KEN WOOD AND THE MIXERS
It's time to introduce the band...
Now's the chance to settle that old pub argument about who's your favourite Mixer, with eye-popping pics and pithy pen portraits of the boys in the band. You'll notice that they are all hideously ugly except one (and we all know which one that is)
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Different Bob
Bass, vocals, drums
aka Rob Mulliss
Bob's a multi-talented musical all-rounder - a kind of 'ten of all trades'. His pounding bass is the driving force behind the Mixers' barnstorming beat (when he remembers to play it).
But he's equally happy on drums or vocals, and he's written some of our finest self-penned numbers. Who could forget pop classics like Planet of Love, Soul Lady or One Love? (actually - come to think of it - even we forget them sometimes, often in mid-song)
Darth Whirlpool
Drums
Possibly the greatest drummer ever to come out of South Shields - well, certainly in the top 500 - Darth has to be the fastest thing on four skins. Hell, the rest of us can hardly keep up. Darth is a high-tech wizard, and he can programme his space-age electronic kit to reproduce hundreds of different sounds - including, occasionally, the sound of a drum kit.
aka Garry Craig
Wayne Fury
Sax
The sultan of the saxophone - Wayne's stage act is a kama sutra of the sax, playing in every conceivable position (including upside down). Wayne started as the Mixers' drummer, but after buying his first sax from a broken shop in 1981 progressed via a period of pregnant Walrus imitations to the blazing alto and tenor maestro we know today
aka Steve Brown
Rex Everything
Trombone
One unforgettable third of the Fabulous Flatulations, the Mixers' cacophonous horn section.
Rex combines trombone virtuosity - at times being almost in tune - with eccentric techno wizardry and consummate showmanship, including his trademark juggling with three balled pairs of socks.
aka Andy Biller
Rex Everything
Guitar, vocals
aka Peter Clarke
Guitar hero Ketch has been twanging his G string with the Mixers since answering an ad in the Nottingham branch of Selectadisc in 1980. Hearts melt when the moody, mellifluous and magnificent Ketch steps up to the microphone to take lead vocal, and invites the ladies to turn up his Canon Gas Miser. Well, they did in 1982, anyway.
Captain Ketch
Kenneth B Woode
Vocals, harmonica
Objects demolished by Ken's whirling dervish frontman style over the years include beer glasses, light fittings, mike stands, an entire stage and memorably - a 72 gallon beer barrel. Ken has turned his hand - very badly - to guitar, slide guitar, harp, vocal, drums and (very, very badly) even fiddle over the years. Is now not allowed near anything bigger than a harmonica
aka Tony Berry
Franklyn J Peel
Guitar, keyboard
7ft7, 7st7 of maniacal, towering guitar assault, Franklyn is the closest the Mixers have come to a bona fide, borderline-crazy genius (still not very close - ed). After 25 years away perfecting his gangle as a Long Tall Texan , the hot news is that Franklyn is BACK - and he's still crazy after all these years...
Special guests...
David Brown
Bass
Stix River
Bass, drums, keyboard, guitar, vocals
Marcus Blitz
Trumpet
Trumpet sensation Marcus Blitz is the latest addition to the Mixer line-up.
