Swans Way were a three-piece English

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formed in

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in late 1981. The band comprised Robert Shaw (vocals), Maggie De Monde (vocals and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

) and Rick P. Jones (

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). They released one album and had a UK Top 20 hit with "Soul Train", before splitting up in 1985.

History

Shaw had previously been the singer/guitarist in The Last Gang, while De Monde and Jones, who met at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

, had been members of the Playthings. All three were living on the same road in Birmingham when they formed the band, and initially rehearsed in an old casino, experimenting with different instruments.Perretta, Don (1984) "Soul Train", ''Smash Hits'', 16-29 February 1984, p. 23 The band's name was a play on ''Swann's Way'', the first volume of

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

's ''

À la recherche du temps perdu ''In Search of Lost Time'' (), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French author Marcel Proust. This early twen ...

''. Swans Way presented a mixture of musical influences, from jazz to classical and pop to disco. After an appearance on the cassette magazine ''SFX'' in May 1982, their first single, "Theme from the Balcony" was issued later that year. Their second single, "Soul Train", gave them their first hit, reaching number 20 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1984. The band subsequently appeared on

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's ''

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'' performing the song on 9 February 1984. They also released further singles, with varying success. "The Anchor", in March 1984, did not chart, whilst "Illuminations" made number 57 in May 1984, and their third and final hit, "When The Wild Calls", peaked outside the Top 75 at number 80. The group recorded an album, ''The Fugitive Kind'', which reached number 88 on 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 November 1984. The album was issued on CD, but only about 100 copies were pressed. It was re-released on CD in 1997 with extra tracks as ''The Best of Swans Way'' and again in 2012 with a different set of bonus tracks under the title of ''The Fugitive Kind - Expanded Edition''. They performed live on two major television music programmes in 1984 - ''

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'' in February and ''

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'' in March. In June 1985, a seven song performance filmed at

Pebble Mill Studios Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne ...

was broadcast on

as ''This Is Swans Way''. Performances from a concert recorded at The Astoria, London, together with interviews, were broadcast on

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in May 1985 as part of the ''Mirror Image'' series, and the full concert also released by Polygram Video as ''History and Image''. In July 1985, the band signed a five-year, five-album deal with

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and had recorded demos of new songs, with a new single, "Hot Summer" planned for an August release, but the band split up before any new material was released due to musical differences. De Monde and Jones went on to work together as Scarlet Fantastic, while Shaw released two albums in the early 2000s under the name Mighty Math and another in 2022 as Sparkleray. De Monde later became half of the recording duos Kahal & Kahal and Maggie & Martin.

Discography

Albums

* ''The Fugitive Kind'' (1984), Balgier - UK No. 88 * ''The Best Of Swans Way'' (1998),

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

* ''The Fugitive Kind'' - Expanded Edition (2012), Cherry Pop

Singles

* "Theme from the Balcony" (1982), Exit International * "Soul Train" (1984), Exit International - UK No. 20 * "The Anchor" (1984), Exit International * "Illuminations" (1984), Balgier - UK No. 57 * "When the Wild Calls" (1984), Balgier - UK No. 80

Videos

* ''Swans Way History and Image'' (VHS, 50 mins) (1985), Polygram Video

References

External links

Mini biography of Swans Way at Scarlet-fantastic.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swans Way (Band) British pop music groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 1981 establishments in the United Kingdom