Kirk Brandon (born 3 August 1956) is an English

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

best known as the leader of the bands Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny and a former lover of Boy George.

Musical career

Brandon's music career started in 1978, in Clapham,

south London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sut ...

, with the formation of punk group The Pack, in which he was the

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. The Pack consisted of Brandon, Scottish-born

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

Rab Fae Beith and two

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

brothers, Simon and Jon Werner on

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

s. The last live

gig Gig or GIG may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Gig'' (Circle Jerks album) (1992) * ''Gig'' (Northern Pikes album) (1993) * ''The Gig'', a 1985 film written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy * GIG, a character in ''Hot Wheels AcceleRacers'' ...

by The Pack took place at the 101 club in Clapham. Brandon then formed the post punk new wave band Theatre of Hate in 1980 recruiting

Stan Stammers Stan Stammers (born 19 May 1961, England) is an English musician best known as the bass player for the bands Theatre of Hate, Spear of Destiny and Plastic Eaters. Early life Stammers grew up in Saffron Walden, Essex. He got into punk music ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Nigel Preston on

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, Billy Duffy on guitar and John 'Boy' Lennard on

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

. Theatre of Hate had their largest

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

from the ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

with the single "Do You Believe in the Westworld?", which achieved #40 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in January 1982, while the album rose to #17 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

in March 1982. Theatre of Hate disbanded in 1983. Brandon and Stammers were then joined by Lascelles James on saxophone and Chris Bell on drums to form Spear of Destiny. The new band adopted a more melodic and less aggressive sound, distancing themselves from post-punk and moving a little more towards mainstream

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

. While continuing to explore the political ideas that he wrote about in Theatre of Hate, Brandon's

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

for Spear of Destiny dealt more frequently with the classic pop themes of love and romance. Many line-up changes followed with the band swelling to a 6 piece and then contracting back to a 4 piece. The band's reputation as a live act never translated itself into record sales, and Spear of Destiny only had one Top 20 hit. In 2003, Brandon did a solo tour as support to The Alarm on their 'Poppyfields' tour. His set included some new material played on an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

with electric pick up, as well as some material from his time with Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny. In later years he performed in the punk supergroup, Dead Men Walking, before reforming and touring with Spear Of Destiny in 2007 and 2008. Brandon continues to tour with both Spear of Destiny and Theatre of Hate, as well as a revamped Dead Men Walking, playing occasionally as The Pack, and acoustic shows including with cellist Sam Sansbury.

Personal life

As a boy, Kirk Brandon attended

Churston Ferrers Grammar School Churston Ferrers Grammar School (also known as CFGS) is a selective coeducational Grammar School with Academy status, situated in the village of Galmpton in Torbay, South Devon, England. It is also a specialist Humanities College. Year 7 annua ...

in Devon. In 1987, Brandon developed

reactive arthritis Reactive arthritis, also known as Reiter's syndrome, is a form of inflammatory arthritis that develops in response to an infection in another part of the body (cross-reactivity). Coming into contact with bacteria and developing an infection can t ...

and could not walk for more than a year. Brandon was married in 1994 to a Danish woman, Christina. Shortly after he was declared bankrupt. In 1997, Brandon sued the singer

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

for

malicious falsehood Malicious falsehood or injurious falsehood is a tort. It is a lie that was uttered with malice, that is, the utterer knew it was false or would cause damage or harm. Malicious falsehood is a false statement made maliciously that causes damage to t ...

and lost. George revealed details of his love for Brandon and their romantic and sexual affair in his 1995 autobiography '' Take It Like a Man''. Brandon claimed that stories about the gay affair in the early 1980s damaged his career as a musician. He also objected to the lyrics of a Boy George song, "Unfinished Business", which apparently were aimed at him: "I hear you married a Danish girl ... You break your promise easily ... You lie, you lie, you lie. Yeah tough guy, you know exactly what I mean." Brandon demanded damages from Boy George, George's publishers, Sidgwick and Jackson, and also Virgin Records and EMI Virgin Music Publishing. The judge ruled in favour of the defendants, and ordered Brandon to pay some of their legal costs. In January 2008, Brandon sued

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the tent ...

UK over personal injuries as a result of taking the anti-depressant drug

Seroxat Paroxetine, sold under the brand names Paxil and Seroxat among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used to treat major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorde ...

. Brandon had heart surgery in 2011. He was a tutor at the

Brighton Institute of Modern Music The British and Irish Modern Music Institute, now styled as the BIMM Institute, is a group of eight independent colleges which specialise in the provision of creative education in Brighton, Bristol, London, Dublin, Manchester, Berlin, Birmi ...

in 2012.

Media portrayal

Brandon was portrayed by the actor Richard Madden in the 2010 television film ''

Worried About the Boy ''Worried About the Boy'' is a 2010 British biographical drama television film directed by Julian Jarrold and written by Tony Basgallop, based on the life of English singer Boy George. It stars Douglas Booth as Boy George and Mathew Horne as ...

'', a dramatisation of Boy George's rise to fame in the early 1980s.

References

External links

Kirk Brandon's Official SiteKirk Brandon interview (BBC)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandon, Kirk 1956 births Living people English male singers English songwriters People from Westminster People educated at Churston Ferrers Grammar School British post-punk musicians Theatre of Hate members Spear of Destiny (band) members Dead Men Walking members British male songwriters