The Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from North Wales in the late 1970s. They started as a Mod band and stayed together for over ten years. Unusually for a rock band, they displayed marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular alternative rock band of the 1980s, retaining a small but loyal following to the present day.
Allmusic journalist Steve Huey states
The British music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but this meant little to their zealous following, who supported the band to the tune of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles.
Band members
- Mike Peters: Vocals, guitars, harmonica - born Michael L Peters, 25 February 1959, Prestatyn, Wales.
- Dave Sharp: Guitars - born 28 January 1959, Salford, England.
- Eddie Macdonald: Bass - born 1 November 1959, St Asaph, Wales.
- Nigel Twist: Drums - born Nigel Buckle, 18 July 1958, Manchester, England.
Early years
A punk band was formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1977, billed as The Toilets. It contained Peters, Sharp, Macdonald and Twist, and in 1978 their name was changed to Seventeen. Seventeen were a mod band who released a single ("Don't Let Go" / "Bank Holiday Weekend") in March 1980. They also toured with the Stray Cats that year. They played their last concert together under the new name of Alarm Alarm, but this would also be the last time this name was used.
The band soon reformed under the new name of The Alarm and played their first gig at The Victoria Hotel, Prestatyn, North Wales on 10 June 1981, opening with "Shout to the Devil", which would later appear on the Declaration LP.
They moved from North Wales to London in September 1981, and the band recorded a one-off 7" single. One thousand copies were pressed that month, featuring "Unsafe Building" on the 'electric' side and "Up For Murder" on the 'acoustic' side. The single was noticed by Mick Mercer, who featured it as his single of the month in his ZigZag magazine. The band played a show with The Fall in December 1981, where a journalist from Sounds noticed them. This journalist attended the band's next show, at Upstairs At Ronnie's in London's West End. Also at this show was a representative of Wasted Talent, who arranged a meeting between the band and Ian Wilson, U2's agent. Wilson arranged another show in order to assess the band's quality, was impressed, and became the band's manager soon after. To celebrate, The Alarm played with U2 at the Lyceum Ballroom on 22 December 1981.
In 1982, the band began to record demos for various record labels, but had little success. At this point, they were playing with three acoustic guitarists. The band were eventually offered a deal by I.R.S. Records. This forced them to make a decision on who was to play which musical instrument, and it was decided that Peters would concentrate on singing, with Sharp on guitar and Macdonald playing bass.
"Marching On" was released as a single in October 1982, and the band's sound started to become clear. On stage, they would almost always begin gigs acoustically, before finishing with electric guitars. Constant gigging in London helped the band build up a following, and in December 1982, they played four shows with U2. These shows were the first time that Bono joined The Alarm on stage.
A new song, "The Stand" was recorded in Battersea in April 1983, and was released in the UK as a single. The song's lyrics were inspired by Stephen King's novel of the same name. Outside the UK, the song was released as part of a five-track EP, entitled The Alarm . The EP was released to coincide with The Alarm's first tour of the U.S. in June 1983. Following the success of the sessions that produced "The Stand", I.R.S. picked up their recording option on the band, signalling the start of work on a full album. Another session with producer Mick Glossop was arranged to produce a new single, with "Blaze of Glory" recorded and released.
In June 1983, The Alarm embarked on their first tour of the U.S., supporting U2 on the War Tour. The 18-date tour went a long way in establishing the band in the U.S. "The Stand" was quickly released by I.R.S. to capitalise on this, supported by TV appearances on The Cutting Edge and American Bandstand .
Following the tour, the band returned to the UK to begin working with producer Alan Shacklock on the new album. They focused on re-recording "Blaze of Glory" and "68 Guns". After the sessions, the band recorded a video for "68 Guns" and flew back to America to begin their first headline American tour. "68 Guns" was released as a single on 12 September 1983, and charted the following week at number 50. The same week, the BBC Television music show Top of the Pops , had to look outside the Top 40 for the first time in its history in order to fill a slot vacated by Johnny Rotten and Public Image Ltd.
Mid career
The band had been recording the new album from July 1983, and by the time of the Top of the Pops appearance they had recorded the backing tracks to most of the songs. After completing a U.S. tour and a headline tour of the UK in late 1983, the band returned to the studio to record the backing tracks for the rest of the songs.
On 6 November 1983, the band recorded an acoustic radio session for the BBC. This session saw the debut of three brand new songs: "Walk Forever by My Side", "One Step Closer to Home" and "Unbreak the Promise".
On 7 November, the band returned to the recording studio to finish recording the album, now titled Declaration . In December, The Alarm returned to the U.S. for a third headline tour. The weather was atrocious, and on 6 December, the car the band was travelling in crashed, but all four members remained unharmed. They returned to the UK on 17 December and appeared as part of an Anti-Nuclear Benefit Concert at the Apollo Theatre, London.
Whilst the band had been in the U.S., Alan Shacklock and sound engineer Chris Porter finished mixing the album. The band played a handful of gigs supporting The Police over Christmas, and by 5 January 1984, the album had been mixed and finalised. Declaration was released by I.R.S. Records on 14 February 1984. A week later, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at Number 6.
In November 1984, The Alarm recorded demos of nine brand new songs, including "Absolute Reality". They played their new material to the American producer Jimmy Iovine, who agreed to come to the UK in January 1985 to begin work on the follow-up to Declaration . During this period Peters appeared solo at a number of events including the Greenbelt Arts festival in Northamptonshire playing Alarm material as well as some unrecorded personal songs. Studio sessions were booked for early 1985, and a UK headline tour was booked for May 1985, to go with the release of the new album. However, Iovine never came to the UK to work with The Alarm, eventually citing personal reasons. The band had to cancel the sessions and look for another producer. Alan Shacklock was unavailable, so Ian Wilson (the band's manager) convinced I.R.S. to release the Shacklock produced "Absolute Reality" as a single to promote the UK dates in May. "Absolute Reality" was released on 18 February 1985, entering the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart a week later. The 'Absolute Tour' was a near sell-out. After a series of appearances at European festivals and a new producer (Mike Howlett), The Alarm began work on their follow-up album, Strength . The Alarm teamed up with MTV, I.R.S. Records, and UCLA's Campus Events to present one of the first live satellite broadcasts from UCLA on 12 April 1986. Approximately 25,000 fans turned out for the free concert.On 12 July 1986 they played at Queen`s Live at Wembley '86 concert.
Strength , was another UK success, and brought them into the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart for the first time; additionally, the single "Spirit of '76" was a Top 40 UK hit. The Alarm took a break after the supporting tour, but returned in 1987 with Eye of the Hurricane , and landed a tour slot supporting Bob Dylan. A concert EP, Electric Folklore Live , followed in 1988. They also had a hit single in the UK in 1987 with "Rain In The Summertime" (from Eye of the Hurricane ), which gave them their second best placing on the UK chart.
Later years
The band toured extensively through the United States and Europe through the 1980s into 1991. They gained much popularity in 1983 when they were the opening act for U2. The Alarm were often compared musically to U2. On 13 March 1988, The Alarm performed at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California with The 77s and House of Freaks.
1989's Change was an homage to the group's native Wales, and was accompanied by an alternate Welsh language version, Newid . Produced by Tony Visconti, Change spawned the group's biggest Modern Rock hit in A
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The Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from North Wales in the late 1970s. They started as a Mod band and stayed together for over ten years.
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