Scarlet Party was a rock band formed in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England, in the early 1980s. The founding members were singer/songwriter brothers Graham and Steven Dye along with drummer Sean Heaphy. They began to perform at many top venues, to a well established following, and had already recorded an album of original material, and were signed to a major record company, when joined by fourth member, Mark Gilmour, brother of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

, on lead guitar. The debut single, "

101 Dam-Nations "101 Dam-Nations" is a song written by Graham Dye and Steven Dye. The catch-phrase "101 Damnations", is a play on words, derived from the title of the animated feature film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, made by The Walt Disney Company in 196 ...

", was released on

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

, on 16 October 1982, alongside a special re-release of "

Love Me Do "Love Me Do" is the debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by " P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United States i ...

", celebrating

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' 20th anniversary at EMI. This helped to get Scarlet Party noticed, and with the voice of Graham Dye, uncannily resembling that of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

, a television, radio, and magazine, publicity campaign, helped to reinforce the connection. The single was enthusiastically received (

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

described it as her favourite song from 1983), and reached number 44 in the UK Singles Chart. It was voted number 4 in the All-Time Top 100 Singles from

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

''.. Larkin states 'it should have been an anthem monster number one.' The follow-up single "

Eyes Of Ice An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the eye ...

" reached number 8 in the Portuguese chart. The single was released in February 1983, on ice-clear vinyl, which was a request from the band, and all art-work for the sleeve was created by Graham Dye, using coloured pencils. 'Scarlet Skies', was recorded at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

in 1981-82, but has never been officially released. The linked songs explore themes of war, love, and alienation, in styles reminiscent of both the mini pop operas of

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

, and the progressive concept albums of

. The band recorded more original songs written by the Dye brothers, as a four-piece, until the departure of Mark Gilmour at the end of 1983, and then, once again, as a three-piece, also working on other projects, including a musical cartoon adventure based on the band, none of which were taken on by EMI. Scarlet Party continued performing live shows, joined briefly by new member Micky Portman on bass, and recorded several more tracks at Abbey Road Studios. However, the band now feeling disheartened, and disappointed in EMI, decided to call it a day at the end of 1985. Graham Dye went on to work as lead vocalist, on several albums by

The Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock music, rock duo formed in London in 1975. Its core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons, and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They shared w ...

, and more recently, a new version of "101 Dam-Nations" was made, featuring Graham and Steven Dye, together with

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

, playing the

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s. The brothers requested the help of

Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Parsons was the sound engineer on albums including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and '' Let It Be'' (1970), Pink Floyd's ''The ...

to produce the recording, which is not yet available.

Discography

Singles

* "101 Dam-Nations" / "What Is This Thing" - 1982, UK #44 (Parlophone R6058) * "Eyes Of Ice" / "Another World", - 1983, (Parlophone R6060),

Albums

*'Scarlet Skies' - recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, in 1981-82, not released. Track listing: ** "101 Dam-Nations" ** "Stop Your Game (War)" ** "Aftermath" ** "Now's Good Times" ** "Judy" ** "Eyes Of Ice" ** "Scarlet Skies" ** "In A World" ** "A Deadly Silence" ** "Another World" ** "101 Dam-Nations" (reprise)

Anthology

* Shining, - featuring Mark Gilmour, recorded at EMI Studio, Manchester Square, London, 1982 * Sky High, - featuring Mark Gilmour, recorded at Hook End Studio, Henley, 1982 * Fly by Night, - engineered by Phil Harding, 1983 * Wonder, - engineered by Phil Harding, 1983 * Flying Saucers, - engineered by Phil Harding, 1983 * Genuine?, - recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, 1984 * Love Is..., - recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, 1984 * At The End Of The Day, - recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, 1984 * Save Me!, - recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, 1984 * 101 Dam-Nations, - featuring Phil Collins, recorded at Dinamec Studios, Geneva, Switzerland Words and Music by Graham Dye/Steven Dye - published by Sony/ATV Music

Compilation albums featuring "101 Dam-Nations"

* ''Chart Wars'' - 1982, Ronco LP album * ''The Rock Collection : Indie Rock'' - 1993, Time-Life Music CD album * ''Shake Some Action Volume 5'' - 2001, bootleg CD album * ''Lost And Found Volume 1 : Imagination'' - 2001,

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

CD album * ''Mod And Beyond'' - 2005, Crimson Productions CD album

References

External links

Scarlet Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarlet Party Parlophone artists English rock music groups Musical groups from Essex