434 Hello Marillion - Market Square Heroes

Chart  entered : 20  November  1982

Chart  peak : 53

Number  of  hits : 26

The  notion  of  1982  as  pop's  greatest  year  takes  another  knock  when  you  consider  that  it  was  also  the  year  when  EMI  shelled  out  a  huge  advance  to  secure  a  band  whose  raison d'etre  seemed  to  be  the  resurrection  of  the  sound  of  another , still-thriving,  band  from  a  decade  earlier. What's  more  their  judgement  was  instantly  rewarded  when  this  came  close  to  cracking  the  Top  40.    

Marillion  were  originally  formed  in  1979  as  Silmarillion  after  Tolkien's  least  readable  novel  ( I   made  the  mistake  of  starting  with  it  ). Drummer  Mick  Pointer  from  Buckinghamshire  placed  an  ad  in  the  Melody  Maker   to  form  an  unrepentant  prog  rock  band  which  attracted  Yorkshire  guitarist  Steve  Rothery  and  a  couple  of  others. They  played  their  first  gig  in  Berkhamsted  in  March  1980.  By  the  start  of  1981  they  needed  a  new  singer  and  bassist. After  auditions  they  selected  Derek  "Fish"   Dick  , a  huge  Scottish  lumberjack  who  sounded  uncannily  like  Peter  Gabriel  as  their  vocalist. His  friend  William  Minnitt   joined  on  bass. They  contracted  the  name  to  Marillion  fearing  legal  trouble  with  the  Tolkien  estate.

In  1981  they  were  supported  by  a  band  called  Chemical  Alice  and  noted  the  skills  of  their  Irish  keyboard  player  Mark  Kelly.  Chemical  Alice  had  actually  beaten  them  to  putting  a  record  out  with  a  12  inch  EP  "Curiouser  and  Curiouser"  which  sounds  like  Keith  Emerson  jamming  with  Inspiral  Carpets   but  has  its  moments. With  the  original  keyboard  player   unwilling  to  give  up  his  day  job  Mark  was  poached  to  fill  his  slot. Towards  the  end  of  the  year  they   secured  a  residency  at  the  Marquee  club  and  A  &  R  man  started  to  approach  the  band.

In  March  1982  they  did  a  well  received  session  for  Tommy  Vance  on  Radio  One. The  group  then  decided  Minnitt's  playing  wasn't  up to  scratch  and  Fish  was  dispatched  to  bump  his  mate . He  was  replaced  by  Pete  Trewavas  from  Aylesbury.  Shortly  afterwards  they  signed  on  the  dotted  line  for  EMI.

"Market  Square  Heroes"  was  their  first  attempt  at  writing  a  simpler  song  for  radio  play. It  was  inspired   by  a  real  life  Aylesbury  character  called  "Brick"   and  fantasises   that  he  could  become  a  charismatic  leader  of  the  unemployed. Fish, the  band's  main  lyricist,  was  full  of  these  contradictions , veering  between  sixth  form  fantasy  whimsy  and  almost  Weller-esque  social  commentary  in  the  same  song   just  as  his  listening  tastes  encompassed  both  Yes  and  Joy  Division.  There's  also  a  knowing  nod  to  the  Sex  Pistols   in  the  line  "I  am  your  antichrist  show  me  your  allegiance". Alas  the  music  is  nowhere  near  as  interesting, stuck  resolutely  in  the  early  seventies  with  Mark's  queasy   keyboard  curlicues  the  dominant  element  in  the  sound  along  with  the  face-painted  Fish's  Bremner-esque  impersonation  of  Gabriel. Unlike  Genesis  though  there's  no  pastoral  English  melodic  sweetening  as  the  song  has  no  hooks   whatsoever  and  becomes  a  tuneless  rant  in  the  middle  eight. Nevertheless  EMI's  promotional  muscle  , a  good  value  ( if  you  like  this  sort  of  thing )  12  inch  with  the  17  minute  "Grendel " on  the  B  side  and  the  band's  burgeoning  fanbase  ensured  the  single  made  a respectable  showing.