OK, quick recap....All About Eve were armed with their first single 'D for Desire', a short set of material to perform live as a way of promoting the single and not a lot else....
Julianne explains. "Basically we were broke...the old sob story...if we couldn't afford strings, too bad, we couldn't afford strings. That had been the main reason for not having a drummer in the band. Thedrum machine was cheap and handy, and it also meant we could rehearse in my room. Anyway we really didn't want to wait around trying to find a drummer...we had taken things as far as we could and now it was a case of let's get out and play it."
Before taking to the road, an old friend of Julianne's came on to the scene and took on board the role of acting manager. Jake Jacob was a man of many talents, as Julianne recalls: "I had first met up with Jake when I moved down to London, having lived in the next road to me and being really into music. He ran a fanzine called Artificial Life, and as a result knew a lot of bands and about the gig things, so we thought 'God, Jake knows a lot more about this than we do', so we asked him to manage us."
THE FIRST PROPER GIGS!
As a result of Jake's efforts, the band's first gig was lined up. The venue was the downstairs room at the Pindar of Wakefield pub in Kings Cross, London and the date was the 5th of September 1985...a day the band would never forget. Andy casts his mind back to that eventful day.
"We were supporting a band called Chatshow, and had attracted a crowd of about thirty people. I remember the PA stack to the left-hand side of the stage fell on Tim's effects and smashed his WEM Copycat. We thought that was the end of the world."
Julianne added, "Suddenly our sound was gone. Panic...As it happened, I had a Boss digital relay pedal which Tim then used and we made it through the set. I did the whole gig with a piece of paper in front of my face pretneding to be reading the lyrics because I was so nervous...the crowd of thirty people seemed like Wembley Stadium to us. Although it was a scant occasion, and the crowd hadn't really come to see us, it all went really well. It was the first gig out of the way."
The main act, Chatshow, were another Goth band, and it was as a support to the other Goth bands that the Eves would learn their trade. Jake worked hard at securing the band further gigs at such venues as the Clarendon Hotel, Hammersmith, the Fulham Broadway and Oxford College. The Clarendon gig was as support to the band Fifteenth, a band Julianne helped at that time by singin back-up vocals for them on stage, as well as performing on their demo session, producing such songs as Time Stood Still and the beautiful Walk in the Garden. The crowds at each of these early gigs continued to show their pleasure and the band's following grew.....
except at one gig, which Julianne fondly remembers..."It was the Red Rose Labour Club....Oh Lord! It was awful. A nightmare. We were supporting 'And Also the Trees' and I was in the worst mood of my life. There were around fifteen people in the audience and no PA at all....and no bar. These people wanted a drink and they were taking it out on me... Mmmm, I remember it well!"
Both members stressed how hard Jake was working at this time, above and beyond the call of duty as no money was changing hands. This was solely done for love on his part, and that love ensured they worked two or three times a month over several months right the way through into 1986.
The band ended '85 with a demo session which eventually produced four tracks worthy of distribution to record companies, those being Suppertime, In the Clouds, End of the Day and Another Door. Once again it was Red Rhino, who gave their support in the form of finance for the band's next single , and so during a snow-covered February in 1986 the Eves recorded a number of tracks at the Chapel Studios in Lincoln, then owned by the ex-Motors member Bram Tchaikovsky.
THE DRUMMER
The band had decided that, at least for these sessions they wanted to drop the drum machine and use the sound of a real drummer, the spot being filled by the studio engineer Matt Kemp.
"We really wanted Matt to join," Julianne recalls. "But once again he was torn, as he had a career as an engineer. Bram really wanted to manage us. He was a very nice guy, but he was too forceful and not the kind of person we could have got on with for the rest of our lives, y'know. So we didn't pursue that."
The session produced a number of excellent tracks which would sty with the band for a long time, as Andy pointed out. "They inluded the first version of Shelter From the Rain and an early rendition of Dram Now which I have always loved. It was probably my fault it ended up on the second album as I've been asking the band for years to do that song. It was like a son of In the Clouds and was written at the same time, but I could never understand why no-one wanted to do it as I thought it was a classic. Eventually it got done which was great for me."
Having completed the recordings the band required some artwork for the sleeve, and this was left in the capable hands of Tim's Mom who taught as Berrybrow Infants School in Huddersfield. After playing the class a recording of the song, the children were asked to produce a suitable picture, and Richard Merer was the successful candidate with him memorable 'Sun' painting.
And so, during April '86, In the Clouds was released in the 12" format only on their own Eden label, catalogue number Eden 2, complete with poster. Immediately the media picked up on it, as Andy recollects. "We got our first air-play on National radio thanks to Janice Long of Radio One, as well as other DJs such as Gary Davies and Peter Powell. They really stuck their necks out saying 'This is a good record and we've got to play it. It doesn't matter if it's Top Ten material', but it's so hard to get played on datyime radio because of the producers. They've got this list of records graded A, B, C and D and unless you're on the A and B lists, you're not gonna get played."
Thanks to the support of these DJs, In the Clouds made it's way to No. 19 in the Indie charts proving beyond doubt the growing popularity of the band.
THE MISSION TAKE AN INTEREST
Despite the success of the single, the group was desperately short of funds, and Jake, being of a similar financial status, couldn't inject any capital to help keep the band's equipment in service, so it became obvious that outside help was required. It was at this point in time that fate played it's hand in a succession of events beginning with a chance hearing of the band by The Mission's leader Wayne Hussey. Tony Perrin, who had already become manager for The Mission explains what happens next. "Wayne came across the Eves at an early gig of theirs in a 'low down the bill' support act at the Hammersmith Clarendon. He had been so impressed by Julianne's voice that he asked her to sing backing vocals on a track called Severina from The Mission's planned first album. I heard that song down at the studio for the first time and asked who it was, and Wayned explained it was Julianne Regan from a group called All ABout Eve and there was a connection then because I remembered seeing a couple of demo tapes from the group lying around on The Mission's booking agent's desk. At that time the agent Martin Horne and I shared an office and I made a mental note to take the tapes home one evening and have a listen, but it was probably a couple of months before I got round to doing it. The two tapes consisted of about ten or eleven songs, effectively it was all of the songs which ended up on the first album. I couldn't believe I was listening to this music. I had been aware of the band as I'd seen their name cropping up in the Indie charts and knew they had been around for a couple of years at that point, but to find they had music of this quality and no-one had icked them up..."
So Tony became invlved offering the band the financial support they needed to continue, as well as offering them his skill as a successful manager.
In case you are wondering about the background of Tony, then here's a quick resume of his career to date in his own words. "I had been a student at Sheffield University....that was about 1978 when the ounk thing was happening and, like a lot of people at that time, got into playing in a group. Not that I could play an instrument or anything, but it seemed like the right thing to do. From that I ended up with the groups independent record label who were based in Sheffield, but when one of their groups left, I left with them and over a period of time managed a sucession of Indie bands. The band I originally managed had as a member Simon Hinkler, the guitarist (or now departed guitarist) with The Mission, and we stayed in touch and worked with each other for about five years. At the beginning of 1986 Simon had joined up with the newly-formed Mission and had recommended me for the psoition of manager and as I knew the other members in the group it all just came together....so it was all just really circumstances....or fate or destiny...call it what you will."
As for Tony's first meeting with the Eves...well I'm sure that had been an occasion they may never forget. It would appear Tony had invited them down to the old offices of Golden Dawn and on their arrival had gone down to the reception to greet them. He wandered out...said hello...and asked them if they would like to come in...and they did. Sometime after that meeting they told him how they had mistaken him for some "scruffy urchin ushering them in to meet the big manager chap!", only to find when they got in there that they were one and the same person...you only get one chance to make a first impression!
Join me again for the next installment of the All About Eve Story.
