The Expelaires - 1979-80 Recordings

The only link between the Expelaires and Liverpool is that they were signed by Zoo Records.
The band in fact formed in Leeds in 1978 and conssted of Craig Adams (on keyboards and guitar), David Wolfenden (on guitar, later in Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and The Mission) and Grape (on vocals, later in 3000 Revs and Groovin’ With Lucy). To this nucleus soon was to be completed by the addition of Mark Copson (on bass) and Carl ‘Tich’ Harper (on drums, later of Girls at Our Best). This line-up supported the Teardrop Explodes and Echo and the Bunnymen (on which occasion they come to be noticed by Drummond and Balfe’s Zoo Records). Also because of this connection the band earn some credibility and, in June 1979, was invited to record a Peel Session.

Peel Session (1979)
- It's Alright Mother (aka Call me Mother)
- Dashboard
- Nasty Media
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Apparently, during these sessions yet another song was recorded, which was then to appear as the b-side on the Expelaires’ first single, in September 1979:

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To See You (1979)
- To See You
- Frequency

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A few months after this, also due to the limited success of the single, things started to go wrong: first, Copson quit, to be replaced by David Harper (later of Five or Six) and Craig, too, left not long after the release of their second single Sympathy (Don’t be Taken In) (b/w Kicks) in January 1980. The song will appear in the compilation Hick from the Stick released the same year.

Expelaires 1979-80