Christmas 2019

A very merry Christmas to all our followers and fans. Soon this web site will be 20 years old so it’s testament to you all that we’re still going strong!

The latest CD single, “Hold Me Down”, (Stavely Makepeace), has received some wonderful praise and appreciation and thanks to you, many sales. It’s nice to know the boys can still do it! Next year we’ll be releasing the long awaited, “Cecelia”. Rob and Nigel wrote this song over 50 years ago but have updated it with a completely new treatment and a very haunting backing track. With luck it will be issued with a promotional video in 2020 featuring the lovely Katie Wood.

Lastly the Coventry Music Museum is presently working on a series of TV interviews to promote the museum and local artistes past and present. Recently our Nige met up with museum curator Pete Chambers and recorded a few words for their programme. Together they sat in the museum’s ‘Vauxhall Cresta’ and recorded their chat. “Watch this space” for further details of this venture.



More to come in 2020. The very best, Bill Boswell.

Autumn 2019

A few days ago we passed the 50th anniversary of the very first Stavely Makepeace single release. I asked Rob and Nigel what they remember of 29th Aug 1969. Both said how quickly it seemed to have passed! Back in those days it really was an achievement to have a record released. Every single released would get at least one air play on national radio. Today, with studios on every street corner, the amount of new product ‘released’, (if one can count all the millions of tracks that are issued on You Tube every day), means that most new songs reach the ears of only a handful of people.

Despite this, and in honour of the loyal band of fans who have stuck with us over the years, the boys have just released a new Lieutenant Pigeon single. This is, “Hold Me Down”, which came out on Aug 29th 2019! Sadly we have had to increase the cost of each CD to £4.99p. This is purely due to the cost of postage continually rising.

So, we are now into our first few days of our second ‘half century’. If the next 50 years goes by as quickly as the last, I’ll be writing the 100th anniversary newsletter very soon!

Keep smiling, Bill B.

Summer 2019

On August 29th it will be exactly 50 years since the first Stavely Makepeace single came out. It was called “I wanna love you like a mad dog” and was released on the Pyramid Record label. Pyramid Records was an exclusively ‘black’ label and catered for reggae and ska music. However, managing director Graham Goodall, (who sadly died a couple of years ago), loved what the boys were doing and thought that ‘Mad Dog’ could be a hit, so a white act graced the previously 100% “Caribbean” label. Incidentally, the previous year Pyramid had had a huge hit with Desmond Dekker’s “The Israelite”.

The Stavely Makepeace record got a few air plays on Radio 1 but not enough to give it a chance to ‘grow’ on the public. However, it did launch the profile of Stavely which eventually led them to greater things.

It would be lovely to have a full reunion to mark the date but sadly of course Steve Johnson is no longer with us and the whereabouts of Steve Tayton is once again a mystery! A few years ago we tracked him down to France but he’s moved on again. If anyone can throw any light onto his whereabouts please let us know!

To other news. There will be a brand new single released soon. It will be either late summer or early autumn. Watch this space!

Cheers Bill Boswell.

Easter 2019

Firstly we would like to thank all of you wrote and e.mailed in expressing your condolences about Steve Johnson’s death in January. He was the youngest member of both Stavely Makepeace and Lieutenant Pigeon. He died far too young but he had a successful and colourful life and achieved ambitions far beyond his wildest dreams. He’s left behind a wife, two daughters and their families. Steve was a rock solid dependable bloke and everyone liked him. Just like his family, we too will miss him greatly. RIP Steve Johnson (1951-2019)

Steve would appreciate the fact that this year we will be presenting our 1929 piano to the Coventry Music Museum later this year. It badly needs tuning but otherwise is still in good order. It featured on most of the early Lieutenant Pigeon and Stavely Makepeace records, including “Mouldy Old Dough”. However, recording techniques have altered greatly over the years and today the sound of an upright piano can easily be achieved with a good electric piano.

One more snippet for this newsletter, a chap called Peter Checksfield has published a book called “Look Wot They Dun”, The Ultimate Guide to UK Glam Rock in the 1970s. There’s a chapter about Lieutenant Pigeon in it which lists all the TV appearances the band made. Heaven knows where they got all that info!

Bye for now Bill.

Special Newsletter

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Steve Johnson who died on the evening of January 6th, Steve was bass guitarist with both Stavely Makepeace and Lieutenant Pigeon and will be sadly missed by both family and friends. RIP Steve!

                               Steven Alan Johnson (May 4th 1951-January 6th 2019).