Mike Hall – Before Midnight

Mike Hall is best known as the front man of Newcastle band After Midnight (aka Classic Clapton). He has just written a book about his early life. It is entitled “Before Midnight”.

 

It is about growing up in the 50s, 60s and 70s in northeast England where he developed a love for music and in particular for the guitar, as played by his heroes Paul Kossoff and Eric Clapton. During this period he saw some amazing bands including the Beatles, Free, Back Street Crawler, Cream, Taste, Savoy Brown, Jethro Tull, Blodwyn Pig, Skid Row, Bakerloo, Fleetwood Mac, Delaney & Bonnie, Derek & the Dominos, Eric Clapton and many more.

 

These gigs and some legendary north east venues are described including Newcastle City Hall, Club a’GoGo, Sunderland Locarno (Fillmore North) and many others. The first chapter is about Mike and his friends seeing Cream play at Club a’GoGo in 1967. 

 

The release of the Island sampler album You Can All Join In was major event for him, especially hearing Free’s I’m a Mover. The first time he saw Free live in 1969 in a half-empty Durham Town Hall had a profound effect on him and from then on Free became his favourite live band. He later saw them many times at Dunelm House, Sunderland Locarno (including the night they recorded Free Live!), Manchester University, Newcastle City Hall and Newcastle Mayfair Ballroom and these gigs are all described in detail.

 

Mike also describes the final time he saw Paul Kossoff perform with Back Street Crawler at Newcastle City Hall in November 1975, just a few months before Paul tragically died.

 

Mike’s teenage years included forming his first band at school. In the 70s and early 80s he regularly played with other north east bands. This book covers the period up to 1985 when Mike formed After Midnight after being inspired by Eric Clapton’s performance at Live Aid. For the next 40 years Mike performed at all kinds of venues throughout the UK and abroad, including Glastonbury Festival in 2002. In 1986 he played a set of Free covers at the first Free Convention at Leeds University along with two musicians he had just met. Also on the bill were Beckett, Terry Slessor and Arthur Ramm who kindly allowed Mike to have his photo taken with Paul Kossoff’s Les Paul.

 

In 1987 Mike was influential in moving the Free Convention further north, nearer Newcastle/Sunderland where Free had always received their most fanatical support. Mike jointly organised the second Free Convention at the Park Hotel, Tynemouth with his band After Midnight performing a set of Free covers. It was a huge success with several hundred Free fans packing out the venue. Mike continued to be involved with the Free Convention for several more years and got to perform with Terry Slessor and John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick.

 

Free remain Mike’s favourite live band and he has continued to include numerous Free covers in the After Midnight set since they began in 1985.

Throughout his musical career Mike accumulated countless memories which are vividly described in his book.

To buy the book you can go to Amazon books and search for – 

“Mike Hall Before Midnight”.  (Paperback £14.99, Kindle £4.99).

We hope some of you will enjoy it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Midnight-Memoirs-Guitarist-Early/dp/B0FFNFFG6J/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

Sunderland Echo piece (October 12th, 2025)

Sunderland Echo / Mike Hall

Free Appreciation Society Magazine - Issue #180

 

Free Appreciation Society
Magazine Issue #180

October 2025

 

The first of three issues dealing with the end of Free, and all the concluding release history (that is of real interest) up to the present day.

Here we look at the final dissolution of the group in late 1973, the announcement of 'The Free Story' release, and all the variations thereof. This issue also includes the release of 'First Water' by Sharks as Andy Fraser jumps ship, and the debut solo albums by Paul Kossoff and John 'Rabbit' Bundrick, while Tetsu moves on to join (The) Faces. Stray Dog also get referenced. In the meantime, slowly and quietly Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke move on to their new project with Mick Ralphs, that will be announced in 1974 as Bad Company.

Lots of press included for all these original releases, and a really close look at all the different versions of 'The Free Story' issues worldwide. With and without 'Limited Edition' numbers. With and without the inner booklet. With and without the inner sleeves. With and without the Toby version of 'Travelling Man'! The UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and Malaysian releases are included with full information on re-issues, and any changes made in different release territories. You will be surprised by how complicated, and varied, the history of 'The Free Story' set really is!

There's a competition for all FAS subscribers in this issue to win copies of the German 2LP and Australian 2CD 'Free Story' sets. You'll find the details and question on page 2 (the intro page). Closing date for entries, via email or letter, is October 31st. Only one entry per person please, and pick which of the two prizes you prefer. First out of the hat will get their choice. Second will get the other item. Remember to include your full name and address. The winner will be announced here on November 1st, when the prizes will then be mailed out to them. Best of luck. 

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It is cheaper to buy directly here (from the FAS itself) than it will be on Ebay, where there are other fees involved for both UK and overseas buyers. ALL payments are via Paypal, so it's all very easy and secure. Casual buyer? Want the magazine cheaper? Get a subscription! A subscription is the cheapest way to get the FAS magazine. For subscription information email: fasarticle@aol.com

You can buy this individual issue from the email address above. Total is £7.50 via Paypal for the UK, a three issue subscription is £19.10

Overseas it's £26 (via Paypal). Buying from the FAS directly should save you on customs charges, and fees, now levelled directly via Ebay, which will not be added here as items will be sent as 'letters'.

Drop me a mail giving your location and a Paypal money request will be sent to you. It's cheaper than buying them on Ebay where the fees add up making this issue almost £8 in the UK, and way more overseas as they now add taxes to the total. So;

UK single issue £7.50 (Paypal)

Overseas single issue £9.80 (Paypal)

A subscription for three issues (UK) is £18 (£19.10 via Paypal)

A subscription for three issues overseas is £26 (via Paypal).

Happy Birthday Koss

Paul would have been 75 today, and these birthdays and anniversaries seem to come around fast these days. It's sad that he's not here to celebrate his birthday with friends and family, but we can mark the day for him by just spending a little time playing some of his music. While we do that, he lives through the musical legacy he left.

In 2019 I posted the audio from an unreleased single test pressing. I'm sure there are people that haven't been back far enough into the blog achive to hear it, so I've pulled that posting back up, and will put it here. The text explaination is below, followed by the audio.

 

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Below for your enjoyment is the unreleased single version of 'All The Girl's Are Crazy' from a single sided test pressing I have. The flipside ('Stealing My Way') also comes on its own 1-sided 7" test disc. That's as far as it ever got.

This was due to be released by Island Records, and on the back of the sleeve the WIPX-1389-2M number is indeed Island catalogue. This test pressing, mastered at Sterling Sound, was made on 20th May 1975 it appears. Of course Back Street Crawler went on to be signed to Atlantic/Atco and so this never came out. It's a different mix, somewhat rougher than the one on the 'Band Plays On' album, and it has a different vocal along with some alternate guitar. It's very nice, and you won't have heard this version anywhere else before. Koss is in fine form here, and there's some great playing. So turn it up and enjoy. 

 

Happy Birthday Paul. We miss you.

 

FAS #180 coming soon.

FAS #180 keeps us ahead of the game again. While it may be the October issue, these should be going out into the mail around the 15th of September. However, given the current state of Royal Mail (I seem to get post MAYBE twice a week now, in huge piles), it may be good to get this into the post a couple of weeks before it's actually due! No point holding on to this when it's done and ready to go. All the info will be up here the day the UK issues go into the mail.

Winner of #179 Competition

The copy of the 70s mint condition, and still factory-sealed, 8-track 'Heartbreaker' tape goes to Addy Adams in West Yorkshire. 

So congratulations go to him, as does the tape.

Commiserations to those who entered but didn't win this time.

The question?

In which country was 'Wishing Well' re-titled 'Best/Good Wishes'? 

 

The answer to this competition was Venezuela, and this information was included in FAS #178 (P42)

 

There will be another competition for subscribers in issue #180 with copies of 'The Free Story' Australian 2CD set, and the German 2LP set WITH the Toby version of 'Travelling Man' up for grabs.

Free At Carnegie Hall - January 25, 1971. New Recording Found.

It's remarkable that anyone, anywhere, would still hold a previously uncirculated Free tape. But life is full of surprises, even almost 55 years after the actual event! Not only that, but to find a show with sound quality like this, which is pretty good, makes this even more of a treasure. It's not perfect, but everyone is audible, and it's a fair 8/10 as old audience tapes go.

 

Recorded on the American January 1971 tour (see FAS #159), this is Free promoting 'Highway', and sounding  rather fine. It's a slow start, with both 'Be My Friend' and 'Don't Say You Love Me' in the first 25 minutes, but there are some fine moments. Congratulations to the taper at the time, and thanks to Larry "Florida Kid" Clark, who just came up with this tape, and was so super-kind and generous in sharing it. He revealed that he had had this Free tape for close to 40 years, had forgotten that he even had it, and had no idea from whom he got it. Thanks also to Bob Elliott, Greg Vick and Thomas. Kudos to Goody for speed correction, flutter repair, and general 'remastering'.

You'll likely be able to find this for free download in all the usual places over the next few days, so be sure to keep your eye out for it on 'Guitars101' and 'T.U.B.E' etc.

FREE

Carnegie Hall

New York City, NY, USA

25 January, 1971

 

A hitherto uncirculated, 2nd gen. analog copy show

(A Goody Speed/Pitch-adjusted Remaster via Docdondy)

 

Line-up:

Paul Rodgers (vocals)

Paul Kossoff (guitar)

Andy Fraser (bass, keyboards)

Simon Kirke (drums)

 

Set List:

01. Introduction  0:27

02. By My Friend  6:11

03. The Stealer  4:31

04. Ride On A Pony  4:27

05. Don't Say You Love Me  5:40

06. All Right Now  5:14

07. Fire And Water  4:13

08. Heavy Load  5:23

09. The Highway Song  5:19

10. My Brother Jake  2:58

11. Soon I Will Be Gone  3:20

12. Woman  3:58

13. I'm A Mover  3:34 (audio below)

14. Mr. Big  7:32

15. The Hunter  5:51

16. Crossroads  6:17

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Runtime:                  74:57 minutes

Free 'Heartbreaker' factory sealed 8-track cartridge competition

Just a quick reminder to subscribers, that all FAS #179 competition entires need to be in by August 31st, either by email or post. Details, and the question, are on page 2 (intro) of the current FAS magazine. 

Still factory sealed from the early 70s, this isn't an item you come across every day! 

Another competition for subscribers in the next issue (#180) with copies of 'The Free Story' on LP from Germany, and the 2CD set from Australia up for grabs.