Nobody knows exactly when the Bad Pennies began. Whether they were the result of a failed boy-band attempt in the 70’s or a music industry strategy that time forgot has never been established.

At that time the Mariners hosted local muso’s for a splendid jam session on Monday evenings

Ritchie and Paul came as a package with prior experience of playing together and were quite a double act. The band were soon up and running playing many almost forgettable gigs around the Medway towns.

Version 2 Bad Pennies had Steve on drums and Ange on bass then Version 3 saw the return of Ritchie - having decided he wasn’t ready for the rigours of the club / function band.

The band built up a good reputation with the set including a good mix of Rock classics, Modern Rock and some blues.

Ange was a true rock star and great friend and will always be missed. It’s easy to say those words but he really was a great bloke.

A tribute gig was organised for the end of January at the Beacon Court (originally a Pennies gig) and hundreds of friends turned out to pay their respects.

Many of Ange’s former bands reformed to perform their own tributes.

Gigs had already been booked through 2004. The early ones were cancelled but the band tried to honour those venues who still called.  Each gig had a different line-up and though everyone tried - there was something missing.

Meanwhile Gaz started the League of Scowlers. With Adam on vocals, Darren on drums and Lee on Bass & Keys, this band focused on indie / modern rock and had a short but productive career.

Into 2005 and the League of Scowlers were becoming a major force. Ritchie was now singing and playing guitar in a duo. People kept asking about the Bad Pennies though. It was decided to re-launch the band with more of a Blues / Rock set and just do perhaps one gig per month. Lee from the Scowlers joined on bass and Marquis resumed on vocals.

Normal service was resumed at the Beacon on July 22nd and the band went from strength to strength.

There was a different attitude this time - and it began to rock again. Venues were re-booking the band through 2006 and they quickly surpassed the “one per month” plan. This didn’t suit Ritchie who decided to part company with the band in order to concentrate on other things.

Brian brought a refreshing combination of talent, commitment and light rig to the band - as well as backing vocals. Today you can catch the Bad Pennies performing all over the place. Sometimes with different drummers but always with commitment and enjoyment.

Through 2007, Bad Pennies were Marquis on vocals, Gaz on guitar, Brian on Bass and Jenx on Drums.

Also on drums we got support from Pipkin and Steve.

In addition to several bands, Steve allegedly had a parallel career in the German Adult Leisure Industry.

At the end of 2007 the band parted company with long-time singer Marquis and Brian assumed the role of lead vocals - making the band a three-piece. We also welcomed Dave Two-Jackets on drums to work alongside Jenx who was becoming less available as his talents were in wide demand.

Through 2008 Two-Jackets shared the drumming with Jenx. Heading into 2009 He became the band’s full-time drummer - enabling a return to a permanent line up once again.

By 2011 the audience had decided the current format wasn’t working - and stopped coming to gigs. So several of the larger venues stopped booking the band. We considered what was wrong - even tried recording a demo CD to rekindle interest - in the end we concluded we needed a front man again - to engage with the audience. After covert advertising it appeared there were no suitable singers available - and just then Marquis turned up again like a bad penny. Leaner, fitter and hungry to rejoin the band.
We welcomed him back into the fold in September of that year. As expected, Brian couldn’t accept the situation and left the band under a cloud so we had a bit of a journey to find the right bass player ahead of us. But we had Marquis back and he was a new man. More committed and better voice than before, the audience returned and so did the venues. It was all good.... until 2015.

Throughout the second half of 2015 things fell apart and Marquis departed again at the end of the year.
We had a great 4 years though - some really good times and definitely put the band back on track when things had derailed before.

Here’s a pic from one of our later gigs at Earls, Maidstone:

Roll of Honour

Several excellent musicians have lent their talents to the band over the years - either on a permanent or temporary basis. Including:

Vocals:

   Adam Walker

   Darren Lockyer

   Adam Stocker

   Marquis

   Brian Hughes

Bass:

    Gavin

    Adam Walker

    Number Six

    Pat Delaney

    Steve Arnold

    Bryn Jones

    Brian Hughes

    Lee Wade

    Carl Woodbridge

    Paul Milton

    Gary Hobley

    Rusky Busky

    Ange

    Paul Breen

Drums:

    Dave Two-Jackets

    Bob Langridge

    Andy Jenkins

    Phil Wilson

    Paul Jobson

    Rick Kent

    Lee Wade

    Steve Andrews

    Ritchie Culham

Guitar:

    Gaz