Bands That Mean A Lot To Me Episode 5 | Combination Head

The beauty of bands that mean a lot to someone is that on most occasions it is a deeply personal draw to the music and more often than not the overall vibe of the artists. It means little to me as a music lover if the band are prolific song writers and release a large volume of albums or successful tunes. Sometimes a bands music can creep up on you, a slow burn you might say? Others hit you right between the eyes and ears on first hearing them. One such band are Combination Head.Yet another collective of astounding musicians that just missed the ferry across the river of greater success. Yet another great find following a perusal through a promotional flyer inside the packaging of an order from CD services based in Dundee. Reading down the list of artists with the brief but carefully worded and often tantalising descriptions of their music it was often the case that I would take a punt.

Dave who runs CD Services (and still does at the time of writing) became the forerunner of the “If you liked…. or those who bought this…. Long before the advent of Amazon. So, having read such a tempting synopsis I ordered the debut album by said Combination Head imaginatively titled 2006 album Combination Head. It was a while before I had sufficient time to sit and listen to my new purchase with three teenagers in the house and I can remember itching to play it. This came during an early morning pre-work period of time that I affectionately recall as “Petch’s time”. Just the birds twittering outside, toast and coffee.

Headphones donned and the appropriate volume set I was captivated from the first few bars of the richly toned Hammond L100 organ and exciting time signature changes. Combination Head was an album I became immersed in and played extensively where ever I went. In the car, on the train on my Discman, even on holiday in the lake district. I needed to know more about these guys, who they were, what was their background, why I hadn’t heard of them before.It became obvious to me that the nucleus of the band was keyboard player Paul Birchall who was the driving force behind the band. It wasn’t long before I managed to contact Paul and began exchanging emails. During one such exchange he informed me that the band had recorded a second album and would be available via CD Services in a couple of weeks. None of your pre-order malarkey here, I just had to wait it out, though he did give me the heads up about what to expect and before long I was in possession of Combination Head’s second album Progress. A slight departure in style from their debut album with some personnel changes too. Guitarist Gareth Moulton adding vocals to some of the songs on Progress? with Cutting Crew singer Nick Van Eede singing one of the songs too. The musicians brought in to record Progress? to augment the original players were all very high calibre people with a great deal of experience. None more so than Sheila Gott who added her terrific voice to the song The Great Escape. I later found out that it was Sheila that sung the title song for the children’s TV show Danger Mouse. After the release of Progress? I heard that the band were to play a gig at The Classic Rock Society in Yorkshire. I immediately bought a ticket.

That gig was a gig I will always remember. Combination Head were appearing as part of a multiple band extravaganza which also included Dutch progger’s Plack Band and IQ.As I arrived at the venue in Wath On Dern I noticed a tall willowy figure standing in the foyer amidst a collection of flight cases. Bearing in mind that I had never met any of the band at this point let alone knew what any of them looked like. As I approached the door of the main hall I noticed that the guy with the flight cases staring at me in a somewhat menacing way. As I moved closer the guy he held out his hand and said “Steve?”, to which I asked, “Paul Birchall?”. And from that day on we became friends and still are to this very day.

Needless to say I attended a few Combination Head gigs following this first meeting and got to know the other members of the band quite well. And each one of them I thought very highly of. Shortly after the Progress album the band released a single called We Are Machine and shortly after, their third album Museum.

Yet again, there was a slight difference in direction with this album and it was something that I thought was really daring and fresh about Combination Head. They didn’t stand still and with each project pushed the envelope. Only a few months after the release of Museum I hatched a plan to stage a Prog festival and one of the first bands I thought of asking was Combination Head. I am so grateful that they agreed to play and somewhere out there in the aether there is live footage of them playing.The ensuing years found Combination Head put on hold as other music commitments by Gareth Moulton who toured extensively with Cutting Crew and also joining Paul Birchall as part of Heather Small’s backing band along with other members of Combination Head. Paul himself became a very busy gigging musician playing with legendary saxophonist Snake Davis, singer Jim Diamond and eighties rockers Wang Chung. During this time he also studied for and successfully completed a music degree and went on to release daily piano sonata’s.

Tragically over the years the band suffered the loss of original guitar player Keith Ashcroft and bass player Simon Goulding, both exquisite musicians. Another tragic event occurred when Paul Birchall himself debilitating stroke in 2019. This left him using a walking stick and moving at a slower pace. However, this did not prevent him from drawing, painting, writing or recording albums.As with Combination Head albums Paul moved away from the safe zone recording albums like Frangible and Conversing With The Mini Moog for which he performed a one man show using visual aids. As for Gareth Moulton, the last time I seen him was just after a Cutting Crew gig on Teesside where I received a very sweaty hug and a fond greeting.

What of Combination Head? Well, on a visit to Paul Birchall’s home in deepest Lancashire I was lead into his studio and played some new music that he appeared to be well on with. As soon as Paul began to play the music I was instantly transported back to those wonderful Combination Head albums of yore that make this band mean so much to me. “Are these tracks…. Is this…”? I said with a stammer. Paul glanced at me knowingly and simply winked. I await with bated breath.