News Archive

2017 UPDATE: OH NO, NOT ANOTHER BIRTHDAY….!!

Dateline: Doncaster, North of England, 12 August 2017
JACK FAILS TO FIND THE WORDS ‘SPLIT UP’ IN HIS DICTIONARY!!

“I knew it was a mistake! apparently the lawyers tell me a precedent has been set by playing a show for Quincy on his birthday, now Al. B. Kirkey has realised he has a birthday this year and is demanding his own birthday show! . . . “
Jack Straker, 12 July 2017

I don’t know whose idea it was to give these guys so many birthdays but if you missed the 2014 ‘non-reunion’ show you have another last (probably!) chance to catch the full BEACHBUGGY live experience on 19 August in their home town of Doncaster in the lovely North of England.

Support will be provided by J*R and Steel Trees and the whole thing takes place at Vintage Rockbar on Silver Street. The venue is open late but BB will try to finish by around 10:45 (so I guess that means they’ll be on around 10 o’clock). Entry fee is voluntary with a suggested contribution of £3. Jack says, “No tickets required, I’d be shocked if it was full! but if there is an issue tell ’em your on the Oh my god! Oh my god! it’s the BEACHBUGGY Facebook group and you’ll get in!”

Marshall Quinn
Team BB HQ
North of England

Facebook event page:

TOTALLY UNEXPECTED 2014 UPDATE!!

Dateline: North of England , 02/04/2014
BB FAIL TO REUNITE DESPITE PLAYING REUNION GIG

So it appears that miracles do in fact happen with the news that BB will reform for a one-off gig in May 2014. Jack has confirmed that this will be a one-off gig and not an official reunion: “[I] feel the need to clarify a bit for those that care ( thank you … ) Quincy – former Beachbuggy bass player, is turning 40 and asked if we fancied getting together to play some songs at his ‘party’ . . . . . this is his ‘party’… NOT reforming or playing other shows, just having fun with friends, all welcome… expect mostly songs from ‘ Unsafe … At ANY Speed! and a few from Sport Fury … probably.  And if anybody has a copy of ‘Unsafe’ I could borrow …. errr “

SOME OLDER NEWS…

Okay, so BEACHBUGGY may have retired to the golf course so we won’t be getting any new BB news any time soon. But that don’t mean you can’t re-live the excitement of the their final few months as detailed in the regular news updates that spewed forth from TeamBB in it’s earliest incarnation…

Dateline: North of England, 08/01/2008
BB RIP

Well, it’s now been the best part of 18 months since I updated the site and the promised new BB ‘product’ never materialised. But having recently received a MySpace message from A.D (original BB bassist and later drummer) enquiring into the site’s inactivity I thought it was about time I published another (final?) Team BB update to let you know, as far as I’ve been able to determine/make up, what’s happened to Jack and Co over the last year.

You may recall my Tour Diary describing the sheer visceral excitement of BB’s second comeback gig in a sweaty little London club at the end on ’05. There was much talk on the trip back North and the following day of organising more shows and getting the BB touring machine (!) cranked up once again. Jack (Straker: gtr/vox) and Jim (VeVee: drum set) were both excited at the prospect of future gigs and there was a definite (possibly somewhat guarded in retrospect) sense of excitement about the future.

At the time of the last update (April ’06) BB had just played a show at the Pinstripes and Pistons day in Scunthorpe, UK (the high life, eh kids?). I wasn’t there so don’t quote me on this but there appears to have been some kind of disagreement between Jack and Jim (although knowing them both I doubt it ever came close to fisticuffs) and Jim seems to have made the decision to leave there and then (although the form book would suggest that Jack would have sacked him first). So, just like that, BB where no more (again), hence no more Team BB updates.

Jim now appears to have more-or-less retired from showbiz – save for a bizarrely short lived stint in mythical R ‘n’ R combo Los Monos Calvos – and Jack has been busy with his new outfit Walker which boasts a total of three former BB members. Most bizarrely of all, there appears to have been a mini-resurgence of interest in Jack and A.D’s pre-BB combo Bungalow. A very select few of you may recall yours truly making his ‘stage’ debut for said combo some time in the early 90s when their singer failed to show for a gig at some provincial University I now fail to recall!

Check out the links page for updated BB-related stuff.

If you’ve bothered to read this far, thanks for sticking with me. For the last time…

Marshall Quinn
Team BB HQ
North of England

Dateline: London and the North of England, 22/11/2005
BB TOUR DIARY NOW ONLINE

Check out Marshall’s tour diary from Beachbuggy Team B’s recent London show in the Tour Diary section.

Dateline: North of England, 20/11/2005
AT LAST, SOME REAL NEWS WE DON’T HAVE TO MAKE UP!

Yes kids, it’s true. BB finally got round to playing some actual gigs this week – and boy, was it worth the wait. First off they played a nearly-hometown gig at the Sheffield Grapes on Saturday. Jack and Jim were joined by new bassist Robin (Batman had a prior engagement) for Team B’s first ever live outing. Reports suggest they were Bitchin’ (technical music term) despite Jim sustaining a rock-related back injury in the lead-up to the gig. The following Friday the guys made the trip to London to play at the Silver Rocket club at Highbury’s Buffalo Bar. Marshall was lucky enough to accompany Jack and Jim down there and can report that they were Super Bitchin’ (more technical stuff – don’t try this at home, kids) there too. Check back here real soon to read Marshall’s Tour Diary (one gig still counts as a tour, right?).

Dateline: North of England, 22/10/2005…
YES, THEY’RE STILL ALIVE … AND THEY ANNOUNCE LIVE DATES.

BB’s first live dates for over a year have just been announced. So far only two dates have been confirmed but we patiently await news of further shows. The first two dates are: SHEFFIELD GRAPES: SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER. Three bands due to play: the Hipshakes / Beachbuggy-TEAM B / pisco sour hour. Doors 7:30 – 8pm. No ticket/price details yet. LONDON ‘SILVEROCKET’ @ the BUFFALO BAR Highbury: FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER. Four bands booked: Beachbuggy-TEAM B / Optimist Club / Headquarters / Kill Devil Hills (and silver rocket club ’til 2am). Doors 8:30. Entrance: £5 (silverocket mailing list members: £3. Join at http://www.silverrocket.org). No confirmation who/what ‘TEAM B’ is just yet – except it definitely includes Jim Vevee (and Jack, of course). Check back for more info when we get it…

Dateline: North of England 26/07/2005…
“BIG” JIM RETURNS … AND HEADS FOR THE STUDIO (OR MAYBE JUST THE PUB!)

It’s official(ish)! Jim VeVee, the original (and baldest) BB drumster is back in the fold and has recently been making a right bloody racket with Jack & Co… Actually, we’ve no idea who “& Co” could be as there’s been no announcement about other band members. But sources, erm… “close to the band” assure us that Jack and Jim now form two-thirds (or possibly half) of the BB line-up. Even better news is that BB may soon be recording for Sheffield-based [detail] recordings. BB’s official website has recently been added to the [detail] links page … which is proof enough for us! Watch this space for more badly researched rumours…

Dateline: North of England, 23/05/2005…
BB LINE-UP STILL UNDER WRAPS

The new Beachbuggy line-up still appears to be a closely-guarded secret. What’s almost certain is that both drummers from the Killer-B line-up will be missing from the current band. At least one original band member (Jim VeVee, or “big” Jim) is reported to have been helping Jack out during the last year or so but it’s uncertain (and unlikely given Jim’s supposed retirement from the music ‘industry’) whether he’s remained in the current line-up. More news when we get it (or when we can steal it!).

Dateline: North of England, 17/05/2005…
BB BOUNCE BACK

Jack and the gang are reportedly back together and rehearsing new songs in preparation for a proposed new long-player. Gigs have yet to be arranged but expect to see dates around July/August if all goes well. This is great news for fans who feared the worst when it was reported that Jack had given it all up a year or so back and gone off to join the Hell’s Angels.

Dateline: Somewhere on the Internet, 13/05/2005…
NEW BEACHBUGGY FANSITE LAUNCHES

The new Beachbuggy fansite launched today with news pages, band biog (sorta!), full(ish) discography and info on rare and unreleased material. If you haven’t seen the new fansite yet, here’s a clue – you’re reading it dumbass! Check back regularly for updates and fan info (or just to see what new stuff we’ve nicked from the official website).