Licorice Soul Records

Plimsoll Sandwich evolved as the part-time project of musicians assembled from the hippy communes of Essex in the early 1970s. The Kings Show Band performed at weddings and parties across the county, including a number of residencies at holiday hotels. All of the players were excellent musicians and after a time they decided to go beyond the limitations of the function circuit and form a weekend band that would display their own choice of material - from this Plimsoll Sandwich evolved, existing in parallel with The Kings Show Band for some time. The unusual band name stuck after their first guitar player, Robbie Brightwell, arrived for a gig in a rather unusual maroon suit accessorised with white plimsolls.

The soulful funk Sound of Philadelphia that the band perfected led to a large degree of popularity in the region, which did not go unnoticed by Jack White, owner of an Ipswich music shop, who financed two evening sessions at Hillside Sound Studios, which Richard and David Allison had constructed in a converted milking shed.

As well as holding down day jobs at the local independent radio station, the brothers ran many sessions for local artist and Hillside Records manufactured a number of albums down the years. The band set up and blew from seven until ten thirty for two evenings, and the "For Night Starvation" LP resulted, with Jack White choosing his favourites from the live set for inclusion. The title was drawn from the then-current byline for the goodnight drink Horlicks.

Despite occasional interest from major labels, Plimsoll Sandwich only recorded one album, manufacturing perhaps a thousand copies, which sold well amongst their fans and at gigs.

Plimsoll Sandwich continued throughout the 1970s, with many musicians passing through its ranks over the years. Of those featured on the album, organist Bill Haig enjoyed some notable engagements in the jazz world with the likes of noted saxophonist Joe Harriot; Gerry Gillings still plays in theatre bands and teaches drums in Sussex and bass player Brian Wells had a stint in CCS.

On the occasion of brass player Adrian Hopgood's sixtieth birthday in 2005, a Plimsoll Sandwich reunion was held in Suffolk and the band blew up a storm once more.