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In the second part of the interview for the Kast Off Kinks website, Nobby gives his thoughts about the concept album era, the touring life and leaving the band : |
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“I Still get a thrill signing autographs and posing for photographs ”
The John dalton InTerview Part 2 |
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KOK : At the time, how did you feel about the direction the band went in the early to mid 70s, with the concept albums?
JD : I didn’t mind making the concept in the studio, but I wasn’t that keen on touring with them. It always felt as though the fans only wanted to hear the hits. But I can understand we had to do it to sell the album we had out at that time.
KOK : I remember you telling me about Ray insisting on a 3 or 4-hour sound check for Preservation. Was that sort of thing typical?
JD : I don’t think it was that often, but the Preservation show was a long show and we had film clips being shown on a screen in time with the music at the back of us. I think if it hadn’t gone right the night before, Ray wanted to make sure it was perfect on the next one. It made it a very long day and sometimes it turned us to drink.
KOK : What are your memories of the Starmaker TV show?
JD : I would rather not remember it, it was not my cup of tea! |
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KOK : Was it a rock star life or did you have to work in between gigs/recording?
JD : We had no time to do other work with three or four tours of America a year, albums to record, tours of the UK and other countries kept us quite busy.
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KOK : In photos around the early 1970s you seem quite close to Dave - was this the case?
JD : Yes, I think we were quite close. When we used to go away on tour, Val, Lisbet, and the six boys use to stay together, so the two families grew quite close. |
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KOK : Apart from Dave, did you socialise much with other band members between gigs and tours, and if so with whom?
JD : When we were at home and not touring, Ray would come over on a Saturday and play football for my football team “Holdbrook United” and on Sundays I would pick Ray up and we would go and play football for The Showbiz eleven, (Dave would also play now and again). |
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Also if we were not touring or recording, I would go drinking at my local at that time, called “The Bulldog”. Mick & The Baptist would often turn up there and have several drinks with me and my mates. One night at the pub, the crowd were quite shocked when all The Kinks turned up and sat in with the local band playing that night. |
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KOK : In the early days, The Kinks were somewhat notorious for bad behaviour, Was it a justified reputation?
JD : How do I answer this one ? We were no angels so I think maybe I should get together someday with Mick and The Baptist and do a one off special interview, perhaps we could call it “Naughty Boys” Enough said.
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KOK : Your time with the Kast Off Kinks has shown you to be a natural front man – did you feel frustrated at not getting the chance to do that with the Kinks?
JD : No one could compete with Ray as front man of The Kinks.
You asked before if I had considered doing Elvis impersonations — I have found a photo showing that I did have a go, but I decided to stick to impersonating a Kinks bass player!
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KOK : Do you have any regrets about your time with the Kinks?
JD : My biggest regret is not signing anything with The Kinks, perhaps if I had got royalties and other things that I wont go into, I might not have had to choose between The Kast Off Kinks and my day job— and would still be enjoying myself in the Kast Offs. |
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KOK : Did you feel the band had changed much between your two spells with the Kinks, and if so, how?
JD : Not when I first returned, but it was better in 1970 when Baptist joined, to have keyboards filled the sound out a lot on stage, and he was funny on tour.
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KOK : Do you get on well with Pete Quaife, Jim Rodford and Andy Pyle? Have you considered forming a support group for all the former Kinks bass players out there?
JD : I have not seen Andy Pyle for years. It was nice when Pete Quaife turned up at the Holland gig, we had a good time with him and his wife. I got him up to do a couple of numbers with us on bass while I played acoustic guitar and sang. I have known Jim Rodford for years, he is a really nice guy and I have always got on with him well.
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KOK : Recently, with the Kast Off Kinks, you have played several tracks from the Phobia album, which you claimed never to have heard before. Did you listen to any Kinks albums made after you left the band? If so, what did you think of them?
JD : No I didn’t listen to any Kinks albums after I left, I had not even heard Sleepwalker until a few years ago, and I played on that one. I only listen to it when we decided to do Juke Box Music in the KOKs.
KOK : Was that because of animosity with the band?
JD : Not at all—it was just that that part of my life was over and I needed to move on.
KOK : Do you remember any other Kinks songs that you worked on, which were never released?
JD : I don’t think Ray has any tucked away, but you never know. He may find one somewhere one day.
KOK : You are always very friendly towards the fans. Were there times when fans became a pain?
JD : As you know, I love the fans. I think bands in general must remember it is the fans that put them where they are. I still get a thrill signing autographs and posing for photographs.
The real nice thing is that since we formed The Kast Off Kinks a lot of people are not just fans now, but have become friends as well.
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The Starmaker |
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KOK : If you had your life over again would you change anything regarding your musical career?
JD : I would like to have done more with The Mark Four, we had a really good band but a terrible manager. (A thing that went on a lot in the 60s) I think we could have done better things with a good manager.
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From the Holdbrook United website :
“… early success was made possible by the addition of several new players, one of which was Ray Davies, the leader of The Kinks, along with the application of a strict rota system approach to team selection during the 71-72 season. Ray was brought to the club by his boss at the time, John 'Nobby' Dalton, who remains a Life Vice President.”
Hmmm, I think the editor must have misread “bass” as “boss”. |
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The Holdbrook United badge |
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Autographed Showbiz XI poster, including Ray |
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“Naughty Boys” in LA |
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Pete Quaife |
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Jim Rodford |
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Andy Pyle |
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“Naughty Boys” at Dave Clarke’s wedding |
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Nobby in the early 70s |
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“That chap” and Nobby at The Boston Arms, October 2009 |
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KOK : The battles within the Kinks are legendary. Did you get involved or did you manage to keep out of the crossfire?
JD : I never got involved with the fighting, luckily I managed to keep out of it all.
KOK : Was it the constant fighting that caused you to leave the band?
JD : I suppose there were two reasons for leaving, (1), when we were away, I really missed my family, It’s hard when you’ve got a wife and three young boys and you are away for twelve weeks. (2), I wasn’t earning much money. So when you add the two together, I thought it was quite a strong case for leaving.
KOK : Did you have any regrets after you decided to leave the band and did you leave music altogether at that point?
JD : I did not have any regrets after I left The Kinks. I stopped playing for about two years. It was after our youngest son Matthew was diagnosed with leukaemia that we decided we would like to try and raise some money for The Leukaemia Research Fund. I got a few retired musicians together and formed “The Bullettes”
KOK : Do you listen to much other music? If so, what do enjoy listening to?
JD : I have a wide range of music these days. I like a lot of the young bands and girl singers of to day. I put them all on my ipod, and then on a Sunday when all the boys come over to my bar, I put the ipod on shuffle and it just plays all afternoon.
KOK : Don’t you think you retired too early from the Kast Off Kinks?
JD : Looking back now, perhaps I was a bit hasty in leaving the KOKs. I suppose I could always form a Kast Off Kast Off Kinks with Bob Henrit, The Baptist and that chap that got up and sang with me at the Boston (“that chap” was, of course, Ray Davies)
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At the end of the interview, we took the opportunity to ask some questions of John’s charming wife, Val, about living with a Kink—read the Val Dalton Interview.
Photos : John and Val Dalton’s own collection Shirley Roden’s collection, Olga Ruocco
© Kast Off Kinks Website 2009 |