Important Months
John Russell is on the line. He tells me After The Fire is half-an-hour from the all-important sound-check. He sounds confident with the initial tour running-in of ex-Flys man, Peter King who is the replacement for ailing Ivor Twidell. King, it seems, is tailor made, which is just as well for these months are important for After The Fire and much more so than those of '79 when the group had an extensive 40-gig outing around Britain.
When After The Fire toured in '79 they did so with a reasonable hit single under their belt, namely the catchy One Rule For You. Their album Laser Love promised a title album cut hit single, so did another track, Take Me Higher. Laser Love had a brief outing in the national album charts. The singles promised but never delivered, only the Greenbelt film reminds of how effective Laser Love does sound.
Their late 1980 tour was accompanied at its start by a second single, Wild West Show from a new album 80-f, for with little reaction to Love Will Always Make You Cry, CBS quickly moved on to other album pastures.
John Russell denies there is record company pressure for results. He speaks of a good relationship with the company and its Epic division which is responsible for the group. He says,
"As a group, we're strong. We have a clear idea as to our identity and this we make clear to CBS. We're an accessible type of band, we can talk with anyone. We have our principles and there are some things we would never do. We have good management in Harvey Goldsmith."
Goldsmith is in the top league but he has an anti-lobby. John Russell says:
"People fall for images. When you get to know him you and the so-called pubic image as some people see it doesn't square up. There are some Christians who fall for this idea that everyone in the pop business is money obsessed or whatever, they are blinkered, they've never met anyone. We have and this guy's fine. Another thing: too many so-called Christian bands and people are frightened of professionalism. And there are those whose sole idea is instant headlining and a record for Kingsway."
80-f is not going to knock anybody out, it isn't going to make the record world sit up. It will merely keep After The Fire burning. In many respects its ideas mirror past songs and numbers and a producer who can see beyond th~ group and their performances so far is needed. Yet it possesses some cuts which do stir. Love Will Always Make You Cry seems a mix of One Rule For You and Laser Love but it has punch, so also does Who's Gonna Love You, Starlight, Billy Billy while the Queen-sounding Joanne attracts with its basic beat and optimism.
It's mostly up-tempo material with those vibrant chorus lines which After The Fire write, aided for intensity by girl sounding back-ups. The album seems well-suited for the 'on the road' and 'live' After The Fire. John Russell says:
"We've had many contrasting opinions on the record and you get a different reaction from people who hear a record and those who hear the song played live and can see an audience's reaction. We had a great gig at London's Digwall. I think we are doing different things and Mack the producer has worked with names like ELO, Zeppelin, the Stones and he worked on the production of Queen's, Game."
To return to an undeveloped remark at the beginning, as to the importance of these months and this album to After The Fire, where will the future After The Fire be found? John Russell is understandably reticent in giving some kind of reply. Like me, he knows how well the band go down in concert. Like me, he knows this is a professional set-up, if it was not, the Harvey Goldsmiths and Pete Brown management concerns wouldn't be around. John says:
"I think this new set-up can go places, we've had an enforced break but things are going well and the tour is great."
The doubt which niggles me lies in the record side of life. After The Fire do need a hit single. Record companies do expect. Otherwise they lose interest and sometimes it happens fast. Meantime Memory Banks, Peter King, Andy Piercy and John Russell plough on. Their time could yet come. Meantime we can pray.