Appendix Part One

Appendix Part One were a Penge based blues band, that had become well known in clubs in and around the district and had built up a large following.

The line up consisted of Bill Leisagang (lead guitar); Neil Holmes (lead vocals); Al Lovelock (bass) and Rob Jackson (drums). The band had originally met at The Drum Youth Club and had been formed at Al Lovelock’s house in Pelham Road Penge.

The band had played at the Three Tuns in the past and were well known to The Arts Lab. Appendix had never played with any of the other artists before despite many of the other bands being drawn from the local area.  They knew that the gig was going to be good but like many did not get paid for their performance. It was Bowie who booked them for the gig with couple of weeks notice.

Bill Leisagang said "it was a magnificent era to be in as a teenager. The festival was a precursor to all the big Rock Festivals that were to happen in the UK and Europe. There were no dressing rooms just a grassy field, but it was lovely weather. I had just hitch-hiked all the way from Bristol with my guitar and Marshall Sup fuzz pedal and did not have a change of clothes, my 28" crushed velvet flares split when we got off stage. It was festival chaos and Bowie struggled to keep organised, he was announcing, performing and roade-ing simultaneously. We just turned up on stage and Bowie plugged me into an AC30 and introduced us to the crowd as "Miscarriage", which was going to be our new name. There was no sound check. We had our own kit as Jacko was an early adopter of double bass drums. We had a slot about midway into the concert and took the stage to a great reception launching into Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love; other notable tracks included John Mayall’s Stumble, Hideaway by Freddie king and Hendrix’s Hey Joe. I think Cumus and Gun Hill were on before us, I knew some of Gun Hill because they went to Beckenham and Penge Grammar School. Our biggest gigs until then was The Drum in Penge, The Dragon in Beckenham, Exchange in Bristol and The Star in Croydon".

Why the name Appendix Part One? "IT was from an English school text book in those days psychedelia was fashionable, and we just looked at random words for inspiration, it just had to sound weird and be memorable.
I had a band called Black Box Philosophy when I was 13. We won a talent competition at the Drum Club, and Al was in the runners up and asked if I wanted to form a blues band. We then discovered John Mayall, Hendrix and Cream and rehearsed every day for hours. I still know all those Cream and Hendrix solos off by heart! We used to play regularly in clubs and used to push the equipment down the street as we were to young to drive. I had to keep all this rock band stuff from my parents, who wouldn't approve!"

"Another anecdote; A few weeks after the BFF David had been off the scene, there was a report that he had been seen at the Prompt Corner cafe in Beckenham in women's clothes or something like that! A week later I had a call from Neil Holmes saying David wanted to see me regarding a new band he was in the process of forming. I got on the back of Neil's rusty moped and headed off towards Haddon Hall. This was very plush compared to the last pad he had. I assumed he must have had some advance from a Record company. David mentioned me getting involved with a project involving a girl guitarist and Tony Visconti. There was some mention of wearing female clothes. It must have been the catalyst for The Spiders from Mars! Needless to say I made a BAD career move, and turned it down (not because of the dressing up, but because I was just starting at college in Bristol, which was 90 miles away. needless to say I never completed the course!!"

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