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Born and brought up in Leeds, Paul Cardus now lives in the genteel Lincolnshire village of Barrowby. However the city of Leeds still has a hold on Paul and he regularly returns to see how the city has developed. It's certainly changed out of all proportion since his days gigging around the venues of the day, back in the 1960s.

Brought up in Cross Gates and Seacroft, Paul was educated at Foxwood School (now an adult education centre) where his musical journey began, singing in the choir and playing in rudimentary bands before he bought his first bass guitar in 1961 at the age of 16.

"Back then, we were all trying to emulate The Shadows, Cliff, Elvis and all those singers from the Larry Parnes stable - Billy Fury, Marty Wilde etc. We used to go the Mecca, which was in the Grand Arcade. It was managed by Jimmy Savile, but he was obviously very busy as we very rarely saw him, although his sense of humour was evident when he wanted to empty the building at the end of a session - he used to let loose two macaws which would fly round the venue and drop cigarette packets on people!!"

"Gradually, after many rehearsals in my dad's garage, our band became a reality as The Four Lightnings and we started looking for bookings. We played a lot in coffee bars and dancehalls like the Mecca, although our first gig was at the Cross Gates Methodist Youth Club! Once the Mecca gave you a gig and liked what you did, then other halls in the company chain would be more inclined to give you a chance, so it was a chance to spread your wings."

The Four Lightnings plus singer

"We never really made huge money from these gigs and if we did get a good payday then the profits went straight away on newer and better equipment. Amplifiers at that time were fairly rudimentary and any band worth their salt made sure they had the right gear! It became very competitive - if someone turned up at a gig with a new instrument or amplifier, then you had to top that. Leeds probably had about half a dozen bands worth seeing back then with the likes of The Cresters, The Cherokees and us among them!"

Back then being in a band was seen as a hobby (wages were usually about Β£5 a night), especially by cautious parents who didn't want their offspring to have their heads turned and ignore life's realities - i.e. getting a 'steady' job or a trade behind you. Members of bands flowed in and out as the pressures of work and family life took its toll.

"We did get through a fair few members - as we got busier, some would want to spend more time with girlfriends or be worried about getting up in the morning for work, so it soon meant that only those serious about music continued in the band. We used to record crude acetates at a studio up in Bramley run by the father of Richard Harding from The Cresters, these were sent out to booking agents to spread the word and get more gigs. Occasionally someone got hold of some recording equipment and we'd set up at someone's house, to record. It often meant sticking the drummer out in the hall if he couldn't fit in the living room and you'd have to be careful of the ornaments!"

"We got offers to tour Scotland and play in Hamburg but some members weren't happy about being away from home so much. My dad always wanted me to concentrate on my apprenticeship (as a photography assistant) but I knew better - I jacked it in to do a winter tour of Devon and Cornwall. We played places that would be packed in season, but in winter?...... We ended up playing to six or seven people on some nights! Some gigs you got were in Working Men's Clubs and they wanted waltzes and polkas and us to turn the volume down, even with our teeny, tiny amplifiers!!"

The Four Lightnings (despite the name they were usually five of them with the addition of a singer) seemed to be turning into an anachronism in the fast-changing music scene so in 1963 Paul accepted an offer from Jeff Christie of The Tremmers to join them. In those days there wasn't much loyalty, and band members were poached from other outfits all the time. The Tremmers, in tune with the times went with a sound that owed more Rhythm 'n' Blues and the Beat sounds of The Hollies and Manfred Mann.

The Tremmers live on stage

"We had a black singer, Gary Steele and so the material reflected that. We started playing Chuck Berry, Wilson Pickett and Motown stuff. Like most bands we were essentially a covers band and got to play with some great bands as support act - one of the most memorable for me was supporting The Hollies at Morecambe's Winter Gardens. It was probably hearing that a former bandmate had got a record deal, that spurred us on to take things more seriously. Rod Brooks (Paul's predecessor in The Tremmers) had formed The Dawnbreakers and after a gruelling summer season at a Butlins holiday camp, had tightened up their act sufficiently for Decca to offer them a contract. Unfortunately Decca weren't so kind to us - our manager took down some demos but they turned us down."

Indeed, after a band disagreement, Paul and Gary left The Tremmers (who went on to metamorphose into The Outer Limits) and formed the 5 Man Cargo, who gigged on a regular basis supporting some stellar names.

"We're talking about 1965/66 now and the music scene had moved on even more so, as had the fashions. No longer did we have to wear matching outfits, and we could grow our hair. My dad wasn't happy - not about the long hair - but because my leather jacket reminded him of SS uniforms in the war!!"

The 5 Man Cargo

"I've kept some memorabilia from those times and I found an old diary the other day that listed a lot of our gigs and support slots from that time. We supported Georgie Fame, Spencer Davis Group, Small Faces, The Who, Brian Auger & The Trinity, John Lee Hooker, Moody Blues, Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Them and Long John Baldry's group who at that point featured a little whippersnapper called Rod Stewart!!"

"Luckily we had a good relationship with the university and they regularly booked us, but we played tons of venues across the city, most of which are long gone - the International Club in Chapeltown, The Tahiti Coffee Bar on North Street, The Cro-Magnon at Moortown Corner, The Judean Club on Street Lane, The Tropicana on Boar Lane, the ice rink on Kirkstall Road and most memorably for a young lad, we played at the City Varieties where we shared dressing rooms with the leggy female dancers!!"

That Carter-Lewis invitation

"It wasn't just about Leeds though, we played at some great venues across the north. The memorable ones were The Twisted Wheel in Manchester (one of the birthplaces of Northern Soul), Peter Stringfellow's Mojo Club In Sheffield, the Whisky A Go Go in Newcastle (playing in front of The Animals) and possibly the strangest gig I was involved with was back in The Tremmers' days when we played in Armley Jail for the prisoners. Jeff asked the warder where the ciggy machine was - he was a bit naive back in those days!! One of my favourite places to go in those days wasn't a gig venue - it was the Tomato Dip cafΓ© on Kirkstall Road. It was a real old-fashioned greasy spoon affair but the sandwiches were great and it was a meeting place to compare notes with all the other local bands on the scene."

Like The Tremmers, The 5 Man Cargo were unlucky in their pursuit of a record contact. After supporting The Ivy League (aka music industry all-rounders John Carter and Ken Lewis), they were invited to try their hand but all they got out of it was a Carter/Lewis composition which they recorded on a split charity single (with The Outer Limits on the other side).

The 5 Man Cargo's only recording

By the time of psychedelia and blues rock at the end of the decade, Paul felt out of tune with what was going on so he dropped out, eventually leaving Leeds itself in 1971. He stared up again in bands in the late 70s and has kept his hand in over the years but his memories of the good times of the 1960s are firmly etched on the mind.

"It was a great time and everything moved on so quickly but there are some great memories to treasure, including playing in front of thousands in a 'battle of the bands' contest in the glorified cattle shed that was the Queens Hall. We beat a young band who were hopeless, they turned out to be The Grumbleweeds! Maybe we convinced them to change their careers, who knows!?"Μύ