With idealistic spirit, a powerhouse live show, and bigger than big hair, the Alarm
were part of an early-'80s wave of bands (the Call, Big Country, and the
Waterboys among them) who dealt in soaring anthems inspired by the righteous
idealism of punk. Clearly influenced by the impassioned political fervor of the
Clash, the Alarm also worked in a mostly acoustic, folk-punk vein that provided
a counterpoint to their hard-driving guitar rockers. Their stage look was
unquestionably a product of the '80s, with enormous spiked-up hair accompanying
a cowboy/old-time cavalry wardrobe. Yet the numerous comparisons to U2 in the
press were not unfounded; despite a more conservative sonic palette, the Alarm
had much the same earnest intensity, the same messianic ambitions, even the
same vague spirituality. Likewise, the Alarm seemed to covet a mainstream
breakthrough in the vein of The Joshua Tree's conquest of the pop charts, and
polished up their sound accordingly, with mixed creative results. The British
music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but
this meant little to their zealous following who supported the band to the tune
of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles.
The Alarm
was formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist Mike Peters, who'd
started out in a local punk band called the Toilets along with Alarm drummer
Nigel Twist (b. Nigel Buckle). When that band broke up, Peters -- then playing
bass -- formed a new outfit called Seventeen (after the Sex Pistols song) with
guitarists Eddie MacDonald and Dave Sharp (b. Dave Kitchingman), both local
scenesters and longtime friends. Seventeen was initially influenced by the Pistols,
the Clash, the mod-revival punk of the Jam, and the punk-pop of ex-Pistol Glen
Matlock's Rich Kids. As their songwriting interests grew more socially
conscious, and in early 1981, the group reinvented itself as the Alarm, taking
the name from a Seventeen song called "Alarm Alarm." Later that year,
they moved to London and self-released their debut single, a
Peters/MacDonald-penned political rocker called "Unsafe Building,"
backed with Sharp's folk-punk tune "Up for Murder." By this time,
MacDonald and Peters had switched instruments, with Peters taking up rhythm
guitar and MacDonald moving to bass.
In 1982,
the Alarm signed with IRS and issued another single, "Marching On."
On the strength of their live shows, U2 tapped them to open their 1983 supporting
tour for War, which helped make the group's next single, the Stephen King
retelling "The Stand," into an underground hit. The Alarm's
self-titled debut EP appeared later in 1983, compiling previous single
releases, and setting the stage for the release of their first proper album,
Declaration, in 1984. A Top Ten U.K. hit, Declaration spun off several popular
singles, including the Seventeen holdover "Sixty-Eight Guns" (which
made the pop Top 20), "Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?"
(which just missed), "The Deceiver," and the live staple "Blaze
of Glory." Non-LP singles followed in a cover of "The Bells of
Rhymney," the new wave dance tune "The Chant (Has Just Begun),"
and the British Top 40 hit "Absolute Reality."
The
Alarm's sophomore effort, 1985's Strength, was another U.K. success, and
brought them into the Top 40 of the U.S. album charts for the first time;
additionally, the single "Spirit of '76" was a Top 40 U.K. hit.
Strength displayed greater subtlety and maturity in both their songwriting and
arrangements, and was often hailed as the group's best overall album. The Alarm
took a break after the supporting tour, and returned in 1987 with Eye of the
Hurricane, which featured more polished, mainstream production reminiscent of U2.
The gambit helped them gain some rock radio play in America with the singles
"Presence of Love," "Rescue Me," and especially the more
danceable "Rain in the Summertime," and they landed a tour slot
supporting Bob Dylan. A concert EP, Electric Folklore: Live, followed in 1988.
1989's
Change was an homage to the group's native Wales, and was accompanied by an
alternate Welsh-language version, Newid. Produced by Tony Visconti, Change
spawned the group's biggest modern rock radio hit in America, the bluesy
"Sold Me Down the River," which also put them in the U.S. pop Top 50
for the first and only time. "Devolution Working Man Blues" and
"Love Don't Come Easy" also earned radio airplay, and the track
"A New South Wales" boasted an appearance by the Welsh Symphony
Orchestra. Although it was hugely popular in Wales, it didn't sell as well as
the group's earlier works, and internal band dissension -- exacerbated by
deaths in both Peters and Twist's families -- made 1991's Raw the original
Alarm's final effort. "The Road" was their final radio hit, but with
the band's impending breakup, IRS found little reason to promote it.
Mike
Peters and Dave Sharp both embarked on solo careers. Sharp issued albums in
1991 and, after relocating to New Orleans, in 1996. Peters, meanwhile, issued
his solo debut in 1995 and was subsequently diagnosed with lymphoma;
fortunately, the "cancer" turned out to be benign, and Peters
completed two more solo records before forming Colorsound with former Cult
guitarist Billy Duffy. Peters subsequently reunited the original Alarm lineup
for several live appearances, and then formed a new unit consisting of
guitarist James Stevenson (Gene Loves Jezebel, Chelsea), bassist Craig Adams
(the Cult, the Mission UK, Sisters of Mercy), and drummer Steve Grantley (Stiff
Little Fingers).
In February 2004, this lineup of the Alarm pulled off a
masterful hoax on the British music industry by issuing a garagey punk-pop
single, "45 RPM," under the fictitious name the Poppy Fields. Peters,
having gotten positive feedback on the song, decided to disassociate it from
his veteran band to have it judged on its own merits, and recruited a young
Welsh group called the Wayriders to lip-sync the song in the video. The
so-called Poppy Fields took "45 RPM" into the U.K. Top 30 before the
hoax was revealed, setting the stage for the new Alarm's first album together,
In the Poppy Fields. Soon after the album's release, production for a film
based on Peters' manipulating of the music industry began with Shrek producer
John H. Williams backing the project.
