The Balham Alligators were an English band from London that mixed

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

and R&B. The band centred on singer and instrumentalist

Geraint Watkins Geraint Meurig Vaughan Watkins (born 5 February 1951) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, rock and roll pianist and accordionist. He has backed many notable artists, including Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Ro ...

Career

The band came together by chance at a London pub in 1983. The original line-up consisted of

, Robin McKidd, Kieran O'Connor, Arthur Kitchener, and Gary Rickard. The Alligators played a hybrid blend of musical styles, including

, blues, R&B,

Celtic folk Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

, swamp-pop,

, swing,

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

and

zydeco Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Al ...

.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 26Lawrence, Pete & Howard, Vicki (2004) ''Crossfade: a Big Chill Anthology'', Serpent's Tail, , p. 52 The Balham Alligators performed in venues around Europe. Early albums included ''The Balham Alligators'' and ''Life in a Bus Lane''. The pressure of constant touring began to take its toll with the continued ill-health and eventual death of Kieran O'Connor (d. 1991), the departure of Kitchener and Ron Kavana, and despite the recruitment of Pete Dennis to replace Kitchener convinced the remaining members it was time to call it a day. The following years were spent pursuing individual projects with Watkins and Rickard working with Charlie Hart as, Rickard, Watkins & Hart, with Watkins eventually leading his own outfit, The Wobblers, in 1992. Robin McKidd formed The Companions of The Rosy Hours a western-swing band. Despite the four years since the original band's demise, McKidd was still receiving offers of work for the Alligators, persuading Watkins and Rickard to try out a few gigs with The Wobblers as a backing band, it became apparent that the Alligators were still a viable concern. Bolstered with morale and momentum they recruited session musician

Bobby Irwin Bobby Irwin (23 March 1953 – 8 May 2015) was an English drummer, record producer and songwriter. He is known for working in close collaboration with Nick Lowe as co-songwriter and drummer and as a member of Lowe's band the Cowboy Outfit, as w ...

on drums and ex- Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers' bass guitarist Paul Riley and, by the latter half of 1995, they recorded ''Gateway to the South'' (1996) and followed by ''Cajun Dance Party'' (1997).

Discography

Albums

*''Balham Alligators'' *''Life in the Bus-Lane'' *''Live Alligators'' *''Gateway to the South'' *''Cajun Dance Party'' *''A Po'boy 'n' Make It Snappy'' *''Bayou-degradable''

References

Works cited * Shane K. Bernard, ''The Cajuns: Americanization of a People – Page 136'', Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2003,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balham Alligators, The English rock music groups English country music groups Musical groups from London Proper Records artists Topic Records artists