68 Guns by The Alarm Turns 40

In 1983, The Alarm made the UK top 40 for the first time with their single, 68 Guns. It's a song that brought many fans to the band for the first time after seeing them perform the song on Top Of The Pops. I had been fortunate enough to have heard their previous single, The Stand, on John Peel earlier in the year and had been to see them at The Marquee Club in London in the May. I've never looked back and this year I have celebrated my 40th anniversary of following The Alarm. If the golden era of 1983/84 remains my favourite period with those amazing gigs in the London ballrooms, then for me what Mike Peters is doing with the current incarnation of The Alarm in recent years comes second without a doubt. I'm very much into the here and now and looking forward to whatever is coming next from Mike and the band. The Alarm always have been at their best live. I was never one for following their tours around the country, but I salute those that did. Back in the 1980s it was usually just the London gigs. However in recent times, and mainly as a result of those new friendships, I travel all over to see the band including two trips to New York in 2018/19. 

On October 6th to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the appearance on Top Of The Pops a remixed limited edition signed 7" vinyl of 68 Guns was released. I was incredibly fortunate to get myself one of just 68 copies (actually 70 were made, but two were kept by Mike Peters for The Alarm archive). To own such a limited edition is amazing. I have always enjoyed buying music, and as a teenager I was always always collecting rare records. However, this is one of the few rare Alarm records that I have alongside the debut single Unsafe Building. I have most of the band's limited edition releases from back in the day, and I've bought every release over the last 40+ years, so I have a pretty decent collection. Not that I will ever part with it!

If hearing The Stand was a defining musical moment for me, then 68 Guns propelled the band and us fans to a whole new level and has shaped much of my musical journey for the last 40 years. In recent years, as a result of my fundraising after losing Mum to bowel cancer, I have finally emerged from the shadows to make many amazing friendships with fellow fans. Many of whom would have been at the same gigs as me all those years ago. It's a real shame to have missed out on so many years of friendships, but better late than never...

 

Fields of Dawn - Destination Unknown

Destination Unknown is the brand new album from Fields of Dawn coming on 01/01/2024. 11 brand new tracks written and recorded between May and July 2023. The album is available to pre-order from rivers2cross on Clear Vinyl, CD, Download and Flash Drive and all profits will be donated to The Bowel Movement, Bowel Cancer UK and Love Hope Strength.

The album builds on the sounds created on 2022’s A New Dawn. The big change with this album has been switching from using a BOSS digital recorder to Logic Pro software. This has enabled more experimentation, has also made it a lot easier to manipulate the production on individual tracks and push multi-tracking that much further. Having said all that, my intention was to retain the punky/power pop quite innocent sound of Fields of Dawn and I feel I have very much done that. Completing the album in a short space of time also brought a real continuity to the song writing and recording processes. Lyrics wise it’s a pretty honest and personal album.

Pre-sales are a vital part of the project. The outlay on purchasing, especially the Vinyl and CDs, is high and with all the profits being donated the more pre-sales received make it a more viable fundraising release. With the previous album I ordered the Vinyl from the Far East, which kept the unit cost down, but I was left with 50 out of the 100 records unsold. As much as I wanted to do the same thing again, it really isn’t financially viable unless you get a very demand. So, it will almost certainly be a much smaller UK lathe pressing run this time, which unfortunately does push the price of the vinyl up. Hopefully with all the different formats there is something there for everyone. Please support the album if you can and I am, as ever, truly grateful for all your support x

The album comes with its own clothing range. The album artwork has been done by sanclementebetty and the clothing designs are based up those designs. Incredible work… There are also some accessories available including a wrist watch, key ring, handwritten lyrics and more stuff to be added nearer the release date.

Pre-order Destination Unknown from

https://rivers2cross.com/fields-of-dawn/destination-unknown/

On The Way Back by Fields of Dawn

The double A-sided single release of On The Way Back / Far Far Away by Fields of Dawn was released in February with all profits raised from every sale donated to the Love Hope Strength Foundation co-founded by Mike and Jules Peters from The Alarm. Mike has been living with leukaemia for over 20 years, and in recent times Jules has had her own breast cancer fight. The LHS charity promotes innovative, music related, outreach and awareness programmes for leukaemia and cancer sufferers, survivors and their families. It raises awareness and recruits potential donors to the organ and bone marrow registers.

The single is still available to order on CD, digital download and 7″ limited edition vinyl from rivers2cross, as well as all the normal digital platforms. To date the release has raised over £300 for Love Hope Strength.

On The Way Back by Fields of Dawn

The new double A-sided single release of On The Way Back / Far Far Away by Fields of Dawn is out now. This is a very special release with all profits raised from every sale donated to the Love Hope Strength Foundation co-founded by Mike and Jules Peters from The Alarm. Mike has been living with leukaemia for over 20 years, and in recent times Jules has had her own breast cancer fight. The LHS charity promotes innovative, music related, outreach and awareness programmes for leukaemia and cancer sufferers, survivors and their families. It raises awareness and recruits potential donors to the organ and bone marrow registers.

The single is available to order on CD and digital download. The 7″ limited edition vinyl release is now in production at The Cut House in Preston so if you still want one of those I can ask the question, but please don’t delay and miss out. I am using them partly because that us where the vinyl edition of the new album by The Alarm was been pressed.

I will be sticking with the rivers2cross store for selling this release, although it will be added to streaming platforms later in the year. The initial aim is to raise funds for the charity and the best way of doing that is selling it myself.

The CD costs £5 from https://rivers2cross.com/product/on-the-way-cd/

The Digital Download costs £2.99 from https://rivers2cross.com/product/on-the-way-download/

I have been very much influenced by The Alarm’s new album WAЯ with this project. The album was written, recorded and released in just 6 weeks, and initially it inspired me to see if I could write some new material myself. These two songs were written as a result. Watching the YouTube videos of The Alarm remotely recording once again inspired me to look at recording these as soon as I could, and this is where things got very exciting.

I’ve been very happy with the previous releases using my home studio, but it has always been my ambition to produce and release something with the help of the professionals in the studio. I approached Steve ‘Smiley’ Barnard to see what was possible during lockdown. This extraordinary musician not only drums with The Alarm and Archive to name just two bands, but also is a top class producer with his own recording studio. The deal was signed and Smiley came on board to play drums and bass, and also to produce the release in his studio with my bits being recorded on my digital recorder and wired over to him.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. No messing around with Smiley as not surprisingly he knows exactly what he is doing. I wanted to push myself with this release and he has certainly ensured that I have done exactly that.

The two tracks are sounding immense! It has made such a different having Smiley at the helm. They are very alternative and punky in their influence. We are talking The Clash, and of course The Alarm here. Over the last few months I have been listening to a lot more late 70s early 80s guitar music which is my real music grounding I suppose, and why I wanted to make a record with that kind of feel to it. They are sounding every bit as good as I was hoping for and a whole lot more.

Since the pre-sale was launched a few weeks ago and now with the official release over £300 has already been released for Love Hope Strength. For the cost of a pint of beer you can help me raise funds for this wonderful charity x

Equals - The Brand New Album From The Alarm

June 29th saw the release of Equals, the brand new album by The Alarm. The current line-up consists of Mike Peters, James Stevenson, Smiley, and Jules Peters. It is first mainstream release from the band since the 2010 album Direct Action. It is a stunning collection of songs brought together from the Blood Red / Viral Black recordings previously only available from thealarm.com. Equals is available on all digital streaming services, so having Amazon Music I have that facility to listen to it. The download is available to buy online, and I bought a copy from Google Play as I didn't want to have to wait for the physical copy of the album to arrive. The physical CD and LP formats can bought from record stores and online outlets. I got the limited red vinyl edition from HMV, and then the standard black vinyl edition from the Sound Knowledge record shop in Marlborough. To celebrate the album release Mike Peters is currently doing an eight date record store tour promoting the album, signing copies and playing acoustic sets. This included Marlborough, so it was great to meet up with a few friends there, and make some new ones too.

The album is a brilliant collection of songs, and the re-recorded / remixed versions that appear on Equals carry a real punch and bite. It is Mike Peters songwriting at it's best. If I had to list a favourite track, I would go for 'Tomorrow' - the version on the album takes it to a whole new level, but there's not a bad track on it.

If you have ever been into The Alarm or seen them live, and perhaps have lost touch with their music, check out this stunning release. It's an album that will hopefully get the band back into charts, and more importantly reconnect them with old fans, and reach out to a whole new set of new fans.

I've had an amazing year following the band, travelling to New York in May to see them. My first ever trip to America, and it was an unforgettable experience. Mike kindly signed the photo book I out together of the trip. The Gathering in North Wales in February was a brilliant weekend, and I even got to do the wedding photos of fellow fans Rich and Ceri, who got married there. A big gig in London in May was terrific, so it's been a great time to be into the band. 

THE ALARM - EQUALS - OUT NOW

Get Better : A Film About Frank Turner

Frank Turner at the Vue Cinema, Leicester Square December 13th, 2016

I went to a screening of Get Better : A Film About Frank Turner in Reading. The film was getting a one off cinema screening to over 50 cinemas nationwide. Frank, himself, was at the Vue cinema in Leicester Square, where he did a Q&A session and then a short acoustic set before the screening. So here's my photo of Frank on the cinema screen in Reading playing live before the film.

The film is absolutely fascinating and follows Frank over an 18 month period taking in the release of his most recent album, Positive Songs For Negative People. The film takes in the period when album sessions were delayed and Frank and his band were left in limbo with no shows to play either. The film covers this dark time in Frank's life as he goes on a downward spiral. The film including many interviews with band members, family and friends brings to the screen an honest account of how complicated a character Frank is, but more importantly a genuinely nice guy who will always go the extra mile for people whenever he possibly can. Frank turns things around and the film ends in a positive light. Here's hoping for a Blu-Ray release sometime soon.

I am one of those lucky people who has been on the end of Frank's support. He very kindly agreed to take part in a fundraising book I am currently putting together for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. I go to meet and photograph him back stage at his recent show at the Reading Hexagon. He couldn't have been nicer and it's going to make for a great chapter in the book which will be out in a year or so. I am writing the book, where I meet and photograph celebrities, in memory of my Mum who recently passed away after a 4 year battle with bowel cancer. Interestingly I think that if I had seen the film first I might not have approached Frank, as the amount of time he puts aside for his fans is staggering. I felt a little guilty if I am being honest.

Frank's live shows are something else. The energy that Frank & The Sleeping Souls bring to the stage makes for a brilliant show ensuring that everyone leaves wanting more. The recent gig in Reading was one of the best concerts I have been to in a very long time. Frank manages to capture on record something close to that of a live performance, although if you haven't yet seen him live you really must...

The Vapors Are Back In Business

So here is the news that fans of The Vapors have been waiting over 30 years to hear. The band are and rehearsing for some UK and Ireland dates in the autumn. I can't wait to see one of my all time favourite bands play live as I was too young to see them first time around. Click here to go to the bands facebook page.

At the beginning of 2015 I was fortunate enough to meet Dave Fenton. I was writing a book to rasie funds for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity where I met and photographed people. I managed to track Dave down and he immediately agreed to me. We met outside Big Ben and I got my News At Ten photo for the book. The photo below is one that I didn't use in the book. Lives & Times was published last November and has raised over £1350 for the charity. My mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012 and is still fighting this awful illness. The cancer has spread to her brain and she is now in hospital after her condition recently deteriorated. 

Although The Vapors are best known for their massive 1980 worldwide hit Turning Japanese, I was a massive fan of their second single News At Ten. It should have been a massive hit, but lack of exposure, including a strike at BBC's Top Of The Pops resulted in the single just missing out making the UK Top 40.

I have already booked my ticket for their gig in Wolverhampton on November 19th. I am forever playing their compilations on my iPod and the one track I am desperate for them to play on tour is Letter From Hiro, which is just most gorgeous song!