Comments on: Ely’s Forgotten Bands: The Approachable Pigeons

By: Dave Wisbey

Dave Wisbey — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:24:50 +0000

Hi all………. you may be interested to know that i’ve put a color factory myspace site up with loadsa pictures and some hot rockin toons!!!!! Download and use whatever ya want. cheers and great site by the way!!

Link: to website.

Dave Wisbey (Local Celebrity!!!)

By: Karl Bedingfield

Karl Bedingfield — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:34:24 +0000

Strange you should send in a comment Mike as John, Lee and myself were talking last Friday about writing an article on ‘Colour Factory’ for this very website.
I have quite a few photos when you supported ‘The Pogues’ at Harlow.

So if you have some history and a couple of songs to donate …

By: Mike Merrifield (Merri)

Mike Merrifield (Merri) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:26:07 +0000

Bleedin nora, The Approachable Pigeons what a great band!! Sorry about blowing the P.A at the Soham gig.

Merri (Color Factory)

Great site by the way.

By: Johnny Glover

Johnny Glover — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 19:02:58 +0000

Cheers Seb. I do like to make my tales of under-achievement a good read. If you like the style, try Collydrove. There are 70,000 similar words on offer.

By: Karl Bedingfield

Karl Bedingfield — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 16:44:45 +0000

Is this true? Yes.

By: Sebastian Twinkle

Sebastian Twinkle — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 08:58:41 +0000

Is this true? If not it’s a funny story…

By: Jez Arnold

Jez Arnold — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 14:14:56 +0000

I’ve just read the potted history of The Pigeons with much amusement and indeed some nostalgia as I was the keyboard player who moved away (back home to Luton for a while) not long after the now legendary second Ely Rugby Club gig. For historical accuracy, I was never in Icehouse but did play for several years with Cambridge’s La Voix, and we never had a hit but did manage to cause a bit of a stir at one of the early Cambridge Rock Group Competitions.

As fate would have it, not long before finding the Pigeons article online, I came across a tape of the Rugby Club gig. It’s rough and ready, as I imagine most of The Pigeons performances were, and brings a tear to my eye for more reasons than one. Songs included on the tape are Blue Monday, A Forest (The Cure), Rebel Rebel (Bowie), She’s Lost Control (Joy Division) and Why Don’t You Love Me Like You Used To Do (Hank Williams?).

Unfortunately that was my one and only Pigeons performance, but one that I remember like it was only yesterday (is it really 20-something years ago?), and I have to say it’s a real shame that the Pigeons were never to live up to their obvious early potential.

Any chance of a reunion gig at the Rugby Club? Count me in – as long as rehearsal is kept to a minimum…