It Bites; they blew it didn’t they?

sigod wrote: You had it all at your feet and you blew it!!

Francis Dunnery became a self-confessed drunk and married a California girl (it is unclear whether he did this whilst drunk???). I think he toured as Robert Plant's support and it is suggested that the several of It Bites became Plant's touring backing band at the same time.  Dunnery got divorced pretty quickly and joined AA - check out his One Night on Sauchiehall Street for those confessions. And he has made a some good solo albums, Tall Blond Helicopter is a favourite. And he went to university, I think to study psychology, and seems now to spend more time in astrology than rock.

I followed this band quite closely at the time. I saw them about six times.

They were one of the best live acts I ever saw. I was 16 when I first saw them in a club in Reading (UK) and was blown away by their live sound, their and intricate playing. I had been into Rush and Marillion for a couple of years, and It Bites was just my thing. I was there at the Hammersmith Odeon for that triumphant sell out night, and I remember thinking that Prog was very much alive in the UK.

I think Virgin put them under pressure to broaden their appeal further. 'Big lad in the Windmill' was very poppy, but you could hear where they wanted to be. 'Once around the world' got them there. A brilliant prog album, not not as commercially successful as the debut. The single releases were either slated (Old man and the Angel) or ignored (Kiss like Judas) which was a terrible shame. I think their record company pressured them to become more stadium rock orientated, less thoughtfull, less English and quirky and generally more appealing to an American audience. This drastic change of direction, that they didn't support, in their hearts led them to split. I think FD became very dissilusioned with the music industry.

I hope they do reform.  Great band!

My top IB tunes would have to be:

Yellow Christian

Old man and the Angel

You'll never go to heaven

Screaming on the beaches

Once around the world

Whats your favourites..??

Thanks for your vote of support Velvet,but I really feel like a spent force these days. It seems the stuffing's gone out of me,in a way. I haven't retreated to the isolated mountain cabin of my mind quite yet but I'm standing on the doorstep.

I hear you guys and girls.

It Bites absolutely rocked my world for a while back there and please don't think that I'm being hard on the band members as people. I understand that the pop world has (and always will be) a sh*tty business. They made an absolute gem of a prog album in Once Around The world and for that I will be forever grateful. I'm just a bitter old thirtysomething who thinks they could have been HUGE!

I'm glad that there are other IB supporters (I thought I was the only one) still out there. Incidentally, any prog fans unfamiliar with IB out there should instantly check them out. The production on Once Around The World sounds a little dated now but it is still a classic prog album with some great pop melodies thrown into the pot for good measure.

Contender for best prog album of the 80's??

...Hmm, maybe that's best left for another thread

sigod:

I too, am a bitter thirty something who think they SHOULD have been huge

'Once around the world' best prog album of the 80's??? Not for me, to be honest, I could never rank it higher than 'Fugazi' By Marillion or 'Moving Pictures' and 'Grace under pressure' by Rush. However, rest assured it wouldn't be far behind them

Pixel Pirate wrote: Thanks,Sigod. We'll see how the battle goes. And I agree with the list of It Bites favourites with the additions of "Calling All The Heroes" (album version of course) and the only two tracks I liked from "Eat Me In St.Louis", "When The Ice Melts Into Water" and the guitar extravaganza "Charlie".

Come on Pixie it's not a battle it is a game!

A bit of FUN!

We all talk bollocks, me (more than) most!

We will always be on the point of Apocalypse and man will always be inhumane to man-it's the nature of the beast.