631 Hello Little Angels - Big Bad EP

Chart  entered :  4  March  1989

Chart  peak  : 74

Number  of  hits : 12

I  wasn't  expecting  this  lot  to  put  down  a  marker  so  early.  

Little  Angels  are  the  most  successful  act  to  hail  from  Scarborough. They  formed  in  May  1984  as  Zeus  consisting  of  Toby  Jepson  (vocals ), Mark  Plunkett  ( bass ), Bruce  Dickinson  ( guitar ), brother  John  Dickinson  ( keyboards )  and  a  drummer  Dave  Hopper . They  became  a  popular  live  draw  in  their  area   after  changing  their  name  to  Mr  Thrud . In  1987  they  changed  their  name  to  Little  Angels  before  releasing  a  privately pressed  12  inch   EP, imaginatively  titled  "87".

The  five  lads  were  young  and  presentable  and  "87"  is  a  credible  bid  for  hair  metal  glory . I've  heard  three  of  the  four  tracks  - "You're  Burning  Me", "Reach  For  Me"  and  "Bad  Or  Just  No  Good" - and  they're  all  unoriginal  but  accessible  hard  rock  tracks  with  John's  keyboards  giving  them  a  contemporary  polish. It  got  them  the  attention  of  Powerstation  Records   boss  Kevin  Nixon  who  funded  their  debut  LP "Too  Posh  To  Mosh"  and  became  their  manager.  The  mini-LP  is  really  the  EP  augmented  with  three  more  tracks  in  the  same  vein.

Nixon  knew  his  operation  couldn't  handle  what  he  wanted  for  the  band  so  he  went  looking  for  a  major  label  deal. He  also  oversaw  the  replacement  of  Hopper  with  Michael  Lee  from  Darlington  and  arranged  some  dates  in  the U.S.. In  May  1988  the  band  signed  a  deal  with  Polydor.

Their  first  single  for  Polydor  was  "Ninety  In  The  Shade" ( you  suspect  they  were  not  singing  about  their  home  town )  in  September  1988 , a  much  more  metal  offering  with  an  Iron  Maiden  galloping  bass. You  can't  hear  John  until  the  middle  eight. Toby  proves  himself  a  capable  metal  vocalist  but  there's  no  real  hook  and  it  didn't  chart.

The  next  release  was  this  one. I've  only  heard  the  lead  track  "She's  A  Little  Angel" and  in  fact  the  full  EP  was  only  available  on  12  inch  as  a  promotional  ploy. The  song   is  a sexist  but   sleek  and  effective  piece  of  Def  Leppard  pop  metal  with  a  bludgeoning  hook. It  wasn't   going  to  set  the  world  alight  but  got  them  a  foothold  on  the  chart. It  became  their  first  Top  30  hit  when  reissued  in  1990.