1979 and Alan and Kevin, at the time members of band ZOOT ALLORS! signed a management and publishing deal with Ray Williams. Ray, who was recognised for the pairing of Elton John with lyricist Bernie Taupin, had picked up on a demo sent by Alan. The band was subsequently signed to Decca, who released only one single before being taken over by Polygram. The 45, ‘Send Me A Postcard’ produced by Manfred Man guitarist Tom McGuinness and Uriah Heap’s Lou Stonebridge, has become a most collectable release and in 2006 reached number 50 in Record Collector Magazine’s Most Collectable Powerpop and Punk Singles chart. During this period Alan and Kevin worked out of the publisher Heath Levy’s studio on Regent Street, writing and working with many artists. They stopped writing together in 1983.
ALAN FEARN
In the mid 80's, Alan formed BLUE TRAIN. Interest from Stones bass man Bill Wyman, who personally recorded them in The Rolling Stones Mobile declaring them "The best unsigned band in England"
By 1990 BLUE TRAIN had been signed by veteran US producer George Daley, who’s successes have included The Cars, The Tubes and more recently Tool. A deal with the fledgling ZOO label distributed through BMG followed. BLUE TRAIN moved to Los Angeles.
The first single ‘All I Need Is You’ was an instant hit securing a USA Top 30 spot and over 80,000 airplays in 10 weeks, remaining in the Billboard charts for 13 weeks during 1991-92 and actually climbing to 3 in 6 major radio station charts. The track is still regularly played worldwide and was featured in an episode of ‘Baywatch’, which is still being aired!
The follow up single ‘The Hardest Thing’ went straight to 15 in Billboard's breakers chart before being pulled after only 2 weeks due to internal politics/fighting within ZOO which eventually closed the label down resulting in BLUE TRAIN never reaching their full potential. Despite all the accolades, with Alan securing 6 major endorsement deals, the band split.
Back in the UK, Alan continued writing and playing sessions including interesting projects both at home and in India
KEVIN THORPE
In the meantime Kevin had returned to his roots and formed the band KEVIN THORPE’S OUT OF THE BLUE as a vehicle for his more rootsy direction. The band’s first performance at the Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival in 1993 was enough of a triumph to place them as favourites on the European blues and roots scene and would see the band play every major festival, playing over 2000 gigs over the next 10 years.
During this time, Kevin won writer of the Best British Blues song two years running (’93, ’94) which led to trips to America playing with East Coast guitar man Ronnie Earl and Paul Rishell & Annie Raines (Susan Tedeschi Band). In 1997 OOTB backed the legendary Stax brass section, the Memphis Horns at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival. This not only gave Kevin the opportunity to sing some Stax classics but to have the horns play on his tunes. This act went on to tour in Europe and Ireland.
Over the years OOTB has shared the stage with, amongst many others, Van Morrison, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy and the late great Junior Wells and has recorded two albums ‘Blues in a Bottle’ and ‘Shadowplay’ both on the Armadillo label (www.bluearmadillo.com).
FULL CIRCLE
2005 Kevin had been working in Austin Texas on an album by Handy Blues Award nominee Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges. Always a fan of American roots music he now had the opportunity to meet play with and absorb the Austin scene. Spotted playing in the studio by Texas songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard, Kevin was invited to sing a few tunes as a live spot on Ray’s weekly show on KNBT Radio New Braunfels. After a short stay in Nashville and having been encouraged by his reception from other writers, Kevin embarked on forging a sound.
Alan brought his very English rock and pop sensibilities to add to the formula. The pair had some unfinished stuff from 2001 as a starting point
So there we have it …a continuation of the British/American cross-pollination that’s been happening since before the Everly Brothers inspired the Beatles or the Stones take on American blues fired up Springsteen. Long may it keep on keeping on......
thanks for the comment and for the add. we really appreciate it. we would love for you to drop by the studio some time! here are some tunes to brighten your day:
let us know if there is ever anything we can do for you. all the best,
Glad to have you on mySpace CARLISLE BLUES FESTIVAL UK would love to have any interested Blues fans at their festival THERE ARE STILL TICKETS LEFT and ACCOMODATION if required. 21st to 23rd November 2008 Check out the MySpace for details. Or the website http://www. carlislebluesfestival. com/ Cheers
Hi, I trust all is well with you and enjoy some more of life's fantastic experiences!
I have uploaded yet another video of walking barefoot on broken glass, I want to know if you're interested in seeing the next one that will have no dubbed sound so you can hear the glass breaking, also if you are, I will have a free online video set teaching you how to prepare and do this, how it can help you remove emotional obsticals.
Can you guess who’s feet these are? http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=15188427
Here’s the first video if you have not seen it yet: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=13892301
Thanks for the good word and for taking the time to check out our music.
Welcome to our little party!
Peace,
Doc
You never know until you know
what you can see.
Thanks for the add, good tunes - if you get a chance check out the show.
Podcasting out of Edinburgh, Scotland. AmericanaOK @ LeithFM show No.75 is available for download now.
The show can be downloaded from iTunes, A’OK Podcasts and other podcast directories.
Details of music played and links to artists web sites from AmericanaOK . Note that artists and or record companies have given written permission for all music played.
Listen on line, download, subscribe (it’s free) and stayed tuned to AmericanaOK @ LeithFM for the best in Americana and Alt-Country. Also available in New Zealand on Radio GoldRush 1440.
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