T h e M a k i n g of S e a s i d e T r e a t s

h i s t o r y

 

Mark Francombe and myself (Nick Elborough) a couple of likely lads from Hampshire, not averse to a little musical merrymaking ourselves were well into Gong, Hawkwind, Steve Hillage and the likes in the very early '80's. Through Daevid Allen and Planet Gong we got into Here and Now and went one fateful night to see them play at the Marquee Club in fair London town.
Mark and Nick play the 1st Brambles Farm Torpedo Town Festival in Waterlooville nr Portsmouth
  
The support act was (you guessed it) a strange multi-membered combo called Cardiacs. We were instantly mindblown and hooked. We followed them through many gigs in London, Guildford, Southampton and the unforgettable performance at Stonehenge in 1984 with the Enid and Hawkwind. (That was a real festival - I still have a tape of that night as well)
Mark and mate (Richard?) fiddle with knobs during an all day musical extravaganza at Portsmouth Art College
By this time Mark and Nick were doing a course in Graphic Design at Portsmouth College of Art, Design and Higher Education (now part of Ports Uni). We had wangled our way into the Portsmouth Video Workshop which was based at the College and had "with Film and Television" added to our course title so we could muck around with cameras and twiddly equipment.
Nick - fucking hippy
Somehow we got to talking with the band and started to discuss the possibility of doing some filming with them. We agreed that we would have a go at filming their upcoming gig at Surbiton Assembly Rooms in April of 1985. This would be part of our coursework and done for free.
 
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