420 Goodbye Brotherhood of Man - Lightning Flash

Chart  entered :  3  July  1982

Chart  peak : 67

Here  begins  a  big  cull  of  seventies  stalwarts  in  the  second  half  of  the  year.

Brotherhood  of  Man  on  this  last  hit  were  a  completely  different  band  from  the  one  that  recorded  "United  We  Stand"  , the  only  link  being  songwriter  Tony  Hiller. The  original  line  up  stayed  together  long  enough  to  record  the  debut  LP  "United  We  Stand"  including  the  follow-up  hit  "Where Are  You  Going  To  My  Love ?"  By  the  time  the  latter  was  released  in  the  summer  of  1970  Tony  Burrows  and  Roger  Greenaway  had  left  because  they  were  over-committed. Russell  Stone  and  Hal  Atkinson  filled  the  gaps  and  they  managed  another  minor  hit  in  the  US  but  disbanded  in  1972  after  the  failure  of  their  second  album. Hiller  refused  to  let  the  brand  die  and  put  together  a  new  line  up  despite  conventional  wisdom  suggesting  it  might  be  better  to  give  them  a  fresh  name.

Martin  Lee  ( the  one  with  the  'tache )  was  a  singer-songwriter  from  Surrey  with  one  single  to  his name. Lee   Sheriden  was  a  resident  musician  at  the  Top  Rank  Club  in  Bristol.  Nicky  Stevens  was  a  night  club  singer  from  Wales  and  the  unrelated  Sandra  Stevens   had  been  in  The  Nocturnes  with  New  Seeker  Eve  Graham.  Though  competent  enough  the  newbies  didn't  have  the  same  vocal  firepower  as  their  predecessors  so  stuck  to  pure  pop  without  the  leanings  towards  soul.. At  first  the  decision  to  keep  the  name  looked  a  poor  one  as  the  string of  flops  continued  and  Deram  dropped  them  in  1973.  They  signed  for  a  label  called  Dawn  and  in  1975  enjoyed  a  big  hit  in  Europe  with  the  Barry  Blue  song  "Kiss  Me  Kiss  Your  Baby". Then  of  course  they  won  the  Eurovision  Song  Contest  with  "Save  Your  Kisses  For  Me"  in  1976. Martin  sang  the  lead  on  that  but  was  soon  dropped  in  favour  of  the  girls  as  impersonating  Abba  became  the  name  of  the  game.  This  worked  for  a  couple  of  years  and  they  scored  two  more  number  ones  before  the  public  got  fed  up  of them  and  this  was  their  first  hit  since  1978   though  they  had  scored  in  the  album  charts  with  "Sing  20  Number  Ones"  where  they  did  what  the  title  suggests.  When  another  quickly  recorded  album  of  covers  missed  the  charts  the  band  seemed  to   have  run  its  course  and  early  in  1982  Lee  left  the  band  to  go  to  university  and  was  replaced  by  Barry  Upton.

The  success  of  Buck's  Fizz  hadn't  gone  unnoticed  and  Hiller  convinced  EMI  that  a  revitalised  Brotherhood  of  Man  could  take  advantage  of  the  New  Pop  climate. "Lightning  Flash"  takes  ripping  off  Abba  to  a  new  degree  as  it's  basically  Super  Trouper  speeded  up  a  bit  and  set  to  a  horribly  cheap  Pickwick  synth  arrangement. The  girls  even  sing  with  Swedish  accents.  Hiller's  own  production  sounds  terribly  tinny. It  wasn't  even  a  good  time  to  mimic  the  Swedes  as  they  were  widely  seen  as  past  their  prime  and  Head  Over  Heels  had  become  their  first  single  to  miss  the  Top  20  since  1975  just  moths  earlier.

The  follow-up  "Cry  Baby  Cry"  takes  The  Winner  Takes  It  All  as  its  starting  point  and  has  a  somewhat  fuller  sound  with  Barry  credited  as  arranger. It's  a  better  record  but  didn't  chart. In  1983 Martin, Barry  and  Hiller  came  up  with  "When  The  Kissing  Stops"  for  Eurovision  but  decided  not  to  risk  failure  as  Brotherhood  of  Man  and  gave  it  to  a  duo called  Rubric.  When  it  finished  runner-up  to  Sweet  Dreams  in  the  British  heat , the  group  reclaimed  it  and  released  it  as  a  single  themselves. It's  somewhat  over-produced  and   sounds  more  like  Dollar  and  Abba  but  it  isn't  a  bad  synth-pop  effort. These  latter  three  singles  were  all  included  on  their  "Lightning  Flash"  album  which  bombed  and  EMI  dropped  them.

They  continued  to  tour  for  the  next  year  but  there  were  no  plans  to  record  again  and  when  Barry  announced  he  was  leaving  the  group  decided  to  split.

Two  years  later  Lee  was  available  again  and  the  group  decided  to  reunite  without  Hiller's  involvement. They  are  still  together  today  performing  on  the  nostalgia  circuit  and  have  occasionally  gone  into  the  studio  to  re-record  their  old  hits  and  covers  for  sale  at  their  gigs  though  nothing  has  been  generally  released.

Barry  released  a   solo  single,  the  dance  track  "Ask  The  DJ"  in  1986  but  became  more  notable  as  a  producer  and  manager  working  with  Sonia  before  mega-success  as  the  founder  of  Steps.  He  is  now  based  in  Thailand  where  he  is  a  major  player  in  their  music  industry  as  well  as  a  disc  jockey  and  performer.

So  what  happened  to  the  earlier  line  up ?  Tony  caused  great  confusion  by  singing  lead  vocals  on  hits  by  four  different  acts  early  in  1970  but  he  quit  Edison  Lighthouse  and  White  Plains  after  one  single  as  well  as  Brotherhood  of  Man  concentrating  on  his  solo  career  and   the  occasional  single  with  Roger  as  the  novelty  duo  Pipkins. He  had  already  had  a  minor  hit  in  the  US  under  his  own  name  "Melanie  Makes  Me  Smile"  before  quitting  BoM. It  was  written  by  the  same  guys  as  Love  Grows  ( Where  My  Rosemary  Goes )  and  is  a  virtual  Xerox  copy.

That  was  as  good  as  it  got  for  Tony  as  a  solo  artist. He  claims  that  he  got  wind  that  senior  figures  at  the  BBC  felt  his  frequent  appearances  on  Top  of  the  Pops  had  undermined  the  programme's  credibility  and  there  was  an  unofficial  ban  on  Radio  One  playing  his  subsequent  records. So  while  White  Plains  chalked  up  some  more hits  without  him  Tony  was left  out  in  the  cold. Certainly the  next  two   singles "Every  Little  Move She  Makes"  ( written  by  Tony  Macaulay, Cook  and  Greenaway )  and  "The  Humming  Song"  ( Macaulay  alone )   sound  eminently  hit-worthy. He  then  lost  his  way  a  bit  recording  covers  and  after  a  dreadful  pop reggae  version  of  "Rhythm of  the  Rain" in  1972  he  left  Bell  and  Cook  and  Greenaway to  try  his  luck  with  the  Ammo  boys.  I've  only  heard  one  of  his  three  singles  for  them  ,"Have  You  Had  A  Little  Happiness  Lately"  which  is  pretty  good  but  a  little  dated  for  1974.

He  chalked  up  his  last  hit  in  1974  through  doing  the  lead  vocal  for  former  Flowerpot  Man  John  Carter's  new  outfit,  First  Class's  first  single  "Beach  Baby"  an  enjoyable  Beach  Boys  pastiche  which  reached  number  13  here  and  got  to  number  4  in  the  US.

After  that  Tony's  own  recordings  became  sporadic  although  he  was  busy  with  session  work. In  May  1975  he  got  back  together  with  Roger  for  a  last  Pipkins  single, a  glam  rock  cover  of   the  bubblegum  classic  "Yummy  Yummy"  which  is  entertaining  for  one  play. Later  in  the  year  he  turned  up  on  RAK  in  a  duo   Jan  and  Joey  covering  David  Geddas's   teen  melodrama   "Run  Joey  Run"  as  a  one-off  single.   In  February  1976  he  was  featured  vocalist  on  a  single  by  a  group  called  Magic ,  a  cover  of  Eric  Carmen's  "Never  Gonna  Fall  In  Love  Again"   which  is  pretty  good  with  some  great  female  harmonies. He  released   two  more   single  "Oh  My  Jo"  and  "When  My  Little  Girl  Is  Smiling "  later  that  year. He  disappeared  for  the  next  8  years   before  popping  up  up  in  a  duo  Heart  To  Heart  with  Stephanie  De  Sykes  doing  an  awful  synth-pop  medley  of  sixties  hits  for  John  Carter  called  "Three  Chord  Trick ".
That  was  Tony's  last  record. He  disappeared  into  session  work,  mainly  for  commercials,  but  in  recent  years  has  finally  got  back  on  the  road  to  perform  his  hits  and  looks  in  pretty  good  shape.

Roger's  career  as  a  performer  ended  when  he  quit  BoM  but  he  remained  a  massively  successful  songwriter  and  producer with  White  Plains, New  Seekers, The  Drifters  and  Crystal  Gayle.  After  his  main  partner  Roger  Cook  emigrated  to  the  States  in  1975,  Roger  was  less  active  as  a  pop  writer, moving  into  advertising  jingles  while  becoming  more  involved  with  the  Performing  Rights  Society. In  1983  he  became  its  chairman  then  in  1995  he  started  running  the  European  office  of  the  American  equivalent,  ASCAP . In  1998  he  got  an  OBE.

Big  John  Goodison   was  less  prominent  after  the  original  line  up  broke  up. He  re-emerged in  March  1974  fronting  a  glam  outfit  Big  John's  Rock  n  Roll  Circus  which  included  Sweet  producer  Phil  Wainman. They  co-wrote  the  material  and  the  first  single  "Lady  ( Put  The  Light  On  Me  )"  sounds  remarkably  like  Meat  Loaf.  They  went  down  like  a  lead  balloon  in  the  UK  but  the  next  single  the  Glitter-esque  "Rockin  in  the  USA"  took  off  in  Southern  Africa  reaching  11  in  South  Africa  and  number  one  in  Rhodesia.  At  the  same  time  as  he  was  rocking  the  Transvaal,  he  enjoyed a  UK  number  one  as  a  writer  with  the  Bay  City  Rollers'  gloopy  Give  A  Little  Love . 

John  and  Phil  were  also  recording  as  a  studio  outfit  2nd  Tyme  Around  with  MOR  ballads  like  "Romeo  And  Juliet"  in  January  1975   which  manages  to sound  like  both   The  Walker  Brothers  and  The  Stylistics. By  1976  the  Circus  had  folded  its  tent  and  he  recorded  a  couple  of  singles  as  Johnny  Goodison  , a  version  of  "Summertime  Blues "  and  a  pop  disco  number  "I'm  Goin'  Down"  co-composed  with  Hiller.  After  his  last  attempt  at  writing  a  Eurovision  entry  in  1980   he  retreated  into  James  Last's  Orchestra  and  was  pretty  obscure  by  the  time  he  died  in  1995.

The  sisters  Sue  Glover  and  Sunny  Leslie  went  back  to  work  as  the  session  duo  Sue  and  Sunny. They  were  going  to  be  in  the  girl  band  The  Pearls  but  after  recording  the  vocals  for  their  first  minor  hit  "Third  Finger  Left  Hand"  they  found  they  were  contractually  prevented  from  joining  the  band  who  went  on  to  moderate  fame  without  them.  After  one  more  single  as  a  duo , an  undistinguished  cover  of  The  Supremes'  "I'm  Gonna  Make  You  love  Me"  the  disillusioned  duo  were  persuaded  to  try  their  luck  as  solo  artists.

Sunny  signed  with  CBS  and  had  instant  success  with  "Doctor's  Orders" , a  top  10  hit  in  the  spring  of  1974. Composed  by  Cook  and  Greenaway  and  someone  called  Stephens  it's  something  of  a  Supremes  pastiche  although  Sunny  actually  sounds  more  like  Dionne  Warwick  than  Diana  Ross. It  was  catchy  enough  to  reach  number  7  here  but  a  different  singer  Carol  Douglas  made  it  a  US  hit  six  months  later. Alas  that  was  as  good  as  it  got  for  Sunny. The  follow-up  "A  Warm  and  Tender  Romance"  written  by  Roger  and  Tony  Macaulay  was  even  more   Supremes-y  but  lacked  the  hooks   to  crack  the  Top  50.  The  same  pairing  wrote  her  third  single  "Headline  News "  which  is  more  Philly-sounding  and  became  a  Northern  Soul  favourite. She  recorded  two  more  singles  for  CBS  " We  Gave  Our  Love  A  Second  Chance "  and  " Lonely, Neglected  and  Unprotected"  in  1975 , neither  of  which  I've  heard. That  same  year  she  reunited  with  Sue  to  back  German  singer  Joy  Fleming  at  the  1975  Eurovision  Song  Contest  in  Stockholm. She  then  went  to  Germany  to  work  with  Giorgio  Moroder  and  Donna  Summer. She  made  a  final  single "We  Got  Love" for  DJM  in  1979  produced  by  Tony. The  sisters  are  said  to  have  backed  Vikki  Watson  ( for  the  UK )  at  the  Eurovision  final  in  Gothenberg  in  1985   but  if  so  they  were  not  on  the  stage  with  her. After  that  she  continued  doing  session  work   and  backing  singers  on  TV  variety  shows.

Sue's  solo  career on  DJM ,started  a  bit  later  in  1975   but  she  did  get  to  record  a  full  album  "Solo" . I've  only  got  to  hear  one  track,  her  own  composition  "Three  Days  And  A  Little  Rain "  - not  one  of  her  three  singles - which  is  lightly  jazzy  MOR  and  very  snoozy.  She  dabbled  a little  in  acting  with  an  appearance  in  a  Victoria  Wood  play  in  1979. In  1981 , by  which  time  she'd  had  three  kids   she  tried  for  Eurovision  as  Unity  which  was  basically  her  and   five  schoolgirls  dressed  in  Victorian  clothes. The  song  "Only  for  One  Day"  was  an  absolute  dog  and  came  last  in  the  British  heat  so  it  never  got  recorded; Terry  Wogan  struggled  to  mask  his  derision  after  her  performance. In  1988  she  did  some  work  on  the  ill-fated  childrens  TV  series  Tugs.

Later  in  the  decade  both  women  joined  John  and  Tony  in  working  for  James  Last. In  recent  years  Sue - now  a  grandmother living  in  Berkshire  -  has  produced  a  children's  book  Twelve  Little  Angels  and  in  promotional  interviews  has  stated  her  satisfaction  with  her  career.

And  what  of  the  man  who  started  it  all -  Tony  Hiller  ?  He  was  already  55  when  Lightning  Flash  exited  the  charts  and  wrote  little  of  note   afterwards, just  a  few  football  records  and  one  of  Sonia's  hits. He's  still  alive  at  88  and  maintains  an  active  website  and  YouTube  channel.





  

419 Hello Midge Ure ( solo ) - No Regrets

Chart  entered : 12  June  1982

Chart  peak : 9

Number  of  hits : 10

The  start  of  another  solo  career  but  unlike  Adam , Midge  wasn't  abandoning  his  band  just  yet.

This  is  the  first  song  to  have  featured   twice  in  this  blog  , having  been  the  final  hit  for  The  Walker  Brothers  back  in  1976. In  fact  it  entered  the  charts  the  same  week  as  Midge's  first  hit  with  Slik. Midge  had  already  trailed  his  love  of  the  song  in  his  appearance  on  Radio  One's  My  Top  12    and  with  time  on  his  hands  in  the  studio  the  workaholic  Scot  decided  to  record  it.

It's  clearly  a  cover  of  The  Walker  Brothers  version  of  the  song  rather  than  the  Tom Rush  original   with  Midge  doing  his  best  to  imitate  Scott  Walker's  vocal  tone  throughout. The  orchestration  is  predictably  replaced  by   an   Ultravox   synth  arrangement.  It's  a competent  piece  of  work  which  introduced  a  new  audience  to  a  good  song  but   it  just  feels  slightly  redundant  and  indeed  the  prevalence  of  cover  versions  in  this  year  is  one  of  the  reasons  I  reject  Mr  Carlin's  assertion  that  1982  was  pop's  annus  mirabilis.

418 Hello Adam Ant ( solo ) - Goody Two Shoes

Chart  entered :  22  May  1982

Chart  peak : 1

Number  of  hits : 11

As  stated  in  the  Goodbye  Adam  and  the  Ants  post  this  was  originally  going  to  be  an  Adam  and  the  Ants  record   despite  the  new  line  up   not  being  complete  when  it  was  recorded  but  then  Adam  and  Marco  decided  to  dissolve  the  Ants  so  splendidly-named  new  drummer  Bogdan  Wiczling  ( how  would  they  have  fit  that  into  "Ant  Rap" ?)  never  got  to  be  an  official  Ant.

Here's  the  Popular  take  Adam , a  decent  discussion  apart  from  an  off-topic  discourse  about  jazz  largely  due  to  Mr  Sinker.  

417 Hello Junior - Mama Used To Say

Chart  entered : 24  April  1982

Chart  peak : 7

Number  of  hits : 12  ( 11  solo, 1 as  part  of  Council  Collective )

Norman  "Junior "  Giscombe   was  born  in  Wandsworth  in  1957  and  grew  up  listening  to  doo  wop, soul  and  reggae. He  became  involved  in  the  Brit-funk  movement  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighties. In  early  1981 he  released  a  single  "Hot  Up  and  Heated"  on  Fire  Sign  which  is  a  fine  Chic  impersonation  and  a  good  showcase  for  his  elastic  vocals  somewhere  between  Michael  Jackson  and  Billy  Ocean.  He  also  started  singing  backing  vocals  for  Linx  although  clearly  a  superior  singer  to  David  Grant. He  also  adopted  Grant's  "specs  and  suit"  image.

Linx's  keyboard  player   and  producer  Bob  Carter  got  together  with  him  to  co-write  and  produce  this  single  for  Mercury. It  covers  similar  lyrical  territory  to  Linx's  Intuition  ( which  Carter  co-wrote )  in  its  tribute  to  maternal  wisdom. It  was  originally  released  in  September  1981 and  did  nothing; I'm  not  sure  I've  heard  that  version  but  the  general  consensus  seems  to  be  that  it  was  poorly  mixed   with  the  vocals  too  far  back. Six  months  later  it  was  re-mixed  in  the US  by  Tee  Scott, and,  in  what  would  become  a  familiar  move  in  the  eighties  singles  market,  sent  out  again.  Now  it  was  a  bright  and  brash  pop  funk  number  played  mainly  on  synths  with  upfront  production  and  Junior  switching  effortlessly  from  the  growl  on  the  chorus  hook  to  the  mainly  falsetto  verses.  It  did  the  business  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  reaching  number  30  in  the  US  .

416 Hello Paul Webb* - Talk Talk

( * as  part  of  Talk  Talk )

Chart  entered : 24  April  1982

Chart  peak :  52  ( 23  in  re-mixed  form  November  1982 )

Number  of  hits  : 10  ( 9  with  Talk  Talk, 1  as  Rustin  Man )

I  know  this  seems  a  very  artificial  way  to  get  one  of  my  favourite  bands  on  here  but  what  the  heck !

Paul  was  born  in  Essex  in  1962. He  and  schoolfriend  Lee  Harris  played  in  a  reggae  band  called  Eskalator  as  bassist  and  drummer  respectively  before  being  approached  by  Ed  Hollis  , manager  of  Eddie  and  the  Hot  Rods,  in  1981  to  form  a  band  with  his  brother  Mark. Simon  Brenner  on  keyboards  completed  the  line  up.

Talk  Talk  were  quickly  signed  up  by  EMI  but  made  a  rod  for  their  own  backs  by  agreeing  to  a  support  slot  on  Duran  Duran's  autumn  tour  and  working  with  the  same  producer  Colin  Thurston. They  were  quickly  perceived  as  Duran  wannabe's  and  the  knives  were  sharpened  for  them  by  the  time  they  released  their  first  single  "Mirror  Man"  at  the  beginning  of  1982.

"Mirror  Man"  is  a  compellingly  strange  song , its  lyric  about  a  fashion-defying  girl  seemingly  at  odds  with  the  doom-laden  synths  and  Hollis's  angst-ridden  vocals  which  conjure  up  an  atmosphere  of  unspeakable  dread. The  chorus  hook  is  a  string  of  groans  over   a  sombre  string  synth  riff.  Such  bleakness  combined  with  the  negative  publicity  around  EMI's  "next  big  thing"  meant  it  missed  the  charts  altogether.

This  was  their  second  single. The  song  was  written  by  the  Hollis  brothers  and  originally  recorded  back  in  1977  by  Hollis's  previous  band  The  Reaction  as  a  punk  number  protesting  about  mendacious  politicians. Talk  Talk's  version  jettisons  all  the  guitars  and  the  raspy  snarl  in  Hollis's   voice   and  slightly  changes   the  lyric  to  make  it  more  personal  than  political  . Though  greeted  with  the  same  sneers  in  the  press it  has  little  in  common  with  Duran, Mark's  accusatory  lyrics  wrapp themselves  around  Paul's  bassline  and  Harris's  skittering   Linn  drum  patterns  with  Brenner  holding  a  single  quiet  chord  before  erupting  into  a  rich  Hammond-y  sound  for  the  chorus . The  sound  fills  out  as  the  record  progresses  with  a  Grand   piano  coming  in  at  the  middle  eight  and  Paul  throwing  in  an  extra  vocal  part  on  the  last  chorus.
After  the  subsequent  single  "Today "  broke  them  into  the  Top  20  it  was  re-mixed  ( to  little  real  effect )  and  became  a  more  substantial  hit  though  not  as  high  as  it  deserved.
         

415 Hello Blancmange - God's Kitchen / I've Seen The Word

Chart  entered :  17 April  1982

Chart  peak : 65

Number  of  hits : 10

I'm  pleased  this  lot  got  over  the  line. I  bought  this  single  and  excepting  the  school  punk  group  ( The  Stiffs  in  case  you  were  interested ) they  were  the  first  band  I  went  to  see.

Blancmange  were  formed  in  Harrow  in  1979. Neil  Arthur, a  Lancastrian  from  Darwen  was  a  student  at  the  School  of  Art  there. Steve  Luscombe  from  Hillingdon  was  a  printer  and  a  member  of  the  Portsmout  Sinfonia, a  musical  ensemble  made  up  of  people  who  couldn't  actually  play  that  well. A  third  guy  was  briefly  involved  but  we  can  forget  about  him. They  played  together  under  an  assortment  of  names  before  settling  on  Blancmange. In  contrast  to  Soft  Cell,  Neil , the  flamboyant  frontman  was  the  big  guy  while  Stephen  at  the  keyboards  was  small  and  wiry.

In  1980  they  released  a  six-track  EP  "Irene  and  Mavis", a  limited  pressing  on  a  small  independent  label  Blaah. There's  only  one  real  song  , a  cover  of   The  Dave  Clark  Five's  "Concentration  Baby " sung  by  Neil  in  a  comedy  Northern  accent  with  deliberately  grating  electronics  betraying  Stephen's  background  in  the  Sinfonia. The  rest  are  either  instrumentals  or  Neil's  vocals  are  so  heavily  treated  as  to  make  the  lyrics  unintelligible. The  OMD-ish  glide  of  "Just  Another  Spectre "  is  the  most  listenable  while  "Modichy in  Aneration "borrows  its  rhythm  from  Autobahn.

It  didn't  attract  a  great  deal  of  attention  but  they  were  then  invited  to  tour  as  support  to  Nash  the  Slash.  They  were   then  invited  to   submit  a  track  for  the  Some  Bizarre  album  and  provided  the  stately  instrumental  "Sad  Day". A  further  support  slot  with  Grace  Jones  in  1981  got  them  noticed  by  the  New  Romantic  crowd  and  a  deal  with  London  soon  followed.

Apart  from  the  Dave  Clark  5  cover  these  were  the  first  two  "songs"  the  duo  released. "God's  Kitchen "  is  a  nervy  electro-funk  number  heavily  influenced  by  Talking  Heads  particularly  Neil's  vocal. It  plays  like  a  statement  of   spiritual  crisis  until  the pay-off  line  where  Neil, having  not  found  any  trace  of  the  Deity  in  his  everyday  environment  declares  "I  think  we're  safe !"  Sparse  synth  lines  compliment  the  doomy  vocals  to  conjure  up  an  appropriate  feel  of  dread.  "I've  Seen  The  Word "  flips  the  coin  by  finding  spirituality  in  the  everyday  life  of  Darwen  with  Neil  singing  in  a  soft  croon  this  time  over  a  warmer  OMD -ish  synth  melody. Though  neither  track  is  startlingly  original  it's  a  very  good  single  which  deserved  to  get  a  bit  higher.

414 Goodbye Adam and the Ants - The Antmusic EP ( The B-Sides )

Chart  entered : 13  March  1982

Chart  peak : 46

Adam  and  the  Ants  comfortably  beat  Bill  Haley  and  the  Comets  for  shortest  chart  life  though  of  course  we're  not  done  with  their  frontman  yet.

After  they  first  broke  through  Adam  Ant   became  the  top  teen  idol  of  his  day  and  the  band  were  chart  champions  of  1981  with  a  total  of  91  weeks on  the  chart  partly  due  to  re-released  singles  from  their  previous  record  companies. In  March  the  line  up  experienced  its  final  change  when  bassist  Kevin  Mooney   decided  he'd  had  enough of  Ant's  monomania  and  quit  in  dramatic  fashion  , throwing  his  bass  to  the  ground  at  the  end  of  their  slot  on  the  Royal  Variety  Show. The  cameras  were  on  Adam's  face  at  that  moment  and  his  "what  the  f**k  ? "  expression  is  priceless.  He  was  replaced  by  Gary  Tibbs  who  had  recently  departed  from  Roxy  Music.

Their peak  moment  came  when  "Stand  And  Deliver"  crashed  straight  in  at  number  one. I'd  been  in  Manchester  the  weekend  it  came  out  and  no  one  seemed  to  be  buying  anything  else  so  I  assured  everyone  at  school  who  would  listen that  it  would  be  ousting  Bucks  Fizz  that  week  and  so  it  did. Nevertheless  even  by  the  end  of  the  year  there  were  signs  that  the  appeal  of  Antmusic  was  on  the  wane. Their  new  album  "Prince  Charming"  was  roundly  trashed  in  the  press  and  failed  to  displace  Dare  from  the  number  one  slot  while  the  magnificently  unhinged  "Ant  Rap"  could  only  manage  number  three  as  a  single.

This  single  was  Do  It's  release  of  the  last  tracks  they  had  in  the  vaults, out-takes  from  the  band's  recording  sessions  for  Dirk  Wears  White  Sox.  "The  B-Sides "  is  a  bit  of  a  misnomer  since  only one  of  the  tracks,   "Kick"  had  appeared   before, in  a  substantially  re-worked  version  on  the  flip side  of  "Car  Trouble". As  a  reminder  the  group  at  this  stage  comprised  Adam, Matthew  Ashman , Dave  Barbarossa  and  Andy  Warren. None  of  these  three  tracks  are  all  that  good. "Friends"  is  a  mildly  amusing  dig  at  name-dropping  liggers  which  puts  Jim  Morrison  in  the  same  verse  as  Nobby  Stiles  and  sounds  like  XTC. I  do  like  the  sudden  emphasis  on  "Bryan  Ferry !"  but  otherwise  it's  ephemeral."Kick !" is  a  sub- two  minute  Banshees   impersonation  with back of  a  fag  packet  lyrics  while  "Physical"  aims  for  a  Velvets-esque  sleazy  grind  but  is  just  a  sluggish  , tuneless  piece  of  heavy  metal.

The  timing  of  the  release  was   poor  as  it  clashed  with  Ego's  re-release  of  "Deutscher  Girls"  which  did  rather  better in  the  charts. That  partly  accounted  for  the  lowly  chart  position

 A  month  later   Adam  announced   that  Gary  and   drummer  Terry  Lee  Miall  were  out  on  their  ear.  He  said  he  was  tired  of  showing  them  what  to  do  which  was  pretty  outrageous. Gary  wouldn't  have  been  in  Roxy  Music  for  two  albums  if  he  couldn't  play  and  there's  no  evidence  Adam  ever  picked  up  a  pair  of  drumsticks.  He  started  auditioning  for  new  members  but  then  guitarist  Marco  Pirroni  said  he  was  fed  up  of  touring  and   the  Ants  were  disbanded  completely  instead. Marco   would  remain  as  his  songwriting  partner  and  Chris  "Merrick"  Hughes  as  his  producer   for  solo  releases. Some  promo  and  picture  discs  for  his  next  record  had   been  produced  during  the  intervening  period   with  "Adam  and  the  Ants"  as  the  artist.

We'll  come  back  to  Adam  shortly.  Marco  stuck  with  him  until  1985  when  Adam  went  off  to  America  to  seek  fame  as  an  actor  though  he  was  back  on  board  for  Adam's  comeback  singles  in  the  nineties. In  the  meantime, he  had  been  working  with  another  artist  with  mental  health  problems  Sinead  O  Connor  and  played  on  three  of  her  first  four  albums, co-writing  the  single  Jump  In  The  River". He  also  had  a  brief  spell  in  Spear  of  Destiny  in  1987  playing  on  their  biggest  hit  "Never  Take  Me  Alive"  and  the  parent  album  "Outland".

After  Britpop  no  one  was  interested  in  signing  Adam  and  Marco  concentrated  on  his  new  record  label  Only  Lovers  Left  Alive.   He  made  appearances  on  documentaries  and  nostalgia  shows. In  2006  he  and  Paul  Cook  got  together  to  help  The  Slits  , now  featuring  the  latter's  daughter  Hollie, launch  a  comeback, playing  on  and  producing  their  EP  "Return  of  the  Killer  Slits".  There  are  two  tracks  of  their  dub  punk  fusion  which  has  aged  reasonably  well  but  still  isn't  my  cup  of  tea   and  a  punk  number  "Number  One  Enemy"  which  suggests  a  nostalgia  trip  back  to  the  sound  of  1977  was  enjoyed  by  all.

2006  also  saw  the  first  release  by  Marco's  new  band  The  Wolfmen, also  featuring  Chris  Constantinou  who'd  played  with  Adam  after  the  Ants  split. "Jackie  Says"  was  a  decent  attempt  at  modern  rock  and  garnered  support  from  ex-punks  like  Jonathan  Ross  and  Steve  Jones. The  Wolfmen  have  since  put  out  two  decent  albums  ,working  with  Coutrney Taylor-Taylor  of  The  Dandy  Warhols  but  the  world  isn't  that  interested  in  two  sidemen  from  yesteryear  and  they  haven't  made  much  impression. Marco  famously  commented  on  some  of  his  number  ones  on  Popular  as  "The  Wolfmen"  around  this  time. He  has  now  retired  from  performing  but  helped  out  Sinead  and  Adam  on  recent  albums.

Chris  produced  Adam's  next  single  but  abandoned  the  sessions  for  his  next  album  early  on  to  go  and  work  on  Tears  For  Fears  debut  album , being  handsomely  rewarded  with  a  number  one. He  also  formed  a  shortlived  duo  with  Gary, imaginatively  named  Merrick  and  Tibbs  who  released  the  one  single  "Call  Of  The  Wild"  at  the  beginning  of  1983 . It  got  a  bit  of  radio  play  at  the  time  but  now  sounds  pretty  rubbish. Whichever  one  of  them's  singing  isn't  much  cop  and  the  single  is  all  production  and  not  much  song. He  stayed  on  board  for  Tears  For  Fears  next  album  copping  a  lucrative  co-writing  credit  on  mega-hit  Everybody  Wants  To  Rule  The  World . He  has  remained  a  successful  producer  working  with  Robert  Plant, Tori  Amos, Electric  Soft  Parade , Propaganda  ( whose  vocalist  Betsi  Miller  he  later  married ), Jon  Bon  Jovi  and  Peter  Gabriel  amongst  others.  His  solo  LP  in  1994  "Shift "  was  a  re-working  of  pieces  by  his  hero  Steve  Reich.

After  the  single  with  Chris,  Gary  founded  the  group  Zu Zu  Sharks  with  Alisdair  Gordon  and  Richard  Darbyshire.  They  released  three  singles  between  1983  and  1985  ,"Love  Tumbles  Down "  ( which  reached  number  one  in  Spain ), "Eyes  of  the  World"  and  "Changes". Their  funk  pop  sound  seems  very  dated  now  but  they  all  had  half-decent  tunes  and  Darbyshire  went  on  to  have  hits  as  lead  singer  of  Living  In  A  Box  with  a  not  dissimilar  sound.

The  band  split  in  1985  and  Gary  went  on  to  play  an  aspiring  rock  star  in  the TV   series  Strike  It  Rich  in  1986-87. After  that  he  became   a  session  musician ,appearing  on  albums  by  brian  May, Kirsty  McColl, Aztec  Camera  and  Corey  Hart  and  at  some  point   relocated  to  LA. In  2002  he  appeared  in  the  satirical  short  Ant  Muzak  as  Dirk  the  white  sock  wearing  supermarket  manager  while  "Gary  Tibbs"  was  played  by  McKenzie  Crook. The  following  year  he  joined  The  Fixx. Dismissed  in  the UK  as  Police-imitators  after  two  minor  hits  in  1982  , they were  more  successful  in  the US  although  grunge  had  chased  them  out  of  the  US  charts  long  before  Gary  joined. He  was  with  them  for  five  years  playing  on  one  album  "Want  That  Life " in  2003. Their  atmospheric  guitar  rock  holds  up  pretty  well  but  they  were  never going  to  make  a major  comeback. Gary  left  when  the  original  bassist  returned  in  2008  and  his  last  recorded  work  was  a  contribution  to  an  album  of  spa  relaxation  music  that  same  year.

Terry  Lee  was  gutted  by  the  split . He  got  married, moved  to  the  States  and  became  a  plumber.  In  2000  he  returned  to  the  UK  and  got  a  job  with  Warner  Brothers. He  plays  in  a  part-time  band  The  Magnificent  7.

After  his  abrupt  departure  from  the  Ants  Kevin  formed  a  new  group  Wide  Boy  Awake  to  be  managed  by  his  wife  Pamela  Rooke  ( the  original  Jordan ).  They  got  a  deal  with  RCA  but  only  ended  up  releasing  three  singles. "Chicken  Outlaw"  from  October  1982   is  a  strange  mix  of  synth-pop , country  hoedown  and  nonsense  lyrics. "Bona  Venture"  the  follow-up  is  a  more  coherent  song with  the  hillbilly  influence  more  pronounced  though  the  beats  are  modern. "Billy  Hyena"  from  early  1984  drops  the  country  leanings  for  a  blend  of  jazz  melody  in  the  verses  and  an  electro-funk  backing. All  three  are  let  down  by  Kevin's  weedy  nasal  vocals  and  none  troubled  the  charts.

Kevin  kept  in  touch  with  Marco  who  produced  the  first  single  for  his  new  band  Max  in  August  1987. "Little  Ghost" ,an  electro-funk  number  which  is  completely  tuneless. Boy  George  later  covered  it. An  album  was  recorded  but  never  released. Kevin  also  appeared  on  Sinead  O  Connor's  The  Lion  And  The  Cobra. He  and  model  girlfriend  Leslie  Winer  co-wrote  the  final  track  "Don't  Call  Me  Joe"  with  her.  He  reconvened  Max  in  the  early  nineties  with  a  line  up  that  included  fellow  ex-Ant  Matthew  Ashman  and  released  the  album  "Silence  Running "  with  Trevor  Horn  producing  but  I  haven't  heard  anything  from  it.

The  band  dissolved  again  and  Kevin  relocated  to  the  US  with Winer  helping  her  out  on  her  albums  "Witch"  ( 1993 )  and  "Spider" ( 1999 ).  In  1995  he  reconciled  with  Adam  and  co-wrote  a  couple  of  tracks  on  his  Wonderful  album.  In  the  early  noughties  he  returned  to  the  UK  and  launched  a  new  group  The  Lavender  Pill  Mob  with  former  Renegade  Soundwave  man  Gary  Asquith   who   released  two  albums  of   hip-hop   inflected  rock  somewhere  between  Eels  and  Primal  Scream  in  2003-04 . Adam  sang  the  lead  vocal  on  the  track  "Black  Pirates"  on  the  second  one. Kevin  now  resides  in  Berlin  and  works  as  a  DJ.

As  we  already  know  Matthew  deserted, along  with  drummer  Dave  Barbarossa  and  bass  player  Leigh  Gorman  ( who  didn't  record  anything  with  the  Ants )  in  1980  to  join   Bow  Wow  Wow. The  group  eventually  started  having  respectably-sized  hits  in  1982  peaking  in  the  summer  when  "I  Want  Candy"  reached  number  9  despite  Malcolm   McLaren's stupid  gimmick  of  having  an  unplayable  B-side. That  was  McLaren's  last  contribution  to  the  group; having  had  his  kiddie  porn  scam  exploded  by  Fred  Vermorel  he  went  off  to  make  his  own  LP  with  Trevor  Horn  leaving  the  band  to  fend  for  themselves. They  recorded  another  album  "When  The  Going  Gets  Tough"  with  Mike  Chapman  which  was  a  minor  hit  in  the  US  but  bombed  completely  over  here. The  boys  then  decided  to  oust  Annabella  Lwin  and  reconstitute  themselves  as  Chiefs  of  Relief. Dave  ( along  with  Gorman )  bowed  out  of  the  project  almost  immediately  and  was  replaced  by  ex-Pistol  Paul Cook. The  band  are  therefore  covered  in  the  Goodbye  Sex  Pistols  post.

Chiefs  of  Relief  packed  up  in  1989. Matthew  then  joined  the  next  incarnation  of  Max  covered  above. His  final  band  was  the  electronica  outfit  Agent  Provocateur  who  released  their  first  single  "Kicks "  in  1994.  Their  take  on  trip  hop  and  dance  wasn't  for  me  but  it's  well  enough  done. Around  the  time  of  the  second  single  the  rockier  "Red  Tape"  Matthew  slipped  into  a  diabetic  coma  and  died  aged  35. He  was  featured  on  seven  of  the  tracks  on  their  only  album  "Where  The  Wild  Things  Are"  eventually  released  in  1997  but  not  their  minor  hit  single  "Agent  Dan"  that  year. In   November  2010  they  reunited  for  a  tribute  concert   headed  by  Adam  Ant   for  Matthew ;   versions  of  Bow  Wow  Wow  and  Chiefs  of  Relief  were  also  on  the  bill.

With  a  family  to  support  Dave  judged  that  session  work  would  provide  a  steadier  income  than  Chiefs  of  Relief  and  was  soon  proved  right  with  either  session  or  live  work  for  Beats  International, Chicane  and  Republica. In  the  mid-nineties  he  had  an  outfit  called  Ping  Pong  who  supported  Adam  on  his  Wonderful  tour  in  1995  and   released  a  single  "It's  About  Rhythm"  in  1996. In  the  noughties  he's  had  various  short-lived  projects  - Guilty  Fawn, DATHE, Horse  Brothers   and  currently  Cauldronated. In  2013  he published  a  novel  "Mud  Sharks"  which  has  been  well  received.

After  leaving  the  Ants  Andy  joined  original  Ants  guitarist  Tom  Hardy  ( Lester  Square )  in  The  Monochrome  Set, in  time  to  play  on  their  debut  LP  "Strange  Boutique"  which  turned  out  to  be  their  commercial  peak   when  it  charted  at  62  early  in  1980 despite  having  no  hit  singles. It's  a  strong  collection  of  leftfield  guitar  pop  and  it's  hard  to  pinpoint why  the  band  never  managed  to  cross  over  to  the  mainstream. They   were  going  for  quite  a  while  and  had  a  good  reputation  as  a  live  band.  Perhaps  they  were  ahead  of  their  time  and  would  have  appealed  to  Smiths  and  Pulp  fans. The  instrumental  track  "The  Puerto  Rican  Fence  Climber"  is  pretty  close  to  the  former's  Oscillate  Wildly.  It  was  probably  a  combination  of  the  esoteric  song  titles  and  something  in  the  desultory  tone  of  Anglo-Indian  singer  Bid  that  led   to  a  suspicion  that  they  were  a  bit  too  clever  for their  own  good.

The  quickfire  follow  up  "Love  Zombies"  released  the  same  year   failed  to  follow  it  into  the  charts  and  brought  their  time  on  Dindisc  to  an  end.  After  a  standalone  single   the  psychedelic-flavoured   "10  Don'ts  For  Honeymooners" on  Charisma  offshoot  Pre  in  summer  1981  they  signed  for  Cherry  Red  in  1982 . Two  more  singles  the  poppier  "The  Mating  Game"  and  "Cast  A  Long  Shadow" , which  sounds  like  The  Inspiral  Carpets  doing  a  pastiche  of  the  Rawhide  theme,  followed  before  their  third  album  "Eligible  Bachelors".  They  released  another  single  from  the  album   "The  Jet Set  Junta"   which  again  sounds  similar  to  the  Carpets. It  did  get  a  bit  of  radio  play  but  didn't  trouble  the  charts.

Nearly  two  years  later  they   re-surfaced  on  their  fourth  label  blanco  y  negro  with  the  single - "Jacob's  Ladder "  and  there  were  some  hopes  that  its  radio-friendly  tune , bright  production  and  stomping  beat  might  finally  break  the  band. It  wasn't  to  be  and  inevitably  its  parent  album  "The  Lost  Weekend"  didn't  make  any  impact. After  one  more  single , the  over-cluttered  "Wallflower"  in  1985  they  split  up.  In  1990  the  three  main  players  reunited , re-signed  with  Cherry  Red  and  released  another  five obscure  albums  before  ceasing  operations  again  in  1998.  During  this  time  the  band  worked  on  a  couple  of  albums  with  fellow  Cherry  Red  artist  Jessica  Griffin  who  recorded  under  the  name  Would-Be-Goods. Eventually  there  was  a  full  band  of  that  name  and  in  2004  Andy  joined  them  playing  on  their  fifth  album  and  so  far  final  album  "Eventyr". What  strikes  me  on  a  first  listen  is  how  much  Jessica  sounds  like  Kirsty  MacColl. In  2010  the  Set  reconvened  once  again  and  have  released  three more  albums  including  "Spaces  Everywhere"  in  March  this  year. How  Andy  makes  his  living  when  he's  not  playing in  these non-selling  bands  I've  no  idea.

That  just  leaves  us  with  guitarist  Johnny  Bivouac  who  played  on  "Deutscher  Girls".  His  real  name  is  John  Beckett  and  he  still  works  in  the  music  industry  as  a  soundtrack  composer  known  for  the  TV  series  Operation  Good  Guys  in  which  he  also  had  a  small  acting  part. He  is  also  a  director  of  the  Fugitive  film  company.