Being (as it undoubtedly was) a movement of renewal in the realm of metal (not only in the UK, but also highly influential all over Europe and beyond), it's only natural that the whole NWOBHM phenomenon got strongly associated with youthful bands and musicians, many (if not most) of them being still adolescents when the acts they got known for first plugged in their instruments. Let's face it, much of NWOBHM's charm has to do with a certain sense of naivety, with kids that had high dreams of heavy rock stardom while still pretty much figuring out what being in a band was all about. But there's another side to the NWOBHM thing, you know: not only it was a call for thousands of young hopefuls to join the fun, it also served as something of a guiding light for many experienced musicians who were struggling to survive in the clubs and pubs and had little idea on what to do next. I mean, it's no mystery that bands like Saxon, Quartz and Demon were doing the rounds (sometimes in slightly different form) for quite a while before the dam begin to burst (some particular cases of reinvention, like Rage/Nutz, being quite extreme), and it's also well-known history how groups like Judas Priest, Budgie, Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep (to name a few) took the opportunity to reinvent/modernize their sound, with varying degrees of success. But there's surely a lot left to be said about hundreds (if not thousands) of musicians who, after spending years playing as small-crowd pleasers, had little (if any) hope to ever make it big - and, when the NWOBHM explosion started happening around them, felt they had found a new lifeblood, or at least something worth giving a try. Hailing from South Wales, Hoggs was surely one of such cases: not a bunch of hopefuls still not a day over twenty, but rather an assemble of reasonably experienced small-club stalwarts, trying to get a good thing going along with the kids. Oh well, they didn't make it as further as they would probably have liked, but still their "See it Now" 7'' single from 1980 is a decent addition to the collection of any NWOBHM aficionado, so I think the effort of dropping a few lines about them is more than justified. And make yourself comfortable, as there's quite a lot to be said, actually...
In fact, the roots of the outfit in question can be traced way back into the early 1970's, when vocalist Richie Galloni first joined the band Quest - his first collaboration with Myfyr Isaac, who would later have a level of involvement with the far more well-known Budgie. This particular act (something of an offshoot from an even earlier ensemble named Smokestack) would later reinforce the Budgie connection, as drummer Steve Williams joined the ranks for a while before having a significant run as Budgie's sticksman - and calling Isaac to join him there, which pretty much signaled the end of Quest. There's a missing bridge between Quest and Richie Galloni's presence in the James Hogg Band (a group that, incidentally, I'm quite sure has never featured a member named James Hogg at all), but I guess he was doing the rounds with minor local outfits in the meantime, bands whose names are now lost in the mists of time.
Roughly at the same time, the James Hogg Band were cutting their teeth in the Wales rock club scene, delivering a brand of fairly typical (but still very solid) blues rock. The group's origins trace back to 1970, under the name Wedgwood Blues, and they received a modicum of local attention while running under the guise of Haverson’s Apricot, though they opted to change their moniker again in the latter months of 1971. The original line-up would consist of Rob Ashong (V), Gregg Harris (G), Phil Davies (B, later to join the Welsh prog rockers Quicksand) and Paul Lyddon (D), soon to be substituted by John Lloyd. When Davies left, it seems that Ashong simply took all bass duties to himself, turning the band into a functional 3-piece. I'll only mention such items briefly, as dropping full reviews of each would be time-consuming and of little interest for the purposes of this blog, but no less than three singles were released by this particular bunch, namely "Lovely Lady Rock" (c/w "Happy Sad", 1972), "California Blues" (c/w "Everybody Smile", 1973) and "Gotta Be a Winner" (yeah, that one from The Casuals, also with "Everybody Smile" as the B side, 1973), all issued by Regal Zonophone. Curiously, only the last release bears the full James Hogg Band name in its labels, the first two slices of vinyl being credited as a more functional James Hogg - and don't ask me the reasons for such a decision, as I honest don't have a clue. As a bit of moonlighting, the lads would also lend a hand to Welsh-singing folk vocalist Heather Jones, acting as a backing band in her "Pan Ddaw'r Dydd" (1972) EP as well as the "Mae'r Olwyn Yn Troi" full-length from 1974.
The James Hogg Band seems to have disbanded in the final days of 1974, after a short-lived attempt to reinvent themselves as a 4-piece, with a new bass player named Geoff Stokes and Rob Ashong assuming the slide guitar instead. Things get quite obscure from this point onwards, and I'm not 100% sure I'm tying the loose ends correctly, but it seems that a James Hogg Band reunion took place in the late 1970s (most probably in 1978, though I can easily be wrong on this), centered around Harris and Lloyd and with Galloni agreeing to join as a new vocalist. Some natural line-up changes happened along the way, and by 1979 the trio would be augmented by Robert Margertson (G) and Steve Taylor (B, and not the guy from The Cigarettes, incidentally). And that's when the 5-piece decided to leave the James Hogg Band soubriquet behind for good, in order to reinvent themselves as a more hard-hitting, forceful heavy rock proposition - though they also didn't wanted to complete alienate their former fanbase, thus the rechristening as Hoggs (not the strongest band name ever, but nevermind).
Now, I have something very informative to tell you. Though the flipside is named as "Time on the Line" both in the label and the sleeve, it transpires that we were wronged about it for all these years, and this is not the name of the track after all! After some investigation, I'm positive the name of the song is actually "Worst Kind of Woman" - a kinda baffling revelation that was only made possible because a few individuals who happened to follow the band's fortunes way back in the 1970's remembered the track from live performances. It's hard to explain how the song came to be miscredited in such a bizarre manner, but it seems that Hoggs did have a self-penned number named "Time on the Line" after all, so it's reasonable to assume they recorded three or more tracks, opting to use "Time on the Line" (hence the name being used on the final product) but mastering and pressing the vinyl with "Worst Kind of Woman" instead by mistake. Whatever the case, the song itself is a very mellow ballad with languid instrumentation and heartfelt (if rather mundane) lyrics about an aching heart. It gets a bit more intense towards the end, and with a very busy guitar solo too, so it's at least more interesting and lively than similar ballads some heavy rock bands from the era opted to employ as B-sides. Maybe it was a well-received tearjerker when Hoggs played it on small pubs in and around their original area, but I'm strongly inclined to think that a more intense, heavy rocking number would have been a far better choice when it comes to conquer new fans - and who knows, maybe the original choice was indeed a more lively and hard-hitting number after all?
All things considered, this humble 7'' is a decent addition for any expanding NWOBHM collection, though most of us are unlikely to be willing to spend silly amounts of money to get it. This piece of vinyl exposure wasn't enough to change Hoggs' fortunes in any decisive manner though, and it seems the group didn't really last the distance after its sole single release, being safe to assume they were no longer active long before the half of the 80s. Most members seem to have moved away from the music scene in later years, though some pretty similar names may cause a bit of confusion (drummer John Lloyd, for instance, may or may not be the same guy who recorded for Australian groups like Icehouse and High Rise Bombers, as timelines roughly fit and such migrations were hardly an uncommon occurence at the time). At present, only Richie Galloni's late fortunes can be retold with reasonable certainty, as he contributed with the revived Sassafras and is still very much involved with blues/prog rockers Son of Man, these being but a few highlights on an eventful career that is still going strong to this day.
Richie Galloni (V), Gregg Harris (G), Robert Margertson (G), Steve Taylor (B), John Lloyd (D).
01. See it Now
02. Worst Kind of Woman (miscredited as "Time on The Line")
Have you been involved with any of the bands mentioned here? Have any extra info and/or corrections? Please e-mail me at drequon@gmail.com and let me know!
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