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Little Angels were an English hard rock band predominantly active between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The band reformed to play the 2012 Download Festival.


History


1984–1994: Early history and UK popularity

Little Angels formed in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
, England in May 1984, under the name of Zeus and then to Mr Thrud in September 1985, settling on Little Angels during recording of the ''Too Posh to Mosh'' mini-album at
Fairview Studios Fairview Studios is an independent recording studio located in Willerby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Established by a local man Keith Herd in 1966, it has recorded musical acts such as Def Leppard, Mick Ronson, Red Guitars, Mostly Autumn ...
, Willerby,
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
in 1987. The founding members were
Toby Jepson Toby Jepson is a singer and songwriter, and is the lead vocalist and guitarist of British rock band Wayward Sons. He was formerly the lead vocalist and guitarist of Little Angels between 1984 and 1994. Between 2008 and 2015, he was the lead ...
(vocalist), Mark Plunkett (bassist), Dave Hopper (drummer) and the
brothers A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingl ...
Bruce John and Jimmy Dickinson (guitarist and keyboardist respectively). Michael Lee joined the band to replace Hopper on 16 August 1988. It was at this time that the band met Kevin Nixon who became their manager and label boss when he signed them to his York-based company Powerstation Records. Eventually out-growing the local scene the band signed to
Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...
on 19 May 1988. In 1991, the band released the album ''Young Gods'' that Q Magazine called "finely produced and well-arranged" while the single "Boneyard" charted in the UK. Lee was fired from Little Angels during the ''Young Gods'' tour in New York, after it was discovered he had auditioned for
The Cult The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...
behind their backs. He went on to play the full ''
Ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...
'' world tour. Lee was replaced by Mark Richardson, who filled in for him on several tour dates, before taking his place officially during the
recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...
of the band's third album, ''Jam''. "The Big Bad Horns" ("Big" Dave Kemp on saxophone, Frank Mizen on
trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
and
Grant Kirkhope Grant Kirkhope (born 10 July 1962) is a Scottish composer and voice actor for video games and film. Some of his notable works include '' GoldenEye 007'', '' Banjo-Kazooie'', '' Donkey Kong 64'', and '' Perfect Dark'', among many others. He has w ...
on trumpet) had become synonymous with the 'Angels' sound over the years, contributing to a large majority of their recorded output, and appearing live with the band more often than not. However, they were keen to remain independent from the band, so appearances on stage and record are credited to Little Angels and The Big Bad Horns. Little Angels were successful in the UK with four best selling albums, including a number 1 in the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
in 1993 with ''Jam'', plus 11 hit singles. They enjoyed a high profile in the UK, supporting bands including
Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...
and
Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...
. Despite the seemingly disappointing record sales, they followed the announcement of their split by playing a sold-out six date UK tour, culminating in a performance at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
in 1994.


1995–2011: After the break-up

After the demise of Little Angels, the Dickinson brothers formed b.l.o.w. with Richardson and the former No Sweat guitarist (turned vocalist) Dave Gooding. Jepson recorded and toured an album, ''Ignorance Is Bliss'', under the moniker "Toby and the Whole Truth", which was intended to launch a solo career, but illness scuppered the tour and his immediate plans. He spent subsequent years away from the spotlight before a solo return in 2002. When b.l.o.w. folded, Jimmy Dickinson became a member of the synth pop group Younger Younger 28's who had some success in Japan, and who released one album, ''Soap'', on the V2 label. He gained his PhD in 2016 and Dr Jimmy is now the course leader for the Commercial Music course at BathSpa University, while working on developing new music projects. Bruce John Dickinson went on to teach at, and manage, The Academy of Contemporary Music in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
, Surrey. He is now the managing director of the
Brighton Institute of Modern Music BIMM University (BIMM) is a private university specialising in music, film, performing arts and creative technology. The university is principally based in the United Kingdom with other centres in Ireland and Germany. It is organised into five ...
which he set up with former Angels manager, Kevin Nixon. Mark Richardson joined
Skunk Anansie Skunk Anansie are a British Rock music, rock band whose members include Skin (musician), Skin (vocals, guitar), Cass (bass, guitar), Ace (guitar) and Mark Richardson (musician), Mark Richardson (drums). Skunk Anansie formed in 1994, disbanded ...
to replace their original drummer. When that band folded, he joined Feeder, following the suicide of their original drummer Jon Lee. He remained with the band until the end of 2008 when he re-joined Skunk Anansie for a greatest hits tour and album, plus new material. Mark Plunkett (bass) turned his hand to artist management, and went on to manage firstly
Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show (Ireland), The Late Late Show''. Its most successful line-up was co ...
, then
Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop g ...
. Michael Lee worked as a jobbing drummer, often playing with
Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...
. After a long while away from the spotlight, Jepson struck out on his own in 2001, touring the "Refresh EP" in early 2002 and onwards. Financial pressures put the brakes on this solo venture, and it looked as though he would once again withdraw from the stage. However, he made a return as a solo artist supporting
Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...
on their 2006 UK tour and has – once again – performed solo since then. A spot as guest vocalist for
Gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...
, at a charity gig in Glasgow promoted by rockradio, on 8 January 2008 resulted in him taking the role permanently. This was confirmed in April 2008. Toby Jepson left GUN in June 2010 due to increased responsibility in other aspects of his musical involvement.


2012–2013: Reunion

It was announced in January 2012 that the band were reforming to perform at that year's Download Festival. Their newly launched website for the occasion credits the meeting of the four founding members at Michael Lee's funeral as the catalyst for this re-union, stating "''From the tragic death of their band-mate old friendships are rekindled.''" In an interview with EverythingRock, guitarist Bruce Dickinson stated that he doubted the reunion would be a permanent one, although his answer was not definitive. On 7 June, Little Angels played at the 2012
Sweden Rock Festival Sweden Rock Festival is a rock festival outside the town of Sölvesborg in Blekinge in southern Sweden. The festival offers the best possible mix of classic rock, hard rock, metal, blues and related genres. The first version of the festival, k ...
. The reunion culminated in a 9-date UK tour in December 2012 with venues including Nottingham Rock City and
O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was original ...
. The Glasgow date had to be moved to a larger venue due to "phenomenal demand". Support came from fellow British band
Skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...
. Drummer Richardson could not perform on the tour due to commitments with Skunk Anansie, and was replaced by Dominic Greensmith (mainly known for his time with
Reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...
). Similarly, Grant Kirkhope (trumpet) was unavailable. The reason given on stage by Jepson was that he was "living in California as a tramp". Little Angels were booked to play the
Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. Th ...
, supporting Bon Jovi, on 16 June 2013. On 9 May 2013 they issued a statement to say that this, in conjunction with warm up shows in Cardiff and Cambridge, would be the end of their reunion activities together. Drummer Richardson joined the band for these final three dates, but not trumpeter Grant Kirkhope.


Discography


Studio albums

* ''Don't Prey for Me'' (1989) * ''Young Gods'' (1991) UK No. 17 * ''
Jam Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the meth ...
'' (1993) UK No. 1 * ''Too Posh to Mosh, Too Good to Last!'' (1994) UK No. 18


Mini albums

* ''Too Posh to Mosh'' (1987)


Live albums

* ''Live at Hammersmith Odeon'' EP (1991)


Compilation albums

* ''A Little of the Past'' (1994) UK No. 20


Extended plays

* 87'' (1987) * ''Big Bad EP'' (1989) UK No. 74 * ''Big Bad World'' (Japan only) (1989)


Singles

* "90 in the Shade" (1988) UK No. 101 * "Do You Wanna Riot" (1989) UK No. 91 * "Don't Pray For Me" (1989) UK No. 93 * "Kicking up Dust" (1990) UK No. 46 * "Radical Your Lover" (1990) UK No. 34 * "She's a Little Angel" (1990) UK No. 21 * "Boneyard" (1991) UK No. 33 * "Product of the Working Class" (1991) UK No. 40 * "Young Gods" (1991) UK No. 34 * "I Ain't Gonna Cry" (1991) UK No. 26 * "First Cut Is the Deepest" (Germany only)(1992) * "Too Much Too Young" (1992) UK No. 22 * "Womankind" (1993) UK No. 12; Ire. No. 29 * "Soapbox" (1993) UK No. 33 * "Sail Away" (1993) UK No. 45 * "Ten Miles High" (1994) UK No. 18 * "All Roads Lead to You" (1994)


References


External links


Official Little Angels siteOfficial Toby Jepson siteThe only b.l.o.w. site
{{Authority control English rock music groups Musicians from Scarborough, North Yorkshire Music in Yorkshire