ThreePointTurn : The Story

Formed in the early eighties by Paul Naylor on guitar and lead vocals, Dave Meseg on drums and backing vocals and Paul Ryan on bass and backing vocals; the band were ably assisted in their quest to conquer the world [starting with East Sheen] by Lizzy Bateson taking care of bookings, Brian Maskell providing wit and wisdom and Mark Best on sound; frequently assisted by Richard, Tony, Jason & Jit from the wonderful Servant sound systems.

At their first gig the lads had to admit to not having even come up with a name for their band so a helpful young lady suggested the name Three Point Turn which was gratefully received [coincidentally the lads were supporting a band called Collision]. Those early days were exciting; responses could be sweet or sometimes sour. On Paul Ryan's birthday the organisers of a gig in Harlington generously presented him with a cake mid-set along with a resounding rendition of Happy Birthday. Another time in the vast chapel inside H.M. Prison Wormwood Scrubs Dave Meseg innocently attempted to break the ice with a joke: ‘Enjoying your stay?' he quipped from the stage. With hindsight it was not a joke that the 500 or so inmates were likely to see the funny side of. There was a groan followed by a rumble of muttering from the rows of prisoners and the Warders suddenly started looking uneasy.

The first line up change happened with Paul Ryan leaving in 1982. A chance meeting between Dave Meseg, while stood in a queue at the Greenbelt Festival, and Dave Moore [former bass player with Liberation Suite] resulted in Moore joining Three Point Turn along with his friend and former band mate Bill Sherrington. Moore's powerful and rhythmic bass lines alongside Sherrington's driving guitar and considerable vocal skills took the music to a new level, inspiring Naylor to write songs for the new four piece vocal and instrumental line up as well as giving extra life to some of the established songs. With Moore capable of chipping in on backing vocals, three part harmonies were now integral to the band's new sound. Sherrington would also take the lead vocals on occasion as he and Moore contributed their own songs and instrumentals to the live repertoire.

It was this four piece line up that recorded a demo of songs which caught the attention of the 1983 Greenbelt Festival ‘Rockatunity' contest for up and coming bands; a contest that the band went on to win; receiving the prize of a main stage appearance at Greenbelt and a single with Word Records. The highly successful appearances at Greenbelt also generated interest from Anglia Television with whom the band later recorded the ‘Reflections' series of programmes. Cue battered minibus to Norwich accompanied by powerhouse drummer Dennis Marshall standing in for the unavailable Dave Meseg.

That same demo - recorded with Mike Newbon providing the engineering and Production nous at ICC Eastbourne - proved to be a great investment. When the band responded to a BBC ad in Melody Maker for the first series of ‘The Rock Gospel Show' they received a prompt call from Associate Producer Simon Hammond enthusing about the opening song ‘Bad Loser' and asking ‘would you like to be on the show'? He didn't have to wait long for an answer... cue Limo' to Television centre, make up, bright lights, studio audience, interviews with Sheila Walsh and a subsequent National Television broadcast of the band performing the song ‘Bad Loser' [Editor's Note: actually the Limo is a fabrication and should read ‘cue anxious journey in own transport stuck in traffic between Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush'].

The line up changed again that year with Dave Meseg joining ‘Royal Rendezvous' and Martin Neil [Iona, Martin Joseph, Kevin Prosch, After the Fire and many others] taking over the sticks. There followed an audition - which Martin reports the band passed with flying colours - and that Paul claims makes his ears ring whenever he remembers it. Martin joined the band on the spot and stayed with it right through the change of name to The Great Escape [later revised to Great Escape 2 ; see 'what's in a name' elsewhere on this web site].

Around the time of the name change Dave Moore introduced the band to Russell Stokes whose excellent keyboard and arranging skills became a key component of the band's next demo and live sound. The line up expanded still further with percussionist Bradley Mason [Noel Richards, Red Touch] who increasingly took over the drumming role as Martin Neil's other work took him away on tour for increasing periods.

Eventually Dave Moore's memorable time with the band came to an end when he left to work with long standing friend and song writer Graham Ord; paving the way for Paul Naylor's friend Rob Hanstock to take over on bass. It was this line up in 1991 with Neil on Drums and Mason on Percussion that played an unforgettable set at a songwriters showcase at ‘The Orange club' in West London hosted by Laura Pallas. The Great Escape shared a bill that included the then newly discovered Tori Amos and the legendary Chaka Khan. Paul stood next to Chaka during her sound check and claims his ears still ring when he remembers it!

While the band are not still playing live together as a unit the majority of the members still keep in touch and have been reunited for the recent recording of the album.

Other people have contributed their excellent musical skills by playing live or on past recordings with Three Point Turn/The Great Escape [2!] and deserve a mention:

Nigel Pegrum played drums on the single for Word records. Vince Cross played keyboards and sung backing vocals on the single too. Andy Skipsey played bass live on occasion as did Simon D'Eath. Calum Rees played drums and percussion a number of times. Grenville Harding played Hammond Organ in a Marquee in a field when Russ couldn't make it. ... and of course the aforementioned Dennis Marshall...God bless his cockney cotton socks!

On the new CD John and Phil Merriman both contributed their considerable skills as did Alex Priest, Chris Fuller and Andy Baker, oh and Phil Barker!

...and then there were the thousands of people that came out [or stayed in] to hear the band in it's various line ups, those that sang along, danced, shouted, murmured, applauded, derided, laughed, cried, invaded the stage, got thrown off the stage, threw toilet rolls and ran out, prayed, cursed, drank too much, baked cakes, complained at the volume, became anxious then becalmed, complimented, imitated, or just listened and appreciated.

God bless each one of you wherever you may be!

Find out what the former band members are up to these days! Three Point Turn - The Band

Where are they now?