The Incredible Kidda Band (aka The Kidda Band) were a British power pop band formed in Nuneaton on 10 February 1976, and composed of Alan Hammonds (guitars, vocals), Graham "Kidder" Hammonds (percussion, backing vocals), Dave 'Legs' Lister, (lead guitar, backing vocals], John Rollason (guitar, backing vocals), Les Rollason (bass), Graham "Dick" Millington (drums). Later members of the band were Mark "Tarky" Bates (drums, backing vocals), Keith Taylor (bass), Mick Rollason (guitar, backing vocals) and Paul Gardner (drums).
Career
The Incredible Kidda Band signed to Psycho Records on 19 January 1978 and their first powerpop single was released on 24 June that year. "Everybody Knows" backed with "No Nerve" were both written by Horden born Alan Hammonds and were recorded in London at Utopia Studios, and engineered by Andy Brook Jackson. Jackson later began work as an engineer for Pink Floyd in 1980, assisting in the live recording of The Wall at Earls Court, the film soundtrack for The Wall and the studio album The Final Cut. Jackson has since worked on all of David Gilmour's recordings/multimedia projects as an engineer and/or co-producer since 1984 and he also engineered Roger Waters' first solo album.
Members of the band were unhappy with the work of producer Des Dolan and so both tracks were remixed at Utopia Studios on 11 May at 1978. The band remained unhappy.
The single was reviewed in Melody Maker on 15 July 1978 by the producer Tony Visconti, famous for working with David Bowie, Marc Bolan and T-Rex as well as Thin Lizzy, and he wrote "Great!! A good record at last. Good solid beat and the group actually sings in tune. This could chart (as they say in the biz). They sound young but aren't quite punk or new wave. I commend them for keeping their sound strong, simple and uncluttered." Other positive reviews appeared in Sounds on 5 August 1978 (By Geoff Barton), "Expect them to sign to CBS any day now" and in Record Mirror on 9 August 1978 (By Rosalind Russell).
Despite the favourable reviews, the single failed to sell in large numbers upon its release, however it was destined to become a collector's item over 20 years later.
On 31 August 1978, the band was signed to Carrere Records by Peter Hinton, later to become the Producer of Wheels of Steel released in 1980 by heavy metal label mates Saxon. At the same time as the move of record company, the name was shortened to the Kidda Band.
The Kidda Band's first live performance in London took place at The Rock Garden in Covent Garden on 1 September 1978 and five coaches of fans travelled from Nuneaton to support them.
The band was already a very well regarded live act across the UK and in late 1978 they were signed to Birmingham based OAK music booking agency run by John Mostyn. John Mostyn later became the manager of many successful UK acts, such as The Beat, Fine Young Cannibals and Ocean Colour Scene.
The band were always a favourite choice at Radio 1 live events, and they shared the stage with Peter Powell, Paul Gambaccini and David "Kid" Jensen in their career.
The debut single release for Carrere was released on 29 June 1979 and was a double A-sided single featuring "Fighting my way back" and "Saturday Night Fever". The latter was written as a direct attack on the motion picture Saturday Night Fever which starred John Travolta and featured the music of the Bee Gees and which heavily influenced the UK music charts and live music venues at that time.
Both songs were recorded at Radio Luxembourg Studios on 14 and 15 December 1978 and both songs were once again written by Alan Hammonds. The sessions were engineered by Peter Hughes and co-produced by Graham "Kidder" Hammonds. The same team were to remix both tracks at the same studio on 1 May 1979.
During 1979, the Kidda Band were to support a number of established and emerging bands such as The Troggs, The Pirates, the Radio Stars and The Beat as their reputation for powerful live performances continued to grow.
On 11 September 1979, the band signed to talent management company "March Music/Fast Western Productions", founded and run by former Ten Years After drummer Ric Lee, prior to the release of their second Carrere single.
Muriel Young invited the band to appear on Get it together to promote the debut single. Muriel, the show's Producer, was a strong supporter of the band and she was to use the band again later that same series to promote their second single. The band entered Granada TV Recording studios on 13 November to record the soundtrack before filming both sides of the new single the following day.