The Topplers 1979-83
The Topplers were formed in 1979 by Lewis Mitchell (vocals) and Steve McCallum (guitar) who were backed by Fordy on Drums and James on bass. They had a rehearsal room in the Henderson Church and had recorded a three track demo at Sirocco Studios which was amazing! When I got involved with them the bassist and drummer walked out so I took on bass duties and Alan Cook was drafted in on Drums. We recorded a disappointing demo at Sirocco and did two gigs at The Sandriane in Kilmarnock and one at The Morton Halls in Newmilns. Alan Cook left to join Nyah Fearties but we managed to get Kilmarnock’s drumming legend Ian Murray to join us and recorded another three track demo at Sirocco Studios. Alan Gardener then joined on guitar in 1980.
Through a chance meeting with a European promoter we got a week long tour of Belgium and the three tracks from our demo were released as part of a compilation cassette. We were also taken into a studio and recorded four tracks with a top Belgian produced called Serge! We got a reel to reel tape and a cassette both of which we lost!
The first gig was at a festival that got cancelled because of bad weather! The second gig was also a festival but we turned up late and had missed our slot. Our promoter was the manager of the Belgian band who were second top of the bill so he demanded we went on and played the main stage before De Kreuners. After only three local gigs it was a shock to the system to be on a huge stage with lights and a proper PA system! Next two gigs were with De Kreuners again and legendary Belgian band TC Matic. The last gig was at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels with Isolation Ward and Unit 4 the other two bands who were on the cassette.
In 1981 Sirocco Studio decided to promote The Topplers along with other local bands Perfect Strangers and Caught In The Crossfire. They allowed us unlimited studio time to do a proper recording and sent the demos out to various record labels… none of who were interested in any of the bands!
The Topplers gigged around for a while often with Nyah Fearties and the other bands involved with Sirocco. Ian Murray left to join Caepercaille and for a while we had Mike Ogilve as our drummer after he was sacked from Simple Minds.Gary Low also drummed at some later gigs and Alan Cook returned to record a couple more studio tracks before the band dissolved around 1983.
In 2010 an American record label got in touch with Topplers Records asking if we had anything to do with the band The Topplers on a Belgian compilation tape!
The owner of the record label had found a copy of the cassette and loved the tracks by Unit 4, an all girl Belgian band who were also on the album. He wanted to re-release it on vinyl!
A few years later we also released a limited edition lathe cut LP of tracks recorded on the Belgian tour in 1981.
In 1999 Lewis and myself started recording and writing again first as Reverborator then as The Deciders and released our home made CDs and one 7” vinyl on “Topplers” Records. Cal Murray was the guitarist and Billy Samson drummed abd produced the recordings.
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