Chart entered : 1 July 1989
Chart peak : 33
Number of hits : 14 *
It feels like we're close to the nineties now with a band who qualify for this blog with some to spare but only really crossed over with a cover version.
Gun had their roots in a band called Blind Allez formed in Glasgow in 1983 by guitarist Giuliano Gizzi, vocalist Peter Scallan and bassist Cami Morlotti, soon joined by Alan Thornton on drums. According to wikipedia they released a single "Can't Get Any Lower" in 1984 but I can't find any trace of it. Scallan left in 1985 and was replaced by Mark Rankin , cousin of Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri. They changed their name to Phobia and picked up another guitarist David Aitken. In 1987 they were signed by A & M and changed their name to Gun. Before they started recording their debut album Morlotti, Thornton and Aitken quit the band and were replaced by Dante Gizzi, Scott Shields and Stephen "Baby Stafford respectively.
"Better Days" was their debut single. It was something of a sleeper ,taking 6 weeks to reach its peak position though this may have been partly down to A & M's decision to release the album while the single was still climbing. Written by Mark and Giuliano the song is an unspecific call to stand up and be counted. Mark sounds a bit like Def Leppard's Joe Elliott and the band's unpretentious hard rock sound is somewhere between the Lepps and Guns'n'Roses although the drumming is a bit pedestrian. The chorus is reasonably tuneful without really cutting through.
* Official Charts Company seem to think that the one hit wonders from 1968 with "Race With The Devil" are the same band. These guys had barely started school when that was a hit.
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