681 Goodbye Fleetwood Mac - In The Back of My Mind

Chart  entered : 25  August  1990

Chart  peak : 58

On  the  one  hand, it  seems  very  surprising  to  be  saying  goodbye  to  Fleetwood  Mac  at  this  point. They're  still  a  major  live  draw  with  people  still  interested  in  their  endless  comings  and  goings  so  you'd  expect  a  more  recent  hit  to  reflect  that. On  the  other  hand, as  with  Pink  Floyd, the  singles  chart  has  never  fully  reflected  their  stature, at  least  since  their mid -seventies  rebirth. Their  colossal-selling  Rumours  doesn't  have  a  UK  Top  20  hit  on  it.

As  noted  above,  Fleetwood  Mac  have  the  most  unsettled  line-up  of  any  genuinely  collaborative  band  ( i.e  not  the  likes  of  The  Fall  or  Dexy's ). The  story  is  pretty  well-documented  but  I'll  summarise  anyway. In  1968  the  band's  main  songwriter  Peter Green  started  feeling  the pressure  to  keep  coming  up  with  the  goods  particularly  as  slide  guitarist  Jeremy  Spencer  was  a  one-trick  pony  when  it  came to  writing  songs. In  the  summer  of  1968  he  invited  18-year  old  guitar  prodigy  Danny  Kirwin  from  their  support  band  Boilerhouse   to  join  the  group  and  the  band  were  immediately  rewarded  with  their  only  number  one  single  , the  limpid  instrumental  "Albatross". In  1969  they  were  outselling  the  Beatles  who  wanted  them  to  sign  with  Apple  but  it  didn't  happen. By  the turn  of  the  decade  all  was  not  well  with  Peter.  Already  suffering  middle  class  guilt  at  the  money  they  were making,   bad  acid  trip  brought  on  incipient  schizophrenia  as  demonstrated  on  his  final  single  with  the  band "The  Green  Manalishi, surely  the  most  terrifying  hit  of  all  time. When  the  band  rejected  his  suggestion  they  become  a  charity  outfit, he  left  in  May  1970. The  band  struggled  on  and  bassist  John  McVie   brought  in  his  wife  Christine  Perfect  as  keyboard  player. Christine  had  been  singer  with  the  band  Chicken  Shack  who  enjoyed  a  hit  in  1969  with  "I'd  Rather  Go  Blind ".

Without  their  charismatic  frontman , their  sales  dropped  precipitately. In  February  1971 they  were  on  tour  in  LA  when  Jeremy  disappeared  , having  been  snagged  by  the  religious  cult  Children  of  God  when  he  went  to  buy  a paper. Peter  temporarily  rejoined  to  help  them  complete  the  tour.   After it  finished,  they  hired  American  guitarist  Bob  Welch  to  replace  Jeremy. Now  it  was Danny's  turn  to  buckle  under  the  pressure, exacerbated  by  an  excessive  alcohol  intake. In  the  summer  of  1972,  Mick  Fleetwood  finally  agreed  to  fire  him  after  a  violent  incident  backstage  before  a gig. He  was  replaced  by  a  guitarist  Bob  Weston  and  singer  Dave Walker  who  lasted  for  just  one  album. Weston  managed  two  but  was  fired  after  sleeping  with  Mick's  wife. Before  he  could  be  replaced  the  band  had  to  fight  manager  Clifford Davis  over  rights  to  their  name  which  put  them  out  of  action  for  a  year . When  that  was  settled, Welch  suggested  decamping  to  the  US   to  which  the  others  agreed. Despite that . Welch  left  disillusioned  not  long  afterwards; though  he  had  later  success  as  a  solo  artist  the band  had  no  UK  hits  apart  from  the  re-released  "Albatross"  during  his  tenure.

While  looking  for  a  replacement  Mick  heard  a  track  from  an  album  "Buckingham  Nicks"  by  a  little known  folk  duo  of  the  same  name. Impressed  by  the  guitarist  Lindsey  Buckingham  . he  invited  him  to  join  Fleetwood Mac. His  invitation  was  accepted  on  the condition  that  his   singing  partner  and  girlfriend  Stevie  Nicks  must  join  too. Mick  agreed  and  the  quintet  recorded  the  "Fleetwood  Mac"  album  which  reached  number 1  in  the  US. That  was  then  dwarfed  by  the  follow-up  "Rumours"  , the  quintessential  baby  boomer  album  which  made  them  the  undisputed kings  of soft  rock  at  the  same  time  as  their  personal  relationships  disintegrated. Nevertheless,  success kept  them  together through  the  experimental  "Tusk"  and  water-treading  "Mirage"  until  "Tango  in  the  Night"   in  1987  was  a  huge  hit with  CD  buyers.

However  once  it  was  completed,  Lindsey  baulked  at  doing  the  tour  and  after  a   stormy  meeting  left  the band  in  August  1987. He  was  replaced  by  two  new guitarists  Billy  Burnette  son  of  sixties  rocker  Dorsey  Burnette and  Rick  Vito, a  guitarist  for  hire  with  a  long  list  of  credits. Both  had  already  worked  with  either  Mick  or John  on  projects  outside  the  'Mac  

"In  The  Back  of  My  Mind "  was  the  second  single  from  the album  "Behind  The  Mask"  , an  instant  number  one  on  release  here  but coolly  received  in the  US. I  must  admit  I  haven't  heard  the  single  edit  and  am  only  familiar  with  the seven  minute  version  on  the  album  so  I'm  having  to  guess  which  bits  they  left  in. The  two-minute  moody  synth  intro  leading  the  song  into  Peter  Gabriel  territory  would  have  been  dropped. The  song  was  written  by  Billy  with  help  from  country  songwriter  David  Malloy and  seems  to  be  about  regret  that  a  childhood  friendship  didn't  develop  into  an  adult  relationship. With  both  Stevie and  Christine   doing  vocal  parts,  it  is  vaguely  reminiscent  of  The  Chain  but  doesn't  recapture  the  same  sense  of  drama. It's  also  deficient  in  hooks and  isn't  obvious  single  material  ( it  wasn't  selected  as  one  for  release  in  the  U.S. )

There  was  a  third  single  in  the  UK, the  breezy  opener  "Skies  The  Limit",  a  typical  Christine  McVie  song  co-written  with  her  boyfriend  Eddie  Quintela, but  it  didn't  chart. In  the  US  , "Hard  Feelings"  a dreary  nondescript  AOR  song  and  the  passable  Stevie/ Rick  collaboration  "Love  Is  Dangerous"  were  sent  out  as   additional  singles  but  didn't  make  much  impression.

The  band  toured  the  album. When  the  tour  finished.  Rick  left  the  band  and,  after  a  disagreement  with  Mick  over  the  inclusion  of  her  song  "Silver Springs"  on  a  box  set,  so  did  Stevie  who  had  by  far  the  most  viable  solo  career. The  box  set  "25  Years-The  Chain"  included  one  or  two  out-takes  including  Rick  and  Stevie's  "Paper  Doll"  which  was  released  as  a  single  in  the  US  in  1992,  a  quirky  Paul  Simon-esque  effort  with  an  over strident  Stevie  vocal  and  not  much  of  a  tune  although  it  was  a  Top  10 hit  in  Canada. In  the UK,  a  new  Christine  song  "Love  Shines"  was  released  instead  and  is  a  decent but  not  particularly  memorable  slice  of  AOR.

The  band  returned  to  the  headlines  in  1992  when  Bill  Clinton  chose  "Don't  Stop"  as  his  campaign  song  and  persuaded  the  "Rumours"  line  up  to  perform  at  his  Inaugural  Ball  in  1993. Neither  Stevie  nor  Lynsey  wanted  to  rejoin  at  this  point  but  Mick  , John  and  Christine  started  work on  another  album. Billy  wasn't  going  to  be  involved  but  changed  his  mind  when  Mick  recruited  his  friend's  daughter , Bekka  Bramlett  and  former  Traffic  guitarist  Dave  Mason.

This  was  the  least-loved  of  all  incarnations  of  the  band. They  toured  ( without  Christine )  as  support  to  Crosby  Stills  and  Nash  but  when  their  album  "Time"  came  out  in   1995,  the  US  public, feeling  cheated  of  a  proper  reunion, resoundingly  rejected it. It  didn't  even  make  the  Top  200. In  the  UK,  it  only  managed  a  week  at  number  47. It's  not  as  bad  an  album  as  that  would  suggest  but  the  identity  crisis  in  the  band  is  very  obvious. Christine's  contributions  are  well  up  to  par  including  the  single  "I  Do"  which  was  a  minor  hit  in  Canada  but  don't  sound  like  they  belong   on  the  same  album  as  the  country  rock  efforts  of  Billy  and  Bramlett  (  whose  soulful  vocals  are  noticeable  by  their  absence  on  any  of  Christine's  songs )  . Mason  throws  in  a  couple  of  self-regarding  AOR  efforts  while  the  album  closes  on  Mick's  spoken  word  account  of  his  spiritual  crisis,  no  doubt  well  meant  but  his  ponderous  delivery  invites  ridicule. As  an  LP,  it  comes  across  as  a  sham  marriage  and  it's  not  too  surprising  it  was  so  roundly  rejected  by  the  public.

No  one  had  the  appetite  to  tour  it. Christine  said  she  didn't  want  to  record  another  album  either  and  Billy  peeled  off  with  Bramlett  to  form  a  country  duo. Mick  and  John  accepted  the  game  was  up  and  dissolved  the  band. Within  weeks  though,  Mick  was  back  in  the  studio  with  Lindsey, ostensibly working  on  the  latter's  solo  album. First,  John  was  drawn  in    and  then  Chrisine.  Then  Lindsey  got  a  call  from  Stevie  asking  him  to  produce  a  song  she  had  written  for  the  film  Twister. " The  song  became  a  duet  between  the  pair with  Mick  playing  the  drums, a  typically  dark  love  song  behind  an  amiable  veneer. With  everybody  now  talking  to  each  other , the  inevitable  followed  and  in  March  1997  the  "classic"  ( to  US  fans  at  least ) line  up  of  the  band  announced  it  was  back  in  business.

Two  months  later, they  performed  live  for  MTV  in  California, sprinkling  a  few  new  songs  into  a  greatest  hits ( for  this  line  up )  set . After  a  bit  of  studio  tweaking,  the  bulk  of  the  concert   was  released  as  "The  Dance"  and  shot  straight  to  number  one  in  the  US  ( number  15  here ) .  Stevie's  gentle  ballad  "Landslide" , originally  from  the  "Fleetwood  Mac"  album , was  released  as  a  single  and  reached  number  51  in  the  US.  The  band  spent  the  rest  of 1997 on  tour after  which  Christine  announced  her  retirement.

The  other  members  continued  to  work  on  an  album  at  a  leisurely  pace. "Say  You  Will"   eventually  came  out  in  April  2003. The  album is  a  lengthy  one  at  75  minutes  and  with  the  compositions  evenly  divided  between  Lindsey  and  Stevie  at  nine  each, it's  tempting  to  see  it  as  really  two  solo  albums  melded  together.  It's  also  a  demanding  listen, without  any  songs  from  Christine  ( though  she's  present  on  a  couple  of  tracks  that  were  completed  early  on ),  there's  no  let  up  between  the  increasingly  bleak  songs  of  the  ageing,  childless  Stevie   and  the  expected  experimental  leanings  of  Lindsey's   contributions. There  is  a  definite  gain  though  in  bringing  the  two  writers  together,  most  evident  on  Stevie's  "Running  Through  The  Garden"  which  is  lifted  to  another  plane  by  Lindsey's  scorching  guitar  work  ( what  a  relief  to  have  him  back  after  the  conservative  stylings  of   Billy  and  Rick )  and  if  his  songs  don't  require  so  much  input  from  the  others,  there's  still  a  genuinely  co-operative  vibe. Lindsey's  mildly  political  song  "Peacekeepers " with  its  killer  chorus   was  released  as  a  single  on  the   same  day  and  became  their  last  US  hit  reaching  number  80. The  album  reached  number  3  in  the  US  and  number  6  here. Stevie's  title  track,  probably  the  blandest  song  on  the  album,  made  little  impression  as  a  follow up.

They  toured  it  around  the  world  in  2004  following  which  there  were  fanciful  rumours  of  a  reunion  of  the  peter  Green  line  up  dismissively  scotched  by  John. Both  Lindsey  and  Stevie  have  since  released  solo  albums   since  then  with  the  band  doing  big  tours  in  2008,2009  and  2013. There  were  hints  that  they  were  working  on  a  new  LP  but  eventually  they  settled  for  a  four  track  EP  imaginatively  titled  "Extended  Play"  released  in  digital  form  only  in  April  2013. The  lead  track, released  as  a  single  in  the  UK  was  Lindsey's  "Sad  Angel"  an  upbeat  tune  driven  by  Lindsey's  guitar  work. The  EP  was  his  record  really; he  wrote  two  of  the  other  tracks  and  Stevie's  contribution "Without  You"  was  a  lost  demo  from  before  they  joined  the  band  in  the  first  place.

Their  tour  that  year  was  cut  short  by  John's  diagnosis  with  cancer. Less  than  a  month  later  Christine  publicly  declared  she  was  ready  to  return  to  the  band  if  they  wanted  her. It's  hard  not  to  connect  these  two  events. Of  course  her  hand  was  bitten  off  and  she  rejoined  the  band  for  a  big  tour  in  2014-15.  Four-fifths  of  the  band  were  working  on  a  new  album  but  Stevie  declined  to  be  involved  and  eventually  the  work  was  released   as  a  duet  album  between  Christine  and  Lindsey  with  Mick  and  John  playing  on  some  of  the  tracks.

The  first  single  under  the  duo's  name  was  "In  My  World"  in  April  this  year, a  madly  infectious pop  rock  tune  penned  by  Lindsey. The  album  "Lindsey Buckingham / Christine  McVie"  followed  in  June  and  it's  very  good. Lindsey  keeps  things  simple  and  concentrates  on  coming  up  with  killer  tunes  saving  a  trademark   guitar  solo  to  close  out  the  album  on  Christine's  "Carnival  Begin". Her  voice  is  starting  to  sound  a  bit  ragged  but  these  are  some  of  her  best  songs  with  the  dreary  "Game  of  Pretend"  the  only  duff  track.

The  duo's  tour  has  just  finished. Fleetwood  Mac - presumably  with  Stevie  on  board  - plan  to  play  a  Farewell  Tour  next  year . Given  that  their  rhythm  section  will  have  a  combined  age  of  143  when  it  finishes,  you  suspect  that  will  be  the band's  last  act   but  you  never  know  with  this  lot.

So  what  happened  to  those  who  got  lost  on  the  way ? After  leaving  the  group  Peter  first  became  a  sort  of  star  guitarist  for  hire  playing  with  Peter  Bardens,  John  Mayall, Gass  and  others. He  had  a  long  jam  session  with  Zoot  Money  and  others, the  edited  "highlights"  of  which  were  opportunistically  packaged  as  hi  first  solo  album  "The End  of  the  Game" which  needs  to  be  approached with  extreme  caution, His  first  real  release  was  the  single  "Heavy  Heart"   in  1971  which  he  got  to  perform  on  Top  of   the Pops. The  director  missed  a  trick  in  not  catching  the  audience  reaction  to  what  is  basically  a  deathly  slow  and  quiet  guitar  solo  over  a  minimal  percussion  track. Needless  to  say  it  wasn't  a  hit.  His  second  solo  single  "Beasts  of  Burden"  co-credited  his  long  term  friend  Nigel  Watson  and  it's  a  matter  of  conjecture  who  does  what  on  this  heavy, wordy  and  uncommercial   diatribe  on  animal  cruelty  ( if  it's  not  allegorical ).

After  those  singles,  Peter's  illness  progressed  to  the  point  that  he  became  dysfunctional  and  he  had  spells  in  psychiatric  hospitals . In  1977,  he  was  arrested  for  threatening  manager  Clifford  Davies  with  a  shotgun. There's  been  much  lurid  speculation  about  this  incident  but  it  appears  that   Davies's  accountant  merely  over-reacted  to  something  Peter  said  to  him  on  the  telephone. The  following  year  he  released a  single, a  lovely  little  guitar  instrumental  "The  Apostle"  but  it  was  almost  immediately  withdrawn  for  reasons  unknown.

In  May  1979,  he  released  his  first  proper  solo  album  "In  The  Skies". It  was  a  somewhat  gingerly  return  to  recording  with  his  wife  Jane  helping  him  out  with  the lyrics  on  the  vocal  tracks  and  Snowy  White  on  hand  as  a  second  guitarist. It's  a  very  low  key  underproduced  album of   quiet  blues  rock. Apart  from  the  aforementioned  "The  Apostle "  the  instrumental  tracks,  particularly  "Funky  Chunk" ,  are  terminally  boring  and  the  actual  songs  aren't  much  more  interesting. The title  track  was  released  as a  single, a  simple  expression  of  Christian  millennial  expectation  set  to  a  bossa  nova  rhythm  which  didn't  stand  a  chance  in  those  post-punk  times. To  say Peter  wasn't  up  for  promoting  it, the album  did  OK  in  the  charts, reaching  number  32  and  hanging  round  for  three  months.

Peter  wasn't  able  to  come  up  with  any  songs  for  his  next  album  so  his  older  brother  Mike  stepped  into  the  breach  writing    most  of  the  songs  on  1980's  "Little  Dreamer" , Peter  being  credited   on  just  the  title  track. There  were  two  singles, the  standard  blues  rock  of  "Walkin The  Road"  and  "Loser  Two  Times"  which  incorporates  some  disco  influences. The  album   is  desperately  uninspired  throughout. It  made  number 34  and  hung  around  for 4  weeks. It  would  be  another  17  years  before  he'd  trouble  the  chart  compilers  again. He recorded  two  more  albums  of  his  brother's  songs.  "Whatcha  Gonna  Do ? "  ( 1981 )   included  the   singles  "Give  Me  Back  Me  Freedom"  , a  reggae  number  complete  with  cod-Jamaican  accent    and   "Promised  Land"  a  wretched  AOR  number  with  embarrassing  lyrics  like  "The  chosen  people  have  climbed  the  steeple"  "White  Sky".  ( 1982 )  had  his  final  single  "The  Clown " and  to  be  honest  that's  what  recording  his  brother's  awful  songs   was  making  him .He  then  cobbled  together  another  album "Kolors"  from  outtakes   in  1983. He  contributed   to  an  album  by  a  sort  of  blues  supergroup  Katmandu  ( also  featuring  Mungo  Jerry's  Ray  Dorset   and  Vincent  Crane ) "A  Case  for  the   Blues"    in  1985  and  then  disappeared  again.

In  1988,  a  Fleetwood  Mac  documentary  featured  a  small  contribution  from  Peter  talking  over  still  photos  of  him  balding  and  bloated  and  wearing  a  rough  smock. Most  shockingly  he'd  grown  his  fingernails  to  a  ridiculous  length  , presumably  to  stymie  requests  to  return  to  the  fray.  He  was  eventually  coaxed  back  by  Watson  and  the  pair  formed The Peter  Green  Splinter  Group  which  initially  featured  Cozy  Powell  as  drummer. There  was  another  documentary  about  Peter's   return  to  the  fray  but  he  cut  a  diminished  figure   ( in  ability  not  in  size ). There  was  footage  of  Powell  as  producer  trying  and  failing  to  get  a  recordable performance  of   Walk  Don't  Run  from  him. Goodwill   gave  their  first  couple  of  albums  a  week  in  the  charts  each  but,  in  reality,  the  Splinter  Group  were  little  more  than  a  pub  covers  band. Lindsey,  politely  but  publicly  put  suggestions  that  they  might  support  Fleetwood  Mac  on  tour  to  bed.

The  Splinter  Group  dissolved  in  2004  when  Peter  decided  to  relocate  to  Sweden. He  did  some  touring  as  Peter  Green  and  Friends  in  2009-10  and  seemed  in  good  spirits  on  a  2011   BBC  Four  documentary  about  his  life. He's  been  quiet  since  then.

Jeremy  has  remained  completely  faithful  to  the  Children  of   God, since  re-branded  as  the  Family  International  and  maintains  that  no  brainwashing  was  involved  in  his  conversion. He  released  a  solo  album  "Jeremy  Spencer  and  the  Children"  in  1972  which  heavily  reflected  the organisation's  worldview  but  once  sure  of  his  commitment  , they  let  him  record  what  he  wanted. Though  using  other  CoG  devotees  as  his  backing  band  1979's  "Flee"  is  an  affectionate   parody  of  the  Mac  as  they  now  were.  Jeremy  then  spent  many  years  as  a  writer  and  illustrator  although  he  did  catch  up  with  the  Time  version  of  the  band in  Japan  in the  nineties.  In  recent  years  he 's  released  a  couple  of  blues  albums. He  contributed  a  lot  to  the  Peter  Green  documentary.

Danny's  is  often  considered  the  saddest  casualty  in  the  Mac  saga. Still  only  22  when  the  band  cast  him  adrift,  he  was  already  beset  by  alcohol, marital  problems  and  mental  health  issues  which  I  guess  created  a  perfect  storm. He  briefly  formed  a band  called  Hungry  Fighter  with  Dave  Walker  but  it  didn't  work  out   and made  what  are  almost  certainly  his  last  live  appearances with  the  band Tramp  in  1974. Clifford  Davis  then  took  charge  and  steered  him  towards  a  solo  career.  He  released  the  country-flavoured  infectious  pop  single  "Ram  Jam  City"  produced  by a  young  Martin  Rushent  in  April  1975.  This  was  followed  by  the album  "Second  Chapter"  in  which  Danny  proved  himself  able  to  write  melodic  pop  gems  in  a  variety  of  styles. It's  hard  to  reconcile  such  warm  music  with   what  we  know  of  the  personal  demons  that  were  plaguing  him  at  the  time. Danny  should  have  been  able  to  push  on  from  there  but  his  career  hit  the  brick  wall  of  his  refusal  to  get  back  on  a  stage  and  the  album  went  unnoticed.

The  follow-up  album, "Midnight  In  San  Juan"  in  1976  still  has  good  tunes  but  there's  a  darker  edge  to  them; the  exuberance  of  the  first  album  has  gone. Danny  starts  using  synthesisers  on  the   terrific  instrumental  title  track  and  the  single  "Misty  Rivers" . In  the  US, his  reggaefied  cover  of  "Let  It  Be"  was  a  single  instead.

By  the  time  of  his  third and  final  album  "Hello  There  Big  Boy"  Danny  was  seriously  mentally  ill; one  look  at  his  face  on  the  cover  would  tell  you  that. It  had  to  be  made  for  contractual  reasons  with  Davis  at  the  helm. Danny's  paranoia  had  got  so  bad  that  once  in  the  studio  he  made  himself  a  den  with  the  soundboarding  so  that  no  one  could  see  him. He  only  had  four  songs  ready ;apart  from  a  Randy  Edelman   cover, the  rest  were  supplied  by  the  musicians  Davis  brought  in  to  try  and  complete  the  album,  including  Danny's  replacement  in  Fleetwood  Mac,  Bob  Weston. Though  it's  clearly  him  singing, it's  not  thought  Danny  did  much  of  the  guitar  work  on  the  album. Despite  the  adverse  circumstances  it's  not    bad  album  though  you  do  spot  the  joins  on  the  songs  Danny  didn't  write. Those  he  did  are  excellent  and  wouldn't  have  been  out  of  place  on  Rumours  particularly  the  very  bitter  song  about  his  ex-wife  "Caroline" ( fortunately  that  wasn't  her  real  name ).

Once  it  was  finished, Danny  was  left  to  his  own  devices and  went  rapidly  downhill. Mick  Fleeetwood  says  that  the  last  time  they  met  in  1980,  Danny  was  already  sleeping  rough  although  he  didn't  actually  sell  his  house  in  Westclif-on-Sea  until  the  mid-eighties. He  drifted  to  London  and  next  surfaced  in  a  hostel  for homeless  men, a  chronic  alcoholic. That's  where  he  stayed  for  the  best  part  of  three  decades  but  the  picture  is  not  quite as  bleak  as  sometimes  painted. He  wasn't  there  long  before  the  Melody  Maker  journalist  Carol  Clerk,   realising  that  the  hostel  was  just  round  the  corner  from  her  local, looked  him  up  and  brought  him  into  her  social  circle ( there's  a  video  on  YouTube  from  1989  showing  him  looking  a  bit  dishevelled  but  quite  happy  in  her  company ). She  also  took him  to  concerts  and  it  may  have  been  her  influence  that  got  him  playing  the guitar  for  his  own  amusement  again. Sadly  she  died in  2010; since  then  Danny  has  reportedly  been   semi-reconciled  with  his  ex-wife  and  is  looked  after  by  her  family  in  Essex. It  doesn't  seem  likely  that  he'll  ever  perform  again.

Billy  released  one  eponymous  album  with  Bramlett  as  Bekka  &  Billy  in  1997. It  was  aimed  at  the  country  market but  didn't  make much  impression  and  they  broke  up  the  following  year. He has  since  released  some  rockabilly  albums  on   minor  labels  and  supported  his  sons'  efforts  to  work  in  the  music  industry.

Rick  continues  to  be  a  guitarist  for  hire  and  worked  with  Mick  again  on  his  "Blue  Again"  album  in  2008. He  has  found  a  market  in  Germany  for  his  country  blues  music  and  released  a  string  of  CDs  there  in  the  noughties.





 

680 Hello Mariah Carey - Vision of Love

Chart  entered :  4  August  1990

Chart  peak : 9

Number  of  hits : 41

I  saw  an  ad  in  Q  for  this  before  I  heard  the  record  with  a  picture  of  Mariah  fully  living  up  to  the  song's  title  so  I  really  wanted  to  like  her  work. We  all  have  disappointments  in  life  don't  we ?

Mariah  was  born  in  New  York  in  1969  to  an  African-American  father and  Irish  mother. She  started  writing  songs  at  school  and  demonstrating  the  use  of  the  whistle  register  ( the  highest  humanly  possible ). After  leaving  school  she  began  working  as  a  waitress  while  compiling  a demo  tape. She  came  to  the  attention  of  moderately  successful  ( in  the  US )  R & B  singer  Brenda  K  Starr  who  in  December  1988  introduced  her  to  the  head  of  Columbia  Records  Tommy  Mottola. He  liked  her  demo  tape  and  signed  her  straight  away.

"Vision  of   Love"  was  her  debut  release. It  was  composed  with  her  long  time  writing  partner  Ben  Marguiles  ( who  plays  drums  on  the  recording )  and  produced by  Rhett  Lawrence  and  Narada Michael  Walden  who  changed  the  song  from  a  doo  wop  number  to  a  Whitney-esque  gospel-tinged  power  ballad. It's  not  clear  if  the  song  is  addressed  to  God  or  a  secular  lover. Mariah  sets  out  her  stall  straight  away  with  a  barnstorming  vocal  performance  using  melisma  and  notes  from  the  whistle  register  , the  style  that  has made  her  the  Godmother  of  reality  show  contestants.  Lawrence  and  Walden  use  her  vocals  from  the  demo  to  make  Mariah  her  own  backing  singer  and   build  the  intensity  to  the  song's  climax. It  got  to  number  one  in  the  US  and  Mariah  won  Grammys  for  Best  New  Artist  and    Best Female  Pop  Vocal  Performance. I  hate  it.

679 Goodbye The Clash - Return To Brixton

Chart  entered : 21  July 1990

Chart  peak : 57

This  is  the  first  of  quite  a  few posthumous  hits  that  feature  here  in  the  nineties  from  groups  that  had  long  since  split  up. 

The  Clash  of  course  were  one  of  the  top  punk  groups  and  really  the  only  ones  that  sought  to  develop  new  musical  horizons. They  were  helped  by  the  departure  of  Terry  Chimes  after  the  first  album  and  his  replacement  by  Nicky  "Topper"  Headon, a multi-instrumentalist. Their  singles  steadily did  better  in  the  charts  up  to  "London  Calling"  in  1980  , the  title  track  to  the  double  album  that  critics  have  decided  to  canonise. The  band  then  over-reached  themselves  with  the  triple  album  "Sandinista !" in  1980  , full  of  dub  experiments  which  confused  their  audience. Their  single sales, already  depressed  by  the  band's  longstanding  refusal  to  appear  on  Top  of  the  Pops  started  to  decline. They  then  turned  it  round  with  the  album  "Combat  Rock "  which  went  Top  10  in  America  as  did  its  lead  single  there  "Rock  the  Casbah ". Ironically  that  song  was  almost  completely  written  by  Nicky  who  had  been  sacked  from  the  band just  after  the  album's  release  because  of  his  escalating   heroin  habit. Terry , who'd  been marking  time  in  synth-pop outfit  Cowboys  International, rejoined  the  band  as  his  replacement  for  the  US  tour  but  departed  once  it  was  over and  was  replaced  by  Pete  Howard. Relations  were  also  deteriorating  between  Joe  Strummer  and  Mick  Jones  and  the  latter  was  fired  the  following  year. Two  young  guitarists  Nick  Sheppard  ( formerly  with  briefly-fancied  New  Wavers  The  Cortinas  )  and  Vince  White   came  in  to  replace  him . The  album  they  eventually  released  , "Cut  The  Crap"  in  1985,  was  eviscerated  by  the  press. Joe  blamed  producer  Bernie  Rhodes  who'd  stepped  into  Mick's  shoes  as  musical  director  and  took  off  to  Spain  declaring  the  band  over.

All  the  major  players  had  put  music  out  since  then  but  we'll  deal  with  "Return  To  Brixton "  first. It  is  actually  a  remix  of  the  popular  album  track  "Guns  of  Brixton"  from  "London  Calling" by  former  Haysi  Fantayzee  man  Jeremy  Healy, released  to  cash  in  on  the  sampling  of  the  bassline  by  Norman  Cook  on  Beats International's  recent  number  one  hit  "Dub  Be Good  To  Me". Healy  speeds  up  the  track slightly  and  replaces  Nicky's  drums  with  more  contemporary  beats  but  doesn't  mess  with  the  vocal  or  the  structure  of  the  song.

The  original  song  was  Paul  Simonon's  first  contribution  to  The  Clash  as  a  songwriter  and  addresses  the  frustration  caused  in  Brixton  by  police  oppression  and  anticipates  a  bad  outcome  similar  to  the  death  of  Jimmy  Cliff's  character  in  The  Harder  They  Come  which  is  explicitly  referenced. Paul  sang  it  as  well  in  a  charmingly  stiff  attempt  at  a   Jamaican  accent.
It  quickly  became  a  stage  favourite  although  Paul  had  to  swap  instruments  with  Joe  because  singing  and  playing  the  bass  line  simultaneously was  beyond  his  capabilities.

I'm  not  clear if  any  of  the  former  members  endorsed  or  did  anything  to  promote  the  release  of  the single.

After  his  ejection  from  the  band, Mick  briefly  contemplated  joining  General  Public but  instead  decided  to  form  a  new  band. He  brought  Nicky  into  his  plans  but  soon  realised  the  heroin  addiction  was  out  of  control  and  dropped  him. Instead. he  formed  the  band  Big  Audio  Dynamite  with  punk  film director  Don  Letts - despite  the  fact  he  couldn't  play  anything - and  three  younger guys. Trailed  by  the  single "The  Bottom  Line", their  debut  album  "This  Is  Big  Audio  Dynamite"  was  released  in  October  1985. In  stark  contrast  to  "Cut  The  Crap ",  its  mix  of  left-field  drum machine- driven  pop , sound  effects and  film  dialogue  samples  drew  rave  reviews. Apart  from  the  tedious  closer  "BAD"  and  the  Yellow  Peril  warning  "Sony"  which  seriously  over-stretches  Mick's  voice,  it  still  stands  up  today.

The  next  single " E=MC² "  , a   tribute  to  director  Nic  Roeg, peppered  with  dialogue  from  his  film  Performance   and  featuring  a  naggingly  memorable  keyboard  hook .made  the   Top  20. That  drew  an  invitation  to  appear  on  Top  of  the  Pops  which  Mick  decided  to  accept, giving  a  self-conscious  performance, the  weight  of  history  clearly  on  his  shoulders. The  third  single  from  the  album  "Medicine  Show"  made  number  29 and  the  band  received  a  publicity  boost  when  young  keyboard  player  Dan  Donovan  became  the  first  of  many  husband for  it  girl  Patsy  Kensit.

It  looked  like  Big  Audio  Dynamite  were  the  future  but  somehow  it  slipped  out  of  their  grasp. Mick  had  already  reconciled  with  Joe  who  suggested  reforming  The Clash. Understandably,  Mick  was  not  willing  to  jettison  B.A.D, so  they  worked  out  a  curious  compromise  where  Joe  helped  write  some  of  the  songs  and  co-produced  the  next  B.A.D.  album  but  didn't  sing  or  play  on  it.

"No  10  Upping  St"  was released in  October  1986. It peaked  higher  than  its predecessor  but  didn't  sell  as  well  due  to  the  failure  of  its  singles  to  make  the Top  40. "C'mon  Every  Beatbox"  an  attempt  to  update Eddie  Cochran,  marred  by  the  decision  to  allot  some vocal  lines  to  the  tone-deaf  Letts  could  only  get  to  number 51  and  "V  Thirteen",  one  of  those  co-written  by  Joe  and  the  best  song  on  the  album, could  only  improve  on  it  by  two  places. "Sightsee  MC"  missed  the  chart  altogether. Their momentum  was  lost  but  I  don't  think  it  can  be  put  down  to  Joe. The  album  sounds like  it  was  released  prematurely  and,  for  all  its  self-conscious  modernism,  what  you  have  is  really  just  under-produced  synth-pop.

Joe  was  not  involved  in  the  next  album  "Tighten  Up  Vol. 88"  for  which  Paul  designed  the  cover.   The  songs  are  better  realised , the  film  sampling  has  largely  been  abandoned  and  there's  one  or  two  attractive  tunes but  the  songs  were  not  strong  enough  to  restore  their  position  nor  was  Mick's  needling  voice  a  plus. The  lead  single  "Just  Play  Music" a  protest  against  the  promotional chores  necessary  to  sell   set  to  a  a  Fairlight  fluff   backing  track  stalled  at  51  and  the  stoic  "Other  99"  didn't  chart. The  album  peaked  at  33.

Mick  had  a  serious  bout  of  pneumonia  before  the  release  of  the  next  album  "Megatop  Phoenix"  the  following  year. This  one  was  sample-heavy  once  more  including  "ironic"  choices  like  Bernard  Cribbins  and  George  Formby  but  at  the  expense  of  good  tunes  and  it  really  drags  with  a  paucity  of  any  interesting  music. Neither  of  the  singles   "James  Brown"  and  "Contact"  was  a  hit  and  like  its  predecessor  the  album  spent  a  mere  three  weeks  in  the  chart. Interestingly  while  the  band's  profile  slipped  in  the  UK  their  fortunes  in  the  US  were  improving  and  the  album  was  the  first  to  breach  the Top  100  in  the States.

In  1990  the  band  provided  "Free"  a  pleasant  enough  house  tune  for  the  soundtrack  to  the  Dennis  Hopper  film  Flashback.  It  was  the  last  recording  by  the  original  band. Mick  decided  to  dispense  with  all  of  them  and  form  Big  Audio  Dynamite II  who  had  a  more  conventional  two  guitar, bass, drums  line  up, a  bit  like  The  Clash  really. That  being  said  their  next  album  "Kool-Aid"  , released  in  the  UK   only  was  still  synth-dominated  and  it's  questionable how  much  the  new  guys  contributed  to  it  although  bassist  Gary  Stonadge  co-wrote  three  of  the  songs. There  are  some  good  ideas  but  all  the  songs  go  on  too  long. It spent  just  a  single  week  in  the  charts. At around the  same  time,  Mick  returned  to  the  singles  chart  in  collaboration  with  Aztec  Camera  on  "Good  Morning  Britain" which  sounds  much  more  like  B.A.D.  than  Roddy  Frame's   previous  work.

In  the  early  part  of  1991  Mick  negotiated  a  new  international  deal  and  started  re-working  some  of  the  songs on  "Kool-Aid"  for  a  new  release. The  sprawling  opener  "Change  of  Atmosphere"  was  cut  down  to  4  minutes  and  re-titled  "Rush".  The  self-valedictory  track  retained  a  lengthy  sampling  break  in  the  middle  but  packed  enough  of  a  garage  rock  punch  to  be  selected  for  the  other  side of  Columbia's  re-release  of  "Should  I  Stay  Or  Should  I  Go"  to  cash  in  on  its  use  in  a  Levi's  ad  ( the  irony  of  using  a  Clash  track for  this  was  much  commented  on  at  the  time ). When  the  single  was  pressed  it  had  the  letters  AA on  the  "Rush "  side  which  some  sources  have  interpreted  as  meaning  the  single  was  a  double  A  side  and  thus  granting  B.A.D.  a  very  tendentious  number  one  hit. I  don't  recall  it  ever  being  announced  as  a  double  A  side on  radio  or  TV  and  it'  not  listed  as  such  in  Guinness.

The  song  was  a  genuine  number  one   hit  in   Australia  and  New Zealand  and  reached  32  in  America. The   parent  album  "The  Globe"  achieved  their  highest  placing  there  ( number  76 )  and  the  subsequent  singles  " The  Globe"  and  the  acoustic  ballad  "Innocent  Child "   did  well  in  those  markets  too. In  the  UK, Columbia  were  far  more  interested  in  promoting  a Clash  compilation  and  both  "Rock  The  Casbah" and  "London  Calling"  were  hits  again  on  re-release. Like  its  predecessor , "The  Globe"  spent just  a  single  week  on  the  chart.

Mick  then  chose  to  support  U2  on  their  Zoo  TV tour  rather  than  work  on  a  follow-up  and  all  momentum  was  lost. B.A.D.;s   final  three  albums failed  to  chart  anywhere  although  they  managed  one  last  minor  hit  with  the  ironic  "Looking  For  A  Song" , an  enjoyable  guitar  jangle,  in  1994. The  band  now  featured  former  Beat  vocalist  Ranking  Roger. Their  last  album  "Entering  A  New  Ride"  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  distributed  solely  through  the  internet  but  that  didn't  help  it  commercially.

Mick  laid  low   for  a  few  years  then  re-emerged  in  2002  with  Carbon/Silicon. As  we'll  be  covering  them  in  a  future  post,  we'll  leave Mick's  story  there   and  move  on  to  Joe.

If  B.A.D.  ultimately  failed  to  realise  their  potential,  there  is  at  least  a  solid  body  of  work  to  examine. That's  not  the  case  with  Joe  over  the  same  period. For  more  than  a  dozen  years  after  The  Clash's  demise, he cut  a  rather  forlorn  figure, a  restless  nomad  entombed  by  his  past, endlessly  searching  for  a  suitable  new  musical  home  and  producing  relatively  little. As  he  said  in  an  interview  with  Record  Mirror, " I'm  a  hopeless  case, I'm  a  hopeless  romantic, really  out  of  order". As  the  writer  ( Jim  Reid )  tartly  observed "This  is  the  man  who  would  be  the  third  Blues  Brother".

Joe's  first  post-Clash  recordings  were  a  couple  of  songs  for  Alex Cox's  biopic  Sid and  Nancy  after  he  met  the  director  while  gatecrashing  the  wrap  party  in  London. John  Lydon , who  hated  the  film, blamed  many  of  the  failings  on  Joe  in  his  autobiography  but  that  was  unfair; most  of  it  had  been  shot  before  Cox  and  Joe  even  met. One  of  Joe's  songs,  "Love  Kills" , was  released  as  a  single  and  became  his  only  solo  hit  in  August  1986  ( Mick  helped  him  complete  it ) , clocking  in  at  68  for  a  week.. It's  a  brutish  rock  track  addressing  Sid's  last  year in  America  with  harmonica blasts  as  signifiers  but  not  a  bad  tune.

Joe  went  to  work  on  the  second  Big  Audio  Dynamite  album  ( covered  above )  before  returning  to  Cox  to  work  on  his  next  two  films  Straight  To  Hell   and  Walker . For  the  former  he  contributed   two  more  songs  "Evil  Darling"  and  "Ambush  at  Mystery  Rock". The  first  is  a  likeable,  semi-acoustic  folk-rock  effort  but  it  goes  on  too  long  while  the  second  is  a  Cramps-ish  near  instrumental. Joe  had  a  big  part  in  the  cod-Spaghetti  Western  comedy  as  Simms  , one  of  the  three  incompetent  hitmen  around  whom  the  plot  revolves. For  Walker, he  had  a  smaller  part   in  the  film  but  a  larger  role  in  the  soundtrack . Joe  is  credited  as  sole  composer  on  all  the  tracks, most  of  them  instrumentals, but  he  had  a  lot  of  help  in  the  arrangements  from  American  guitarist  Zander  Schloss, the  beginning  of  a  steady  working  relationship. The  Latin / calypso  tunes  are  listenable  out  of  context  but  couldn't  save  the  film.

Walker  put  an  end  to  Cox's  Hollywood  career  and  he  didn't  get  to  make  another  film  for  four years  , obliging  Joe  to  seek pastures  new. He  had  met  The  Pogues  on  the  set  of  Straight  To  Hell  and  they  had  one  of  the  best  claims  to  be  carrying  on  in  the  punk  spirit. He  joined  them  on  tour  in  1987/88  filling  in  for  guitarist  Phil  Chevron  who  wasn't  well.

He  and  Schloss  then  reconvened  to  work  on  the  soundtrack  to  an  early Keanu  Reeves  film. Permanent  Record. Shloss  and  three  other  musicians  took  on  the  name  The Latino  Rockabilly  War. Joe  and  his  band  contributed  five  songs. "Trash  City"  sounds  very  like  "I  Fought  The  Law"  and  "Nothin  But  Nothin is  also  pretty Clash-like.

In  1989  he  came out  with  the  underwhelming  "Earthquake  Weather"  , an  eclectic  but  listless  collection  of  songs  with  some  attractive  trappings, courtesy  of  the  band, but  underneath it's  uninspired  mainstream  rock . It's  certainly  not  helped  by  Joe's  murky  production  either. The  single  "Gangsterville "  which  can't  make  up  its  mind  whether  it's  a  rock  or  reggae  number  is  typical. It  didn't  chart  and  cost  Joe  his  contract  with  Sony.

Joe  got  one  or  two  more  acting  roles  then  produced  Hell's  Ditch   for  The  Pogues  in  1990. Shortly  after  the  album's  release  Shane  McGowan  was  fired  and  Joe  replaced  him  for  the  tour  the  following  year. After  that  he  drifted  towards  The  Levellers  and  got  a  featuring  credit  on  their  1995  hit  "Just  The  One"  for  his  piano  part. The  following  year  he  got  an  artist  credit  on  Black  Grape's  "England's  Irie". Both  seem  a  bit  generous, in  neither  case  is  Joe's  contribution  particularly  audible, but  it  shows  the  respect  his  name  still  commanded  that  they  wanted  his  name  on  the  record. He  had  a  show  on  the  BBC  World  Service  for  a  while.

At  the  end  of  the  nineties , he  put  a  new  band  together  the  Mescaleros. In  October  1999  he  released  his  first  album  in  a  decade  with  "Rock  Art  &  the  X-Ray  Style". The  opener ( and  single "Tony  Adams" , confusingly  about  a  catastrophe  in  New  York, teases  with  its  reggae  guitar  evoking  his  former  band  but  thereafter  it's  a  quiet  singer-songwriter's  album  with  many  of  the  tracks  set  to  sparse  electrobeats  highlighting  Joe's  dense  lyrics. Joe  makes  a  wise  choice  in  allowing  his  colleagues  Anthony  Genn  and  Richard  Norris  handle  the  production  chores  but  there's  no  potential  hit on  the  album  and  while  critics  hailed  it  as  a  return  to  form  the  album  stalled at  71. The  second  Mescaleros  album  "Global-A-Go-Go"  in  2001  took  a  more  acoustic  approach  with  many  world  music  influences. It  got  more  attention  than  the  first; I  remember  hearing  the  single  "Johnny  Appleseed" . It's  a  bit  dense  to  fully  appreciate  in  one  listen  although  the  17  minute  version  of  "Minstrel  Boy"  certainly  tests  the  patience. It  only  improved  on  its  predecessor  by  three  places

It's  clear  that  Joe  was  in  a  better  frame  of  mind  with  these  releases  and   was  happy  to  play  Clash  numbers  on  the  tours  that  supported  them.  In  November  2002  Mick  joined  him  on  stage  at  a  gig  for  the  striking  firefighters  in  London.  Joe himself  referred  to  the  period  as  his  "Indian  summer "  but  he  didn't  realise  how  apt  this  was.

On  22  December  2002,  Joe  suddenly  died  of  an  undiagnosed  congenital  heart  defect  aged  50. He  had  recorded  enough  material  for the  release  of  a  third  Mescaleros  album  "Streetcore"   in  2003   although  many  of  the  vocals  are  first  takes  and  the  band  were  not  involved  in  the  two  tracks  he  recorded  with  Rick  Rubin  including  a  cover  of  Bob  Marley's  "Redemption  Song". The   album  is  sparer  and  less  complex  than  its  predecessors; whether  Joe  would  have  over-egged  the  pudding  again  if  he'd  lived  we'll  never  know  but  it's  refreshing  to  hear  that  voice  on  more  direct  material  again. The  glowing  reviews  were  perhaps  a  bit  over-generous  due  to  the  circumstances.  Despite  punky  opener "Coma  Girl"  and  "Redemption  Song"    making  the  chart  as  singles ( 32  and  46  respectively ), the  album  only  got  to  number  50. His  family  and  friends  set  up  the  Joe  Strummer  Foundation  to  promote  new  music  in  his  memory.

Paul  had   already  been  marginalised  by  the  time  of  "Cut  The  Crap"; he  only  played  on  two  of  the  tracks. He  joined  a  new  band  Havana  3 A.M.  in  1986  but  it  took  them  a  long  time  to   get  an  audience  and  that  was  mainly  in  Japan  where  they  recorded  their  only  single  "Reach  The  Rock" ,  which  sounds  like  a  beefed-up  Chris  Isaak  though  let  down  by  an  ugly  drum  sound. Their  eponymous  album  was  released  shortly  afterwards  with  Paul's  girlfriend  on  the  cover. It's  a  pleasant  collection  of  retro-rock  mixing  The  Pirates  and  Gene  Vincent   with  reggae  and  New  Wave  influences, not  the  sort  of  thing  that  was  going  to  have  wide  appeal  in  1991. A  couple  of  years  later,  singer  Nigel  Dixon  died  and  Paul  decided  to  quit  the  band  and  concentrate  on  his  painting.

Paul  wasn't  lured  back  into  music  until  2006  when  Damon  Albarn  wanted  him  in  on  the  "The  Good  The  Bad  and  the  Queen"  project  along  with  former Verve  guitarist  Simon  Tong  and  Nigerian  drummer  Tony  Allen . The  resulting  album  is  according  to Albarn "a  song  cycle  that's  also  a  mystery  play  about  London". It  was  trailed  by  a  single  "Herculean"  in   October  2006 ( although  they  had  already  performed  the  album  in  its  entirety  for  BBC's  Electric  Proms  season )  . It's  a  mournful  lo-fi  effort  about the  prevalence  of  drugs  with  treated  vocals  that  reminds  me  of  Eels. Paul  designed  the  cover  for  the single which  reached  number  22  in  the  chart.  There  was  another  single , the  grim, post-apocalyptic  whine  of  "Kingdom  of  Doom"   which  reached  number  20  , before  the  album  came  out  in  January  2007. I'll  put  my  cards on  the  table  and  declare  that I'm  not  a great  admirer  of  Mr  Albarn  but  there  is  some good  music  on  the album  even  if  you  don't  buy  into  the  concept. The  album  shot  straight  to  number  2  when  released.  A  third  single , the  fractured  psychedelic  pop  of  "Green  Fields", ( actually  a  re-working  of  a  song  Albarn  had  written  for  Marianne  Faithfull )  made  number  51.
Paul  went  on  to  play on  the  title  track  ( as  did  Mick )  of  the  2010  Gorillaz  album  "Plastic  Beach".

In  this  decade  Paul  has  become  a  Greenpeace  activist  and  the  band  behind  "The  Good, The Bad.."  played  a  benefit  gig  for  them  in  2011. That  same  year  he  spent  a  fortnight  in  a  Greenland  jail  for  his part  in  a  drilling  protest. Earlier  this  year  Albarn  revealed  that   the  "band"  is  working  on  a second  album.

By  1985  Nicky  had  got  his  act  together  to  record  his  first  solo  single,  a  cover  of  a  1940s  big  band  number  "The  Drumming  Man"  with  vocals  from  Didi  Sketcher. It  got  a  bit  of  night  time  radio  play  in  the  summer  of  1985  but  wasn't  a  hit. For  his  next  single,  "Leave  It  To  Luck"  that  autumn  he  had  some  heavyweight  help  from  veteran  guitarist  Bobby  Tench, Blockhead  keyboardist  Mick  Gallagher  and  Jimmy  Helms  on  vocals. The  song  is  Nicky's  original  composition  and  it's  a  credible  Stax  pastiche  although  Jimmy  sounds  more  like  Tom  Jones  than  Otis  Redding. It  set  the  tone for  his  solo  album  "Waking  Up"  in  1986  which  included  a  cover  of  "Time Is  Tight"  and  several  tracks  addressing  his  drug  problems. The  album  was  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  another  drug  casualty, Pretenders  bassist  Pete  Farndon. There  was  a  third  single  "I'll  Give  You  Everything"  which  has  some  fine  brass  work  propping  up  a  slight  song. Alas, Nicky's  work  was  just  too  retro  for  the  times  and  neither  the  album  nor  its  singles  sold.

The  following  year  his  career  was  interrupted  by  a  spell  in  jail  for  supplying  heroin. When  he got  out  he  took  to  min-cab  driving  for  a  couple  of  years  but  only  to  finance  his  habit. He  occasionally  dabbled  in  music, producing  an  album  for  the  Bush  Tetras  and  helping  out  the  reformed  Chelsea  on  an  LP. He  then  took  to  busking  on  the  Underground  and  living  in  a  hostel  for  the  homeless. When  Don  Letts  interviewed  him  for  a  documentary  film  in  2000  he  weighed  just  seven  stone.  Eventually  he  returned  to  Dover  to  live  with  his  parents  and  after  umpteen  attempts  at  rehab  and  a  bout  of  Hepatitis  C  he  finally  got  clean  towards  the  end  of  the decade. He  has  since  appeared  with  Carbon/Silicon  on  stage  although  he  has  to  drum  upright  due  to  back  problems.

Always  a  "Steady  Eddie"  by  comparison,  Terry went  on  to  drum  for  various  bands  including  Hanoi  Rocks, The  Cherry  Bombz  and  most  notably Black  Sabbath  in  the  late  eighties. While  with  Sabbath,  a sore  arm  was  successfully  treated  by  the  band's  personal  chiropractor  and  Terry  decided  to  enter  the  profession  himself. Since  1994,  he  has run  his  own  clinic,  Chimes  Chiropractic, in  Essex. He  is  also  involved  with  the  Scouting  movement  and  plays  in  some  part  time  bands.

Nick  returned  to  Bristol  and  formed  the  band  Head  with  former  Rip  Rig  and  Panic  man  Gareth  Sagar. like  all  Sagar's  bands  they  sold  diddly  squat  but  they  produced  three  albums  in  the  late  eighties  which  have  been  posthumously  lauded  as  paving  the  ground  for  trip  hop. When  they  folded,  he  had  a  spell  in  a  band  called  Shot  but  they  never  released  a  record. In  1993   he  emigrated to  Perth , Australia  and  opened  a  clothing  store . He  plays  in  a  part-time  band  The  Dom-Nicks.

As Pete  didn't  play  on  "This  Is  England" , the  only  single  released  during  his  time  with  the  band,  I'll  just  mention  in  passing  that he  went  on to  play  in  the  bands,  Eat  and  Queenadreena. Vince  wasn't  on  the  single  either. He  became  a  mini-cab  driver  then  a  fine  artist  and  a  pick-up  musician  for  visiting  blues  legends.

678 Goodbye Five Star - Hot Love

Chart  entered  : 7  July  1990

Chart  peak :  68

The  Pearson  family's   hot  streak  quickly  burned  itself  out  in  the  new  decade.

Five  Star  peaked  in  1986-87  when  six  singles  from  the  "Silk  and  Steel"  made  the  Top  20  including  the  number  2  hit  "Rain  Or  Shine" . They  controversially  won  the  Best  British  Group  Award  at  the  1987  Brits. After  that  they  suffered  something  of  a  backlash  with  none  of  the  singles  from  their  next  two  LPs  reaching  the  Top  10. In  1989  their  "Greatest  Hits"  set  had  peaked  at  number  53  and  the  group  were  denounced  as  "fucking  crap"  by  a  caller  on  Going  Live. Their  Berkshire  mansion  was  repossessed  in  a  blaze  of  unwelcome  publicity.

Dad  Buster  Pearson moved  them  to  Epic  Records  to  try  and  reverse the  downward  trend  but  their  first  single  for  the  new  label  "Treat  Me  Like  A  Lady"  failed  to  reach  the  Top  40.

"Hot  Love"  was  their  next  single. Predictably,  it's  trying  to  get  on  the  new  jack  swing  bandwagon  but  it's  holed  below  the  waterline  by  Doris  Pearson's   inept  vocals. She  sounds  more  like  a  little  girl  asking  for  sweeties  than  someone  offering  steamy  bedroom  action  and  the  lyrics  are  just  a  string  of  sexual  cliches. It   sounds  like  a  Janet  Jackson  B-side  at  best.

Epic  shelved  plans  for  another  single  from  their  forthcoming  album  "Five  Star"  ( their  first  entirely  self-written  effort  ) which  was  only  released  in  the  US. In  October,  Stedman  Pearson  was  convicted  of  public  indecency  after  an  incident  at  a  public  toilet  and  the  group  fled  to  America  despite  interest  in  the  group  there  having  faded  much  earlier  than  in  the  UK.

Denise  Pearson began  work  on  a  solo  album  at  a  studio  owned  by  Michael  Jackson  but  the  others  contributed  so  much  it  eventually  became  another  group  effort , "Shine". Epic  were  persuaded  to  put  out  the  title  track  as  a  single  in  1991. Written  by  producer  Ian  Prince  and  Marva  King, it's  a  much  more  convincing  attempt  at  contemporary  R &  B  with  Prince  coaxing  out  an  impressive vocal  performance  from Denise. Alas, it  failed  to  chart, Epic  again  refused  to  release  the  album  in  the  UK  and  dropped  them  from  the  label. The  whole  album  is  similarly  polished  but  I  guess  there  was  a  "coals  to  Newcastle"  resistance  going  on  in  America.

Though  no  longer  supported  by  RCA, Buster  Pearson still  had  his  Tent  label  and  the  next  Five  Star  album  "Heart  and  Soul"  was  released  on  that  in  1994  in  the  US  and  1995  in  the  UK. There  were  three singles  " I  Love  You  ( For  Sentimental  Reasons )"  an  attempt  to  move  into  Mariah  Carey  territory  bereft  which  fails through  Denise's  inadequacy and  an  absence  of  hooks. " I  Give  You  Give"  is  anonymous  dance  pop  and  "Surely" even  more  so  despite  the  inclusion  of  some  dancehall  toasting.  No  one  was  interested  at  the  height  of  Britpop  and  the  group  decided  to  disband.

Denise  got  married  and  started  a  family. She  recorded  a  duet  with  Matt  Goss  of  Bros  in  1997  but  it  was  never  released. Delroy  Pearson  had  some  success  in  the  US  as  a  writer  and  producer  for  the  boy  band  Immature. Stedman ran  a  limousine  hire  service.

Buster  kept  the  fan club  going  and  encouraged  all  his  offspring  to  pop  into  the  studio.  By  2001  he  had  enough  material  along  with  remixes  from  the  previous  album  to  scrape  together  an album "Eclipse"  which  was  made  available  through  the  fan  club.  The  new  material  consisted  mainly  of  slow  jams  like  the  single  "Funktafied ". It  was  released  in  the  teeth  of  opposition  from  Doris  and  Delroy  who  had  no  desire  to  revive  the  group.  Denise , Stedman  and  Loraine  Pearson  toured  as  a  trio  in  2002  playing  the  Here  and  Now  tour.

Gradually  the  group  returned  to  the  UK. Stedman  started  running  a  dance  school  in  London  while  Denise  moved  her  children  here in  2005. She  masterminded  a  remix  of  "System  Addict"  along  with  her  friend  Ryan  Tedder  which  is  to  date  the  last  Five  Star  single.

The  following  year  Stedman  started  a  reality  TV  career  with  an  appearance  on  Channel  5's  The  All  Star  Talent  Show.

In  2007  Denise  started  a  decade  of  trying  to  make  it  as  a  solo  performer  with  the  release  of  a  track  on  itunes  "Here  I  Am", a  reasonable  piano  ballad.  The  next  year  she  and  Stedman  did  some  gigs  at  Butlins   to  mark  the  group's  25th  anniversary  with  three  anonymous  dancers  filling  the  gaps  in  the line  up. In  2009  Denise  began  a  more  reliable  career  in  musical  theatre  with  a  run  in  Thriller-Live  at  the  Lyric  Theatre  in  London.

In  2012  Denise  appeared  on  The  Voice  and  got  through  to  Tom  Jones's  team  though  he  eventually  dropped  her. There  was  some  criticism  for  her  competing  as  an  ex-pro. In  the  summer  the  full  group  reunited  to  play  a  couple  of  Rewind  festivals  in  the  UK. In  October  that  year  Buster  Pearson  died. Lorraine  decided  to  leave  the  line  up  at  that  point. The  other  four  have  been  playing  summer  festivals  since  then.

Denise  has  kept  plugging  away  since  her  appearance  on  The  Voice. In  2014  she  finally  got  a  solo  album, "Imprint "  out  after  a  run  of  one-off  singles  like  the  Beyonce-ish  "Freak  Dance". It's  a  competent  R  &  B  set, mainly  of  pre-released  material,  but  didn't  make  any  impression.  Denise  does  solo  gigs  as  well  and  supported  The  Jacksons  on  their  Unity  tour  in  2013.

677 Hello Spiritualized - Anyway That You Want Me / Step into The Breeze

Chart  entered : 30  June  1990

Chart  peak : 75

Number  of  hits : 11

I  said  in  the  Ride  post  that  I  didn't  feel  they  really  qualified  as  "shoegazers"  but  this  lot  were  the  real  deal. My  usual  travelling  companions  to  Dale  games  are  big  fans  but  I've  yet  to  be  converted.

Spiritualized  emerged  from  the wreckage  of  Spacemen  3, founded  at  Rugby  Art  College  in  1982  by  Jason  Pierce  and  Pete  Kember. The  two  guitarists  recruited  a  rhythm  section  and  became  The  Spacemen  playing  at  any  venue  that  could  tolerate  one  chord  songs  lasting  20  minutes. When  the  bassist  left  the  following  year  they  became  Spacemen  3. In  1984  they  made  a  demo  tape  which  they  sold  at  gigs. At  this  point  they  were  playing  a  sort  of  murky swamp  rock  akin  to  The  Cramps.

Spacemen  3  remained  a  purely  local  phenomenon  until  they  came to  the  attention  of  Pat  Fish  from  the  group  The  Jazz  Butcher  who  secured  them  a  deal  with  the independent  Glass  label  in  1986. Their  first  album  "Sound  of  Confusion" came  out  that  July. It  isn't  quite  as  fearsome  as  I  expected,  sounding  somewhat  like  a  slowed  down  Jesus  and  Mary  Chain. They   wore  their  influences  on  their  sleeves  with  three  late  sixties  cover versions  ( including   one  from  The  Stooges  )  all  given  a  similar  treatment  to  their  own  songs. With  Jason's  blank  drone  contributing  to  the  samey  feel ,  the  album  does  rather  outstay  its  welcome. the  closing  "O.D. Catastrophe"  being  particularly  attritional. The  album  received  little  attention  at  the  time.

They  followed  it  up  with  a  single  "Walkin  With  Jesus"  , a  song  they  hadn't  managed  to  complete  at  the  album  sessions. It's  very  much  out  of  the  same  mould  with  Jason  intoning  sardonic  summery  references  over  the  JAMC/ Velvets  guitar  racket. They  started  getting  some  national  press  and  appearing  in  the  independent  charts.

For  their  next  album  they  had  the  luxury  of  unlimited  studio  time  after  agreeing  to  fund  an  upgrade  of  the  equipment. While  working  on  the  album  they  recorded  a  cover  of  "Transparent  Radiation"  by  Red  Crayola  and  put  it  out  as  a  single  in  July  1987. A  drone  rock  effort  somewhere between  Velvet  Underground  and  Pink  Floyd, it  was  their  first  release to  use  strings  to  soften  their  sound.

The  album  "The  Perfect  Prescription"  came  out  in  September  and,  as  the  title  suggests,  was heavily  influenced  by  the  use  of  recreational  drugs. The  opening  track "Take  Me  To  The  Other  Side"  subsequently  released  as  a  single  has  echoes  of  Fleetwood  Mac's  The  Green  Manalishi. Elsewhere  though, Lou  Reed  and  the  Velvets  are  the  paramount  influence, something  only  accentuated  by  the  softening  of  the  sound  with  Farfisa  organ, acoustic  guitar  and  strings  on  various  tracks. This  is  still  not  the  place  to  come  for  catchy  tunes  but  it's  an  impressively  realised   vision  and  closing  track  "Call  The  Doctor " is  outstanding.

The  band  were  not  happy  with  their  contract  with  Glass  and  in  July  1988  put  out  a  live  album  "Performance"  recorded  at  a  gig  in  Amsterdam  to  fulfil  their  contract. By  this  time  their  bassist  had  departed  and  Will  Carruthers , previously  in  a  band  called  The  Cogs  of  Tyme, came  in  to  replace  him. They  received  an  offer  from  Creation  Records  which  did  not  satisfy  them, eventually  settling  for  a  two  album  deal  with  Fire  Records.

They  set  down  to  work  on  a  third  album  but  the  sessions  were  difficult. The  drummer  had  quit  so  they  used  a  drum  machine. More  importantly,  Jason  was  spending  more  time  with  his  girlfriend  Kate  Radley  leaving  Kember  to  shoulder  more   of  the  creative  responsibility.
The  two  men  argued  over  what  should  be  the  next  single. This  was  eventually  resolved  in  favour  of  Kember's  "Revolution "  which  was  released  in  November  1988.  The  song  borrows  heavily  from  an  MC5  track  "Black  To  Comm"  with  Kember's  spoken  word  drawl  accompanied  by  a  barrage  of  white  guitar  noise   that  grows  more  intense  as  the  six  minute  single  progresses. It  got  good  reviews  and  featured  in  John  Peel's  Festive  Fifty.

The  release  of  the  album  "Playing  With  Fire"  was  held  up  by  a  fierce  argument  over  the  songwriting  credits. The  finished  product  had  six  Kember  songs  and  three  written  by  Jason. However  the  latter  wanted  crediting  for  the  guitar  parts  he  had  contributed  to  the  other  songs. Their  manager  had  to  intervene  and  eventually  Jason  got  a  co-writer's  credit  on  the  track  "Suicide ". The  album  then  came  out  in  February  1989  by  which  time  they  had  acquired  a  new  drummer  in  Johnny  Mattock, previously  with  The  Apple  Creation.

The  album  showed  a  clear  pulling  apart  between  Jason's  blissed  out  ballads  and  Kember's  more  challenging  material   like  the  ten-minute  "Suicide"  which  does  indeed  make  you  feel  like  ending  it  all. The  album  got  good  reviews  and  topped  the  independent  charts.

The  tour  to  promote  it  generated  more  arguments  with  Kember  objecting  to  Kate's  presence  on  the  bus. There  were  further  arguments  over  the  next  single. The  band  recorded  two  songs "Hypnotized"  and  "Just  To  See  You  Smile"  written  by  Jason  and  Kember  respectively.  Anticipating  trouble , their  manager  Gerald  Palmer  selected "Hypnotized"  ( from  which  Kember's   contribution  had  been  wiped )  as  the  A-side  and  pressed  up  the  single  which  the  band  were  on  tour  in  Europe.

It  was  released  in  July  1989  by  which  time  the  band  had  expanded  to  a  quintet  with  the  addition  of  another guitarist  Mark  Refoy, a  long-time  fan  of  the  band. The  single  is  another  lysergic  ballad  with  droning  organ  chords  and  whispered  vocals  and  though  not  obviously  more  commercial   than  previous  releases  it  nearly  charted. That  did  not  placate  Kember  whose  relationship  with  Palmer  was  permanently  damaged. The  band  continued  though  with  the  other  members  all  helping  out  on  Pete's  solo  album  "Spectrum"  which  he  would  release  under  the  name  "Sonic  Boom".

In  August  1989  they  played  the  Reading  Festival  in  what  turned  out  to  be  their  last  live  performance. They  were  then  due  to  tour  the  US  but  first  Palmer  was  sacked  as  manager . He  responded  by   pulling  out  of  financing  the  tour  which  had  to  be  cancelled. This  was  glossed  over  in  the  music  press  with a  story  that  they  couldn't  get  work  permits  because  of  drug  convictions.

Sacking  Palmer  did  not  resolve  the  conflict  between  Jason  and  Kember  who  recorded  their  own  songs  separately  calling  in  the  others  when  required. Kember  did  not  play  on  Jason's  songs  but  accused  him  of  stealing  his  ideas. They could  only  agree  to  have  a  side  each  on  the  album. A  collaborative single  with  Mudhoney  was  called  off  because  Kember  disliked  their  cover  of  "Revolution". Will  could  not  cope  with  the  aggravation  and  quit  the  band  in  September  1989. On  the  other  hand  Palmer  was  back  in  the  fold  negotiating  a  new  deal  with  Dedicated  Records.

In  November,   Johnny  and  Mark  quit  the  band  in  exasperation  at  Kember's  difficult  behaviour  which  was  holding  up  the  completion  of  the  album.

With  the  group's  album still  unfinished  , the  Sonic  Boom  album  came  out  in  January  1990. This  seems  to  have  been  the  catalyst  for  Jason  to  round  up  the  recently  departed  Spacemen  and  keyboard  player  Steve  Evans  for  his  own  side  band  to  be  called  Spiritualized. Jason  subsequently  said  he  just  wanted  to get  out  on  the  road  while  Kember  toiled  in  the studio  but  this  does  not  square  with  keeping  their  recording  sessions  secret  from  him.

The  first  Kember  knew  of  Spiritualized  was  the  release of  this  single  to  which  he  responded  by  announcing  the  demise  of  Spacemen  3. "Anyway  That  You  Want  Me"  is  a  cover  of  a  Troggs  song  that  Spacemen  3  had  previously  demoed. As  you'd  expect,  the  band  slow  it  down  to  a  drone   with  strings  softening  the  heavy  guitars  and  Jason  singing  like  he's  just  got  up. There  was  a  suitably  psychedelic  video  to  go  with  it."Step  Into  The  Breeze"   is  a  new  song  with  blasts  of  guitar  and  cello  scrapes  punctuating  a  pastoral  drone  expressing  a  mellow  content. I  suspect  they  were  probably  surprised  to  scrape  a  hit  with  it.