Luxound Deluxe

When we last left The Killjoys story the following was in progress with the band beginning to disintegrate. Drummer Bob Peach takes up the story about how they became Luxound Deluxe.

Bob Peach Me, Mark and Gil had decided to put another project together, I think we all felt the Killjoys were going to end soon, and started rehearsing on our days off.

Putting Luxound Deluxe together after the Killjoys was an absolute breath of fresh air. We were called Alternating and then Out Of Nowhere during the 18 months or so the band were together, before settling with Luxound Deluxe. Me, Mark and Gil rehearsed every day in Mark’s garage for weeks before deciding we needed to get some of the songs recorded, so we went back Spaceward Studios in Cambridge, (where The Killjoys had recorded Johnny, and where the previous band I had been in Supanova had also recorded some demos in 1977).

It was 24th June 1978 and we recorded 4 tracks – Dancing for Someone Else, Five Years Ago, Well are you Joking, and the brilliant Vermillion Sands. We had a sax player Aiden, Dave Plested did the vocal and Mick Billingham (who went on to play with Dexy’s Mk 2) played Keyboards. I think this demo went a long way to getting us a management deal with Will Sproul (I think the spellings right) who managed Ronnie Scott’s in London at the time. A few gigs followed and we decided we needed a permanent keyboard player and recruited Pete Lee from a band called Oberon, and the line up was complete.

We then started to gig around the country as well as London. I remember our first Marquee gig the van breaking down just outside London and there was about ten of us in the back so we all had to walk off the M1 to the nearest tube to get to the gig, and the gear turned up literally ten minute’s before we were due to go on.

We were then put us into Pye recording studios in Nov 78 for more demos, Nights With The Boys, and Five Years Ago. We also did a video for Five Years Ago, but I don’t remember seeing the finished cut, more gigs. Even Lemmy started to come to some of the London gigs, the ones he could get into that is. I understand from a press cutting he couldn’t get into the Rock Garden to see us one night.

Mark and Gill got to know him quite well, but after recording more demos in Aldershot in Dec 79 (Sister Sister, In Love With Yesterday, and Dance With Me) we all got the feeling the band was nearing the end. After a few more gigs Aiden decided to move back to Somerset and the band just seemed to fall apart. Mark and Gill wanted to move to London and I decided to leave.

I think maybe Lemmy played a big part in Gill joining Girlschool with Motorhead being on the same label. It was at this point I lost touch with all the band.

I just want to say it was an absolute pleasure playing in this band, and if you read this Mark I hope I got most of it right.

Bob Peach 12/12/08

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