Snarling Horses: Remembering the Sunderland band which played across Europe
They were Sunderland music stars and they are back in the headlines.
We are indebted to Steve Straughan for telling us all about Wearside rock band Snarling Horses.
A dig at Princess Diana
They once even hit the headlines for their dig at Princess Diana for her musical tastes.
It told how the band delivered a new Fender Stratocaster electric guitar to a music collective in the German town of Essen on behalf of the people of Wearside.
‘If you didn't push hard, you wouldn't get any further than Houghton Cut’
Steve told us: “I'm quite proud of what we achieved back then. We learned quite quickly that if you didn't push hard with promoting your band and music, you wouldn't get any further than Chester Road or Houghton Cut.
“We were doing quite well playing pubs and venues locally like The Royalty or the Casbah, the Stone Bridge and Broken Doll in Newcastle.
They filled a coach for gigs out of town
“We would often hire a coach and fill it with people when we played London etc.”
Steve remembered the time when the band went to Essen. “We were approached at some point by members of Sunderland council asking if we would like to do an exchange visit to our twin town, Essen, in Germany. We jumped at the chance.
“I think it was our singer Zat who thought of the idea of asking a local music shop if they would like to donate an instrument, such as a guitar, to the Essen based music group as a gift and a thank you.
Princess Diana publicity stunt got the band in the headlines
“Bob King from Kings Music in Sunderland donated a guitar and we gave it to our German friends when arriving there.
“We loved our trip so much that we began touring Europe quite often. We regularly played Germany, Poland and Belgium.”
But the Snarling Horses later gained the spotlight for another reason and Steve explained: “It was very hard to get any kind of press back then so I came up with a great idea to get us in a local paper which I believe was the Sunderland Echo.
Share your own musical memories
“I wrote to Princess Diana and told her I was appalled at her music love for Dire Straits. It was all just a publicity stunt but it worked.
“I actually got a letter back which I think was from her lady in waiting. It got us that story we needed in the newspaper.”
Steve now plays guitar for UK Subs, Hi Fi Spitfires and Loaded 44.
He said: “I've travelled all over Europe with my own band Hi Fi Spitfires and we have just released our third album. UK Subs have taken me to the likes of Hong Kong, Japan, USA etc.”
Thanks to Steve and if you have musical memories of Sunderland’s past to share, get in touch.
If you were in a band and want to get back in touch with fellow musicians or fans, or maybe you followed a Wearside group and want to re-live those great days, email [email protected]