Latest news with #PeteWaterman
ITV News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ITV News
The era that never evolved: Pete Waterman gives his verdict on Black Sabbath and E.L.O's legacy
As rock giants Black Sabbath and E.L.O prepare for their last ever concerts, Pete Waterman wonders why Birmingham didn't become a major music hub. The two bands will both perform for one last time in the city this weekend. Some of their biggest fans won't have witnessed the rise of their bands more closely than the vastly-successful record producer and TV personality, Pete Waterman. The former Pop Idol judge knew members from both bands since the 1970s, when he bumped into them regularly doing gigs around the West Midlands. Black Sabbath are led by their frontman Ozzy Osbourne, and E.L.O are headed by Jeff Lynne, but it was actually the latter who wowed Waterman first. He said: "I always knew Jeff was an exceptional talent. I was there at the Locarno Ballroom in Coventry that night when Roy Wood turned up to form E.L.O. I was there at the very beginning. "Everybody knew Ozzy, I used to do the Robin Hood club in Brierley Hill and he was a legend in that part of the world as well. "It's hard to put into perspective what they've both achieved in the last 50 years, but it's amazing." Despite the band's distinctive tones, neither band's success translated into a definitive sound for the bands that followed, according to Waterman. He said: "It's funny, but it [their success] never spurred the rush that Liverpool or Manchester had. "There was never that urgency for groups in the West Midlands to emulate the success those cities had. "There was obviously Boy George. There were lots of great bands and if you add in Led Zeppellin (Robert Plant), the success the Midlands had individually outweighed other areas, there was never the collective movement. "You don't hear people talk about 'the Birmingham sound'." Their final gigs taking place this weekend and are a testament to the band's longevity, but also their success. He said: "Two individuals who are absolutely brilliant and unique at their job. Time doesn't change that. People who are brilliant at something don't just not become brilliant at something. "The E.L.O situation. Out of the Blue is one of the outstanding albums of all time. Jeff Lynne could've been in The Beatles any time he would have wanted to have been." The lack of a "Birmingham sound" could be made-up for by the two bands. As Pete puts it, their upbringing in the West Midlands was prominent throughout their music. He said: "Jeff Lynne, you can see my childhood, our working class families, how they were brought up, what they listened to on the radio. It was a unique place to be born. "The West Midlands is quite unique, it was at the end of the war. "We saw it [West Midlands] at the end of the war when it was pretty run down. People were working Saturday mornings. "Music was part of our lives, it was the one thing that was important to us."
Times
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Wilko Johnson — such a guitar hero, he's getting a train named after him
H ow many rock stars have had trains named after them? An engine bearing the name of Pete Waterman — of Stock, Aitken, Waterman fame and more a producer than a rock star — was unveiled at Crewe station last year. But apart from him the answer is none. Until now. On Monday morning the Wilko Express will be unveiled by the train operating company c2c in honour of Wilko Johnson, one of the founders of the 1970s band Dr Feelgood. It will run from Southend, where Wilko lived, to Fenchurch Street and pass through places where he spent and misspent his youth and played some of his most memorable gigs, including Westcliff, Leigh-on-Sea and Basildon. The train's commemorative plate, echoing one of his most loved songs, will bear the words: 'Wilko Johnson: 1947-2022. He did it right.' He certainly did.
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Telford Steam Railway celebrates station reopening
A steam railway is celebrating the reopening of one of its stations after a six-year repair platform at Lawley, Telford, began to shift in 2019, with Telford Steam Railway carrying out work to rebuild it and install steel the work was done by volunteers, with materials being brought to the site by train as it was too far from the enthusiast Pete Waterman has been invited as a special guest for the event on Sunday, which will also celebrate 100 years of its flagship locomotive. The Lawley Village station was not an original station and was created by the railway in 2015, so the day will also mark the 10th anniversary of its Owen, a spokesperson for the railway, said it is unclear why the platform moved but that it was built on clay soil which could have shifted because of said the operation to repair and secure it had been a big one, made more difficult because it is next to a large housing development at it was not an expensive project because they used volunteer labour and materials they already day of celebration on Sunday will include free travel on the railway for Lawley and Horsehay residents, along with entertainment that includes a brass band and a steam tram railway has become well-known locally for its Polar Express experiences at Christmas which have brought in a large Owen said some of that money had been used to buy more track and extend the line to that, he said the "dream" was to eventually extend it to Buildwas. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Derby to host major gathering of historic railway vehicles
Train manufacturer Alstom will open its factory for the first time in more than 50 years for a major gathering of historic railway event in Derby will mark the 200th anniversary of the world's first passenger train service with the Greatest Gathering event between August 1 and mogul and railway enthusiast Pete Waterman was a special guest at a launch day on told the BBC: "Derby has always been the centre of railways for a long time, particularly with a Midlands lad like me." More than 50 rolling stock exhibits from the past, present and future of the railways will be on display, featuring a combination of those powered by steam, diesel and Waterman said: "I first came here in 1957 with my school. This event is about 200 years of people and about those that have run the railways - the steam engines and diesel trains is just part of it."The people that make them and make them run, that's what we should be celebrating." The historic locomotives include on show will include: LNER Class A4 Sir Nigel Gresley, built in Railway Merchant Navy Class British India Line, built in 37 Cassiopeia, built in to 30,000 people are expected to attend the three-day event, which will form part of the wider Railway 200 industry is embarking on a year-long celebration named Railway 200 to mark the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in north-east England on 27 September 1825, which is credited as being the birth of the modern railway. Alstom's Europe region president Gian Luca Erbacci said: "The Greatest Gathering, presented by Alstom for Railway 200, is a unique opportunity to celebrate not only the incredible progress of the past two centuries but also the bright future of rail."This event is about bringing people together to reflect on what we've achieved collectively and to inspire the next generation to push the boundaries of what's possible in sustainable transport."Tickets go on sale from 09:00 GMT on Friday with all profits split between five charities.
