A much-loved staple of the UK rock circuit since 1984, Quireboys singer Spike is currently playing unplugged shows under the banner Off The Record: Stories From A Life In Rock ’N’ Roll. You might be surprised that he also plays some guitar, although readily he admits that he’s “shit”.
You began doing these storyteller gigs after the first covid lockdown, in early 2020.
Yeah. I played on the Thursday that we went into lockdown, when there was waitress service. I really enjoy them. I don’t know whether anyone knew I play the guitar – even though I’m shit. When we started the Quireboys I was a guitarist, but when I broke a string in rehearsal Guy [Bailey, guitarist] told me to try singing, I went: “Woaaaaahhh” [impersonates himself], and I never went back. I sometimes wonder what might have happened had I not broken that string.
Article continues belowHow many of these shows have you done?
Oh, a couple of hundred. It began as me playing songs like Darlin’ [Frankie Miller], Pearl’s A Singer [Elkie Brooks], Streets Of London [Ralph McTell] and You Can’t Always Get What You Want [Rolling Stones], plus some Quireboys stuff, talking and having a bit of a laugh, and the whole thing just grew and grew.
How much of what you say or play is worked out in advance?
There’s a list of around twenty-five songs, and to this day I’ve never stuck to it. It’s like a comfort blanket [laughs]. With the banter from the audience, as soon as I walk on it’s like being in the pub with the lads. Someone shouts something and a lightbulb goes off in my head. Last week there was a gig where I didn’t play a song for fifteen minutes.
What’s on your backstage rider?
I’ve always drunk Strongbow cider, but for the past few gigs I’ve gone back to Newcastle Brown Ale. I can’t handle spirits any more.
At certain shows, Del Bromham from Stray joins you. With the impressions he does and his own gags, you make quite a double act.
That began by accident when we played at The Carlisle in Hastings and I broke guitar strings again, in the second song. Without knowing the set, Del [who was special guest] got up and followed me the whole way through. He’s a fucking incredible guitarist. Del is also great at impersonations, he does Kenneth Williams, Mick [Jagger] and Keith [Richards].
At that same Hastings show, you recalled how Guy Bailey bought a retired police sniffer dog because he kept forgetting where he’d hidden his drugs.
That’s true. It just popped into my head. I’ve got a million stories about Guy [who died in 2023 following a long illness] but some are too rough to tell. I miss him every day.
Do you sometimes wake up the following morning and think: “Did I really say that?”
[Nodding solemnly] Always. And I apologise to the audience for my shit guitar playing. I only know two or three chords, it’s all about trying to get them in the right order. At one gig, I said that for every mistake I made I would put a fiver in the charity jar. I won’t be doing that again.
After releasing the Wardour Street album in 2024, what’s happening with the Quireboys?
Luke [Morley] and I have already got together [to write songs]. All of us have stuff going on. Luke is touring with [the reunited] Little Angels in November, I’m doing some Hot Knives gigs with Tyla [of the Dogs D’Amour], and in June I’ll be at a show at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club [in London] with Thirsty, Guy Bailey’s old band. But there will definitely be a new Quireboys record.
Spike is currently on the Off The Record: Stories From A Life In Rock ’N’ Roll tour. Shows with Hot Knives & Tyla's Dogs D'amour begin in May. For dates and tickets, visit Spike's website.
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