In 1983 at the age of 5, my parents had a Showaddywaddy cassette tape that they used to play in the family's red Austin Mini. As soon as I heard the first track ("Pretty Little Angel Eyes") I was hooked. Over the next few years, whenever I got pocket money or had birthdays, I always bought or was given a Showaddywaddy album as a present. Soon I had quite a large collection of SWW cassettes and vinyl. I remember buying the first ever SWW compact disc that was released in 1987, even though we didn't have a CD player in the house! In the same year, Showaddywaddy released a VHS video which I played constantly til it wore out. My first SWW gig was also in 1987 at the age of 9, at the Britannia Pier in Great Yarmouth where we were having a family holiday.
By 1996 I was 18 and the world wide web was in its infancy. We went online at home with a 56k dial-up modem! In those days there was no Google or Yahoo - Altavista was my search engine of choice, one of my first searches was "Showaddywaddy". There were websites for other bands but none for Showaddywaddy. I had the idea to set about creating a website for Showaddywaddy fans.
There were no website creation programs available then, so writing a website involved basic coding principles. I taught myself how to write a simple website using HTML coding, and in July 1998 I had a Showaddywaddy website online. I was amazed that within a few days I was receiving emails from fans all over the UK and beyond, many of whom I have become friends with and am still in touch with today.
By 1999 I was in touch with Dave Bartram who had become aware of the website. I met the band that year and the website had the blessing of Dave, Romeo, Rod, Trev and Al. Later in 1999, the website became the official website for Showaddywaddy.
As the years went by, the website was improved by using Microsoft Frontpage, and I also experimented with Wordpress. In 2011 the website underwent its first major facelift, and in 2021, the website was relaunched again with a fresh new look. These days the site is maintained on a MacBook using a program called Rapidweaver. This program makes it easier to build websites out of the box using built-in templates, but sometimes things do not work as expected and I have to delve into the coding skills I learned all those years ago.
The Showaddywaddy website pre-dates Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and all the other well known social media sites that we all know today. The SWW online community back in the early 2000s was an online Guestbook on the site, and a Yahoo Group - both of which have long since fallen by the wayside. Nowadays we have a number of Showaddywaddy social media sites set up and run by other fans.
Running the site has led me to appearing on TV and radio to talk about the band, as well as interviews in magazines and newspapers. I've met all band members past and present, and it's wonderful that some of the band have become friends, something that I would have never envisaged when I first started listening to Showaddywaddy over 40 years ago. I've had laughs and sadness and ups and downs being involved with running the website over 28 years. I've been to funerals, been stood at the side of the stage during gigs, and waved band members goodbye when they retired or moved onto new projects. There has been the odd frustrating experience where I have been caught in the middle of certain situations, but in the main everything has been overwhelmingly positive.
Little did I know that I would still be running the website after 28 years! When I started the site in 1998 I was single with no kids and plenty of time on my hands - I got married in 2004, and now have three children (aged 13, 17 and 19) but have somehow managed to keep it going. I run the site voluntarily in my own time, and running it can be a time-consuming exercise. I tend to update it every 4-6 weeks. I have lots of other things going on in my life that don't involve SWW, primarily following my football team (Bradford City) around the country, as well as other hobbies and interests that take up time (I always seem to have a project or something or other on the go!)
What happens next? I don't know what will happen to Showaddywaddy when Romeo decides to call it a day, whether the band will keep going in some form or whether that will be the end. However I have decided that when Romeo, as the last original member of the band packs it in, then I will too. I would imagine the website will stay online as a historical reference and will be updated periodically to fill in the gaps. However websites don't last forever and a better way to record the history of the band may be in the published form… who knows what the future will bring.
Thank you to all the fans who have supported Showaddywaddy over the years - to all the people who have seen the band live (many of whom saw the band before their first Top Of The Pops appearance and are still following the band today); to all the people who have bought records and CDs, downloaded or streamed the band, and to everyone who has passed by the website over the years. But not least all the praise should go to the guys in the band past and present, and everyone behind the scenes who put the miles in all year round, travelling all over the UK and Europe to put a show on for us all to see and enjoy.
Long live Showaddywaddy!
By 1996 I was 18 and the world wide web was in its infancy. We went online at home with a 56k dial-up modem! In those days there was no Google or Yahoo - Altavista was my search engine of choice, one of my first searches was "Showaddywaddy". There were websites for other bands but none for Showaddywaddy. I had the idea to set about creating a website for Showaddywaddy fans.
There were no website creation programs available then, so writing a website involved basic coding principles. I taught myself how to write a simple website using HTML coding, and in July 1998 I had a Showaddywaddy website online. I was amazed that within a few days I was receiving emails from fans all over the UK and beyond, many of whom I have become friends with and am still in touch with today.
By 1999 I was in touch with Dave Bartram who had become aware of the website. I met the band that year and the website had the blessing of Dave, Romeo, Rod, Trev and Al. Later in 1999, the website became the official website for Showaddywaddy.
As the years went by, the website was improved by using Microsoft Frontpage, and I also experimented with Wordpress. In 2011 the website underwent its first major facelift, and in 2021, the website was relaunched again with a fresh new look. These days the site is maintained on a MacBook using a program called Rapidweaver. This program makes it easier to build websites out of the box using built-in templates, but sometimes things do not work as expected and I have to delve into the coding skills I learned all those years ago.
The Showaddywaddy website pre-dates Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and all the other well known social media sites that we all know today. The SWW online community back in the early 2000s was an online Guestbook on the site, and a Yahoo Group - both of which have long since fallen by the wayside. Nowadays we have a number of Showaddywaddy social media sites set up and run by other fans.
Running the site has led me to appearing on TV and radio to talk about the band, as well as interviews in magazines and newspapers. I've met all band members past and present, and it's wonderful that some of the band have become friends, something that I would have never envisaged when I first started listening to Showaddywaddy over 40 years ago. I've had laughs and sadness and ups and downs being involved with running the website over 28 years. I've been to funerals, been stood at the side of the stage during gigs, and waved band members goodbye when they retired or moved onto new projects. There has been the odd frustrating experience where I have been caught in the middle of certain situations, but in the main everything has been overwhelmingly positive.
Little did I know that I would still be running the website after 28 years! When I started the site in 1998 I was single with no kids and plenty of time on my hands - I got married in 2004, and now have three children (aged 13, 17 and 19) but have somehow managed to keep it going. I run the site voluntarily in my own time, and running it can be a time-consuming exercise. I tend to update it every 4-6 weeks. I have lots of other things going on in my life that don't involve SWW, primarily following my football team (Bradford City) around the country, as well as other hobbies and interests that take up time (I always seem to have a project or something or other on the go!)
What happens next? I don't know what will happen to Showaddywaddy when Romeo decides to call it a day, whether the band will keep going in some form or whether that will be the end. However I have decided that when Romeo, as the last original member of the band packs it in, then I will too. I would imagine the website will stay online as a historical reference and will be updated periodically to fill in the gaps. However websites don't last forever and a better way to record the history of the band may be in the published form… who knows what the future will bring.
Thank you to all the fans who have supported Showaddywaddy over the years - to all the people who have seen the band live (many of whom saw the band before their first Top Of The Pops appearance and are still following the band today); to all the people who have bought records and CDs, downloaded or streamed the band, and to everyone who has passed by the website over the years. But not least all the praise should go to the guys in the band past and present, and everyone behind the scenes who put the miles in all year round, travelling all over the UK and Europe to put a show on for us all to see and enjoy.
Long live Showaddywaddy!