Barclay James Harvest

Barclay James Harvest:

I certify that this dissertation is entirely my own work and no part of it has been submitted for a degree or other qualification in this or another institution. I also certify that I have not collected data nor shared data with another candidate at Exeter University or elsewhere without specific authorization.

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Sarah Warren 27th March 2015 620007154

Word Count: 9,902 2

Contents

List of Figures: 3

Abstract: 4

Acknowledgements: 5

Introduction & Methodology: 6

Literature Review: 9

Chapter 1: Changes in the Fandom over Time 12

Chapter 2: Gender Imbalance 20

Chapter 3: Fan Objects and Behaviour 23

Conclusions: 25

References: 35

List of Figures

Figure Description Page

Front cover John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest 1 and fans at Metropolis Studios

2.1 Barclay James Harvest 1974, 22 Promotional photo for the release of ‘Everyone is Everybody Else’

2.2 Barclay James Harvest 1981, 23 Promotional photo for the release of ‘Turn of the Tide’

3.1 Photograph of Ian Alexander’s ticket 26 display

3.2 Photograph of Rob Price’s framed 29 tour programmes

Abstract

Fandom is hugely underrepresented in geographical literature and this dissertation aims to begin filling that gap with a focus on fans of music; one of the least studied cohorts in existing fan studies. The case study for this research is that of the fans of a relatively obscure progressive rock band; Barclay James Harvest. Through a combination of interviews, questionnaires and participant observation this study examines changes that have occurred in the fandom over time. Further discussed is the difference that gender can make to the way in which a fan experiences the band and the important role that memorabilia plays in the fan community. The outcomes of the research demonstrate that the fandom is particularly sensitive to change and, to a large extent, based on personal meaning and memory. Age and gender are shown to be key to the involvement and attachment placed upon the band by fans, and demonstrated is the possibility to categorise fans based upon their relationship to fan objects. Evidence suggests that music fans present a very diverse subject of study and one from which a greater understanding of fandom can be gained.

Acknowledgements

My grateful thanks go to everyone who has helped me in the process of this dissertation in any way. I would particularly like to thank the following for their contributions: Jill Wolstenholme and Keith and Monika Domone for their help and valuable insights and experiences as fan club leaders past and present, Catherine Leyshon for moral and academic support during the dark days, Tony Johnson for his invaluable knowledge and advice, Rob Price and Ian Alexander for discussing their collecting habits at length and allowing me the use of their photographs. To Jeremy Smith, Craig Fletcher, Kevin Whitehead and John Lees of JLBJH for their time and for humouring me for the last nine years, my dad for buying me my first BJH album and my mum for taking me hundreds of miles to concerts in all weathers. To the forty or so fans who completed my questionnaire or answered my questions on the forum and to Myke Lessiter for valued support and putting up with my obsessive fan behaviour on a daily basis without complaint.

And of course to the original Barclay James Harvest line up, John Lees, Woolly Wolstenholme RIP, Melvyn Pritchard RIP and Les Holroyd; without whom there would have been nothing to study.

Introduction

The study of fandom belongs predominantly to the realms of sociology and cultural studies, with the majority of research taking place within the fan communities of gaming, television or film. Surprisingly little work has taken place on the topic of music fans and so this dissertation seeks to begin filling the void of music fandom in geographical literature.

I will employ a variety of sources including: fan club publications, interviews with fans and the band themselves, responses from a detailed questionnaire distributed to the fans via social media, observations at a live performance and in the online fan community. This study aims to investigate what it means to be a fan of Barclay James Harvest, a progressive rock band that has existed in some guise for almost half a century. Particular emphasis will be placed on areas that have been identified as significant to the fandom, such as the variety of behaviour surrounding objects of memorabilia and the differing role that gender plays in the way in which the fandom is experienced.

I shall also attempt to look at the evolution of fandom over time, rather than discussing a snapshot view of how a fandom was at a set point in time or simply at the time of writing, as is almost universally the trend in existing literature.

The overall aim of this research is to explore the key characteristics of the fandom of Barclay James Harvest and to investigate three key areas: How the fandom has evolved throughout the band’s history, how gender affects fans’ behaviour in the fandom and the ways in which fans interact with objects of memorabilia.

A basic background on Barclay James Harvest and key people discussed in this dissertation:

Barclay James Harvest (BJH) was formed in Oldham, Lancashire in late 1966 by John Lees (b.1947 - guitar and vocals), Stuart “Woolly” Wolstenholme (b. 1947 - keyboards, mellotron and vocals), Mel Pritchard (b.1948 - drums) and Les Holroyd (b. 1948 - bass guitar and vocals). This line up remained the same for the first nine studio albums before the departure of Woolly in 1979, after which BJH continued as a trio with an increasingly different and more 7

‘commercial’ 1980s image and sound. This trio existed with the addition of several guest musicians, especially when touring, until they took a sabbatical from band activities in 1998. The trio never re-formed and instead split into two bands – John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest (JLBJH) which saw the return of Woolly, and Les and Mel formed Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd (BJHFLH). Tragically, Mel passed away from a heart attack in January 2004 and Woolly, after a lengthy battle with depression, took his own life in December 2010 (Domone & Domone, 2013).

The current line up of JLBJH comprises John Lees, Craig Fletcher (bass and vocals), Kev Whitehead (drums) and Jez Smith (keyboards and backing vocals).

The original BJH fan club, entitled Friends of Barclay James Harvest (FOBJH) was founded in 1977 and run by Jill Wolstenholme; fan and then wife of Woolly. The club was taken over by Chrissie McCall, an employee of agents ‘Kennedy Street’ following Woolly’s departure from the band after which Jill stepped down. FOBJH continued until 1988 when it was replaced by the International Barclay James Harvest Fan Club (IBJHFC) run by Keith Domone and later his wife Monika. Both Keith and Monika have been fans since their teenage years and have seen various guises of BJH live several hundred times between them and, whilst the fan club no longer officially exists, they remain the figureheads of the fan community both on and offline today.

Methods:

In order to research the fandom over the past five decades, I have spoken to Keith and Monika Domone, Jill Wolstenholme and several fans via the fan forum, Facebook and personal email. I conducted an interview with the current line-up of JLBJH on 12/10/14 in Taunton and asked about their experiences with fans past and present. The fan club newsletters and fanzines formed the basis for observation of fan behaviour in the past, whilst participant observation via the band’s and fans’ social media platforms as well as audience participation at a live concert provided the comparable material. I undertook further observation through fan produced media such as two fan-published books – “The Barclay James Harvest Story” by Keith and Monika Domone and “The Fifties Child: The Songs of Barclay James Harvest” by Alex Torres – fan artwork 8 and song covers. I also produced a questionnaire for fans and shared it via social media covering a variety of topics about their feelings about BJH and their behaviour with regard to live performances, recorded material, fan interaction, memorabilia collection and memory.

Literature Review

Fandom itself began to receive a moderate amount of attention in the academic world from the late 1980s onwards, with the peak in the volume of literature being produced occurring in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A resurgence in interest in fan studies appears to have been underway since 2009, encouraged by the appearance of an updated version of Jenkins’ much-cited text, ‘Textual Poachers’ (2012) which has paved the way for research in the field since its original publication date in 1992.

Key to the intrigue behind fan studies appears to be the stereotypes with which they are almost invariably labelled. The word ‘fan’ is derived from the Latin fanaticus, meaning insane or mad (Wilcox & Cochran, 2008) which is not too far removed from how over-enthusiastic fans are seen in everyday society today (Duffett, 2013a).One such stereotypical trait of fans is that of an obsession whereby every single aspect of one’s life appears to be affected by the fan subject (Longhurst et al, 2007), as though the fan cannot think outside the realms of their particular area of interest (Jones, 2000). The ability to reel-off episode numbers, facts and recount events in the most minute of detail is also key to the widely accepted idea of a member of a fandom (Harris & Alexander, 1998).

There has been much written about the worlds of fandom surrounding gaming, television programmes and films, but there is very little in the literature about the fans of music groups. In order to find studies of music fandom, the reader is forced to cross the boundaries of geographical study and enter instead into the world of social and cultural studies (Duffett, 2013; Gray et al, 2007). The studies that have taken place on music fans tend to focus on phenomena such as Beatlemania (Ehrenreich et al, 1992; Scodari, 2007) – ‘super-stars’ and bands that have become household names, whilst very little attention has been paid to the relatively small fandoms of bands such as BJH. I do not feel this to be representative of the potential for study in this area, as the study of such fandoms that have endured several decades, and are of a manageable size would allow for incredibly detailed analysis. 10

Studies of fandom by members of the same fan community have often been met with much criticism (Sandvoss, 2005), but I would argue that it would be virtually impossible to truly understand the fans’ behaviour and beliefs without inside knowledge. To try and understand a fandom is to understand the personal habits and feelings of people (Longhurst et al, 2007); you cannot remove the fans from the study, and the kind of information available to those already involved in the community is invaluable.

Fans are said to form attachments and have ‘emotional investments’ in the characters and plots in television series, and react negatively when these tenets are interfered with or broken (Hills, 2002; Jenkins, 2012). In response to this, certain television fandoms in the United States of America (e.g. that of epic serial LOST, 2004-2009) have been actively monitored and involved in the decision making process for plot and character developments.

Fan studies involving gender are almost invariably based upon the ideas that women only become fans as a result of some sort of sexual desire for the actor, character or musician involved (Cline, 1992). Female fans (recently increasingly referred to as ‘fan girls’) are said to be portrayed as crazy, overweight and unattractive – for what would a beautiful woman want with an obsession for science-fiction? (Becque, 2012). Throughout the literature, there is a theme that considers ‘true’ fans to be male (Larson & Zubernis, 2012), and that society does not necessarily see this as an insult – fans of sport, for instance, are not considered to be ‘weird’, as the stereotypical fan of science-fiction might be (Jenkins, 1992).

In 1998, a study of cyber-fans was undertaken to determine the habits of television fans who supplemented their viewing with interactivity through the then new medium of the internet. From this, conclusions were drawn that the act of discussing the programme’s events with others increased the viewers’ affinity with the show (Costello, 1999). Similarly, the way in which fan activity is self-perpetuating, and that interaction with other fans increases affinity and interest in the subject was discussed by Hills (2002) and also Hellekson and Busse (2014).The progression of the internet has lead to a surge of publications on the ‘21st Century fan’, as fan communities, increasingly based online, have become more accessible to outsiders (Bennett, 2014; Barton & Lampley, 2013). 11

Much time has been spent attempting to define and categorise fans into tiers of enthusiasm or dedication (Hills, 2002; Grossberg, 1992) but this theme seems to be falling out of favour, with more recent publications suggesting that continuous work on definitions and degrees of fandom (such as a enthusiasts, fans and supporters) is redundant (Duffett, 2013a; Booth, 2010).

There are several publications on the meaning that is given to objects, including several key texts that have been particularly useful to me: ‘Stuff’ by Miller (2009), ‘What Objects Mean’ by Berger (2009), ‘Evocative Objects: Things We Think With’ (Turkle, 2007) and ‘Understanding Material Culture’ by Woodward (2007). These publications each contain information which aids the understanding of the relationships people build with objects in this dissertation, but no studies are linked to how this might differ in the case of fans. Very little attention is paid to tangible items in the study of fandom, with the closest key trend in recent years being research into ‘Fan Fiction’, the creative outlet for fans that has built up significant participation in certain fandoms in the last two decades (Hellekson & Busse, 2014).

Chapter 1: The Fandom over Time

Barclay James Harvest was formed in 1966 and has had a form of fan following ever since. It stands to reason that the fandom and the way in which it manifests itself has changed quite considerably in those forty-nine years, not least the way in which fans have been able to access information about the group. This in turn has impacted how the fans have been able to experience the fandom and express their interest and enthusiasm for BJH.

In the early days of BJH (the late 1960s – mid 1970s) the only way that fans could find any information about the band was in the music press; weekly issues of magazines such as ‘Sounds’, ‘NME’ and later ‘Melody Maker’ were the sole sources of tour dates, recording activity and snippets of information about the band themselves, short of managing to speak to a member of the group after a live performance. But as the band began to fill larger capacity venues, the latter option became a much harder task for fans.

This all changed in 1977 when the very first BJH fan club, FOBJH, was set up by Jill Wolstenholme. The combination of being a fan herself and later being married to one of the band members gave her both up-to-date and reliable information and an accurate understanding of what the fans wanted from a fan club. The club was advertised in both the music press and in tour programmes from BJH concerts and, for the very first time, fans were made to feel like part of an official fan community. Newsletters contained information craved by the fans, such as when and where tickets would be going on sale, how recording was progressing on the next album and, crucially, allowed the opportunity for fans to post messages/ adverts to other fans. This enabled activity such as buying, selling and swapping of vinyl and tour merchandise but also diluted the feeling of isolation that many fans claim to have felt in the days before the fan club. Occasionally fans would share addresses through the newsletter and became ‘pen pals’ with other fans, facilitating interaction and even the possibility for pre- concert meet-ups between those in a similar location.

FOBJH also offered a range of merchandise such as t-shirts, badges, posters and pens – items that Jill decided, as a fan, that others would want to own to express their enjoyment of the band and their music. This was the first time that 13 fans had been able to purchase any form of merchandise without attending a concert, and allowed those who could not get to the live performances, whether due to geographical or economical restrictions, to purchase clothing and tangible objects representing their favourite band.

When Woolly Wolstenholme left the band in September 1979, FOBJH was taken over by Chrissie McCall – an employee of the group’s agents Kennedy Street who had experience in running fan clubs for glam rock bands such as ‘The Sweet’ and ‘Mud’ and was not a fan of BJH (Domone & Domone, 2013). Chrissie approached the BJH fans in the same way as she had the teenage fan base of The Sweet, which clashed terribly with the true identity of the fan base. The newsletters from this era are far removed from the friendly and insightful releases that preceded them; patronising in tone with only very basic information and padded out with childish details such as the bands’ favourite colours.

This, combined with the complete reinvention of BJH’s image and sound, brought about by the departure of Woolly led to a vast decline in members and widespread resentment of what had become of both the band and the fan club. So dire was the situation that funding for the newsletters was non-existent, with very few new subscriptions or renewals and by the late 1980s, the newsletters had all but stopped completely, leaving many of those who had not already been driven away by the new commercial sound isolated, once more, from other fans.

In 1988, Keith Domone produced the first BJH Fanzine, entitled Nova Lepidoptera (both a BJH song title and in reference to a new lease of life for the fan club) in response to the increasingly poor service provided to fans by FOBJH, in the hope of rekindling the spirit of the fan community once more and, very quickly, the IBJHFC was formed. The first issue set the tone of the new fan club, stating it was “For the fans, by the fans” and over the next ten years the issues of Nova were packed with all manner of fan contributions, competitions and discussion. Almost every issue contained addresses of fans seeking pen pals worldwide and several enduring friendships were forged over a mutual interest in BJH. 14

The dawn of the 21st century saw the way that fans experienced and expressed their enjoyment of the music evolve once more as a result of the ever- increasing presence and importance of the internet. 1995 saw the creation of the very first BJH website which was set up by Keith and Monika, but it was not until 1998 when it really took off; coinciding by chance with the band’s sabbatical. As band activity stopped and actual news began to dry up, the printed fanzines came to their logical end, and were replaced by the emerging internet-based fan community comprising the website and an email discussion group, followed by the creation of a forum in 2006. This online platform of information and discussion allowed real-time interaction between fans worldwide for the first time in the band’s history and many of the fans who had ‘met’ through the fanzine’s printed pages were reunited in this way. By chance, the first major band activity in over half a decade occurred at the end of 2006 with a small tour, making the forum the perfect place for fans to ‘meet’ and speculate over the potential set lists and pre-gig meet up venues

As I write this dissertation, surviving members of the original line-up John Lees and Les Holroyd are 68 and 67 respectively, having originally formed BJH at the ages of 19 and 18. The majority of fans are consequently now in or approaching their 50s or 60s and are in a very different position in life to the fans in their 20s and 30s in the 1970s ‘heyday’ of the band. These fans, now approaching retirement age are, for the most part, considerably more affluent than the average fan thirty or forty years ago, and can afford to travel longer distances to the concerts, with several fans attending multiple performances on each tour. The flipside to this is that the fans often have a lot more responsibilities and commitments than they may have done in their youth, meaning that a confliction of priorities is common problem faced by fans – torn between what the ‘fan’ wants to do and what the ‘father/husband/friend’ should do.

A typical list of UK tour dates from 1976 comprised 26 events in 29 days with the vast majority of concerts taking place in medium sized venues such as guildhalls, town halls and theatres. This was an intensive schedule for the band and, with locations ranging from as far north as Edinburgh to as far south as Bournemouth, there were several possibilities for fans from almost all parts of the country. When compared to JLBJH’s tour list from 2013, there were 9 dates 15 over 17 days at smaller venues including the market town of Tavistock on Dartmoor in Devon.

There are numerous reasons behind the changes – John Lees is now retired and, understandably, would not find a schedule such as that of 1976 (and the amount of travelling that goes with it) as easy as it was forty years ago. JLBJH is not a full-time band as BJH were in 1976; recording and performing is a relatively rare occurrence and is practically a side-line activity for the members of the group. As a relatively obscure even when at their most famous, BJH/JLBJH could not feasibly fill venues on a tour of 26 dates, meaning that much shorter tours in smaller venues are the only way that the band can still perform live.

What this means in terms of the fan experience, is that there are very limited (both in frequency and location) chances for them to attend a concert without travelling tens or even hundreds of miles and, factoring in travel and accommodation costs, this makes for a much more expensive event for fans than it used to be. However, once at a concert, there is much to be said for the atmosphere in such small venues, as the fans in the community will arrange to meet up, normally a few hours prior to the concert, for a meal and a chat, and will often sit or stand together throughout the performance to enable discussion in the intervals. The band will often be around to talk to fans and sign autographs after the concerts and this is another occasion where the fan community come together to discuss the concert and have photos taken (both together and with the band). To an outsider of the fan community, the concerts appear to be an excuse for a fan ‘get-together’, showing just how much it means for them to spend time with fellow enthusiasts.

These days, the band are much more accessible to the fans, further increasing the “fan family feeling” that several questionnaires describe as being an important aspect of their enjoyment of the fandom. Interestingly, some fans enjoy speaking to John and the band after every concert they attend, and are known by the band as a result, whereas others, some of whom have been fans for four decades and have seen the band on numerous occasions, actively avoid the band and prefer to keep an “element of mystery” around the people behind the music. 16

The current line up of JLBJH contains three members who are a generation younger than John Lees and both Craig and Jez had bought BJH albums themselves as teenagers, resulting in an interesting situation – the band members were once fans of the original band. In the interview, I asked them about this unusual position, and they both stated that it was a strange but wonderful position to be in. All four members stated that there was no one band that they liked more than all others and nor had they ever belonged to a fan community like that that BJH have, meaning that it is difficult for them to truly empathise with their own fans. Regardless of this, they were in agreement that they found it particularly humbling and pleasing that people enjoyed the music enough to travel to see them time after time. Craig spoke of a fan “fraternity” and said that “there’s a family vibe, which [they] encourage”.

I asked John whether or not there was a noticeable change in fan behaviour over the years and his response was that today’s fan base seems to be “solid” and made up of “life-long fans”. BJH is no longer a group which has many “casual” fans, but rather the majority of the audiences (or at least the ones he gets to interact with) are made up of very dedicated individuals. If even the band are aware of the extent to which there exists a “fan family”, there can be little question of its strength.

The sudden deaths of Mel Pritchard and Woolly Wolstenholme have taken their toll on the fandom in their own way. All hope fans held of a reunion with the original line-up has been extinguished, and with every passing year and smattering of tour dates there is an increasing urgency within the fan community to be there and to savour the live performances while they can, as there is an ever present, but rarely mentioned, fear that there will not be another chance. After the death of Woolly in December 2010, many of the most prolific contributors to the forum ceased not only posting, but listening to the music (or indeed any music) at all. Most returned within a few months, but a couple of fans disappeared from the fan community altogether and, four-and-a-half years on, the forum has not recovered from this event. Even during periods of high band activity such as the release of an album or a tour, there is much less ‘traffic’ on the forum than there was prior to Woolly’s passing. This continues to suggest that a high proportion of the fan base is based on nostalgia, on memory and the desire to relive the past. 17

When I interviewed JLBJH after the Taunton concert of October 2014, they told me of a Japanese fan who last year travelled to one of their concerts just outside London, leaving just enough time to have a quick chat with the band before having to leave for his return flight to Japan. The band were stunned by this behaviour – the fan had flown halfway across the globe for one of their concerts without even booking a hotel, showing just how much it means for some fans to get to these live events.

The passing of time has a significant part to play in the dynamics of this fandom. The emergence of Social Media sites allowed a form of real-time communication to take place between fans, for the fast spread of information regarding tours and new releases and even the occasional post direct from band members.

As time has progressed, the ways in which fans respond to and interact with ‘fan objects’ has changed dramatically for a number of reasons. By ‘fan objects’ I am referring to articles of tangible music formats such as vinyl LPs and CDs and all manner of pieces of memorabilia. Over time, these objects have become commodities, both because of their increasing rarity and because, as the length of time between the object’s production and the present has increased, the amount of meaning attached to the object has been amplified. For the long-term fans, these objects evoke memories of their youth and they cling physically to the items as they do mentally to the memories. It is a different kind of importance that the younger fans give to the items; those of us not around at the time to remember hold such items with high respect and are practically in awe of the experiences that they represent (Cavicchi, 2007).

According to Keith and Monika Domone, there are fewer than a dozen fans that are really prolific collectors of all things BJH – many fewer than the likes of the Beatles, but the band’s relative obscurity and limited commercial success means that many items were already scarce immediately after production.

One such item is the band’s first 7” single – ‘Early Morning’ - released in April 1968 on the Parlophone label. The single was not a hit, and as a result only a limited number of copies were ever pressed, meaning that it tops many fans’ wish lists and even a poor quality copy is very easy to sell, with fewer than three copies being advertised in an average year. 18

My personal experience of this particular item is that of an overpowering desire to own it as soon as I knew of its existence. These were intense feelings and, strangely, even nine years on, I struggle to explain the reasons behind them. It became somewhat of an obsession and many a weekend was spent in any second-hand record shop I could find; entering with such determined excitement which was invariably short-lived. I never even came close to finding a copy. After a number of (not so) near misses on both online record stores (“sorry, I hadn’t updated my inventory – it’s already been sold”) and eBay (where the prices rocketed out of my meagre price range) I managed to secure an exceptional copy, more by luck than anything else, for the incredibly low sum of £17.50 (which I had to beg from my older brother). On 5th June 2008 I finally owned that which I had so painstakingly sought after for more than two-and-a- half years, and so significant was the event that I can remember the date without having to think.

Older collectors speak of similar feelings of anticipation at record fairs, though the dominance of the internet has largely killed off this sort of chance find, as the sellers are able to advertise a rare item globally in a matter of seconds. The dawn of online shopping and internet auctions has certainly made tracking down rare items a much easier, but has also had the effect of increasing the prices as a result of ‘bidding wars’ between collectors. One respondent to my fan questionnaire even mentioned his disheartenment with this forced change in his collecting habits, complaining that the internet had both “jacked up the prices” and “taken the fun out of the chase”.

A lull in band activity and the ever-increasing importance of the internet lead to the wind-down and eventually the complete demise of the printed IBJHFC magazine “Nova Lepidoptera”. The final issue was released in March of 2003 and was its 60th quarterly publication which was in some ways replaced by an email-based fan discussion group which was ultimately succeeded by the BJH Forum in 2006 which, to this day, remains the hub of internet discussion on the band. The visitors to the forum vary from the moderately casual fans who read but contribute very infrequently (termed “lurkers” by frequent contributors) to the regulars who generally visit the forum several times a day and who almost treat it like a local pub or social club; discussing all manner of topics with others, 19 some of whom they have known for decades purely as a result of their mutual interest in the band.

Responses from the fan questionnaire suggest that what BJH now means to long-term fans is almost entirely nostalgia for the 1970s – for “happier times”, “a younger me” and “the possibility of youth”. One fan wrote that “each chord holds a bookshelf of memory” and another that the music evokes memories of “[him] in [his] little bedroom - ([his] world!)”. Other fans admitted that the music “took [them] back to a good time in [their] life” and that particular albums are “redolent with memories” and not one response suggested that the fan did not associate the music with memory or nostalgia. All fans I have spoken to appear to yearn for a previous time, a ‘then’ that is kept alive only through the sort of association and memory that listening to the music of BJH provides.

Chapter 2: Gender Imbalance

There would appear to be a great gender imbalance in BJH’s fan base with a large majority of fans being male. ‘Fans’ of all things are often thought of as being predominantly male (Jenkins, 1992) and many satirical and stereotypical images of science fiction and gaming enthusiasts are portrayed as single males (Becque, 2012). It comes as little surprise, therefore, that the fandom of Barclay James Harvest, too, fits into this trend. This bias is something of an ‘in joke’ within the fan community, and the struggles of so many male fans to convince their partners to attend a BJH concert is often documented in the online community. Of a questionnaire response of 34, only two returns were from female fans, suggesting either a large difference between numbers of the two genders within the online community or a disinterest in such forms of interaction within the female fans.

From personal experience, being female and having become a fan at the age of 12, there were two assumptions made by other fans that I could not escape – that the reason behind my interest in BJH was having a “crush” on the band members and that I would ‘grow out of it’. After several years and thousands of posts on the fan forum, I appear to have convinced the majority that I will not become ‘too old’ to be a fan. However, comments suggesting that the other female fans and I prefer a certain song, album or era purely as a result of a sexual attraction towards one of the group, do occur infrequently, seemingly to justify discounting our opinions as invalid and biased. This suggests that the stereotypical belief that only males can be true ‘fans’ still exists to some extent (Larson & Zubernis, 2012).

Monika Domone is an avid fan and said in an interview that the imbalance may not be exactly as we perceive. It was surprisingly common for a female fan to sign up for fanzines under her husband’s name in order to avoid any embarrassment and stigma caused by being a member of a ‘fan club’, and idea in line with both Scodari’s and Jenkins’ thoughts on the dilemmas faced by those who do not fit into the stereotypical cohort of the fan base (2007; 2012)

The original fan club was run by a female and the most recent fan club is co run by husband and wife, which may suggest that the few female fans that are 21 known to the fandom are particularly active in their role in the fan community, which could have something to do with a different need from the band. Through observation of the past through the fanzines and present activity on Facebook, the few dedicated female fans tend to be the ones who produce paintings, drawings or craft items to do with BJH. There have been instances of fans knitting dolls to resemble various band members, printing packs of cards featuring the band’s butterfly logo and producing paintings from photos of live performances and all of these activities have been undertaken by the women of the fan base. Their male counterparts rarely appear to engage in these creative fan activities, instead focussing on the band’s output, the musicians and live performances themselves. An exception to this line of thought is Alex, who was inspired to write and publish a social history of England through his study of the lyrics of BJH (Torres, 2013) - though it could be argued that this more practical use of the band’s output remains consistent with the trend of male-based fan activities.

Most bands have an evolving sound which adheres to fashions or trends over time in particular decades and Barclay James Harvest are no different. The music and image of BJH in the 1980s is almost unrecognisable when compared to what fans would term ‘classic BJH’ (see figures 2.1 and 2.2). Unsurprisingly, these different periods and sounds attracted different people and drove many existing fans away. Fans of BJH often split the band’s output into sections or ‘eras’ which allow easy differentiation and often also split opinion. One such era is generally seen as the time period 1979 – 1998, coinciding with the departure of keyboard player Woolly Wolstenholme up until the ‘sabbatical’ that took place in the late 1990s. This era is characteristically much more pop based and during this time the band reached their peak of fame in mainland Europe gaining many new fans and, for the first time, a large proportion of these new fans were female. This is most likely as a result of the more commercial and contemporary image that the band portrayed and due to the change in music style to a more accessible and upbeat ‘pop’ sound. This meant that the music was played in Discos and night clubs in mainland Europe, whereas previously it had been reserved for much more ‘serious’ music programmes and radio stations such as The Old Grey Whistle Test and Radio Luxemburg whose primary audiences were male, and certainly not aimed at those wishing to dance. 22

The propensity that female fans have for creative activities could begin to explain their meagre numbers in the active fandom, as they do not require the interaction with others to enjoy BJH in the way that they desire. There is also evidence that jealousy could be a factor in that which keeps or kept a few female fans from attending fan events, at least in the 1980s when the band were more famous in central Europe. These fans are said to have wanted to interact only with the band members, with jealousy aimed at others who shared this desire – behaviour consistent with that of ‘groupies’ as described by Longhurst (2007). This description is by no means accurate in the case of all female fans, and only emerged during the band’s more commercial period, but has arguably had a lasting impact on the opinions of female fans from the perspective of certain male fans. Furthermore it is a stereotype, widely acknowledged in the media on the subject of female music fans (Cline, 1992).

Figure 2.1 – The classic image of BJH, 1974 for Polydor/ MCA

Figure 2.2 – The image portrayed by the trio, 1981 for Polydor/ MCA

The differences appear, too, between male and female fans who actively collect memorabilia and fan objects (for definitions see Chapter 3). Whilst the males in this category tend to keep their collections as a result of a desire to own the objects themselves – a number of fans spoke of a “need” to “own” rare items relating to BJH – Monika and I (as the only two female fans who refer to themselves as avid collectors) have different reasons behind our desire to collect. Monika stated that the aim of her collection was an archive and, through scanning or photographing the items and uploading them to the BJH website, she wants to “shar[e] it all with the world” and [keep] the legacy alive”. Similarly, I have an overriding desire to preserve any and all BJH artefacts that I can; this is likely to do with my age in relation to the vast majority of other fans, and a feeling of obligation to continue with the archive. Both of these descriptions suggest a desire to protect the legacy of BJH and prevent it from being lost (or its meaning from being lost) which is not something that any male fans have described when questioned on their collecting habits. 24

Jill Wolstenholme, too, believes that the gender bias in the fans is more than just a question of numbers. In her experience, the way in which the two genders appreciated and interacted with the band differed greatly: the male fans tended to be very earnest and interested in the music, often expressing a form of what Jill terms ‘hero-worship’ towards the band members. BJH and everything about them was a very serious affair to the most dedicated male fans; no single event demonstrating this better than when keyboard and vocalist, Woolly Wolstenholme, left the band in 1979 and several such fans took it to be a personal, life-changing event, with a few finding their way, unannounced, to Jill and Woolly’s house in states of ‘distress’. Conversely, female fans tended to lose their enthusiasm after a relatively short time, and were generally a lot more fickle in their loyalty. There was often a feeling that, at any time, another band could steal their interests, leaving BJH all but forgotten, whereas for the male fans, the band was much more than a “phase”.

To say that I was unprepared for the depth and level of emotion that emerged in the conversations with other fans, would not be entirely true; my personal experiences with the music and being a part of the fan community are also inextricably linked to emotional events. What I was not expecting, however, was the number of people who credit BJH with ‘keeping [them] going’ or ‘saving [them]’ during times of particular physical or emotional trial. This was almost uniquely a male response, and was often followed by the idea of “owing” the band for the help and support that the fans received through the music. This seems to suggest that, for many of the male fans, their loyalty stems from a feeling of gratitude that the band themselves may never even know about which could possibly account for the “serious[ness]” and “dedication” described by Jill.

Chapter 3: Fan Objects and Behaviour

An aspect of the fandom which provides strong diversity is that of the interest in and treatment of fan objects, including that which is most commonly known as memorabilia, but extending also to physical music formats such as vinyl records, cassettes and CDs. Memorabilia can be defined as objects which are kept or collected because of their association with memorable people or events (Soanes & Stevenson, 2004).

The importance of memory became a recurring theme in my research – likely as a result of the amount of time that the band has been around and the consequent age of the fans. Much of the fan experience in recent years appears to be based fairly heavily on nostalgia and memory – memories of their earlier life and important events which took place when the music was new and which consequently evoke particular strong emotions.

THREE CATEGORIES OF COLLECTOR

Through my various forms of research I have been able to identify three different categories of fan, based on their interaction with BJH related items. As is to be expected, there are undoubtedly exceptions to these categories, but they are based on the general themes and trends of behaviour that I have observed. These three categories are: ‘Music Only’ Fans, Retentive Collectors and Active Seekers.

‘Music Only’ Fans are those who care nothing at all for objects to do with the band, and who are not interested in anything beyond listening to the music itself. For these fans, not even the format of the music seems to matter – they would be content with a downloaded format which simply enables them to listen to the band’s music whenever they wish. Tangibility of items is not a factor that impacts at all on the purchasing or listening habits of the fans in this category. These fans struggle to understand the more obsessive behaviour of those in other categories and, when questioned, appear bemused by the fans who keep hold of their tickets from concerts or would buy a button badge, let alone those who go out of their way to own more obscure items. 26

Retentive Collectors are probably the most common category; they are those who retain their own ticket stubs, badges etc from concerts and their own past, but who do not go looking for other items. These fans find the concept of scouring internet shops and auctions for BJH rarities quite bizarre but, unlike Music Only Fans, do feel some attachment to band-related items from their own experiences. Several fans with whom I have had contact admit to keeping some or all of their ticket stubs (figure 3.1), tour programmes, badges and t-shirts (anything that they purchased at a concert or from the fan club at the time), regardless of whether or not the items are still usable, wearable or intact. Once again this suggests a connection with memories; the tickets become a tangible link with the concert, and it often appears that the importance of these tickets actually increases with time. In response to my questionnaire, several fans mentioned that their attachment to particular tickets was stronger than others, with an emphasis on older ones and specifically that of the first time that they saw the band, again suggesting feelings of nostalgia and the past.

Figure 3.1: A fan’s displayed collection of tickets from personally attended BJH concerts 27

Almost without exception, those fans who stated that they either didn’t have a BJH collection of any kind or that retained only ticket stubs and the like (Music Only fans and Retentive Collectors respectively), also stated that they did not collect anything at all in their lives outside BJH.

The active collection of memorabilia - as opposed to simple retention of items such as ticket stubs, badges and tour programmes from the concerts they have attended personally – is a more unusual activity for the fans of BJH. These ‘Active Seekers’ are those who not only hold onto the items from their personal experiences, but actively seek out artefacts from record fairs, online sales, other fans etc and collect anything that they can find. Some fans, for whatever reason (though most commonly economic restrictions or limitations of space) choose to focus on one particular area to collect; for example Ian Alexander, a fan since the mid-1970s, has spent years searching for all of the available BJH button badges and patches and also collects ‘bric-a-brac memorabilia’ such as pens, coasters, bookmarks and the like. Many questionnaire responses from Active Seekers stated that they were collectors of other things outside the realms of BJH (football programmes being a common secondary collection), suggesting that people either have the inclination to collect or do not; something which would appear to run deeper than a reaction caused by one particular band.

JLBJH gave a concert at Taunton’s Queen’s College in October 2014 and I was disheartened to realise, upon receipt of my tickets, that there was no perforated portion, meaning that the evening would inevitably involve an incredibly awkward event whereby the steward would want to either deface or completely confiscate my ticket. It’s a situation that fans in categories two and three admit to dreading more than almost anything else that can occur at a concert but, from the point of view of this dissertation, it was actually interesting to observe.

On the night it turned out that the venue were simply confiscating the tickets and, as the queues slowly filed into the auditorium, there would be pauses when someone tried to keep hold of their ticket. No one wanted to draw attention to the fact that they did not want to hand over a printed piece of card (please bear in mind that the stereotypical audience member today is male and 50-60 years old), but, for some, the reluctance was very real. Others didn’t appear to spare a second thought for their pieces of card. Fortunately for the Retentive Collectors 28 and Active Seekers in attendance, the venue did uphold their promise of making the tickets available after the show and I made sure to be there when they brought them out; not only to retrieve a ticket for myself and to ensure that my friends got hold of some as well, but also to observe the behaviour of the others who chose to do so.

The staff at Queen’s College reserved their dirtiest looks for those of us clambering for a ticket to a show we’d already paid for and seen. Keith Domone was handed the pile of used tickets and the way in which people came up and collected them varied from person to person, but there were two overriding methods:

The first of these was to keenly crowd around and take a ticket with clear enthusiasm and apparently no thought as to what an outsider may think (I count myself as part of this group). I was witness to a very similar scene five years ago at the Manchester Academy when, unfortunately for the junior member of staff tasked with redistributing the tickets, they had in fact been numbered and the original owner of number 001 (of several hundred) was a collector and determined to get it back!

The alternative response was to surreptitiously pick up a ticket as they walked past (often barely stopping), doing whatever they could to hide that they wanted the ticket, and not making eye contact with anyone as they did so. This would suggest that the desire for retaining the ticket was strong enough to make the person ensure that they got it back, but that they were ashamed or embarrassed by this feeling, perhaps as a result of being considered a stereotypical ‘fan’ (Bennett, 2014; Turkle, 2007).

Whether the fact that venues ever think it a good idea to take tickets away from their customers suggests that BJH fans are unusual in their habit of keeping tickets is questionable, but my suggestion on a forum thread that the excitement of receiving tickets through the post is vastly reduced upon the realisation that there is no removable portion, was met with much heartfelt agreement.

This sort of retentive collection would appear to be the most personal of the three categories of fan as it suggests that the reasons behind the desire to keep the items are links with the individual’s own experiences and memories. These 29 fans appear to have very limited interest in anything else and actively find the behaviour of those who do collect outside their own experiences, quite strange.

STORAGE/ DISPLAY OF COLLECTION

How fans choose to keep their collections varies greatly – some display or even frame their prized items in their homes (figure 3.2), making them a focal point of the room. Others create folders with items categorised or organised chronologically, knowing “exactly where it all is”.

Conversely, some fans admitted that the collections remained quite hidden in boxes or drawers as a completely personal activity. Reasons given for this behaviour included generic issues such as lack of room and the damage that small children or pets could cause, but also feelings of embarrassment at the seemingly childish activity of collecting items such as badges, and, most common of all, that the fan’s partner or spouse did not share the enthusiasm for the band or collection.

A handful of fans have created virtual photo albums on social media sites containing pictures of their memorabilia or photographs from concerts. Over recent years, social media has become one of the most dominant ways of

Figure 3.2: A fan’s office display of tour programmes bought personally at BJH concerts 30 documenting our lives – almost like a virtual scrapbook – but with the ability to share it instantly with friends, family or even strangers (Jones, 2013). The creation of these folders which are visible to others, (whether fans or not) suggests a desire to share or display collections. This appears to be in order to provoke a discussion or to reminisce with other fans – many such posts on sites such as Facebook and the BJH forum begin with “Look what I’ve found!” or “ Who remembers these?”. Alternatively, the online album or photo uploads act as a way of displaying and sharing a fan’s collection with fellow collectors or fans, allowing interaction to take place that does not occur when a collection simply remains in a fan’s private house.

IDENTITY

Another way in which fans are often identified is in their use of clothing or accessories to display their allegiance to their favourite team, film or band. Since the mid 1970s, there have been BJH t-shirts available on almost every tour, and separately through the two fan clubs and, in the earlier days, there were several badges/ sew-on patches, too. The popularity of the latter form of apparel slowly dwindled, most likely as the average age of the fans increased and wearing badges became seen as an activity inappropriate to their age group, but t-shirts have remained popular throughout, and new designs are produced almost every year. Over half of the respondents to the questionnaire own BJH t-shirts that they wear, but more state that they only wear them to concerts (though not necessarily exclusively BJH performances) than those who will wear them in their day-to-day lives. This could suggest that fans have different reasons for showing their loyalty to the band through what they wear; those who wear the t-shirts as they would any other item of clothing are likely quite happy for the band to be seen as part of their public identity. Those fans who will only display BJH as part of their identity when in the correct context and surrounded by people who share their enthusiasm for the band are perhaps less confident about showing this aspect of their personalitiy in public (Woodward, 2007).

In this way, these objects become part of the way in which fans explain their personalities to the world (Berger, 2009)

PERSONAL COMPILATIONS

Several fans have admitted to creating their own compilations of the band’s work – painstakingly selecting their favourite recordings of their favourite tracks, placing them in the right order etc. A couple have even gone so far as to design their own artwork/ write their own sleeve notes and give a title. When questioned, the fans explained that their compilations compile the songs that mean the most to them or which “tell [their] story”, indicating an individual interpretation of the music. Opening up about their emotional attachment more than I believe they would have to someone outside of the fandom, the reasons behind the creation of these fan compilations are incredibly personal – intertwined with their own stories and experiences; narrating their lives to an extent. By ‘pressing’ this compilation (burning it to a disc), the fans who created them are able to bring them into the world in a tangible fashion. By making their feelings for the music into a physical object, they are able to experience it in a way that allows further meaning to be created and transferred (Berger, 2009).

Similarly, a recurring thread of discussion on the BJH forum is the set list of a dream concert – literally a fictional concert whereby the fan decides what would be played and when (and often where, as a dream venue is added into the discussion). These topics are often revisited once or twice a year, and generally hold the attention of forum members for a number of weeks. The creation of a compilation or dream set list would appear to be the fan-fiction equivalent of the music fan. There is potentially limited scope as a fan of music to be creative and interact with the material differently. Whereas a fan of a book, film or TV series is able to sculpt their own fictional stories to satisfy their needs and desires of the fandom (Kaplan, 2006; Jenkins, 1988), the focus of the attention of the music fan is on real people, not fictional characters, and they have limited power to “make” things happen. The closest thing that a fan can do in this instance is to imagine a concert exactly as they would wish it and, in the age of the online playlist, this activity can be accentuated by rearranging actual recordings of those tracks in order to more effectively imagine the ‘concert’.

One outcome of the interaction of fans, now magnified as a result of the instant communication available on social media and the fan forum, is that ideas and the meanings behind them are constantly recycled, contested and even re- 32 created. This often occurs when several people, who have each given an object or a thought a meaning of their own, are in a situation where this is discussed and disputed (Scodari, 2007). For example, ‘Victims of Circumstance’ (released on Polydor, 1984) is an album that is more controversial to fans than perhaps any other. It was released during the early 1980s; the period that divides fan opinion more than any other and included female backing singers, one step further removed from the ‘classic’ sound of BJH than any other album. Thirty years after its release, these arguments and the negativity caused have become connotations with the album. Now inextricably linked in the fan community, newcomers to the band who engage in fan interaction are virtually unable to experience the album without having its existing stigma imposed upon their impressions. This phenomenon is also thought to occur in the case of fandoms whose importance is at risk of waning (Scodari, 2007) – the ageing of the original enthusiasts is thought to amplify these ideas which, upon the arrival of a younger cohort, are so crucial to the way in which existing fans establish themselves.

The older objects, dating from the 1960s or 1970s are generally rarer, not simply because they are older and have had longer to deteriorate or get lost or damaged, but also because the earlier music has a better reputation within the fan base and also the world of music collectors as a whole. BJH’s 1980s output is much less highly revered and fewer fans have held onto items relating to this period as a result, making them easier to obtain cheaply. The fans felt about the ‘80s music in a certain way at the time, this will forever influence the way that they think of articles pertaining to that era and for so many fans of the classic ‘70s line-up, the ‘80s was a period full of disappointment and “betrayal” as one fan wrote, that much less value, both in terms of meaning and in terms of money, is given to objects from this era.

Passion for the band seems to manifest itself differently in different people suggesting that it is, in essence, a very personal experience – with all manner of individual projects and activities, too numerous to list, taking place as a result. Some fans delight in sharing this interest with other likeminded people, whereas a few actively avoid interaction with other fans; one of the most prolific and obsessive collectors only contacts fans in the interest of buying or swapping 33 memorabilia and has no interest whatsoever in even discussing the music with fellow fans.

Conclusions:

The evidence and analysis suggests that there can be no exact rules with regard to fan behaviour or what is to be expected as a result of the coming together of individuals. Being a fan is a particularly personal activity and whilst there can be overriding trends and tendencies, there will always be variety in the way in which people respond to events, objects and the music itself.

The fandom is extremely sensitive to change on all scales and fans tend to resent this change and cling to the ‘before’ and the ‘then’ – regardless of what happens in the future, the ‘then’ is always more highly revered amongst the majority of fans and is the standard by which all that occurs after is measured. Major events such as changes to the band’s line up, to the ‘sound’ of BJH and band member deaths have lead to some fans deserting the fan community, whether temporarily or permanently, demonstrating the level to which the subject matter is required by fans to fit their set requirements and fulfil their needs.

The fandom has evolved and continues to evolve over time for several different reasons. As fans age, they interact differently with BJH and want different things from being part of the fan community, and the aims appear to become more personal as time progresses. The older fans seem to use BJH as a way of reflecting on their lives – valuing the memories it evokes, re-living the concerts they attended in their youth and in many cases being reminded of the people that they once were. For the majority of fans (most of whom are now over fifty years old) Barclay James Harvest is almost entirely about nostalgia, with the current tours providing the opportunity to relive (as best they can) these memories and physically share these emotions with likeminded fans.

Whilst on the surface it would appear that there are very few female fans of BJH, it could be argued that they are in fact simply less inclined to take part in the interactive aspects of the fan community. Male and female fans seem to desire very different things from their interest in the band and this can be shown through their personal activities, with the emphasis falling on creativity for 34 female fans and practicality in the case of males. In terms of the collection of and desire for physical objects pertaining to the band, evidence suggests that the dominant causes are a desire for personal ownership in men and for preservation or protection in women.

It is clear that there are a number of different patterns of behaviour when it comes to the collection or retention of items of memorabilia and fan objects such as ticket stubs. It is possible to categorise the behaviour into three types of fan, based upon the extent to which they require a tangible link to the band that is so much a part of their lives. It is likely that this behaviour is linked to something in an individual’s personality as opposed to being purely as a result of the enjoyment of BJH, and does seem to have the potential to produce a very emotive response.

The fandom of Barclay James Harvest has infiltrated people’s everyday lives in every possible way; over the past five decades their music has influenced everything from tattoos to novelty cakes, fans have travelled thousands of miles with no accommodation to see them live and the mutual interest in the band has lead to numerous relationships, friendships and marriages.

Questioning and discussing with fans several elements of behaviour and meaning given to their relationship with the band leads me to the conclusion that the subtleties and complexities of the fandom of Barclay James Harvest are numerous. This suggests that there is much to be learned from further exploration of music fandom; there exist all manner of genres with very different audiences. This dissertation has examined only a very small area of the field and I believe the potential for further study to be very high.

Word Count: 9,992

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