Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, England, in January 1974.
Overview
Between 1976 and 1978, the year in which they split up, Deaf School recorded three albums for the
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
label. The first album's art rock style had roots in cabaret, and later releases moved towards a harder punk rock sound. Deaf School have been recognized as an important influence on many British musicians. According to
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (singer), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (FGTH drummer), Peter ...
singer
Holly Johnson
William Holly Johnson (born 9 February 1960) is an English artist, musician, and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he wa ...
: "They revived Liverpool music for a generation." The journalist, author and founder of ''Mojo'',
Paul Du Noyer
Paul Du Noyer (born Paul Anthony Du Noyer; 21 May 1954) is an English rock journalist and author. He was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and educated at the London School of Economics. He has written and edited for the music magazines '' NME'', ' ...
, went further: "In the whole history of Liverpool music two bands matter most, one is
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
and the other is Deaf School."
Nearly all the group's members went on to enjoy successful careers, notably guitarist
Clive Langer
Clive Langer (born 19 June 1954 in Hampstead, London, England) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards.
He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films '' Still Crazy'' and '' ...
Dexys Midnight Runners
Dexys Midnight Runners (currently officially Dexys, their former nickname, styled without an apostrophe) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid-1980s. They a ...
, two non-Liverpool acts which cite Deaf School as an influence. Langer also co-wrote (with Elvis Costello) the song " Shipbuilding".
History
Formed by students and staff at Liverpool Art College, Deaf School were named after its rehearsal venue, a former school for the deaf that had become a college annexe. Their initial aim was to play the college's 1973 Christmas dance. The group's lead male vocalist, Enrico Cadillac Jnr recalls that "Anyone who wanted to be in it could be. There were about 13 on stage at that time. No one could play – it was based on people we thought were interesting . . we entered (and) . . won the Melody Maker rock and folk contest and were suddenly a big deal. We signed to Warners because their A&R guy,
Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor (7 May 1932 – 8 September 1997) was an English journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was one ...
, had been The Beatles publicist and when he saw us rehearsing in Mathew Street, he cried his eyes out".
The informal early line-up was gradually whittled down, though live shows were still chaotic and colourful, marked by their diversity of costumes and instrumentation, with strong elements of performance art. Deaf School's debut album, ''2nd Honeymoon'', was released in the UK in August 1976. Its reception at the time was muted by the sudden popularity of punk rock, a style whose anger and urgency seemed at odds with Deaf School's more whimsical and eclectic approach. The band itself appeared to address this problem on subsequent albums ''Don’t Stop The World'' (1977) and ''English Boys/Working Girls'' (1978), which were more aggressive and focused. Despite some lavish promotion by Warner Brothers and their continued popularity as a live act, Deaf School did not achieve significant chart success. In 1977, their first two albums were re-packaged together for the US market, and several American dates were played in support, but no commercial breakthrough was made. By mutual consent the band left Warner Brothers in 1978 and pursued separate careers.
On disbanding, several members continued working in the music industry. Singer
Bette Bright
Bette Bright (born Anne Martin, Whitstable, Kent, England) is an English rock singer.
Career
In the late 1970s, Bright was a singer for the art rock band Deaf School. After Deaf School disbanded, Bright went solo with her backing band, 'The ...
led her own band The Illuminations (and married the lead singer of Madness,
Suggs
Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor from Hastings, England.
In a music career spanning 40 years, he came to prominence in the ...
). Clive Langer became one of the foremost record producers of the 1980s and 1990s, working with Madness, Morrissey,
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
, Dexys Midnight Runners and Bush amongst others. Bassist Steve Lindsey formed The Planets, scoring a ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'' appearance with his song "Lines". Enrico Cadillac Jnr (real name Steve Allen) joined
Ian Broudie
Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...
Original Mirrors
Original Mirrors were a British new wave band formed in Liverpool in 1979. Featuring members of several earlier punk/new wave bands, they signed to Mercury Records and released two albums before splitting up in 1981, with members going on to play ...
who released two albums. Allen later formed The Perils of Plastic with former
Attractions
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism m ...
keyboard player
Steve Nieve
Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions, the Imposters and Madnes ...
, before going onto a successful pan-European solo career, later taking on the management of Espiritu as well as an A&R post with Warner Bros. Records from 1993 to 2004. Ian Ritchie became a prolific composer, producer and session player. Eric Shark went on to work with Geoff Davies and set up Probe Plus, responsible for Half Man Half Biscuit amongst others.
In 1988, most former Deaf School members reunited for live dates, with one of their Liverpool performances released as a live album, ''2nd Coming'', produced by Langer and Julian Wheatley. Guests included
Tin Machine
Tin Machine were a British–American rock band formed in 1988, and fronted by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The band consisted of Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on ba ...
's
Reeves Gabrels
Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. A member and guitarist of British band the Cure since 2012, Gabrels worked with David Bowie from 1987 to 1999, and was a member of the band Tin Machine. ...
,
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,Lee Thompson from Madness.
Tim Whittaker died in 1996 but ten years later, in May 2006, the remaining members of Deaf School reformed for more concerts, culminating in an oversubscribed show in Liverpool for the reopening of the New Picket in the newly formed Independent District on 27 May. In September 2007 Deaf School reunited again and played several live shows including a warm up at The Dublin Castle pub in Camden Town followed by the Manchester Academy and the Carling Academy Liverpool. In December 2007 they played again at the Indigo2 venue at
The O2
The O2 is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars, and restaurants. It was built largely withi ...
in London for Madness's aftershow party. Suggs said, "In Madness we’d all listened to Deaf School records. Their first album was a big phenomenon in our lives. In 1975 they played at the Roundhouse in Camden, which was the greatest music venue in the world as far as we were concerned, and I was bowled over by them..". In September 2009 the band did shows at The Dublin Castle and The Garage in London before returning to Liverpool for four sell-out concerts at The Everyman Theatre, and an appearance at The Hope Street Festival. The three Deaf School studio albums were re-mastered and released in September 2009 on Cherry Red's Lemon label.
The full band augmented by ex- Crackout drummer Nicholas Millard, played 'The Deaf School Xmas Bash' shows in December 2009 at the 100 Club in London, and the Liverpool O2 Academy, making it ten live appearances in 2009, a first since the 1970s.
Band member Thomas Sam Davis (aka Eric Shark) died, aged 59, on 7 January 2010, from
lung disease
The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side ...
. The band played two concerts in Liverpool in April in tribute, featuring guests such as Suggs, Ian Broudie and Kevin Rowland.
Deaf School announced nine live dates aka 'The Listen & Learn Tour' in early 2011 including The Garage London and dates in Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool culminating in two shows in Tokyo. A mini album, entitled ''Enrico & Bette xx'' was released in 2011 containing five new songs, "You Turn Away", "I Know I Know", "The Enrico Song", "Goodbye To All That" and "Scary Girlfriend".
Deaf School again appeared at The Everyman Theatre Liverpool for two emotionally charged 'Goodbye to the Everyman' shows as part of the refurbishment closure events, and played the Port Eliot festival July 2011.
A history by Paul Du Noyer, ''Deaf School: the Non-Stop Pop Art Punk Rock Party'', was published in the UK by the
Liverpool University Press
Liverpool University Press (LUP), founded in 1899, is the third oldest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. As the press of the University of Liverpool, it specialises in modern languages, li ...
in October 2013, to mark the 40th anniversary of the band's formation.
In 2013, Gregg Braden joined the band as permanent drummer. Deaf School's latest album, ''LAUNDERETTE'', was released in Japan on 27 May 2015 by Hyabusa Landings. The album features seven new studio tracks alongside five tracks recorded live at the Floral Pavilion New Brighton in November 2014, along with a bonus track from 1987 featuring Eric Shark on lead vocals. A full-length studio album of new material, entitled ''Let's Do This Again Next Week'' - their first for 39 years - was released in December 2017, featuring new songs written by the band in various formations. Although still a member of the band, tour commitments with Roger Waters (with whom he has collaborated for three decades) meant that Ian Ritchie was unable to contribute to the recordings. A short tour in support of the album, featuring the full seven-person lineup of the band, followed the same month.
In November 2022, Deaf School reformed to play London's 100 Club, followed by shows in Brighton & Liverpool, featuring all the living members of the original line up, with Gregg Braden on drums.
Band members
*
Bette Bright
Bette Bright (born Anne Martin, Whitstable, Kent, England) is an English rock singer.
Career
In the late 1970s, Bright was a singer for the art rock band Deaf School. After Deaf School disbanded, Bright went solo with her backing band, 'The ...
(birth name Anne Martin) - vocals
* Enrico Cadillac Jnr (birth name Steve Allen) - vocals
* Eric Shark (birth name Thomas John Davis) - vocals (b.1950 – d.2010)
* Ian Ritchie - woodwind instruments
* Max Ripple (birth name John Wood) - keyboards
* Cliff Hanger (birth name
Clive Langer
Clive Langer (born 19 June 1954 in Hampstead, London, England) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards.
He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films '' Still Crazy'' and '' ...
) - guitar
* Steve "Average" Lindsey - bass guitar
* Tim Whittaker - drums (b. Timothy John Whittaker, 8 October 1952,
Clitheroe
Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...
, Lancashire – d. 20 July 1996,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
)
* Gregg Braden - drums 2013 – present
Discography
Albums
* 1976: ''2nd Honeymoon'' (AUS #63)
* 1977: ''Don't Stop the World''
* 1978: ''English Boys/Working Girls''
* 2011: ''Enrico & Bette xx''
* 2015: ''Launderette''
* 2017: ''Let's Do This Again Next Week''
Live album
* 1988: ''2nd Coming: Liverpool '88''
Compilation albums
* 2003: ''What a Way to End It All: The Anthology''
* 2021: ''Parigi My Dear''
Singles
* 1976: "What a Way to End It All"/"Nearly Moonlit Night Motel" (AUS #72)
* 1977: "Taxi"/"Last Night"
* 1978: "All Queued Up"/"Golden Showers"
* 1978: "Thunder & Lightning" / "Working Girls'"
* 2011: "The Survivor Song"
* 2017: "Bed & Breakfast"/"Loving You"