1. Guitars

My first guitars were several cheapo Spanish acoustics with very severe cheese cutter actions which I obtained on various Spanish holidays. My first electric guitar came from a catalogue and was called a Rave????? - it was crap!

Epiphone FT145 Texan Acoustic

I bought this guitar in 1974 - again from a catalogue but this one is a beauty. Not a particularly low action but a lovely rich tone. It had its head knocked off in the late seventies and a homemade repair job was done on it - its not pretty but it works.

Columbus Les Paul Copy

This was black and wasn't that bad except that it only had weedy single pole pickups. I bought it in 1975 and it was on this guitar and the Epiphone that I really learnt to play. I swapped it for a homemade distortion pedal in 1976/77.

Gibson L6S

I`ve had my Gibson L6S since 1976 when it cost me £325 from Ivor Maraints in London.I was actually after a Les Paul Gold Top (Mick Ronson used to play one!) - but I couldn't get the finance for one! People who have played the L6S include Mike Oldfield & Carlos Santana.It has a rich bluesy sound, a superfast fretboard and in my view it is a much underated guitar. Mine has had the head knocked off twice. The first time it was fixed by Norlin (then importers of Gibson's into the UK). The second time I found an ad in a local music shop - it said "GUITAR REPAIRS - CONTACT TONY" , it gave a telephone number which I duly rang and arranged a meeting. The address was in the Medway area and I arrived hot foot with my broken axe. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Tony was in fact the TONY ZEMAITIS - guitar maker to the rich and famous, including Eric Clapton, Ron Wood etc. He was such a nice bloke, showing me loads of guitars he was making, an aeroplane he was building in his garage and his wife played with my eldest son, Leslie, who was then only 4 years old. He fixed my L6S and what did he charge me? - £7 - unbelievable!

Aria Pro II Les Paul

I bought this in 1979 and it has been underused. I sold it to Pic in 1982 and bought it back off him in 1989. He had adjusted the truss rod so tight that the varnish on the neck was cracking and the top E string had an annoying habit of falling off the edge of the fretboard and catching under the lip of the edge of an over prominent fret. This was quite novel when playing live because anything I was playing at the time was accompanied by a high pitch scream! The problem is now fixed and to be honest this is a nice guitar with a low action and powerful pickups - (more powerful than the L6S).

Encore ENC2BL Round Backed Acoustic

I can't remember when I bought this guitar, but I think it must have been around 1980. It is surprisingly good - I think it cost me around £150. Its tone is quite light and not as rich as the Epiphone's but it is a nice guitar.

Fender Squier Strat

I bought this in Eric's in Maidstone in 1988 and it is a brilliant guitar. It has a clear tone and a good action and best suited to rythmn work . The only problem I found was with the pickups when playing lead at very high volume - the sound tends to break up.

BANDS & PERSONNEL

1976 - The Bax Band

Vocals: Ian Hatch

Guitars: Rich Bore, Les Cadwallader

Bass: Dave Cummins

Keyboards: Greg Palmer

Drums: Graham McGarrick

This band played mostly covers by Barclay James Harvest, Bad Company, Led Zepelin & Free.

1976 ... 1981 - Bureau De Change

Guitar & Vocals: Les Cadwallader

Bass & Vocals: Pic Hayes

Drums & Vocals: Graham McGarrick

Guitar: Steve Maggs

This band played a lot of original stuff written by myself, Pic & Graham. We also did covers by Bowie, Be Bop Deluxe, Thin Lizzie & The Cars.

1986 ... 1989 - All About Blondes

Vocals: Fiona Window

Bass & Vocals: Pic Hayes

Guitar: Les Cadwallader

Drums: Graham McGarrick

Keyboards: Martin Haynes

This band played original stuff written by myself & Pic and we did reuse songs that we had done in Bureau. We also did covers by Bowie, Prince & Pre Fab Sprout and even Like A Virgin by Madonna.

1989 ... 1992 - The Argonauts (as The Crash Dolphins in 1992)

Vocals & Guitar: Paul Lawrence

Bass: Pic Hayes

Guitar: Les Cadwallader

Drums: Jim Sedge (Ian Gaute as the Crash Dolphins)

This Band played original stuff by Paul, standard blues covers and an anarchic finale of Roxy Music's Remake Remodel.

1992 ... 1995 - The Beatroots

Vocals & Bass: Paul Lawrence

Guitar & Backing Vocals: Les Cadwallader

Drums: Ian Gaute

This Band played original stuff by Paul and covers by The Jam, Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, Sham 69, and Remake Remodel again!

At present I'm not playing in a band - but we shall see!

FAVOURITES

Guitarists: Mick Ronson, Bill Nelson, Nils lofgren - and I like the bloke out of Radiohead - but I can't remember his name!

Guitar Solos: Moonage Daydream (Mick Ronson) & Crying To The Sky (Bill Nelson)

Singles: 1.) Starman - Bowie 2.) Living By Numbers - New Musik 3.) High & Dry - Radiohead 4.) Summer Breeze - Isley Brothers 5.) Maid In Heaven - Be Bop Deluxe.