Noddy's Puncture was formed in 1987 by Tom Szakaly from the ashes of cult rock band Shanghai. The original lineup featured Adey McDermott on drums and vocals and Mark Conroy on bass and vocals.
The band's breakthrough came in 1995 at the ELP 25th Anniversary Convention in Birmingham, where ELP fanzine 'Impressions' wrote their now-famous review: 'If you live in the UK then this is a must, it is possibly the closest you will get to see a live ELP performance.'
After the convention, the lineup evolved. Lez Piszkalo joined on drums and Tony Gunderson on bass and vocals in 1995. Tony Hallsworth replaced Gunderson in 1997, and in 1999, Steve Roberts came in on drums from Cardiff along with Phil Blakeney on bass.
The year 2000 saw a memorable gig at The Six Bells in Chiddingly, where keyboard legend John Young from Asia and Yes joined the band for an impromptu jam. But the real magic happened in 2005, when Keith Emerson himself joined the band on stage at the same venue — a performance captured on the live CD 'Thank You, Masked Man!'.
Kevin Colon joined on bass and vocals in 2005, and the band expanded their repertoire to include material from The Nice — 'Country Pie', 'Pathetique', and 'For Example'. After a brief return by Tony Hallsworth for a special double-bill with Genesis tribute G2 at Marlborough, Graham Seman took over on bass in 2008.
With Graham, the band added complete performances of 'Pictures at an Exhibition' and 'Tarkus' to their set, along with more Nice material including 'Hang On To A Dream', 'America', and 'Rondo'. Their final gig together was at Kings Hall, Ilkley, West Yorkshire.
The current lineup came together from 2011: Tom Szakaly on keyboards, Ed Blaney on bass and vocals, and Frank Askew on drums and percussion. Ed, a lifelong ELP fan from the East Durham coast, found the band on YouTube and joined as bassist and vocalist. Frank, co-author of the ELP biography 'The Show That Never Ends', had been drumming in ELP tribute band 'Works 3' before joining Noddy's Puncture in 2016.
Today, the band rehearses online via Jamulus and continues to deliver what 'Impressions' magazine described as 'the closest you will get to see a live ELP performance'. Add to that 'live NICE performance' and you'll get the picture.