Robert Ian Andrews (born 17 June 1959) is a British rock guitarist, and former member of the bands Generation X , Empire and Westworld .
42-691: (Redirected from Derwood ) Durwood or Derwood may refer to: Bob Andrews (guitarist) (born 1959), aka Derwood, British musician Durwood Keeton (born 1952), American football player Durwood Merrill (1938-2003), Major League Baseball umpire Durwood Roquemore (born 1960), former professional football player Derwood Williams (1889–1973), American politician, Missouri senator Gene Derwood (1909–1954), American poet and painter Derwood, Maryland , an unincorporated area Durwood, Oklahoma , unincorporated community Durwood Theatres, former name of AMC Theatres , founded by Edward Durwood Durwood,
84-457: A Hoxton recording studio. The act released several records over the next decade, published by varying small labels in the United Kingdom, U.S. and Japan without impacting any commercial charts. A single entitled 'Wonderfool' (1995) was first released, followed by a long-player entitled Fat Lot of Good (1996) carrying a commercially counterintuitive cover art image. The album was supported by
126-486: A compilation album of cover songs . In 2013, he released a downloadable song, "Sleeping Beauty" from Tone Poet Vol. I . In 2013, Andrews switched from the electric guitar to playing the lap steel guitar , and subsequently released an American blues album entitled Tone Poet, Vol. II (2014), and toured the British Isles performing music from it in 2015, with 'Sean & Zander ' as co-headliners. He also released
168-400: A double album containing seven previously unreleased studio recordings by the band and live performance material, and in 2014 a limited run collector's edition of the original record and sleeve artwork was released by Drastic Plastic Records. In 1986 Andrews formed a retro-1950s Americana style "beatbox rock'n'roll"/ rockabilly band called Westworld , with the singer Elizabeth Westwood and
210-462: A few weeks and a handful of support gigs in London and Manchester, James and Broad parted company with Gene October over a lack of personal chemistry, which October reciprocated the sentiment of, and departed taking John Towe with them to form another new band which they named Generation X . Broad renamed himself with the performance punk pseudonym "Billy Idol" as he switched from the guitarist's role to be
252-513: A head, and Andrews quit the band just before Christmas. He would be joined by the band's drummer Mark Laff a month later, who Idol and James asked to leave over another disagreement. In early 1980, Andrews and Laff recorded as session musicians on Jimmy Pursey's first solo album Imagination Camouflage (1980) (Andrews receiving co-writing credit for two of the LP's songs, Freak Show and Situation's Vacant ), before in mid-1980 Andrews and Laff with
294-575: A late-1970s Generation X line-up reunion at the Astoria Theatre in London's West End. In 2006, Andrews and Laff re-recorded the Empire single "Hot Seat" for the 25th anniversary of the release of Expansive Sound LP, which was commercially released on the Expansive Sound Volume II (2009) compilation. In 2011, Andrews played again with New Empire's ex-singer Babel Wallace for the recording of
336-512: A long-player entitled Kiss Me Deadly , featuring session-playing from several different lead guitarists in the absence of a permanent one in the band's line-up. A small tour was also carried out to promote the new band with James Stevenson having been brought in as its stand-in guitarist. Kiss Me Deadly was a commercial failure on release, failing to enter in the UK's Albums Chart, with its only single release " Dancing with Myself " also failing to enter
378-441: A one-off reunion performance at the Astoria Theatre in London's West End. From 2002 to 2013 James worked with Mick Jones , his erstwhile associate from The London S.S. in the mid-1970s, in an act titled Carbon/Silicon , with James co-writing songs and playing guitar. James appeared at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival as a member of Generation Sex, featuring James and Billy Idol from Generation X, and Steve Jones and Paul Cook from
420-460: A period and worked as a motorcycle courier in the mid-late 1990s, during which time he married Stephanie in Hollywood . In the early 2000s, he moved to California's High Desert region. Tony James (musician) Anthony Eric James (born 12 April 1953) is an English pop musician and record producer, who was the bassist for the 1970s–1980s bands Generation X , Sigue Sigue Sputnik and
462-600: A producer at Alvic Studios in Barons Court , also failed to enter the UK Album Chart. The band played a handful of gigs around London before Bernal left. After an unstable line-up and some more gigging in 1981–1982, Laff left the act in February 1983 in frustration with its lack of apparent commercial development. In early 1983, Andrews renamed the act New Empire after recruiting the vocalist Babel Wallace, Mike Gregovich (one of
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#1732855368893504-623: A record label's support, New Empire's increasingly adverse financial circumstances led to Andrews ending it in February 1984 at a gig at the Thames Hall in Slough , Berkshire ; Andrews signaling the defeat by wrecking his amp with his guitar in the band's final performance. (A retrospective album of New Empire material would be released in the United States 24 years later entitled Expansive Sound (2009)). Despite its lack of commercial success, Empire
546-506: A song called "Bed Head" for Wallace's solo album, Good Things Can Happen . Andrews has been cited as an influence by guitarists Johnny Marr of The Smiths , and John Squire of The Stone Roses, and his song back-catalogue has been covered by a diverse range of bands, including the U.S. Bombs and the L.A. Guns . Andrews relocated from England to Cave Creek , Arizona, United States of America in 1992. He subsequently moved to Los Angeles , where he dropped out of professional music for
588-506: A song entitled "Winter Pt 1", which was part of an unreleased album entitled Mojave Full Circle . He released two more American blues albums in 2016–2018, entitled Tone Poet Vol. 3 (2016) and Tone Poet Vol.4 (2018). In 2019 Andrews released a compilation long-player of the Tone Poet series, paradoxically entitled Smash Hits (2019), with an introduction to the material written by Henry Rollins . On 20 September 1993, Andrews performed in
630-584: A year as an assistant gardener at Kensington Palace . In late 1976, Andrews was playing lead guitar, his preferred instrument being the Fender stratocaster , with an amateur rocker band called Paradox . Whilst performing at a gig at the Fulham Arts Centre he was talent-spotted by the punk-rocker Billy Idol , who was at that time looking for a guitar player to complete the line-up of a new band that he had just formed that would be named Generation X. Andrews
672-724: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Bob Andrews (guitarist) Andrews was born in Fulham , England , on 17 June 1959, the son of a mother who was a secretary , and a West London cobbler father. He began to play the guitar at the age of 10, being musically influenced particularly by the work of the British blues rock guitarist Paul Kossoff and Rory Gallagher , and in his youth also rode in junior Motorcycle Speedway competitions in West London. On leaving school at 16, he spent
714-728: The UK Singles Chart . Andrews remained with the band through their two long-players, the self-titled Generation X (1978), which reached No. 29 in the UK Albums Chart , followed by Valley of the Dolls (1979). After two propitious opening years, with a hectic touring schedule and record releases entering the charts, the release of the Valley of the Dolls LP at the start of 1979, although being marked simultaneously by their highest chart hit with
756-460: The rockabilly / cyberpunk act Sigue Sigue Sputnik , with whom he wrote and performed until 1989. In 1990, James became the bassist with The Sisters of Mercy , recording with it on the Vision Thing album; he also played on the band's subsequent live tours, however he left the band the following year. On 20 September 1993, during Billy Idol 's No Religion Tour, James joined Generation X for
798-583: The Love in the World (2004), self-produced by Andrews, was recorded by the act at Studio Dee in Los Angeles with a session drummer, and was commercially released in the U.S. In 1996 Andrews joined a provisional new London band consisting of Glenn Matlock , " Rat Scabies " and Gary Twinn called Dead Horse, but the act failed to develop beyond some rehearsals and a demo recording session, after Matlock abandoned it to join
840-560: The Sisters of Mercy . Tony James was born in Shepherd's Bush in West London on 12 April 1953, and spent his childhood years in Twickenham . After formal education at Hampton Grammar School he attended Brunel University , from which he graduated with first-class honours in mathematics and computer science. Before becoming a professional musician he was briefly employed as a computer programmer in
882-525: The Top 40 Singles Chart; in consequence Chrysalis Records dropped the band's contract and the band broke up, with Idol leaving to pursue a solo career in the United States of America. In 1981, after writing the single release "Russian Roulette" for the band The Lords of the New Church , playing on The London Cowboys ' album Animal Pleasure and producing Sex Gang Children 's album Song and Legend , James formed
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#1732855368893924-472: The United States a self-produced album entitled California (2003), which failed to enter the U.S. charts. Speedtwinn disbanded soon afterwards. In Sept 2022, Andrews released a 12-song album, a collaboration with Damned drummer Rat Scabies entitled Derwood and the Rat . In 2007, Andrews released a solo rock music album entitled Tone Poet (2007). He subsequently recorded and released Cover Yer Arse (2010),
966-514: The Westworld act in 1994. A retrospective LP of material from Westworld , entitled Sick Cool , recorded between 1992 and 1994, was released commercially in the United States in 2018. In 1994, Andrews with Elizabeth Westwood came back to live in London from the U.S. and set up a new experimental Electronic pop /rock act entitled 'Moondogg', working in collaboration with Martin Lee Stephenson in
1008-564: The accounting department of a company. In 1975, James was a member of an early London proto-punk rock formation styling itself as The London S.S. , along with Brian James (later of The Damned ) and Mick Jones and Terry Chimes (both future members of The Clash ). In late 1976, James joined the new band Chelsea as its bassist, the group included William Broad (a member of the Bromley Contingent ) on guitar, John Towe on drums and Gene October as its frontman/lead singer. After
1050-408: The acts with a potentially bright commercial future that had emerged from the punk-rock scene. However, in early 1979 the band's internal cohesion began to come apart after the relative commercial failure of the Valley of the Dolls L.P., which had gone no higher than #51 in the U.K. Albums Chart, and disagreements arose within it about its future musical direction in London's post-punk landscape,
1092-456: The band shortly afterwards over another disagreement. After abandoning the recording sessions at Olympic Studios, in early 1980 James and Idol re-launched the band in the New Romantic style, re-titled with the new name Gen X, with the drummer Terry Chimes . Re-recording some of the material from the abortive Olympic sessions, along with several new songs, at the beginning of 1981 it released
1134-541: The band's final U.K. release, the rip-roaring Dance On (which would be Andrews' career parting shot to the United Kingdom's commercial charts) reaching No. 92 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1989. Andrews departed from England with Westwood to live in the United States in 1992, where they released two further singles and two long-players in the U.S. market via an independent label, but without commercial success, and they ended
1176-506: The bassist Simon Bernal formed the three man post-punk band Empire , with Andrews as the act's lead vocalist. Empire commercially released via the new label Dinosaur Discs, backed by a record shop of the same name at No. 17 Barons Court Road in West Kensington , the song "Hot Seat" (1981), with a B-side entitled "All These Things", which failed to enter the UK Singles Chart. A long-player entitled Expensive Sound (1981), recorded without
1218-470: The guitarist/drummer Nick Burton. It had an early hit with its debut single "Sonic Boom Boy", which reached No. 11 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1987, which was subsequently commercially used as a backing music track by Sony for one of its television product advertising campaigns. Between 1986 and 1990 the band performed as a trio utilizing a drum machine and sequencers with two guitarists, Andrews (lead), Burton (rhythm), fronted by Westwood as
1260-485: The line-up that signed to Chrysalis Records and released the band's first single, "Your Generation" in September 1977, which entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart . The band went on to release two long-players, the self-titled Generation X (1978) and Valley of the Dolls (1979), and several singles, all but one of which charted, and through a hectic touring schedule increasingly gained media recognition as one of
1302-501: The name "Dobbin", which Andrews' prominent front teeth in his school years had attracted. After less than a week, and a handful of rehearsals, Andrews took the stage for the band's first gig, at the Central London College of Art & Design on 10 December 1976. The band subsequently signed a recording contract with Chrysalis Records and released its first single, "Your Generation", in September 1977, which went to No. 36 in
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1344-738: The name used by Endora for her son-in-law Darrin Stephens in the TV show Bewitched See also [ edit ] Durward (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Durwood . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Durwood&oldid=822930861 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with given-name-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description
1386-522: The reformation of the Sex Pistols . From this line-up, Andrews and the vocalist Gary Twinn formed a hybrid British-American alternative country act entitled Speedtwinn, which they relocated to Joshua Tree, California in 1998, combining British rock music from the 1970s with American country music. After gigging in small venues in the area, and recording music videos of cover songs ranging from T-Rex to Johnny Cash , they wrote and commercially released in
1428-414: The release of an E.P. titled 'Silver Lining', and the singles 'Black Pain' (1996), and 'Nothing's Sacred' (1996). Another L.P. entitled God's Wallop was recorded in London in the mid-1990s (before Andrews and Westwood quit London and returned to the U.S.), with Rat Scabies playing the drum tracks, produced by Martin Lee Stephenson, but it wasn't commercially released until 2001. A third LP, entitled All
1470-647: The singer, and commercially released in the United Kingdom via R.C.A. six singles, five of which entered the top 80 of the UK Singles Chart: Sonic Boom Boy (1987), Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo (1987), Where the Action Is (1987), Silvermac (1987), and Everything Good is Bad (1988). A long-player entitled 'Where the Action Is' reached No. 49 in the UK Albums Chart in September 1987. Due to the band's declining chart success R.C.A. dropped its contract, with
1512-456: The singer/frontman on the recruitment of Bob "Derwood" Andrews as its lead guitarist. Generation X played their first gigs in London in December 1976, and swiftly began writing their own material and playing live in venues around London and further afield. After five months Towe was dropped from the group's formation at James's instigation, and was replaced by the drummer Mark Laff , to complete
1554-652: The single "King Rocker" (No. 11 in the UK Singles Chart), initiated the beginning of a deterioration in the commercial success of the band, and differences began to surface within it between Andrews and Billy Idol and the bass player Tony James as to its future musical direction. The disagreement about direction was augmented by Idol and James' refusal to allow Andrews to contribute to their songwriting partnership, and an increasing personal antipathy that had developed in Andrews towards Idol. In May 1979, Andrews warned them that he
1596-512: The sound engineers at Alvic Studios who had recorded the band's Expensive Sound LP) playing bass, and Crispin Taylor on the drums. The new line-up released a white label 12" titled "Inside You", and toured in the UK in 1983 as a support act to John Miles and Roman Holliday , and also in Spain , where it found some unanticipated and mysteriously caused popularity with well attended shows. However, without
1638-460: The writing process and credits for its work, augmented by the appearance of personality clashes. These came to a head in late 1979 during the recording of what was the band's (unfinished) third long-player (retrospectively commercially released 20 years later the under the title Sweet Revenge ) . Generation X broke up in acrimony at the year's end with Andrews the lead guitarist quitting the act, and Idol and James asking its drummer Mark Laff to leave
1680-488: Was an influential band in the development of the emo music genre in the United States, and an acknowledged key influence via songs such as "Him or Me" (1981) on the development of the sound of The Stone Roses from the Manchester scene of the late 1980s. The Expansive Sound LP was commercially re-issued in the United Kingdom in 1986. In the United States, it was re-issued in 2003 by the label Poorly Packaged Products as
1722-457: Was increasingly feeling like leaving Generation X, which was avoided by focusing on the band's first international tour in Japan mid-year, but on returning to England, during the recording sessions for the band's abortive third album (which would be released retrospectively 20 years later, by Andrews in the face of opposition from Idol, under the title K.M.D. – Sweet Revenge ) internal disputes came to
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1764-449: Was recruited to be its lead guitarist, in the process freeing Idol from the band's guitar role to become its frontman/singer. Andrews was subsequently christened with the punk pseudonym "Derwood" by the band, a name invented on the spur of the moment by a friend of his whilst under interrogation from Tony James , the band's strategist, about school nicknames that Andrews had in search of a punk stage-name, to avoid James discovering and using
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