JEFF SEOPARDIE info


Jeff Seopardie (drums)

Prolific drummer, he can be found in many albums by different artists.

First band I know by him is called Freddie Mac's Extravaganza:

Freddie Mac (vocals)
Carl Douglas (vocals)
Mick Clarke (guitar)
Jeff Seopardie (drums)
+ others unknown to me. Help!
Carl Douglas later joined Gonzalez (with Chris Mercer), and Clarke and Seopardie formed a new band, called Orang Utan:
Nobby Clark (vocals)
Mick Clarke (guitar)
Paul Roberts (bass)
Jeff Seopardie (drums)
+ others unknown to me. Help!
They recorded a self-titled album in 1970, Orang Utan.

In 1973-74, he toured with The Foundations, but I can't find info about the lineups. Can anybody help me here, please?

During 1974-75, he worked briefly with great singer Carol Grimes, but again, I can't find proper info.

In October 1974, he joins singer Pete Atkin backing band:

Pete Atkins (vocals, keyboards, guitar)
Neil Campbell (guitar)
Dick Levens (bass)
Jeff Seopardie (drums)
They toured during October and November 1974, opening for famed jazz-fusion band Isotope, led by guitar virtuoso Gary Boyle. Some months later, in mid 1975, Jeff is asked to join Isotope, in order to augment their live potential:
Gary Boyle (guitar)
Hugh Hopper (bass)
Laurence Scott (keyboards)
Nigel Morris (drums)
Jeff Seopardie (drums)
Aureo De Souza (percussion)
In December 1975, Laurence Scott left them, being replaced by Frank Roberts:
Gary Boyle (guitar)
Hugh Hopper (bass)
Frank Roberts (keyboards)
Nigel Morris (drums)
Jeff Seopardie (drums)
Aureo De Souza (percussion)
But the lineup collapsed very soon, when Hugh Hopper left too. Gary Boyle kept on with the band, using new members.

Jeff also backed the great Linda Lewis in some concerts in October 1975:

Linda Lewis (vocals)
Jim Cregan (guitar)
Phil Chen (bass)
Derek Austin (keyboards)
Steve Gregory (sax)
Jeff Seopardie (drums)
Darryl Lee Que (percussion)
Domino (backing vocals)
In January 1976, he joins fantastic band Brand X, as percussionist:
John Goodsall (guitar)
Percy Jones (bass)
Robin Lumley (keyboards)
Phil Collins (drums)
Morris Pert (percussion)
Jeff Seopardie (percussion)
He plays some gigs with the band, but soon leaves, even before the sessions for their first album were arranged.

Around 1977, he joins Pacific Eardrum:

Joy Yates (vocals)
Isaac Guillory (guitar)
Billy Kristian (bass)
Dave MacRae (keyboards)
Brian Smith (sax, flute, clarinet)
Jim Cuomo (sax)
Jeff Seopardie (drums)
They released two albums: Pacific Eardrum in 1977 (with help from Morris Pert on percussion) and Beyond panic in 1978 (with Simon Norton on percussion).

In 1978, he joins a studio project by Pete Brown (from Piblokto! and Battered Ornaments fame), called Ray Gammond And The Interoceters (talk about weird names!!):

Those recordings weren't released until several years later, in 1984, as part of the Party in the rain album.

In 1984, we find Geoff playing in Chris Rea band:

Around 1985, he joins a reformed Sad Cafe, led by the late, missed Paul Young. A new album, Politics of existing, is recorded in 1985. A new lineup is completed for a tour promoting it (most of them, including Jeff, had played in the sessions): His next project was the band Boys Don't Cry. Mostly a joint project with singer Nick Richards, they had a very good live lineup: They released several albums, having a big hit with the song 'I wanna be a cowboy' (this song was later used in the soundtrack for the movie 'The last boy scout', starring Bruce Willis). This song has been fresh news recently, as Seopardie / Chatton / Ramsden & Richards have sued Kid Rock for plagiarism on his song 'Cowboy', as it's supposed he has copied their song.

And then, I have a big gap in Jeff's career. Any help would be very appreciated.

In the meantime, he also played in Barbara Dixon's band, but I don't have more details.

He also played with Tam White in his big band, called The Celtic Groove Connection:

I STILL NEED TO CHECK IF JEFF appears in Tam White's album Blue eccentricity.

In the late 90s, he has been playing with rock'n'roll living legend Chuck Berry. This was his backing band in year 1997:

In 1998, GE Roberts is replaced by Jim Marsala: This lineup has been (surprisingly for Chuck) stable until this year 2002, as far as I know.


QUESTIONS:

1. He probably made some more sessions with Rod Argent during 1975/76. Has anybody additional info about it?

2. Was he a member of Cayenne, or maybe he just played in the album as sessionman?
 


Albums with Orang Utan: Albums with Pete Atkin: Albums with Gary Boyle: Albums with Pacific Eardrum: Albums with Sad Cafe: Albums with Chris Rea: Albums with Boys Don't Cry: Albums with Tam White: Sessions:
Related links:

Thanks section

Thanks to: Jeremy Havard, for info on The Foundations and Carol Grimes gigs.

If you can contribute (with additions, corrections, opinions, etc.), please, send me an e-mail message at mterol@myrealbox.com

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Page created by Miguel Terol on: 29/May/2002. First published on: xx/xx/xx. Last modified on: 20/January/2004.
(This page is part of The Musicians' Olympus)