Martin Hughes drumming and music in Monchique the Algarve Portugal

In 1978 I moved from Belfast to London where I began working for Warner Bros. in their writers studio doing sessions for, among others, Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), Gary Holton (Heavy Metal Kids/actor), Ronnie Thomas and Clive Langer (producer of Madness, Elvis Costello, Gil Evans and Hothouse Flowers). This led to my recording two albums for the sixties band The Searchers who were signed to Warner Brothers at the time.

After leaving the Warner's studio I worked with Clive Langer on his own album and several other projects including the singles ‘Remember’ by Pete Wylie (WAH) and Robert Wyatt’s ‘Shipbuilding’, which was voted single of the year in 1983. With Clive Langer and the Boxes I toured extensively throughout Europe supporting Madness and Elvis Costello, appearing at the 1980 Montreux Jazz Festival.

For a number of years I freelanced as a session musician working for Phonogram, Polydor, EMI , Stiff, Sire and Demon Records. This involved me in projects with Joan Armatrading, John Isley (Dire Straights), Desmond Dekker, Carlene Carter (step daughter of the country singer Johnny Cash), Sally Oldfield (sister of ‘Tubular Bells’ Mike Oldfield), Keith Emerson and Jack Bruce, Troy Tate, Bill Hurley, The Inmates, The Adventures, Any Trouble, Gregson and Collister and Deaf School (featuring guitarist Reeves Gabrels).

During the same period I spent two seasons in the pit at the Young Vic Theatre in London and worked on the musical drama ‘Motherland’ which explored the cultural and historical background of black residents in the Brixton area.

Photo of Martin Hughes by Mark Griffiths
Martin Hughes by Mark Griffiths

In 1990 I collaborated with the flautist Guo Yue to present Chinese folk music and culture to western audiences. Our concerts in England, France, Austria, Spain, Belgium and Australia (where we played the Adelaide Festival) were widely acclaimed.

From 1992 to 1998 I spent time teaching and presenting percussion workshops in primary and secondary schools in the London area, recorded tracks with Chris Difford (Squeeze) and Clive Langer for the movie ‘Still Crazy’ (featuring Billy Connolly, Stephen Rae, Timothy Spalls and Jimmy Nail), worked with Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson on Boo Hewerdine’s ‘Baptist Hospital’ album and played with contemporary folk and jazz musicians in the project Scarp.

Through 1999 I recorded and toured with fellow Belfast exile Bap Kennedy promoting his highly praised ‘Lonely Street’ album and toured with Mark Nevin (Fairground Attraction, Morrisey) promoting his ‘Mighty Doves’ record.

In 2000 I had a brief encounter with Pete Doherty’s embryonic ‘Libertines’. In the Spring and Summer of 2002 I worked with Nicky Scott & Jimmy Smyth on a project in Ireland for Belfast legend Van Morrison. The same year I recorded with John Wood and Clive Gregson on Kirsty McGee's award winning ‘Honeysuckle’ album.

GOLDENMAY07 2003 I moved to Portugal where I set up a studio to write and record music.
I reunited with John and Clive in 2004 for the Edwina Hayes ‘Out on my Own’ record also featuring Neill McColl and Mark Griffiths.

Between 2005 and 2007 I toured with Dr. Hook vocalist Dennis Locorriere on his ‘Lucky Ones’ and ‘Hits and History’ tours (now on DVD), recorded Ed Deane’s ‘Slideshow’ at my home and played on Any Trouble’s long awaited reunion record ‘Life in Reverse’ for the resurrected Stiff label.

2009 saw me back in Ireland to record Errol Walsh’s ‘No Borders’ album for the Huntington’s Disease charity, and Anthony Toner’s ‘Duke of Oklahoma’ record.

In 2011 I recorded with Mark Griffiths (The Shadows, The Rutles) on Clive Gregson’s ‘Bitter Sweet’ album.

In June 2013 Clive, Mark and myself reassembled for Maria Silker’s album ‘Little did I Know’, again in 2014 for Any Trouble’s ‘Present Tense’ album and in 2015 for a UK tour.

Albums

The Searchers "The Searchers" 1980
The Searchers The Searchers

The Searchers “Play for Today” 1980
Searchers Play For Today

Clive Langer and The Boxes “Splash” 1980
Clive Langer and The Boxes Splash

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any Trouble “Wheels in Motion” 1981
Wheels in Motion

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bette Bright “Rhythm Breaks the Ice” 1981
Rhythm Breaks The Ice Bette Bright

Christophe Johnson “Sons of Waterloo” 1983
Christophe J. Sons Of Waterloo

Avant Gardeners
“Church of the Inner Cosmos” 1984Avante Gardeners Church of the Inner Cosmos

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Hurley “Double Agent” 1986
Bill Hurley Double Agent

Keith Hancock “This World We Live In” 1986
Keith Hancock This World We Live In

Hobson and Lees “Hand Made” 1987Hobson and Lees Handmade

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Panic Brothers “In the Red” 1987
PanicBrothers InTheRed

Gregson and Collister “Mischief” 1987
Gregson and Collister Mischief

Fire Next Time “North to South” 1988
Fire Next Time North to South

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deaf School “Second Coming” 1989
Deaf School Second Coming

Gregson and Collister
“Change in the Weather” 1989
Gregdon and Collister Change in the Weather

Stephen Fearing “Blue Line” 1990
Stephen Fearing Blue Line

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clive Gregson
“Welcome to the Workhouse” 1990
Clive Gregson Welcome to the workhouse.

Late Night Band “Strange Survivals” 1990
The Late Night Band Strange Survivals

Patrick Bouffard “Roots' n Roll” 1990
Patrick Bouffard Roots n Roll

 

 

 

 

 

The Adventures
“Lions and Tigers and Bears”1992
Lions and Tigers and Bears The Adventures

Gregson and Collister “The Last Word” 1992
The Last Word

Guo Yue
“The Dream of the Red Mansion” 1993

Pat Shaw and Julie Matthews
“Lies and Alibis” 1994
Pat Shaw and Julie Matthews Lies and Alibis

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scarp “Scarp” 1994
Scarp

Julie Mathews “Such is Life” 1996
Julie Mattews Such is lLife

Boo Hewerdine “Baptist Hospital” 1996
Baptist Hospital (1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clive Gregson “People and Places” 1996
Clive Gregson People and Places

Bap Kennedy “Lonely Street” 2002
Bap Kennedy Lonely Street

Bap Kennedy “Moonlight Kiss”
Serendipity (Movie)

Still Crazy “Soundtrack)” (Movie)

Kirsty McGee “Honeysuckle” 2002
Kirsty McGee Honeysuckle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ed Deane “Slideshow” 2004
Ed Dean Slideshow

Edwina Hayes “Out on My Own” 2005
Edwina Hayes Out on my own

Bap Kennedy “The Big Picture” 2005
Bap Kennedy Bigger Picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dennis Locorriere
”Hits and History” DVD 2007
Hits and History DVD

 

 

Any Trouble "Life in Reverse" 2007 
Life in Reverse

 

Errol Walsh ‘No Borders’ 2009
Errol Walsh No Borders

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anthony Toner ‘Duke of Oklahoma’ 2009
Duke of Oklahoma

Clive Gregson’s
"Bittersweet" Album released 2011
Clive Gregson Bittersweet

30th Anniversary of
Robert Wyatt’s "Shipbuilding" 2013

Maria Silker’s "Little Did I Know" Album recorded June 2013
Maria Silker

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any Trouble Stiff Box Set Released 2013
Any Trouble Stiff Records Box Set

Any Trouble "Present Tense"
Album recorded September 2014
AT PresentTense

Any Trouble UK Tour December 2014
Any Trouble 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any Trouble Leon Festival Spain December 2014
AnyTrouble1

Any Trouble UK Tour 2015
Any Trouble  Tour 2015

 

 

Deaf School "Launderette" 2015
Deaf School Launderette

Martin Hughes Dec. 2015

Martin Hughes playing the drums with Any Trouble. UK tour Liverpool 2015. Photo by Sara Porter

 

Singles

The Searchers "Love's Melody" 1980
The-Searchers-Loves-Melody

Clive Langer & The Boxes
“It’s All Over Now” 1980
Clive Langer & The Boxes its All over now

The Searchers “Another Night” 1980
The Searchers Another Night

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any Trouble “Trouble with Love” 1981
Any-Trouble-Trouble-with-love-

Pete Wylie WAH “Remember” 1982
Pete Wylie Remember

Desmond Dekker “Book of Rules” 1982
Desmond-Dekker-Book-of-Rules

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Wyatt “Shipbuilding” 1983
Shipbuilding

The Escape “Russian Lady” 1984
Russian Lady

Round-a-way Wrong “Boy” 1984
Round-A-Way-Wrong Boy Yob

 

 

 

 

 

 

Van Rumst “I’ll be seeing you” 1985
Van Rumst

Big Heat “Watch me catch Fire” 1985
Big Heat Watch Me Catch Fire

Fire Next Time “I Can’t go Back” 1987
Fire Next Time T Can't go back

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fire Next Time “Too Close” 1988
R-4679215-1437482035-4379.jpeg

Gregson and Collister
“I Wouldn’t treat a Dog” 1988
Gregson and Collister I wouldn't treat a dog

Any Trouble "Glen Campbell" 2015
Any Trouble Glen Campbell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Audio Tracks by Martin Hughes

London Irish (Hughes)

Under Simpson's Skies (Hughes)

London Irish by Martin Hughes
Martin Hughes image London Irish

Martin is now giving  drumming lessons in Monchique.

Thank you  Martin Hughes for sharing your music.

 Selwyn.

11 thoughts on “Martin Hughes drumming and music in Monchique the Algarve Portugal

  1. Hi Martin, Long time no see! Lifetimes actually. Hoping that your new life in Portugal is treating you well. Manchester is unusually sunny at the moment. Sending best wishes. Take care, Kirsty x

    Reply
  2. Lluís

    Hi Martin,
    Congratulations for the concert in Leon some weeks ago.
    I would like to know if you played Live at the Venue 1981 record of Any Trouble.
    Thank you.
    Lluís

    Reply
    1. Martin Hughes

      Thank you for your comments Luis. All the members of the band really enjoyed the show and the time spent in the beautiful city of Leon. Hopefully next year we will play more shows in Spain Regarding the Venue recording; there are two albums. One was released in 1980 and featured the original band (Clive Gregson, Chris Parkes, Phil Barnes and Mel Harley) the second (with me on drums) was recorded in 1981 but never released.

      Best Wishes

      Martin Hughes

      Reply
  3. Phil Nolan

    Hi Martin
    Am I right in thinking you played with 'Lick the Tins' for a while sometime around the late '80's?
    If so, my friend Will Birch was managing them at the time, seem to remember the drummer was a bit of a perfectionist, very good though.
    Phil

    Reply
    1. Martin Hughes

      Well remembered. The period spent with Alison, Aidan & co. was a very happy time for me. I remained in touch with Aidan for quite a while after the band and I met Will Birch at an Any Trouble reunion gig at the Jazz Cafe in London a few years ago. If you´re in contact with any members of the band give them my love.

      Reply
  4. Martin Hughes

    John, many thanks for the compliments. I don´t play as much as I should now but with the writing, teaching and grandchildren there´s not a lot of time left. I hope you´re well and happy where ever you are.

    Martin

    Reply
    1. Euan Pyper

      Hi Martin
      I am in need of percussion lessons as I'm now part of a band here in the Algarve. We started performing about a year ago, mainly charity events and although the rest of the guys are very good with the instruments they play, I am not up to their level, yet. I know I can get by, playing tamborine, Maraccas and backing vocals but want to add a bit more depth to the band. I am awaiting delivery of a set of congas next week and want to concentrate on them for a while. I would very much appreciate if you could advise me of your rate and recommendations. I have been banging away on some bongos with a modicum of success. Thanks in anticipation. Euan

      Reply
  5. JOHN LYNN

    MARTIN WHAT CAN I SAY LOVE THE KEYBOARD STUFF ALWAYS LOVED THE TIGHT DRUMMING THROUGH ALL THE YEARS GOOD TO SEE YOU ARE HEALTHY AND LIVING IN PORTUGAL AND STILL INTO IT WELL I SUPPOSE AT OUR AGE WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO? BEST WISHES FOR FUTURE

    FROM SOMEONE FROM A FEW LIFETIMES AGO
    IF YOU CANT BE GOOD BE BRILLIAT

    Reply
  6. Chris Eaglen

    Hello martin, My name is chris and i have recently moved over to Portugal near Coimbra. I'm helping to restore a house out here for a friend which finishes around the beginning of october. I have just found your web page while looking for drumming work in Portugal. I have been to Coimbra and Porto to look around and talk to locals to see what the scene is like out here for music. I haven't had much luck in finding any work so far and thought i would get in touch and ask if the algarve would be a good place for me to look. I hope you don't mind me asking this, but having read your page and having the experience that you have had, i couldn't resist asking. Hope to hear from you but if i don't good luck with future projects.

    Chris Eaglen

    Reply

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