Swans Way (band)

Swans Way was a three-piece UK pop group. In addition to the future Scarlet Fantastic duo of Maggie De Monde (vocals and percussion) and Rick P. Jones (double bass), Swans Way featured the vocals of Robert Shaw.

Formed in Birmingham in 1982,^[1] Swans Way presented a mixture of musical influences - from jazz to classical, pop to disco. Their first single in 1982, Theme from the Balcony, was not a chart hit, but their second, Soul Train, (UK Singles Chart No.20, 18/02/1984) was a classic of its day.

They recorded an album entitled The Fugitive Kind (released 03/11/1984, UK Album Chart No. 88) and released further singles - The Anchor (released March 1984), Illuminations (released 26/05/1984, UK Singles Chart No. 57), and When the Wild Calls (released 15/09/1984, UK chart No. 80).

The album was (unusually for the early 80s) released on the CD format, but only about 100 copies were actually produced, making it a very rare item. It was re-released on CD in 1997 with some extra tracks and re-titled The Best of Swans Way, and again in 2012 with a different set of bonus tracks and under the title of The Fugitive Kind - Expanded Edition.

The band split up in 1985 due to musical differences.

De Monde is now one half of the recording duo Maggie & Martin, whilst Shaw has released albums under his working project Mighty Math.

Discography

Singles

• "Theme From The Balcony" - (1982)
• "Soul Train" - Exit Records - (1984) UK #20
• "The Anchor" - Exit Records - (1984)
• "Illuminations" - Balgier Records - (1984) UK #57
• "When The Wild Calls" - Balgier Records - (1984) UK #80

^[2]

Albums

• The Fugitive Kind - Balgier Records - (1984) UK #88
• The Best Of Swansway - (Universal Records) - (1998)
• The Fugitive Kind - Expanded Edition - (Cherry Pop) - (2012)

^[2] Also available was a video of their concert, which is very rare and hard to find

Videos

• Swans Way History And Image ( VHS, 50 min )

References

External links

• Mini biography of Swans Way at Scarlet-fantastic.co.uk