Band:

Strangeways

BiografieStrangeways have had a long and colorful carreer in the biz we call "music" spanning 20 years from the humble beginings gigging around Scotland to 6 original albums, 1 "Best Of" and support gigs with Bryan Adams, Meatloaf, Europe (remember them?), Gino Washington, The Helecasters, Glenn Hughs, The Kinks.........the list goes on and on. I´ll try to keep this as brief as possible!

So.......why STRANGEWAYS?. Well, a long, long time ago in a land far, far away......... it all started in an American diner in Clydebank, Scotland. I know, I know.......Clydebank..... American diner? Anyway, we were young and impulsive and in need of a new name for the band, the previous one having outstayed it´s welcome, and with a bunch of new demo tapes to send out we felt the time was ripe to try and move things on a bit. We´d been called an A.O.R. band, and, we were of the firm impression that that must stand for "Any Old Rubbish!", and because we were so obviously different.....and did things in strange ways......there you are, nothing strange about that!. We were however, a rock band, we liked to think, in the spirit of Bad Co, Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash and such, but we were also into Blues, Jazz, Funk, Country, you name it, music where talented people wrang their instruments necks like their life depended on it, and we just loved to play anything that we enjoyed playing, what could be more simple?. Little did we know what lay ahead!. We were young, gullible, open to influence from business types, who are always full of great ideas (full of something anyway!), and they kept telling us that we were more suited to the "American (there´s that word again) market". So after signing our first record deal with a bunch of thieves, crooks, robbers, bastards, (delete where applicable) brother Ian and I, along with new drummer- the aptly named Jim Drummond, having parted company with singer Stevie Doherty, (hope you´re getting all this?) set about recording our first record at the beautiful Powerplay Studio near Zurich. And with well known American(!) record producer-Kevin Elson (Journey, Mr.Big, Europe etc) at the helm, we proceeded to make our very first A.O.R record!!! EEK!. Young geordie Limahl(!) lookalike Tony Liddel was added on vocals and...... and then we sacked him!. That was that. The album received great acclaim from the rock press, but the dodgy deals our managers/record co´/publishers were doing saw to it that eveyone thought we were a Canadian band, because our record was high in the import charts!. So what with that and no singer again, it was back to the drawing board.

We went back into the studio and recorded a bunch of new songs with Ian singing. We liked the result and played them to the crooks, who immediately suggested that we employ the services of Terry Brock, a big Elvis looking Mo´Fu´ from (you´ve guessed it) Atlanta, Georgia, USA!. The circle was complete. We, it seems, were an A.O.R. band!! Terry had an immense voice and was a fuuny bloke ....., to start with, but all the politics and wrangling that ensued soon made things tricky. With Tezza on vox the music just sounded so American, but the crooks loved it and so it was off to see the wizard once again(Native Sons)..........and then once more(Walk In The Fire)..........just to add insult to injury!. The two Terry records once again got much acclaim from the rock press, and with touring to support them they sold very well in some quarters, and we began to aquire quite a fan following, especially in Germany where we toured most, but not America where we never played, for some reason known only to the crooks, who, by the 2nd Terry record we had sacked in favour of different crooks!! So by now everything was getting a bit sour. Terry left, the eighties crashed, back to the drawing board once again.

The 1990´s saw us try different singers out, again in an attempt to find someone who could sing the way we played, until it finally dawned on us that Ian should do it. With no crooks around (phew!) we went ahead with new material, exploring where we were going and getting to grips with the recession, and when we felt ready, got together with an old friend to make a new record. With a friendly person in place of a manager we thought this was it. The perfect solution. We made the record, started gigging, building things up slowly. The new record- And The Horse, was going where we wanted to go musically. Some people liked it, some people hated it. Some people hated it but then liked it after they´d listened a few times. Some folks just didnt know what to think, when things went pear-shaped........again!. Much acrimony followed....... with our old friend........ unfortunately he just didnt know what to think!. And instead of listening to us and the thousands of people we played to at gigs, he listened to the wind whistle "Dixie" through his ears! But we did make a lot of new friends and so we decided to- GO IT ALONE! Weyheyyyyyy!

It,s the mid 90´s now and we record tracks for our 5th album at home and in Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire, but Jim wasn´t a happy chicken at this point and decided a return to Scotland was what he needed. So Ian and I got on with the new record-Any Day Now and started setting up our new Record Co´ - Hangdog Records Ltd, so we could take care of buisness ourselves. We released the whole of Strangeways back catalog along with the new record. This was no small undertaking. But we struggled on and Any Day Now was praised from many corners as an album of contrasts with much to offer including it´s wow cover art by Gary Hickin. It also thankfully managed to escape pidgeon holeing as A.O.R. A benign term in itself, but most commonly used to describe that particular brand of American sounding rock music that lived and died in the eighties, of which we were undoubtedly a part, and grew out of, but is still clung to by a few, poor, misguided,..........(insert your words here). But....... Jim wasn´t coming back! EEK! This left us trying to find a suitable replacement in the wilds of Lincolnshire.......no easy task. Any Tour Now would have to wait!

Greatest Bits was a bit of fun inspired by this website. Fans sent us their fav´ tracks, we chose winners and that was that. The competition got good support and a wide range of tracks were chosen by the fans, right through from Strangeways to Any Day Now, so we weren´t short of tracks to choose from. They also told us they were waiting for us to get out and gig!. A drummer, a drummer, my kingdom for a drummer!.

Ian started writing songs for the long awaited new record "Gravitational Pull", and invited different drummers along to try out. There are two different guys on the record - Mike Pickering, and John Perry, as well as one track which has Jim on it, all talented drummers, I´m sure you´ll agree. Gravitational Pull is already raising the eyebrows of people who have been immune to our ways. The sound has changed slightly and interest is growing. With rehearsals in progress for much needed live performances, and promotion, this could be the one you´ve been waiting for. A record from the heart, with no pretentions to be anything other than what it is, Gravitational Pull pulls you along until you grok what it´s all about - music.

So there you are, a (hopefully) brief whizz through the history of one of the music buisnesses best kept secrets - STRANGEWAYS. The truth is........ they´re out there!!>br>
Quelle: http://www.hangdog.co.ukDiscografie1986 Strangeways

1987 Native Sons

1989 Walk In The Fire

1995 And The Horse

1997 And Day Now

2010 Perfect World

www

Reviews

Age Of Reason - Cover
„Age Of Reason“ ist das zweite Album der Engländer STRANGEWAYS nach ihrer erneuten Kollaboration mit dem Amerikaner Terry Brock, welcher in den 80ern bereits Teil der Truppe war und in den
Perfect World - Cover
Selten so gefreut, selten so enttäuscht.
Walk In The Fire - Cover
Das gibt es tatsächlich!