JOHN CAMBRIDGE info



John Cambridge (drums)

He played with Mick Wayne in The Hullaballoos (1965) and Gonx. He later was in a band called ABC. He joined The Rats in October 1967.

Benny Marshall (vocals)
Mick Ronson (guitar)
Geoff Appleby (bass)
John Cambridge (drums)
They recorded some tracks that became unreleased until many years later, when a CD has appeared under the band's name: The rise and fall of Bernie Gripplestone and The Rats from Hull. It also includes some tracks they recorded with a pseudonym (under the name Treacle, with a different bassist: Keith 'Ched' Chessman), plus 3 new tracks recorded in 1998.

He left The Rats in 1969, to join Junior's Eyes:

(Junior's Eyes: from left to right: John Lodge, John Cambridge, Mick Wayne, Tim Renwick, Graham Kelly)

Other members of the band were John Redfern and Steve Chapman.

They released one album, Battersea power station, full of progressive music, but their most famous contribution was playing (Wayne, Renwick and Cambridge) in David Bowie's famous album, Space Oddity, because Tony Visconti was the producer for both acts.

After the lack of success of Junior's Eyes, part of the band was asked to back David Bowie for live concerts. The first known lineup is:

They recorded some sessions for the BBC in 1969 under the name David Bowie & Junior's Eyes. Soon later, they turned into The Hype, with John Cambridge suggesting his old bandmate in The Rats, Mick Ronson to join the band.. What a killer 3-piece guitar team!

In just one month, John Cambridge left the band, being replaced by the great one Mick 'Woody' Woodmansey (another ex-member of The Rats).

But after a short period, Wayne and Renwick left the band.

This period is quite unclear. Not long ago, it was announced an album with BBC sessions, and there is a track credited to David Bowie & The Hype, recorded in 1970, with this lineup (not including Tim Renwick): David Bowie (vocals, guitar), Mick Ronson (guitar), Tony Visconti (bass), John Cambridge (drums).
 

Finally, after many years circulating in numerous bootleg albums, some of the Bowie BBC recordings have been officially released in year 2000. Bowie at the Beeb is a 2CD comprising 37 tracks recorded for the BBC between 1968 and 1972. Magnificent album, it was about time it was available to everybody! We can hear the best Bowie, and Mick Ronson never sounded better to me! The album contains two tracks recorded by Bowie with Junior's Eyes on 20/October/1969: 'Let me sleep beside you' and 'Janine'. The lineup is:

Other musicians featured in the album: Tony Visconti, Barry Morgan, Alan Hawkshaw, Tony Visconti, Steve Peregrine Took, Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder, Mick Woodmansey, and the lovely Dana Gillespie, among others.

By the way, the first edition of this album includes a 3rd bonus disk with a Bowie live concert from June/2000 (with the great Earl Slick).

He also played in a 'phantom band', called Dib Cochran & The Earwigs. Under this name, we can find Marc Bolan backed by some Bowie musicians:

Tony Visconti (vocals)
Marc Bolan (guitar)
Rick Wakeman (keyboards)
John Cambridge (drums)
This unusual outfit only recorded one single: 'Oh baby / Universal love' (Aug 70).

He can be found in two of David Bowie early albums: Space Oddity (1969), and The man who sold the world (1970). He was playing in some other bands after leaving The Hype. In 1973, there was a try of forming a band with ex-Bowie bandmates: John Hutchinson, Trevor Bolder (bass), John Cambridge and Mick 'Woody' Woodmansey, but they finally decided not to keep together. Some other later bands were Mandrakes and It's Easy.


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Page created by Miguel Terol on: 17/August/1999. Last modified on: 04/October/2000.