The Alarm

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The Alarm
The Alarm performing at the Isle of Calf Festival in Norway in 1984. (Photo by Helge Øverås)
The Alarm performing at the Isle of Calf Festival in Norway in 1984. (Photo by Helge Øverås)
Background information
Also known as Alarm Alarm
Origin Rhyl, Wales
Genre(s) Alternative rock
Years active 1981-1991; 2001-
Label(s) IRS Records, Liberty Records, Snapper Music
Associated acts The Stray Cats
Website Official website
Members
Mike Peters
Dave Sharp
Eddie Macdonald
Nigel Twist
Craig Adams
James Stevenson
Steve Grantley

The Alarm is an alternative rock band that emerged from Wales in the early 1980s. It started as a local punk band with a spirited, energetic acoustic/folk influence, stayed together for ten years, and landed 7 top 10 singles. The Alarm incorporated elements of punk, folk, new wave, roots rock, and classic rock, and, unusually for a rock band, displayed marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular alternative rock band of the 1980's, retaining a small but loyal following to the present day.

Contents

[edit] Band members

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

The band was formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1978 and was originally called Seventeen. The band was a mod/punk band, and after a tour with The Stray Cats in 1980, the band split. They played their last gig together under the new name of Alarm Alarm, but this would also be the last time this name was used. Lead singer Peters (at the advice of legendary DJ John Peel, according to some stories) decided to change the name in 1981, supposedly because too many bands during the early 1980s had redundant names, such as The The and Duran Duran.

Peters and Twist had originally been in local punk band The Toilets, Sharp in Chuck Burial & The Embalmed and Macdonald in Amsterdam. All bands were short lived.

The band soon reformed under the new name of The Alarm, aiming to create songs using a new electro-punk sound. A new 'western military' image also began to materialise, inspired by the Stray Cats and Kirk Brandon's Theatre Of Hate. The Alarm played their first ever gig at The Victoria Hotel, Prestatyn, North Wales on the 10 June 1981, opening with "Shout to the Devil", which would later appear on the Declaration LP.

They moved from North Wales to London in September 1981. The band decided to try and record a one-off 7" single said to be paid for by Alarm Roadie (and later TV presenter) "Gaz Top" in an attempt to establish themselves with a wider audience. 1,000 copies of the single were pressed, featuring "Unsafe Building" on the 'electric' side and "Up For Murder" on the 'acoustic' side. The single was noticed by Mick Mercer, who featured it as his single of the month in his ZigZag magazine. The band played a show with The Fall in December 1981, where a journalist from Sounds noticed them. This journalist attended the band's next show, at Upstairs At Ronnie's in London's West End. Also at this show was a representative of Wasted Talent, who arranged a meeting between the band and Ian Wilson, U2's agent. Wilson arranged another show in order to assess the band's quality, was impressed, and became the band's manager soon after. To celebrate, The Alarm played with U2 at the Lyceum Ballroom on 22 December.

In 1982, the band began to record demos for various record labels, but had little success. At this point, they were playing with three singing acoustic guitarists - this worked live, but did not translate to record very well. The band were eventually offered a deal by IRS, forcing them to make a decision on who was to play which instruments. It was decided that Peters would concentrate on singing, with Sharp on guitar and Macdonald playing bass.

"Marching On" was released as a single in October 1982, and the band's sound started to become clear. On stage, they would almost always begin gigs acoustically, before finishing with electric guitars. Constant gigging in London helped the band build up a following, and in December 1982, they played four shows with U2. These shows were the first time that Bono ever joined The Alarm on stage.

A new song, "The Stand" was recorded in Battersea in 1983, and was released in the UK as a single. The song's lyrics were inspired by Stephen King's novel of the same name. Outside the UK, the song was released as part of a five-track EP, title The Alarm. The EP was released to coincide with The Alarm's first tour of the U.S. in June 1983, supporting U2 on the 'War' tour. Following the success of the sessions that produced "The Stand", IRS picked up their recording option on the band, signalling the start of work on a full album. Another session with producer Mick Glossop was arranged to produce a new single, and it was agreed that "Blaze of Glory" was to be recorded and released.

In June 1983, The Alarm embarked on their first tour of the U.S., supporting U2 on the 'War' tour. The 18-date tour went a long way in establishing the band in the U.S., whose sound was received favourably by the American audience and critics alike. "The Stand" was quickly released by IRS to capitalise on this, supported by TV appearances on The Cutting Edge and American Bandstand.

Following the tour, the band returned to the UK to begin working with producer Alan Shacklock on the new album. They focused on re-recording "Blaze of Glory" and "Sixty Eight Guns". After the sessions, the band recorded a video for "Sixty Eight Guns" and flew back to America to begin their first headline American tour. "Sixty Eight Guns" was released as a single on 12 September 1983, and charted the following week at number 54. The same week, the BBC Television music show Top of the Pops, had to look outside the Top 40 for the first time in its history[citation needed] in order to fill a slot vacated by Johnny Rotten and Public Image Ltd. The Alarm was the only band capable of filling the slot, leading to one of their most famous British TV appearances. Their performance of "Sixty Eight Guns" on Top of the Pops was many people's first introduction to the band, and helped signal their arrival.

[edit] Declaration

The band had been recording the new album on and off from July 1983, and by the time of the Top of the Pops appearance they had recorded the backing tracks to most of the songs. After completing a US tour and a headline tour of the UK in late 1983, the band returned to the studio to record the backing tracks for the rest of the songs.

On 6 November 1983, the band recorded an acoustic radio session for the BBC. This session saw the debut of three brand new songs: "Walk Forever by My Side", "One Step Closer to Home" and "Unbreak the Promise", all of which would become strong fan favourites.

On 7 November, the band returned to the studio to finish recording the album, now titled Declaration. In December, The Alarm returned to the US for a third headline tour. The weather was atrocious, and on 6 December, the car the band was travelling in crashed, but all four members remained unharmed. They returned to the UK on 17 December and appeared as part of an Anti-Nuclear Benefit Concert at the Apollo Theatre, London.

Whilst the band had been in the US, Alan Shacklock and recording engineer Chris Porter finished mixing the album. The band played a handful of gigs supporting The Police over Christmas, and by January 5, 1984, the album had been mixed and finalised. 'Declaration' was officially released by IRS Records on February 14, 1984. A week later, the album entered the UK album charts at Number 6.

In November 1984, The Alarm recorded demos of nine brand new songs, including 'Absolute Reality'. They played their new material to American producer Jimmy Iovine, who agreed to come to the UK in January 1985 to begin work on the follow-up to 'Declaration'. Studio sessions were booked for early 1985, and a massive UK headline tour was booked for May 1985, to go with the release of the new album. January came around, and Iovine kept passing on messages that he would arrive in the UK soon. However, Iovine never came to the UK to work with The Alarm, eventually citing personal reasons. The band had to cancel the sessions and look for another producer. Alan Shacklock was unavailable, so Ian Wilson (the band's manager) convinced IRS to release the Shacklock-produced 'Absolute Reality' as a single to promote the UK dates in May. 'Absolute Reality' was released on 18 February 1985, entering the Top 40 a week later. The 'Absolute Tour' was a near sell-out. After a series of appearances at European festivals and a new producer (Mike Howlett), The Alarm could begin work on the follow-up to 'Declaration'. They also had a big hit single in the UK in 1987 with "Rain In The Summertime", which gave them one of their highest peaks at #18 in the singles chart.

[edit] Later years

The band toured extensively through the United States and Europe through the 1980s into 1991. They gained much popularity in 1983 as they were the opening act during U2's War Tour. The Alarm were often compared musically to U2.

On 13 March 1988, The Alarm performed at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, California with The 77s and House of Freaks. Audience members included Neil Young. 1988 saw the band opening for Bob Dylan's tour. After the release of Raw in 1991, despite their success and relative longevity, Peters announced on stage at the Brixton Academy that he was leaving the band. This came as much of a shock to his colleagues as the audience. No attempt by the remaining three members to continue without Peters, they soon disbanded.

After a short and unremarkable solo career in the 1990s, against the wishes of the original members of the band Peters chose began using the name Alarm once more. The line-up of the New band included Craig Adams (ex The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, The Cult), James Stevenson (Chelsea, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Cult) and Steve Grantley of Stiff Little Fingers, and released the In the Poppy Fields CD in 2004. The lead single reached the Top 40, on indie Snapper Music after the band credited the track to The Poppyfields and got a younger band to front the single in their video. However the second single, credited to The Alarm, charted a few places lower than the Top 40.

The original members of The Alarm finally appeared together on the VH1 show Bands Reunited in 2005, and performed live in London with a subsequent expanded DVD/CD release of the episode.

The Alarm's single "68 Guns" has been featured in an American Heineken lager television commercial.

In late December 2005, singer Mike Peters revealed he has been diagnosed with a form of cancer called chronic lymphocytic leukemia, but it was diagnosed in its early stages and his prognosis is favourable. This came after he had been in remission from cancer previously that he had fought in the 1990s. Indeed the 1996 solo album Feel Free has a song titled "Regeneration" in which he discusses his diagnosis and subsequent alternative medicine that he believes help cure him. In 2006 Mike launched the 'Love Hope Strength' foundation which sets to raise funds and awareness in fighting cancer. www.lovehopestrength.com The events surrounding the Love Hope Strength events will culminate in a trek and concert on Mount Everest in October 2007.

February 2006 saw the UK release of a new album, Under Attack on EMI, credited to The Alarm MMVI. The first single release, entitled "Superchannel" reached number 24 in the UK singles chart. For the first time the album had a DVD with a separate video for each of the thirteen songs. The videos were shot and edited in a record breaking three days, in and around their "hometown" of Rhyl, by 1000 Words Productions.

The U.S. release of Under Attack was 13 June 2006 on Eleven Thirty Records. Like the UK edition it features the DVD, but with a bonus Special Edition of "Superchannel" and a 'behind the scenes' style documentary.

The Alarm have just finished work on their new mini album, Counter Attack. [1]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] as The Alarm

[edit] as The Alarm MMVI

[edit] Singles

Year Title
Chart Positions
 Album
US Billboard Hot 100 US Mainstream Rock US Modern Rock UK Singles
1981 "Unsafe Building/Up for Murder" - - - - Non-album single
1983 "The Stand/Third Light" - - - #86 Declaration
1983 "68 Guns/68 Guns Part 2/Thoughts of a Young Man" - - - #17 Declaration
1984 "Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?/Pavilion Steps/What Kind of Hell (Live)" - - - #22 Declaration
1984 "The Deceiver/Reason 41/Second Generation" - - - #51 Declaration
1984 "The Chant Has Just Begun/The Bells of Rhymney/The Stand (Full version)/Bound for Glory" - - - #48 Non-album single
1985 "Absolute Reality/Reason 36/Blaze of Glory (Alternate version)/Room at the Top" - - - #35 Strength
1985 "Strength/Majority" #61 #2 #4 #40 Strength
1986 "Spirit of '76/Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke (Live)/Knocking On Heaven's Door (Live)/Deeside (Live)/68 Guns (Live)" - #29 - #22 Strength
1986 "Knife Edge/Caroline Isenberg/Unbreak the Promise (BBC Acoustic session)/Howling Wind (BBC Acoustic session)" - - - #43 Strength
1987 "Rain in the Summertime/Rose Beyond the Wall/The Bells of Rhymney (Live)/Time to Believe" #71 #6 - #18 Eye of the Hurricane
1987 "Rescue Me/Pastures of Plenty/Elders and Folklore/My Land Your Land" - #35 - #48 Eye of the Hurricane
1988 "Presence of Love/Strength (Live)/Dawn Chorus (Live)/Knife Edge (Live)" #77 #16 - #44 Eye of the Hurricane
1989 "Sold Me Down the River/Corridors of Power/Firing Line" #50 #2 #3 #43 Change
1989 "Devolution Workin' Man Blues" - #9 #11 Not released in the UK Change
1989 "A New South Wales/The Rock" - - - #31 Change
1990 "Love Don't Come Easy" - #33 - #48 Change
1990 "Unsafe Building 1990/Up for Murder 1990" - - - #54 Standards
1990 "The Road" - #16 #7 Not released in the UK Standards
1991 "Raw" - - #15 #51 Raw
2004 "45RPM" (credited to The Poppyfields) - - - #28 In the Poppyfields
2004 "New Home New Life" - - - #45 In the Poppyfields
2006 "Superchannel" - - - #23 Under Attack

[edit] References

  1. ^ Counter Attack release page

[edit] External links