Great Expectations
New Model Army - Great Expectations from 1983 released on the Abstract Record Label.
The lyrics to this are brilliant....and frighteningly still quite relevant, very anti the whole 'greed is good' mantra in the 80's....'There's always more than you can want'...
...Another band from the North of England, this time Bradford.
The Band
The original line-up was:
- Justin Sullivan - Guitars/Vocals
- Stuart Morrow - Bass
- Phil Tompkins - Drums
Justin Sullivan is the only constant member of the band. By 1983 Phil Tompkins had been replaced by Robert Heaton (ex drum technician with Hawkwind). They were originally formed in 1980 and shared a love of a cross between Northern Soul and Punk (now there's a combo!). John Peel was to give the band airplay for the 'Great Expectations' single in 1983.
It Could All Be Yours...
They also made it to Channel 4's 'The Tube', a pretty iconic and must watch music show of it's day hosted by Jools Holland, Paula Yates and Muriel Gray. Evidently they were supposed to perform the song 'Vengeance' but the producers of the show became a little 'edgy' over the lyrical content!
The mini album 'Vengeance' reached #1 in the UK Indie Chart of the day and the band were soon snapped up by major label.
No Rest
The band eventually signed to EMI in 1984. Their biggest mainstream hit reaching #28 in the UK chart in 1985 was 'No Rest' with the B Side 'Heroin'. They ran into trouble with the BBC by wearing T-Shirts with the slogan "Only Stupid Bastards Use Heroin".
I brought 'No Rest' on 7" single at the time in 1985, played it to death, I still have it tucked away in my vinyl collection and still love both the A and B sides to it today. From TOTP from that very year here they are below:
In my opinion the B Side is as good as the A and just as filled with good lyrics, a really good anti-drugs message. If ever there was a reason not to try it I think the lyrics sum it all up pretty well.
Catch 'Heroin' at the youtube link.
They are still kicking about today, the line-up for the band still has Justin Sullivan but additionally Dean White on keyboards and guitar, Marshall Gill on guitar, Ceri Monger on bass and Michael Dean on Drums. Sadly original drummer Robert Heaton passed away in 2004.
Information
More information about the band at:
https://www.newmodelarmy.org/
Catch their discography at: discogs.com
Video & Picture Gratitude
Video Source No Rest: TravisBickle1963@youtube
Video Source: Lourdes [email protected]
Picture: Discogs
Photo by Yasin Yusuf on Unsplash