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Members
4 Male
Origin
London, England
Genre
New Wave
Style
Rock/Pop
Mood
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Born
4 MaleOrigin
London, EnglandGenre
New WaveStyle
Rock/PopMood
---
Born
1974
Active
1974 to Present...
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Most Loved Tracks4 users
After the Fire - Der Kommissar4 users
After the Fire - Der Kommissar4 users
After the Fire - Der Kommissar4 users
After the Fire - Der Kommissar4 users
After the Fire - 1980-F
Music Video Links Der Kommissar |
Artist Biography
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Keyboard player Peter Banks originally formed the band in the early 1970s in London, England. After The Fire then went through several personnel changes before settling on Banks, guitarist and vocalist Andy Piercy, bassist Nick Battle, and drummer Ivor Twidell. This lineup enjoyed local success in London, and released an album, Signs of Change, in 1978, on their own label.
After Battle left, Piercy switched to bass, and John Russell joined on guitar. The group signed to CBS, and released their second album, Laser Love, in 1979, which marked the band's move towards new wave, with shorter, more catchy pop rock tracks. Twydell left the band to seek a career as a frontman and Nick Brotherwood took over briefly, after the album Laser Love was recorded. Banks changed his name to "Memory" Banks to not be confused with the ex-Yes guitarist, around this time. As these changes took place, After The Fire's single, "One Rule for You", entered the UK Top 40. The group were scheduled to perform it on BBC TV's Top of the Pops that week, a move which would have been almost certain to see it rise much higher, but their appearance was cancelled because Gary Numan was on the show and the BBC thought one keyboard track was enough.
Batteries Not Included was released in 1982 without fanfare, and the singles received little UK airplay. They came back into the U.K. spotlight when their English-language cover of Austrian musician Falco's song, "Der Kommissar," rocketed into the U.S. top ten in 1983, though it only just made the top fifty in the United Kingdom. This was followed by the release of their first and only U.S. album, ATF, a compilation of their UK albums.
This success had come too late and growing musical differences eventually caused the band to split in 1982, Piercy was looking to leave during the recording sessions that led to the single Der Kommissar. The single "Der Kommissar", which had been a hit in Canada, finally took hold in the American charts but CBS failed to patch up the band.
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