Brian Johnson Vic Malcolm Rob Turnbull David Stephenson Micky Bennison
Geordie (/ˈdʒɔːrdi/JOR-dee) are a British rock band from Newcastle upon Tyne, most notably active in the 1970s.[1] With notable songs, "Don't Do That", "All Because of You", "Can You Do It", "Electric Lady" and "Goodbye Love".
History
Formation (1971–1980)
The original Geordie line-up (from February 1972) included: Vic Malcolm (lead guitar), Tom Hill (bass guitar), Brian Gibson (drums) and Brian Johnson (lead vocals).[1] Their first single, "Don't Do That" broke into the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart in December 1972.[2] In March 1973, Geordie released their debut album, Hope You Like It on EMI label.[1] 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 achieved UK Top 10 status with "All Because of You" (April 1973) and had a UK Top 20 hit with "Can You Do It" (July 1973).[1] They also had several appearances on BBC Television including 15 appearances on Top of the Pops, one of which was in November 1972.
In the early 1970s, Geordie toured Australia regularly and gained a solid following in Newcastle, New South Wales, due to the "Newcastle" connection and the song "Geordie's Lost his Liggie" gained popularity and airplay in Newcastle. They were one of the regular touring bands to play at the "art deco" Savoy Theatre in Lambton. Their second album, Don't Be Fooled by the Name (1974),[1] including a cover of the traditional "House of the Rising Sun", failed to yield a hit.
After their 1976 album Save the World, frontman Johnson left for a solo project.[1] The band's 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, sometimes also called Geordie II, in which he was the only original member. The band signed a recording contract in 1980, but finally folded that spring when Johnson replaced Bon Scott in AC/DC.[1]
Post break-up and reunion tour of Geordie II (1980–2018)
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.[1] Johnson traveled with the band and producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange to Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas to write and record the follow-up to their 1979 album Highway To Hell. This would lead to the release of AC/DC's Back in Black in May 1980. Back in Black would eventually go on to become the second-best selling album of all time.
In 1982, the original members, minus Johnson, re-grouped as a quintet with new singer Rob Turnbull and additional guitarist David Stephenson. They went on to record an album titled No Sweat in 1983. The album was released on heavy metalindependent record label, Neat Records. It was critically acclaimed but had no major success. In 1985/6, Malcolm, Gibson and Stephenson left, and a new line up subsequently changed their name to Powerhouse, to release an eponymous album in 1986, before calling it a day yet again.[3]
At the end of 2001, during an AC/DC hiatus, Johnson had a one-off reunion, for a short UK tour, with Geordie's 1977–80 line-up, performing largely hard rock cover versions. They were known as Geordie II.
Rob Turnbull (Dr. Rob) is a member of the band Gadji as of 2013. In 2014, Vic Malcolm formed a new band, Dynamite, with Rick Mort and recorded an album, Rock 'Til You Drop, in 2014 on indie label Tabitha Records.
Revival (2018–present)
Two of the original founder members, bassist Tom Hill, and drummer Brian Gibson relaunched Geordie with a new line-up that included Mark Wright on vocals and Steve Dawson of Animals II on guitar. January 2022 saw Terry Slesser of Paul Kossoff's post Free band, Back Street Crawler take over vocal duties. Original guitarist Vic Malcolm is still involved with the band in a songwriting capacity only. The group launched a YouTube channel with an announcement of the band reformation. New material has subsequently been released featuring Terry and is available on most streaming platforms. An official band website saw the light of day early 2023.
