Nine Below Zero

NINE BELOW ZERO: A BULLET POINTED HISTORY
1977 Dennis Greaves forms Stan’s Blues Band with bassist Pete
Clark, drummer Kenny Bradley and Harmonica player Mark Feltham.

1978 Stan’s Blues Band play the London pub circuit and start to
develop a strong reputation as an excellent live act.

1979 A tape of a live concert, recorded at The Apples & Pears pub in
Bermondsey, starts to earn the band bookings at London’s credible
club venues. The band find management after a blistering show at
The Thomas A Beckett pub, and a change of name comes swiftly, one
that preserves the Blues flavour and in tribute to Sonny Boy
Williamson, the guys adopt one of his song titles and are renamed
Nine Below Zero.

1980 Nine Below Zero release the ’Pack Fair and Square’ EP. Shortly
afterward, the band sign to A&M Records and are able to give up their
day jobs. March 1980 sees Mickey ’Stix’ Burkey replace Kenny
Bradley on drums. On July 16th, Nine Below Zero release their first
album, Live At The Marquee and Derek Green head of A&M Records
says I have booked the Hammersmith Odeon for a headline gig in
three months’ time. They sell it out with special guest Alexis Korner
and the support act was Jools Holland.
Throughout 1980 the band takes just one week off.

1981 Recording sessions for their second album ’Don’t Point Your
Finger’ – their first studio album produced by the legendary Glyn
Johns, who says they are the best he has seen since The Who. The
album enters the charts twice, remaining there in all for five weeks.
The band play tours dates supporting The Who (after Kenny Jones
saw them in the studio) & The Kinks. In June 1981 the band part
company with bassist Pete Clark, who is replaced by Brian Bethall.
Towards the end of the year Nine Below Zero record TV appearances
for ’The Old Grey Whistle Test’, the ’South Bank Show’.

1982 Nine Below Zero start recording a new album at Glyn John’s
studio in West Sussex. The classic ’11+11’ is written during these
sessions. Nine Below Zero make their legendary appearance on the
very first-ever episode of The Young Ones, performing ’11+11’. This
recording of this new album is completed under the production ears of
Simon Boswell and becomes ’Third Degree’. Probably the most underrated Nine Below Zero album, Third Degree does not deliver the
progress the band is expecting and results in a ’time out’ for the band.

1983- 1989 Dennis Greaves forms ’The Truth’ and this keeps him
busy for the remainder of the eighties, including a Top 5 R&B hit in the
US charts and several tours of the USA. Mark Feltham, having earned
a high reputation as a harmonica player, enters the session world and
quickly establishes himself with some amazing credits.

1990 After some serious persuasion from various sources, a 10th
Anniversary gig is announced at The Town and Country Club in
October. The gig sells out and another gig is subsequently
announced. Gerry McAvoy and Brendan O’Neill are in the process of
leaving Rory Gallagher’s band and, through Mark Feltham, hear that
Dennis is looking for a rhythm section to complete the line-up for the
new Nine Below Zero. The chemistry is tested and the results are
explosive. The public welcomes back Nine Below Zero with open arms
and a sell-out UK tour takes place in December.

1991 Nine Below Zero sign to China Records and ’On The Road
Again’, a significant and apt title, is recorded and released in April.
Tour after tour continues for the rest of the year, establishing Nine
Below Zero as a force in the UK once again, and earning them high
regard in Europe.

1992 Mark Feltham himself takes a time out and Alan Glen, who has
previously played with B.B. King, Johnny Winter and Albert Collins,
fills the gap. As the touring continues, another album called ’Off the
Hook’ is released on China Records, garnering rave reviews.

1993 The band secures the support slot for Sting on his European
Tour.

1994 With a diary full of live dates and healthy record sales, all the
hard work is starting to pay-off. The band’s reputation has reached the
ears of Eric Clapton who has loved what he’s heard. Nine Below Zero
are invited by Eric to open for him at The Royal Albert Hall, playing the
whole Twelve Nights and going down a storm. In the audience at one
of these Twelve Nights concerts is Sting, who loves the band so much
he signs them to his newly formed record company, Pangea Records,
distributed through A&M. After this, long-time Nine Below Zero fan
Ray Davies books the band for his UK tour, which includes a date at
Wembley Arena. Following these dates, Brian May invites the band to
play six shows during his UK solo tour. October and November 1994
sees the band touring America and Canada with Alannah Miles &
Alvin Lee, promoting their U.S. album ’Hot Music for A Cold Night’.

1995 Alan Glen leaves the band due to the heavy touring
commitments. Alan is replaced by Billy Boy Miskimmin, from Ireland.

1996 Nine Below Zero release a new album, Ice Station Zebro. With
several tracks co-written with Nik Kershaw, the album is regarded as
the best they have recorded up to this point. Nine Below Zero headline
many festivals across Europe and, finally, get the chance to headline
The Colne British Blues Festival. Towards the end of the year Nine
Below Zero receive an invitation from Bruce Willis to play with him at
Planet Hollywood in London after the premiere of Twelve Monkeys.

1997 Nine Below Zero form their own record company called Zed
Records.

1998 The year starts with a tour of Bangladesh. Working with The
British Council, this was a truly memorable experience for the band.
The band takes to their task as ambassadors & blues representatives
very well, making a lot of friends along the way. Even in Dacca people
want to learn how to play Hideaway like Freddie King! The band then
start work on the ’Refrigerator’ album and record a single for the first
National Curry Day with Indian artist Bappi Lahri.

1999 – The band successfully negotiate with A&M Records to license
their back catalogue to Zed Records, culminating with the release of
’Live at the Marquee’ on CD for the first time in October 1999. The
band finishes recording and mixing the ’Refrigerator’ album.

2000 The band spends the whole year touring Refrigerator. This
album has eleven self-penned songs and is critically acclaimed by
MOJO Magazine. The band celebrates the 20th anniversary of Live at
the Marquee with two shows at The Thomas a Beckett pub, where
they started their career. Mark Feltham plays both nights and the
shows are electrifying. ’Don’t Point Your Finger’ is released for the
first time on CD.

2001 ‘Third Degree’ is released early in the year. This sees the
completion of The A&M years, released on CD. Significantly, Mark
Feltham rejoins Nine Below Zero after the success of The Thomas a
Beckett concerts in London. The definitive band is now back together
again and concert tours, festival appearances, and interview requests
start to flood in. The band then work constantly for the best part of the
next seventeen months.

2002 – 2003 The ON THE ROAD AGAIN DVD is filmed and recorded
in Wilbarston, England and is released in May, complete with
interviews and a full two-hour concert. In addition, the band release an
acoustic album called Chilled. Recorded over a two-week period in
deepest Hampshire, the album was produced by Stephen Smith, with
Paul McCartney and Pretenders guitarist Robbie McIntosh adding
some background guitar to Dennis Greaves already weeping blues
guitar. Nine Below Zero then set off around Europe to tour the album,
with rave following them on the exhausting touring schedule they have
embarked upon.

2004 As Nine Below Zero fulfil the dream of playing one of Europe’s
greatest blues festivals, PISTOIA BLUES, in Italy. Dennis and JOHN
MAYALL chat away backstage with ALVIN LEE and STEVE
WINWOOD, as SANTANA headlines the following night. NBZ are to
later meet up again with MAYALL at the BANDOL blues festival in
France. Before the year is out, Nine Below Zero recorded a truly
analogue blues record, where the guys literally take off their hats to
some of the great blues artists they love so much. The record is
recorded in KONK studios London, owned by RAY DAVIES of The
Kinks, who regularly pops in to see his old mate Dennis to see how
the project is going. The resulting record is aptly named HATS OFF,
and yet again, the band takes off with contributors BEN WATERS and
PETE WINGFIELD on the subsequent shows around Europe.

2005 One of the highlights of the year is two sold-out shows at The
100 Club in Oxford Street, London. PETE WINGFIELD of The Everly
Brothers and Albert Lee fame has become such good friends with the
band that he has become an unofficial 5th member whenever the
situation warrants some classic blues piano. Tours in SERBIA,
SLOVENIA, MACEDONIA, and CROATIA take the blues to places
that have been starved of touring artists for a long time. Nine Below
Zero are by now regarded as a truly international band.

2006 Sights and Sounds Vol. 1 is released, which includes many rare
video & TV appearances the band have made during their career, and
comes complete with an accompanying CD of live tracks. The rest of
2006 sees the band touring extensively throughout Europe.

2007 Nine Below Zero film two acoustic concerts at Rheged in
Lancashire, UK. The results are worked on over many months to
produce the DVD Bring It On Home, and including a live CD, which
has by now become a tradition of the band. Bring It On Home is
eventually released in the autumn of 2007 after a successful but
exhausting summer festival season. Rave reviews for the DVD
followed, along with a sold out G.A.S. tour. On one of the dates to
promote Bring It On Home, Gary Moore sits in with the band.

2008 The year starts in fine fashion, with the band being asked by
special request to open the show for the legendary Chuck Berry at
The 100 Club on Oxford Street. Dennis, after a chance meeting with
his neighbor Glenn Tilbrook in a local Restaurant, is asked to come
play guitar on a few tracks Glenn is recording for his Solo album
Pandemonium Ensues. The band also starts work on a forthcoming
original CD, It’s Never Too Late!, the first collection of new songs
since Refrigerator. The recording was done at Glenn’s studio 45RPM,
the fruits of Glenn and Dennis’s chance meeting. In between
recording sessions, the band plays a string of festival dates, including
The Colne British Blues Festival.

2009 The band prepares to release It’s Never Too Late while taking in
shows across the UK and Europe. The band also start working
towards a special concert to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the
release of their debut album, Live At The Marquee.

2010 – 2011 After being asked by Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze to
collaborate on a Mojo Magazine Cover Mount CD anniversary of The
Beatles, Abbey Road, the band and Glenn record ‘You never give me
your money’ This leads to a further collaboration with Glenn and a
project and a release of an album under the name ‘The Cooperative’
A successful tour of the UK and Ireland follows.
The end of 2011 see’s Gerry McAvoy leave the band.

2012- 2014 Sees the return of Brian Bethell to the NBZ on Bass
Guitar. Universal Records re-release Live at the Marquee, Don’t Point
your Finger and Third Degree Special Editions with Bonus Tracks on
CD. The Band also tour the UK with the Stranglers.

2015 Original Drummer Mickey Burkey re-joins the band to make it the
classic line up with Mark, Dennis and Brian who last played together
on the BBC’s Young Ones and go on tour to promote the A&M years
back catalogue. The Band also tour this year with From the Jam.
Mark and Dennis release their first work as a DUO, with an album
release in April. As well as playing unplugged versions of NBZ
material, the DUO cover songs by Blues legends such as Sonny Terry
and Brownie McGhee, Jimmy Reed, Slim Harpo and Leadbelly.

2016 Bassist Ben Willis joins the band with Brian Bethell stepping
aside. The band return to Glenn Tilbrook’s 45 RPM Studio to set about
recording their own versions of rare blues and soul tracks with the
help of Johnny Chandler former DJ and now Universal back catalogue
executive. The album is titled 13 Shades of Blue. The four piece is
augmented on these tracks by the addition of a Horn section,
Keyboards and Charlie Austen on Vocals, to create an exciting new
NBZ BIG BAND. With Live performances on the BBC. The highlight is
being asked to play Glastonbury.
The Big Band makes its live debut on the Acoustic Stage at
GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL 2016.

2017 The Big Band set off to promote 13 Shades of Blue and tour with
former stable mates at A&M, Squeeze. NBZ are Special Guests on a
30 Theatre date Tour around the UK. More European festivals and
critical acclaim for 13 Shades of Blue sees the band raise its profile.

2018 Sees the band start a new project and line up. Dennis’s Son
Sonny Greaves joins the band on Drums. They scale back to a four
piece with Ben, Mark, Dennis and Sonny touring with Bruce Foxton’s
From The Jam and again festivals all around Europe.

2019 Another project! This time Charlie Austen comes back on Vocals
and Tom Monks joins on Keyboards and Guitar for another new NBZ
Sound. They write and record an 11 track self- penned album called
AVALANCHE, again recorded at 45RPM but this time mixed at Super
Fly studios by Wayne Proctor. Artwork is provided by local artist Peter
Tingy. Released in September of this year AVALANCHE is received
well by both critics and fans.

2020 NBZ start the year with a successful tour of Italy and then
embark on a UK tour to promote AVALANCHE. After 2 concerts the
World is hit by a Pandemic and the band come off the road. The last
show was March the 12th. Who would have known it would be 18
months before Nine Below Zero play again.

2021 August the 5th the band play Wickham Festival, their first show
for nearly 18 months. They then pick up the baton and hit the road for
32 shows to promote the 40th anniversary of Don’t Point Your Finger.
It is an emotional tour for both fans and band due to the uncertainty
caused by COVID 19.

2022 Bassist Ben Willis leaves the band after 7 years. The band are
working on a Live album and are looking at releasing never heard
before archive material.