We go back a long, long way
One for the Wall emerged from a duo formed by two architecture students at Bristol University in the mid ‘70s. Joanna Elford, a classically-trained soprano, and singer-songwriter Bernard Hanaway were regular performers in folk clubs and on local radio.
In 1977 Bernard moved to Oxford to join the thriving music scene. He met bass-player and amateur broadcaster Andrew Burnham, and they put together a band with two undergraduates – drummer Paul Campbell and guitarist and keyboard player Paul Wiffen – for a competition called “A Song For Oxford”. In the end they never took part! But a series of college gigs followed.
In the house shared by various members of the band at various times, there was a noticeboard on the wall to pin reminders, bills and so on. When thinking about a name for the band, suggestions would go up on the noticeboard. Someone said “that’s one for the wall” and the name was found by accident.
The following year Andrew’s old schoolfriend Colin Wight, who had played with him in bands since they were 17, moved to Oxford. Colin was recruited on electric and 12-string guitar. One for the Wall’s HQ was 41 Bullingdon Road in East Oxford, a freezing hovel which they shared with a brilliant Chemistry student, Peter Hancock. Pete built a 12-channel mixing desk and became their recording engineer.
At Bernard’s suggestion Jo, still living in Bristol, joined the boys at weekends.
So the original duo became a six-piece, whose melodic arrangements accompanied Bern’s sophisticated tunes and lyrics. At that time the industry was dominated by punk, disco, soft pop and novelty acts (how could one forget Jilted John or Father Abraham and the Smurfs?) Bands like One for the Wall didn’t fit into any of the obviously marketable categories. Aside from a few cover versions, the band only performed material written by Bernard – as they still do today.
After only a few weeks’ practice, One for the Wall entered the 1978/9 Melody Maker Rock/Folk contest, winning their heat and progressing to the final at Soho’s infamously sweaty Marquee Club. They performed “Must You be Going?”, “Harvest of Our Love” and “Cold Toast Blues”.
The competition, chaired by journalist Chris Welch, was won by Splodgenessabounds, who later had a UK Top Ten hit with ‘Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please”. Bern’s finely crafted, emotionally-charged songs never stood much of a chance!
Back in Oxford, One for the Wall went to work and spent summer 1979 recording nine original songs on four-track tape in the University’s studios at 62 Banbury Road. Meetings with the all-powerful A&R men came to nothing. In any case, by the autumn the younger members of the band had left university and gone their separate ways.
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Bern, Col and Andy remained in Oxford forming, with jazz-rock drummer Mark Pilkington, a quartet called Inside Story The new material, more rhythmically complex and edgier than before, featured two lead guitars, with Bern the lead singer and Colin wielding a mighty Shergold double-neck.
They rehearsed meticulously over a shop at 118 Cowley Road and gigged all over town, supporting visiting artists such as Wilco Johnson.
A selection of songs, entitled Inside Story, was recorded on 16-track tape. In 1984 Colin moved to London to work for Methuen publishers and the second iteration of the band broke up.
Bernard continued to write and record songs, and perform in pubs. For three decades One for the Wall ceased to exist.
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On 10 December 2013, at the funeral of their long-time fan, BBC radio presenter John Shaw, Paul, Colin and Andrew discussed the unlikely idea that the band should get together and make some proper recordings. Could it possibly work, 35 years on? Whilst Paul regularly played timpani with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Andy and Colin had almost given up playing. And would Jo be interested in singing those songs again?
By now the various band members were strewn from Devon to Northumberland, with only Bernard still in Oxford. In 2014 they started to rehearse again. The following year they booked into Newcastle’s Blast Studios to re-record their favourite songs from the early days. They recorded seven tracks in two days. A gig at the Miners’ Arms in Acomb followed.
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Since then One for the Wall has embraced an entirely new, diverse repertoire, all written by Bernard. Having tried out studios in London and Oxfordshire, they now rehearse and record at Glasshouse Studios in Cumnor, west of Oxford.
Tentative open mic sessions at Oxford’s Harcourt Arms led to a proper gig (without drummer Paul Campbell) in the cramped, enthusiastic ambience of Klub Kakofanney at The Wheatsheaf, in January 2020. They were invited back for March 2020… then coronavirus struck.
While playing as a group was on hold owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the band worked on more new material, mixed by Andrew. A CD (how retro!) entitled The Lover’s Song, with drummer Chris Ford, was released on 4 December 2020. Chris, who lives in Lewes, is now officially part of the band, and can be heard on Scent of the Moon (2022) and Memoryland (2024), the second and third CDs.
OftW continue to play occasional gigs in London and Oxford and are currently working on a fourth album.
One for the Wall 