Factory Records: THE WAKE
"The Wake formed in Glasgow (Scotland) in April 1981, after singer/guitarist Caesar teamed up with drummer Steven Allen and a bassist, Joe Donnelly. Caesar had previously played guitar in Altered Images, writing first single Dead Pop Stars and appearing on the first two John Peel sessions, but elected to leave the quintet shortly before they crashed into the mainstream pop charts with Happy Birthday.
"With few opportunities to play large live shows, the new group financed a single on their own Scan 45 label, coupling sunny song On Our Honeymoon with the darker sounding Give Up. The latter featured a keyboard line picked out by band friend (and one-time Altered Images roadie) Robert 'Bobby' Gillespie. Although the single sold modestly on release in January 1982, the band received a major fillip when Bobby Gillespie replaced Donnelly on bass, followed soon after by the recruitment of Steven's sister Carolyn on keyboards.
"In search of a deal The Wake looked to Manchester. Although New Hormones had run out of money, New Order manager Rob Gretton found much to admire in early demos tapes and the Scan 45 single, and therefore in October The Wake entered Strawberry Studio in Stockport to record a seven-track mini album for Factory Records. "I'd say Rob was thinking in terms of a single," recalls Caesar. "But we wanted to do something lengthier while we had the opportunity. Who knows what sound engineer Chris Nagle made of the four shy Scottish waifs with tuning and tempo problems, who displayed a bizarre mix of cluelessness and self-assurance. But his easy-going manner, super confident technical abilities and natural quiet creativity really helped us to get the feel we were aiming at, especially on tracks like The Old Men and Heartburn."
- extract from the LTM biography - ltmrecordings.com
Line-up
CAROLYN ALLEN
STEVEN ALLEN
JOE DONNELLY
BOBBY GILLESPIE
ALEXANDER 'MAC' MACPHERSON
GERARD 'CAESAR' MCINULTY
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