Bill Caddick (Lewis Frederick William Caddick, Hurst Hill, Wolverhampton, E… Read Full Bio ↴Bill Caddick (Lewis Frederick William Caddick, Hurst Hill, Wolverhampton, England, 27 June 1944 - 19 November 2018) was an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist, particularly noted for his songwriting and as a member of the innovative and influential group Home Service.
Singing since the 1960s in folk clubs and festivals, in 1973 Caddick joined the street theatre group Magic Lantern, formed by Taffy Thomas and described by Mel McClellan on the BBC website as "legendary". He left Magic Lantern in 1975 to concentrate on his solo career, becoming well known as a festival artist in Britain and overseas. In 1977 he joined the Albion Band in the National Theatre productions of 'Lark Rise' and 'The Passion'. Caddick later collaborated with Tim Laycock and Peter Bond in a stage show and album about circus life, called "A Duck on his Head". About this time, he wrote songs for radio and TV, and performed his own songs in a film about the Tolpuddle Martyrs. From 1980 to 1985 Caddick was a member of the renowned folk-rock band Home Service. He continued to write and perform at clubs and festivals, albeit in a more low-key way than before as well as continuing his involvement with the National Theatre, writing and appearing in several plays which included "Don Quixote", and "The Mysteries" (an award winning trilogy performed in the West End, on TV and throughout Europe, as well as at the National).
In later life Caddick ran a folk club in his home village of Jackfield and, as well as his solo career, was a member of three groups: local band the Jackfield Riverbillies, ceilidh band All Blacked Up and as part of the Anne Lennox Martin Band.
His songs, such as "Unicorns" and "She Moves Among Men", have been recorded by numerous other musicians including June Tabor, Chris Foster, Alex Campbell, Christy Moore, Peter Rowan, John Kirkpatrick, Artisan, Coope Boyes and Simpson and The Yetties.
Discography
Solo recordings
Rough Music (1976)
Sunny Memories (1977)
Reasons Briefly Set Down (1979)
Wild West Show (1986)
Urban Legend (1991)
Winter With Flowers (1995)
Unicorns (2002)
In 2009 Two-Fisted Heroes from Wild West Show was included in Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten as track seventeen on the fifth CD.
Group recordings
(With The Albion Band) Lark Rise To Candleford (1979)
(With Bond, Caddick & Laycock) A Duck On His Head (1980)
(With Home Service) Doing The Inglish (1981)
(With Home Service) Home Service (1984)
(With Home Service) The Mysteries (1984)
(With Home Service) The Mysteries EP (1985)
(With Home Service) Early Transmissions (1996)
(With Home Service) Wild Life (1999)
(With The Jackfield Riverbillies) Cherokee (1999)
As session musician
John Kirkpatrick - Going Spare (1978)
Richard and Linda Thompson - First Light (1978)
Peter Bond - See Me Up, See Me Down (1979)
Tim Laycock - Capers & Rhymes
Various Artists - All Through The Year
Ashley Hutchings - The Guv'nor Vol 2 (1997)
Jan Davies - Magpies
Les Barker - Tubular Dogs
Various Artists - Festival
Anne Lennox-Martin - Born To The Breed (2004)
Singing since the 1960s in folk clubs and festivals, in 1973 Caddick joined the street theatre group Magic Lantern, formed by Taffy Thomas and described by Mel McClellan on the BBC website as "legendary". He left Magic Lantern in 1975 to concentrate on his solo career, becoming well known as a festival artist in Britain and overseas. In 1977 he joined the Albion Band in the National Theatre productions of 'Lark Rise' and 'The Passion'. Caddick later collaborated with Tim Laycock and Peter Bond in a stage show and album about circus life, called "A Duck on his Head". About this time, he wrote songs for radio and TV, and performed his own songs in a film about the Tolpuddle Martyrs. From 1980 to 1985 Caddick was a member of the renowned folk-rock band Home Service. He continued to write and perform at clubs and festivals, albeit in a more low-key way than before as well as continuing his involvement with the National Theatre, writing and appearing in several plays which included "Don Quixote", and "The Mysteries" (an award winning trilogy performed in the West End, on TV and throughout Europe, as well as at the National).
In later life Caddick ran a folk club in his home village of Jackfield and, as well as his solo career, was a member of three groups: local band the Jackfield Riverbillies, ceilidh band All Blacked Up and as part of the Anne Lennox Martin Band.
His songs, such as "Unicorns" and "She Moves Among Men", have been recorded by numerous other musicians including June Tabor, Chris Foster, Alex Campbell, Christy Moore, Peter Rowan, John Kirkpatrick, Artisan, Coope Boyes and Simpson and The Yetties.
Discography
Solo recordings
Rough Music (1976)
Sunny Memories (1977)
Reasons Briefly Set Down (1979)
Wild West Show (1986)
Urban Legend (1991)
Winter With Flowers (1995)
Unicorns (2002)
In 2009 Two-Fisted Heroes from Wild West Show was included in Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten as track seventeen on the fifth CD.
Group recordings
(With The Albion Band) Lark Rise To Candleford (1979)
(With Bond, Caddick & Laycock) A Duck On His Head (1980)
(With Home Service) Doing The Inglish (1981)
(With Home Service) Home Service (1984)
(With Home Service) The Mysteries (1984)
(With Home Service) The Mysteries EP (1985)
(With Home Service) Early Transmissions (1996)
(With Home Service) Wild Life (1999)
(With The Jackfield Riverbillies) Cherokee (1999)
As session musician
John Kirkpatrick - Going Spare (1978)
Richard and Linda Thompson - First Light (1978)
Peter Bond - See Me Up, See Me Down (1979)
Tim Laycock - Capers & Rhymes
Various Artists - All Through The Year
Ashley Hutchings - The Guv'nor Vol 2 (1997)
Jan Davies - Magpies
Les Barker - Tubular Dogs
Various Artists - Festival
Anne Lennox-Martin - Born To The Breed (2004)
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Bill Caddick Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Bill Caddick:
John O'Dreams When midnight comes and people homeward tread, Seek out you…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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ParcelOf Rogue
Great that this has also been saved and posted. I had it myself on VHS, Lord knows where now. I booked them for the "Treetops" in Epping, Essex, UK in about 85, with the much fun folk rock band "Arkright's Ferret" supporting.
rick harper
what a wonderful thing to hear/see. i'm a hillbilly yank who have followed fairport, steeleye, albion dance band and all the spinoffs and solos since late 60's...somehow these guys eluded me...just wonderful...thanx!
Bryan Petifer
They almost eluded me as well, except I had an unidentified audio cassette of this show that someone gave me which I never tired of listening to. I didn't realise it was a TV show until I found this video copy on a file sharing site. I was so pleased they re-formed after the discovery of the 1986 Cambridge Folk Festival tapes in 2011. I was so looking forward to seeing them live this year both at a local folk club and at Cropredy, lets hope we can see them next year as they are every bit as good today as this recording would indicate
Claus von Weiß
What a jewel! Thanks for posting it!
Richard Barton
Thanks for putting this on here ! - I watched the original broadcast way back, recorded it on Betamax and eventually it got lost. Now I've got it back ! - Sheer Bliss.
LJ Dellar
So good to see this again. I saw this on the TV in 81 and only discovered them again when I found out a great friend and band-mate had a copy of Alright Jack stashed away in his collection.
Nutmegger1864
Holy Shit! They were a great band.
Tom Phillips
Thank you for discovering and preserving this gem.
Ewan O'Doherty
I watched this programme back in 1981, the Home Service were a very good band. Great to see and hear this again, many thanks for posting it 😃
Charlie M
Remember watching this on TV in 1981, not long after seeing Home Service for my first time at the Cambridge Folk Festival. MAGNIFICENT! And - sadly - "Walk My Way" has as much relevance now, nearly 40 years later, as it did in those dark days of Thatcher.