'Airship comprise : Eddie Adamberry (26) bass, brothers Denny Valerga (24) lead guitar, and Rico Valerga (25) rhythm guitar, and drummer Ian Pearce (20). They have been together only 6 months but in that time they have built up quite a following around the clubs of London and it's suburbs. The lyrics to this single, written and co-produced by Eddie Adamberry, are guaranteed to appeal to all misogynists and mother-in-law haters.' - DECCA PRESS AND PROMOTION, August 1979. (note : Decca were a little economical with the truth regarding the ages, except Ian who was really 20)

'We were never a punk band, never intended to be and even if we'd tried, anyone would have seen through the fake. All I can honestly say is that as a songwriter, the fashion then was punk music so I just got down to writing a couple of punk songs. Decca Records bought the idea and put out a few hundred copies and the whole thing died a death, may it rest in peace.' - EDDIE ADAMBERRY, May 2010.

Eddie Adamberry didn't have a lot to say when asked about Airship, describing it as 'not a particularly great musical time of my life'. A rather modest comment, because 'fake' or not, 'Get Out, Take Your Mother With You' and it's equally wonderful B-side 'Gimme A Can Of Spray Paint' deserves a far bigger audience than it got at the time of release.

A newspaper cutting from the East Grinstead Evening Post, August 1979.

Eddie, Denis and Henry (Rico), were all from Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on the Mediterranean coast connected to the south of Spain. They were all musically active as early as the mid 60's, Eddie in one band and the Valerga brothers in another.

DENIS VALERGA - 'Eddie was 5 or 6 years older than us, we had a band called The Odds and he had a band called The Silhouettes with his brother Joe and three other musicians. The two bands never coincided and very soon (around 1966) The Silhouettes had left for London where they lived in Baker Street. They played two residencies at The Grosvenor and Lancaster Hotels in the West End for an agency called Sydney Lipton (himself a former wartime big band leader). Albert Hammond (a close friend of mine) joined them briefly as lead singer and had his first big hit 'Little Arrows' by Leapy Lee shortly after they fired him from the group.'

By the early 70's Eddie was writing songs professionally and also recorded at least two solo singles, the Mike Batt produced 'Captain Jones' / 'The Land Of Milk And Honey' (as Eddie Addenberry, RCA-2290, 1972) and 'I Am The People' / I'm A Bloodhound' (Pye 7N-45264, 1973). Neither single was a commercial success though 'Captain Jones' did receive some good reviews in 2007 when it was included on a compilation titled 'Tea & Symphony (The English Baroque Sound 1967-1974)' put together by Bob Stanley for Sanctuary Music.

Over the next few years Eddie wrote many songs and jingles, mostly co-written with Tony Craig. Eddie's name can be found on hit singles by the likes of child star Neil Reid, northern soul favourite Tommy Hunt and teenyboppers Kenny. There was also a failed Eurovision attempt when the Adamberry/Craig song 'Ain't Gonna Take No For An Answer' was performed by Frank Ifield at the 1976 'A Song For Europe' qualifier. Meanwhile, Denis and Henry's career had also moved on...

DENIS VALERGA - 'When The Odds had broke up, I left for London in 1969 with a band called The Treks (also from Gibraltar and influenced mainly by The Beatles, Stones, Kinks etc). We lived in Sinclair Gardens between Shepherds Bush and Kensington. A lot of things happened between then and Airship including a record deal with Columbia Records in Madrid in the mid-70's as Henry & Denny. My brother and I had teamed up as a duo by then and on our return to London we were contacted by Eddie who had decided to embark on a band project.'

Airship pictured at The Cartoon in Croydon, 1979.

With a lineup of Henry (lead vocals, guitar), Denis (lead guitar, vocals) and Eddie (bass, vocals), the trio began to play gigs under the name Flying Cloud. At this point guitars were acoustic but soon a decision was made to expand their sound by introducing electric guitars to their set. First they needed a drummer, so Ian Pearce was recruited in April 1979 via an ad in Melody Maker and Airship were born.

IAN PEARCE - 'I went to a pub in Thornton Heath called The Pollard Oak, on a Thursday evening to meet these guys. It was love at first listen and the next week I came along with my drums and did a gig by way of audition. I got the job that night and we started an immediate re-vamp of all the material and Eddie was inspired to write many new ones including 'Get Out' and 'Spray Paint'.'

Airship were now playing every Friday night at the Cartoon in Croydon as well as other venues like The Pollard Oak and the Thomas A' Becket pub in the Old Kent Road. Their live set, the bulk of which was by now co-written by Eddie and Denis, was described in the East Grinstead Evening Post as 'a cross between 10CC and Cat Stevens'. Soon Airship attracted the attention of publisher Terry Noon.

IAN PEARCE - We got to 5 gigs per week so that we could make a living whilst we tried for a record deal. One night in Croydon we were seen by Terry Noon. Terry knew a good thing when he heard it and before you could say 'Una Paloma Blanca' he had signed us and we found ourselves in his plush Connaught Street offices in London's Mayfair for drinks and a discussion with Decca Records. Jonathan King (Terry's mate) was the new MD at Decca and he signed us and we went into a recording studio for a couple of weeks to try some things out.

Airship emerged from those recording sessions in June 1979 with 'Get Out, Take Your Mother With You' and 'Gimme A Can Of Spray Paint' two Adamberry produced songs (the former co-produced with Terry Noon). Eddie sang the lead vocals himself on both songs as his rougher vocal style were more suited to the material than Henry's. Whether Decca were expecting to get two punk songs out of the sessions or not, someone at the label liked what they heard and the tracks were scheduled for an August release.

Advance copies of 'Get Out, Take Your Mother With You' (FR-13856) were sent out to radio and press a few weeks before it's official release on the 17th of August. It did receive at least one play on national radio when John Peel played the record one Sunday evening while standing in for Anne Nightingale who was on holiday. The record stood little chance of being a commercial success as Decca Records were having financial difficulties at the time and would only press the record in small numbers. These days demo copies turn up more often than actual stock copies.

IAN PEARCE - 'Our next single was going to be a track called 'A Typical New York Day'. It was nothing like 'Get Out' but rather showed off the real writing talent of Eddie and the beautiful lead vocals that Henry was capable of. More a rock/pop ballad if anything, complete with piano, guitar overdubs, mouth-organ etc. But Decca were failing fast and had no idea or concept of nurturing a new artist. They just said 'no' to the new material and that was the end of the deal.'

After the collapse of the Decca deal, Airship also parted company with Terry Noon. With things being less full-on, Ian decided to join another band, The Method, in October 1979. Ian did continue to play with Airship for a while including one final recording session which he describes as 'in the 'Get Out' vein'. Amongst the songs recorded were 'My Heart Is Crying Out For Love' and live favourite 'High Speed'.

HENRY VALERGA - '12 great songs were recorded at Windmill Street Studios in London's West End back in 1980. 'Raw Magic' was created and captured in a day, a session which lasted the whole afternoon, through the evening and all throughout the night. All in one go, much like The Beatles did at EMI when they recorded their first album.'

DENIS VALERGA - 'The owner of the studio was a guy called Barry, he was a friend of Eddie's. Apart from remembering it was a memorable all night session I don't know whatever happened to those recordings. Really good songs with great harmonies (a characteristic not much in use at that time of new wave rock).'

Airship in full flight at The Cartoon In Croydon.

With Ian Pearce now gone for good, the remaining trio plus new drummer Ernie Soiza recorded more material at Chipping Norton Studios in Oxfordshire. Songs like 'Super Hero' and 'Turkish Delight' had very little in common with the Decca single instead the pop/rock sound (with a lot of originality) would suggest that Airship should have listened to Terry Noon who advised the band to try their luck in America. Another song from the sessions, the excellent 'If You Only Had Money', manages to flirt in and out of both AOR and new wave during it's 3 minutes. A rare recording of a rehearsal of new material recorded in Gibraltar also exists.

After Airship, Eddie Adamberry concentrated mostly on songwriting and production work. Henry and Denis formed Armada who recorded an album at Jacobs Farm Studios which was released in 1982 in Spain on Polydor Records. Ian Pearce played on the Armada album and as well as recording two singles and an album with The Method, he also did live/session work for, amongst others, Nick Nicely, Tom Robinson, Bananarama, Nik Kershaw, Tubeway Patrol and Van Morrison.

DENIS VALERGA - 'These days I work from my studio in my home in Southern Spain. I'm more active than ever as a songwriter, arranger, producer and I'm currently involved in a major project due for release in September by Sony International. I still also perform live on my own and with my brother Henry who lives in Gibraltar. Eddie has a studio in Hendon, North London and Ian I'm afraid I lost touch with years ago.'

Thanks to Denis, Henry, Ian and Eddie.
© Worthless Trash, 2010.