Art Nouveau

Line-Up included 

• Larry Edwards - Vocals
• David (Horatio) Kenyon - Sax
• Rod Dunsford - Trumpet
• John Murray - Drums
• Kev Hart - Organ
• Terry Welch - Guitar
• Bert Dickinson - Guitar
• Pete - Bass
• Phil Platt - guitar/vocals
• Paul Muggleston - organ
• Greg Pitt / Greg Francis - trumpet 

Late 60s

• Bert Dickinson - guitar
• Terry Welch - guitar
• John  
• Kevin 
• Arthur Dixon - vocals
• Dave - sax

Musically a very sound band - mainly soul but some covers that would be classed as "experimental" at the time. Some Alan Bown stuff, as I remember.  Went out for a time as "Skid Row". 

Eventually went "cabaret" with a girl singer. 

Saxist "HoraIto" played with Campus, who did a stint backing Jimmy "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" Ruffin. 

Final Line up taken in Feb 1978. Line up is (left to right)
Roy Rogers - Drums & Vocals, Marie Smith - Vocals, Terry Welsh - Bass & Vocals, Jez Smith - Keyboards & Vocals

I played drums as a stand in with the Alan Hare Big Band on New Years Eve 1967. I was aged 14, went on the bus on my own with my kit and got a taxi home.  Art Nouveau were the pop group on the evening and good they were too, the drummer had a brand new black Ludwig Kit. Mine was an old 1930's kit but right for the big band sound.

The acoustics were not clever as the venue was Rochdale Town Hall Ballroom. The Ceiling is about 200' high.

Rick Henshaw  - www.rickhenshaw.co.uk

By 1974, Art Nouveau had become a cabaret band , with Terry Welsh on bass the only original member from the early days. They featured a girl called Sue on keyboards and vocals.

In 1974, they appeared on the second series of talent show, New Faces , singing The Lightening Tree (cover of the Settlers song which was also a TV theme tune, I think it was Programme Follyfoot). They won their heat and went through to the All Winners Final where they were on with Showaddywaddy.

By 1975 / 76, they had metamorphasised into a bit of a curious (but decent) Rock / Cabaret band . The line up was Terry Welsh on Bass, Roy Rogers on Drums, Paul Munroe on Guitar and a lad from Keighley, Pete Brook, on keyboards and Lead Vocals.

Their set had an eclectic mix of material e.g. they opened with Happy Together which bizarrely ended with a snatch of screaming guitar playing Bach's Jezu , Joy of Man's Desiring and then segued into cover of Vanilla Fudge's version of You Keep Me Hanging On ! Then came sugary sweet ballad Feelings (Maurice Albert). Other songs in the set included Rudy off Supertramp's Crime of the Century and Life on Mars.

In 1977, aged 18 , I took over from Pete Brook on Keyboards and Phil Platt replaced Paul Munro on guitar and Lead Vocals. Phil left the band around Christmas 1977.

Before we looked for another guitarist, in Feb 1978, we were offered a gig in Dubai but we needed a girl singer and our agent put us together as a trio with Marie Smith from Love Lane and formerly a backing singer with Polly Brown (Picketty Witch and Sweet Dreams).

The agent had taken a flyer and told the Dubai bookers that he had a band called Silver Blue so all the contracts had been drawn up in that name , so that's what we became and the Art Nouveau name pretty much ended at that point.

We got back from Dubai in the summer and did some gigs in the UK for a few weeks but the rest of the band wanted to get back out to the lucrative work in Dubai so we parted company. I wanted to try and get a bit of a name in the UK so I joined Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders and had great fun for the next 3 years with them. The rest of the band carried on under the name Laissez Faire and Pete Brook rejoined them with his wife , Nettie, also singing.

The guy who was there from beginning to end was Terry Welch . A lovely guy . He sadly died about 10 years ago. There were many of the guys who had played in the various incarnations of Art Nouveau at the funeral and in typical fashion we were all smiling as he disappeared through the curtains to the strains of "Always Look in The Bright Side of Life".

In the '90's , a few of the guys who had been in the band in the early days, e.g. Larry Edwards (vocals), Rod Dunford (trumpet), Brian Pearson (great drummer), Pete Taylor (guitar) got back together in a band called Souled As Seen , doing classic Stax / Atlantic soul covers. I played with them for a while in the formation period. I think they are still going , though Brian retired about 10 years ago.

As for me, in the 80's I played with 2 of the other guys in the Mindbenders when I was with them (Ken Anders and Neil Reading) in a band called Baktrak , who are listed elsewhere on here. In the 90's amongst lots of other things , I played with the guitar player from the Mindbenders , Dave Lowarch, in a band called Steve's Garage and these days , now in my '50's, I'm playing keyboards with John Lees Barclay James Harvest.

Jez Smith - 3/5/10

I was put in touch with the band through the Allan Arnison Agency of Stockport.  I've also read the sad news about Terry and regret missing his funeral but then again I live in Warrington now and lost touch with everyone a long time ago.  

Is the Greg Francis listed the same man from whom I got some Dots when I went solo as Christopher Wren circa 1977?  I am at present still singing as Compere at Derby Ward Labour Club in Bolton

Arthur Dixon - 2/8/10

Just a quick note to Arthur (aka Christopher Wren)- it is indeed I - one and the same, and I hastily apologise for those 'Dots' ... I'm sure they were pretty naff. I'd only just started to teach myself arranging at that time - I learned very quickly though, once I left Manchester in 1979.

If it compensates in any way Arthur, I did improve to the extent that, I wrote most of the arrangements for the Miss World Orchestra between 1981 - 86, and have gone on to write film scores in Hollywood, conduct the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, playing my 'pop' arrangements, and now I conduct the National Concert Orchestra of Great Britain. This year so far, we've backed the 'Meatloaf' tour with Steve Steinman, and toured with a Vienna Proms concert.

Quite an interesting variety of music - but I still miss the 'soul music' !   Cheers.

Greg Francis - 14/9/10

My dad Roy Rogers was the drummer in 1978 I think and was wondering if there was any recordings and how to get hold of them.

Lee Rogers - 11/11/10

Just seen the pic of Art Nouveau ! Bert Dickinson is alive and well and still gigging with our band - The Watson Brown Band. We do mainly 60's and 70's covers with a few soul and rock and rollers thrown in.

Bert joined us some time after Art Nouveau split up in the 70's. We were a five piece with Ian Warhurst on drums, Matteo Sassanelli, bass, Bert on lead, Pete from Stockport lead vocals, me on guitar and vocals, going out as the Baltimore Switch in and around the Manchester area for around three years.

Pete left to pursue a solo career and the band split later that year. We lost touch for a number of years, but myself, Ian and Matteo decided to reform around 10 years ago and actually did a surprise gig for Bert's 50th ... he ended up joining the band!

Phil Scott - 12/8/12

David is till alive and well in Bournemouth teaching music to 700 children in a junior school he-he. Seems Bert is still with us - wonder about the others - we know Terry passed away - one of life's beautiful people - he was such a lovely man.

Larry is in Bury with his band Soul ????????? and making fudge.
Best wishes

David Kenyon - 14/12/12

Well hello there everybody. Larry Edwards here alive and kicking and still gigging. Check out www.souledasseen.com formed over 20 years ago. Cant pack it in, still get the buzz.

Anyhow great memories of Art Nouveau . Sadly last meet up was Terry's funeral. What a star turn Terry was, I ever seemed to stop laughing whenever I was in his company, such a larger than life character. Not seen Kevin Harte since I had Mecca band at Portsmouth Locarno 1974. Nice to hear from all the different posts re Art Nouveau though some are later on after 68.

Didn't know Greg Pitt was Greg Francis, Rod Dunford only played with Henderson Chambers Band not Art Nouveau, another great trumpeter.

Still listen to Alan Bown occasionally brings back great memories of Art Nouveau cos that was the band we most wanted to be like. Seems hard to believe its 45 years ago. Hope everybody is doing OK.

Ps yes I do make fudge in Whitworth!

Larry Edwards - 7/1/13

Larry Edwards certainly did work at Kendall's because I worked there with him. There were a number of us playing in different groups, Keith Homewood and Nigel Holloway were doing the traditional folk thing and I was in Triple Vintage writing our own material very influenced by people like Al Steward and his Bedsitter Images album. Lunch in the canteen was one long discussion on music and comedy. 

The main thing I remember about Larry was he was a super nice guy with a great voice and he was taking the whole music thing a lot more seriously than any of the rest of us. I also remember a guitar player working there with us name of Paul Banford who was crazy good and quit because his girlfriend didn't like him being in a group!

Paul Bradshaw - 1/6/13

ART NOUVEAU ! GOOD MATES ! TERRY AN I LIVED TOGETHER IN A FLAT WHEN WE WERE FWUERKIN BROKE EVEN NICKED BOX OF EGGS (1 GROSS 144 ?) WE ATE EGGS WITH EVERYTHING x phew ! KNEW ALL U GUYS WITH AFFECTION X MISS TERRY !! 

HARRY THE FWUERK XXXX - 20/10/13

I would love to say hello to Larry after all these years. www.paulmuggleston.com is my website and I have now pretty much retired and am spending a lot of time in Mexico on my sailboat.

I would love to know what happened to our "Roadie" Dave and the Commer Van with the horns attached to the roof.

Though I was with the group only a short while the memories are solid and I remember going to Kendall's for whatever reason and we had this double finger dance thing we did with anyone who sort of looked at us!!...Just TOOOO good and a magic part of my life.

Paul Muggleston - 23/10/13