Ian Baker - Before Change to the East

In the previous posts Stuart Wood provided us precious and very detailed information about the different Change to the East line-ups leading to the definitive one, although very little we know about its members’ musical activities before Change to the East.
Here Ian Baker fills this gap concerning his part, and tells us about his musical experiences in the Liverpool music scene:

‘1979: Started off playing keyboards in school in a band called NYLON with David Owen (vocals, keyboards), David Brophy (drums), Mark Phythian (keyboards). Our favourite bands being Kraftwerk, Ultravox, Human League and OMD. We followed Kraftwerk's ethos by building a lot of equipment such as oscillators, filters and phasers (mainly because we couldn't afford to buy them!)

1981 Philip Bliss joined on vocals, we changed the name to Silent Movement and I picked up the bass guitar, and Mark dabbled with the guitar. We had left school by this point, started gigging around Liverpool at The Venue and The Masonic Pub, supporting such bands as P.O.W, and The Games
At some point in this year, (August I think) we actually recorded at the same studio where Woody had done his YOP scheme some months earlier, although we never actually met each other then.

By the end of 1982 people were drifting off to University and the band fell apart.

Unfortunately, I don't know what became of the two Davids and Phil. But Mark Phythian [who also was recording engineer on the band’s ep] went on to be a very much respected sound engineer, earning a Grammy for his work on the first three Coldplay albums, and we're still in touch to this day.

In true 1980's style I actually tried to go solo, using backing tapes at gigs whilst playing keyboards or bass and singing!

Luckily after only one gig at The Cavern Club I decided it was not for me so I started looking for an established band to join.

I think I must have contacted most Liverpool bands that were advertising in the music shops of Liverpool as well as the local newspapers, and more often than not it didn't get past the first phone call. But amongst those who I did get to play with were;- Freeze Frame, The Pale Fountains, The Lilac Trumpets, Western Diplomats, The Presidents Men, Come in Tokyo and 3D.’

‘I auditioned for the Pale Fountains before I joined Change to the East. I remember being given a very rough demo of Jean's not Happening to learn - loved the song and play it still today, but I just didn't fit in with the band. I think they were looking for a more Echo and the Bunnymen style of bass player.

Another band I auditioned for was The Lilac Trumpets, but I haven't heard or seen anything from them since.’

‘I got very disillusioned with the whole thing and when I got Woody's phone number, I actually kept it for about a month before ringing him, - never regretted it when I did ring, because our playing style fitted together so well.

He became a very close friend, and still is.’


Thank you very much, Ian.

Change to the East - live (1983-1986)

About Change to the East’s live activity Stuart Wood concedes:
‘It was actually more like a musical version of a social club that members joined, played for a bit and moved on. We didn't actually gig that much, but the infamous rehearsal parties, twice weekly, were packed with a right old assortment of people.’

Nonetheless, packed venues seem to be a constant feature during the band’s gigs.

From Garden Party 5, February 1984:

‘Change to the East have only played a handful of gigs but despite having no singles or tapes out and no radio exposure, they have pulled big crowds. How has this happened?

Neil [Tilly, the band’s manager, editor of Breakout Magazine and promoter of Liverpool groups at the Venue]: Probably just word of mouth, there was loads of people at the first System gig and they’ve probably told all their friends about it.

Woody: Even when we played Tom Hall’s Tavern the place was packed.

Dave [Ball, vocals]: We had a few good plugs in the press (eg. The Echo) so that helps as well.

Neil: Of all the bands put on at the Venue, Change to the East pulled the biggest crowd for a local group and it was the same as the System. The manager of the System was flabbergasted, in fact the bars ran out of beer that night.’

From Breakout Magazine, July 1984:

‘Let’s not forget that these four lads play music and good music at that. The band last played Liverpool on June 6, which was the first time I saw them. I was suitably impressed. A very tight and varying set of songs. From the funky On the Floor to the sixties influenced Way of Life. I was not the only one wh enjoyed the performance. The packed club showed their appreciation and a major record company, down for the evening, immediately booked them into Amazon Studios for a couple of days.

The future looks bright for Change to the East and it’s difficult to imagine the band were formed just over a year ago, however, it’s true to say that they have had a couple of line up changes.’

Live 1983-86

- Double Cross (live at The Bunker)
- Guilty (sound check Wigan Pier)
- Never Again (live at Pickwick’s)
- Flying Days (live at the Bunker)
- Untitled (live at Cavern Club, 1986)
- Tears and Lies (live, 1985)
- Forgotten Race (live, August 1983)
- The Good Omen (live, August 1983)
- Tears & Lies, Way of Life, Paper Poison (live at The System)
- Song of a Distant Dreamer (live at the Garageland)
- Love Bites (sound check Wigan Pier)
- Paper Poison (live at Pickwick's)
- Victoria Street (live at Wigan Pier)

ctte - live

(see also: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChangetotheEast
http://www.myspace.com/ctteliverpool
http://www.myspace.com/changetotheeast

Change to the East - Change to the East (Ep 1986/89)

Life before Chang(ing) to the East was far from boring: a web of musical influences, experiences and connections all of which would eventually play a key role in bringing about the Chesworth-Wood- Baker- Benson line-up.

Wood recalls:

‘The Ponderosa Glee boys connection is an interesting one […]

I was invited by a friend to go and watch the Glee Boys rehearse at their place on Prescot Road bordering Newsham Park in Fairfield (A run down area of Liverpool). I befriended the band and their entourage and roadied for them at their final gig! This was during their "Post Tommo" phase and would have been late 1981 or early 1982. I remember it was bitterly cold and snowing anyway!

Bob Davies remained at the rehearsal place and formed a new band. I was not involved in that and it was only in 1984 that Bob joined Change to the East. A Russian woman owned the rehearsal place and she started renting it out for lots of other bands to rehearse in. This is where I met "Candy Opera" and joined them for a few months.

We parted company and not long after (In October 1982) I joined Liverpool Youth Music Project which was a Youth training scheme (Also known as YTS). This was a means of the government getting you off the jobless figures while you were really still unemployed!

[…] The career path for anyone in Liverpool who wanted to join a band was to leave school, get on the dole and meet other like minded people in the same position! As a result, there was a tremendous amount of talent and creativity in the city and, of course, we all had the time to apply to our musical endevours. I actually look back on that time with great fondness. Life was very simple!!’


With Woody’s help it is possible to synthesize the various line-ups, from 1982 to 1987:

1982
Les Boyd - bass
Dave Newbold - drums
Stuart Wood - guitar

1983a
Gareth Davies - vocals
Jason Cunliffe - bass
Stuart Wood - guitar
Dave Nobay - drums

1983b
Colm Jackson - vocals
Jason Cunliffe - bass
Stuart Wood - guitar
Gary Cooke - drums

1983c
Alan Konstantine - vocals
Andy Thompson – bass
Stuart Wood - guitar
Gary Cooke - drums

1983d
Gareth Davies (Rejoined) - vocals
Andy Thompson - bass
Stuart Wood - guitar
Gary Cooke - drums

1983e
Dave Ball - vocals
Bob Davies - bass
Stuart wood - guitar
Sean Butler - drums

1984a
Dave Ball - vocals
Bob Davies - bass
Stuart Wood - guitar
Sean Butler - drums

1984b
Dave Inelli - vocals
Bob Davies - bass
Stuart wood - guitar
Colin Morris - drums

1984c
Dave Inelli - vocals
Dave Stinson - backing Vocals
Bob Davies - bass
Stuart wood - guitar
Colin Morris - drums

1984d
Dave Inelli - vocals
Bob Davies - bass
Stuart wood - guitar
Steve ? - drums

1985-March 1987:
Mark Chesworth - vocals
Ian Baker - bass
Stuart Wood - guitar
Paul Benson - drums

As to the various line-ups Wood recalls:
'Every single person made a positive contribution at the time and I felt it was a bit like a continuation of the YTS (Youth Training Scheme - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_Training_Scheme) that I had been on when I was 17. People came and people went. That rehearsal place was such a really insane environment though and it took its toll in many ways!

With reference to the last line-up Wood adds:
'Reading through [the] notes it does remind me of how big an influence Paul was on the band at that time. He was a lot older than us and had lived through the 60's and spent some time as the editor of "Hi fi answers" which was a UK HiFi magazine. He was quite a maverick in that field. If you google "Paul Benson Hi Fi answers" you can still find references to him. He was quite a maverick in that field and did make us think differently.'

Besides playing quite extensively this final line-up recorded the band’s only EP (released in 1989):

Change to the East (1986)
Victoria Street
Wide Awake
Never Again
White Gates

Wood remembers:
'Another thing i'd actually forgotten about the EP is that we were asked to change some of the words to "Wide Awake" by the American record company. They felt that we wouldn't get any airplay using the words "Come to my bed." Mark changed the line to "Come to, she said." I really regret that as it was against what we all stood for really, but when you are young, inexperienced and very naieve, you do tend to do these things. I think they (The company) wanted to portray a clean image whereas the reality was we all took drugs, of one kind or another, like a lot of bands!'

As to the songs on the Ep Baker recalls:

Victoria Street: This was one of Mark's songs and one he used go busking with, and as a result his vocals are very accomplished. He voice always did record very well and I think it is very well 'placed' in the mix of this track.

White Gates was an audience favourite at gigs and with it's distinctive intro always went down well, it was a band fave too often with the set list being built around it. ... I can't forgive Girls Aloud for nicking my bassline for 'Love Machine' though.


ctte - ep

(For all the information and audio files in this post I am indebted to Ian Baker and Stuart Wood, without whom…)

(see also: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChangetotheEast#p/u/8/qN062LwPyVk )

Change to the East - Some demos (1985-1986)

Change to the East (Stuart Wood, Paul Benson, Mark Chesworth, and Ian Baker) released two demotapes, the first in early August 1985 (featuring Flying Days, Gone away, Never Again, The Other Side of You, Forgotten Race, Dreaming) and a second one in July 1986 (featuring A Feeling Like I’m Stoned, Tears and Lies, Guilty, The Rack, Love Bites).

Some of these songs are in the file below, namely:

Some demos (1985-86)
- Dreaming (1985)
- The Rack (1986)
- Tears and Lies (1986)
- A Feeling Like I’m Stoned (1986)
- Guilty (1986)
- Love Bites (1986)

Dreaming was written by Woody (a.k.a. Stuart Wood) before Benson, Chesworth and Baker joined the band. It was one of the first songs the newly established line-up learned as a band. It was to appear the band’s first demo in August 1985. and was also a central point on any gig set list.


About the song Woody remembers:

‘Well, the story of this song is quite odd almost eerie but in a pleasant way! In early 1984 I was going through a fairly miserable time. I used to really love going to sleep; as it was the only place I could find any sort of peace. Nothing went wrong and it was a lovely warm, comforting place of retreat or escape I suppose.

Anyway, one night I had this really vivid dream about being in a cornfield with someone I didn’t know in real life, but was a friend in the dream. We were walking through a channel cut through the corn in the field that had this amazing tower at the end of it. For a moment I looked up and saw myself floating above the field. It wasn’t like I was looking down from above; it was just that in the dream, I knew it was I floating in the air.

Then I sort of joined myself at ground level and carried on just enjoying being in this field with the tower and my friend. It seemed to go on for hours, but dreams are odd things to equate in time. It was just a really lovely place.

Anyway, I woke up very disappointed as I realised it was indeed all a dream. For days I was affected by this dream and I wanted so much to go back there. I didn’t know whether it was some sort of past life memory or what, but it felt a bit more than just an ordinary dream.

Anyway, I wrote the song as a sort of therapy on myself, I never had the dream again but I could always remember it vividly.

Fast forward to June 2001. I had been living in Devon for a couple of years and moved away. I was on a short break catching up with some friends and one of them suggested we take the ferry from Dartmouth to Kingswear and wanted to show me a place where she had gone a lot in years gone by with friends. We parked up and walked to a field in which there was a tower. This tower is clearly visible from the surrounding area, but I had never given it a second thought. It was only when we entered the field and walked towards the tower in a channel cut through the corn, that I realised this was exactly what my dream had been all those years ago! I never saw myself floating in the sky though (!!!), but I knew this was a real life enactment of my dream.

Nothing dramatic happened but it was, like the dream, just a lovely day in a lovely place. What it meant or represented, who knows???’




Ian Backer adds:


‘Paul always loved this song, and I have fond memories of endless hours trying to get the timing right for the break towards the end of the song. It’s an interesting one because all parts stop at the same beat, and come back in on a different count in the bar. Once we had achieved the correct timings, we had to get the feel right, which came eventually.

The original multi track tape of this demo was erased and recorded over in December 1985 for another demo (ahh life in a band on the dole eh!).’

(see also: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChangetotheEast#p/u/0/bJKdI3dwS3A )


With reference to the 1986 demo Wood concedes:
'That July 1986 Demo really did represent our sound much more than the EP which was recorded in November.'


As to the songs featured there Baker adds:

The Rack also was written by Woody, before Benson, Baker and Chesworth joined. According to Baker ‘it was originally far slower and ethereal or psychedelic but for many reasons we never really took to it, so it was put to one side. Baker also remembers:

‘Once, Paul and I were setting up for practice, when he started playing this very intricate little drum pattern. I had this sort of funky bass line that I always used to do to warm up, and it seemed to sit over the drum pattern, Woody introduced this very sparse guitar and Mark started singing the words to The Rack and it all fitted.

It was one of those moments you get in a band, when you all look at each other and laugh and wonder how the hell that happened.

The drum pattern is so technical and, listening back I strongly believe it is one of Pauls best.

Paul was never a kick arse drummer but he never got the credit for his contribution to the overall sound of the band. He always tried to bring something a bit different to each song, and was always aware that sometimes it’s as much about what you don’t play as much as what you do.

I learned a lot about sound reproduction and recording from him, and he is sadly missed.’



(see also: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChangetotheEast#p/u/15/NCTi3Eey3TE )


A Feeling Like I’m Stoned, Tears and Lies and Guilty appeared on a demo recorded in July 1986.
Baker recalls:

‘The demo was recorded on a Fostex cassette Portastudio using the guitar effects above as outboard gear and mastered to cassette. The mics we had, were a load of missmatched old Realistic mics and a Shure SM10. With limitations of four track recording; all the instruments were recorded with their effects and bounced down, the vocals were recorded dry on their own tracks.’


ctte - demos

(I am very indebted and grateful to our friends Ian and Woody for the audio material and the information)

Pale Fountains - Live at Mr Pickwick's (31 August 1982)

The press release for The Pale fountains’ first single reads:


‘The Pale Fountains
7" OPT 009
12" + Lavinia's Dream (Crepuscule)
Two tracks on Crepuscule compilations
New Single Longshot released mid-September
LP to follow

Playing:
31st August ~ Platos Ballroom, Liverpool
3rd September ~ Rock Garden, london
11th September ~ ICA, London
then Belgium and France to follow.
A single release on Operation Twilight: 9 / 7 / 82 OPT 009

The Pale Fountains, having released their first single on Operation Twilight (Just A Girl / Something On My Mind), follow up their adventure into gossip columns with three live concerts in England and a modest tour of Europe. You'll find them at Platos Ballroom, Liverpool, on 31st of August, then the Rock Garden, London, on 3rd September and the ICA, London, on the 11th. We can expect a Crepuscule 12" of their English single soon with an extra song Lavinia's Dream. Further recordings for our cousins include two cover versions from Bond movies for their imminent soundtrack compilation.

Operation Twilight are lucky enough to have a new Pale Fountains single on the way, due for release in mid-September and entitled Longshot’, a version of which you may have heard on their recent Radio One session.’

The gig at Mr Pickwicks (a.k.a Plato’s Ballroom) mentioned in the press release featured the following songs:

Live at Mr Pickwicks (31 August 1982)
- Between Clark & Hilldale
- Just a Girl
- Lavinia's Dream
- Longshot for You Love
- Love's A Beautiful Place
- Love's A Beautiful Place (1)
- Meadow of Love
- Norfolk Broads
- Shelter
- Something on my Mind
- Thank You
- Walk on By

mr. pickwick’s 1982

( see also: http://shacknet.co.uk/?page_id=845
http://home.wxs.nl/~frankbri/ot_opt009.htm )

Pale Fountains - Peel Sessions 19 July 1982

AT the time of their first single, and soon after Nathan McGough quit, the Pale Fountains recorded a session for John Peel on 03 August 1982, with Tony Wilson producing and Dave Dade engineering. For the occasion Michael Head (guitar, vocals), Chris Mccafferty (bass) and Thomas Whelan (drums) were helped by session musicians such as Nathan Baxter, John Millor (both on percussion) and Andy Diagram (trumpet), who eventually joined for good.

Peel Session (1982)
- Lavinia's Dream
- (I'm A) Long Shot For Your Love
- Thank You
- The Norfolk Broads

This has been for quite a long time the only occasion to hear a recorded version of what could have been the Pale Fountains’ second single, that is Long Shot For Your Love, which instead was not. The press release accompanying the first single, in fact, reads: ‘Operation Twilight are lucky enough to have a new Pale Fountains single on the way, due for release in mid-September and entitled Longshot, a version of which you may have heard on their recent Radio One session’.
Curiously enough this Peel session has also been the occasion for a preview of the band’s actual second single, Thank You, to be released the following October.


pale fountains peel

(see also http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/sessions/1980s/1982/Jul19palefountains/
http://home.wxs.nl/~frankbri/ot_opt009.htm )

The Pale Fountains - Something on My Mind (1982)

Mike Head, Chris McCaffery, Tom Whelan and Nathan McGough recorded their first single with the aid of Andy Diagram (also Diagram Brothers on trumpet) and Williams Robinson (strings). The single was released in July 1982 on Operation Twilight, and the 12” version followed in August:

Something on My Mind (1982)
- Something on My Mind
- Just a Girl
- Lavinia’s Dream

Three, slightly different sleeves were produced, featuring the (original) Operation Twilight logo in black, embossed, or without star graphic. A Crepuscule 12" version (TWI 118) was released in Belgium in a totally different sleeve and with an extra track, Lavinia's Dream
In August 1982 after a series of live performances, Nathan Mcgough quit. According to the press (Masterbag Magazine, July 1982) he was responsible for introducing the band to '60 instrumental arrangers such as Burt Bacharach and Sergio Mendes. This influence combined with Head's admiration for Psychedelic Weast coast bands like Love has since come to be regarded as the distinctive trademark of Pale Fountains' sound.

something on my mind

(see also http://home.wxs.nl/~frankbri/ot_discog1.htm#opt009 )

The Pale Fountains - Live at Plato's (1981)

In 1979 Mike Head with Yorkie (a.k.a. David Palmer, later Balcony) formed their first band, Dance Party, playing their first gig as support act for the Wah! Heat’s debut at The Everyman Bistro. Very few traces are left of this band, one of which is the song Where You’ve Been (see relevant post). In 1980 the Dance Party turned into Egypt for Now, also featuring Paul Codman on drums (ex Mutants, Geisha Girls). This psychedelic oriented band used to cover such songs as Love’s She Comes In Colors and The Electric Prunes’ I had Too Much To Dream Last Night. A couple of their songs (Days On Edge, Soldiers) were finally released on the Liverpool compilation Street To Street Volume Two.
In 1980 Yorkie and Head went their separate ways, the former to for the Balcony, the later to put together a new band with the name of Pale Fountains with Chris McCaffrey on bass and Thomas Whelan (drums), with the collaboration of Nathan McGough (former O’Boogie Brothers, Royal Family and the Poor) and Andy Diagram (trumpet, former Dislocation Dance). This line-up recorded some tracks for a demo (featuring Celebrate, Clayton Square) and the same formation performed at one of the band’s first gig, at Plato’s Ballroom Club a.k.a Mr Pickwick’s 31/08/81, as a support act (together with the Wild Swans) to Orange Juice.

Live at Plato’s (1981)
- Celebrate
- Lavinia's Dream
- Chaise Lounge
- And Move Again
- Country Cottage (The Lonely Cottage)
- Riffnian
- Fountains

pale fountains live 1981

The Reverb Brothers (1982-1987)

In 1980 Colin Free (vocals, sax, former Pegasus) formed with James Rae (guitars, vocals) and Austin Quinn (bass) the Wirral-based act The Check, with Charlie Chapman, first and Stuart Valentine (future Electric morning), later (1981-1982), on drums. When Quinn and Valentine left the Check, Free and Rae continued writing and performing as a duo under the name of the Reverb Brothers, first with the aid of a drum machine and subsequently with session musicians (i.e. the brass section with OMD).

‘The Reverb Brothers songs of everyday suburban life on the Wirral, along with their Everly Brothers-style quiffs and harmonies, and the (then still avant garde) use of backing tracks that pounded out of an original 1960's Jukebox set them apart from many other Merseyside bands of that era. From 1982 to 1987 they performed at numerous venues around Liverpool and the Northwest including Brady's, the Masonic, the Everyman Bistro, the Warehouse, the Pyramid Club, Liverpool University, the Royal Court, and the Factory (Manchester).’
(http://www.myspace.com/reverbbrothers )

The first vinyl released was Ain’t So Sorry (b/w Another Teenage Bride) in June 1984. The band also worked on a possible follow-up single (Our Little Secret) which did not materialise.

In October 1985 You’re The Only One (b/w In the Nightclub) was issued, and in August 1986 Someone’s Selling Off the Country (b/w Next Big Thing, Far Away) also saw the light of day, both of which received national and international airplay.

The band split in 1987 during a UK tour supporting the Working Week.

More info and songs can be found here

Blue Nose B - Forever Passing Trains (1985)

Blue Nose B, from Seaforh, formed in 1984 when ex Indadais members Dave Billows (vocals), John Briody (guitars) and Mick Lawson (drums) teamed up with former Bneco Stephen Lawson (bass). The band played quite regularly and recorded a couple of demos in 1984 (the first in July 1984 featuring the songs Summer Girl, When I Love; the second in October 1984 featuring The Loneliest Dogs, Physically Satisfied, Escape, The Dream, Summer Girl, When I Love), collaborating with people such as Pete Wylie, Henry Priestman, Dave Hughes and Ian McNabb. They were mainly know as a live band and played quite extensively. Their song Summer Girl was voted best song of 1986 by Sounds and NME. At the end of 1985 the band’s first single was released:


Forever Passing Trains (1985)
- Forever Passing Trains
- Burning Up
- Maybe



By the end of 1986 the band boiled down to only Stephen Lawson, who kept the name and, after the release of a second single (My Diary b/w My Beautiful City, Hold Me I’m Alive) worked with session musicians on new material. The personnel included John Murphy on guitars, Jay Naughton on keyboards, Paul Thomas on sax, Gary Gilmurray on drums, Dave Reilly on percussions, besides Dave Billows on vocals and Michael Lawson on backing vocals). In late 1987 the line-up boiled down to a three piece including Danny Woods (guitars, formerly with Marianne Camilla) and Paul Denners (drums, former Marianne Camilla, also played with Emily’s Suitcase, It’s Immaterial, Orange Juice, Blackmange). This line-up recorded the song Why Do I NeecYou on the compilation Modesty Kills.

forever passing trains

Adams Family - Sometimes I Wonder

The Adams Family formed in 1984 when Jaki Florek (vocals, former Shattered Dolls, Sharon & The Slobz) joined Bill Freeman (guitars, formerly with the cabaret band Quicksilver), Brian Harcombe (a.k.a. Brain Damage, drums, former Accelerators) and Tim Scott (guitars). This line-up was alternatively and temporarily completed by Tony Doyle (ex Accelerators, Lawnmower) and Glynn on bass, until Bob Davies (form Change to the East) eventually took up bass duties in 1985. In late 1985 he was replaced by Jim Free and Berry Han (a.k.a. Bazhan or Baz Han, former Giant Spacebats) joined on second guitar and Jaki Florek’s sister Lisa on keyboards. Alison Haggarty played viola. For a short period of time (1985-1986) Chris Martin (former Accelerators) was on vocals and Harcombe was replaced by Barry Cox, but by the end of 1986 the Adams Family line-up established as a six-piece unit, featuring the Floreks, Freeman, Harcombe, Free, Han.
The band’s first gig was at the Venue on January 30th 1985 and form that moment on they started gigging quite regularly. The band released three demotapes: in 1985 Florek, Freeman, Harcombe, Scott and Davies issued a five track demo (featuring Alone in the crowd, So Sorry, Here’s Laughing at You Kid, Suicide, You Know What I Mean); in April 1986 Florek, Florek, Freeman, Han, Free, Cox released a six track cassette (Hey Hey Hey, Memories, She Strange, You Can Dream, Meanwhile Back in the Real World, Self Destroyer) and in August a three track demo (featuring The Doll, She Don’t Look Back, Someday). In 1987 Free left to join Crawl and was replaced by Tony ‘Rocco’ Doyle (former Accelerators, Lawnmower). This line-up recorded the band’s first vinyl product, the mini-lp Sometimes I Wonder:

Sometimes I Wonder (1987)

- Sometimes I Wonder
- She Don't Look Back
- Of You
- Back Street City Life
- Memories
- Someday Someday

The pop-oriented music in the lp gained enthusiastic reviews in the music press (The Melody Maker). By the late eighties the band the band stripped down to a 4 piece.

adams family

(see also http://www.myspace.com/theadamsfamilyliverpool )

Hell Fire Sermon - Freak Storm (1987)

In 1987 the Decemberists became the Hellfire Sermons. The same line-up – featuring Colin Pennington (vocals, guitars, keyboards, former Tunnel Users), Andrew Deevey (vocals, guitars), Andrew Ford (bass) and Chris Harrison (drums, former Jenny Lind) – worked on and released the band’s self-financed fist single:


Freak Storm (1987)
- Freak Storm
- Rachel Clean


The single also received enthusiastic reviews in the national music press (NME). While working on the follow-up single the band lost both Harrison and Deevry, respectively replaced, if temporarily, by Roger McLoughlin and Neal Carr (former Jenny Lind) (as credited on the second single’s cover - H.O.N.E.Y.M.O.O.N. b/w Quicksand, Penny Pinching Cathy)

hellfire sermons 1987

(see also: http://www.hellfiresermons.fsnet.co.uk/ )

The Mogodons (a.k.a. Mogadons, Mogodonz) (1981-1982)

Goth act formed in 1981 by Adrian Mitchel (guitars, former Upsets, Dead or Alive and later Love Look Away), Paul Curran (bass, former And the Dance, Knopov’s Political Package and It’s Immaterial, later Love Look Away), Nina Guido (a.k.a. Nina Guido, vocals), Kris Guidio (a.k.a. Kris Guido, vocals) and Paul Barlow (drums, ex And the Dance, sessions with Wah! It’s Immaterial). In 1982 they released an E.P.

Zuvembie (1982)


- Plague In E-Minor
- Zuvembie

- (New) Shadows
- Plague In E-Minor Reprise



The quite ironic review in Merseysound 25 read like this: ‘They sound a bit like a bunch of session-men with spare time on their hands and a studio to play with. At least they are honest (Shadows revisited is pretty accurate to their big man). Quite good fun all the same, especially the spirited and quite uplifting” (Merseysound 25, July 1982). According to sources they also worked on a second single (Are You Dead?), but no trace of it seemed to be left.

zuvembie

The Decemberists (1984-87)

The band formed in 1984 when Colin Pennington (vocals, guitars, ex Tunnel Users) joined Andrew Deevey (guitars, vocals), Andrew Ford (bass), Chris Harrison (aka Chris Hamson, drums, former Jenny Lind) and Karen Jones (vocals). The group became a four-piece in 1985 , when Jones left to pursue a solo career. “An interesting combination of earnest young pop and jazz influenced musicians” (Jamming Magazine, June 1986), playing “limpid melodies with gnashing, low-fi semi-acoustic guitas in time-honoured/well-worn fashion” (NME, December 1985) The Decemberists got as far as supporting James before they become huge. The band recorded several demos, buth only very few of their numbers were released on vinyl. One of them, Gift Horse, was in the track-list of the Merseysound compilation Ways To Wear Coats (see relevant post). A second track, James Is (Still the Same), originally appeared on the Rorschach Testing’s cassette compilation Discreet Campaings in 1985 (along with Cocteau Twins, Durutti Column, Dif Juz and James), and re-released much later on the Sound of Leamington compilation. By the end of 1986 the Decemberists became the Hell Fire Sermons.

decemberists

The Yachts - Live at Hurrah (NYC, 11 October 1979)

In 1979 The Yachts toured the US and Europe (supporting Joe Jackson and the Who) to promote their self-titled album issued earlier the same year. On Thursday, 11 October 1979, the four-piece (Henry Priestman, Martin Watson, Martin Dempsey, and Bob Bellis) played the Hurrah club in NYC (the Yacths also recorded their album in New York with producer Richard Gottehrer).

Yachts: Live at Hurrah (11 October 1979)

- Intro
- Semaphore Love
- In A Second
- Tantamount To Bribery
- Look Back In Love (Not In Anger)
- Instrumental
- Band Intro
- I Can't Stay Long
- Love You Love You
- Heads Will Turn
- Mantovani's Hits
- Yachting Type


Hurrah (1979)

Thanks to our friend Chris for the files and the covers (courtesy of CKY production) on my part and on behalf of this blog users.

City Lights (1977-80)

City Lights formed in mid 1976 as a five piece, with John Scott (vocals), Kymm Morgan (guitar), James Hughes (a.k.a. Jimmy Hughes, keyboards, later Cherry Boys, Exhibit B), Jimmy Sangster (bass, later with Black), and Mark Cowley (drums, later managed Space). By the Fall of the same year, due to some internal disputes, Scott and Morgan quit. Ian McNabb joined the line-up on guitar. Here’s the man’s recollection:

‘I found an advert in the Liverpool Echo for somebody looking for a guitar player/singer. A band who had been working the club circuit for a while had lost their singer and guitar player, and were looking to replace two people with one. I called them up and arranged to meet up at a house in Alexandra Drive in Litherland, North Liverpool. When I got there I met Jimmy Sangster (seventeen) bass/vocals, Jimmy Hughes (sixteen) guitar/vocals, and Mark Cowley (sixteen) drums.

The house we were in was the Sangster family residence where Jimmy lived with his mum and dad - Mary and Lenny – his brother Paul (twelve), and his sister Lyn (fourteen) [both later with Send No Flower, see relevant post]. Also living at the house - curiously - in my opinion, was the manager of the band, Norman Lane. […] Everyone was incredibly friendly and we hit it off right away. We played some Beatle tunes, Everly Brothers, some rock 'n'roll, the usual stuff. Everyone could sing really well, Jimmy S had a Hofner Violin bass - the first one I'd seen in real life. [...] They said they'd be in touch and the next day I got the word that I was in. […]

We started rehearsing a couple of nights a week at the local church hall, and then I was told that Mark Cowley wouldn't be in the band any longer as he'd had a few personal problems. We later heard that he was backing an Elvis impersonator called Billy 'Elvis' Helm. Jimmy S quickly remedied the problem by asking a mate of his, Howie Minns (nineteen) [a.k.a. Howie Di Miunzo and Eddie Shit, later Cherry Boys, Exhibit B, see relevant posts], who lived just around the corner, to sit in on drums with us until such time we found a permanent replacement for Mark. Howie was fantastic. A Keith Moon devotee - he had the biggest drum kit I'd ever seen in my short life. […] He hung by a thread to sanity. He lived to play drums and was at the time in a proper rock band called Flight. Flight had supported the likes of Nutz on the university circuit and were all grown up and didn't do social clubs. […] Howie made sure we knew that he would do a few gigs with us on a temporary basis, but we would have to find somebody else soon - as he was headed for bigger stuff apparently. He was doing us a favour and we should be grateful.’ (Ian McNabb. Mersey Beast, 47)

This new line-up was mainly concerned with playing covers and getting gigs. McNabbs recalls:

‘I still had no great aspirations to be in a band that wrote and played its own material at this time - I didn't really know anyone who did it, and besides that, whenever any scouse band ventured outside the city boundaries trying to get someone's attention in London for instance, they usually failed - and everybody just went on about the Beatles all the time. […] Howie's band Flight were playing their own material but didn't seem to be getting anywhere just yet - Liverpool Express had had a couple of hits recently (fronted by Billy Kinsley, ex Merseybeats - they specialised in McCartney-esque pop tunes and ballads), and that was it. We started getting regular work and having a great time. […] We auditioned fro New Faces (Yay! At last!). We drove all the way to Birmingham for the audition. […] We played our ace first – a modern, beaty arrangement of Strangers in the Night which we were particularly enamoured with. (ibid)

The band (especially McNabb and Hughes) started writing original material but things were as expected. McNabb concedes: ‘City Lights was becoming a drag. We’d started writing songs but we weren’t getting anywhere with them. We were earning good money playing other’s people songs. We’d had a little interest and had even met with a couple of small labels in London, but nothing was happening. The most worrying development recently was that we’d begun doing a bit of comedy – and it was going over well. We’d finish our first spot with the Shadow’s Apache – doing the whole step routine with our white kipper ties tied around our heads. It was very funny. […] Our agent encouraged us to start bringing more of it into the show, promising better money.’ (ibid, 56)

The band played extensively (with an average of gigs per year in the period 1977-80). Recorded several demos (some produced by Roy White, former Pink Military, later White and Torch), but nothing would be released on vinyl. The last live performance of the City Lights has acquired the aura of a legend. They played at the final night at the Warehouse, performing the Door’s Light My Fire: later the same night the whole club burnt down. In 1980 McNabb quit and the City Lights disbanded in the following months. According to some sources Keith Gunsun (with the Cherry Boys) played bass with the band at some point.

The Jass Babies (1981-82)

Peter Coyle begun his career as a singer during the early post-punk period (1978-79) with the punk act Tin Ethics. About the band Coyle remembers:

‘The main reason why I make music is because I love writing and singing. It is also very good for me. Its hard to explain but it helps me survive in life. It started when punk was happening.

I was in a school band called Tin Ethics and Pete Wylie (he lived just round the corner from me and he had just made "You Better Scream", a great record) came to see us play live at Kirklands in Liverpool city centre. Pete loved us. We were so excited that we took a cassette of our live gig down to London to play to the record companies.

The only problem was that it was Sunday. That didnt bother us. We played it to the security people and they liked it. That was enough for us so we came back on the same day because we didnt know anyone in London. I think that is a symbol of how aware we were of the music industry. But crucially for me, I thought, if he can do it coming from Walton in Liverpool then so can I.

At that time (I was 17) 1979 I would do gigs wrapped up in bin bags or hanging upside down or something. I was very influenced by Peter Gabriel and Ian Curtis and would perform like a screaming banshee. I have wore so many masks while singing live. I was very intense and if the truth be known I probably would have been more at ease with aliens than human beings. I dont know where my head was but it wasnt on this planet. I used to frighten people. To be honest I used to frighten myself.

After forming a band called No Trace I eventually left to form the Jass Babies.’

Apparently No Trace (1980-81) were remarkable on stage, and some of their numbers, like Talk in Tongues and Africa, became instant favourites for the band’s fans.
In 1981 Coyle formed The Jass Babies with former Visual Aids Rob Boardman (guitar, later Personal Column), Dave Whittaker (bass, later Here’s Johnny) and Steve Brown (drums, later A.O.M. and Here’s Johnny). About the band, Coyle says:

'People seemed to love us when we could get gigs but unfortunately they were few and far between. People didnt know how to take it because we were so aggressive, but I would be dressed up in a red twin set, which kind of blew it. The gigs were not enough to enable us to go full time in music. That was my only concern. I was on the dole. I didnt take my place up at university in London. All my mates had gone off to university but I had stayed behind. I was desperately trying to make music full time. It was very difficult. […]

The Jass Babies did a peel session that went down a storm. We just couldnt get the gigs or any records out. We didnt really fit in with anything. That didnt stop us jamming every week. Those were important days for me musically. We never practised songs. We only ever jammed and improvised new material. It forced me to come up with stuff immediately and to be honest it has been the driving force of almost everything I have ever done since. It taught me that songwriting is at its best when the people involved are channels or transmitters rather than consciously setting out to write a specific song. To write songs is to be in a state of grace. In other words, if you write songs you need to be open and receptive. If you dont like that language, tough, its the truth.

I didnt know it at the time but there are not very many musicians who can let themselves fuck up horribly and be spontaneous. Also writing songs on the spot with three or four musicians gives a song a dynamic that is not found in a lot of music. You can get amazing coincidences where you all join forces together out of the chaos and the results can be truly magical. So even though the Jass Babies were a resounding commercial disaster. For me, they were the building blocks of all my subsequent songwriting. Besides that, I still work with David Whittaker and Steve Brown (the Jass Babies) and we still find those moments of magic.’

On 19th October 1981 the Jass Babies recorded a Peel Session in Maida Vale Studios, with Dave Dade as sound engineer and Tony Wilson as producer. The Session was eventually broadcast on November the 3rd. The track-list featured the songs:

Peel Session (1981)
- Let Me Soak It Up
- My Love Makes You Melt
- Parable
- Talk In Tongues

This recording ‘with the sustained distorted guitar & flanged bass [and] an almost Gothic tinge [to] their sound’ presented a band ‘that really wasn't the norm of the Liverpool bands of the time’ (cf. Fruitier Than Thou). Talk in Tongues was an original No Trace number. The song Let Me Soak It Up would be selected as the band’s first single. Apparently the band worked on it with other fellow musicians like Pete Wylie, Wayne Hussey and John Whitehead, but split, in 1982, while still working on the project. (One track by the Jass Babies would later appear on the Liverpool tapezine Quest N° 2, in September 1982)

Soon after the split of the Babies, Coyle joined Paul Simpson and other former Wild Swans members in the short-lived Living Legend, before eventually joining the remaining Wild Swan, Jeremy Kelly, in the Lotus Eaters. Coyle remembers: ‘In 1982 (I was 20) the Lotus Eaters started off with me singing on a portastudio (a little 4 track home studio) in Jerrys bedroom. This was a major change for me. I was now singing in a softer way. Whats more the melody from Jerrys guitar was a real joy to sing against. We did a version of the First Picture Of You on that portastudio.’

The rest is history.

The Jass Babies’ Peel Session can be found here (thanks to our friend at Fruitier Then Thou, without whom…)

( see: http://www.petercoyle.com/bio.html )

The Cherry Boys - Only Fools Die (1982)

The second single by the Cherry Boys, released in the Fall 1982, featured a re-recorded version of two of the songs that were performed during the Peel Sessions broadcast in 1982.

Only Fools Die (1982)


- Only Fools Die
- Come The Day




cherry boys - fools


(see also: http://thecherryboysband.blogspot.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cherry_Boys )

The Cherry Boys - Peel Session (September 1982)

After the release of their first single (Man to Man b/w So Much Confusion, November 1981) and before the second (Only Fools Die b/w Come The Day, September 1983), the Cherry Boys –John Cherry (guitar, harmonica), Jimmy Hughes (guitar, keyboards), Keith Gunson (bass) Howie Minns (drums) – recorded two Peel sessions which would later be used for a six-track demotape privately released in March 1983 (Give It Rice).
The first session was recorded at Maida Vale Studio 4 on August,16th 1982, with Tony Wilson producing and Anthony Pugh engineering the sound, and broadcast on September, 2nd 1982. It featured the new and still unreleased single and other original tracks, namely:

- Only Fools Die
- In the Dark
- Nightmare
- I'll Keep on Movin'

cherry boys - peel

Foundation - Wise Up! (1984)

Foundation formed in 1983 by Gary O’Donnell (vocals, keyboards, former Korean Kareer) and Andy Pearl and John Cornforth (respectively drums and keyboards, both former Western Diplomats and Ocean’s Eleven). The trio released a three track demo-tape in August 1984 (featuring Wise Up / Inspire the Desire in Me / Nothing Can Stop the Heart from Beating) and soon acquired a loyal local following. O’Donnell recalls: “It all started off originally as with most local bands when you play a gig first of all it’s friends who come to see you. At our first gig at the Mayflower we sold over 300 tickets and the place was bursting at the seams. (…) Gradually it grew by words of mouth and the next gig people would say that they wanted three or more tickets.” By the end of 1984 Pearle was replaced by Gary Cooke (former Hi-Tech) and the new line-up recorded the band only single:


Wise Up! (1984)

- Wise Up
- Love Is



In 1985 Cooke was replaced by Jimmy Hughes (previously with the heavy metal band Madame and then in Holiday for Strings) and Gordon Longsworth (former Motion Picture, Visual Aids, Pnderosa Glee Boys) was added to the line-up on guitar, but by mid-1986 Foundation split and O’Donnell and Cornforth formed Fine Life with Letitia Suffield (vocals).

foundation

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 .

The Whiskey Priests - 1985-86

Four piece punk band formed in 1985 by Peter Hurst (guitars, former Marshmallow Overcoat), Paul Scott (bass, former Marshmallow Overcoat, Western Diplomats), Pete Pulford (bass, vocals and tapes), Jon Sharples (drums). They released a self-named 6 track demo in 1985. They played in the Liverpool area (about ten gigs, supporting such acts like Crikey it’s the Cromptons and Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus). After a gig Faith in Pleasure Magazine (1985) commented: ‘There is the singer Pete, the guitarist Pete, a bass player playing his bass with his back to the audience and a drummer who kicks fuck out of his drums. […] the radhet is harsh & aungry & kicks you on the knees. William Burroughs provides a running commentary cut up throughout. […] The racket though is very, very good. […] They did seem very self destructive.’
Before splitting in Summer 1986 they offered the track Forget It All (a cover of a Hoi Polloi song) for the compilation Bugs On The Wire (1987, see picture).

whiskey priests

Wake up Afrika! - The Breadvan

The band from Widnes (Dave ‘Pichilingi’ Fenlon, Duncan Lomax, Ian Donohue, Stephen Hollan, Andy Hignett and John Lyons) - besides contributing the song Love Died on the Road on the compilation Elegance, Charm & Deadly Dangers (1985) and playing extensively in the Liverpool area in support of such acts as China Crisis and The Farm - recorded a demo featuring two songs (Mr. Christie / The Breadvan), before releasing their first official single in 1989 (Simple Words, see relevant post). One of the demo tracks would be later released on a compilation:

breadvan

(see also: http://link2wales.co.uk/liverpool-n-z/liverpool-w/ )

The Bingo Brothers (1983-87)

Pop rock trio from the Wirral, formed in 1983 and featuring A. Roberts (later Jack Roberts), J. Roberts and J. Hewson. Ged Ryan (former Hambi & the Dance, Herbie Pops Out, later Empire, Amsterdam, Gary Murphy Band) played drums. They started by playing extensively the pubs around the Dock Road and eventually got to perform at the Rock for Your Rights Festival (November 1985) to support Liverpool City Council. They released a demo (Caught in the Act) and one single in 1986 (Russians Are Coming). Before the single release the band had one song on the compilation Sons of Jobs for the Boys:

Don't Tell Rita

Send No Flowers (1981-1983)

A post-punk four-piece with a Goth touch, Send no Flowers formed in 1981 and featured feat; Lyn Sangster (a.k.a Lin Sangster, vocals, guitars, later Kit, see picture), Timmo O’Shea (guitar, keyboards, later of High Five), Paul Sangster (on bass), Jake Wakstein (drums, later of Kit). For live set Alan Wills (also Wild Swans) would join on percussion. At a certain point also Ian Astbury (later Cult) rehearsed with the band. When fired because of his singing (that was the very start of his artistic career), he fomed Southern Death Cult. They recorded a couple of songs for two compilation cassettes (Wall of Convention on Adventures in Reality in 1981, and Days of Rage for Index #2 in 1982). In August 1983 the band issued their first (and only) single, co-produced by Robert Blamire (bass player with Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls):


Playng for Time (1982)

- Playing For Time

- Wall Of Convention

- One More Day


In 1983 Send No Flower Split. Lyn Sangster and Wakstein formed Kit, Paul Sangster collaborated with Care and the High Five.


sendnoflowers


( see also: http://www.shacknet.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=6563 )

Waving at Trains (1983-88)

The band formed in 1983 when Tony Velasco (vocals, sax, former Viza, Renard [with future FGTH drummer Ped Gill], Straight to the Point, Sons of the Silent Age, later Carry on Spying and Limousine) joined Paul Hobday (guitars, vocals, ex Back to College, later India), Gay Gillmurray (drums) and Travor Rogensky (bass). This line up recorded a demotape (Alien Eyes, Angel Sent from Heaven). By mid-1984 Velasco was replaced by Paul Gill (former KST). Waving at train MK II recorded a couple of demos (the first issued in 1984 and featuring the numbers Do It and Camouflage, the second issue in 1985 featuring the tracks Teardrops in the Rain, Anger Moves and Some You Win). In 1986 another line-up change brought on board Steve Ashton (drums) and Paul Shields (bass). WaT Mk III recorded a guitar rock track entitled Parade for the compilation demotape Merseyside Musicians Bureau, out in January 1987. In the same year they recorded at Amazon Studios their first single (Engineered by Keith Hartley):

Sylvie (b/w Telling The Stranger)
.
(NB. On the back cover vocals are credited to Paul James)

White & Torch - Peel Session 1984

.
On 10 March 1984, after a string of singles (see relevant post) White and Torch recorded a Peel Session in the Maida Vale 5 Studios with Dale Griffin producing and Martin Colley engineering the sound. Roy White (Keyboards,Vocals) and Steve Torch (Vocals), helped out by Charlie Morgan (Drums), Dave Levdy (Bass) and Jackie Robinson (Backing Vocals) performed four songs:

- Dont' Be Shot
- Heartbreak
- No, Not I
- Bury My Heart

The tracklist featured their latest single (Bury My Heart, 1984), two b-sides from previous single releases (No, Not I, b-side to Let’s forget and Heartbeat, b-side to Miracle, both issued in 1983). The fourth track was previously unreleased. The session was aired on 20 March 1984.


Here (thanks Fuitier Than Thou)

Lori & the Chameleons

“Formed in 1979 in Liverpool, England, this band was a vehicle for the evocative teenage singer Lori Larty. With backing, production and songwriting provided by former Big in Japan alumni David Balfe and Bill Drummond, Lori emerged with an appealing, almost spoken-word tribute to Japan (the country), entitled Touch. A sparkling arrangement, the disc entered the bottom of the UK charts and appeared to signal the emergence of a new talent. The concept of the group appeared to revolve vaguely around exotic, travelogue pop, with each song title referring to a specific geographical location: Japan, Peru, Russia and the Ganges River in India. The second single, The Lonely Spy, boasted another impressive, atmospheric vocal from Lori and an astonishing backing that emulated the bombastic scores associated with James Bond films. After four superb tracks, which represented some of the best UK pop of the period, the group ceased operating. The journeyman Troy Tate reappeared in the Teardrop Explodes, while Drummond turned to management and was later the brains behind a series of pseudonymous groups […]. Lori, meanwhile, spurned imminent pop success by returning to art college and effectively retiring from the music business. Her fleeting career provided as much mystery and instant appeal as the extraordinary discs on which she appeared.” (see: http://www.nme.com/artists/lori-and-the-chameleons )



Lori Larty came from the posh end of Huyton (Roby) which she left to attend Art School in Liverpool. Lori was quite a normal girl “who liked to dress as a child and could very well have been frightened off by the whole idea of music for a living via the rock business”. At about the same time as the Chameleon she provided backing vocals for Holly Johnson’s single Yankee Rose (1979).

Here are Johnson’s words: “I got Lori Larty, a good friend of mine at that time, to do backing vocals. Lori's `Yankee Rose' vocal line was meant to conjure up memories of Johnny Remember Me. Her voice really added something special.” (A Bone in My Flute). She married Martin Healy (ex Nightmares in Wax) and with him later formed the Dangerous Years.


The Chameleons benefited from the collaboration of Tim Whittaker (on drums, ex Deaf School, Sex Gods, and Gale Force), Gary Dwyer (also on drums, of The Teardrop Explodes) and occasionally Ray Martinez (on trumpet). The band released two singles:


Touch (August 1979)
- Touch (Drummond / Balfe)
- Love on the Ganges (Balfe / Drummond / Ward)


.
Touch – with its half-spoken female vocals, the plinky-plonky keyboards, the references to cliched teenage rebel tropes (motorcycles, blue jeans etc.) – is more or less an ode to Japan, and the b-side continues the travelogue over to the Ganges. (See also here)



The Lonely Spy (Aril 1980)
- The Lonely Spy (Drummond / Balfe)
- Peru (Drummond / Balfe)


.
Peru seems to be featuring The Red Army Choir, which combines to a bass drum and Lori’s voice breathlessly talking about her search for the Incas.


Here are Bill Drummond’s recollections of his time with the band:

“There was another half-conceived song that I had. It was one that I originally thought could be done with Big In Japan but it was definitely something that could never be done as a live song at a gig.

I told Balfe about it and we worked on it together. I wanted it to be like one of those sad 1960s girl pop records that I loved but with a sort of disco beat. There was no singer we had in mind. Then we saw this girl in the street who looked weird and pretty and vulnerable with big sad eyes. We asked her if she wanted to be on a record. She said she had never sung. We said that didn’t matter because all she had to do was talk the lyrics, so she said yes.

We booked ourselves into Amazon Studios in Kirkby on the outskirts of Liverpool for two days. It was the first time I had been into a 24-track studio. It was going to cost us a fortune. We didn’t have a penny or any idea about how a disco record was made. We knew we wanted to have a bass drum that hit fours to the floor all the way through and we knew we wanted syn drums on it making that sound syn drums do on crap disco records. The girl was called Lori Lartey and she was on the foundation course at Liverpool Art School, or I think she was. Balfe and I had already decided to call ourselves The Chameleons as a production team. (I should add here that we were nothing to do with the rock band The Chameleons that came out of Manchester some years later.)

The record was to be credited to Lori And The Chameleons. The song was called Touch. The lyrics told the tale of romance across the cultural divide between the singer and a Japanese boy in Tokyo. We recorded it with the help of Tim Whittaker, the drummer from Deaf School, doing the drum parts, Balfe doing the keyboards and me doing the guitar bits. I revelled in my cod-oriental guitar hook.

Balfe and I thought it sounded brilliant. Even revolutionary. We thought it sounded exactly how pop music should sound. Fragile, mysterious, beautiful, sexy. I haven’t heard it for 25 years now and if I did, I am sure I would think it sounded quaint at best.

We released it on Zoo records. It got ‘single of the week’ reviews in the music papers. Warner Brothers wanted to license it from us and give it a major push. We agreed and signed a deal. Dave Lee Travis made it his single of the week on BBC Radio 1. That means he played it every day for a week on his afternoon shows. This, in our eyes, was major exposure. It got to number 70 in the official UK singles chart. But the next week it dropped out, but then Warner Brothers picked up the option of us recording a follow-up single. Balfe and I wrote the song together – The Lonely Spy. This time the lyrics placed Lori on the edge of Red Square in Moscow. She watched her boyfriend gunned down in a hail of bullets as he tried to escape into her loving arms from the clutches of the KGB. The Lonely Spy required Lori to sing. We had no idea if she could. We booked ourselves into Rockfield Studios in Wales. It took us three days. We thought we had made the greatest pop record ever made. It didn’t even dent the top 100 and never troubled a Radio 1 playlist.

I had wanted Lori and the Chameleons to be a one hit wonder. After two failures we gave up. A one-hit wonder should appear to have happened by accident, it’s not something to be worked at. This also meant my first stab at girl pop had failed. I was never to be responsible for something with the shimmering beauty of Terry by Twinkle or Past, Present And Future by The Shangri-Las or even White Horses by Jacky.

At the same time as our attempts to be the Shadow Mortons of the late 1970s we were putting out records on Zoo by our Liverpool peers Echo And The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes. The Bunnymen got signed to a major with us in tow as their managers and producers. Nobody wanted The Teardrop Explodes so Balfe and I used the £4000 we got for doing The Lonely Spy as down-payment on recording the first Teardrop Explodes album.”

(Bill Drummond, The 17)


lori

Wake Up Afrika! (1984-1990)

Five-piece acoustic group from Widnes formed in 1984 by Pete Benson, Dave ‘Pichilingi’ Fenlon (vocals) (both formerly with Utopia Dream, Fenlon later 35 Summer), Duncan Lomax (guitar) (ex Perfect, later 35 Summers, Hal), Ian Donohue (guitar), Stephen Hollan (bass), Andy Hignett (drms) and Andy Frizell (sax) (ex Perfect, later Wizards Of Twiddly, Royal Family and the Poor), replaced in 1987 by John Lyons. The first song of the band to be released was on the Liverpool compilation Elegance, Charm & Deadly Dangers (1985):

- Love Died In The Road

After releasing a 2-track demo in 1987 (Mr. Christie / The Breadvan) and shortly changing their name to Giant Smile, Wake Up Afrika issued their first and only single in 1989:

- Simple Words (b/w God Only Knows + Animal)

Soon after the release of the single, the band split, and in 1990 Fenlon and Lomax formed Summer 35. The single was re-issued in Japan in 2003.
Another number by the band recorded before the split saw the light of day some year later on the Sound of Leamington compilation:

- Walking Blind

wake up arfika

(see also: http://www.myspace.com/35summers

http://www.myspace.com/wizardsoftwiddly )

Zeeh

Pop rock band whose line-up included B.J. Jameson, T. Randles, F. McDonald, T. Brown, and M. Quirk. No releases besides the songs on the Sons of Jobs for the Boys compilation.

before the light

Word for Word (1984-1986)

Word for Word formed in 1984 by Dave Lorentz (guitar) and Cheryl Leigh (vocals, former Young World, later When It Rains). During the summer of 1986, the band played at the 'Soap Aid' concert for the benefit of African relief. Cheryl also acted in six Alan Bleasdale plays and was in the TV series Brookside for two years before moving to New York. Now runs her own publishing company.

gypsy

Rafique (1983-85)

Huyton pop-funk band originally formed in 1983 by Tony Kyffin, Andrew James, and other friends. In 1984 James left the drum-stool to join Chance, and Kyffin moved from playing to managing the band, which now included Andy J. Davidson, Mark Birchall (drums, later Lloyd Collection, La’s), Dave Taylor, Neil Andrew. In 1985 Andrew was replaced by N. McCloughlin. They released a couple of demos (respectively in January and May 1985) but their only song to be waxed on vinyl is the one for the Sons of Jobs for the Boys compilation.

rafique - the beat will never stop