The South Parade (1983-85)

South parade came together as a four-man act in April 1983, originally under the name of The Rich Get Richer. The line-up consisted of Ian Copestake (vocals, guitars, later shortly with the Lilac Trumpets), Ian Wadkins (bass), John Hamlin (keyboards) and Phil Culshaw (drums). For their live appearance in 1984-85 two other people helped out, namely Andy Maher (vocals, guitars) and Delia Winstanley (sax, clarinet).

Although none of their recorded material was ever released, the band recording history is quite long. In March 1983 South Parade recorded their first two-track demo at Pink Studio (When It Rains / Breakdown), followed by other two in 1984, recorded respectively at Cornden House Studio (featuring Out of My Mind / From a Window / Too Much Time / It Must be Understood / I See No Ships) and at Amazon Studio (Sad To Go / I See no Ships).
This was most probably the highlight of the band’s career. As a matter of fact, after an airplay on Radio Merseyside’s program Streetlife, the track I See no Ships was voted by the listeners as their favourite song of 1984, and a few months later, in February 1985, the number Sad to Go appeared on the cassette compilation Two Points to Tonka. At this point South Parade were getting ready for a single released. A couple of demos were produced (in April 1985 – featuring All I Want (a.k.a. All) / Nessie – and in May 1985 – featuring All I Want (a.k.a. All) / Smiffs (a.k.a. Smihts) / When It Rains), but the band split up and nothing came out of these sessions.

Ian Copestake continued recording demos as South Parade throughout 1986 with various musicians (Ian Wadkins, Andy Maher, Delia Winstanley) and, after a short period with the Lilac Trumpets, in 1987 established the band as a duo (with D. Brownlee on vocals and guitars). But also this line-up eventually split. The South Parade finally resurrected in 1991, featuring Copastake, Maher, Terry Jones (bass, former Blue Forest, Third Man) and Justine Welch (drums, later Spitfire, Elastica), but after several live shows, they decided to call it a day in October of the same year.

Some of the 1983-85 line-up’s material can be found here .