History & Biography The NWOBHM band was in the same vein as Judas Priest and Motorhead and
was considered heavy for its time. They also had a reputation for wild pyro
work live.
The story of the At. Albans-based Clientelle began in February of 1978 when Rik Taylor joined Powell, Trudgett and Goodfellow through an advertisement. The band immediately got down to writing songs and performed its first gig in the same year at the local The Horn Of Plenty.
Clientelle visited Quest Studio in Luton in 1979 where they used an 8-track facility to record three songs, namely Can't Forget, Skyflier and Destination Unknown. The first two songs were pressed as a 7" EP
and the 500 copies were soon sold to the masses. The sleeve was designed by none other than Rik Taylor. The band also performed live incessantly.
The rapid pace continued in 1980 and the band even performed at a Friends Of The Earth show. By this time the band was performing for 750 people and Was invited to head to London to open for Saga! One
particular show had another local band, As Above So Below, opening for 'telle. This band would lose its drummer to Clientelle two years later.
In 1981, the band recorded six new songs, which added to the aforementioned three and garnered a deal with local label Banana Records. The album was released in September. Bands like Tobruk and Moonstone opened for
the boys.
Goodfellow abandoned the fold in February of 1982 and was replaced by
Toad The Wet Sprocket's Martin Whitewick. The new drummer would soon
find his band supporting Y&T. A tour with Hawkwind was arranged although
Whitewick deserted the band three days before the string of dates due
to a salary dispute. The band's lighting technician and a drummer for As
Above So Below, Dave Ashcroft quickly occupied the stool. In December
of 1983 Ian Disspain was recruited on drums, yet he stayed for a short time. The frustration of losing yet another drummer prompted Taylor to leave as well, forcing the band to re-evaluate the future. Nonetheless, a new drummer (Moonstone's Terry Cox) and a keyboardist were recruited. This line-up recorded a new demo towards the end of 1984. Several shows were performed, but the magic was gone and the band called it a day in 1985.
During the next few years the band, with Taylor, played several
reunion gigs and would reappear like a genie.
In late 2002, the members of Clientelle reformed for another go at
things. They released the sole album on CD and planned shows for the
reunited line-up. The band broke up in 2003. Rik Taylor died of a heart attack in 2008. Phil Goodfellow died in 2020. The act reformed as Clientelle Acoustic in 2024. Live History... 1980-1984 was just that. The compilation was issued in 2025. Roy and Steve were gigging as Clinetelle Acoustic now. They were playing acoustic versions of tracks from the 1981 album, as well as more recent songs.
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