praise party

During the first half of 1977, Dobs had also left the band, and was replaced by another 20 year old - 'retired' civil servant Ivor Twidell on drums. The line up was now:

Peter Banks (vocals, keyboards)
Andy Piercy (vocals, guitars)
Nick Battle (bass)
Ivor Twidell (drums)

Ivor, a pig farmer, would often turn up at gigs still in his wellies. Sounds' Hugh Fielder was to describe him as:

"the gentleman farmer in sports jacket and cap - good drummer too."

They continued to tour throughout June, and July, and right up to Greenbelt. On one date, in Horstead Keynes, Sussex, on June 18th, the audience arrived at the open-air concert by steam-train, courtesy of the Bluebell Railway. The event drew 200 people. On June 23rd, they made a return visit to the Marquee Club.

A month later, on 23rd July, Andy married Judy. Guests at the wedding included MacKenzie & Cooke.

In August, the band attended the Greenbelt Festival as usual, and were kept busy over the weekend, with Banks, for instance, taking part in a 'Ministry in Music' seminar with festival organiser and musicologist, Graham Cray.

Banks (left) at Graeme Cray's seminar

On the Saturday night, they headlined the Mainstage with a tight professional set, at the end of the main set, they triumphantly let off some fireworks, before finishing with a couple of encores. They were a much more confident band now, having made a respectable name for themselves on the secular rock scene, and some important gigs at London's Marquee club. There seemed to be a bright future ahead for the band after all, and the crowd felt it. During the set, Piercy sang, 'dreamaway out, help me fly' , and in the middle of a windy, Bedfordshire field, they did. But their bubble was burst when they had later asked George Duffin (who had been asked to get the band some bookings in the North) what he'd thought of it. He told them frankly, that it didn't mean a thing. The band were offended. They had felt ecstatic after the show, and Duffin's dismissive remark hurt their pride. But he had been right, of course. In the 'real' music world, the Greenbelt gig wouldn't impress anyone, and they knew it. They had to keep working.

ATF at gb77

Having performed their own set on the Friday, they were on the Mainstage again at the opening of Monday night, this time backing Ishmael. It could hardly have been a greater contrast of style. Ishmael's set consisted of songs that went back to the days of Ishmael & Andy, five years earlier, and the band were hardly stretched during the fifty minute 'Praise Party', as Ishmael affectionately described it.

GENCAS 11

After the festival, Ishmael persuaded them to contribute their skills once more to a worship tape that he was planning. They agreed, and together with producer, John Pantry, and a portable studio, they entered a small hall in Essex and during the next couple of days, attempted to put some of the tracks down on tape. From the start, the project didn't go well. Although Ishmael and the band had a great time jamming and larking about, Pantry seemed unhappy with the intention to 'rock-up' some well known chorus's, and Ishmael paid the cost of his larking about by partially losing his voice. The band by then had already laid down their backing, so when it came to Ishmael to add his vocals, he was severely limited. The result was a shoddy, undisciplined recording that pleased no-one, least of all Ishmael, who felt the band's discomfort about the final product. ATF were at that time trying to negotiate a recording contract, and were wisely concerned that this project might harm their chances. In the end, it was issued as a limited edition cassette by MGO (soon to become Kingsway), and Ishmael, not wishing to do their growing popularity any harm, agreed not to credit ATF on it, and had it deleted within a year. Ironically, for the short time that it was available, it proved very popular.

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