The Fast Set

(I'm the one on the right!)

It was early 1980. I was holding down a day job at BP but gigging with various line-ups, and I was looking around for truly creative people with original ideas with whom to form a band. It was at the Marquee Club in Wardour Street at a gig starring Robert Fripp's band The League of Gentlemen that I first met Marc Sebastian Jones. We got talking (like you do) and arranged to meet up at his place. It turned out that Marc was a poet, lyricist and vocalist, and that he was working on new material with David Knight. Dave is a wizard with all kinds of electronic musical gadgetry, from tape loops to vintage pre-midi synthesizers and sequencers. At that time, Dave's alter ego was The Fast Set. As The Fast Set, Dave had released a 7 inch single of his own composition Junction One, c/w Children of the Revolution, the T.Rex hit. That single was, by the way, the very first release on Axis Records, which soon after became the leading Indie label 4AD.

Musically, Marc, Dave and I had much in common - Kraftwerk, Can, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Bowie, Roxy, Bolan, Bauhaus, Joy Division. The noted Futurist DJ Stevo had been in touch with Dave about releasing some new Fast Set material, so the three of us became the new line-up of the band.

At that time, we had a compelling, original sound, featuring lots of electronics, doomy half-spoken vocals and heavily treated guitar.

Stevo compiled a weekly Futurist Chart, and bands from all over the country sent him tapes. He started planning a record label to be launched with a compilation album of his favourite bands. We were sceptical about handing over our best material, so we booked into a tiny 8-track studio and recorded an obscure T.Rex track King of the Rumbling Spires. We financed the session ourselves, and our recording budget was a staggering £40!

We were both elated and horrified when Stevo pulled off the deal of the century and got his company, now called Some Bizzare Label (his spelling, not mine) a pressing and distribution deal with Phonogram. Elated because of the nationwide promotion and availability, but horrified because we hadn't given Stevo a self-penned track, and would therefore get no publishing royalties. Big mistake boys . So Some Bizzare Album was released, and it also featured Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Blancmange and other then unknown artistes. Shortly after the release date, Dave and I parted company with Marc - we wanted to make our music slightly more accessible, so I took over vocal duties.

As this line-up, we played some well received gigs up and down the country, always on a shoestring budget. For our support slot at the Warehouse Club in Leeds, where we opened for the Monochrome Set, we travelled up from London by coach, and after a great gig waited all night at the bus station for our ride home! Our best gig was definitely the Some Bizzare Album launch party at the Lyceum. I can remember people saying nice things about us in the music press the week after. Around this time we recruited drummer and Ruts fanatic Brad Day. Brad's other claim to fame is a blink-or-you'll-miss-it appearance as an extra in the Sex Pistols' film The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle.

Our downfall was falling out with Stevo, when he rang us up looking for a band to appear at a London gig that very evening (one of his other bands had pulled out) - he gave us about three hours notice. I was working that evening and I couldn't get out of it, so after that Stevo concentrated on being Soft Cell's manager, released Tainted Love rather than our single, and the rest is history.

After that we gradually split up - Dave joined various other bands, including Five or Six, Naked Lunch and Shock Headed Peters. As for me, I briefly played with Brad's band The Third Eye. Several years later I worked with Dave again when I played on various sessions for Dave's then partner, Danielle Dax. Eventually, I joined London R'n'B band Shout Sister Shout! But that's another story!

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