The Wild Swans (1980-82)

The Wild Swans are one of the greatest "lost" bands of the Liverpool scene. Formed in 1980 by Paul Simpson (on vocals) who, after leaving The Teardrop Explodes (where he played keyboards) long before they even planned to record an album, teamed up with Jeremy (Jem) Kelly (guitar, ex Psycamesh, ex- Systems), and Gerard (Ged) Quinn (who had briefly replaced Simpson in the Teradrop on keyboards). The three-piece was assisted on drums by Justin Stavely first and then by Alan Wills, and on bass by Rolo McGinty (later of the Woodentops), Phil Lucking and Baz Hughes (for the BBC sessions).

Pete de Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen (a friend and flatmate of Simpson's), possibly the band’s first and biggest fan, decided to invest his first royalty cheque from the Bunnymen and fund the Wild Swans’ first single The Revolutionary Spirit (1982, the last Zoo Records release and is considered by legendary label boss Bill Drummond to be the best single he released). At the day of the recording came, Stavely was unable to make the session so De Freitas played on the single as well as producing it. Simpson describes the title track as “virtually bass-less and in mono due to Pete (Freitas) being off his head on cocaine and the band too stoned to notice”.


Revolutionary Spirit (1982)
- Revolutionary Spirit
- God Forbid



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The single received a measure of critical acclaim and in time, even developed cult status, capturing the youthful optimism that existed on the Liverpool indie scene in those early days of post-punk, and featuring a completely new ‘sound’: “In most rock music at that time the guitar occupied the middle of the sound, filling it out - remember, the most influential group in Britain at the time was Joy Division: upfront drums and bass, guitar mixed back but deep, menacing and other-worldly. And then listen to the Wild Swans: Bass practically inaudible, the guitar up at the very top of the sonic spectrum, playing melodically, often flirting with the vocal line, and then the keyboards, mainly piano and/or string synth, filling the sound out, often even carrying the rhythm, adding incredible dynamics and drama. And it's a warm sound, as opposed to the icy jags of synthesizer that had become de rigueur since people had heard Wire's Chairs Missing and 154 and then Joy Division‚s Closer. And the vocals were sung with a very English delivery when most British singers affected American accents” (Nick Halliwell) – anticipating Morrisey’s style of a couple of years (listen to Enchanted and Simpson’s influence on the Smiths singer is embarrassingly manifest).

After a short tour with the Bunnymen, the group was asked by David Jensen to do a session for his BBC Radio 1 show in May 1982. They recorded two of the strongest tracks from their live set, Now You're Perfect and Fruits Of The Earth - now rechristened Flowers Of England - plus the two new composition, The Iron Bed and Opium (listen carefully to the guitar parts: the Lotus Eaters’ single The First Picture of You comes directly from here!).


Jansen Session (March 23, 1982)
- Flowers Of England
- The Iron Bed and
- Opium
- Now You're Perfect


Only a couple of weeks later they were asked to do a session for John Peel's show. They didn't have any new songs and only manage 3 tracks for that session. (The session was released much later, in 1985)


Peel Sessions (May 1, 1982)
- No Bleeding
- Enchanted
- Thirst



The first split occurred very soon after this auspicious debut and resulted in Kelly starting up The Lotus Eaters with co-founder Peter Coyle. Simpson followed suit with the Care project, teaming up with Ian Broudie. But the original chemistry of the Wild Swans (Mk I, circa1980-82) would never resurface in any later projects. Simpson confesses: “It was definitely a chemistry thing with The Wild Swans. Jerry was the mind, Ged was the body and I was the soul. Ged was the unsung hero of the story, he was our John Cale.”

Because of their involvement with The Teardrop Explodes, Care and The Lotus Eaters, it's already easy to view Paul Simpson, Jeremy Kelly and Ged Quinn as pivotal members of the much-revered Liverpool post-punk scene. However, even their triumphs with these projects pale by comparison with what they achieved together as The Wild Swans. Indeed, during an all-too brief period (roughly 1980 - late 1982), this trio recorded one of the greatest debut singles of all time in "The Revolutionary Spirit" and two tantalisingly brilliant BBC Radio Sessions that in effect would become the band's elusive legacy.
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Wild Swans 1980-82

http://www.thewildswans.co.uk/discography/discography.htm
http://www.whisperinandhollerin.co.uk/chat/chat.asp?id=1392
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