The Balham Alligators were an English band from London that mixed

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

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 ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and R&B. The band centred on singer and instrumentalist Geraint Watkins.

Career

The band came together by chance at a London pub in 1983. The original line-up consisted of Geraint Watkins, Robin McKidd, Kieran O'Connor, Arthur Kitchener, and Gary Rickard. The Alligators played a hybrid blend of musical styles, including

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, R&B, Celtic folk, swamp-pop,

, swing,

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and

zydeco Zydeco ( ; ) is a music genre that was created in rural Southwest Louisiana by French speaking, Afro-Americans of Creole heritage. It blends African and Caribbean rhythms, blues and rhythm and blues with music indigenous to the Louisiana ...

.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 26Lawrence, Pete & Howard, Vicki (2004) ''Crossfade: a Big Chill Anthology'', Serpent's Tail, , p. 52 The Balham Alligators performed in venues around Europe. Early albums included ''The Balham Alligators'' and ''Life in a Bus Lane''. The pressure of constant touring began to take its toll with the continued ill-health and eventual death of Kieran O'Connor (d. 1991), the departure of Kitchener and

Ron Kavana Ronnie Kavanagh (21 June 1950 – 4 May 2024), known by his stage name Ron Kavana, was an Irish singer, songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, and band leader. Born in the County Cork town of Fermoy, he was the son of an Irish father ...

, and despite the recruitment of Pete Dennis to replace Kitchener convinced the remaining members it was time to call it a day. The following years were spent pursuing individual projects with Watkins and Rickard working with Charlie Hart as, Rickard, Watkins & Hart, with Watkins eventually leading his own outfit, The Wobblers, in 1992. Robin McKidd formed The Companions of The Rosy Hours a western-swing band. Despite the four years since the original band's demise, McKidd was still receiving offers of work for the Alligators, persuading Watkins and Rickard to try out a few gigs with The Wobblers as a backing band, it became apparent that the Alligators were still a viable concern. Bolstered with morale and momentum they recruited session musician

Bobby Irwin Bobby Irwin (23 March 1953 – 8 May 2015) was an English drummer, record producer and songwriter. He is known for working in close collaboration with Nick Lowe as co-songwriter and drummer and as a member of Lowe's band the Cowboy Outfit, as w ...

on drums and ex-

Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers were one of the main British pub rock groups of the early 1970s. Later managed by Jake Riviera, who first worked for the band as a roadie, they reached their peak as part of the "Naughty Rhythms Tour" of ...

' bass guitarist Paul Riley and, by the latter half of 1995, they recorded ''Gateway to the South'' (1996) and followed by ''Cajun Dance Party'' (1997).

Discography

Albums

*''Balham Alligators'' *''Life in the Bus-Lane'' *''Live Alligators'' *''Gateway to the South'' *''Cajun Dance Party'' *''A Po'boy 'n' Make It Snappy'' *''Bayou-degradable''

References

Works cited * Shane K. Bernard, ''The Cajuns: Americanization of a People – Page 136'', Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2003,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balham Alligators, The English rock music groups English country music groups Rock music groups from London Proper Records artists Topic Records artists