks and pyros! Again, it shows how thoroughly down-to-earth the whole thing was, even painfully so at times. They, of course, perform a great rendition of the song. However, I always feel it’s a shame that if you have Sting there, you should include the extended intro. Just imagine Phil Collins’ drums when the intro builds to its crescendo! It was probably cut down for time reasons, and whilst the concert benefited hugely from its overall lack of over-the-top pomp, one exception here would’ve been amazing.
Just picturing a blacked-out stage, Sting doing his best Enya, Howard Jones on the synths, and Phil going ballistic, just as a single spotlight engulfs the stage, hitting Knopfler in time for the iconic guitar riff.
Some of the same performers have performed it live together on several other occasions. Once more for the Prince’s Trust in 1988, (which we shall get to in another blog post). And famously, in 1997, when Sir George Martin arranged a concert, ‘Music for Montserrat,’ to raise funds for short-term relief to inhabitants after volcanic eruptions left people no choice but to flee the island. Martin’s AIR Studio was situated in Montserrat and served many artists, including Dire Straits, the Police, Rush, Elton John, Michael Jackson, and the Rolling Stones.
Some familiar faces show up to support the cause, many from the ‘Super House Band’ in 1986; Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Midge Ure, Phil Collins, Sting, Elton John, Ray Cooper and Paul McCartney.
I love Knopfler’s intro for Sting (he finally gets his intro), as he tells the audience how Sting came to perform on the song and Clapton, “…and wouldn’t it be good if…yeah let’s have Eric on as well….Because we can!” (They still don’t do the bloody intro, but this is a great version too).
Eric Clapton Guest Solo Section 🎸
Paul Young performed one of his biggest hits, Every Time You Go Away twice on the night, once solo with the band and then again when George Michael appeared backstage, and they hurriedly worked out what song everyone knew.
When introducing George, I love how thoroughly down-to-earth the artists are. Paul’s “Sorry, the bus was late!” and his swooning “It’s great to be here” as the song begins always brings a smile.
As many will know, the original song was written by Daryl Hall in 1980 for the Hall & Oates album Voices, with the Paul Young version produced five years later.
“English singer Paul Young recorded a cover version of the song titled “Every Time You Go Away” for his studio album The Secret of Association in 1985. His cover features a combination of echoed piano, the Yamaha DX7’s “harp” preset, the distinctive fretless bass of Pino Palladino, as well as a Coral electric sitar and a Ovation Spanish acoustic guitar, which were both played by John Turnbull.”
The Paul Young version of the song was requested to be featured for the end sequence in the iconic John Hughes 1987 film Planes, Trains and Automobiles, in a stunning bit of lateral thinking from the suits, the record label denied the request. John Hughes had to use a soundalike, which, whilst it still lands the emotional impact Hughes wanted for this ending, you can’t help but yearn for the quintessential version from Young.
In 2019 Ryan Reynolds posted on Twitter, a tribute to John Candy and added the Paul Young version of the track over the supercut. Paul Young even thanked Reynolds on the thread, voicing his frustrations about that bizarre decision. Link here on Twitter/X
After this, Paul McCartney comes on stage to close the concert, with nearly everyone who had performed on stage before plus guest stars Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi from Status Quo. Only a year before, McCartney performed at Live Aid, which was his first live performance in six years (and since John Lennon was murdered). Whilst Geldof mentioned he was very nervous in the run-up to the Live Aid performance, there seem to be no nerves on display here with two barnstorming performances of I Saw Her Standing There and Long Tall Sally.
“The drive up to Wembley from their house in Rye, I think, he was listening to the show and he got more and more scared on the day.
He comes out on stage and sings ‘When I find myself in trouble’, bang the mic goes down.
He doesn’t quite realise at first, I am at the side of the stage with Bowie, Alison Moyet, Pete Townshend, as you are, and suddenly the crowd start singing it.
If you listen to the actual real soundtrack of Live Aid, the crowd sing it for Paul.
Despite the microphone blip, Paul felt the whole experience was a positive one, and one that encouraged him to dip his toe back into live performance: since 1989, he’s virtually been on tour ever since.”
After a short break for Bowie and Jagger’s performance, we’re back to Macca, and just as Get Back gets going, we see Tina Turner enter the fray in an almost Scorsese-esque cinematic intro. Turner had been performing Get Back as a regular in her live sets for years at this point, so this was a brilliant opportunity to share the stage with McCartney and duet on one of her favourite songs with him.
What follows is a high-energy performance from McCartney, Paul Young and Tina Turner and the full band to close out the concert. Great hearing the different lead vocals from the three of them, and I love the moment around the 1min 40 mark where Tina tells Bryan Adams ‘I got it’ so she can sing solo into that mic.
The 1986 Prince’s Trust Rock Gala found a new way to focus a mainstream, self-contained charity concert. Blending old and new artists alongside a ‘Rock Royalty All Star Band’, there was something for everyone, and for the Royal Family, who are always striving to stay relevant, it served its purpose well. So much so that they followed the same playbook two more times in 1987 and 1988.
Our next two posts will explore the 1987 and 1988 gigs, and then we will look into the cultural factors that led these concerts to even be possible, why they went away, and why something like this will likely never happen again.
(Above) YouTube video of the ‘full show’ from 1986, which doesn’t match the full set list, but matches the DVD release.
(Below) Rare footage of the full brand rehearsing with Paul McCartney at Wembley Arena.
Performers
Selected Links
Midge Ure: If I Was - An Enhanced Updated Autobiography
Albums That Should Exist - 1986 Prince’s Trust (links to all the music too!)
Eric Clapton Tour Archive - 1986
The Prince’s/King’s Trust has a great music page on YouTube with performances from the 1980s to present day.
Written by Robert Waddilove, November 2024
