Busted Fender Blues Band

The band knew they may pay a heavy price.  The loss of many fans was to follow, as many people came to see Tim play guitar. He was, and still is, a phenomenal guitarist and his leaving left a big hole in the band.

When Tim  Dunn departed, Busted Fender were booked to play the CAMRA Real Ale Festival at the Guild Hall in Portsmouth.. A well known blues guitarist  and an avid supporter of the blues Andy Broad was asked to fill the gap for a one-off  gig. Andy Broad was well known on the blues circuit and had his own band, Burnt Ice. Andy turned up to play and did such a fine job that the band decided to cut the planned auditions and recruit Andy to join full time.

Andy’s guitar style was very different from Tim Dunn’s; it was much more laid back, but Andy Mills loved that style of playing and felt that it was in line with the kind of directional  shift the band were going to have to make. Still, there was that big hole to fill left by Tim Dunn, so the band had to up their game a little so as not to lose the power of the songs they still wanted to perform. Mick Arloe began playing a lot more guitar to really drive the rhythm and added more harmonica to fill spaces. Kevin Brazier came much more to the forefront, taking on more piano solos. All this helped raise the platform for Andy to work on a punchier style. They all worked hard and the hard work paid off. Their style changed slightly to a swingier blues as played by some of the US bands and they began to write more of this material. It worked well and pretty soon they were accruing more and more supporters, making up for the ones they lost upon Tim Dunn’s departure. Not everyone was happy with Fender’s new line up, they had their critics (one describing them as “a bunch of estate agents” - er...?) but more often than not they answered those critics with a much bluesier feel to their music, getting away from the rocky blues of recent years.

After a few more years, Mick Arloe was becoming restless and was talking about leaving the band. The

year was 1996 and he’d been with them since the beginning of  1991. But before he could do anything about it Kevin Brazier turned up for rehearsal one night and declared his intention to leave the band. This came as a great shock and almost spelt the end of the band there and then, as Mick Arloe was as reluctant as ever to carry on without Kevin. However, they reached the decision to recruit a brass section to replace the piano. Mick thought of it as a challenge and decided to stick it out. They hired one of Portsmouth’s greatest trumpet players, Ron Williams, to hand-pick fellow brass players to accompany him with Busted Fender. Richard Walker was chosen and with just the two of them Busted Fender carried on with yet another dimension to their music. When Ron went to work on the cruises, Jock McKenzie stood in. But it wasn’t to last long now as Mick’s heart was just not into carrying on, and in 1997 Mick Arloe announced his retirement from the band. This proved to be one change too many and Busted Fender performed their last gig in August of that year at the Contented Pig in Portsmouth. They called upon all the past members of the band to join them in their farewell gig but only Gordon Robinson and Kevin Brazier joined the others on stage that night. Both Jock and Ron played that night along with George Francis (Soul Agents).

Fender made one more appearance about a year later at a gig including the Rhythm Kings at the RMA in Eastney. The band haven’t played together as Fender since. Ron Williams sadly passed away a few years ago. He will be sorely missed.

Possibly one of the most enduring of memories was the night Fender supported the late, great John Campbell at the Boars Head Blues Club near Wickham. John Campbell looked and played like the Devil incarnate on stage, but backstage he was one of the nicest people one could ever wish to meet. Fender were due to support him again a year later and all the band were looking forward to it. The man was a star and everybody was sure to have a great night. Unfortunately, shortly before the gig, Fender received the news from Mick Meach and Mick Johnson that John had passed away. He was only 41-years-old. Everyone was shocked. Just when he’d finally made the big time he was taken. Nobody knows for sure the reason for his death to this day. His last words to Mick Arloe were “Hey! We must play another show together sometime.” Regrettably, it just wasn’t to be.