About the band

About the Band

To put it simply, The UK Rock Legends band are a 4 piece rock covers band performing the hit songs of the legendary bands and musicians that they have worked with over their musical careers, which includes The Animals, Smokie, Status Quo, Joe Cocker, Dire Straits, Gary Moore, Thin Lizzy, and many more.

The concept of the 'UK Rock Legends' show is that it consists of a wide repertoire of hit songs from legendary rock bands of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s instead of performing the songs of only one band. Having such a wide variety of songs in the concert guarantees that their show is not only very entertaining, but it also satisfies a very wide selection of musical tastes, age ranges and gender.

With each of the band members holding the credibility of having worked with so many famous bands and musicians during their long careers, The UK Rock Legends band can rightfully perform such a wide variety of hit songs in their shows.

The UK Rock Legends are a professional British band that regularly headline at concerts around Europe with audiences of up to 50,000 people per show. They have performed live on many TV shows, some of which have been simultaneously broadcast to over 100 countries worldwide.

History of

THE UK LEGENDS

UK ROCK LEGENDS - CLASSIC ROCK LEGENDS

THE SHOW

This show was first created under the registered name of UK Legends in January 2007 by keyboard player Steve Hutchinson and the band that performs the show has had many different members and line-ups throughout its long history. Most of the performers who have taken part in the show since it started in 2007 have been listed below in chronological order.

Although the UK Legends show was always based around core musicians, it was always intended for the show to be an open platform for many different musicians and special guests to also perform on. The show has unfortunately had quite a turbulent core band member history and the following information is the true history of the numerous different UK Legends band line ups taken from documentary evidence and factual information that has been recorded by UKL Management, as well as personal information provided by previous band members.

__________________

THE LINE-UPS

Back in 2006, before the UK LEGENDS and UK ROCK LEGENDS shows were created, early members of the first UK Legends line up were performing under the name of Lieutenant Pigeon which was a very popular band in the UK. At this same time Polish promoter Marian Knapczyk of Santana Promotions was looking for a British band that could perform the hits of Smokie on his corporate shows in Poland and he approached them to see if they would be interested.

The Lieutenant Pigeon band members agreed and they performed a show at the Spodek Arena in Katowice under their keyboard player's own band name of 'The Legends'. The line up of the Lieutenant Pigeon band performing as The Legends were Gary Moberley, Simon Van Downham, Geoff Hammond and Martin Bland.

Lieutenant Pigeon performing as The Legends in Poland on 1st December 2006 featuring:

Band leader Gary Moberley, Simon Van Downham, Geoff Hammond and Martin Bland

Video footage of Polish TV presenter Andrzej Frajndt introducing Gary Moberley's band on

stage as 'The Legends' on 1/12/2006 prior to the UK Legends band being formed in 2007

Unfortunately Gary Moberley's Legends band only lasted for this one show in Poland due to an altercation between Martin Bland and the keyboard player Gary Moberley. This resulted in Animals' keyboard player Steve Hutchinson (Stevie Hutch) joining the Lieutenant Pigeon band in December 2006 for a Xmas show at Skipton in England.

In January 2007 the Legends keyboard player Gary Moberley made the claim that he held the historic rights to the name 'The Legends' that they had used for the show and he informed his former band members that he would legally stop them from using this name if they were to any further shows as The Legends.

On 7th January 2007 Marian Knapczyk and new keyboard player Steve Hutchinson (Stevie Hutch) were aware of the ongoing conflict between Gary Moberley and Martin Bland over the use of his name 'The Legends' for the proposed shows so they both decided they would create a brand new band with a brand new name for their future shows. The theme for the new band would be to perform the hit songs of legendary British bands to the Polish audiences.

The names LEGENDY ROCKA (ROCK LEGENDS in Polish) and BRYTYJSKIE LEGENDY (BRITISH LEGENDS) were both considered at this time but Steve and Marian both finally decided upon the much simpler name of UK LEGENDS and they established this as the new name to use for all their future shows. The descision to use this particular name was due to the fact that 'UK LEGENDS' could be easily translated into any language.

On 13th January 2007 Steve Hutchinson officially registered the name 'UK LEGENDS'. This was to avoid any future conflicts over the ownership of the name and so he could commence the investment of his own time and money into his promotion of the new UK LEGENDS show in other territories of the world outside of Poland. Steve designed and printed all of the promotional material for the new band as well as creating the website for the band at his own cost.

In Poland Marian Knapczyk set about advertising the band and establishing contracts for the shows as well as investing in backline for the band and providing a specially modified splitter bus for the transportation of the band and the equipment.

As each of the band members had a long history of working in other bands, some of which were internationally famous, they were able to put together a show that would consist of the hit songs of the bands, and musicians, that the band members had all previously performed with. At that time this would include songs from The Animals, Smokie, John Miles, Joe Cocker, Bee Gees, Thin Lizzy, and Dire Straits just to name a few!

On 5th March 2007 the new band played its very first concert in Poland under Steve Hutchinson and Marian Knapczyk's brand new show name of :

The first line-up of the new 'UK LEGENDS' band featured Stevie Hutch on keyboards along with Simon Van Downham, Geoff Hammond, and Martin Bland from the Lieutenant Pigeon band, and very quickly the bookings started rolling in putting the UK Legends show well and truly on the road.

The shows they performed were mainly in front of 17,000 strong audiences in some of the biggest arenas in Poland.

The UK Legends Simon Hough and Stevie Hutch

Stevie Hutch and Simon Van Downham in the UK LEGENDS in 2008

In the following years Marian Knapczyk continued to promote the UK LEGENDS show throughout Poland using his vast experience and knowledge of the Polish market while Steve Hutchinson also promoted the UK LEGENDS as a separate show throughout the rest of the world undertaking all of the band's administration, website creation and management, poster designs, media advertising and bookings for his shows.

Unfortunately in 2009 this very first line up of the UK LEGENDS band split up after a disagreement within the band which resulted in the top rated musicians Simon Van Downham and Geoff Hammond refusing to work with Martin Bland ever again. As the UK LEGENDS name was registered to Steve Hutchinson the Polish promoter gave him the task of quickly creating a replacement UK LEGENDS band to undertake further shows in Poland.

Because of the irreversible dispute between Martin Bland and Simon Van Downham, Steve had the choice of either using Simon Van Downham and Geoff Hammond along with a new bass player, or to bring Martin Bland back into the band along witht a new guitarist and drummer.

After a difficult decision Steve decided to re-enlist previous bass player Martin Bland and bring in new local top class musicians Graham Hunter on guitar and Ade Evans on drums along with Alan Silson from the UK chart topping band Smokie also on guitar and vocals, who was later replaced by Bernie Lowery.

The 2nd UK LEGENDS band in 2009 Left to Right:

Graham Hunter, Stevie Hutch, Bernie Lowery, Ade Evans and Martin Bland

Steve's 2nd version of the UK LEGENDS band quickly gained immense popularity not only in Poland but also throughout Europe due to the professionalism of the band's performances and the popularity of the songs they performed.

In 2009 the UK LEGENDS name was officially trademarked in Poland by Wojciech Musnicki from the show's Polish management company to stop other promoters in Poland from using the UK LEGENDS name for their own shows.

In 2010 drummer Ade Evans left the band after a disagreement with Martin Bland and was replaced by the session drummer Paul Elliott.

In 2012 due to a dispute between Martin Bland and the top Polish promoter Marian Knapzcyk the bulk of the band's shows in Poland suddenly stopped. To create replacement work for the band Steve introduced the band into the UK market but re-branded the shows under his previously registered name 'UK ROCK LEGENDS'.

These shows were performed as a 4-peice band without vocalist Bernie Lowery because the rock songs that Graham Hunter was already performing in the show were more popular in the UK than the Smokie songs.

In 2012 top session drummer Paul Elliott left the UK LEGENDS / UK ROCK LEGENDS band after a disagreement with Martin Bland and was replaced by drummer Mickey Mad Dog.

In 2013 the highly rated guitarist Graham Hunter left the band after a disagreement with Martin Bland and the top rated local guitarist Brian Vasey joined the line up. Also at this time drummer Paul Thompson of Roxy Music & Garry Moore fame joined the band line up.

The UK Legends in Denmark April 2013

Left to Right: Stevie Hutch - Bernie Lowery - Martin Bland - Paul Thompson - Brian Vasey

In 2013 after a short time in the band Paul Thompson left the band and Mickey Mad Dog rejoined on drums. Shortly afterwards Brian Vasey also left the band after a disagreement with Martin Bland and Graham Hunter rejoined the band again on guitar.

In 2014 Steve, who was the longest serving keyboard player with The Animals, also formed his own tribute band to The Animals under his previously registered name of 'ANIMALS III' bringing together former Animals vocalist Tony Liddle and former Animals guitarist George Fearon, along with other musicians from the UK LEGENDS band lineup. Steve's Animals III band has performed shows in Scandinavia, Belgium and the UK.

Steve's Animals III band continues today with different band members under the newer name of 'ANIMAL TRACKS' performing 'The Animals Greatest Hits Show'.

Details of the band can be found at www.animals3.com

In 2015 Graham Hunter left the UK LEGENDS / UK ROCK LEGENDS band to work with members of the late Gary Moore's band and was replaced by previous Animals and Saxon rock vocalist Tony Liddle and the previous Tygers of Pan Tang guitarist Steve Lamb.

In 2015 the highly respected drummer Mickey Mad Dog left the band after a disagreement with Martin Bland and Paul Elliott rejoined the band.

In 2016 Graham Hunter re-joined the band replacing Steve Lamb and Tony Liddle following a disagreement between Martin Bland and Tony Liddle.

In 2016 Steve Hutchinson changed the name of his UK shows from 'UK ROCK LEGENDS' to the longer standing name 'UK LEGENDS' because he felt that by dropping the 'Rock' status from the Legends name would be more suitable for the audiences in the UK's social clubs.

At the same time in 2016, Steve also set up and registered his very own Smokie tribute band under the name of 'SONGS OF SMOKIE' featuring Bernie Lowery (also known as The Voice of Smokie) using the members of his UK LEGENDS band. Steve was previously a member of the very poular band Sounds of Smokie and had also worked and recorded with the original Smokie guitarist Alan Silson throughout Europe with his band. The Songs of Smokie tribute band was specifically created to perform shows in Europe and at the Butlins 70's Weekends and other popular 70's festivals. The Songs of Smokie band still continues today but with a brand new lineup of musicians.

Details of the show can be found at www.songsofsmokie.com

In 2017 guitarist Graham Hunter left the band after a further disagreement with Martin Bland and was replaced by the Tygers of Pan Tang guitarist Steve Lamb.

In 2017 drummer Paul Elliott left the band after a further disagreement with Martin Bland and Mickey Mad Dog rejoined the band again.

In 2019 trouble started brewing in the band over the underselling of the UK LEGENDS shows by Martin Bland into bars and small venues around the UK resulting in Steve Hutchinson refusing to perform on his undersold shows. Not wanting his band members to miss out on potential income Steve gave them permission to continue performing without him using his registered UK Legends band name. This was on the proviso that Steve Hutchinson would still continue to perform on all of his correctly marketed UK Legends shows and the band would always remain a minimum of a four-peice, so Bernie Lowery was brought back into the band to make up the numbers.

Unfortunately the under-selling of Steve's UK Legends shows into the pubs by Martin Bland was causing irrepairable damage to the good name of the band making it impossible for Steve and his promoters to continue selling the UK LEGENDS show as the same credible high-level professional show which it had previously been respected for in the UK and Europe. As a result the high level work for the band dissapeared.

In 2019 drummer Mickey 'Mad Dog' left the band following a further disagreement with Martin Bland over long distance travelling and was replaced by the drummer George Defty.

In 2021, due to an irreversable dispute between Steve Hutchinson and Martin Bland over many issues including Martin Bland's miss-selling of Steve's UK LEGENDS and ANIMALS III band, Steve Hutchinson replaced all of his UK LEGENDS, ANIMALS III, and SONGS OF SMOKIE band members with new band members and revoked the old band member's permission to continue using any of his registered band names.

In 2021 Steve Hutchinson set about rebuilding the reputation of his registered UK LEGENDS, UK ROCK LEGENDS and ANIMALS III bands by bringing in new professional band members to return the shows back into the credible high level shows that they had previously been.

The new replacement band members in 2021 for Steve's registered UK LEGENDS, UK ROCK LEGENDS and ANIMALS III shows are Howard Baker on vocals and White Heat drummer George Waters, with Steve also teaming back up with previous 1990's Animals bass player Graham Hill, and previous UK Legends / Animals III / UK Rock Legends original guitarist Graham Hunter.

The UK LEGENDS / UK ROCK LEGENDS band 2021

Left to right: Graham Hill - Stevie Hutch - Graham Hunter - George Waters - Howard Baker

In 2022 the band also performed shows as the 'CLASSIC ROCK LEGENDS' at Festivals and Theatres around the UK and Europe

In 2023 Steve Hutchinson returned the band back onto the world stage featuring new professional band members. Check out the band's upcoming shows.

As this band is now performing primarily under the name of the

UK ROCK LEGENDS

and

CLASSIC ROCK LEGENDS

the long established 'UK LEGENDS' brand name is now up for sale.

UKLEGENDS.COM

UKLEGENDS.CO.UK

The sale of this intelectual property includes both of the high level domain names UKLEGENDS.COM and UKLEGENDS.CO.UK (transferred via Escrow Consierge Service) and includes a perpetual license to use the worldwide historic UK Legends band name registration certificate held from 2007 onwards giving exclusive rights to the use of the UK Legends band name. The sale also includes permission to use all of the UK LEGENDS logo designs and the original website's copyrighted content.

If you would like to legally use the UK LEGENDS brand name for your own band, show, or project please contact UKL Management at uklegends@gmail.com for further details.

Please note:

Previous members of Steve Hutchinson's UK Legends band are currently misleading the public by illegaly performing their own copy shows under this band's officially registered names of UK LEGENDS and ANIMALS III. They have also published their own fake copies of this official UK Legends website and the official Animals III website using similar misleading domain names.

A Legal Injuction is currently being sought to stop them from performing their shows under these names.

The following legally binding historic certificates of registration are held by Steve Hutchinson for the following band names:

UK Legends, UK Rock Legends, Animals III, Animals 3, Songs of Smokie, Voice of Smokie, The Animals Greatest Hits Show, Animal Tracks, Rock Legends, The Sensational Rock Legends Show, and Classic Rock Legends.

These names have all been historically registered with the UK based company Log Networks Ltd t/a bandname.com.

Each certificate gives clear official documentation of the dates of name registration and ownership.

Sometimes documentary evidence of the actual truth is all you need

Footnote

Clarification of Band v Bandname

Use of the term ‘band’ is of no importance in Intellectual Property law. A band is simply a collection of musicians who have come together to perform under a designated 'name'. The musicians who perform in that 'band' (or orchestra) are also irrelevent in IP law and performing in the 'band' does not give any rights to ownership of the performance 'name' where that performance name has been previously registered by another person for the puposes of a providing the show, unless the performance 'name' had been jointly registered or agreed in writing by all of the band members.

The band's ‘name’, whether used for live performances, recordings, or in media, will always belong to the person who holds the earliest historic record of name registration or earliest proof of use of that name (provided that person can also prove continuity of use in the name since registration and also its use within the past five years). That person retains the perpetual legal right to re-use that name as so wished even for an entirely different ‘band’ (or orchestra) of musicians, and that person also holds all legal rights to stop any other party from using that same registered name for similar purposes.

There is no law or ruling that can grant any other person the rights to use another person’s registered name without the consent of the registered holder of the name.

If a person becomes disassociated with the owner of the name they automatically lose any rights to continue to perform under that name unless the registered name holder allows it.

In brief: A band is simply a collection of musicians who come together to perform. This does not give the musicians in the 'band' any ownership rights to the ‘name’ that they perform under, regardless of how long those musicians may have been using that name, and in particular where the 'name' of the performance has been previously registered by another person.

Back To Home Page