Ray Callcut - Guitar

BIOGRAPHY

Where it all began

Guitarist and songwriter Ray Callcut first came onto the music scene in 1983 when he formed the band Ya Ya with vocalist Lea Hart (The Roll Ups, Fastway) also featuring ex Panache members bassist Terry Stevens and drummer Graham Garrett. After touring India and the far East they eventually signed to North American label Scotti Bros (also the record label of Survivor) in 1984 and recorded the album Scarred. A single Don’t Talk was taken from the album (written by Ray and Lea) and was featured in the movie Revenge of the Nerds.

Following this the band were snapped up by the WEA label and they flew to LA to work with the legendary producer Mick Chapman at Cherokee studios.

From Then to Now

After replacing Lea with Sam Blue they then finished the album with Tony Taverner and Adrian Lee (Mike and the Mechanics) and the album Ya Ya II was released in 1988 with all songs co written by Callcut. This included the British AOR cult classic singles When The World Cried and Caught In A Lie.

The band then went on to undertake a major tour of Russia in support of the album but like a lot of other bands in the AOR genre quickly found the changing music scene was not in their favour and eventually broke up.

Subsequently Ray went on to do a lot of session work including various tribute albums with Lea Hart featuring artists such as Steve Overland (FM), Paul DiAnno (Iron Maiden), Doogie White (Rainbow, Michael Schenker) and even a couple of tracks with White Skies vocalist Mick White.

 

« This album has been a real labour of love for us, we wanted to write a collection of songs that would bring to mind and pay tribute to the spirit of the incredible AOR/Melodic rock bands of the early eighties but without being formulaic or derivative. Hopefully there is something for everyone on there and we can’t wait for people to hear the album and to get out and play the songs live. »
– Mick White

The Future

Ray was also a member of rock covers band Lend Us A Quid formed by the industry legend John Oz Osmond and Bad Company guitarist Dave Bucket Colwell which played regularly around the London circuit from the 80’s onwards and has boasted guest appearances by the likes of Adrian Smith, Neil Murray, Mick Ralphs and Zack Starkey just to name a few.

After reconnecting with Mick White around 2019 the two set about writing an AOR album very much inspired by the giants of the genre!