Tenpole Tudor

Origins

Tenpole Tudor formed in 1977 when Tudor-Pole (vocals/saxophone) met guitarist Bob Kingston, bassist Dick Crippen, and drummer Gary Long. They played regularly for several years until Tudor-Pole himself (under the moniker of Eddie Tenpole) came to prominence by appearing in the 1978 film, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. He was originally billed as a replacement for Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten — performing the songs "Who Killed Bambi?", "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" and a cover version of "Rock Around The Clock" for the film and subsequent soundtrack — however, manager Malcolm McLaren and the remaining Sex Pistols instead decided to abandon the group and go their own ways.

1980-present

Tenpole Tudor recorded a single on WEA Records with the A-side being "Real Fun" and the B-side "What's In A Word". "Real Fun" is available in live form on two different CDs, but the single was never released on CD. Tenpole Tudor returned in 1980 and signed a recording contract with Stiff Records, with whom they released the single "3 Bells in a Row" (which is a slightly different version of the one later found on the album Eddie, Old Bob, Dick, and Gary).

The band released their début album, Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary, in 1981. It sold well, and in addition to the popular "3 Bells in a Row", launched two additional hit singles "Wünderbar" and "Swords of a Thousand Men". In the same year, the group released their second album, Let the Four Winds Blow, which also performed well. They further distinguished themselves with their oddball live performances, which had band members often dressing in medieval garb, and Tudor-Pole himself in a full suit of chain mail armour. They also added Munch Universe, as he was named, to their line-up.

Stiff Canada released a Canada only album entitled Swords of a Thousand Men in 1981. This album was pressed by Attic Records in Toronto. This was a compilation of their other two albums, and included Eddie Tudorpole, Gary Long, Bob Kingston, Dick Crippen and Munch Universe. The album cover was of high quality, showing a photo taken by Kim Aldis of the band in suits of armour, standing in front of the relics of a castle. The videos for "Swords of a Thousand Men" and "Wünderbar" received regular airplay on Canadian TV.

In 1982, the original Tenpole Tudor broke up. While Tudor-Pole led a cajun-inspired version of Tenpole Tudor, the rest of the band released a single under the name The Tudors, minus Munch Universe. After the non-original incarnation of Tenpole Tudor failed, Tudor-Pole left Stiff Records and began performing in jazz and swing bands, eventually returning to acting. Tudor-Pole formed a new line-up of the band in 1985 featuring Mick (guitar), Matt (bass), Sean (saxophone/guitar), and Paul (drums).

Today, Tudor-Pole concentrates partly on acting, but focuses mainly upon his new one-man-show, performing live shows described as a 'One Man Stadium Show'. He has re-formed Tenpole Tudor from time to time, notably in 2001, with Darrell Bath on guitar, Donagh O'Leary on bass and Ben Standage on drums. He currently performs his one-man live show throughout Britain and, in 2009, released a Tenpole Tudor album titled Made It This Far.

Ed-Tudor Pole and Dick Crippen appeared onstage together for the first time in over 35 years in September 2016 in support of charities Rhythmix and Heads On

Singles

Albums

Compilations

The Tudors

Eddie Tenpole Tudor

CD reissues