Wah! - The Story Of The Blues. Top Of The Pops 1983

Good quality video recorded live in the studio from Top Of The Pops 1983. Pete Wylie (born Peter James Wylie, Liverpool, England, 22 March 1958) is a British singer/songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, Shambeko! Say Wah!, JF Wah!, The Mighty Wah! and Wah! the Mongrel. He was credited by Melody Maker with coining "rockism", a post-punk term used to describe anything considered too 'old guard'.

He is a huge fan of the late John Peel, who had championed Wylie in his heyday.

He began his career in 1977, with lead vocalist Ian McCulloch and bassist Julian Cope, with whom he formed the band Crucial Three, who lasted from May to June the same year. In September, he and Cope formed a short-lived band alongside Pete Burns, The Mystery Girls. In December 1977, he joined The Spitfire Boys, who dissolved the same month. Wylie and two of the band, Pete Griffiths and Peter Clarke, formed the same month, the Nova Mob, alongside Julian Cope. The band lasted until May 1978, and Wylie waited until September to form another band, The Opium Eaters, along with Peter Clarke named as Budgie, Paul Rutherford and Ian Broudie. In December, he formed another band, Crash Course, which dissolved in January 1979.

On 11 November 1991, Wylie suffered a near fatal fall when a railing gave way in Upper Parliament Street, Liverpool. He fractured both his spine and his sternum. A long period of rehabilitation ensued.

Wylie began to write songs again and sent demos to David Balfe, formerly of The Teardrop Explodes, founder of Food Records and by that time General Manager and Head of A&R of the Sony's Columbia label. Legend has it that Balfe was so impressed he immediately gave Wylie £750,000 to record the songs which Wylie duly did (in London and Memphis), delivering Songs of Strength and Heartbreak to a delighted Balfe in 1998. The truth appears somewhat more sober, however, as the album — despite being finished up to the point where artwork was finalised and discs even sent out for review — was rejected by Sony, who chose not to release it. Subsequently, Wylie found himself in artistic limbo as Sony owned the rights to the music he had recorded as Songs of Strength and Heartbreak. The artist found himself unable to acquire the master tapes and without a recording contract. Eventually, however, he was handed the master tapes and Castle Records released the album.

Wylie's "Heart As Big As Liverpool" (1998) is popular within the city and especially with Liverpool Football Club supporters. It is used in the official Hillsborough tribute video, on a 2001 CD of Merseyside artists (compiled in collaboration with Liverpool Football Club) "Mersey Boys and Liverpool Girls" and features on Songs of Strength & Heartbreak, a 2000 album credited to The Mighty Wah! The song is also regularly played at Liverpool Football Club's home ground, Anfield — a source of great pride to Wylie, a Liverpool fan.

The year 2000 also heralded a compilation album entitled The Handy Wah! Whole.

Wylie then joined Dead Men Walking, featuring Mike Peters of The Alarm, Kirk Brandon of Spear of Destiny and Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols. They toured extensively, performing old songs as well as new, including Wylie's "Your Mother Must Be Very Proud."

Following an invitation from Alejandro Escovedo, Wylie performed at the 2006 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

Wylie's latest project is a twin album release with the working titles Pete Sounds and SLiME, both puns on mid-60s Beach Boys projects. Although he sold demos of some of the new songs at gigs in 2004, he remains without a recording contract. In 2007, he announced a series of gigs at the Zanzibar club, Seel Street, Liverpool, each of which took place on the last Saturday of each month and featured guest musicians such as Ian Prowse (of the legendary Scouse band Pele), Ian McNabb and Brian 'Nasher' Nash (of Frankie Goes to Hollywood) playing Wylie songs as well as many covers of classic songs by other artists.

In January 2008 Wylie performed at the opening ceremony of Liverpool's European City of Culture tenure. Over the last couple of years Wylie has written the soundtracks for two films; Alex Cox's I'm A Juvenile Delinquent - Jail Me! (made by Hurricane Films for the BBC's Learning Zone) and Under the Mud (also produced by Hurricane Films).
Please visit my other Channel. Keep Rockin!.
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Category:

Music

Tags:

• wah
• the story of the blues
• top of the pops 1983
• blues

[hetty777]

Quality!

[ade0763]

@fralust It was the eighties! Okay they are not the Icicle Works but not a bad effort.

[captaincomputa]

Back when Liverpool had some decent bands

[fralust]

@bizzo142 That's about the size of it. This song is a trite, 80's over produced maudlin ballad, a one hit wonder sung rather nervously and unconvincingly, which is strange given the "where are they now" arrogance of the singer.

You can bet that Julian Cope and Ian McCulloch screen his calls.

"Oh shit! Not him again, what does he want.....?"

[branchenergy]

Wow, so much negativity and hatred coming from @thebearclawjones

Sort yourself out, Life is too short to be full of such anger.

Shalom.

[thebearclawjones]

@branchenergy Oh, can't you shut your hole, you degenerate ass? Essentially you keep saying "that's your opinion" - well I hate to break it to, but that is not the revelation of Moses: that is stating the fucking obvious and talking in cliche all at the same time, so you better head your lame ass back up that mountain.

Furthermore, I just don't give a fuck: as every single word you've written sounds like your following some kind of, "speaking-aloud", self-help book for idiots.

[branchenergy]

@thebearclawjones Tuneless - well again that is your (belonging to you) opinion. I do find all the notes in all his songs incredibly tuneful. It is not screamed at all, but sung, superbly, and continues to be done so by him to this day. I never lie to myself. I hate liars, and anyone who knows me knows that. I'm also not a "troll" If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Your opinions. Yours alone. I am not alone.

[branchenergy]

@thebearclawjones Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder. If people find you attractive great, I won't shout them down, or be rude about what you look like, and seeing as you don't know what I look like, you cannot opinionate either way. Some people find me attractive, some don't. I really don't care Your (belongs to you) opinion is that he is pig looking - your opinion. Not fact. I disagree. Are you mature enough to agree??

[branchenergy]

@thebearclawjones If you actually know Pete Wylie, as opposed to knowing of, then you will be well aware that he is not stupid. Your opinions indicate yours (belonging to you) is "knowing of".

I'm not selling the guy, so no pitch here, he can sell himself. Just pointing out your baseless opinions.

Don't feel sorry for me whatsoever, for a start I have knowledge of the English language, something that you're not showing...

[thebearclawjones]

@branchenergy Oh yeah: and how, may I ask, do YOU know, that I don't know him?...

That kinda messes up your whole pitch, here, doesn't it? Well, let's say I don't know him - and let's say he's not, literally, stupid. That leaves, "pig-looking" and "tuneless". The "eye of the beholder" nonsense is best set aside, so: on to, "tuneless" - if you find one single pleasing note within this dire collection of screamed and multi-tracked sharps and flats, your lying to yourself and I feel sorry for you.