I mentioned before that I saw Tom Robinson play live before he came to wider prominence. He was in a band called Café Society and they were supporting somebody or other at the Apollo in Glasgow.

This is one from Tom’s post-Tom Robinson Band output.

Here’s (a very young looking!) Tom miming to War Baby on Top of the Pops in 1983.

Tom Robinson: War Baby

This is one of the few songs from the latter end of the 70s that will make it here as I never much went for punk and its aftermath.

However Tom Robinson partly surfed the punk wave and I was predisposed to his work as I had actually seen him performing on-stage at the Apollo in Glasgow when he was supporting someone or other – exactly whom I now forget – as part of an acoustic trio named Café Society (not, I think, the South African band Wiki links to.) The Café Society Tom was in were good, very good indeed. I wasn’t surprised when he went on to success.

The Tom Robinson Band was harder edged as this live performance attests.

Tom Robinson Band: 2-4-6-8 Motorway