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The
Cards - 1980 - L-R: Paul Langwith, Mark Roe and Trevor Barr
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...The
Story...
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The
Cards were a Mod band that formed in Southend in 1979, before line up changes
saw them regroup in early 1980 and they then lasted for about a year. Their
main claim to fame was a support show with The Jam. The regrouped version
of the band comprised Paul Langwith on Drums, Mark Roe on Vocals and Guitar
and Trevor Barr on Bass. The band had only played two gigs before the Jam
support occurred. As they explained to local paper The Evening Echo at the the time, on Thursday April 24th 1980: "The Jam recently got to number one in the pop charts recently with their single Going Underground. The cards have been together just a month and their only other live appearances were at the Zero 6 in Southend and at Barons, in Leigh. Singer and Guitarist
Mark,
20, from Benfleet, said 'I have been friends with Paul Weller of The Jam
for three years and he wanted us to support them at this charity concert
at Guildford Civic Hall. My old band spilt up about a month ago and the
new line up was formed about a week before I heard about the gig with The
Jam.'"He continued "When we arrived for the show there were already crowds of people outside hours before it was due to start. There were a lot of people without tickets hoping to get in." When the lights dimmed and The Cards went on stage on Friday night there were 2,000 in the audience. Bass player Trevor, 19, from Eastwood said "We didn't have time for a soundcheck and just had to go straight on, but everything went well. I was nervous, but that went as soon as we started. After our 12th song we were told we only had time for one more - but we only know 13 songs anyway".