Que Bono live at The Derby Hall 1981
Appearing on the same night as The Chameleons in early 1981 were post-punk band Que Bono. It just so happens that one of the biggest troves of old photos is of Que Bono – in a bunch of negatives from close friend Martin Mackenzie.
Que Bono performing live at Gigs Live Music Club, at The Derby Hall, 1981.
Line-up for the Derby Hall: Jane Devine (vocals), Alan Maskell (guitar), Simon Hall (bass), Pete Mulvihill (drums)
One of the things l try to impress upon people when talking about Gigs Live Music Club isn’t the bands who played and went on to greater things, it’s the ones who should have gone onto greater things but didn’t quite make it.
Qué Bono were one of those bands that never quite broke through nationally but played blinding sets and developed a strong local following A post-punk outfit from Greater Manchester, they were right in the thick of Bury and Manchester's early alternative scene in the 1980s, and they built up a strong following along the way. They even bagged a John Peel Session and toured pretty around Germany before calling it a day in 1982/83.
The Peel Session came about in an unlikely way. Their demo tape apparently made its way to John Peel himself via, of all people, Liverpool FC legend Kenny Dalglish — who passed it straight to the Peel. A BBC Radio 1 session followed.
Live, they were a lot of fun – all energy. In 1981 they put out a 7" punk single called Making Noise on a UK label.
When they split, the members went on to form a couple of new acts. Guitarist Alan Maskell formed Pressure (1981–83), which signed to Canada's Harbor Records. Jane Devine and Peter Mulvihill teamed up with Pete Barratt to form The D-Notes (1982–85), managed by none other than a young Mark Radcliffe.
Not for a band many people have never heard of.
As with The Chameleons photos, there is a slight wrinkle, in that I can't positively identify the date of the gig. I do know that Que Bono and The Chameleons performed on the same night, and according to the Concert Archives website the date for this is 18 August 1981. The problem with this date is that I have printed contemporaneous evidence showing Private Dicks/Pete Nick and Colin Hesketh performing on that night – so I think it's the wrong date for The Chameleons/Que Bono.
The neg bag itself is marked February 1981, and the accompanying negs have other gigs from around that time, so this is more likely – and there's no reason they couldn't have performed more than once in a year; quite a few of the regular bands did.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has evidence of the date of The Chameleons/Que Bono gig.
