Geordie (band)

Geordie
Also known as	USA, Powerhouse
Origin	Newcastle, England
Genres	Rock, glam rock, hard rock, blues rock
Years active	1972–1980 1982–1985 2001
Labels	Regal Zonophone EMI Records Bellaphon Records MGM Records (US) Neat Records
Associated acts	AC/DC
Past members
Brian Johnson Vic Malcolm Tom Hill Brian Gibson

Geordie ( /ˈdʒɔrdi/) were a British rock band from Newcastle upon Tyne, England, most notably active in the 1970s.

History

The original (from February, 1972) line-up included: Vic Malcolm (born Albert Victor Malcolm, 3 December 1946, Newcastle upon Tyne) (lead guitar, vocals), Tom Hill (bass guitar), Brian Gibson (drums) (born 6 March 1951, Newcastle upon Tyne) and Brian Johnson (vocals).

Their first single, "Don't Do That" broke into the UK Top 40 in December 1972. In March 1973, Geordie released their debut album, Hope You Like It on EMI's Regal Zonophone label. Trying to compete with such British glam rock outfits as Slade and Sweet (Geordie supported the former on a UK tour, as well as the latter at a concert at the Rainbow Club, London in March 1973), they had several UK Top 10 hit, "All Because Of You" (April 1973) and several UK Top 20 hit, "Can You Do It" (July 1973) and several appearances on BBC Television including Top of the Pops in November 1972. But their second album, Don't Be Fooled By The Name (1974), including a cover of The Animals' "House Of The Rising Sun" failed to yield a hit. After their 1976 album Save The World, frontman Johnson left for a solo project. The band's final album, No Good Woman, in 1978 consisted of three unreleased tracks with Johnson and new material recorded by Malcolm with future Dire Straits keyboardist Alan Clark, vocalist Dave Ditchburn, bassist Frank Gibbon, and drummer George Defty. Johnson had meanwhile begun to perform as Geordie in a new line-up in which he was the only original member. The band signed a recording contract in 1980, but finally folded that spring when Johnson became a member of AC/DC to replace the late Bon Scott.

Post break-up

After AC/DC's lead singer Bon Scott died in February 1980, AC/DC chose Brian Johnson (whose vocal talent had previously been praised by Scott) to take over lead vocal duties. Johnson first appeared with AC/DC on their album, Back In Black.

In 1982, the original Geordie, but without Johnson, re-grouped as a quintet and went on to record an album titled No Sweat in 1983 with new singer 'Doctor' Rob Turnbull and additional guitarist David Stephenson. The album was released on heavy metal independent record label, Neat Records, but had no major success. Malcolm left, and they later changed their name to Powerhouse, to release an eponymous album in 1986, before disbanding indefinitely.

At the end of 2001, during an AC/DC hiatus, Johnson had a one off reunion, for a short UK tour, with Geordie's 1977-1980 line-up, performing largely hard rock cover versions.

Discography

Studio albums

• Hope You Like It (1973) (Red Bus)
• Don't Be Fooled by the Name (1974) (Red Bus)
• Geordie - Masters of Rock (1974) (EMI)
• Save the World (1976) (Red Bus)
• No Good Woman (1978) (Red Bus - Landmark)
• No Sweat (1983) (Neat records)

Compilation albums

• Geordie featuring Brian Johnson (1980) (Red Bus)
• Strange Man (1982) (compilation) (Red Bus)
• Keep on Rocking (1989) (compilation) (Anchor)
• Rocking with the Boys (1992) (australian compilation) (Raven)
• A band from Geordieland (1996) (compilation - 24 tracks) (Repertoire)
• The very best of Geordie (1997) (compilation) (CMC/Play records)
• The best of Geordie (1998) (compilation) (Platinum)
• Can you do it? (1999) (compilation) (Delta)
• The Singles Collection (2001) (compilation) (7T's records)
• Can you do it (2003) (compilation) (Pickwick - Holland)
• Unreleased Tapes (2005) (12 rare tracks) (OVC Media - Russia)
• The very best of Geordie - The original versions (2009) (compilation) (Spectre/Universal records)
• Keep on Rockin' - The very best of (2009) (compilation) (Spectre/Universal records)

Singles on EMI

• "Don't do that" b/w "Francis was a rocker" (EMI, September 1972) - UK #32
• "All because of you" b/w "Ain't it just like a woman" (EMI, February 1973) - UK #6
• "Can you do it" b/w "Red eyed lady" (EMI, June 1973) - UK #13
• "Electric lady" b/w "Geordie stomp" (EMI, August 1973) - UK #32
• "Black cat woman" b/w "Geordie's lost his liggie" (EMI, November 1973)
• "She's a teaser" b/w "We're all right now" (EMI, August 1974)
• "Ride on baby" b/w "Got to know" (EMI, October 1974)
• "Goodbye love" b/w "She's a lady" (EMI, 1975)

Band members

1972-1977 line-up:

• Brian Johnson (vocals)
• Vic Malcolm (guitar, vocals) 1972-1975
• Tom Hill (bass)
• Brian Gibson (drums)

Line-up for some tracks on No Good Woman (1978):

• Dave Ditchburn (vocals)
• Vic Malcolm (guitar)
• Alan Clark (keyboards)
• Frank Gibbon (bass)
• George Defty (drums)

Line-up with Johnson ("Geordie II"), 1978–1980, 2001:

• Brian Johnson (vocals)
• Derek Rootham (guitar)
• Dave Robson (bass)
• Dave Withaker (drums)

1982-1985 line-up:

• Rob Turnbull (vocals)
• Vic Malcolm (guitar)
• David Stephenson (guitar)
• Tom Hill (bass)
• Brian Gibson (drums)

See also

• List of glam rock artists
• List of bands from Newcastle, United Kingdom
• List of performers on Top of the Pops

External links

• Geordie at Allmusic
• Angel.dk