Spider were a British band from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, that formed in 1976 and were part of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM). The band, who were often compared to

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

, offered an upbeat sound, which was described as

boogie rock Boogie rock is a style of blues rock music that developed in the late 1960s. Its key feature is a repetitive driving rhythm, which emphasizes the groove. Although inspired by earlier musical styles such as piano-based boogie-woogie, boogie rock h ...

. Spider released three albums in the 10 years they were together, titled ''Rock 'n' Roll Gypsies'' (1982) ''Rough Justice'' (1984) and ''Raise the Banner (For Rock 'n' Roll)'' (1986) The band split in 1986.

Career

Spider formed in 1976, consisted of four young men from

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

, including two brothers, none of whom had played in bands before. After releasing "Children of the Street" on the Alien Record Label, Spider were playing, on average 20 dates a month, which included a support slot on the Uriah Heep 1980 Winter Tour. 1982 proved to be the band's most lucrative year. It began in late 1981 when the band were contracted to record for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...

.
The producer, Tony Wilson, introduced them to Maggi Farren, who set up a recording deal with Creole Records as well as getting the band a support slot on the 1981

Slade Slade are a rock band formed in Wolverhampton, England in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The '' British Hit Singl ...

Winter Tour. Spider released the single "Talkin' 'bout Rock 'n' Roll" with Creole, which featured as part of BBC Radio 1's play list. They then went into the studio to begin recording their first album ''Rock 'n' Roll Gypsies'', to be released on the Creole label also. However

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

, who had made a late bid for the band, and after negotiations, Spider signed a six-year recording contract with the record label. 1982 continued with Spider packing out the

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, that opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End of London, West End. It was the location of the first ...

once a month. They supported Alice Cooper on the British leg of his Special Forces Tour. They played at the

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...

on Sunday 29 August 1982, as well as securing a support slot on the mammoth Gillan Tour in coincidence with the release of their first album. Dave Bryce, guitarist, currently plays with London rock band AWOL. On 22 July 2022 it was announced on the bands Facebook page that Colin Harkness had died, at the age of 62.

Band members

* Colin Harkness - lead vocals, guitar died July 2022 * Dave "Sniffa" Bryce - guitar, backing vocals * Brian Burrows - bass, backing vocals * Rob E. Burrows - drums

Discography

Albums

Singles

*1977: "Back to the Wall" *1980: "Children of the Street" *1980: "College Luv" *1981: "All the Time" *1982: "Talkin' 'Bout Rock 'n' Roll" *1982: "Rock 'n' Roll Forever Will Last" *1982: "Amazing Grace Medley" (Free with Rock 'n' Roll Forever Will Last) *1983: "Why D'Ya Lie to Me" *1984: "Here we go Rock 'n' Roll" *1984: "Breakaway" *1986: "Gimme Gimme It All"

References

External links

SPIDER BOOGIE FANWAGON

Spider Fan Site Classic Rock Magazine - Cult Heroes no. 32
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spider (Rock Band) English heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1986 Rock music groups from Liverpool New Wave of British Heavy Metal musical groups