A Brief History
GA GA really started in 1989, when Graham Patrick and a guitarist named Barry Byrne searched for additional musicians to form a band. Dave Harding had placed an advertisement in a music shop in Merseyside and Graham phoned him and arranged an audition. After Dave had played ‘Wherever I Lay My Hat’ (Paul Young version) on his WAL fretless bass, he was offered a position in the band.
Barry however decided to leave shortly afterwards and Dave also announced that he needed to be on the road that left Graham with more hard work hunting for more musicians.
A week passed by and Dave had a change of heart; he wanted to give it a go after all. Graham and Dave then had the arduous task of finding a third member and finally a guitarist named Dave Kelly joined them. At this point, the band was still nameless and minus a singer so Graham contacted a friend from a previous band, Jimmy Evans. Jimmy auditioned, taken on and was now included in the decision making for a new name. Graham suggested ‘Wanted’ but Jimmy’s suggestion of ‘Catch The Wave’ received the vote. The band did only one gig with this name.
Unfortunately it was soon to become apparent that Jimmy did not have a particularly good memory for lyrics and he was finally asked to leave the band after several arguments. The band was once again reduced to three members until Tommy Broadhurst, a singer who had previously auditioned with Graham and Barry, joined the band that was now called Wanted. The first show Wanted played was on 14th July 1989 at the Yewtopia Club in Manchester. Songs played in this show included ‘Wherever I Lay My Hat’, ‘True’, ‘Dancing In the Dark’ and ‘Billie Jean’ and the lack of a real lead guitarist meant that there were no Queen songs played that night. The shows went exceptionally well until Tommy started to have problems with his voice on stage. The band had several gigs booked but had no choice but to replace Tommy as soon as possible and so Graham once again searched the notice-boards in Merseyside’s music shops. Eventually he came to Dawsons in St.Helens that displayed an ad which read:
“Guitarist / Vocalist seeks band.”
Graham phoned the number and got put through to a Mr. John Holmes who agreed to an audition in his own home. Graham was not only impressed by his guitar playing, but also by his choice of number to perform; ‘A Kind Of Magic’. Also John’s room was full of Queen posters, and as Graham was also a true Queen fan this was definately another point in his favour.
The decision was made to offer John a position in the band but he could not join Wanted immediately as he still had a few gigs to honour with his current band ‘Face to Face’. John was asked along to a few a Wanted gigs posing as Graham’s cousin and it was at one of these shows – at The Caradoc in Bootle – that the band played to an audience of six people. Tommy was struggling with his voice on that night and so John stepped in and helped by singing a couple of numbers. Tommy was asked to leave the band immediately after the show but this caused real problems as Wanted were booked to play at the RAFA club in Wrexham literally the next night. Graham contacted an old friend – John Cosgrove – who agreed to sing, but he didn’t know sufficient material for the whole show. In the end John Cosgrove sang the first half, and Graham the second half. Graham freely admitted that it was one of the most nerve-racking days of his life!
The following week saw John Holmes make his first ‘official’ appearance with the band that then remained with the same line-up for several months. Eventually, after causing repeated arguments with the other members, Dave Kelly was asked to depart and the band decided not to look for a replacement. John took his position on stage, more and more Queen songs were played and the nucleus of GA GA was formed.
1991
This year was significant in that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody/Under Pressure’ was added to the set, and also the band recorded for the first time. This cassette – named ‘And Then There Were Three’ – sold out quickly and was never re-released; it is now something of a collectable item for GAGA fans.
1992
In 1992 the band added ‘The Show Must Go On’ and ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’ to the set and suddenly the lads were fast becoming known for their interpretation of their idols’ music. Then, a friend suggested that they should concentrate much more on playing Queen music and this prompted them to change from ‘Wanted’ to a more fitting Queen name, suggestions, were put forward by all the members of the band, such as, ‘Brighton Rock’, ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ and ‘Radio GA GA’, but the name was finally agreed on at The Cygnet in Liverpool on 15th October. John came up with GAGA as it was catchy, easy to remember and was definitely Queen orientated.
1993
Things really began to move for GAGA in 1993, and the band received the double accolade of Whitbread’s ‘Act of the Year’ and also St Helens’ ‘Band of the Year’. On 24th September GAGA played at a special concert in Wedgewood Potteries. Tickets for the evening, entitled ‘A Night Of Magic’, sold out over a month before the show was due to take place and the concert itself was a massive success. It gave GAGA the first taste of a’big’ concert and by December GAGA were in great demand at venues all over the North West of England.
1994
The lads had a busy start to 1994 with a stream of bookings, including two nights which have stood out in their minds ever since. On 23rd February at the Montrose Club in Liverpool, GA GA performed their first ever recognised Queen Tribute Night. The lads played for over two hours that night complete with full light show. ‘Brighton Rock’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ were just some of the numbers that had recently been introduced, and GA GA used intro tapes for the first time. The one down point of the evening though was that snow fell consistently from the early hours of that morning, leaving many people who had bought tickets unable to attend that show. Two people on their way to the Montrose were involved in a serious road accident due to the snow, but fortunately both recovered fully.
Two days later the lads were playing at Wedgewood Potteries in, Stoke-On-Trent again for what was to be the second in the ‘Night Of Magic’ trilogy. By now the snow had fortunately melted and the lads played to a tremendous reception from a packed audience. As was the case with it’s predecessor, ‘A Night of Magic II’ was a complete sell out. Another point of interest from this show is that Barry Dobson’s drawing was used for the first time on white teeshirts, costing ? 6 each, and promotional posters. Both were very well received.
Lighting and sound engineers were now essential members of the crew and Colin Anderson became GAGA’s full time lighting designer/technician. Added to this, the band were introduced to Dave Bryan at the Wedgewood show, and he later became part of GA GA’s permanent sound crew, with his brother Adrian.
A show at Yates’ Wine Lodge, Luton in June of this year is also worth mentioning as this is where Graham fell off the stage while taking a bow and John had his beloved guitar stolen. It took a long time before John finally found a new guitar that he was happy with.
On 3rd September GAGA played at The Freddie Mercury Garden Party in Wokingham to approximately 1,000 people. This was the biggest crowd the lads had played to date, and John, Dave and Graham rose to the occasion with a really powerful performance. The reaction from the Queen fans towards GA GA was tremendous, prompting the Queen Fan Club Secretary, Jacky Smith, to state:
“Musically they are exceptional. Not to be missed! I loved them.”
Graham played this show on the back of the news that he had passed his degree in Business Studies, gaining a 2:1; his full title is Graham Patrick BA (Hons), AM(Inst)RS. This however didn’t stop him from forgetting his drum stool for the show and he ended up sitting on a baby’s booster cushion, which he had strapped to a folding chair. Apparently the booster cushion was totally ruined! Interested in recording your drum session in a professional studio? For more information on booking drums recording studio, view the facilities at limehouse studio in London.
A new tape was also released, entitled ‘Slightly GA GA’. The tape (which sold out completely on the night) consisted solely of Queen numbers, some of which had been recorded specifically for the Freddie Party. The track listing for this tape reads as follows:
Side 1
1. The Show Must Go On
2. Now I’m Here
3. I Want To Break Free
4. Son and Daughter
5. Tie Your Mother Down
6. Somebody To Love
Side 2
1. A Kind Of Magic
2. These Are The Days Of Our Lives
3. Hammer To Fall
4. Radio GA GA
5. Bohemian Rhapsody
The band also played their third and final ‘Night Of Magic’ show at Wedgewood, culminating in the announcement that the band were to make their debut theatre appearance at the town’s Victoria Hall in the following March. People actually started to buy tickets for the show on the following day.
1995
1995 saw the start of GA GA’s theatre shows. The press were beginning to take an interest in the band, giving them some brilliant reviews. At their Victoria Hall debut in March of this year, GA GA took Hanley by storm, prompting the Evening Sentinel to give the show a tremendous review. A sample of this follows:
“It surpassed all expectations and the audience clapping sequence in ‘Radio GA GA’ was quite amazing and spectacular.”
Also in this first part of the year the band played at the Royal Hall in Harrogate (where John’s guitar transmitter picked up feedback from the theatre’s induction loop which he could not get out of the P.A. – needless to say the band have all induction loops turned off these days) and the Pavillion Theatre, Rhyl (where they were asked back for 5 encores). Other venues such as Southport Theatre, Capitol Theatre (Aberdeen) and Colston Hall (Bristol) were all played to an enthusiastic audience, but the highlight was definitely a return to Victoria Hall for a second show just two months after the first. Once more the band enjoyed a euphoric reception, and cemented their long-standing relationship with Stoke-on-Trent.
By Spring time the band were making frequent visits to be interviewed on radio and TV. One of these interviews was at Stray FM in Harrogate where John played (for the one and only time) a couple of songs on air with his acoustic guitar. Graham also played a kazoo solo to ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ which he assured people was like listening to Brian May on kazoo. Copies of this interview have been much sought after.
In the second half of 1995 theatres were being booked thick and fast all over the country, culminating in GA GA’s first proper tour. They also produced the first theatre programme which boasted a pure black background with gold coloured letters. Simply reading ‘GA GA, A Tribute to Queen’, it was a stylish programme which set the trend for future versions.
A major part of 1995 was that the lads signed up with Holsten UK and Greenalls. Holsten were first made aware of GA GA at a club in St. Helens called Haresfinch Labour Club, where some reps from Greenalls came to see them. They liked GA GA but asked them to dress up like Queen to which the lads completely refused, making their feelings known on the subject. Some weeks later they received a phone call asking if a representative from Holsten could come to see them at Southport Theatre in March. He came, liked the show and offered the lads a contract that started in September ’95.
On 6th December GAGA did a show with Squeeze and Frank Skinner for the Prince’s Trust. The ‘A Tribute To Queen’ CD was premiered at this show, as both had been sponsored by Holsten UK. The CD quickly became very popular and eventually sold out before the end of the following year.
1996
GA GA became even more popular with Queen Fans nationwide in 1996, due largely to their ‘Serious Queen’ Tour. This started in tremendous fashion at the Grand Theatre, Swansea on 2nd March, and finished in December at the Winter Gardens in Malvern. Besides the theatres though, the band had a series of extremely high-profile shows that attracted a lot of media attention.
In Preston, the band played at the ‘Party in the Park’ week-end which attracted crowds in excess of 60,000 people. This event, which also boasted names such as The Spice Girls, Peter Andre, Space, 911 and Lindisfarne was broadcast ‘live’ on Red Rose Radio and Rock FM. Despite all the pressure the lads rose to the occasion and had this huge crowd going crazy, leading to Rock FM and Red Rose Radio’s declaration that GAGA were “The best tribute band in the world.”
GAGA also played Mardi Gras Festival in 1996, which again was very successful but the highlight was probably their performance at the International Queen Convention. They were guest band at the Convention where 2,000 avid fans flock every year and they won over the hungry Queen fanatics after only a few seconds. The show was a tremendous success and the band members are constantly asked about when they will be appearing there again.
The first newsletters were sent out to fans at the beginning of February, taking the shape of a short letter giving fans information on the band. The mail-out for the newsletter eventually became so big that responsibility for it was taken over by the band’s Press Secretary – Jeanette Taylor – who now looks after it.
‘Lugger’ joined the band on a full time basis in September ’96 as the lads had decided it was time they hired a roadie. Lugger acts as P.A. technician and general aide to John and Graham as well as having general responsibilities to the band.
1997
In April 1997 GAGA were headline band at a Dutch Queen Party. The evening again was a tremendous success gaining many new fans, this time from Europe. Also in this year the lads headlined at the Tally Ho Conference Centre, Birmingham for the ‘Midsummer Night’s Queen Party’ where the evening was a complete sell out. All profits went to the Mercury Phoenix Trust.
The beginning of ’97 also saw GAGA going ‘live’ on the internet with their Official Website designed by Ian Hodgetts, a long standing Queen / GAGA fan. This has encouraged Queen fans from literally all over the world to find out more about GAGA, and consequently expand GAGA’s advertising.
On the playing side, the 1997 tour – entitled the ‘Slightly GA GA’ tour – saw John, Dave and Graham embark on their biggest series of concerts to date. It started off on 3rd February at the Derngate in Northampton, and finished off 10 months later at the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen taking in over 150 shows in various guises. The appointment of a press secretary had now ensured that the band received even greater media coverage, with many of the newspapers reviewing GAGA shows. An example of this comes from Clare Turner at the Bedford Herald, who wrote:
“If you missed the Queen tribute band GA GA last week, you definitely missed a blinder. Keeping to their promise of not looking like the band, they certainly made up for it by sounding exactly like them.
Even if you weren’t a Queen fan you’d be hard pushed to have sat through some parts of the concert without a lump in your throat with classics like Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions and Love Of My Life getting the GAGA treatment.”
July saw the release of GAGA’s second CD which had been recorded ‘live’ at various venues throughout their ‘Serious Queen’ Tour ’96. It consisted of eleven tracks as follows:
1. It’s A Beautiful Day
2. A Kind Of Magic
3. I Want To Break Free
4. Mother Love
5. Love Of My Life
6. Brighton Rock
7. You Don’t Fool Me
8. Heaven For Everyone
9. Headlong
10. We Will Rock You
11. We Are The Champions
Holsten being delighted with GAGA’s professionalism continued to sponsor the band for yet another year, which proved invaluable to John, Dave and Graham, added to this was the joy of the free beer.
1998
This year has been the best to date for the band. They have experienced many ‘sell-out’ concerts on both their Spring / Summer and Autumn / Winter Tours.
On Wednesday 15th April the lads recorded 5 songs to be shown on Cable TV Saturday 9th May. Also with Cable, John, Dave and Graham were interviewed outside Royal Court and parts of Liverpool, to help promote their big show on ‘home land’. Merseyside Radio interviewed the lads on 14th May.
Radio started to take more notice with Marcher FM on the coast of Wales holding a competition Friday 24th April ‘on air’. This started a week of playing Queen / GaGa on a regular basis to help promote the lads show at Theatr Gwynedd, Bangor on Friday 30th April. Radio stations such as: BBC Radio Gloucester, Marcher FM Wrexham ( for Rhyl show ) BBC Radio Bristol, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Stoke all showed an interest and held interviews to promote various shows. Bradford Classic Gold FM radio station held a competition week from 8th May until 15th May, giving away a pair of tickets and a CD to each lucky winner, one a day.
Newspapers were co-operating more and more, holding competitions and writing striking previews. Excellent newspaper reviews started appearing in various areas. Two such towns were Cromer and Motherwell. A quote from The Cromer Independent;
” July 19th was a night to remember. If you are a QUEEN fan you missed a night of celebration and nostalgia. Playing to a full house the band rocked their way through one memorable song after another, the audience ever appreciative. We sang our hearts out to Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio GaGa, We Will Rock You, celebrating yet lamenting the loss of one of this country’s greatest talents. For anyone who missed the show I would urge that you book for next year! The band held the capacity audience, had us standing all the way through the encore singing, clapping and wanting the show to last forever, if you closed your eyes they were Queen. ”
On Friday 24th April the lads played City Hall, Sheffield, John was not content with putting on one of the best performances ever to the fans. He did his own encore by falling off the back of the stage in the pitch black. Fortunately it was all very good humoured and all ended well.
GaGa won a new sponsor in Bass Brewers. The Band would like to thank Holsten for their invaluable support over the past 3 years and are looking forward to the future with Bass.
The change in sponsorship meant no more pub gigs. At last the lads were able to concentrate more on their theatre shows. Many venues in the south of England were able to welcome the band.
The first ever Ga Ga competition was held. The original gold CD of GAGA ‘Serious Queen’ was donated by the lads as the prize. Congratulations to Gill and Chris from Flintshire for being the first names drawn out of the drum.
Ga Ga Tour teeshirts went on sale for the first time.
The GaGa website also grew with a healthy respect from a number of fans who visited the site on a regular basis. New visitors were logging on almost on a daily basis. The site also won a couple of awards for music and Queen content.
However the highlight of the year for the lads had to be their trip out to Dubai. In December the lads travelled out to play Le Meridien Hotel, Dubai where they played two shows. Despite the long 14 hour plane journeys, the band returned home after two very successful concerts.
Thanks to the lads once again for allowing me to continue writing their ‘history’.Special thanks to Graham for his continued support and ever lasting patience.
Thanks must also go once again to all fans who have supported the lads over this past year with attending shows, sending in comments, participating in our first ever competition…………long may it continue.
Cheers to ’99 and many years beyond!
Special thanks to Paul Rowley and Ian Hodgetts, for their invaluable input of material up to 1999
1999
The lads performed several ‘Tribute Shows with the Beatles Anthology. A night of a combined Queen / Beatles show. ’99 also saw GAGA play some shows at several horse race meetings. They naturally took the opportunity to partake in a few ales and place a few bets. The show in Newmarket went really well, but the betting was somewhat of a non-starter. Out of six races, John, Dave and Graham didn’t manage a single winner between them. So, by all means look out for the lads at forthcoming race meetings, but steer clear of any subsequent tips that they may give you.
Sandpipers in Southport provided the venue for a rare, ‘light free’ show on 30th September when GAGA went back to basics for a special ‘Winged Fellowship’ show. The people at Sandpipers do a lot of good work in providing holidays for disabled people and in ’99 hosted their own Queen Convention from 25th September to 2nd October.
Congratulations went to Ian Hodgetts on the lads’ website not only being voted into top ten of the ‘world 25 music awards’, but also winning a ‘Queen contents’ award.
GAGA had a slight change in personnel. Due to the unfortunate illness of Lugger the band welcomed Mike as their new roadie.
2000 – 2001
In July the lads released a follow-up Queen Tribute CD called, ‘live & lovin’ it’.
The tracks that feature on the CD are:
1. Fat Bottomed Girls
2. Play The game
3. It’s A Hard Life
4. Seven Seas Of Rhye
5. 5. One Vision
6. I Want It All
7. Somebody To Love
8. The Invisible man
9. Killer Queen
10. You’re My Best Friend
11. These Are The Days Of Our Lives
12. Another One Bites the Dust
13. Radio GAGA
14. We Will Rock You
15. Friends Will Be Friends
16. We Are The Champions
It was a sad farewell to Dave Harding at Christmas time. Dave decided that it was time for retirement and to let someone else strut his bass on stage. He played his final gig with John and Graham at Albert Halls, Bolton.
2002
In January the lads welcomed Tony Pilling as their new bass player. Tony’s first show with John and Graham was at, The Hawth, Crawley. The band went from strength to strength in 2002 gaining a healthy reputation with media and fans alike, playing many larger venues for the first time.
Dave Harding came along to the Warrington gig in June and loved every minute of the show. We are reliably informed that he found it strange to see what should have been himself moving on stage; but stated that he would be along to see more shows.
Congratulations went to Mr.Barefield, Buckinghamshire who took part in our second competition, and won a charcoal drawing of Freddie.
2003
This year was outstanding for the band. In between shows, the lads worked on their first ‘own material’ album, also finding time to work on a new Queen Tribute album.
Congratulations! to M.E.Griffiths from Pwhllheli for being the winner of the competition featured on Autumn 2002 newsletter.
Congratulations! also to Steven Price for his review of the lads’ show at the Music Hall, Shrewsbury. An edited version of Steven’s review will appear in 2004 programme. Steven also won a copy of Freddie Mercury Special Edition DVD.
Final Congratulations of the year went to, Sue Granville from Berkshire, who won the first competition on lads new website.
Dave Harding was invited along to lads’ show at Floral Pavilion, New Brighton in November to capture an image with his camera, for next years’ Tour Poster.
Ian Hodgetts, decided that, together with other commitments and promotion at work, it was his prompt to relinquish the design of his prized GAGA website.
Jeanette Taylor took on role of PA to the band.
Jamie from SonicIQ, Bournemouth together with Jeanette Taylor put their heads together to create a ‘new look’ website for the lads.
Written by Jeanette Taylor
(PA to GAGA)
2004
This year has got off on a fantastic note for the lads. Band were given the honour of being filmed 31st January at Lowry, Salford and 4th February at a Manchester Studio, by BBC for part of Queen Documentary based on Bohemian Rhapsody. To be shown later this year.