Little Angels were an English hard rock band predominantly active between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The band reformed on 8 June 2012 to play the Download Festival.
History
1984–1994: Early history and UK popularity
Little Angels formed in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, England in May 1984,
under the name of Zeus and then to Mr Thrud in September 1985, settling on Little Angels during recording of the ''Too Posh to Mosh'' mini-album at
Fairview Studios
Fairview Studios is an independent recording studio located in Willerby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Established by a local man Keith Herd in 1966, it has recorded musical acts such as Def Leppard, Mick Ronson, Red Guitars, Mostly Autumn ...
,
Willerby,
Hull in 1987.
The founding members were
Toby Jepson (vocalist), Mark Plunkett (bassist), Dave Hopper (drummer) and the
brothers
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
Bruce John and Jimmy Dickinson (guitarist and keyboardist respectively).
Michael Lee joined the band to replace Hopper on 16 August 1988.
It was at this time that the band met Kevin Nixon who became their manager and label boss when he signed them to his York-based company Powerstation Records. Eventually out-growing the local scene the band signed to
Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
on 19 May 1988,
allegedly a deal done backstage at the old
Marquee Club
The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed wh ...
on
Charing Cross Road, London.
In 1991, the band released the album ''Young Gods'' that Q Magazine called "finely produced and well-arranged" while the single "Boneyard" charted in the UK.
Lee was sacked from Little Angels during the ''Young Gods'' tour in New York, after it was discovered he had auditioned for
The Cult
The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury' ...
behind their backs.
He went on to play the full ''
Ceremony'' world tour. Lee was replaced by
Mark Richardson, who filled in for him on several tour dates, before taking his place officially during the
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
of the band's third album, ''Jam''.
"The Big Bad Horns" ("Big" Dave Kemp on saxophone, Frank Mizen on
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
and
Grant Kirkhope
Grant Kirkhope is a Scottish-American composer and voice actor for video games and film. Some of his notable works include '' GoldenEye 007'', ''Banjo-Kazooie'', ''Donkey Kong 64'', and '' Perfect Dark'', among many others. He has been nominate ...
on trumpet) had become synonymous with the 'Angels' sound over the years, contributing to a large majority of their recorded output, and appearing live with the band more often than not. However, they were keen to remain independent from the band, so appearances on stage and
record are credited to Little Angels and The Big Bad Horns.
Little Angels were successful in the UK with four best selling albums, including a number 1 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 1993 with ''Jam'',
plus 11 hit singles. They enjoyed a high profile in the UK, supporting
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...
and
Bon Jovi, amongst others. In an act of generosity Van Halen gave the band their entire
backline for free at the end of the UK tour.
Despite the seemingly disappointing record sales, they followed the announcement of their split by playing a sold-out six date UK tour, culminating in a performance at the
Royal Albert Hall in 1994.
1995–2011: After the break-up
After the demise of Little Angels, the Dickinson brothers formed b.l.o.w. with Richardson and the former
No Sweat guitarist (turned vocalist) Dave Gooding. Jepson
recorded and toured an album, ''Ignorance Is Bliss'', under the moniker "Toby and the Whole Truth", which was intended to launch a solo career, but illness scuppered the tour and his immediate plans. He spent subsequent years away from the spotlight before a solo return in 2002.
When b.l.o.w. folded, Jimmy Dickinson became a member of the synth pop group Younger Younger 28's who had some success in Japan, and who released one album, ''Soap'', on the V2 label. He gained his PhD in 2016 and Dr Jimmy is now the course leader for the Commercial Music course at BathSpa University, while working on developing new music projects.
Bruce John Dickinson went on to teach at, and manage, The Academy of Contemporary Music in
Guildford, Surrey. He is now the managing director of 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, Birmingh ...
which he set up with former Angels manager, Kevin Nixon.
Mark Richardson joined
Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie are a British rock band whose members include Skin (lead vocals, guitar), Cass (bass, guitar, backing vocals), Ace (guitar, backing vocals) and Mark Richardson (drums and percussion).
Skunk Anansie formed in 1994, disbanded in 2 ...
to replace their original drummer. When that band folded, he joined
Feeder, following the suicide of their original drummer
Jon Lee. He remained with the band until the end of 2008 when he re-joined Skunk Anansie for a greatest hits tour and album, plus new material.
Mark Plunkett (bass) turned his hand to artist management, and went on to manage firstly
Boyzone
Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...
, then
Ronan Keating
Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career start ...
.
Michael Lee worked as a jobbing drummer, often playing with
Robert Plant.
After a long while away from the spotlight, Jepson struck out on his own in 2001, touring the "Refresh EP" in early 2002 and onwards. Financial pressures put the brakes on this solo venture, and it looked as though he would once again withdraw from the stage. However, he made a return as a solo artist supporting
Thunder
Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...
on their 2006 UK tour and has – once again – performed solo since then. A spot as guest vocalist for
Gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...
, at a charity gig in Glasgow promoted by rockradio, on 8 January 2008 resulted in him taking the role permanently. This was confirmed in April 2008.
Jepson, Plunkett and the Dickinson brothers were reunited – supposedly for the first time since the band's split – at Michael Lee's funeral in December 2008.
Toby Jepson left GUN in June 2010 due to increased responsibility in other aspects of his musical involvement.
2012–2013: Reunion
It was announced in January 2012 that the band were reforming to perform at that year's Download Festival. Their newly launched website for the occasion credits the meeting of the four founding members at
Michael Lee's funeral as the catalyst for this re-union, stating "''From the tragic death of their band-mate old friendships are rekindled.''" In an interview with EverythingRock, guitarist Bruce Dickinson stated that he doubted the reunion would be a permanent one, although his answer was not definitive.
On 7 June, Little Angels played at the 2012
Sweden Rock Festival. The reunion culminated in a 9-date UK tour in December 2012 with venues including
Nottingham Rock City
Rock City is a music venue and nightclub located in Nottingham, England. It is owned by venue operator and concert promoter DHP Family.
It opened in December 1980, first hosting The Undertones, and has gone on to host some of the biggest names ...
and
O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire. The Glasgow date had to be moved to a larger venue due to "phenomenal demand". Support came from fellow British band
Skin
Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation.
Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different de ...
.
Drummer Richardson could not perform on the tour due to commitments with Skunk Anansie, and was replaced by Dominic Greensmith (mainly known for his time with
Reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...
). Similarly, Grant Kirkhope (trumpet) was unavailable. The reason given on stage by Jepson was that he was "living in California as a tramp".
Little Angels were booked to play the
Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970.
The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...
, supporting Bon Jovi, on 16 June 2013. On 9 May 2013 they issued a statement to say that this, in conjunction with warm up shows in Cardiff and Cambridge, would be the end of their reunion activities together. Drummer Richardson joined the band for these final three dates, but not trumpeter Grant Kirkhope.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Don't Prey for Me'' (1989)
* ''Young Gods'' (1991) UK No. 17
* ''
Jam
Jam is a type of fruit preserve.
Jam or Jammed may also refer to:
Other common meanings
* A firearm malfunction
* Block signals
** Radio jamming
** Radar jamming and deception
** Mobile phone jammer
** Echolocation jamming
Arts and ente ...
'' (1993) UK No. 1
* ''Too Posh to Mosh, Too Good to Last!'' (1994) UK No. 18
Mini albums
* ''Too Posh to Mosh'' (1987)
Live albums
* ''Live at Hammersmith Odeon'' EP (1991)
Compilation albums
* ''A Little of the Past'' (1994) UK No. 20
Extended plays
* 87'' (1987)
* ''Big Bad EP'' (1989) UK No. 74
* ''Big Bad World'' (1989)
Singles
* "90 in the Shade" (1988)
* "Do You Wanna Riot" (1989) UK No. 91
* "Don't Pray For Me" (1989) UK No. 93
* "Kicking up Dust" (1990) UK No. 46
* "Radical Your Lover" (1990) UK No. 34
* "She's a Little Angel" (1990) UK No. 21
* "Boneyard" (1991) UK No. 33
* "Product of the Working Class" (1991) UK No. 40
* "Young Gods" (1991) UK No. 34
* "I Ain't Gonna Cry" (1991) UK No. 26
* "First Cut Is the Deepest" (1992)
* "Too Much Too Young" (1992) UK No. 22
* "Womankind" (1993) UK No. 12
* "Soapbox" (1993) UK No. 33
* "Sail Away" (1993) UK No. 45
* "Ten Miles High" (1994) UK No. 18
* "All Roads Lead to You" (1994)
References
External links
Official Little Angels siteOfficial Toby Jepson siteThe only b.l.o.w. site
{{Authority control
English rock music groups
People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Music in Yorkshire