Tenpole Tudor are an English

punk band Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid ...

fronted by

Edward Tudor-Pole Edward Felix Tudor-Pole (also known as Edward Tenpole; born 6 December 1954) is an English musician, television presenter and actor. Originally gaining fame in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the punk rock band Tenp ...

. The band first came to prominence when Tudor-Pole appeared in the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

' film ''

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'', also known as ''The Great Rock and Roll Swindle'', is a 1980 British mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas. It centres on the British punk rock band Sex P ...

'' and on three of the singles released from the soundtrack. The band then went on to have hits in their own right with songs like " Swords of a Thousand Men" and " Wünderbar". The band has been active intermittently since 1977. During 2017 whilst working and recording new versions of his old songs in Norway, Tenpole formed a Norwegian based incarnation known as the 'Tenpole Tudor Vikings' who performed two UK shows, at London's 100 club, and Milton Keynes Crawford Arms. Due to distance and travel logistics, The Vikings were short lived. Meanwhile back in England in 2020 the time felt right to put together a UK based band again to tour. The line-up consisted of Juliet Hodges(daughter of Chas Hodges of Chas and Dave fame) on keyboards, Nigel Marshall on bass and wife Jenny on backing vocal, and long time friend and collaborator Dave Twigg on drums (previously with the Godfathers). With a diary of dates quickly filling up, the band succumbed to the COVID outbreak. During the nation's lockdown, Ed began writing his biography due for publication in 2023. In 2022, Ed made a number of solo appearances throughout the UK at the 'Lets Rock' retro festivals.

Origins

Tenpole Tudor formed in 1977 when Tudor-Pole (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

) met

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

"Old" Bob Kingston,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Dick Crippen, and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Gary Long. They played regularly for several years until Tudor-Pole himself (under the moniker of Eddie Tenpole) came to prominence by appearing in the 1980

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, ''

'' (filmed in 1978). He was originally billed as a replacement for

singer

Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon ( ; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a British-born singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. He was the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, which was ...

— performing the songs " Who Killed Bambi?", "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" and a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was reco ...

" for the film and subsequent

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

— however,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English fashion designer and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and ...

and the remaining Sex Pistols instead decided to abandon the group and go their own ways.

1980-1999

Tenpole Tudor recorded a single on

WEA Records Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

with the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

being "Real Fun" and the B-side "What's in a Word". "Real Fun" is available in live form on two different CDs, but the single was never released on CD. Tenpole Tudor returned in 1980 and signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

, with whom they released the

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"3 Bells in a Row" (which is a slightly different version of the one later found on the album ''Eddie, Old Bob, Dick, and Gary'') and was produced by Dick Crippen. The band released their début

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary'', in 1981. It sold well, and in addition to the popular "3 Bells in a Row", launched two additional

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s "Wünderbar" and " Swords of a Thousand Men". In the same year, the group released their second album, ''Let the Four Winds Blow'', which also performed well. They further distinguished themselves with their oddball live performances, which had band members often dressing in medieval garb, and Tudor-Pole himself in a full suit of

chain mail Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...

armour. They also added Munch Universe, as he was billed, to their line-up. Stiff Canada released a Canada only album entitled ''Swords of a Thousand Men'' in 1981. This album was pressed by Attic Records in Toronto. This was a compilation of their other two albums, and included Eddie Tudorpole, Gary Long, Bob Kingston, Dick Crippen and Munch Universe. The album cover was of high quality, showing a photo taken by Kim Aldis of the band in suits of armour, standing in front of the relics of a castle. The videos for "Swords of a Thousand Men" and "Wünderbar" received regular airplay on Canadian TV. In 1982, the original Tenpole Tudor broke up. While Tudor-Pole led a

cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

-inspired version of Tenpole Tudor, the rest of the band released a single under the name The Tudors, minus Munch Universe. After the non-original incarnation of Tenpole Tudor failed, Tudor-Pole left Stiff Records and began performing in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and swing bands, eventually returning to acting. Tudor-Pole formed a new line-up of the band in 1985, featuring Mick (guitar), Matt (bass), Sean (saxophone/guitar), and Paul (drums).

2000-present

Since the 2000s, Tudor-Pole has concentrated partly on acting, but focuses mainly upon his new one-man-show, performing live shows described as a 'One Man Stadium Show'. He has re-formed Tenpole Tudor from time to time, notably in 2001, with Darrell Bath on guitar, Donagh O'Leary on bass and Ben Standage on drums. He currently performs his one-man live show throughout Britain and, in 2009, released a Tenpole Tudor album titled ''Made It This Far''. In 2018, the band's latest incarnation was formed. ''The Tenpole Tudor Vikings'' features Ed Tudor-Pole alongside Rita Kae, Elin Krstiansen, Tony Rudseter, Thomas Hoegda, Tony Karlsen, Daniel Norum, Morten Anders Gaard and Inger Marie Buseth. They recorded an album, mostly consisting of covers of old Tenpole Tudor songs, at Rudestar Recording, Skogbygda, Norway, which was released in 2019 as ''3 Bells in a Row''. Ed Tudor-Pole and Dick Crippen appeared onstage together for the first time in over 35 years in September 2016 in support of charities Rhythmix and Heads On. Bob Kingston is the brother of the former

The Mo-dettes Mo-dettes were an English all-female post-punk band, formed in 1979 by guitarist Kate Korris, an original member of the Slits and brief member of the Raincoats, and bassist Jane Crockford, a former member of Bank of Dresden. Ramona Carlier (voc ...

drummer June Miles-Kingston. Since 1988, Crippen has owned and operated the Panther Recording Studio in Surrey, producing many rock, punk and garage bands such as Chelsea and

Johnny Moped Johnny Moped are an English punk rock group formed in South London in the mid-1970s, who once had Chrissie Hynde (later of the Pretenders) and Captain Sensible (later of the Damned) as members. Biography Formed in Croydon in May 1974, the ba ...

. He also plays guitar in The Weird Things.

Discography

Tenpole Tudor

Albums

*'' Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary'' (1981, Stiff Records, SEEZ 31) UK No. 44 - Re-released in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

as ''Swords of a Thousand Men'' plus B-side *'' Let the Four Winds Blow'' - (1981, Stiff Records, SEEZ 42) *''Made It This Far'' - (2009, Angel Air) *''3 Bells in a Row'' - (2019, Voices of Wonder)

Singles

*" Who Killed Bambi?" - (1979,

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

VS 256) - billed as Ten Pole Tudor - UK No. 6 - the listed

a-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

of "Who Killed Bambi" was "Silly Thing" by

" - (1979, Virgin VS 290) - UK No. 21 - the listed a-side of "Rock Around The Clock" was "

" by Sex Pistols *"Real Fun" / "What's in a Word" - (1980, Korova - KOW 4) *"3 Bells in a Row" / "Fashion" (Live at

The Marquee The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, that opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End. It was the location of the first live performance b ...

) / "

Rock and Roll Music Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and ...

" (Live at The Marquee) - (1980, Stiff Records, BUY 98) *" Swords of a Thousand Men" / "Love and Food" - (1981, Stiff Records, BUY 109) UK No. 6 *" Wünderbar" / "Tenpole 45" - (1981, Stiff Records, BUY 120) - UK No. 16 *" Throwing My Baby Out with the Bath Water" / "Conga Tribe" - (1981, Stiff Records, BUY 129) - UK No. 49 *"Let the Four Winds Blow" / "Sea of Thunder" - (1981, Stiff Records, BUY 137) *" Swords of a Thousand Men" (as featured in ''

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! ''The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!'' (released overseas as ''The Pirates! Band of Misfits'') is a 2012 animated swashbuckler comedy film directed by Peter Lord, co-directed by Jeff Newitt, and written by Gideon Defoe, based on ...

'') - (2012, Stiff Records, BUY 285)

Compilations

*''The Best of Tenpole Tudor: Swords of a Thousand Men'' - (2001, Metro, METRCD 049) - compilation of singles, b-sides and selected album tracks. *''Wunderbar: The Stiff Records Singles Collection'' - (2002, Anagram Records, CD PUNK 128) - compilation of all the singles and b-sides.

The Tudors

*"Tied Up with Lou Cool" / "Cry Baby Cry" - (1983, Stiff Records, BUY 172)

Eddie Tenpole Tudor

*"The Hayrick Song" / "Take You to the Dance" - (1983, Stiff Records, BUY 177 - 7" / SBUY 177 - 12")

CD reissues

*''Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary'' - (1991, Repertoire Records, REP 4220-WY) - the original album plus six bonus tracks. *''Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary'' - (1993, Stiff Records, STIFFCD 06) - the original album plus three bonus tracks. *''Let the Four Winds Blow'' - (1993, Stiff Records, STIFFCD 12) - the original album plus five bonus tracks. *''Swords of a Thousand Men'' - (1997, Recall Records) - 2CD version of the 1993 reissues with different artwork. *''Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary / Let The Four Winds Blow: The Stiff Anthology'' - (2007, Stiff Records, CDSEEZ 31) - Slipcased digitally remastered 2CD reissue of the original albums, with the single versions, b-sides and exclusive live tracks.

References

External links

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{{Authority control English punk rock groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1977 1977 establishments in England Stiff Records artists