In 1975, from the ashes of a band you’ve never heard of (March Hare) Gary Strange and Dzal Martin added Roger Ferris and Chris Wyles to themselves and formed the fledgling No Dice, a blues/rock band in Stones/Faces style but with room to manoeuvre into more adventurous musical seas if the urge took them. After some demos and one single release ‘I need someone’ on DJM records they sat out a not very beneficial contract. When finally released they signed with Pink Floyd’s management company Emka Productions whose considerable influence - and the band’s talent - nabbed them a deal with EMI/Capitol records.
After some club gigs and an opening stint for UFO, in the year 1977, they lock themselves away in Abbey Road and Island studios ‘til all hours making ‘No Dice’ their imaginatively titled debut album. Tours supporting Eddie and the Hotrods, the Tom Robinson Band, a Reading festival appearance and a lengthy jaunt round Europe with Status Quo, all lead up to a 10-week tour of America. An alternative version of the 1st album opened the way to support slots with Foghat, REO Speedwagon, Rainbow, Eddie Money, Black Oak Arkansas & Cheap Trick, playing from 400 to 20,000 seat halls and stadiums.
But wait- all is not well back home, the dark forces of punk are rising! No Dice return to record their second LP (with Munch Moore now firmly ensconced on keyboards) - a rock opus done on the Rolling Stones mobile on location and mixed in New York entitled ’ 2 Faced’. The music press hate it - and them. How dare they perpetuate the heresy of playing unfashionably well, writing tunes and having fun??
Everybody starts to jump ship - Chris leaves at the end of the tour and now management and record co’s are suffering from frozen feet. No Dice sail on alone picking up new hands on guitar (Frankie Hepburn) Saxophone (Jakko). Spinal Tap drummer-syndrome affliction sees Tony Fernandez and John Richardson pass through the rhythm seat.
But to no avail: 2 independently released singles (‘How About You/ No conversation’ and ‘One More Night/ There goes another Girl’) and an aborted 3rd album fail to dig the Dice out of the hole of ‘nearly were’ and the band fold at a final show in the legendary Marquee Club in Wardour Street in 1982 (or was it 83?).
Retrieved from
http://www.nodiceband.com/history.htm
A52
Comes with foil splice, pad and a 7-day money back guarantee.
