Splash Alley was originally formed in 1970.

Barry & Tiny were from The Dingleberrys Show Group, Allen Hepworth from Dave Sherwood & The Foresters and Barry Crossley from The Charmers.

The band played mostly on the working mens club scene as a music and comedy showband playing Beatles, Four Seasons and other music of that era.

After a couple of years Barry Crossley left to join another band and until a replacement could be found Barry,Tiny & Allen played as a trio for a while under the name of "SHY TOT".This name was chosen as a joke and it was always good for a laugh when the concert chairman at a working mens club announced

"ladies and gentlemen your group for tonight are Shite hot"

When Willie Fenton joined the band from Mike Sager & The Cresters the comedy part of the show was dropped.
The band then concentrated on covering a wide range of music from bands of the 60s & 70s and returned to the name Splash Alley

Splash Alley (Circa 1973)

Barry,Tiny,Willie, Allen (Click on the pictures to enlarge)

Two of the original members of the band (Barry & Tiny) are still in the current line up.

When the two other original band members (Allen Hepworth & Willie Fenton) emigrated to Canada in the early eighties the band line up changed several times with various lead guitarists and drummers until the current line up was arrived at.

The band then went through several name changes including "TUSH", "Z BENDS" and "F TROOP" and then back to "Splash Alley"

The current band members have played together for over twenty years.
Barry & Tiny have played in bands together since the mid sixties.
Jerry did try to join the original Splash Alley when he was seventeen years old but lost out to an older musician (Willy Fenton).
Derek (he's the big fella who sits behind all the drums and makes lots of noise)was absent from the band for a few years in between due to work commitments.
During Dereks absence Ron Kelly (Ex Smokey) did the drumming.

In 2004 Pete Spendley who had been the sound engineer for quite a few years emigrated from Shipley to a distant part of the UK (Mansfield to be precise)
Brian (Tinys older brother who was also in The Dingleberrys Show Group) & "Splash Alley"manager/agent up to the eighties
took over the job on the mixing desk and also took on the responsibility for the gig booking,driving etc.

Jerry wanted to resurrect the Splash Alley title and a decision was reached that at the same time the band would go through a major makeover.
A lot of hard work ensued which included many hours working on the sound system and the purchase and assembly of a top quality light show.
The Sound & Lighting is controlled by Brian with the help of Simon who also operates the special effects haze and fog machines,
Simon is also the bands Roadie (In other words he lifts the heavy stuff).

Splash Alley

(Current Line Up)

The music now played by Splash Alley has evolved over many years and has been influenced by many people, musicians and styles.

Over the years Splash Alley have played as support band to many well known bands and recording artistes including
Alvin Stardust, Billy Fury, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Hollies, The Merseybeats, The Searchers, The Tremeloes, Eddison Lighthouse,
Company of Snakes (Whitesnake without David Coverdale), From The Jam

The covers played by Splash Alley include tracks by

AC DC , Bon Jovi , Boston , Dave Lee Roth , Guns & Roses , Gary Moore , Golden Earring ,

U.F.O , Rolling Stones , Saxon , Thin Lizzy , Van Halen , White Snake , Z Z Top.

JERRY Lead Guitar Vocals		BARRY Lead Vocal Guitar/Keyboard		DEREK (Des) Drums		DAVE (Tiny) Bass Guitar Vocals

BRIAN Sound & Lighting Engineer & Manager		SIMON Sound & Lighting Assistant Engineer & No 1 Roadie

We use a Allen & Heath 32 channel sound desk and top of the range HK speakers & sound system which is capable of producing a quality sound in many different types of venue from the average pub or club to larger outdoor venues where extra speaker units will be used if needed.

Our usual light show consists of between sixteen and twenty four Abstract colourfloods providing light from the sides & behind the band.

Two XP4 lights provide extra wash colouring & ultra violet lighting from the floor at the front.

Six rotating light units with multiple gobos and colours are also used to give added effects.

We use up to twelve Martin pro 400 units with 32 colours each with various strengths and beam sizes.These powerful lights are used at the front for various effects from full colour floodlighting the full stage area or spotlighting individual band members.

Our normal light show consists of 28 to 42 lights. At larger venues up to 30 extra lights can be added to the show if required.

To enhance the lighting effects a Vivid VF1 Hazer is used to produce a constant mist along with 2 Antari radio controlled smoke machines.
A Martin Magnum Pro 2000 Smoke Machine is also used at outdoor gigs to produce extra smoke when required.
This machine is the most specified smoke machine in the world) and it can produce up to 700 cu metres of smoke per minute.
A quick short blast from the Magnum Pro 2000 is enough to fill any stage area with lots of white smoke.
A 30 second blast would fill the venues car park with thick white smoke.
By the way, the smoke will not harm your health, its just bad for our WEALTH (hurts the wallet) because It costs us a small fortune for the smoke fluids.

WHEN WE ARE NOT GIGGING OURSELVES
OUR SOUND & LIGHTING SYSTEM
IS AVAILABLE FOR HIRE.

We have provided the sound and light system for gigs for other bands
We have supplied the sound and lighting for a twelve hour charity concert
where 12 different bands played to raise funds for the Tsunami disaster.

We have regularly supplied the sound & Lighting for annual outdoor festivals including
The Copper Kettle Air Ambulance Charity Gig, The Generous Pioneer Carnival, The Guiseley Music Festival, The Harley Bikers Rally.

We have also supplied the sound & lighting at shows for some famous bands including The Merseybeats and The Tremeloes

(Sound & Lighting Desk)

(One of the numerous Lighting Sets)

Splash Alley


The BiG rock concert atmosphere

With a BiG rock sound

And a BiG light show!

Whatever size the venue is !

Splash Alley

Deliver

THE BiG ROCK SHOW


The Comment below was made on
The ROCK of the NORTH Website

Many of the regions bands are realising how much importance good sound and lights are, and are investing in new gear all the time.
Top of the tree for their lights and sound package is undoubtedly Splash Alley
and this is where investment and experience come together to make a great show.
The upshot of this experience is that the band are also nurturing and coaching new kids band Top Notch
featuring that young guy again, Charlie Meehan!

We have now introduced an added attraction to our show.
They are a teenage band called

Top Notch

RICK STOTT (Guitar/Vocals) ALEX EJREE (Drums) CHARLIE MEHAN (Lead Guitar) MICHAELA GLOVER (Bass/Vocals)
(Two of the band members are just 15 years old & the Lead Guitarist is only 13 years old.)

These Kids are Amazing


They now play regularly as our support band.

More information can be found on our Gallery and News Pages


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to MIKE JONES for his Band Review in the Innscene Magazine where he used the phrase "Enjoy The Splash Alley Experience" which he based on the experienced members of the band & crew and the experience for the audience. We have adopted the words and we now use them as one of our catch phrases. You can read the band review on our Gallery page.

Thanks to ANDREW (Andy@you-what.com) for all his work on our web site, photos, posters etc

Thanks to MIKE SMITH (BA hons pending) for his technical assistance & help with the setting up of the light show.

Thanks to all of the pubs, clubs and other venues for booking our band.

A special thank you has to go to STEVE LALLY the editor of Rock of the Norths web site for all the nice things he keeps saying about us.

Thanks to all of our Friends, Acquaintances, Fellow Musicians, Fans & Supporters for coming to our gigs.

We have to say a big thank you to our wives/girlfriends/spouses/partners/families for putting up with our gigging and everything associated with it, including the late nights/early mornings and spending money on instruments and other things for the band.
(We will never earn the money back if we do gigs for the next 20 years).

APOLOGIES

We apologise to the Landlords and owners at some of the venues for giving them a heart attack when we turn the amps and the light show on and they think that their electricity meter will go into warp drive and jump off of the wall.

We apologise to anybody else who should have had a mention here

WHATS NEXT ?

Come along to one of our gigs and Enjoy the Splash Alley Experience

If you want to fix a date for us to perform at a venue for you give us a call and you can Enjoy the Splash Alley Experience

BOOKING LINE
07963 162008

THANKS FOR LOOKING AT OUR ABOUT US PAGE

PLEASE CLICK ON THE BUTTONS BELOW AND LOOK AT THE REST OF OUR SITE

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