Diesel Park West

Diesel Park West are an alternative rock and rock group from Leicester, England, active from 1980 onwards. The band forms around John Butler, who writes most of its material, and its line-up includes Rich Barton, Geoff Beavan, John Butler, Ian Michie, David “Moth” Smith and Rick Willson. Their sound draws on American West Coast rock from the 1960s, with Moby Grape, Buffalo Springfield and Love among the main influences.

Early years and name change

The group begins in 1980 as The Filberts, named after Leicester City’s former Filbert Street ground. They also appear at times as The Psychedelic Filberts. Butler and David “Moth” Smith previously play together in a short-lived band called The Flicks, which releases the album Go For The Effect in 1979. Early tracks by the Filberts appear on compilation releases, including a cover of The Byrds’ “Lady Friend”, a cover of The Beatles’ “Rain”, and “Atlantis 1968”.

Butler is a long-standing figure in the Leicester scene and tours the United States extensively with Mott the Hoople offshoots Widowmaker. Willson joins after playing in the heavy metal band Brooklyn, and Beavan joins after Agony Bag. The group spends a long period writing and recording at Barkby Road Studios, building up a large catalogue of songs before attracting record company interest.

Food Records and the major-label period

In 1987, David Balfe of Food Records hears the band’s demos and signs them. Balfe objects to the name The Filberts, and the group adopts Diesel Park West, based on Barkby Road Studios being in a lorry park in the west of Leicester. Their debut single, “When the Hoodoo Comes”, appears in August 1987 and gains late-night radio play.

EMI buys Food Records and the band moves to a major label. Mick Salisbury joins as a third guitarist around this time, and Chris Kimsey produces the debut album at Olympic Studios in January 1988. Salisbury is later replaced by Rich Barton. The first album, Shakespeare Alabama, appears in 1989 and reaches number 55 in the UK charts. It includes “Like Princes Do”, “Here I Stand” and “All the Myths on Sunday”. The band supports Big Country on tour and also plays a well-received headline tour of its own.

Further singles from this period include “Jackie’s Still Sad”, “All the Myths on Sunday”, and “Like Princes Do”. A reworked “When the Hoodoo Comes” follows in 1989, and the band also appears on the Food Christmas various artists EP with a cover of Jesus Jones’ “Info Freako”, which reaches the UK top 30. A stop-gap release, Flipped, collects B-sides, covers and outtakes.

Decency and the end of the EMI deal

The second album, Decency, is recorded in Belgium with Laurie Latham after David “Moth” Smith leaves the group and a drum machine is used on many tracks. The album is released in 1992 and reaches number 57 in the UK. Its singles include “Fall to Love”, which reaches number 48, “Boy on Top of the News” and a cover of The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows”. The single also includes versions of songs by Moby Grape, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Jesus Jones. After EMI acquires Virgin Records and clears its roster, the band is left without a label.

Independent releases and line-up changes

Diesel Park West signs to Demon Records and records Diesel Park West vs. the Corporate Waltz, an album that responds to the group’s treatment by major-label management. It includes “Here on the Hill”, “Six Days to JuJu”, “The Corporate Waltz” and singles “Six Days to JuJu” and “The Cat’s Still Scratching”.

The band then moves to Permanent Records for FreakGene in 1995. Geoff Beavan leaves before the recording and is replaced by Ian Michie. The album includes “There’s No Mercy On The Ground Tonight”, “The Natural Things”, “Get Ready” and “Your Perfect Face”, and Belinda Carlisle covers “I See No Ships” from it. A farewell concert in Leicester follows, and the band splits.

Releases after the split and later work

EMI releases the compilation Left Hand Band in 1997. John Butler signs a solo deal with Chrysalis Records and releases The Loyal Serpent, with other Diesel Park West members contributing. In 1998 the band returns with HIPReplacement, issued on Thunderbird in Oxford with a bonus disc of Shakespeare Alabama demos. The album uses songs recorded before the split and includes “Bloody As Fur”, “All Your Birthdays” and “The Last of The Silent Friends”. During touring around this period, the original Shakespeare Alabama line-up reforms, with Beavan and Moth returning, although Moth only plays the songs he originally recorded.

The band later plays one-off shows in Leicester and London and releases Thought For Food in 2000 on Hypertension Records. In 2002, King of Ghosts collects demos from the Shakespeare Alabama and Decency sessions. A remastered edition of Shakespeare Alabama follows in 2006, and the concert DVD Damned Anthems appears in 2007.

That same year the band releases Blood and Grace on its own Danville Records label, preceded by “There’s A Grace” and “Personal Lives”. Rob Morris, formerly of Crazyhead, joins on drums. The album includes politically focused songs such as “Men of Blood”, “If They Ever Turn the Lights On”, “Indian” and “Tony’s Garden”. The band also receives radio play for “There’s A Grace” and appears on Janice Long’s BBC Radio 2 show for a session.

Solo work and related activity

John Butler also releases solo material under his own name and later as Jon C Butler. His solo albums are The Loyal Serpent in 1997 and Worthless Bastard Rock in 2001. In 2017 he announces a solo album called Universal Stranger and releases the single “A Little Misunderstanding” under the Jon C Butler name.