Chart entered : 21 May 1983
Chart peak : 59
Number of hits : 10
It's not too easy to fit this lot into a ready-made category and they didn't last the decade as a chart act but qualify fair and square.
Kirk Brandon was born in Westminster in 1956. He formed his first band The Pack in Clapham in 1978. The Pack played a muscular form of punk somewhere between Killing Joke and The Ruts topped off with Kirk's sonorous wail that made the lyrics unintelligible. They released two singles in 1979, "Heathen" and "King of Kings" reflecting Kirk's ongoing preoccupation with religion. The latter is more coherent and contains a hint that Kirk might be able to pen a tune.
The following year Kirk dissolved the group and formed Theatre of Hate. The bass player was Stan Stammers from Essex who'd had short stints with punk bands The Epileptics and The Straps though in both cases he'd left before they recorded anything. He turned down a counter-offer from the UK Subs to join up with Kirk. Guitarist Steve Guthrie, drummer Luke Rendle and saxophonist John Lennard completed the line up. As punk degenerated into Oi , mere yob-rock peddled by the likes of The Exploited and Cockney Rejects, Theatre of Hate stood out as the one UK "punk" band who seemed to be offering something more intelligent.
They soon picked up a flamboyant fan in Kirk's flatmate and alleged lover Boy George who linked the group tenuously to the New Romantic movement as Kirk could sometimes be found in Billy's. With a growing live following the band released their first single "Original Sin" in November 1980. The song could be interpreted as a comment on the relationship with George with a first line like "Since you came in my life I've had to rearrange my whole reality ". The song is a bit under-written but it showcases a powerful tight sound and it reached number 5 in the independent charts.
Five months later came the follow up "Rebel Without A Brain" released on their own label Burning Rome and featuring Mick Jones as producer. It's pretty bracing with an ultra-dry sound highlighting the Steven Morris-ish drum patterns , Kirk's apocalyptic lyrics and little melodic content. "Nero" arrived shortly afterwards and follows pretty much the same formula with the added treat of screechy violin playing. The lyric about debauchery might be a comment on the New Romantics. These singles reached 3 and 2 in the indie charts and the live album "He Who Dares Wins" recorded in Berlin went one better and topped the indie album chart. Guthrie then quit so the band recorded their only studio album "Westworld" as a four piece.
By the time it came to release a single Billy Duffy from The Nosebleeds - we'll say more about him in a future post - had joined on guitar. "Do You Believe In The West World" released in December 1981 , was less attritional than its predecessors with a recognisable chorus hook and an attractive Spaghetti Western guitar hook. In the immediate post-Christmas lull it picked up some daytime radio play despite its anti-nuclear lyric and got to the edge of the Top 40. The band appeared on Top of the Pops where they were the first act introduced by John Peel who'd been persuaded to come back to the programme for the first time in 14 years. The single peaked at number 40 and despite some scathing reviews the album "Westword" reached number 17.
Rather than release another single from the album which Duffy hadn't played on, the band waited until May to release a new song "The Hop" and lost some vital momentum. I bought it and think it's superior to its predecessor with a more controlled sound , Kirk curbing his vocal excesses and Duffy's fat guitar sound adding a new element to the mix. The song is a youthful call to arms with a rousing chorus and an exciting sax and guitar break but it was only played on the evening shows and peaked at number 70. They signed off in style with the splendidly bonkers "Eastworld" in October 1982 with Kirk intoning tunelessly over Stan's throbbing bassline ( the only hook in the song ) , Cossack chants of "Hey" in the background and balalaikas tumbling in and out of the mix . The last line of the song is "Who will be rid of troublesome comrades ?" and there's a spear on the back of the sleeve so there were plenty of hints of what was to come.
The band had started recording a second album but broke up just before Christmas 1982 announcing they were splitting up due to "musical and religious differences". Kirk and Stan would be staying together in a new band called Spear of Destiny. They recruited Chris Bell, the recently laid off drummer from The Thompson Twins and saxophonist Lascelle James from a funk band Body, Soul and Spirit who had a single out ( "Show Me The Way " which I haven't heard ) in 1979.
Spear of Destiny basically commandeered the songs that had been written for that second Theatre of Hate album and so were off the mark quickly with "Flying Scotsman", released in February 1983. I don't know what tempted Kirk and the boys to divert into Celtic rock with a sound somewhere between Big Country and OMD's Maid of Orleans and a song that could be about soldiers or Inter-rail voyagers. Though it's slightly ponderous and the guitar solo at the end sounds like it's going to break into Ten Green Bottles, I liked it and was surprised it didn't at least tickle the bottom end of the charts.
The album "Grapes of Wrath" followed in April and peaked at 62.The opening track "The Wheel" was released a fortnight later initially as a double pack with two other tracks from the album on the extra disc. "The Wheel" is pretty vague lyrically but exudes an air of menace with a rumbling rhythm and an ominous riff played on Lascelle's double tracked sax. He wouldn't be in the band much longer but he makes this track which is at its best when Kirk is wordlessly improvising around his playing. The second half of the track is virtually instrumental with a nifty false ending. I thought this one should have done better too but Kirk seemed fated to eternally underachieve.
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