A clipping from New Musical
Express, May 1971
"BRITISH holidaymakers in Spain
this summer will be able to see the Hollies,
Julie Felix and Christie
- abd possibly the Supremes,
Stevie Wonder, the
Faces and Manfred Mann
- in an ambitious series of concerts in resort bullrings
set up by British promoter Alan Lubin.
He told NME this week: "Artists are
actually asking to be taking part. It looks like the
idea could turn into a Spanish
Woodstock."
The shows will take place at the Plaza
de Toros in both Benidorm and Ibiza, with the same
bill in each case. The Hollies,
Felix and Christie
are definites for Benidorm on July 21 and August
11 and 25, and in Ibiza on July 23 and August 13 and
27.
The other names are being negotiated for
September, and it is understood that Spanish TV would
also cover the event."
BUT after a great start at Benidorm,
further concerts were suddenly cancelled
at the last minute by Spanish officials for no
official reason, much to the musicians' managers'
anger. The acts were already staying at the El Montiboli
in Villajoyosa, between Benidorm and Alicante, rehearsing
for the gigs. The following NME clipping reported
the incident:
New Musical Express,
July 1971
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"THE Hollies,
Julie Felix and Christie
were involved in an incident on the Spanish holiday
resort of Ibiza last Friday, when a concert they were
due to give in a bullring was cancelled at the last
minute, and for no apparent reason. Some 8000 tickets
had been sold for the event, all the artists' work
permits were in order, and posters had been advertising
the shows for several weeks.
On the night of the concert, the audience
was admitted, but no power or lighting was provided
on stage. Then the performers were told that show
was off and workers commenced hosing down the platform,
causing considerable damage to the groups' equipment.
Hollies manager
Robin Britten said: "We ecnountered this farcical
situation because a local official had apparently
changed his mind at the last minute. Even now, we
have not been given an official explanation for this
cancellation. And as a result of this I am quite determined
we shall never set foot in Spain again."
Spanish media at the time referred to
Spanish businessmen wandering through the backstage
of the concert with hands on their heads, telling
anyone who would listen that the shows were going
to sustain a loss of three million pesetas. Apparently
the artists participating in the show had been paid
in advance and there was no clause in contracts requiring
them to refund the full amount or part "by reason
of a suspension". But if such concerns were so
great, they failed to explain why the Benidorm show,
which had been a success, was allowed to proceed.
A more likely explanation was that the
Spanish authorities felt a need for retribution against
UK unions which prevented Spanish musicians from working
professionally in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland
or Wales.
A telegram was sent to The Spanish Association
of Musicians Association (ASME ) on July 21 ... the
same day as the Benidorm concert .. from the Balearic
Provincial Association complaining that its musicians
were barred from playing in the UK, and strongly suggested
"union reciprocity" regarding English performers
playing live in Spain.
It is understood that the telegram had
been issued not as a result of the bullring shows,
but in protest at a scheduled performance of UK singer
Matt Monro on the Balearic Islands, which forced its
cancellation. By extension, a few days later, ASME
felt it also had to can the Ibiza shows and planned
future gigs at Benidorm.
However,
for Christie, there were two blessings
in disguise. Jeff loved the hotel so much he stayed
there several times over the next few years for holiday
breaks. It was during one of these stays that he wrote
Iron Horse.
And as mentioned in the article above,
the cancelled Spanish shows had been promoted by Alan
Lubin, who introduced his brother Lem to Jeff when
the band were at the hotel. A year or so later, of
course, Lem was invited to join
Christie as its bass player.
And unlike the Hollies, Christie were
more forgiving and returned to Spain several times
to play more shows, after restrictions were relaxed.
In particular, they were very successful in promoting
Iron Horse in Spain, where it was a massive
hit.
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September 1972
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