Small Faces
Humble Pie
Formed by former Small Face’s frontman Steve Marriot, the Hard rock outfit Humble Pie began in Essex in 1969. The band also featured Peter Frampton (guitar), Greg Ridley (bass) and Jerry Shirley (drums). The group spend their first months together locked away in Marriot’s cottage, relentlessly practicing.
They soon signed to the Immediate label and issued their debut single "Natural Born Boogie," which hit the British Top Ten and paved the way for the group's premiere LP, ‘As Safe as Yesterday Is’.
After touring the U.S. in support of 1969's ‘Town and Country’, Humble Pie returned home only to discover that Immediate had declared bankruptcy. They recruited a new manager, Dee Anthony, who helped them lad a new deal with A&M. Anthony also encouraged the bad to create a harder, edgier sound, far removed from their current acoustic melodies. As Marriott's raw blues shouting began to dominate subsequent LPs like 1970's eponymous effort and 1971's ‘Rock On’, Frampton's role in the band he co-founded gradually diminished. After embarking on a US tour, Frampton left the band.
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After enlisting former Colosseum guitarist Dave "Clem" Clempson to fill the void, Humble Pie grew even heavier for 1972's ‘Smokin', their most successful album to date. However, while 1973's ambitious double studio/live set ‘Eat It’ fell just shy of the Top Ten, its 1974 follow-up Thunderbox failed to crack the Top 40. After 1975's Street Rats reached only number 100 before disappearing from the charts, Humble Pie disbanded.
In 1980, Marriott and Shirley re-formed Humble Pie with ex-Jeff Beck Group vocalist Bobby Tench and bassist Anthony Jones. After a pair of LPs, 1980's On to Victory and the following year's Go for the Throat, the group mounted a troubled tour of America, after Marriot suffered from a mangled hand and ulcer. Soon, the band disbanded once again.
On April 20, 1991, Marriott died in the fire which destroyed his 16th century Arkesden cottage.
Carly Page
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
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Gene
Gene was a British indie/rock quartet formed in 1993 in London. They were popularly labelled as a Britpop band and often drew somewhat superficial comparisons to The Smiths, if only because of their slightly Morrissey-esque lead singer. Despite this comparison, there is a lot more to Gene’s music than met the eyes of their critics. Their music takes influence from punk-rockers The Jam, blues riffs from the Small Faces, all mixed in with the soulful sound of motown.
The roots of Gene lay in a band called Spin, which featured guitarist Steve Mason and drummer Matt James. Despite Spin’s split, Mason and James continued playing together, recruiting bassist Kevin Miles. The trio eventually met vocalist Martin Rossiter, and they formed Gene in 1993. Soon after forming, the quartet began to write songs, and had performed a number of shows by the end of the year. They were later signed to Costermonger, a label set up by two journalists, through which they released their debut single, ‘For The Dead’ in 1994.
After their next single ‘Be My Light, Be My Guide’ reached number one in the indie charts, the band signed to Polydor. In 1995, following this, they were named Best New Act at NME’s Brat Awards.
Their debut album, ‘Olympian’ was released in 1995. It received mixed reviews, and although it entered into the Top Ten – the band were soon overshadowed by upcoming acts such as Blur and Oasis.
Early in 1996, ‘To See the Lights’, a collection of B-sides and BBC sessions, was released in England. A new single, ‘Fighting Fit’ was shortly released as a teaser from their new album, and entered into the top ten. However, the album that followed ‘Drawn to the Deep End’ did not follow in the single’s success.
By 2000, the band was without a label. They founded, and issued the live set ‘Rising for Sunset: Live at the Troubadour’, but this went almost unnoticed among the indie scene. However, in mid-summer 2002, Gene emerged with ‘Libertine’, their strongest material since Olympian. A tour followed, but the band went their separate ways in 2003.
Carly Page
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
